872 Paul Murphy – Remixes CD , tracks 1-4 , 'Menelaus & Paris', 'Please Come To Me', 'I Want To Sho

Amongst a box of CDs of late 1990’s sessions, outtakes and demos, there was this one, marked ‘Remixes’. Several versions of ‘Urban Paranoia’ on there [under its original title of ‘Welcome To The 90’s’], 2 of ‘A Story…’. So, I’m fairly certain these are from the “A Story…” mini-album.

I had written ‘Lady Helen’ [there are about 15 versions of it on my channel], and I don’t think I knew what to do with it. Normally I wrote a song, recorded a basic track, added whatever overdubs I thought necessary, and moved on. I wrote for 3 reasons, mainly: 1] to have something to sing on stage; 2] because I was so prolific, local bands, and no-so local ones, would buy songs off me; and 3] as with every songwriter, to get stuff out my my head and my heart, that was doing me no good at all keeping it in there.

‘Lady Helen’ – if you check it out – was a bit different. I won’t praise the lyric, but, if I hadn’t written it, I darn well would. I put a mantra-like tune to it, chords on a cycle. And instead of just overdubbing a couple of instruments, I worked on it longer than any song of mine, before, or since. I did a version on piano, solo acoustic strummed, solo acoustic picked, electric guitars, frozen halibut (well, that was next on the list). Eventually I settled on the acoustic/piano version that is the ‘master’, then I scored a string arrangement for it and added that.
All of this on a 23-minute-long song. And, being me, I didn’t go back to the one take and re-make it, most of the time I cut it anew. 400 years ago I would have been walking around in sack-cloth and ashes chanting “Pain – and remakes – are the cleanser”, and whapping myself on the back with the lyric sheets.

That eventually gave me two things – the master, which everybody seemed to love; and callouses. But what to do with it? I had no material to go around it, and what kind of album would it fit on? But people wanted copies (this is the late 90s, you would run up 100 copies of your ‘album’ and sell them at gigs, etc. We all went from trying to flog a 4-track tape for 30 pence, to selling 74-minute CDs for £5. Who needed record companies? Little did we know we were inventing the grandfather of streaming, and putting songwriting in an ark with a dodo and a moa and sailing it off Niagara Falls).

Anyway, I thought about John Lennon, saying he didn’t know what to do with the 4 salvageable “Rock n’ Roll” tracks, and considering putting them out as an EP, so I figured I would make a ‘mini-album’. So I looked for existing catalogue that would ‘fit in’. I already had ‘Menelaus & Paris’, from the “Maybe Tomorrow… Maybe Next Year” album [let’s let the secret out – written about the same ‘ethos’, shall one say]. But it was a bit ‘swampy’ on the album, it was the first one I cut in my home studio. ‘Please Come To Me’ fit the theme, and was a live favourite. Likewise, although a ‘protest’ number, I couldn’t play a show then and not play that song. And I pulled out the tapes of a couple of others.

Then I wrote ‘A Story…’ one afternoon, and that seemed to strike a nerve with people. Oh for a dollar for every time I was asked, “Is that a true story?” [Read the notes in the back of “Love,”, if you want to know!]. So, hthat became the lead track, and the title of the album/extremely long EP (I think it clocks in at 52 minutes for the 4 songs).

What you have here is the first 4 tracks of the CD made to choose the remixes from. Track 5 cuts and is on a seperate file.

‘Menelaus & Paris’ – I like this better than the album version. I have lowered the electric guitar, removed the bass, and upped the vocal (according to the enclosed studio sheet, which reads Electric 3.0 [level, out of 10], Bass 0.0 Bass, Acoustic 5.0, Vocal 8.6].

‘I Want To Show You What Love Really Means’ – I can see why I considered it, but it was too fast for what I was looking to create, even after removing the original drum track.

‘Please Come To Me’ – everything taken out bar guitar and vocal. Not used.

‘Urban Paranoia’ [aka ‘Welcome To The 90’s’] – two versions here, the first is the original master, remixed [losing the drums and the piano], and the second is listed as ‘Remake’ [i.e. started from new] – ‘New vocal 28.03.99’.
In the interests of completeness, the partial 3rd version is the same backing as the preceding track, with ‘New vocal 06.04.99’.

Light and peace,

Paul M
x
27.11.2022

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‘Menelaus & Paris’ , ‘I Want To Show You What Love Really Means’ , ‘Please Come To Me’,
‘Urban Paranoia’ – words and music © Paul Murphy / 1993, 1996, 1999 / renewed 2022.

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PS – If I may be so bold, my latest, and probably last, lyric anthology has just ‘gone live’, although only on the Big A[mazonn] at present. Title is “Any Last Words”, ISBN is 979-8365345928. All royalties to my children, Dylan and Emily, all gratitude from me.
Versions of several of the entries (‘Avenues Of Fate’, ‘We’re Gonna Give Them Hell’, ‘If Only…’, plus promo vid), available on my YT.

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