Ben Folds has unveiled “Philosophy (Shelved First Attempt),” which will be included on the 30th anniversary release of his band’s debut LP, Ben Folds Five.
Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary) will be released on September 4 via Capitol/UMe on 2CD and 2LP on 180-gram black vinyl. Additionally, the remaster of the original album and the famed “Shelved First Attempt” will be available to stream and download.
The original LP by Folds’ classic trio has been remastered and will be featured alongside the long-sought-after “Shelved First Attempt” for the LP, which was just recently rediscovered on digital audio tape by Folds.
The “Shelved” album was produced by Dave “Stiff” Johnson and includes early, alternate versions of seven tracks from the album. It also includes an early version of “Evaporated,” which would be re-recorded for the band’s 1997 sophomore album, Whatever And Ever Amen. Also included are three outtakes: “Emaline,” “Dick Holster,” and “Eddie Walker.”
Folds explained the history of this era in the liner notes. He wrote: “Here’s my 59-year-old self’s take on the album we made when I was 28: Overall, it’s good! It’s NOT the kind of record you’d hear produced these days. It’s pretty rough and tumble, mostly in a good way. And it’s emphatically unique. It’s from an era when you could still identify a band by the instrumentalists, before you’d even hear the vocalist. I don’t think that’s been a thing since computers allowed us to get things just right.”
Regarding the “Shelved First Attempt,” Folds explained: “The budget from Caroline Records, as I recall, was about $14k, all-in. We spent all of that in a proper three-week session in Philadelphia with a proper producer who had a few hits under his belt and who gave us a great deal. This version of the album was shelved and never saw the light of day. We had taken the time we needed and the advice of the very competent producer, but it resulted in an album that didn’t feel like us. I only recently happened to have found a cassette of this shelved album. It’s not bad, though I recall it being hideous…It’s just not crazy like the album we all know.”
