Yo La Tengo - Yellow Sarong (the song remains the same)

photo credit

Continuing with the previous theme of Yo La Tengo and Women's History Month, today I'll focus on one Yo La Tengo's great cover songs: "Yellow Sarong", originally by The Scene Is Now.  My first experience with the song was Yo La Tengo's 1990 LP of covers, "Facebook".  The original version was from The Scene Is Now's 1985 LP "Burn All Your Records".  I prefer the YLT version over TSIN version: that could be because I heard YLT's first, but I also just love YLT and how they remake all the covers in their own idiom.

When Johan and I were practicing for our DJ premiere (ca. 2003), I always tried to find a way to work this song into the set list.  It never worked with what we were shooting for (Thievery Corporation-style, downtempo, coffeehouse jazz), but I kept trying because the song is that much fun.

The live 2015 version on soundcloud (from acidjacknyc) features a good shot of Georgia Hubley, so I chose that as the main image for this post.  I don't know that much about The Scene Is Now, but they do have a female member as well (Sue Garner), so much like my work with Johan, I'm going to shoehorn "Yellow Sarong" into Women's History Month, whether it fits or not, because the song is that much fun...

The Scene Is Now - "Yellow Sarong"
Yo La Tengo - "Yellow Sarong" (studio version), live 2015-10-10, live 2016-09-09

Yo La Tengo - Live KEXP 2013-01-18 (concert)

In the first installment for Women's History Month 2020 I'm going to feature Yo La Tengo, a band that I'm quite fond of but so far have only mentioned in passing.  At the core of YLT is husband and wife team of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals) and Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals).  Active since 1984, their discography includes 15 LPs and countless other releases.  Although Ira is the front man, singing most of the songs and playing guitar, Georgia also sings, and their combination really defines the sound of the band.

Herbert turned me on to Yo La Tengo around 2000, right after "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out" came out.  Herbert is a big fan of Yo La Tengo, but not a fan of Sonic Youth, which I consider strange since I find a lot of similarities in their respective sounds.  Sonic Youth might have a harsher, more aggressive, punk-influenced sound on some songs, but in my opinion if you like one band you'll the other.

This entry is from KEXP's excellent in-studio concert series, where they were supporting 2013's "Fade", one of the few LPs of theirs that I don't have.  Georgia sings on the last song, "Before We Run".

Daniel Johnston - "Speeding Motorcyle" (forgotten song)

Daniel Johnston died this week, and although his passing was marked by many major outlets (for example, NPR and Pitchfork), most people won't recognize his name.  I know him because Yo La Tengo covered "Speeding Motorcycle" on their 1990 "Fakebook" LP, but other people might know him from Kurt Cobain wearing a "Hi, How Are You" t-shirt, or Pearl Jam covering "Walking the Cow".  Combine that with the list of artists who contributed to his 2004 tribute LP "The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered" and you'll get an idea of how he was a songwriter's songwriter. 

Although for a while he had a deal with a major label, most of his early discography were home recorded tapes that he distributed in Austin and other places.  "Speeding Motorcycle" came from his 1983 LP "Yip/Jump Music", his fifth self-released LP and is one of his more "popular" songs due to Yo La Tengo's cover.

His child-like wonderment made him an icon in the lo-fi, DIY scene, similar to another Kurt Cobain favorite, Calvin Johnson/Beat Happening/K Records.  Although they don't explicitly claim an influence, the appeal of Johnston comes from the same lo-fi / garage source that makes "American Weekend" and "Dancer Equired!" mesmerizing to me.

Daniel Johnston - "Speeding Motorcycle"
Yo La Tengo - "Speeding Motorcycle"
Daniel Johnston & Yo La Tengo - "Speeding Motorcycle", 1990*


* Johnston sings over the phone from a mental institution in West Virginia while accompanied by YLT in a radio studio; from Jay Lustig: "Yo La Tengo had just recorded its own version of “Speeding Motorcycle” for its Fakebook album, and WFMU DJ Nick Hill arranged for the collaboration. So Johnston sang over the phone, Yo La Tengo played in the studio, and the results were pretty magical."  Johnston drew the cover art for the resulting single.