Elliott Smith's "From a Basement on the Hill" 2004 and 2024
A record not made at Jackpot! Recording Studio has much to do with Jackpot!. -by Larry Crane
Elliott Smith’s first posthumous album, From a Basement on the Hill, came out in 2004, 20 years ago.
In late summer/early fall 2003, I had been in contact with my old friend Elliott for the first time in a few years. He’d reached out to ask if I would be interested in helping him finish up the record he was working on. Would I come down to L.A., stay with him, and work at his New Monkey Studio? It had taken a very circuitous route to get where it was at this time, with sessions overseen by David McConnell, Jon Brion, Tom Biller, Chris Chandler, and many others. I was wary, as I knew there’d been more drug use in his life than I was comfortable with. I called back one day, and noted that if I showed up and Elliott was having any issues like that that I would be paid and full and would promptly return home. I’d cancelled or rescheduled other clients in order to make this work, and my finances were still precarious as Jackpot! was only seven years old and Tape Op Magazine was just starting to pay my partner John Baccigaluppi a small amount. I was reassured that Elliott was in better shape, and that he was clean.
On October 20th I flew back from an AES Conference in NYC where I’d been for 12 days, went to see Guided By Voices that night at Berbati’s Pan, and on October 21st I woke up and started a fun session at Jackpot! Recording Studio with a band I knew called The Western Conference. When I woke up October 22nd, a flurry of surreal emails let me know Elliott Smith was dead. I went down to the studio, told The Western Conference boys the news, and my assistant (maybe Ezra Meredith?) carried on tracking the band while I sat in my office fielding phone calls all day. On October 26th I attended a wake at Elliott’s dad’s house (Gary Smith) in NW Portland. The next night we held a more rambunctious and later-in-the-evening wake at my home in NE Portland, with all our local music friends and members of Grandaddy, John Cameron Mitchell, and many others attending.
At some point months later, I got a phone call from Joanna Bolme, telling me that she and Rob Schnapf had been chosen to oversee the mixing of From A Basement on the Hill. I felt a little miffed as I had been Elliott’s choice, but I was more looking forward to collaborating with him and not excited about the idea of with dealing with this posthumous situation. There was no bone in my body that wished to act like I “deserved” this job or that I was “Elliott’s choice.” I kept my mouth shut, and I’m still glad I did. In October 2004, the album came out, a year after his passing.
This year, 2024, I oversaw a tape transfer of From A Basement on the Hill, prepped the audio files at Jackpot!, sorted out which mixes had been used for the original master, and then I oversaw a new remastering session for the album by my pal Adam Gonsalves at Telegraph Mastering. This 20th anniversary remaster sounds far better to me than the original version, which had a very pinched/midrange-y center image that made the vocals sound a bit worse than they really are. We were able to get some excellent audio off the orig 1/4" mix tapes via Adam’s stellar tape deck. Rob and Joanna did a great job of sorting this material out and mixing it in 2004, and I know it wasn't an easy process for them.
The remaster is out 11/11/24. The album is intense and beautiful and sad. I hope people enjoy the remaster.
You had a very special working relationship with Elliot that can't be denied. Your memories of him are unique to only you and you are both better for having known each other. You were one of the best friends he could have asked for. Your work ethic and care for all you know, whether professional or non-professional speaks for itself and everything you do to bring Tape Op to life shows with each new publication. Thanks for all you do. It has never and will never go unnoticed. Michael M.
The minute I saw the title of this blog post, I abandoned my work and inhaled these generous words right away. Thank you, Larry Crane, for your willingness to tell readers some behind-the-scenes reveals and your thoughts about flying to Los Angeles and the entrance-point to working on FABOTH. During an emotive day (and time), you had to field many calls. Now, turning to present day, it's wonderful to read about this year's remastering and the steps that went into that process. It's a privilege, actually, to learn about it. Grateful to you from an Elliott Smith fan and current writer of a tween/teen book about his approach to living. OX Shay Gross in Los Angeles