Big Soccer Member bmurphyfl suggested that a thread like this should exist for us to post our favorite John Peel Sessions, in memory of the man. Mercury Rev- Yerself is Steam, various cuts. (1992)
Daaaaaamn. Forgot about that one...the cover of Sly Stone's "If You Want Me To Stay" could be my entry into another thread on these boards.
The reissue of Pavement's Crooked Rain Crooked Rain has reminded me of the Peel session that they did in 94. I used to listen to it on a crappy bootleg so it's nice to have a clean copy of it now. But even with the crappy sound of the bootleg, it was great. Both "Brink of the Clouds" and "The Sutcliffe Catering Song" were much better versions during that session than what Pavement eventually recorded for release. Somehow, the guy often coaxed better performances out of artists than big name producers did.
That's what I always associated with the Peel Sessions. It didn't always happen, but like you said, it usually did.
Yea, but how many of those did he actually do? I remember Morrissey complaining that his first solo Peel Session was a horrible experience because it was just a bunch of newcomer engineers treating it like an assembly line product. Obviously, the early sessions were him, but I remember reading that and getting the idea that he sort of stepped aside from them after a bit.
I don't know how many he did or what kind of influence he had during the later years. But even if he wasn't directly involved, it's possible that his guidance of the newcomers carried on that influence and the general mystique of doing a Peel session may have propelled some of the bands. Isn't Morrissey known for being a bit of a prima dona and complaining?