How many Smiths tracks are uncollected thus far?

This question is really for the Smith-ophiles here. How many b-sides haven't been collected on the albums? I know there aren't very many, but it's hard to find a website with a definitive list.

 

Never mind. I found a good resource here:

http://www.passionsjustlikemine.com/smiths-l.htm

 

"Wonderful Woman", the 8th <and last> track of the "This Charming Man - Remixes" cd - ep released here in the USA <Sire/Reprise# 40583-2> is my all-time favourite non-lp Smiths track. Johnny Marr on guitar and harmonica.
There just wasn't many tracks like this that your "average" fan could hear. Very little non-lp Smiths music is out there for most fans. That's why a boxed set is so needed, IMHO.

 

If you need even more info, you should PM John Hunter...

 

Thanks for the list!

It just made me buy a copy from eBay of the US "This Charming Man" re-issue single to get "Jeane" and "Accept Yourself"


A "reasonably" complete Smiths collection is a lot easier than it seems, if you only want the Studio tracks:

- The Smiths (1st Album)
- Hatful Of Hollow
- Meat Is Murder
- The Queen Is Dead
- Strangeways Here We Come
- Louder Than Bombs
- Rank (Live)
- The World Won't Listen

- The Very Best Of (2001) - Best sound and a few single mixes
- Sweet And Tender Hooligan (Single) - 3 exclusive songs ("I Keep Mine Hidden", "Work Is A 4-Letter Word", "What's The World (Live)")
- This Charming Man (Single) - 1 exclusive song ("Wonderful Woman")and a pile of remixes

Which leaves:

- "Accept Yourself" and "Jeane" from the "This Charming Man" re-issue CD single
- "The Draize Train" from the "Panic" CD single or German "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" CD single
- "Pretty Girls Make Graves (Early Cello Version)" from the "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" single

 

You forgot "Strangeways Here We Come"

All great albums... well, I could live without "Rank" but otherwise it's all

That site The Keymaster found is good. I'm pleased to see I have a more complete Smiths collection than I thought. Not missing much of consequence...

 

Oops! Did it from memory (and forgot my favorite album! )

The only song on my list that will be really hard to get is "The Draize Train". There's an original Rough Trade "Panic" single on eBay at the moment... going for AU$100!

 

Well, it was also on the double LP version of "The World Won't Listen" released in Australia.

One thing I didn't know before is that there is a different (and longer) take of "How Soon Is Now" on an Italian 12" single. I wonder how much that will set me back (if I ever find it)?

 

As someone stated, a boxset/catalog overhaul is SO needed for The Smiths!

 

Really? If you want it I can suggest a far cheaper one (if you're quick). I'll PM you

 

Like the Beatles, pretty much everything the Smiths recorded was of very high quality and was used, so there's not a whole lot lurking in the vaults, I'm afraid. In addition the aforementioned b-sides, there are bootlegs out there with oddities such as the band attempting an instrumental version of "Purple Haze" at a soundcheck, etc. Probably the most essential unreleased studio material remaining is the Troy Tate-produced first attempt at the debut album, bits and pieces of which crept out on late-period and posthumuous b-sides, as noted above. After that, there is not a whole lot left to release other than live material. Rank could be expanded to include the entire concert, a la the expanded edition of Live at Leeds, and there are many other shows that circulate as bootlegs.

 

I didn't realize that Rank was drawn from a single concert. I don't know why, but that makes the album more interesting to me. Anyway, I love the idea of a "complete" Rank.

 

Rank is drawn from a single concert that was broadcast in its entirety by the BBC, I believe.

 

By the way, I thought of faking outrage and accusing you of "saying The Smiths were as good as The Beatles" in your original post.

But then I figured not everyone would see the humor, even with a smilie.

 

I think your list pretty much covers all the b-sides/singles that were never released on one of the albums. There is also the song/insturmental "Money Changes Everything" which was put the single "There is a light" (I think).

 

From 1983 - 1987, they were as good as the Beatles were from 1963 - 1967, in my opinion. If they had stayed together until 1989, they might have surpassed the Beatles. As things stand, I'd rate them the second-greatest UK band of all time, after the Beatles. They featured the greatest lyricist (sorry, Ray Davies) and the greatest guitarist in UK music history, and the rhythm section, particularly Andy Rourke, weren't half bad, either.

They were the only band after the 60s to match the rate of productivity and quality of the Beatles, Beach Boys, Byrds, Supremes and other artists from the 1963 - 1967 period. I well remember purchasing each new import Smiths 12" as they were released every three or four months and just being flabbergasted at the quality, not only of the a-sides, but of the two b-sides that were thrown away on every release. "How Soon Is Now" was originally the bonus second b-side to the 12" single of "William It Was Really Nothing," which just about says it all when it comes to the run that the Smiths were on. What other band of that or any other era ever released b-sides as good as "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" or "Half a Person"?

 

"Money Changes Everything" is on the standard The World Won't Listen CD that is currently available. I still have to pick this one up!

 

I have the import of that CD and it is not on there. I think I bought it in the early 90's. I guess it was added later as a bonus track.

 

Smiths nerd alert: The version of "Accept Yourself" on Hatfull of Hollow is a BBC live take. The b-side version of the song is a substantially different studio take. This is also true of "These Things Take Time" - the b-side version on the "What Difference Does It Make" 12" is a studio take that is noticeably different from the Hatfull of Hollow BBC version. As such, the studio "These Things Take Time" is another uncompiled b-side that would be a good candidate for a box set or a bonus track.

 

I wasn't aware of this. I think I got it on a single - There Is A Light maybe? It was a 2-CD single set with the Sandie Shaw tracks on the other disc.

 

Another nerd alert: there are two significantly different mixes of "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby" on The World Won't Listen and Louder Than Bombs.

 

If memory serves, "Money Changes Everything" was a bonus track on CD and cassette versions of The World Won't Listen, but was not included on the vinyl.

 

And two different mixes of "Ask." The single mix is included on The Very Best of the Smiths comp, I think. The original 12" mix of "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side," released in the interim between Meat Is Murder and The Queen Is Dead is lacking the fake string overdubs that appear on The Queen Is Dead version. And, as noted above, there is a unique crossfade mix of "Rubber Ring" and "Asleep" on the b-side of the single.