Elliott Smith - Acoustic Versions, Volume 1: 1996-1998

I've posted six albums of Elliott Smith stray tracks. That's all I have in terms of original songs that didn't go on any of his studio albums of the time. But I have a lot of other material of his to post.

Such as this album. If you've been following this blog, you've probably noticed I have a special affinity for acoustic music. Smith's music was usually acoustic-based to begin with. But this album strips him down to the bone, usually just him and an acoustic guitar. This is the first of three albums I have like this. They're split according to chronological order.

Eleven of the 18 songs here were done in the studio. A few are recording session outtakes, but most are from in-person appearances at radio stations. The remaining seven songs were done in concert. But the recordings are so excellent that you can hardly tell the difference. Nearly all the songs here are unreleased, but of the seven done live, four of those have been officially released, and their sound is outstanding.

Thus, what you get is essentially Smith playing his best songs from his early years in a solo acoustic style, as if he was playing in your living room. All his best known songs from 1996 to 1998 are here. I was careful to keep digging until I found excellent versions of all the biggies. If there are some that are missing, they're probably on the next album in this series, as that has a few songs from his 1998 album "XO" on it.

01 Between the Bars (Elliott Smith)
02 Pretty Mary K [Other Version] (Elliott Smith)
03 Bottle Up and Explode [Piano Version] (Elliott Smith)
04 Antonio Carlos Jobim (Elliott Smith)
05 Say Yes (Elliott Smith)
06 The Morning After (Elliott Smith)
07 Division Day (Elliott Smith)
08 The Biggest Lie (Elliott Smith)
09 2;45 AM (Elliott Smith)
10 Alameda (Elliott Smith)
11 Pictures of Me (Elliott Smith)
12 Angeles (Elliott Smith)
13 Some Song (Elliott Smith)
14 Bled White (Elliott Smith)
15 Clementine (Elliott Smith)
16 Sweet Adeline (Elliott Smith)
17 Miss Misery [Piano Version] (Elliott Smith)
18 I Didn't Understand [Piano Version] (Elliott Smith)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16375925/ELLITTSMTH1996-1998AcustcVrsonsVlume1_atse.zip.html

The cover art comes from a concert poster. I'm not sure what year it's from, since I believe it's from an annual Portland event called the Rose Parade. I replaced some text between the legs with the album title.