It's the Mayhem. Suzi Quatro. Kashmir. City Gas. Maaco. Crosby. All of these eventually ended on up Sonic Nurse, including our Song of the Week. Can you guess which it is? It didn't sneak out during the latter half of 2003, when they seemed to be working most of the Thurston songs into the set. Instead, they premiered the former "Crosby" on March 10th, 2004 at a private party for Christian Dior Homme in NYC, along with the former "It's the Mayhem" ("Pattern Recognition"), "Kashmir" ("Paper Cup Exit"), and "New Hampshire" ("New Hampshire").
The instrumentation in "I Love You Golden Blue" is worth an immediate spotlight. Thurston uses the "Death Valley" tuning for the only known time since 1995 ("Becuz" "Saucer-Like" "Panty Lies"), but with a twist: That tuning was always F#F#F#F#EB with the two F# pairs an octave apart. Now, he has tuned the former D string down to be in the same octave as the bottom 2 strings, making it three low F#s, an F# an octave above, and then EB. Jim takes a curious approach to playing in F# - he puts a capo at the 11th fret of his G-tuned guitar. However, this is not just a novelty - he strums on the "wrong" side of the capo during the song's lengthy intro, creating a chiming wall of noise. With "Sympathy for the Strawberry" buried, Lee needed a new reason to drag a Korg Organ on tour, and that became "I Love You Golden Blue". On the album, it has a subtle presence relatively low in the mix, but it can be heard loud and proud on live versions. On the record, and possibly very early live versions, he also adds a bit of guitar. Kim plays bass and sings a lovely vocal, and Steve keeps that beat under control.
The song's intro and instrumentation offered an opportunity that the band had never embraced before: each member could enter the stage one by one, adding their part to the rising aural melee before the song kicked in proper. Audio recordings from the Nurse tour make for amusing listening when you can identify the big swell of cheers and applause as each member takes the stage. I don't think they followed a specific script, though it would begin with Jim's ringing behind-the-capo drone (Jim himself seemed to remain offstage at first, furiously strumming away). Next Steve might enter, taking the seat behind his kit and tapping out a rapid rhythm on his ride cymbal. Lee and Thurston would enter in near unison, with Lee pushing his organ into its place, using his effects board to manipulate the Korg's standard tone. Thurston had his own recipe for piercing noise, which he expands on in the summer 2004 issue of Guitarist magazine: "I only use those when I get in to insane parts. There's a song called "I Love You Golden Blue" where, for the whole of the intro, I do this thing where I take the guitar cord out of the guitar and I click on the Turbo Rat and the Wah setting on the Mu-Tron all the way up on high, and I plug that cord in to the other input on the amp so it loops through the amp it creates this frequency feedback that is just below dog's ears. A very high frequency, but a totally great pitch. I play with that a bit by improvising on the different pedals. That's a sound that I'm really in to right now, just rockin' that. And just playing the amplifier." Finally, Kim would enter the stage (to the loudest reaction), strap on her bass and start bashing out some ugly chords. After anywhere from four to five minutes of building noise, Thurston would kick into the song's main riff, Steve would drop the beat, and they'd be off. It was a fucking awesome way to open a show, and it did so almost every night in 2004 and 2005, with very few exceptions.
Right after premiering in fourth place at the Christian Dior Homme gig, it took its place as set opener. Only two other shows bumped it (for other newbies "Pattern Recognition" and "Unmade Bed"), before the Sonic Nurse tour began in Australia and the set list was cemented. There were only three shows on the North American leg that it didn't open - Los Angeles on July 19th was one, and I recall that there was a long delay which led to them opening with "Rain on Tin" to presumably kick things off with a bang. "Golden Blue" immediately followed. A week later in Milwaukee, they lead with "Rain on Tin" again, pushing "Golden Blue" to third. On August 10th in Boston, they paved the way for a truly oddball set list with a "Burning Spear" opener, leaving "Golden Blue" buried in the tenth position.
There were only three shows in 2004 where it wasn't played at all: The Rock en Seine festival in France got a "Drunken Butterfly" opener rather than the slow build of "Golden Blue", though they certainly treated many festival audiences to that long burn. They dropped it for a Ramones benefit gig in NYC (again leading with "The Burning Spear", the most classic sonic opener of all!) on October 8th, and again on the 16th at a festival in New Orleans, where "Rain on Tin" usurped it a third time.
