BOC, tBS: Girl and the real lowdown on IMAGINOS

Here's the lowdown on Imaginos and how the new version of Girl compares to the original. Thanks to the generosity of Mr. Albert Bouchard, I have a copy of Imaginos as he had recorded it. This is the song order on that tape: 1. I am the One You Warned Me Of 2. Imaginos 3. Gil Blanco County 4. Del Rio's Song 5. Blue Oyster Cult 6. Les Invisibles 7. The Girl That Love Made Blind 8. Frankenstein 9. In the Presence of Another World 10. Blue Oyster Cult Reprise 11. Astronomy 12. Magna of Illusion 13. Magna Reprise Albert sings lead vocals on all of these. In his letter to me, he notes that Tommy Mandel plays the organ on the album (although he wasn't credited on the actual disc). In addition, the following musicians played on the following tracks: Don Roeser: acoustic guitar on Gil Blanco County Robbie Kreiger: lead guitar on Magna, Girl, and Blue Oyster Cult Allen Lanier: Synth on Blue Oyster Cult Joe Bouchard, Jeff Kawalik, Corky Stasiak, Helen Wheels, Glen Bell: background vocals Peggy Atkins, Casper McCloud: ending of Frankenstein vocals Albert also tossed a few other gems onto the tape, including The Devil's Hangnail, which features some of the nastiest Patti Smith lyrics for a BOC song....the music was later rearranged and used for The Vigil. I must say, the acoustic guitar on both Gil Blanco and Devil's Hangnail is fantastic...I gained a renewed respect for Donald Roeser after listening to those tracks. The Vigil as recorded for Mirrors greatly simplified the original guitar parts from The Devil's Hangnail. Albert also included his demo for Half Life Time on that tape, which was a song intended for one of the later acts of the Imaginos story...and another amazing Bouchard composition, with some great Pearlman lyrics (a few of which turned up on When the War Comes). Now, as for Girl...well, I must admit to being a bit disappointed by the Brain Surgeons version. It is vastly different from the original Imaginos version of the song. The Imaginos version is a slow, waltz-like piece, with synthesizers and beautiful piano lines. The Brain Surgeons version is almost twice as fast, completely re-orchestrated, and (most amazing to me of all) totally eliminates the 3/4 (or 6/8) time signature and forces the song into a quick 4/4. You're all familiar with Greensleeves, right? Well, imagine taking that song, forcing it into 4/4, and playing it twice as fast as normal, and you'll get some idea of the difference between the Imaginos version of Girl and the new version. Now, the new version is certainly interesting in its own right, but, given that very few people have heard the fantastic original version of the song, I would rather it had hewed more closely to the original arrangement. Heck, both Career of Evil and Baby Ice Dog (with nifty new arrangements) were still very close to the originals. The Brain Surgeons version of Girl is just so tremendously different from the original that it's hard even to compare. Actually, if you listen to Imaginos Overture, you'll hear a bit of the original Girl (in triple meter) at the peak point near the end of that instrumental. It is such an enormously powerful and beautiful love song (a Sandy Pearlman love song!), that I was disappointed to see it altered in this fashion. Even the Christmas chorus at the end was simplified and truncated...the original features lush and complex vocals during that section as the song fades away. The original Girl in many ways sounds like nothing else on Imaginos...but it also sounds very little like the new version of the song. Hopefully, when Imaginos is re-released--and Pearlman expressed to me the hope that when the comic book finally is published that might give them the impetus to do so--they will add the remaining tunes onto the disc, because both Gil Blanco County and Girl are fantastic (Albert's version of Gil Blanco County is incredibly atmospheric and moody). We'll have to keep our fingers crossed! :-) Steven Tice Calliope Comics P.S. Oh, lest anyone think I was displeased with Malpractise...apart from my disappointment over Girl, I LOVED it! I could hardly have been happier with the other tracks. P.P.S. In case anyone is wondering, BOC Reprise is an instrumental version of the end section of that song...sort of like a dance mix. And Magna Reprise is an a cappella recapitulation of the first couple of verses of that song, with a very quiet acoustic guitar accompaniment.