Tyrannosaurus Rex - Chinese Christmas Music

The first job I ever had I worked at an Italian restaurant as a dish washer/line cook. We had a boombox in back that we could play cassette tapes and I used to bring in all kinds of stuff to listen to. One night I was playing Tyrannosaurus Rex and a waitress came in and asked the dishwasher on duty what we were listening to and he replied "I don't know, some kind of Chinese Christmas Music." I laughed and smiled to myself and since that day I have named every Tyrannosaurus Rex comp I make Chinese Christmas Music.

For this construction I have gathered every stray song that did not appear on an album. The sources range from non-album singles and B sides to BBC recordings and session outtakes and cover the period from 1967 to 1969.

Side One
01 Beyond The Risin' Sun
02 Pewter Suitor
03 Lunacy's Back
04 Sara Crazy Child
05 Find A Little Wood
06 Misty Mist (Highways)
07 Pictures Of Purple People
08 Rings Of Fortune
09 One Inch Rock

Side Two
01 Sleepy Maurice
02 Once Upon The Seas Of Abyssynia
03 Sally was an Angel
04 Ill Starred Man
05 The Beginning of Doves
06 Blessed Wild Apple Girl
07 For the Lion and the Unicorn/Hot Rod Mama
08 Deep Summer

Reality Notes

Marc Bolan was my first true musical obsession. The Slider was among the first albums I ever owned. In previous posts I examined Marc's early pre-pre-fame days, his last days and his peak hit period. But, if I had to pick a period that really struck deep into my psyche it would be the first three albums as Tyrannosaurus Rex (I'll address the fourth album and first T.Rex album in a moment).

There is something about the interplay between Marc's warbled fantasy driven lyrics and acoustic guitar and Steve Took's percussion and distinct and imaginative backing vocals that draws me in. When Steve left, producer Tony Visconti and Marc did their best to emulate Steve's quirky backing vocals with marginal success. The two albums that followed Took's departure were transition albums for Marc as he morphed from Tyrannosaurus Rex the underground folky duo to T.Rex the mega star electric guitar slinging glam rockers.

While this comp does focus more on the Marc and Steve lineup, it does include a few songs from the Beard of Stars period with Micky Finn replacing Steve Took. The instrumental Deep Summer and Ill Starred Man are outtakes from the Beard of Stars album sessions.

I'm not sure where the song For the Lion and the Unicorn/Hot Rod Mama comes from. The bootleg I took it from had no info at all. It's obviously a live track from the Steve Took days. I almost didn't include it because of the Hot Rod Mama bits but they were minimal enough to make the song unique.

I have not addressed two periods in Marc's carreer. The first T.Rex album is best treated as a single entity and include any non-LP tracks as bonus tracks on an expanded version. This album has always been one of my favorites and is barely surpassed only by Unicorn as the best Marc album in my opinion.

The other period is from 1974 through 1976. I call this Marc's lost period. Marc began producing his own albums. There are very few artists that can do this successfully. It's a delicate balancing act to be able to suppress the ego enough to be honest with yourself and focus on the needs of the song. It took a few albums for Marc to get the hang of it and give us Dandy In The Underworld. There may be enough non-LP tracks and outtakes to make an album from this period but I'm not sure if I would want that album.

There may be more Marc Bolan related posts in the future but this one completes the short list of material I felt needed addressing. The cover features my favorite picture of Marc and Steve Took with Marc holding what at the time was his brand new white stratocaster guitar before he added the teardrop sticker.

Sources
The Beginning Of Doves
Across the Airwaves
Smashed And Frocked
A Beard Of Stars [Expanded Edition]
Non LP Singles & B-Sides
Beyond the Rising Sun