Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Live 1986
Introduction
What do you do when you’re the darling of the alternative music scene and all the hip music critics? In any case, you don’t release a covers album featuring many songs by artists who weren’t receiving the recognition they deserved at the time of its release. So what did Nick Cave do in 1986? Release a covers album, of course.
N.B.
This article contains references to the liner notes of the 2009 reissue of Kicking Against The Pricks. They can be read in full in the sub article Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Kicking Against The Pricks – Reissue liner notes.
Nick Cave (& The Bad Seeds)
After The Birthday Party broke up, Nick Cave started his solo career and put together his permanent backing band, The Bad Seeds. In June 1984, he released his still-fantastic debut album From Her To Eternity, quickly followed by the band’s first single: a cover of Elvis Presley’s In The Ghetto. Of course, it was a parody, because Elvis wasn’t cool, and certainly not that pathetic song…, right? A year later, the impressive The Firstborn Is Dead album followed, which was deeply rooted in the blues and featuring Tupelo, a classic in his oeuvre.
Both albums included a cover: Leonard Cohen’s Avalanche on From Her To Eternity and Bob Dylan’s Wanted Man on The Firstborn Is Dead. Along with the aforementioned single, that already made three covers in two years. During concerts, Cave regularly performed more covers.
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds – In The Ghetto
By the time it was time for a new album, Cave had already started working on his novel, which would be published in 1989 under the title And The Ass Saw The Angel. In the liner notes to the 2009 reissue of Kicking Against The Pricks, Mick Harvey states that the novel was one of the reasons for putting together a covers album: “Nick declared that he wanted to do another album, but he couldn’t write because he was working on his novel. That was the argument, anyway.” Cave himself says: “I’m not sure why we did a covers album. I just felt like we had influences from all over the place which were very much a part of the music I wrote, with the Bad Seeds and also with the Birthday Party. It was what we were listening to back then; what we listened to throughout our childhoods, and what we were listening to at that time.”
In any case, starting in November/December 1985, songs were selected and recorded at AAV Studios in Melbourne, Australia. From January 1986 onwards, the recordings moved to a studio a little further away, Richmond Recorders. The band recorded a total of 23 songs. The story goes that the tapes containing the album recordings were held hostage by Richmond Recorders owner Tim Stobart .
Nick Cave had been offered a special reduced studio rate by Tim Stobart, allowing them to work during ‘dead time’. As things panned out Stobart reneged on the agreement and then refused to hand over the tapes unless Nick paid the outrageously exorbitant bill that Stobart had presented the band. This kept the master tapes hostage for 6 months.
© 2017 Life in a Padded Cell: A Biography of Tony Cohen, by Dale Blair
The tapes were eventually handed over to Cave and producer Flood. The 23 songs were reduced to 12. Three additional tracks from the sessions would later be released (as B-sides to the single The Singer, released on June 16, 1986, and on a flexi-disc in 1989). The rest of the recordings have disappeared, probably due to Stobart’s actions. According to the story, the eight missing tracks were covers of songs by The Saints (No, Your Product), The Loved Ones (Everlovin’ Man, Sad Dark Eyes), Leadbelly (John Henry), Harry Belafonte (Did You Hear About Jerry?), Peter, Paul and Mary (500 Miles), Johnny Cash (Bull Rider), and an unspecified song by The Laughing Clowns.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Kicking Against The Pricks
Kicking Against The Pricks
There are several dates circulating in relation to the album’s actual release. August 18, 1986, is generally considered the initial release date, but August 8 is also mentioned. Since Monday was not a release day in the Netherlands, I am using August 19, 1986 as the Dutch release date. In any case, in August 1986, the third studio album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds was released: Kicking Against The Pricks.
Both fans and the press reacted rather confusedly to the album. Cave covered songs by artists who were not particularly popular around that time, certainly not within alternative circles. In the liner notes for the 2009 reissue, Cave says: “It didn’t matter whether we were recording a song that people would like or walk away from in droves.” And that was to his and the band’s credit. Cave chose a large number of unconventional songs by Johnny Cash (The Folk Singer was an obscure B-side), Tom Jones (Weeping Annaleah), Gene Pitney (Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart) or a gospel traditional (Jesus Met The Woman At The Well). Cave often preferred specific versions that were obscure or downright complex, as is the case with By The Time I Get To Phoenix, where Cave deliberately covered Isaac Hayes’ version of the song rather than earlier versions by Johnny Rivers, Glen Campbell or Frank Sinatra.
