Photos: Jonathan Perry
Catbirdman’s ultimate hero, Lee Mavers, appears to have poked his head out his door – Open the Door! – this past May, and photographer Jonathan Perry was there to take some pictures. In lieu of new music, then, we have a reminder of what might have been, again…
Last I heard, Lee was still trying to get his guitar in tune. It hasn’t yet reached perfect dogstar velocity, or whatever it is he calls it when he gets the universe in tune. Flying in the face of chaos theory, Lee put out some perfect pop gems in the late ’80s, though if he had his way none of them would have come out. They weren’t perfect enough. As if anyone could pick the bones out of “There She Goes.”
It seems fitting to litter this post with scraps. Here’s a song that Lee left unfinished, called “I Am The Key.” It falls in the tradition of those Mavers songs where a cosmic concern is personified by the transcendent power of a singer in a rock and roll band. “I am the toiler of the old ship-slave.” “I’m in everybody / everybody’s in me.” “I am the key.” “Man, I’m only Human.” And so on. Spoon saw fit to cover this song, and while it doesn’t stray far from the patchy blueprint of the original, it’s a nice rarity.
The La’s: I Am The Key (Tim Grundy Key 103 Session)
Spoon: I Am The Key
Here’s another taste of what a second La’s album might have sounded like: a 1989 rehearsal of a song called “Tears In The Rain.” Contrast it with the 1986 demo version and you can see how Mavers reinvented it almost from scratch. Neither version is up to par sonically, but then nothing is, in the mind of Lee Mavers.
The La’s: Tears In The Rain (1989 Rehearsal)
The La’s: Tears In The Rain (1986 Rehearsal)
Finally, to do Mr. Mavers some justice, here’s a song that actually made it onto the airwaves of the public, into the ears of the masses, all stamped with a barcode and everything. I bought mine over the counter. It’s one of the tracks that producer Steve Lillywhite got right all those years ago, on the La’s self-titled album with the bewildering eyeball on the front. Enjoy now the irresistable shuffle and the inspirational, emancipational lyric of “Liberty Ship.”