“Zep Jamb” was a 2001 early Maladroit demo.  It is similar in sound to most of the ‘droit tracks of the era, but the title leads one to assume that Rivers was in some way influenced by Led Zeppelin when writing this song.  Further indication of this is that the lyrics “Lay money down” are repeated throughout the song, which is a very similar line to “you better lay your money down,” which is a lyric from the Zeppelin song “Living Loving Maid.” 

One of the earliest known Make Believe Demos, “Everybody Wants a Chance to Feel All Alone” was written at some point in 2002.  It was originally titled “Furthest of Seas.”  This recording of the song is said to be from the same session as other acoustic early M.B. demos such as “I Can Love,” “Rat Race,” and “Story of my Life.” 

“Jamie” was a song written and recorded in 1993, and released as the b-side to “Buddy Holly” in 1994.  The song is written as a thank you to the band’s lawyer at the time, Jamie Young.  This was one of the last songs that Jason Cropper played on before he left the band, and is one of the very few officially released songs featuring him on guitar instead of Brian.

The song for today, “Mykel and Carli,” was written in 1993 as a tribute to the two biggest weezer fans at the time, and possibly of all time, Mykel and Carli Allen.  The song was officially released in 1994 as the b-side to “Undone – The Sweater Song,” and again as a bonus track on 2004’s Deluxe Edition of the Blue Album.  The song was played numerous times live over the years.  Unfortunately, in 1997 the sisters passed away, and Rivers played the song along at a tribute concert to them.  This was the retiring of the song, and it has not been played live since.  Their passing, along with the poor sales and reception of Pinkerton, is what is rumored to have lead to the 1997-1999 hiatus of weezer.  When weezer did finally make their big comeback in 2001 with the Green Album, the album was dedicated to Mykel and Carli.

“Starlight” was released in 2001 as the b-side to the Green Album’s “Hash Pipe.”  Originally intended to be on the Green Album, “Starlight” was one of the handful of tracks that leaked before Green was released in what many thought was a 14 track final layout to the Green Album.

During the AOL sessions in 2009, weezer made some unique song choices asides from the standard of playing singles off the latest album.  One of these choices was a cover of Green Day’s “Brain Stew.”  Accompanied by a pianist and Josh Freese on drums, Rivers gives us a very nice rendition of a popular song.  Enjoy!

The song for today is another 2001 ‘droit demo, “Saturday Night.”  Two versions of this song exist, one featuring bassist Mikey Welsh (featured here) and the other version has bassist Scott Shriner playing on it.  The second version can be heard in the youtube link attached here, and is certainly closer in sound to what Maladroit ended up being.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E27wosZGVlQ

“Your Room” was a maladroit demo written in 2001.  Musically, it is very much of the era, and the heavy guitar line running through the song fits in perfectly with the other Maladroit songs and demos.

Recorded in 2001, “Puerto Vallarta” is a nice instrumental band from the ‘droit era.  Although it was a contender for release on Maladroit, it didn’t make it to the album and has not been officially released on any format.  A later song called “Acapulco” used the same instrumentation, but contained added lyrics.

Recorded in 1999, “Velouria” was cover originally preformed by The Pixies.  It was released on a Pixies tribute album called “Where is My Mind” in 1999.  This song marks the first officially released weezer track with the recently deceased Mikey Welsh on bass!