Alain Whyte: Billy Budd - Safe At Home Sessions (June 12, 2020)

Alain Whyte plays Billy Budd.

Not been a massive fan of all these acoustic versions but this one is great. Alain changes the words to 'now it's 16 years on'. Maybe this means the last time he played with Morrissey?

 

[Anonymous]

Not been a massive fan of all these acoustic versions but this one is great. Alain changes the words to 'now it's 16 years on'. Maybe this means the last time he played with Morrissey?


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Oh he sings '16 years since I last played with you'. Amazing how he gets all those rounds from just one acoystic guitar. Great work, Gordon!

 

[Deleted member 29227]

Brilliant.

 

[Vegan Cro Spirit 444]

?
more Moz and now changing the lyrics written by Moz himself.
how many Moz numbers are still left?

 

[AztecCamera]

I reckon good on ya Pasadena Son m8 tit. I reckon it's a wee snough tossey that the Pasadena Son and the California Son live 30 minutes from each other (without LA traffic) and the California Son completely ignores the Pasadena Son twat chipper curry inn nn n nnn nnn nnn n n n n n it.

 

[NealCassidy]

LaZy sunbathers

 

[Young And Alive]

The lyric change to "sixteen years..." was very thoughtful. I liked that. And he even added the "don't leave us in the dark" bit at the end!

I still hope that one day he'll take to the stage with Morrissey again, even if just for a guest appearance. It's nice to know that they remain in touch with each other, so who knows?

Thanks again, Alain. Keep them coming. This is helping to make lockdown bearable.

 

[Peppermint]

Crackin'.

 

[dneuer]

LaZy sunbathers

?

 

[Mayfly]

Alain's obviously a gifted songwriter because most songs hold up well in a more stripped down version, and I really do appreciate these "safe at home" sessions.
But whether intended or not, these versions also make me appreciate what Morrissey adds to the songs with his distinctive voice and singing style.

 

[Anonymous]

Alain Whyte plays Billy Budd.

Not been a massive fan of all these acoustic versions but this one is great. Alain changes the words to 'now it's 16 years on'. Maybe this means the last time he played with Morrissey?


View attachment 57027

Watch and learn, Jesse Tobias.

 

[Phranc & Open]

Watch and learn, Jesse Tobias.

I wonder how a locked & stripped down version of "Kiss me a lot" by Tobias would be appreciated by the lovers of Morrissey's latter-day stuff.

 

[MozIsGod]

I still hope that one day he'll take to the stage with Morrissey again, even if just for a guest appearance. It's nice to know that they remain in touch with each other, so who knows?

It would be nice, wouldn't it? I doubt it will ever happen again though. Here is a recent conversation between Alain and a fan on one of his YT videos.

Just a Smiths fan 3 weeks ago
As a big brazillian fan of your work, I'd like to ask some questions:
1) Why did you and Morrissey split up?
2) Do you still talk to each other?
3) Is there any possibility for you to work together again? I believe that his best solo albums were made in partnership with you. Thanks for the brilliant work.
Greetings from Brazil.

alain whyte 3 weeks ago
1. Things happen sometimes and I guess it was meant to be.
2. We emailed about a year ago but I haven’t heard from him. There’s no animosity and it was nice to catch up.
3. Who knows. Only if it was the original band, no keyboards. Only if it made sense.

 

[Phranc & Open]

Didn't Moz mention rivalries between the 2 main songwriters and the desire of one of them to appear on the record sleeve beside Moz in his autobiography?

 

[Deleted member 29227]

Didn't Moz mention rivalries between the 2 main songwriters and the desire of one of them to appear on the record sleeve beside Moz in his autobiography?

A quick scan suggests it ended on a sour note (no pun actually intended) with Alain.
A couple of quotes:

Of Kill Uncle Chas confirms: ‘You’ve lost it, but you’ll re-find it.’ I seem to be eternally cased in by friends who give me bad news because they care. Yet Chas introduces me to Boz Boorer, a known face on the British rockabilly scene, and Boz collects guitarist Alain Whyte, who works for Camden Council, Spencer Cobrin, who has a drum kit somewhere and who helps his father out in the family antique shop, and Gary Day, who plays bass and lives with his father in Neasden. They all know each other and they manage a certain harmony together, although Alain nurses an aversion to Boz that creates frequent difficulties. Generally, it works, and all four are essential to me after the session-musician embalming fluid of Kill Uncle.

Life blurs, like newspaper print held too close to the eye. Jesse Tobias, our Mexican panther-like style-baron, is the slick and sleek key to our new presentation. The marriage is perfect. Departed guitarist Alain had curdled somewhat prior to You Are the Quarry when a legal letter arrived demanding that Alain’s face appear on the cover artwork of the new – and every future – Morrissey album. Well, no. Life doesn’t quite work like that, especially not in the land of logic. His lawyers also demanded that Alain be given the right to publish his own book detailing his life with Morrissey. It wasn’t for me to bestow or forbid such rights, but the request certainly made me nervous. I didn’t quite relish the thought of Alain with a notepad watching me as I slept.

As we begin the You Are the Quarry tour in 2004 we say goodbye to Alain, who shuts the door upon himself – taking himself off the road amid fears that he is suffering from exhaustion, which certainly seems to be true. Backstage at the final Alain show in Dublin, he takes me aside and whispers: ‘I know who is planning your downfall. It is not me.’ I stand back and I let chance stirrings take their lead, but as Alain departs we are contractually bound to find an immediate replacement, and we eventually settle with the steely and stylish Jesse Tobias. We had all felt great concern for Alain, but, always knowing too much, I await personal criticism for Alain’s departure – having had no part in it. Assuredly, criticism whistles through the poplar trees soon enough with accusatory emails from Alain, and my only surprise is that I’m surprised. By such gestures I now live, as if whatever you bestow has no value unless the flow is endless, and as soon as your life-giving generosity retires, you are human filth. That’s just the way it goes. Having rescued Alain from the mad-death of his mind-crushing job at Camden Council, he would now cross continents rather than say a hello to me.

2006 sweetens with the news that Ringleader of the Tormentors has entered the UK chart at number 1, which is my third number 1 in three different decades (and still Alain Whyte says nothing).

 

[NealCassidy]

Apologise to Moz AW!

 

[Phranc & Open]

Brrrrr. Sour. Thanks for reminding me on some details, I had displaced.

It doesn't seem to fit his very thankful behaviour and moderate anecdotes towards Morrissey in 2020.

 

[Deleted member 29227]

Brrrrr. Sour. Thanks for reminding me on some details, I had displaced.

It doesn't seem to fit his very thankful behaviour and moderate anecdotes towards Morrissey in 2020.

Indeed.
What we're seeing is the 'public image' of AW...which, as we know, isn't necessarily the real or truthful version, although some will undoubtedly get fooled.
I would love to know the answer to this: ‘I know who is planning your downfall. It is not me.’

 

[Deleted member 29417]

Indeed.
What we're seeing is the 'public image' of AW...which, as we know, isn't necessarily the real or truthful version, although some will undoubtedly get fooled.
I would love to know the answer to this: ‘I know who is planning your downfall. It is not me.’

I'm going to guess... Boz.

 

[Phranc & Open]

According to the descriptions of Morrissey, Alain grabbed the crown in the run-up to Quarry and this manoeuvre was his undoing. He then left Morrissey to save face and gain a foothold as a solo artist, which he is now trying to do again, with massive reference to his Morrissey years.