Torment Saint: The Life of Elliott Smith (54 page)

18
. This is not a judgment Smith would agree with. To take just one example, during a break in one performance he called the song “Pitseleh” “long and boring.”

19
. Comment made by David McConnell in the documentary
Searching for Elliott Smith
by Gil Reyes.

20
. See William Todd Schultz,
An Emergency in Slow Motion: The Inner Life of Diane Arbus
(New York: Bloomsbury, 2011).

21
. In “Furry Sings the Blues” Mitchell cops to this quality, writing, “WC Handy I’m rich and I’m fey, and I’m not familiar with what you play, but I get such strong impressions of your heyday, looking up and down old Beale Street.”

22
. Fans debate this particular lyric. Some believe Smith wrote “sonnet fuck you.” I think “sonic” is more likely, and makes more sense in the song’s context.

23
. Scott Wagner interview, August 1, 2011.

24
. John Chandler interview, September 6, 2011.

25
. This remark is taken verbatim from an online bootleg recording of the January 31, 2003, concert at the Henry Fonda Theater. The concert has been uploaded in its entirety to YouTube.com as of August 11, 2011.

26
. Ibid.

27
. Anonymous interview, September 14, 2011.

28
. Andrew Watson, “Beck + The Flaming Lips,” accessed September 15, 2011,
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/beck-021021
.

29
. See “Friends, Peers Mourn Elliott Smith,” accessed September 21, 2011,
http://www.billboard.com/news/friends-peers-mourn-elliott-smith-2008549.story#/news/friends-peers-mourn-elliott-smith-2008549.story
.

30
. Ibid.

1
. John Chandler interview, September 6, 2011.

2
. John Chandler and Scott Wagner,
The Rocket
, April 9, 1997. The article can be accessed at
http://www.sweetadeline.net/rocket49.html
.
Accessed April 7, 2013.

3
. Scott Wagner interview, August 1, 2011.

4
. 
The Rocket
, April 9, 1997, by John Chandler and Scott Wagner. See:
http://www.sweetadeline.net/rocket49.html
.

5
. Jonathan Valania, “Elliott Smith: Emotional Rescue,” accessed September 20, 2011,
http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2001/01/02/elliott-smith-emotional-rescue
.

6
. R. J. Smith, “No Way Out,”
SPIN
, January 1999.

7
. Valania, “Elliott Smith: Emotional Rescue.”.

8
. See Elliott Smith official website, accessed September 20, 2011,
http://www.sweetadeline.net/bio9.html
.

9
. 
LA Weekly
, November 6, 2003. See:
http://www.laweekly.com/2003-11-06/columns/elliott-smith-1969-2003/
.
Accessed April 7, 2013.

10
. “Smith’s Songs Have Optimistic Moments,”
Boston Globe
, June 4, 1998.

11
. Matt Dornan, “Elliott Smith,” accessed September 20, 2011,
http://cwas.hinah.com/interview/?id=11
.

12
. In the alternate version Smith refers to a TV comedy from the ’70s, with a lead no one recalls, who vanished into oblivion, an “easy” thing to do. It’s an intriguing, mysterious line. Since the song is about depression, and since vanishing can connote suicide, it may be that Smith is referring to Freddie Prinze, and the show
Chico and the Man
. Prinze shot himself in 1977 after talking with his estranged wife. The death was ruled a suicide, although a later civil case found it to be accidental.

13
. 
Q Magazine
, January 2011. An interview with several of Elliott’s friends that appears on pages 102–04.

14
. Valania, “Elliott Smith: Emotional Rescue.”

15
. “Smith’s Songs Have Optimistic Moments,”
Boston Globe
, June 4, 1998.

16
. Dornan, “Elliott Smith.”

17
. 
Q Magazine
, January 2011. See pages 102–04.

18
. The shot of Elliott Smith standing behind Madonna is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X-GOXPMq5M
.
Accessed October 3, 2011.

19
. 
Q Magazine
, January 2011. Coomes watched the performance in the video store where he worked. See page 103 of the original article.

20
. See Marcus Kagler, “Elliott Smith: Better Off Than Dead,”
Under the Radar
, accessed May 2, 2012,
http://web.archive.org/web/20060615125926/http://undertheradarmag.com/issue4/elliottsmith.html
.

