Sid Sings

Infobox Album |
Name = Sid Sings
Type =live
Artist = Sid Vicious


Released = 1979
Recorded = 1978
Genre = Punk rock
Length =
Label = Virgin
Producer =
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|2.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:aeazeflkhgf5 link]
Last album = -
This album = Sid Sings

"Sid Sings" is the title of punk rocker Sid Vicious's posthumous solo album. It was released on December 15, 1979 and peaked at number 30 on the British album charts.

The album features the two singles, "My Way", and "Something Else". These songs also appeared in the film and album "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle" along with "C'mon Everybody", which did not appear on this album.

Credits

The album is thin on liner notes; there are no musicians' credits or recording info, and the production credit goes to "The Engineer"; John "Boogie" Tiberi.

The bulk of the album comes from low-fi recordings of performances at Max's Kansas City in New York City, on September 28-29, 1978. These recordings are somewhat marred by an enthusiastic fan standing slightly too near the cassette player shouting "yeah, yeah, yeah".

The Johnny Thunders song "Born to Lose" reportedly comes from a Sex Pistols concert at Huddersfield, on December 25, 1977 [cite web|url=http://www.philjens.plus.com/pistols/pistols/sid_sings.htm|title=Sid Sings track breakdown] . During the childrens matinee performed during the day, Rotten stepped off stage to act as Father Christmas [cite web|url=http://www.rockmine.com/Pistols/SexDate2.html|title=Sex Pistols Date Diary] , while the remaining trio played a stymied set, including amongst other songs "Born to Lose" and "Chinese Rocks".

Despite having an audio fidelity not much better than the rest of the album, "My Way" comes from a studio session in Paris with French session musicians [cite web|url=http://www.philjens.plus.com/pistols/pistols/pistols_sid_myway.htm|title=My Way recording information] . The remixed version that was released as a single and on "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle" features a different vocal take, an overdubbed guitar solo from Steve Jones and strings, arranged by Simon Jeffes.

Mick Jones from The Clash was long rumoured to play on the album. His two sets with Vicious have never been officially released, however.

The album was not designed by Jamie Reid, the Sex Pistols' art designer, but he created the guitar swastika that appeared on the labels of the original UK pressings (though the German pressing had a blank spot instead due to the swastika's illegality in that country).

Track listing

All tracks are live, with the exception of "My Way".

#"Born to Lose"
#* The first track is allegedly performed by Sex Pistols "sans" Johnny Rotten at the childrens matinee at Ivanhoe's in Huddersfield, on December 25, 1977, although this is highly doubtful. The track is a cover of The Heartbreakers.
#"I Wanna Be Your Dog"
#* Cover of The Stooges.
#"Take a Chance on Me"
#* Another cover of The Heartbreakers.
#"Steppin' Stone"
#* Monkees cover, not to be confused with the cover version of the same song by Sex Pistols.
#"My Way"
#* Paul Anka cover. Not the studio single version commonly heard. This version has very different vocals, plus no strings are obviously present.
#"Belsen Was a Gas"
#* Cover of his own song written for Sex Pistols. Listed simply as "Belsen" on the album.
#"Something Else"
#* Eddie Cochran cover. Live version. Not the studio single version.
#"Chatterbox"
#* Johnny Thunders cover.
#"Search and Destroy"
#* Another Stooges cover.
#"Chinese Rocks"
#* Heartbreakers / Ramones cover, although it's safe to assume that Sid had the Heartbreaker's version in mind, as he sings their version of the lyrics. Sid introduces this song as "Chinese Cocks" and dedicates it to "all you faggots out there..."
#"I Killed The Cat"
#* Abbreviated version of "My Way". Sid introduces this song as "I Killed The Cat".

Personnel

*Sid Vicious - vocals, bass (track 1)
*Paul Cook - drums (track 1)
*Steve Jones - guitar and backing vocals (track 1)
*Arthur Kane - bass
*Steve Dior - guitar
*Jerry Nolan - drums
*Claude Engel - guitar (track 5)
*Sauveur Mallia - bass (track 5)
*Pierre-Alain Dahan - drums (track 5)

References