Talk:John Henry Demos

The ASCN demo on here is not the same one as the one on Clock Radio.. new page? I'm not sure about the Meet James Ensor demo, but I think it's different as well.

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Think this means that Ondine was originally supposed to be on John Henry? ~Anna Ng hears your words. 22:28, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Nope. Back to Skull and John Henry were recorded together, as TMBG does with many of their EPs. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 22:48, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Yeah I imagine whatever didn't make the final cut for John Henry was placed on the EP. They must have been cut due to time restraints, as all the B-sides on this EP were at least as good if not better than some of the tracks on the actual album. --Oddjob 18:45, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Mrs. Train and Hotel Detective

Love the info about all the songs recorded during the JHD sessions! Would it be likely that Mrs. Train and Hotel Detective would've been recorded during these sessions? Also judging by drums I think Tango Distorto would have been a part of these sessions, seems like a rehearsal instrumental they would've done, like the Severe Tire Damage theme. It also has the same drums as the other JHD tracks. - Mrsomebodyelse (talk) 19:52, 21 May 2024 (EDT)

I maybe should've noted this in the article. Far as I can tell, those 2 songs were recorded after John Henry in a separate set of sessions. Though they were in the same studios as the JH demos- Excello & Skyline. Flansburgh talks about it here and here: "The b sides were tracked later, but I think at the same studios as where we did the John Henry prep. I don’t think any of it was finished for the album." I agree about Tango, sounds to me like a warmup thing. I figure Hey Everybody was recorded around this time too but thats just an assumption. --Batwho (talk) 03:33, 22 May 2024 (EDT)

It would make sense given the timing, but it also feels to me like Mrs. Train could've also been a rehearsal of some kind? Maybe as a way to test the band's speed? Either that or it was just a fun song they wanted to do after the JH sessions were over. I don't think Hey Everybody is from the JHD or the JH sessions, they started playing it long after the JH stuff was done and it sounds to me like it would've been recorded at one of the studios they were floating in and out of during 1999-2001, same studios where they made LTW, Mink Car and No!, given it was on eMusic Freebies. - Mrsomebodyelse (talk) 06:50, 22 May 2024 (EDT)

I hear what you're saying with Mrs. Train, but tbh that quote from Flansburgh's pretty definitive to me. We don't have much info about this stuff, assumptions have to be made, and personally that quote feels conclusive enough. Though Train does sound a lot more like Ondine than Hotel Detective. Maybe they started it one place and finished it somewhere else, idk. With Hey Everybody -- it was only played in 1994, so I just assume it was recorded round then. That live version is in a weird embryonic state, which could mean it was expanded on & recorded later (or it could mean nothing). Would they have brought it back after 5+ years to record it? I dunno, and I don't want to rule out anything. If we could ID the Dave that Linnell mentions at the start, we might have an answer! --Batwho (talk) 13:11, 22 May 2024 (EDT)