The songs are diverse, both lyrically and musically, yet the album displays a remarkable consistency. Despite the fact that Cave did not write any of the songs himself, they are unmistakably Cave. Like Cat Power, Cave is able to dissect songs and rebuild them according to the Bad Seeds blueprint, giving all the songs an added weight or even a sense of menace. Cave did make minor adjustments to the lyrics in some places, but these are negligible.
Nick Cave Live 1986
Collaborations
In 1986 The Bad Seeds were officially expanded with the addition of drummer Thomas Wydler. During the recording of Kicking Against The Pricks, former Birthday Party members Tracey Pew and Rowland S. Howard were invited into the studio, as was former Bad Seeds member Hugo Race. The album’s recording sessions were among Pew’s final musical contributions; he died on November 7, 1986, following a severe epileptic seizure.
Title
The title refers to the Bible verse Acts 26:14 (“It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks”), which, loosely translated, means that it is pointless to resist the will of God. The album title was enclosed in quotation marks (“Kicking Against The Pricks”), because it is a literal quote?
Another explanation for the title is somewhat more mundane: the title was deliberately chosen as a response to criticism from a select group of music journalists, particularly English ones, whom Cave intensely disliked. Since the next release after the album was a flexi-disc single called Scum, a merciless attack on the press, this explanation is certainly plausible.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Kicking Against The Pricks – Ad
Promotion
Nick Cave gave a select number of interviews to promote the Kicking Against The Pricks album (see Nick Cave – Record Mirror interview 09/06/1986), but did not go on tour. The only single from the album was released two months before the album itself. Even before its release, Cave had already recorded the song Scum, and the recording sessions for Your Funeral… My Trial had begun. From September onwards, Cave and the band performed the new material from the upcoming album, which was released on November 3, 1986, just two and a half months after Kicking Against The Pricks.
Review
As mentioned in previous articles, Kicking Against The Pricks is one of my favorite Nick Cave albums. The album contributed no fewer than three songs to my personal Nick Cave Top 25. From the opening track onwards, it becomes clear that Cave is essentially continuing along the same path as before. Menace, madness, deep emotion, tenderness, and beautiful arrangements. There is, however, also a difference in approach. Cave sings more and seems more restrained in his delivery. In the liner notes to the 2009 reissue, Cave states that the album and his way of singing “influenced the course of the records we made after that.”
But what stands out most are the songs and the choices behind them. Cave and the band completely inhabit the characters, the music, and the delivery. Each song is given an extra layer of intensity, whether through Cave’s delivery, drone-like sounds (By The Time I Get To Phoenix!), or a climax that is anticipated and built up but never arrives.
I lost track of Nick Cave after the release of Kicking Against The Pricks. I wasn’t a fan of Your Funeral… My Trial, and my attention shifted to other music (Prince!). I made up for that later, but for the time being, Kicking Against The Pricks was the high point of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds for me, an album that has stood the test of time remarkably well. Highly recommended!
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Kicking Against The Pricks – Back cover
Songs
All songs were written by people other than Nick Cave; the writers are listed in parentheses.
- Muddy Water (Phil Rosenthal)
- I’m Gonna Kill That Woman (John Lee Hooker)
- Sleeping Annaleah (Mickey Newbury, Dan Folger)
- Long Black Veil (Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin)
- Hey Joe (Billy Roberts)
- The Singer (Johnny Cash, Charlie Daniels)
- All Tomorrow’s Parties (Lou Reed)
- By The Time I Get To Phoenix (Jimmy Webb)
- The Hammer Song (Alex Harvey)
- Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart (Roger Greenaway, Roger Cook)
- Jesus Met The Woman At The Well (Traditional)
- The Carnival Is Over (Tom Springfield)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – The Singer
The single The Singer included two additional covers:
- Black Betty (Leadbelly)
- Running Scared (Roy Orbison, Joe Melson)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Rye Whiskey flexi-disc
In 1989, the final recording from the Kicking Against The Pricks sessions was released as a free flexi-disc with Reflex magazine.
- Rye Whiskey (Traditional)
Two songs have had their titles altered from the originals: Sleeping Annaleah was originally titled Weeping Annaleah, while The Singer has the full title The Folk Singer.
Black Betty is actually a medley of three Leadbelly songs: Looky Looky Yonder, Black Betty, and Yellow Women’s Doorbells.
