Do you remember the first time you heard Mercury Rev on the radio? If you’re in the UK, chances are you might have been listening to the John Peel show. John was the champion of the unheard and the obscure. The DJ who gave many artists and bands their first, and sometimes, only chance to be heard on national radio.
This double CD makes Mercury Rev’s complete Peel Sessions available for the first time. The band spent over 20 hours on their first session, creating unique versions of four tracks from their debut album, Yerself Is Steam. 1993 and 1995 saw the band record two more sessions for John, including a cover of “I Only Have Eyes For You”. In 1999 the band returned to the legendary BBC studios in support of their fourth studio album, Deserter’s Songs. Included in these session are versions of “The Funny Bird”, “Tonite It Shows”, as well as great covers by John Lennon and Captain Beefheart. The artwork contains recollections from Jonathan Donahue about his time recording for John: ‘we took it so seriously, it was like we were doing an audition for some huge mogul like Clive Davis’.
This is a fantastic retrospective, an alternative Greatest Hits that charts the band’s rise to the successes of Deserter’s Songs and gives a glimpse into the under-the-gun style of recording at the BBC’s studios. For full details, click here or check out all the Mercury Rev releases available now at the Mercury Rev store.
