Pavement Tuesday #4
“Box Elder” is arguably the song that launched Pavement’s career. It first appeared on the obscure 7-inch, Slay Tracks (1933-1969). Somehow that release found its way into the hands of The Wedding Present, an English band, who decided to record a cover of “Box Elder.” The Wedding Present’s version started getting airplay on John Peel’s influential BBC show, and pretty soon people were asking about the song’s creators. The rest, as they say, is the rest.
The “Box Elder” posted here is not the original from Slay Tracks. I kinda prefer the live version from the Wowee Zowee deluxe reissue. It was recorded in 1994 at Australia’s Triple J radio station. You have to sit through two and a half minutes of the band playing a ZZ Top-meets-Japanese noise rock jam before they start the song, which is pretty funny.
Random fun fact: In their live show, Los Campesinos! play “Box Elder” before segueing into their song “You! Me! Dancing!” Check it out.
