The La’s - The La’s
On this episode, we discuss one of the most heralded debut albums of the early 1990's: The La's by the La's.
Heavily influenced by the 1960s British Invasion bands, The La’s is full of bright, jangly, melodic guitar pop, ear-worms all. The single “There She Goes” has become a classic, and is possibly one of the most perfectly constructed pop songs ever recorded. The album’s history, however, is one of the most tortured in the annals of rock and roll. The band’s leader, Lee Mavers became known for his uncompromising perfectionism in search of the perfect sound. He obsessed over everything: from the perfect placement of the microphones, to the required vintage feel of instruments and tape machines (even claiming that cleaning the 1960’s era dust off them significantly affected their sound).
As a result of Mavers’ never-ending dissatisfaction with the inability to replicate the sound in his head, it took over three years to complete the album, 12 separate studio sessions, 7 producers, and several lineup changes along the way. The band actually walked out during the final recording session, leaving the album to be completed by the producer, Steve Lillywhite. Predictably, the band publicly disowned the album after its release and even discouraged people from buying it. Despite all of that, the album became a critically acclaimed and extremely influential pop classic, and in the decades since its release, is considered one of the finest albums released in the 1990’s.
Recommended on this episode: For Those About to Pop by Javelin Boot.
THINGS WE DISCUSSED ON THIS EPISODE
The La’s (album lineup) circa 1990.
Pictured (L to R) Lee Mavers, John Power, Peter "Cammy" Cammell, and Neil Mavers.
The very first appearance of the La’s on the compilation “A Secret Liverpool.” At this time Lee Mavers was not in the band. The band was essentially Mike Bandger and session musicians.
John Badger (L) and Lee Mavers (R) circa 1986.
Here’s an interview from 1988 with Lee Mavers and John Power speaking to the lineup changes other difficulties with getting the record completed.
Here’s the La’s performing a cover of “That’ll be the Day” in February 1989.
The line-up for this performance was Lee Mavers, John Power, Barry Sutton, and Chris Sharrock. The guitar solo was performed by Mavers.
After several false starts, with multiple produces, studios, and line-up changes, producer Steve Lillywhite was tasked by the La’s label, who had had enough form the band, to finish album, no matter what .
Lee Mavers famously disowned the album after its release. Here he is on German TV in 1990 trashing the album.
The La’s made their US debut in 1991 on The Late Show with David Letterman. Lee Mavers and John Power were the only members of the band to perform. They were joined by members of Letterman’s studio band: Paul Shaffer on keyboards, Will Lee on bass, Anton Fig on drums, and Sid McGinnis on lead guitar. Power left the La’s soon after this performance and went on to great success with his new band Cast,
Here are the La’s performing Knock Me Down,” a song that was not on their debut. This was recorded in 1991, after Power had left the band. He was replaced by guitarist, James Joyce
