Bill Callahan’s December 2001 radio session for John Peel, broadcast on BBC Radio 1, is being given a standalone release via Drag City.
The studio performance happened while Callahan was still operating under his Smog moniker, and sees him combine with his backing band of Jessica Billey, Mike Saenz and Jim White. Together, they played the Smog songs ‘Cold Discovery’ and ‘Dirty Pants’, and covered Stevie Nicks’ ‘Beautiful Child’ and Lou Reed’s ‘Jesus’, all of which appear on this new release.
In a statement, Callahan said: “This one to me is a time capsule more than most of my recordings. It’s all live, all first takes, no overdubs. Also, I think having the BBC engineers at the controls, with their own aesthetic, not one I am bringing to the studio, that makes it more encapsulated – ‘Remember that day we did that?'”
“The circumstances and the memory of the smell of the studio makes it stand out. So it’s more of a performance maybe than a usual recording, because the audience (engineer and producer) were foreign to us. British, milk in tea. So we gave them something to show them who WE were – Dale Coopers with our black coffees.”
Drag City will release The Holy Grail: Bill Callahan’s “Smog” Dec. 10, 2001 Peel Session on November 22, 2024.