21
. Jennifer Chiba interview, October 9, 2010.

22
. This is a comment by Smith from a live performance at La Luna in Portland, May 16, 1998.

23
. See
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTt_TggXr9M
.
Accessed October 4, 2011.

24
. Kagler, “Elliott Smith: Better Off Than Dead.”

25
. Ibid.

26
. Anonymous interview, August 18, 2011.

27
. See
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTt_TggXr9M
.
Accessed October 4, 2011.

28
. John Chandler interview, September 6, 2011.

29
. See
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br2j_lQqF_Q&feature=related
.
Accessed October 6, 2011.

30
. Valania, “Elliott Smith: Emotional Rescue.”

31
. The NCO is the primary link between enlistees with zero power and commissioned officers with true authority. That fact suggests some autobiographical meaning: Smith is the enlistee, his stepfather Charlie the commissioned officer whom his mother, Bunny, links him to as NCO.

32
. There’s debate about these lyrics. Some say the line is “torment saint,” others “torment sail.” Consensus opinion is “torn main sail.”

1
. In what follows I simply refer to Elliott as Elliott, since calling him Steve would, I feel, make for slightly confusing reading.

2
. See
http://www.theseniorvoice.com/pdffiles/SV0612.pdf
.
Accessed October 20, 2011.
The Senior Voice
is a Dallas, Texas, publication “devoted to the heart of the senior community.” Berryman’s profile appears in the free December 2006 issue, on page 4.

3
. Valania, “Elliott Smith: Emotional Rescue.”

4
. Letter from Garrick Duckler,
The Real Estate
. This is an untitled, four-page memoir by Duckler, not currently publicly available online.

5
. 
Plum Creek Press
6, no. 3 (2006). A publication of the Plum Creek Homeowner’s Association, Kyle, Texas. The interview with Bunny and Charlie lists no author. It appears on page 2.

6
. Kagler, “Elliott Smith: Better Off Than Dead.”

7
. Valania, “Elliott Smith: Emotional Rescue.”

8
. Interview Tony Lash, October 28, 2011.

9
. Interview Shon Sullivan, December 31, 2010.

10
. Interview Jennifer Chiba, October 16, 2010.

11
. Ibid.

12
. Interview Jennifer Chiba, December 2, 2010.

13
. Interview Jennifer Chiba, October 2, 2010.

14
. Interview Steven Pickering, November 10, 2011.

15
. Ibid.

16
. Interview Kevin Denbow, November 12, 2011.

17
. Interview Mark Merritt, February 15, 2012.

18
. Interview with Kevin Denbow, November 12, 2011.

19
. Kagler, “Elliott Smith: Better Off Than Dead.”

20
. See Elliott Smith official website,
http://www.sweetadeline.net/melodym00.html
.
Accessed November 5, 2011.

21
. Interview Kim, April 20, 2012. In the text I refer to Kim only by her first name, at her request.

22
. The interview can be viewed online at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_XNghTKvq8&feature=related
.
Accessed November 20, 2011.

23
. Interview Kevin Denbow, November 12, 2011.

24
. For the record, this track was laid down when Smith visited Texas in the summer, after he had moved to his father’s home in Portland, Oregon.

25
. Interview Brandt Peterson, December 4, 2011.

26
. Interview Jennifer Chiba, October 9, 2010.

27
. Interview Denny Swofford, November 25, 2011.

1
. Interview Tony Lash, October 28, 2011.

2
. Ibid.

3
. See Elliott Smith official website,
http://www.sweetadeline.net/frenchart.html
.
Accessed January 4, 2012.

4
. Kagler, “Elliott Smith: Better Off Than Dead.”

5
. See Elliott Smith official website,
http://www.sweetadeline.net/bio4.html
.
Accessed January 4, 2012.

6
. Duckler essay, on the subject of the song “The Real Estate.” Quoted with Garrick Duckler’s permission. This is a four-page essay by Duckler not currently available online.

7
. See
Alphabet Town
message board,
http://alphabettown.freeforums.org/1985-stranger-than-fiction-any-kind-of-mudhen-t128.html
.

