My Beloved Alcoholic Saint (rarities anthology 82-18)

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think anybody has got that, so choice wouldn't have come into it. It's been properly buried, for whatever reason.

I've never seen that one, but then again there a quite a few tracks (c.20) that are rumoured to exist, & some (c.6 which I'm aware of) which are known of, but are sadly & simply unavailable.
 
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think anybody has got that, so choice wouldn't have come into it. It's been properly buried, for whatever reason.
Morrissey said a couple of years ago that he himself doesn't even have a copy of it and doesn't know if anyone still has one, so yes, it would have been quite difficult to include it here since it hasn't leaked.
 
I had a thread running a while back when I did a similar project to Jackpots, and, at the time, discovered there were these 6 which were known of but apparently didn't exist anywhere (i.e. unreleased & unavailable):

Action Man
Diana Dors
Hanratty
I Don't Want Us To Finish
I Know Who I Love
I'm Looking Forward To Going Back

I wasn't aware of A Fool Such As I so I'll add this to my list.
 
A bit more info: "(Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I" is an Elvis cover that was recorded by The Smiths during the last b-side session they did in May 1987. Its existence has been confirmed by producer Grant Showbiz as well as both Morrissey and Marr but it is said to be a very rough demo.
 
A bit more info: "(Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I" is an Elvis cover that was recorded by The Smiths during the last b-side session they did in May 1987. Its existence has been confirmed by producer Grant Showbiz as well as both Morrissey and Marr but it is said to be a very rough demo.

Thanks for that info GAWNL...so it was a Smiths b-side as opposed to Moz.
I'll take it off my list then.
 
"(Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I"

This cover of an Elvis Presley song was recorded in May 1987 at Firehouse Studios, Streatham (London) with Grant Showbiz as producer. It was meant to be used as an eventual b-side to a single from "Strangeways Here We Come". The first few bars of the recording were accidentally erased by an engineer and the song remains unreleased to this day.

Wraps things up I think.
 
While we're on the topic, I might as well add the info given by Goddard in Songs That Saved Your Life:

"Besides the ill-omened Cilla Black cover ‘Work Is A Four-Letter Word’ and the last Morrissey/Marr original, ‘I Keep Mine Hidden’, a handful of unfinished demos were also committed to tape, including a cover of Elvis Presley’s ‘(Now And Then There’s) A Fool Such As I’.
‘There was an Elvis song with a little bit of lyric’ says Showbiz, ‘half a song maybe, a very bad run through and a few other rough ideas. I had the tapes for a couple of years until I gave them back to Johnny for security. If he had any sense he probably burned them.’ Marr also confirms the existence of ‘A Fool Such As I’: ‘It’s true that we did it, but I didn’t like the song very much.’
Elvis had recorded his version in 1958 as one of several stockpiled tracks to be released at regular intervals while he was serving in the US army. The song wasn’t a hit until the following year, reaching number one in the UK on 15th May 1959, the week before Morrissey was born, and remaining there for another month. This historic detail almost certainly influenced Morrissey’s decision to tackle ‘A Fool Such As I’. It’s just as likely he saw in its lyrics a chance to vocalise his most private feelings about Marr’s potential departure; from its opening apology of ‘Pardon me if I’m sentimental when we say goodbye, don’t be angry with me should I cry’, to the more profound admission, ‘You taught me how to love, and now you say that we are through/I’m a fool, but I’ll love you dear until the day I die.’ According to Showbiz, ‘A Fool Such As I’ never saw the light of day because an engineer accidentally wiped off the first verse."



And the quote by Morrissey from a 2016 interview with news.com.au where he acknowledges its existence (he's wrong of course, there are other Smiths songs/demos that haven't been released yet, A Matter Of Opinion is one of them):

Q: "To your knowledge is there anything enticing left in the Smiths’ vaults that could be housed on potential future reissues?"

M: "Only a cover of Elvis Presley’s A Fool Such As I. I don’t even have a copy of it, but I expect it will spring out one day ... when I’m on a life-support machine."
 
Last edited:
Q: "To your knowledge is their anything enticing left in the Smiths’ vaults that could be housed on potential future reissues?"

M: "Only a cover of Elvis Presley’s A Fool Such As I. I don’t even have a copy of it, but I expect it will spring out one day ... when I’m on a life-support machine."

Haha, love it, typical Moz.
 
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think anybody has got that, so choice wouldn't have come into it. It's been properly buried, for whatever reason.

The information that I have been given suggests that the song is available. Have not had the free time to obtain it.
 
Interesting. What information is this?
That would be news to some of us collecting for the last almost 40 years - a couple of people in the UK have been privy to a few of the unshared tracks via tapes being played to them, but this track isn't one of them.
I don't think there's ever been a rarity I've been involved with (or others here) that simply required some time to go collect.
That track & the instrumentals from the Firehouse sessions haven't even been rumoured to have seen the light of day.
Regards,
FWD.
 
That would be news to some of us collecting for the last almost 40 years - a couple of people in the UK have been privy to a few of the unshared tracks via tapes being played to them, but this track isn't one of them.
I don't think there's ever been a rarity I've been involved with (or others here) that simply required some time to go collect.
That track & the instrumentals from the Firehouse sessions haven't even been rumoured to have seen the light of day.
Regards,
FWD.
I'm fairly certain that VH either has it or claims to have heard it. At least I remember her saying that, but I could be wrong.
 
I'm fairly certain that VH either has it or claims to have heard it. At least I remember her saying that, but I could be wrong.
That would be interesting - don't think it's been discussed here at that level - willing to be optimistic, but equally expecting another 40 years to pass and nothing has changed :)
Regards,
FWD.
 
That would be interesting - don't think it's been discussed here at that level - willing to be optimistic, but equally expecting another 40 years to pass and nothing has changed :)
Regards,
FWD.
I mean who really knows. I trust her. I'm almost positive she said something like that, though.
 
That would be news to some of us collecting for the last almost 40 years - a couple of people in the UK have been privy to a few of the unshared tracks via tapes being played to them, but this track isn't one of them.
I don't think there's ever been a rarity I've been involved with (or others here) that simply required some time to go collect.
That track & the instrumentals from the Firehouse sessions haven't even been rumoured to have seen the light of day.
Regards,
FWD.
Yes, that was my understanding, FWD.
 
What a fantastic compilation....Hats off to you Mr Jackpots....thanks for a fantastic effort
 
Back
Top Bottom