PETER LAUGHNER - Box Set 5LP

Includes 100 pg hardbound book of photos and writings. 
5LP set (see below for tracklist). 
Highly recommended. 

Smog Veil Records have been working for the last 10 years to create the definitive Peter Laughner retrospective. The box set is now in production, and the wait is nearly over. 

Peter Laughner was a singer songwriter from Cleveland like no other. Before his untimely death in 1977, he played in numerous bands, most notably Rocket From The Tombs and Pere Ubu, and also as a solo performer. He wrote for a variety of weekly newspapers and Creem, where he was a contemporary of Lester Bangs. He famously told Jane Scott of the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he wanted to do for Cleveland what “...Brian Wilson did for California and Lou Reed did for New York.” In many ways, Peter did in fact put the Cleveland underground on the map.

In cooperation with Peter's estate and his many collaborators, the box set will contain the definitive statement of Peter's musical talents and additionally showcase his writings and the many works he created with a variety of talented friends. Smog Veil's research team has looked in every basement, attic, and corner to uncover numerous gems and be able to place Peter's work on display.

Many of the 56 songs contained in the release are seeing the light of day for the very first time. All songs have been carefully mastered and sonically upgraded from the best possible sources by the Grammy-nominated team of Jeff Lipton and Maria Rice at Peerless Mastering. The box set also contains a 100 page hardbound book of photos and writings. 

I cannot thank enough the Smog Veil team and Peter's estate and collaborators for their diligence in creating this definitive work. The time and care they put into this release is without compare. Over the course of the last 10 years, the friendships we forged to make this release happen and the stories we collected reveal a history of Cleveland independent music that is the stuff of legends.

Track listing is as follows:

Record One: 1972 (Fat City Jive)

Side One:
01. Hesitation Blues (Billy Smythe)
02. The Sidewalks of New York (Blake/Lawler arr: Laughner)
03. Willin' (Lowell George)
04. Solomon’s Mines (Peter Laughner)
05. Please Mrs. Henry (Bob Dylan)
06. Mean Ol’ Frisco (Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup)
07. Drunkard’s Lament (Terry Hartman)
08. T For Texas (Jimmie Rodgers)

Side Two:
09. Good Time Music (John Sebastian)
10. Love Minus Zero (No Limit) (Bob Dylan)
11. I’m Waiting For The Man (Lou Reed)
12. Eyes Eyes (Michael Hurley)
13. The Eyes of A New York Woman (Ogden/Pynchon)
14. It’s Saturday Night (Dance The Night Away) (Peter Laughner)
15. These Days (Jackson Brown)
16. Fat City Jive (Terry Hartman)
17. That’s The Story of My Life (Lou Reed)

1 – 8, 16: The Original Wolverines (Peter Laughner, Mike Sands, Pete Sinks), WMMS “Coffeebreak Concert”, Cleveland, September 20, 1972 Host: Shauna Zurbrugg
9 – 15, 17: Peter Laughner and Mike Sands, WMMS “Coffeebreak Concert”, Cleveland, November 15, 1972 Host: Kid Leo

Record Two: 1973 – 1974 (One of The Boys)

Side One:
01. Rock & Roll (Lou Reed)
02. One of The Boys (Hunter/Ralphs)
03. All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan)

Side Two:
04. Heroin (Lou Reed)
05. I’m So Fucked Up (Peter Laughner)
06. White Light White Heat (Lou Reed) / Call The Ambulances (Cynthia Black)

1, 3, 4, 6: Cinderella Backstreet, The Cellar, Sandusky, June 24, 1973
2: Cinderella Backstreet, JB’s, Kent, March 23, 1973
5: Cinderella’s Revenge, Viking Saloon, Cleveland, May 11, 1974

Cinderella Backstreet: Cynthia Black, Albert Dennis, Rick Kalister, Scott Krauss, Peter Laughner.

Cinderella’s Revenge: Peter Laughner, Lachlan McIntosh, Eric Ritz, Susan Schmidt, Deborah Smith.

