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Steve Lillywhite On Morrissey's 'Vauxhall And I' (NPR)

posted by davidt on Thursday December 18 2008, @12:00PM
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Steve Lillywhite On Morrissey's 'Vauxhall And I' - NPR

World Cafe, December 17, 2008 - By the time Vauxhall and I came around in 1994, Morrissey had already wooed the world, both in The Smiths and with a few critically acclaimed solo albums. His fourth solo effort marked a bit of a return to the jangly Smiths style, but as Morrissey has proved over and over again since then, he just keeps perfecting it.

Producer Steve Lillywhite gave Vauxhall and I the lush sound for which Morrissey recordings had been begging. In an interview with host David Dye, Lillywhite talks about the creation of the album, as well as what made Morrissey ask him back for two more.

"I see it like a painting," Lillywhite says. "When you make records, the voice is the thing at the front, and you paint a backdrop around it."
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  • Vauxhall & I (Score:0, Offtopic)

    The production on Vauxhall is astonishing. It is a perfectly produced album. It has this warm & "glowing" sound.

    I had high hopes for ROTT (because of Visconti, he produced T.Rex!) but it sounded sluggish, dated and just plain boring. The tunes on ROTT were good though but the production sucked.

    Re-release Remastered Vauxhall Please!
    Anonymous -- Thursday December 18 2008, @12:07PM (#316894)
  • That Big Country album is phenomenal. Even Moz has namechecked it. Thanks for the links.
    Anonymous -- Thursday December 18 2008, @08:10PM (#316946)
  • Americans say More-isey, the rest of us say Morris-see. Who's right?
    Anonymous -- Thursday December 18 2008, @08:48PM (#316948)
  • didnt morrissey later say it was a mistake to have made maladjusted with steve lillywhite?
    Anonymous -- Thursday December 18 2008, @10:15PM (#316953)

  • Vauxhall and murk (Score:1, Informative)

    Vauxhall is a bit of a muffed classic. Best songs and sounds of Morrissey's career (we can take or leave Sunbathers, might've been improved without), what's unfortunate is the mixing/mastering (and hard to know exactly which)--one pass with a different EQ reveals a host of details in the arrangements, all sorts of wonderful guitar parts and atmosphere lost in a murky cloud. That gauze may well be some of what people respond to when they cite Vauxhall's beauty, but a good remaster would really reveal the gem that is this LP.
    Anonymous -- Friday December 19 2008, @02:17AM (#316960)
  • Great album but I'm not sure if it's his best. Only time will tell...

    thetexasbloke
    Anonymous -- Friday December 19 2008, @07:47AM (#316973)

  • i already (Score:0, Redundant)

    had a sig on the forums for sometime

    always liked Lillywhite, and was dissapointed that ROTT was done by Visconti, my feelings
    too afterall though it's a bit slow grower

    i dunno what to think about the fortcoming, but
    with 5/6 known songs, the other half must be
    top Quarry like songs [bores, gang, thames..]
    Celibate Cry <[email protected]> -- Friday December 19 2008, @08:31AM (#316977)
    (User #220 Info)
    and the hills are alive with celibate cries
    • Re:i already by Celibate Cry (Score:1) Saturday December 20 2008, @11:57PM
  • Over time, I think Vauxhall is bound to receive the remastered treatment.

    However, Rich Hill1978 said it best: a perfect record really needs no tampering. Don't get me wrong -- I'm sure the album would sound wonderful on something like the SACD format. But, as we know, most buyers these days buy the reissues (of any group) to get the (gasp) bonus disc.
    Foster -- Friday December 19 2008, @09:31AM (#316980)
    (User #14088 Info)
    • Re:Vaux by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday December 19 2008, @10:58AM
      • Re:Vaux - SACD by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday December 20 2008, @02:38PM
  • production wise it's arguably his best work but it does drag on a bit after WDYFOFY
    Anonymous -- Friday December 19 2008, @12:37PM (#316988)
  • Great little documentary. Always nice to hear someone say good things about Morrissey and learn a little more about his creative process. "Not really knowing [Morrissey]" even after spending all those months together over the recording of three albums was funny, and telling.

    Love the chainsaw anecdote but was hoping to hear whose idea it was in the first place!

    Vauxhall production is "perfect" as it stands, but I'd be happy to hear a remaster as long as Morrissey and/or Lillywhite themselves approved.

    king leer -- Saturday December 20 2008, @05:36AM (#317017)
    (User #80 Info)
  • What a great find this is! Brilliant interview. Thanks for sharing!!
    chelsea_steve -- Saturday December 20 2008, @02:40PM (#317028)
    (User #15837 Info)
    "I left the South I travelled North I got confused - I killed a horse I can't help the way I feel"

  • Remastering (Score:1, Interesting)

    When cds are remastered it nearly always involves a louder production (although of course it does not have to.)

    CDs are getting mastering at increasingly high volumes. The problem with this is as the dynamic range of a cd limited, louder mastering results in a reduced audio dynamics (the volume differences between the loud and quiet parts of the recording).

    I noticed that even Johnny Marr expressed pleasure that the recent remastering of The Smiths tracks had resulted in a louder sound!

    There are countless articles online documenting the audio limitations of tracks which are mastered to produce a loud volume. At the moment there is a debate regarding the mastering of the Metallica album.

    I think Vauxhall and I is mastered at a wonderfully low volume. When I want to hear it played loud I turn up the volume dial.
       
    Anonymous -- Saturday December 20 2008, @02:50PM (#317029)
    • Re:Remastering by sinbad (Score:1) Sunday December 21 2008, @11:36AM
      • Re:Remastering by Anonymous (Score:0) Tuesday December 23 2008, @01:53PM
  • 90% like me found the producing of Lillywhite
    on Vauxhall more than OK

    why if I say that he should've done another after
    quarry, and being redundant

    i thought freespeach was aloowed in here, and everyone has an opinion about certain albuns songs, i must be allowed to write it down, I did
    not bully Visconti and certainly not Finn

    i stepped outta bed with me wrong leg, an hour ago, I think

    well, 2009 gonna be great
    Celibate Cry <[email protected]> -- Sunday December 21 2008, @12:03AM (#317044)
    (User #220 Info)
    and the hills are alive with celibate cries

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