Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – B-Sides & Rarities: Part I (2005, Reissue 2021)

Nick Cave finally gives the dedicated fans what they’ve desired for years (and have probably amassed in various guises in shoddy bootlegs): an official career-spanning cataloging of the various Bad Seeds odds and ends on three CDs. There are 56 tracks compiled here. There are also some soundtrack offerings ranging from “I’ll Love You to the End of the World,” “Cassiel’s Song,” and “I Feel So Good” from various Wim Wenders films to a previously unreleased alternate version of “Red Right Hand,” recorded for Scream 3.
There are the Bad Seeds’ contributions to tribute albums such as Cave’s rendition of Neil Young’s “Helpless” from the Bridge benefit, and “Tower of Song” from the Leonard Cohen tribute I’m Your Fan. There are familiar covers such as…

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…the Cave/Shane MacGowan “collaboration” on “Wonderful World” and the awesome version of Roy Orbison’s “Running Scared” that appeared as one of the B-sides of “The Singer” (and yes, “Black Betty” is here, too). (But why is Cave’s read of “In the Ghetto” absent?) Real rarities include versions of the traditional “Rye Whiskey” from a flexidisc in Reflex magazine and “Scum,” which was only sold at concerts. There is an unreleased version of “Where the Wild Roses Grow” with former Bad Seed Blixa Bargeld on vocals, as well as studio outtakes of “Opium Tea” and “Sheep May Safely Graze.” And this is just a smattering.

One of the true treasures here is “There’s No Night Out in the Jail,” recorded for an Australian country music compilation that was never issued. And of course, virtually every B-side is here, including the take of “Nocturama” that was included on the limited-edition 7″ single. For Cave fans who have been patiently and exhaustively compiling this stuff in all sorts of dodgy ways, this set is a righteous archivist’s gift.  — AMG

CD1

1. Deanna (Acoustic Version)
2. The Mercy Seat (Acoustic Version)
3. City of Refuge (Acoustic Version)
4. The Moon Is in the Gutter
5. The Six Strings That Drew Blood
6. Rye Whiskey
7. Running Scared
8. Black Betty
9. Scum
10. The Girl at the Bottom of My Glass
11. The Train Song
12. Cocks ‘n’ Asses
13. Blue Bird
14. Helpless
15. God’s Hotel
16. (I’ll Love You) Till the End of the World
17. Cassiel’s Song
18. Tower of Song
19. What Can I Give You?

CD2

1. What a Wonderful World
2. Rainy Night In Soho
3. Lucy (Version #2)
4. Jack the Ripper (Acoustic Version)
5. Sail Away
6. There’s No Night Out in the Jail
7. That’s What Jazz Is to Me
8. The Willow Garden
9. The Ballad of Robert Moore and Betty Coltrane
10. King Kong Kitchee Kitchee Ki-Mi-O
11. Knoxville Girl
12. Where the Wild Roses Grow (Original Guide Vocal Version)
13. O’Malley’s Bar Pt. 1
14. O’Malley’s Bar Pt. 2
15. O’Malley’s Bar Pt. 3
16. Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non Riverentum
17. O’Malley’s Bar Reprise
18. Red Right Hand (Scream 3 Version)

CD3

1. Little Empty Boat
2. Right Now I’m A-Roaming
3. Come Into My Sleep
4. Black Hair Band Version
5. Babe, I Got You Bad
6. Sheep May Safely Graze
7. Opium Tea
8. Grief Came Riding
9. Bless His Ever Loving Heart
10. Good Good Day
11. Little Janey’s Gone
12. I Feel So Good
13. Shoot Me Down
14. Swing Low
15. Little Ghost Song
16. Everything Must Converge
17. Nocturama
18. She’s Leaving You
19. Under This Moon