8
. Some websites give this title as “Mudher” rather than “Mud Hen.” From what I can gather, that title—“Mudher”—is erroneous.

9
. Side one is: “halfway to forever (autumn signs),” “looking at my watch,” “the machine,” “joy to the world,” “uncertainty,” and “another letter.” Side two is: “it was a sunny day,” “wind through my life,” “pbida,” “chemistry,” “nothing to do with you,” “pull me through,” and “to build a home.”

10
. Duckler, essay on the making of “The Real Estate,” quoted by permission.

11
. Ibid.

12
. Ibid.

13
. The cassette clocks in at more than more than sixty minutes of music. Side one includes “Wandering,” “Song to the Great Serpent,” “Living in Rotational,” “The Crystal Ball,” “Freedom of Expression,” “Instinctual Disjunction,” and “The Vatican Rock.” Side two songs are: “Jump Across the Mountain,” “Tunnel Vision,” “Nothing to do With You,” “Sound to Me,” “In the Light,” “Great Serpent Reprise,” and “Laughter.” Tony Lash produced, engineered, and mixed. Elliott plays bass on “Laughter.” Sally Tapanen provides the tap dance on “The Vatican Rock.”

14
. Duckler recalls
Menagerie
as the first cassette recorded at Woofbark. In fact, liner notes for
Still Waters
, the preceding album, also reference Woofbark.

15
. “Elliott Smith (1969–2003),”
Willamette Week,
October 29, 2003.
http://wweek.com/editorial/2952/4489
.

16
. Kagler, “Elliott Smith: Better Off Than Dead.”

17
. Steve Pickering recorded this jam session and very kindly made the recording available to me.

18. All these quotes are derived from Lincoln High School yearbooks during the years Elliott attended.

19
. See
Taking Root
, a 1985 Hampshire guide sponsored by the Advising and Alumni Relations offices, by Mark Tuchman and Barbara Kann.

20
. Ibid.

21
. This student was Ethan Lewis.

22
. Interview Neil Karras, June 22, 2012.

23
. Tracks were as follows: A side—“Expectation,” “Small Talk,” “Key Biscayne,” “This Bed,” “Catholic.” B side—“Fifteen Minutes,” “The Real Thing,” “Slapstick,” “Clark Bar,” “Bald Faced Lie.” Engineering was by both Lash and Karras, all songs written by Garrick Duckler and Elliott Smith, except for “Small Talk,” credited to the entire band. Date of release is 1989.

24
. Autumn de Wilde,
Elliott Smith
(San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2007).

25
. Ibid.

1
. SP Clarke, “History of Portland Rock,”
http://www.spclarke.com/?page_id=20
.

2
. Ibid.

3
. Ibid.

4
. Interview Tony Lash, October 28, 2011.

5
. Interview Pete Krebs, January 24, 2012.

6
. Interview Jason Mitchell, January 7, 2012.

7
. The B side was “Day-Glo” (or “Joe Louis Punchout”). The record was produced by Mike Lastra and Hazel in July 1992. The cover has Hazel at the top in orange, above swirling flames obscuring some naked background bacchanalia. The vinyl itself is also orange.

8
. For the record, there was one prior release, but under a subsidiary label called Wahini Records. This was, officially and nominally, pre–Cavity Search. The first seven-inch was by Jerry Joseph. Swofford calls it a “guinea pig” effort, a sort of testing of the waters to see whether they could actually do what they set out to do.

9
. Kagler, “Elliott Smith: Better Off Than Dead.”

10
. Interview Brandt Peterson, December 4, 2011.

11
. Neil Gust interview, “Five Years Later,” Oregon Public Broadcasting, “Think Out Loud” series, October, 2008.

12
. Interview Jason Mitchell, January 7, 2012.

13
. See Elaine Beebe, “Punked Out: Half of Heatmiser’s Songs Are Straight,”
The Tribune
, May 5, 1994.

14
. Abernathy, William “Yellow Heat,”
The Rocket
, May 25–June 8, 1994, Issue #182.

15
. See Elaine Beebe, “Punked Out: Half of Heatmiser’s Songs Are Straight,”
The Tribune
, May 5, 1994.

16
. Ibid.