The Bad Seeds
Musicians
- Nick Cave – vocals; organ on Muddy Water, Hey Joe; piano on Muddy Water
- Blixa Bargeld – guitar on Muddy Water, I’m Gonna Kill That Woman, All Tomorrow’s Parties, By The Time I Get To Phoenix, The Hammer Song, The Carnival Is Over; vocals on All Tomorrow’s Parties, Jesus Met The Woman At The Well, The Carnival Is Over; slide guitar on Sleeping Annaleah, Long Black Veil; backing vocals on Long Black Veil
- Mick Harvey – piano on Muddy Water, Sleeping Annaleah, Hey Joe, All Tomorrow’s Parties, By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart, Jesus Met The Woman At The Well; backing vocals on Muddy Water, Sleeping Annaleah, Long Black Veil, Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart; vocals on All Tomorrow’s Parties, Jesus Met The Woman At The Well, The Carnival Is Over; guitar on Sleeping Annaleah, Long Black Veil, The Singer, All Tomorrow’s Parties, Jesus Met The Woman At The Well; drums on I’m Gonna Kill That Woman, Hey Joe, Running Scared, Black Betty; snare on Long Black Veil, The Hammer Song; organ on The Hammer Song; vibes on Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart; bass on I’m Gonna Kill That Woman
- Barry Adamson – bass on Muddy Water, Sleeping Annaleah, Long Black Veil, The Singer, All Tomorrow’s Parties, By The Time I Get To Phoenix, The Hammer Song, Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart, Jesus Met The Woman At The Well, The Carnival Is Over; backing vocals on Muddy Water, Sleeping Annaleah, Long Black Veil, Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart; vocals on Jesus Met The Woman At The Well, The Carnival Is Over
- Thomas Wydler – drums on Muddy Water, Sleeping Annaleah, The Singer, All Tomorrow’s Parties, By The Time I Get To Phoenix, The Hammer Song, Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart, Jesus Met The Woman At The Well, The Carnival Is Over; percussion on Long Black Veil
With assistance from:
- Dawn Cave – violin on Muddy Water
- Hugo Race – guitar on I’m Gonna Kill That Woman, Long Black Veil, Hey Joe, Jesus Met The Woman At The Well, Running Scared, Black Betty
- Tracy Pew – bass on Hey Joe, Running Scared, Black Betty
- Rowland S. Howard – vocals on All Tomorrow’s Parties; guitar and organ on By The Time I Get To Phoenix
- Berliner Kaffeehausmusik Ensemble – strings
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds – Scum
After Kicking Against The Pricks
Immediately after the recording and mixing of Kicking Against The Pricks had been completed, Nick Cave wrote the song Scum on March 30, 1986. It was first recorded three months later and completed in July. The single was sold during concerts in October and November 1986 as part of the Your Funeral… My Trial tour program in London, Paris, Los Angeles, and New York (in 2005, it was included on the compilation B-Sides & Rarities). Scum was written during Easter 1986 and is about, and directed at, the English music journalists Mat Snow, Barney Hoskyns, and Antonella Black, as well as Australian journalist Nicholas Rothwell. Among other things, the song deals with Cave’s feelings (a bruised ego?) following critical reviews of his albums, songs, and concerts. The lyrics are harsh and merciless.
Well, you’re on the shit list
Thrust and twist, twist and screw
You gave me a bad review
And maybe you think that it’s all just water under the bridge
Well my un-friend, I’m the type that holds a grudge
I’m your creator
I think you fuckin traitor, chronic masturbator
Shit-licker, user, self-abuser, jigger jigger!
What rock did you crawl from?
Which, did you come?
You Judas, Brrrutus, Fetus, Scum!© 1986, Scum, Nick Cave
In July 1986, bassist Barry Adamson left The Bad Seeds and was replaced by Gun Club guitarist Kid Congo Powers, prompting Mick Harvey to switch from guitar to bass. The follow-up album Your Funeral… My Trial was released on November 3, 1986.
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds – Murder Ballads
Nick Cave would go on to release many more covers throughout his career, often as B-sides to singles or as one-off collaborations with other artists. The Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds album Murder Ballads contained three covers, including an impressive rendition of Stagger Lee and a moving version of Bob Dylan’s Death Is Not The End.
In Closing
What do you think of the covers album Kicking Against The Pricks? Let me know!
Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: Nick Cave interprets his favorites on Kicking Against The Pricks. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.
Playlist
The accompanying playlist contains the regular album, supplemented with the B-sides from the The Singer single and the flexi-disc release of Rhye Whiskey. The original versions of the songs have been added to the same playlist after the Nick Cave versions.