Record Three: 1973 – 1977 (Pledging My Time)

Side One:
01. Cinderella Backstreet (Peter Laughner)
02. Down At The Bar (Peter Laughner)
03. Baudelaire (Peter Laughner)
04. 32-20 Blues (Robert Johnson)
05. Rain On The City (Peter Laughner)

Side Two:
06. “I Must Have Been Out Of My Mind” (Peter Laughner)
07. Pledging My Time (Bob Dylan)
08. (My Sister Sold Her Heart To) The Junk Man (Peter Laughner - Adele Bertei)
09. First Taste of Heartache (Peter Laughner)
10. Sylvia Plath (Peter Laughner)
11. Lullaby (Peter Laughner)

1: Peter Laughner, solo home recording, circa 1975
2: Peter Laughner and Deborah Smith, WMMS "Coffeebreak Concert", Cleveland, October 11, 1974
3, 10, 11: Peter Laughner and Albert Dennis, 4-track recording, East Cleveland, 1976 (circa August/September)
4: Peter Laughner, solo home recording, Cleveland Heights, 1976 (September or October)
5: Peter Laughner and Wally Wefel, home recording, 1973 (circa November/December)
6, 11: Peter Laughner, solo home 4-track recordings, circa 1976
7: Peter Laughner, solo home 4-track recording, Cleveland Heights, December 15, 1976
8, 9: Peter Laughner, from the “New Songs” tape, solo home recording, Cleveland Heights, 1977 (circa January/February)

Record Four: 1974 – 1977 (Rock It Down)

Side One:
01. What Goes On (Lou Reed)
02. Ain’t It Fun (Laughner/O’Connor)
03. Amphetamine (Peter Laughner)

Side Two:
04. Prove It (Tom Verlaine)
05. Dear Richard (Peter Laughner)
06. Hideaway (Peter Laughner)
07. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (Bob Dylan)
08. Pablo Picasso (Jonathan Richman)
09. Rock It Down (Peter Laughner)

1: Fins, block party, Coventry, Cleveland Heights, July 27, 1974
2: Rocket From Tombs, The Agora, Cleveland, February 10, 1975
3: Peter Laughner and Don Harvey, from “The Ann Arbor Tapes”, Ann Arbor, February 1976
4, 8: Friction, rehearsal, Cleveland, October 31, 1976
5 – 7: Friction, The Pirate’s Cove, Cleveland, November 2, 1976
9: Peter Laughner and Adele Bertei, from the “Secret Session” tape, 4-track home recording, Cleveland Heights, 1977 (circa March)

Fins: Robert Bensick, Scott Krauss, Peter Laughner, Lachlan McIntosh, Deborah Smith.

Rocket From The Tombs: David “Crocus Behemoth” Thomas, Peter Laughner, Cheetah Chrome, Craig “Darwin Layne” Bell, Johnny “Madman” Madansky.

Friction: Anton Fier, Peter Laughner, Susan Schmidt, Deborah Smith.

Record Five: 1977 (Nocturnal Digressions)

Side One:
01. See No Evil (Tom Verlaine)
02. Come On In (Whatcha’ Doin’ On Them Stairs?) (Tom Verlaine)
03. Everything I Say Just Goes Right Through Her Heart (Peter Laughner - Adele Bertei)
04. The Next Room Of The Dream (Peter Laughner)
05. Do It (Jesse Winchester)
06. Slim Slow Slider (Van Morrison)

Side Two:
07. Blank Generation (Richard Hell)
08. Wild Horses (Jagger/Richards)
09. Isn’t That So? (Jesse Winchester)
10. Me And The Devil Blues (Robert Johnson)
11. Pale Blue Eyes (Lou Reed)
12. (Going To) China (Peter Laughner)
13. Summertime Blues (Eddie Cochran)

BONUS 7": 1973 – 1976 (Easily Excited)

01: Peter Laughner and Lester Bangs, from “Critic’s Choice”, Creem offices, Walled Lake, MI 1975 (circa February/March)
02: Peter Laughner and Don Harvey, from “The Ann Arbor Tapes”, Ann Arbor, MI, February 1976
03: Michael Hronek, Peter Laughner, Robert Bensick, Albert Dennis, and Scott Krauss, from “Fall 1974” tape, Cleveland 1974 (circa October) (NB: Laughner’s guitar work here is the origin of “Ain’t It Fun”)
04: Peter Laughner, David Krauss, Alan Echtler, Spa John, and Carl Woideck, Hillel House, CWRU, Cleveland February 10, 1973. Soundperson unknown.
05: Peter Laughner, solo home recording (mystery 4-track session), circa 1976

From "Nocturnal Digressions", solo home recording, Bay Village, June 21, 1977