"A Terrific Document of early Fall" is what the Fall website have said
about this forthcoming "Fall Live At Deeply Vale"CD out June 2005.
Ozit Records kindly sent me a preview CDR of the July 22, 1978 Deeply Vale
festival gig they're releasing later this month. I'd not heard this gig before
and I was delighted to hear that a tape had surfaced, since decent-sounding
recordings of pre-Dragnet Fall gigs are not particularly common.
Although the sound is not perfect (there's tape hiss, a murky rumbling sound
during the first couple of tracks, and on the whole the sound's a bit "thin";
you might want to play around with your EQ settings on playback), this is a
terrific document of the early Fall. I'd guess the CD was sourced from a master
or first-generation audience tape made on a handheld recorder. Mark is on fine,
belligerent form, and fortunately the vocals are clear and upfront throughout.
There's plenty of Mark's sarky between-song banter (e.g. "We like to be in tune,
this being our first experience of open air festivals" and "A song of contrasts,
for my mother and my sister." He also adopts a piss-taking American accent for
three of the song intros.) I wouldn't describe the Fall as a particularly tight
outfit on this afternoon performance (Yvonne's keyboards in particular are not
always in time) but it hardly matters, since this show is all about Mark's
vocals and Martin's scratchy guitar (Karl's drums and Riley's bass are somewhat
buried). The highlight for me is a haunting, sinister ‘Frightened’. The tape
sounds to me a little too fast during ‘Music Scene’ and finally runs out at the
end, so we're missing the second half of this song.
There's a little bonus track tacked onto the end -- a medley of snippets of
studio or rehearsal versions of ‘Psycho Mafia’, ‘Dresden Dolls’ and ‘Industrial
Estate’. These might have been extracted from the ‘Dresden Dolls’ bootleg
single, although I don't *think* I've heard this version of ‘Dresden Dolls’ with
un-Fall-like funky keyboards before. Anyway, it's short (2:16), sweet, and has
very good sound.
Thanks To Stefan from the Fall website for this advanced review!
A tumultuous marriage, perhaps... The Fall and Deeply Vale seemed perfectly
matched. Both ferociously idiosyncratic young institutions, both fired by a
heart of intelligence, both ramshackle and aloof. No other band quite like The
Fall, no other festival quite like Deeply Vale. The former governed by the ebbs
and flows of Mark Ј. Smith’s despotic nature, the latter governed by, among
others, Chris Hewitt's unshackled enthusiasm. Both band and festival seemed
beyond genre and, incredibly for the time, seemed to make the daft barriers
between hippie and punk wholly invisible. Deeply Vale was an experience. A
'free' festival and a lovable swirl of low budget insanity - arguably the
complete antitheses of latter-day Glastonbury - where the currency was embryonic
talent. Can't say it was entirely ego-free, no festival could claim that. Any
clashing of bands would provide friction, and, in particular, this is applicable
to one of the bands, named The Fall, so ably managed by the gloriously
tempestuous Kay Carroll, feisty to the point of an art form. And so to The Fall
and the performance; Fall fans have long since championed this fiery 1978
appearance, citing misty memories of Mark's angst-laden 'Repetition' and the
ad-lib growling preamble. Loved it back then... strange thing too. When I heard
this set, 27 years later - while lying on the floor of a suburban house in
Northwich, I swear I recalled every sullen mumble, remembered it as it was, word
for word! Really? No, of course not, but that's how it seemed to me. The tape
contained no dulled surprises, it is as good as nostalgia recalls; good enough
to set the Fall fans chunnering away on their extraordinary website
(www.visi.com/thefall). Is there a Deeply Vale CD coming towards us, hurtling
out of that nostalgic fog? Yes, here it is. A big fat brash set, courageously
poetic and - remember - set against the backdrop of a national music scene
seemingly stuck with the kind of Mickey Mouse polemic spouted by The Clash and a
zillion dim detractors.
Nothing dim about this Fall. Living proof of the fire and spice of high-level
working class intelligence. Backed by a gorgeously unfolding band, too, so good,
in fact, that the relationship between The Fall and producer Grant Showbiz - on
tour with Here And Now at the time - would be cemented by this set.
What do we all remember? Sitting on a hillock with a mushroom head and a can of
beer. Myself and a jumble of lads laughing as Mark spits his way through 'I Like
To Blow', itself a conciliatory statement to the hippie elements of the crowd.
It wasn't all so easygoing. 'It's the New Thing' was the hook-laden single that
took a spiteful swipe at high-flying Buzzcocks. And my favourite moment of The
Fall on record - right here, right now, as the young band dips into the
paranoia-inducing 'Frightened'. Knew then that this band would attain such
unlikely longevity. Knew they were going to be around. Knew that both band and
festival would emerge as a triumph of a sheer talent that stretched way beyond
the sycophantic forces of the music biz. It was what it was. Great band, great
festival, great memory.
Mick Middles 2005
