The Witzard Presents: Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique 30th Anniversary All-around Breakdown, Part III (PB30 B-sides & Remixes)
First and foremost: I would like to take this opportunity to extend a very special "THANK YOU!" to Jesse Dangerously, John "Jumbled" Bachman, Pat "Pecue" Quinn, Dan LeRoy, Paolo Gilli, Nate LeBlanc, Height Keech, Joshua Rogers, Sahan Jayasuriya, Danny Cheap Date, Emceein' Eye, KID ACNE, Jeremy Shatan, clint. AKA salk. Myrrow's Outlet, Awkward, Jim Mahfood AKA FOODONE, Steve Baril, DJ Bacon, David "unheard78" Taylor, bigfatlove at Beastiemania.com, BRZOWSKI, Harvey Cliff MC, and Jay "Hawk" Myers at Beastie Family for their parts in helping create and put together this comprehensive track-by-track breakdown in honor of the recent 30th anniversary of the Beastie Boys' July 1989 sophomore album, Paul's Boutique.
Make sure to Follow @JesseDangrsly, @NapalmDef, @Pecuedesign, @danleroy, @natejleblanc, @Heightkeech, @pathilluminated, @sahanicyouth, @dontpanicrecs, @emceeineye, @AnEarful, @myrrowsoutlet, @AwkwardUK, @JimMahfood, @SteveBaril, @unheard78, @TheRealDJBacon, @BRZOWSKI, and @HarveyCliffMC on Twitter, as well as @NoSkillsPhotography, @murgatroyd, and @rat_eyed_blues on Instagram. The Beasties very recently re-released a series of six widely unheard/unreleased Paul's Boutique-era EP's digitally; plus, they're currently hosting Deluxe Edition 12-inch/2xLP pre-order bundles for Paul's Boutique, Ill Communication, Root Down EP, and To The 5 Boroughs re-issues on their site.
Sincerely,
Matt "The Witzard" Horowitz
AKA @SharpCheddar856
Founder & Senior Writer
2. "Caught In The Middle of A 3-way Mix" By: Steve "SB" Baril (FKA S. Dot, CaliMass)
"I remember hearing Paul's Boutique [PB] demos for the first time in the mid-90's. After listening to that album and Check Your Head thoroughly over the course of six years, the demos were a fresh and exciting discovery, offering some insight into the Beastie Boys' & The Dust Brothers' initial/alternate approaches to that led them to create the final versions for the PB album. My exposure to the PB demos and B-sides were in the form of bootleg CD's that my wife found at Al Bum's, a local Amherst, MA institution known best for selling Doc Martens and a killer selection of hard-to-find and rare import releases.
I listened to these ("new" to me) versions of classic PB cuts over and over again. I liked the fact that they were not just edited versions of the album cuts and they included "new" sounds and samples that were different and "new" to me, at the time.
On "Caught In The Middle of A 3-Way Mix," the first thing you hear is a clip of the "Ask for Janice" radio commercial for Paul's Boutique. This is, presumably, the recording of the actual radio ad they would have heard originally—a woman with a Jamaican patois accent saying, "that's Paul's Boutique... ask for Janice when you call there... for the best in Men's clothing..."
So, right away, you feel like you just experienced the original source as The Beasties would have, imagining [you're] there with them, listening to this radio commercial and thinking, "we need to use this for the album!" Think about it; a moment in time where they and The Dust Brothers are full-on looking for anything and everything to sample and use for the album. It's fitting that they would end up creating a 9-track collage at the end of the album titled "B-Boy Bouillabaisse" with "Ask for Janice" serving as the introduction.
Then, we get the familiar drums of "Stop That Train." Recognizable and nothing different to start. But, then, you hear all three Beasties going in and not trading back-and-forth, as they do on the album version. It's a perfect display of how they went about recording "Stop That Train," where each Beastie rapping every lyric, with this version they try out how it would sound just leaving all three going with no edits. What's cool about this (slightly messy and looser) version is you can really get a sense of each of their cadences, as compared to each other. The title captures this. As a listener, you are caught between listening to all three Boys rapping at the same time. It requires multiple listens, since you, literally, can't tune into all three at the same time. It sounds like a demo and that's precisely the point. We get a sneak peak into the journey this song took from beginning to end.
Musically, "Caught..." utilizes the same components as "Stop That Train," starting with the now-famous drums from "Save The World" by Southside Movement. The intro is slightly different than the album cut. Here, there are is a 4-bar intro with the drums and then, the familiar "stop that train, I wanna get off.." sample from "Draw Your Brakes" by Scotty from The Harder They Come Soundtrack. Then, all three Beastie Boys come in, all recorded separately and played back as one. In the background, we can hear scratching of some of the horn parts—this is another difference compared to the final version of the album track. At the end of the track, they let the drums play out with some effects coming in and out. I can imagine they (The Dust Brothers & The Beasties) being besides themselves, reveling in the Funkiness of these drums and not wanting them to end. This version stands on its own and The Beasties' catalog is better for it."
