In this episode of The Crate, we talked about Supersessions, The Masked Marauders, Godspeed You Black Emperor’s first demo tape, and The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet.
To be considered a supergroup you need a couple of things; one is to be famous, another is to know other famous musicians, and lastly to want to record some tunes together. Along with either under a new name, (like Led Zeppelin) or just use your names (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer) or just your initials (ABBA) And with the first track we played, I combined two of this episode’s topics, demos, and supergroups. I played “Mopper’s Blues” by The Steampacket.
The Steampacket is considered by some to be the first supergroup. The Band was formed in 1965 by Long John Baldry after the break-up of his previous group the Hoochie Coochie Men. Along with Long John Baldry, The Steampacket included Rod Stewart (also from the Hoochie Coochie Men, Julie Driscoll, organist Brian Auger, and guitarist Vic Briggs. They toured as an opening band for the rolling stones in 1965. In the early part of 1966, Rod Stewart left the group and later in the year the group disbanded completely. The recordings that we have from the band are repackaged demo tracks and a performance from the BBC.
For the second track,I chose “Goodbye Horses” by Q Lazzarus. Specifically the second version of a track used in one of my favorite thriller movies, Silence of the Lambs. (it was also used in the films Married to the Mob, twisted, along with something wild before its now eternal state as the Buffalo Bill song) after appearing and singing in the 1993 film Philadelphia she had all but disappeared from the public eye until 2018. She was found working as a bus driver in Staten Island not wanting to be in the public eye.
For the third track, I chose “I Can’t Get No Nookie.” It is a track from the album The Masked Marauders, by the band The Masked Marauders. The album was dreamed up by Rolling Stone editor Greil Marcus and in the magazine’s October 18, 1969 issue, Marcus ran a review of a non-existent album that purportedly captured a “supersession” of the era’s leading rock and roll musicians, including Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney. In his review claimed that none of the artists could be listed on the jacket cover because of contractual agreements with their recording companies. In the review, he also went into great detail of a track by track breakdown. With such details like, “The LP opens with an eighteen-minute version of ‘Season of the Witch’ (lead vocal by Dylan, on which he does a superb imitation of early Donovan). The cut is highlighted by an amazing jam between bass and piano, both played by Paul McCartney.” and “Dylan shines on Side Three, displaying his new deep bass voice, with ‘Duke of Earl’.” and “Paul showcases his favorite song, ‘Mammy’, and while his performance is virtually indistinguishable from Eddie Fisher’s version, it is still very powerful, evocative, and indeed, stunning. And they say a white boy can’t sing the blues!”
Of course, people wanted this album and an indication of how many people were taken in by the review, The Masked Marauders reached No. 114 on Billboard’s album charts. So with all the want Warner Bros. under their Reprise Records label, created the Deity label (the label that the album was released on) to help keep the “joke” going.
We ended the show with two mysteries. A song from Godspeed You Black Emperor’s album All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling and The Most Mysterious Song on the internet.
Godspeed You Black Emperor is a post-rock band from Canada, but their first album is reported (by the leader of the band) to be completely different from how their music is now. It had more Lyrics and it was faster in tempo. The demo album had a cassette run of 33 copies. The tracks coming up where found by Casketjack on Reddit and are supposedly the last two tracks on side 1 of the tape (Random Luvly Moncton Blue(s)/Dadmomdaddy). The rest of the tape has not yet been released and at the moment is considered lost to time. (or near the band’s hometown so someone please find it and share it with the world. There is always H0PE)
Finally, we have The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet. As of recording this show we still do not know the artist or the real title of the song. Back in 2006 a listener of a german radio show, Anton, who recorded the shows posted a minute clip of the song to a music site asking for information and there has been a search ever since. (Another mystery we need the answer to.)
Listen to The Crate every week!
The Crate playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCjvNsofxIe1ooX45xaPyCJPpFkBTgvIf
Other Links: https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/1mcq42/godspeed_you_black_emperor_question/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masked_Marauders
Photo Credits: The Masked Marauders
Zachary is the Lead Videographer at The WOLF Internet Radio (since 2018) and the co-host of The Crate. For videos checkout Waylin WOLF on YouTube.
