The Fakebook Originals

A long time ago an obscure "band" from New Jersey recorded a wonderful little collection of obscure songs from an even longer time ago (with a few of their own compositions thrown in for good measure). That band grew up to be Yo La Tengo.

Yo La Tengo's wonderful little collection of tunes appeared on a gem of an album called Fakebook, which has long been a favorite of mine. This weeked I finally decided to dig up all of the original versions of the songs covered on Fakebook. Most of them I already had, but special thanks go out to Dean, Lance, and Robert for sending over that hard-to-find Escorts track. Thanks guys!

The eleven tracks lovingly covered on Fakebook are the kind of music known to cause giddiness among record store clerks. It's a veritable music nerd’s dream. The Fakebook liner notes (re-printed here along with a nice album review) confirm that Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley are avid fans of obscure pop, which explains why this collection so nice. Out of all the “original” album posts at STWOF, I think the “original” Fakebook probably stands up best, on its own terms, as a mixed collection. These songs, which span a two-decade period from 1963 to 1985, sound great together (even if you’ve never heard YLT's Fakebook).

So, without further ado, here are the Fakebook “originals.” (As usual, these aren’t all the very first versions of the songs, but we know from the liner notes that these are the versions which inspired Yo La Tengo):

1. The Unholy Modal Rounders - Griselda (buy). [Check out Brendan’s album review of the Have Moicy! LP over at The Rising Storm.]

2. The Tremeloes – Here Comes My Baby (buy) [Read the AMG band biography.]

3. The Scene Is Now – Yellow Sarong (buy) [Read the AMG album review.]

4. The Flamin’ Groovies – You Tore Me Down (buy) [Read the AMG album review about this power pop classic.]

5. Rex Garvin & The Mighty Cravers - Emulsified (Out Of Print). [Read more about Rex Garvin & The Mighty Cravers at Funky 16 Corners.]

6. Daniel Johnston – Speeding Motorcycle (buy) [Read the AMG artist biography.]

7. The Flying Burrito Brothers – Tried So Hard (buy) [While the original Gene Clark version (here) is the gold standard, the FBB version is really growing on me. It's nice and easy. Read the AMG album review.]

8. The Kinks – Oklahoma U.S.A. (buy) [Yay! As you may know, I love the Kinks best. Read the AMG album review.]

9. The Escorts – The One To Cry (buy) [As I mentioned, this one was hard to find. The Escorts get trashed pretty badly by AMG--and even in the Fakebook liner notes!--but I like this track.]

10. John Cale - Andalucia (buy) [Read the AMG album review.]

11. NRBQ – What Can I Say? (buy) [Read the AMG album review. This is a great end-of-the-night song.]

Bonus:
Now enjoy a couple of the original composition appearing on Fakebook:

Yo La Tengo – Can’t Forget
Yo La Tengo – The Summer

(buy Fakebook)