3. "And What You Give Is What You Get" By: Myrrow's Outlet (FKA TT5BR)
"The "Hey Ladies" video was on heavy rotation on MTV Europe around the same time, Love American Style EP became available. After the album was released, "Shake Your Rump" would appear just every now and then. The "Shadrach" video was even more rare to catch, but most annoyingly... "the single" never became available where I lived. Fast-forward to seeing them live for the first time during the Check Your Head tour: they get to "Shadrach," oh, yes!... but... wait... the beat sounds different compared to the album version: more and alternative loops, extra switch-ups, breakdowns, etc. Crazy! This must be some type of special edit they did for live shows! Every time I would tell friends about the show, I would tell them about the special "Shadrach" edit. Never questioned my initial assumption, until years later, I finally came across the "Shadrach" "single," which is, actually, called An Exciting Evening at Home with Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego and is, actually, an EP. I get home, put it on my turntable, turn up the volume, and when "And What You Give Is What You Get" comes on... what?... wait... no way! It's the special "Shadrach" live show edit! Full-circle. Surely, made for an exciting evening at home!"
5. "Some Dumb Cop Gave Me Two Tickets Already" By: bigfatlove (Beastiemania.com)
"The cool thing about "Some Dumb Cop Gave Me Two Tickets Already" is that it is the first track we ever got from the Beastie Boys that was both previously unreleased AND completely different from every other release prior, in that it was completely new. From Pollywog Stew through Licensed to Ill, we were treated to standard album versions, edited versions, extended versions, instrumentals, and acapella versions. Even though the "Hey Ladies" (Love American Style EP) singles introduced instrumental remixes, those were only tracks that were different versions of pre-existing material. As a 17-year-old kid listening to the "Shadrach" cassette single and finding out there was more to find from my favorite band, was amazing. Adding a throwaway track/non-album cut to a single was remarkable... as in "why am I so happy to hear Mike D talking sh*t with weird vocal effects over a loop from a deep cut from a 1968 single?" The answer to that is uniquely Beastie."
6. "Your Sister's Def" By: bigfatlove (Beastiemania.com)
"As a deep cut only, "Your Sister's Def" is completely uncompelling. It features no Beastie Boys members, has no music, other than a minimalist beat supplied by what sounds like a metronome, and contains misogynistic lyrics. I think, the Beastie Boys might go so far as to put this one as #1 on their list of regrets, along with "Fight for Your Right," "Girls," and "She's On It." That is a 2019 review. The track is completely unremarkable, unless, it is taken in historical context. The context is that as late as 1989, the Beastie Boys were still not fully aware of (and committed to) using their platform to empower and appreciate women. This happened before MCA broke his nine, Ad-Rock met a fervent feminist with whom he fell in love, and Mike D gave one single sh*t about living a vegan lifestyle. Looking back, I am sure they are not happy that it exists. From a historical perspective, it shows that the progression from "frat" rappers to socially-conscious mavericks was a journey, of sorts. For that, I am happy we have it."
3. "33% God" By: BRZOWSKI (Milled Pavement Records, The Vinyl Cape, D-FAZ)
"The Beasties' lyrics have not aged well in many cases, but I can't draw a similar appraisal of their choice of (I'm assuming) Dust Brothers' production on this B-side. "33% God," essentially, an extended instrumental take on "Shake Your Rump," is a gorgeous slab of sample-stacked classic Funk and seminal Hip-Hop, with the swinging drum breaks/fills alone being worth the jacked-up price of vinyl off a yellowed record-store wall. Snippets of Marley Marl, [Afrika] Bambaataa, Rose Royce (the Car Wash Soundtrack has been picked clean since,) and a half-dozen less recognizable thieveries are here, collaged with masterful skill. If this song is new to you, but sounds familiar, it's because you've heard some of your favorites racking from the same records 30 years on. We are none the poorer for it."
4. "Dis Yourself In '89 (Just Do It)" By: Joshua Rogers (Illuminated Paths, Broken Machine Films Presents...)
"from the LOVE AMERICAN STYLE (LAS) EP, circa PAUL'S BOUTIQUE-era beastie boys' sound comes "DIS YOURSELF '89 (JUST DO IT)" a dj remix of "HEY LADIES" only found on the LAS EP. a true early dj mixology by the great and powerful DUST BROTHERS, showcasing talents that went above and beyond a mere backing of beasties. adding the "break dance" lyric in their signature robot voice, the DUST BROTHERS get down on pushing this already party scene track into a dj mix-a-thon to user in the 90's; was more than thrilled in the early days of napster and my youth to find this gem, considering, at the time, i was only privy to the readily-available beastie boys main albums. [i] have always been a fan of hearing and experiencing an artist/bands' evolution. those in-between album tracks and demos that are almost always a prelude or glimpse into that new sound the artist is working towards. and "DIS YOURSELF '89 (JUST DO IT)" is certainly no exception. cowbell is always called for in these types of situations."
* CLICK HERE TO READ PART I (SIDE A) OF #PB30! *
** CLICK HERE TO READ PART II (SIDE B) OF #PB30!! **
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