I love elliott smith the first song I heard of his was after he'd already died called lets get lost I thought wow this guy writes great melodies and he is such a genius with lyrics I own nearly all his stuff now and any guy that can make beck brake down had to be a talent.

lonelyalien said:

gandorb said:

lonelyalien said:

I love elliott smith the first song I heard of his was after he'd already died called lets get lost I thought wow this guy writes great melodies and he is such a genius with lyrics I own nearly all his stuff now and any guy that can make beck brake down had to be a talent.

Yes, I've been a fan ever since I heard him on the Good Will Hunting soundtrack. I was really saddened and upset by his death, and have mostly stayed away from his music since then. Your thread has motivated me to play his music again.

you wont be dissapointed it is sad what happened to him but he was a troubled addict.

I would bring Figure 8 with me to a desert island.

great album I prefer either or and from a basement on a hil personally.

Identity said:

I would bring Figure 8 with me to a desert island.

I like how he recorded his vocals and how he has these raw emotional acoustic songs. I was sad when he died. He wrote some great songs. "Independence Day" is possibly my favorite.

Identity said:

I would bring Figure 8 with me to a desert island.

Agreed. And, Elliott Smith occupies space in my list of favorite pop songwriters:

Paul McCartney
Stevie Wonder
Prince
Van Hunt
Elliott Smith

My favorite Elliott Smith songs:

"Everything Reminds Me of Her"
"Stupidity Tries"
"Happiness"
"Shooting Star"
"St. Ides Heaven"
"Waltz 2 (XO)"
"Can't Make a Sound"

SuperFurryAnimal said:

I like how he recorded his vocals and how he has these raw emotional acoustic songs. I was sad when he died. He wrote some great songs. "Independence Day" is possibly my favorite.

He's definitely an influence on me vocally. I like singing R&B but I don't have that muscular
or elastic voice we normally associate with modern R&B singing so I usually produce my vocals
the way Smith did: double-tracked (two discrete takes) with reverb and/or delay or double
tracked (one take but one pushed forward slightly) with reverb and/or delay.

I believe that is a recording technique he picked up from the Beatles.

Fuck, I forgot to include:

"I Better Be Quiet Now"

It is fucking obscene how talented this guy was. What a loss.

I'm tearing up right now. I hope he found peace.

I remember reading so many times no one could figure out how he recorded double tracked vocals perfectly in sync he was super talented.

lonelyalien said:

I remember reading so many times no one could figure out how he recorded double tracked vocals perfectly in sync he was super talented.

Well, if he recorded one vocal take and another discrete take perfectly, you wouldn't be able
to tell because it would sound like one take. What he most likely did was record one vocal take
and another one that was along the same lines. I do it all the time; Lennon popularized it be-
cause he was not a belter like McCartney so he would thicken his vocal tracks by doubling them.
Smith did the same. The reason why Smith's vocal production is so cool is because the quality
of his voice was unique and fit in nicely with his complex piano/guitar arrangements.

Smith is not a great singer: if you listen to him live without the aid of a studio, you'll hear what is
a pretty thin voice. But, in the studio, you can compensate for that. He was a really, really talented
musician who worked very hard. Yet, there is no mystery in how and why he double-tracked his
voice . . .