A Reader's Question About Elliott Smith Answered.
From submitted questions on SubStack. Send over a query today! -by Larry Crane
Answer 1. Yes to both. Some Either/Or-era songs were tracked “live” with acoustic guitar and vocals. If archivist memory serves, “Angeles” was done this way, and then doubled with another guitar/vocal take. But most other songs were done separately. I think everything I recorded with him was separate, and in a case like “Miss Misery,” the vocals were even done months or weeks later, after listening to a cassette of the instrumental mix and working on the words (I assume).
Answer 2. I did certainly know that he was a rather adept flat picking guitarist. That would have been hard to miss! But I don’t recall being blown away! My job in the studio is to make sure so many elements come together while recording: timing, emotion, pitch, feel, honesty, excitement, etc. My ear isn’t looking for, “Oh wow! I’m entertained and this blows me away,” while recording. I’m looking for all these other elements to line up and be special. Elliott was always quick and efficient in the studio, knew what he wanted, and would stop or work around an obstacle when frustrated. I do remember that, after recording the vocals to “Miss Misery,” I thought the song was really well arranged and just sounded great because of that factor, not to mention the emotional feel of the song. His playing of the instruments “fit” the song’s needs pretty damn perfectly. Yes, he was probably a better guitarist than most, but I think the only person he sought to impress was himself. That's usually true of all better-than-average players, and I’m only here to help capture them when I’m so lucky!
Side Note: C. Winston Wheeler emailed me this question (not via SubStack). “Mr. Crane, I am trying to figure out who played drums on Elliott Smith's 'Miss Misery' as found on the XO (Deluxe Edition) for my own education. Do you happen to know who played on the recording? Was this version your drum composition? Thank you for any help.”
This is hilarious. Elliott played drums on many of his recordings. On all of his solo records there are only a few drummers. “Baby Britain,” played by Paul Pulvirenti, went uncredited for years and still appears wrong on XO (Deluxe Edition) amazingly. In fact, a LOT of the credits on that release are still wrong, including ones referencing myself and Joanna Bolme. You’d think someone from UMG/Interscope/whatever would drop me a line for help with album credits by now! And I cannot imagine “composing” a drum part for Elliott! I can’t even play drums!
Thank you!