Vocal Performances was a 12" single released by Pere Ubu frontman David Thomas in 1981. The single was released on Rough Trade Records as Trade 5/12. As per its title, Vocal Performances features two (mostly) cappella recordings from Thomas.
The first track, "Petrified", argues that evolutionary thinking and Latin nomenclature have poorly captured dinosaurs' charm and dignity, such as the Haplocanthosaur, Pterosaur and Archaeopteryx. The second track is "Sloop John B", a cover of the traditional song made famous on Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys. Thomas has argued elsewhere that Pet Sounds is the greatest music album ever recorded.
"Petrified" was recorded at Bushflow Studio in Akron, Ohio, and features a clarinet solo by Ralph Carney. An ensemble version of the track appears on the Pere Ubu album Song of the Bailing Man. "Sloop John B" was recorded on a portable cassette recorder at the Hotel Slavia in London. A copy of this performance was later overdubbed with drums and trumpet and released on Thomas's first solo album, The Sound of the Sand and Other Songs by the Pedestrians.
Track listing
"Petrified" (Pere Ubu, lyrics by David Thomas)
"Sloop John B" (Traditional; arranged by David Thomas)
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966 by Capitol Records. It was initially met with a lukewarm critical and commercial response in the United States, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. In the United Kingdom, the album was lauded by critics and reached number 2 on the Record Retailer chart, remaining in the top ten for six months. Promoted there as "the most progressive pop album ever", Pet Sounds was recognized for its ambitious production, sophisticated music, and emotional lyrics. It is now considered to be among the greatest and most influential albums in music history.
David Lynn Thomas is an American singer, songwriter and musician based in Great Britain.
Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band's lifetime. They released their debut album The Modern Dance in 1978 and followed with several more LPs before disbanding in 1982. Thomas reformed the group in 1987, continuing to record and tour.
Alan Charles Jardine is an American musician who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best known as the band's rhythm guitarist, background vocalist, and for occasionally singing lead vocals on singles such as "Help Me, Rhonda" (1965), "Then I Kissed Her" (1965), "Cottonfields" (1970), and "Come Go with Me" (1978). His song "Lady Lynda" was also a UK top 10 hit for the group in 1978. Other Beach Boys songs that feature Jardine on lead include "I Know There's an Answer" (1966), "Vegetables" (1967), and "From There to Back Again" (2012).
Miracle Legion was an American college rock band formed in 1983 in New Haven, Connecticut. They earned modest renown, especially in their native New England region, but also in the UK, where they were feted by music media such as NME and Melody Maker.
The Modern Dance is the debut album by American rock band Pere Ubu. It was released in January 1978 by record label Blank.
Dub Housing is the second album by American rock band Pere Ubu. Released in 1978 by Chrysalis Records, the album is now regarded as one of their best, described by Trouser Press as "simply one of the most important post-punk recordings."
Live at the Roxy Theatre is a live album released by Brian Wilson in 2000. After a successful period of touring following the release of Imagination, Wilson decided to record his first-ever live solo album. Accompanied by his supporting band, Wilson recorded the album during a pair of shows at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood.
"Sloop John B" is a Bahamian folk song from Nassau. A transcription was published in 1916 by Richard Le Gallienne, and Carl Sandburg included a version in his The American Songbag in 1927. There have been many recordings of the song since the early 1950s, with variant titles including "I Want to Go Home" and "Wreck of the John B".
New Picnic Time is the third album by American rock band Pere Ubu. It was released in September 1979 by Chrysalis Records. Reportedly the album sessions were stressful and contentious, and after touring, the group disbanded. They would reform a matter of months later, with Mayo Thompson replacing founding guitarist Tom Herman. The lyrics for the song "The Voice of the Sand" are based upon the poetry of Vachel Lindsay.
The Art of Walking is the fourth full-length album by Pere Ubu. Mayo Thompson of the Red Krayola joined as guitarist for this album and slanted the proceedings further towards deconstruction and abstraction, and away from the primal rock that former guitarist Tom Herman had facilitated. The group would record one more album with Thompson, Song of the Bailing Man, before disbanding.
Song of the Bailing Man is the fifth Pere Ubu album, released in 1982. It was the final Pere Ubu album until 1988's The Tenement Year.
390° of Simulated Stereo is a live album featuring recordings from Pere Ubu's first few years of existence. In general, the recordings featured are lo-fi in nature. The album was out of print for decades, but was reissued for Record Store Day 2021.
The Tenement Year is the sixth studio album by American rock band Pere Ubu, and their first album after reuniting following their 1982 break-up. 'Classic lineup' members Tony Maimone and Allen Ravenstine, along with fellow Cleveland scenester Jim Jones and Henry Cow percussionist Chris Cutler found themselves playing with David Thomas for his 1987 album Blame the Messenger, and, discovering they sounded much like Pere Ubu, began incorporating a few Ubu numbers while touring for that album. Eventually, an official reunion was pursued, original drummer Scott Krauss was contacted, and thus the new lineup was completed and the old mantle assumed. The Tenement Year found the group veering in a loose, freewheeling, and decidedly more pop-oriented direction than in the past, though the pop leanings would become even more pronounced on subsequent albums. The album is a farewell to their hometown of Cleveland.
Cloudland is the seventh studio album by American rock band Pere Ubu. Released in May 1989, the album was produced by Stephen Hague. The single "Waiting for Mary", the video for which achieved some MTV exposure, netted Pere Ubu their only Billboard chart success to date, reaching number 6 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. Cloudland is a village in north-western Georgia between Summerville and Chattanooga on a spur of Lookout Mountain. In the early 20th century, it was a summer getaway for Floridians.
Why I Hate Women is the 13th studio album by Pere Ubu, released in 2006. Keith Moliné stepped in for departed longtime guitarist Tom Herman, making this the first Pere Ubu studio album not to feature any of the group's founders either as members or as guests. Explaining the title, Thomas claimed that Why I Hate Women is a tribute to an imaginary book that Jim Thompson could have written.
Pennsylvania is an album by the American band Pere Ubu, released in 1998. The album marked Tom Herman's return to Pere Ubu's studio work after a twenty-year absence. It is a loose concept album about geography, travel, and road trips.
Sarah Jane Morris is an English singer of pop, jazz, rock and R&B and a songwriter.
Carnival of Souls is an album by the American band Pere Ubu, released in 2014. The title is taken from the 1962 film, for which the band had created an underscore. "Irene" was released as a single.
"30 Seconds Over Tokyo" is the debut single by American post-punk band Pere Ubu. It was written by David Thomas, Peter Laughner and Gene O'Connor, during their stint as members of Rocket from the Tombs in 1974. Released on Thomas' independent Hearthan Records in 1975, the song received very little airplay but has earned high praise in the years since.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