Possibly the most notable versions of the song were performed at the Bridge Benefit on October 23rd and 24th. The band's notorious 1991 appearance at Neil Young's then-annual all-acoustic benefit show at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California was weighing heavily upon their 2004 return. Any worries were for nothing - the band came prepared and delivered an incredible 5-song set of four Nurse tunes and "Rain on Tin". For "I Love You Golden Blue", Lee had the privilege of playing Neil's classic pump organ, which looms over the stage at all of his concerts. Jim had the equally enviable opportunity to play one of Neil's pianos to replicate his part, leaving Thurston alone to handle the acoustic guitar part. It was a very interesting idea executed beautifully.
It continued setting the stage throughout 2005, losing its slot only once on April 9th, 2005 in Providence, Rhode Island. This particular gig has always intrigued me because it's the only show Jim didn't attend during his tenure with the band, and I'd love to hear what the Nurse material sounded like without him (not that I think it would be better of course!). For this gig, "Bull in the Heather" got the party started, and "Golden Blue" popped up in seventh. Without Jim! I wanna hear!
Jim was also not around on July 18th, when the band debuted some skeletal versions of future Rather Ripped gems in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Lee skipped that one too, making for a very rare sonic trio gig! Beyond that, "Golden Blue" held its opener status until November 26th, 2005, when it was played for the last time in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Jim would play his final show with the band the next night in Rio de Janeiro.
Overall, the song was played live 100 times, plus a live radio performance on KCRW. It opened the show 93 times! On Sonic Nurse, it lives late in the album, in the penultimate track 9 slot, where it works perfectly well. "Pattern Recognition" is a much punchier opener for the record, and the album version of "I Love You Golden Blue" has a much more understated, dreamy quality. Lee's organ is less pronounced than its live attack, and is often blended with Jim's spacey Wah-Vol guitar. The opening drone is kept to just under two minutes, but still builds to a perfect release when Thurston's classic finger-and-thumb two chord riff sounds off. A demo titled "Crosby" was included on the third web-only Mix Tape, and is a 6:15 instrumental dated "12/21/03 remix". The structure is not entirely in place, and Jim's doing some pretty busy improvisation during parts he would later refine, but it's a pretty interesting listen. Plus, the organ is super fucking loud!
Though "Unmade Bed" was the promo single for Sonic Nurse, it did not have a video. Aside from a bizarre offering by videographer/webmaster Chris Habib, whose man-as-frog take on "Peace Attack" was included as content for the enhanced version of the CD, the only video was for "I Love You Golden Blue". It was done by longtime SY collaborator David Markey, who paired vintage footage with material filmed on June 10th, 2004 at KCRW Studios and the Troubadour in Los Angeles. His interpretation seemed to resonate with the song's subject matter, if indirectly. In her memoir Girl In A Band, Kim wrote: "I also loved singing 'I Love You Golden Blue', though I was often on the verge of tears whenever I sang it. It's a song about somebody who believes he can't show himself to the world. Believing he'll only destroy the people he cares about, he avoids all intimacy. He's stuck. I couldn't help thinking that was true about a lot of boy-men I'd known in my life." Reading this in 2015 rattled me a little bit, as I recalled a decade earlier when a close friend told me this song reminded her of me virtually line for line. Yikes!
The song itself as it appears on Nurse is a little daunting, mostly due to the mix. From what I can tell, Jim has a guitar in both speakers, playing very similar parts. Sometimes the right one drops out. Thurston is just right of center, and can be heard fairly cleanly through the whole song. Lee's organ floats in that left of center area, sharing some space with Jim's guitar. Lee also added some guitar, which can be heard entering around 2:38. It is mostly soft, clean sliding riffage with the occasional echo stinger. Lee's guitar seems to drop out during the "E" section, where Jim may have added a third guitar since there are stereo "chiming" tracks as well as a track of him echoing Thurston's slow picking part. Lee's guitar comes back in for the song's final section.
Really, I'd recommend watching a live version to see how Jim explores the fretboard, and hear Lee's organ contributions more clearly. Plus, those noise intros are just epic! The effects are more obvious too, with Thurston activating his Phase 90 at a key moment in the C section riff, and Jim using some phaser (and possibly octave?) during the verses, then really pushing the Wah-Vol for the D section. My tab won't be super specific when it comes to Jim's part, just a guide based around what I can hear on the record and discern from a few live takes. Fortunately, I'd already worked out Thurston and Kim's parts a few years ago, and Cody Knoefel had sent me Jim's, which helped get me started. Many thanks to Cody! Once I finally deciphered which guitar I think is Lee's, I tabbed that too. Please let me know if you have any comments or corrections!
"I LOVE YOU GOLDEN BLUE"
LAYOUT
A - B - C - B - C - D - B - C - D - E - F - D
KIM
EADG
CENTER
THURSTON
F#F#F#F#EB
CENTER RIGHT
LEE
CGDCGD + organ
CENTER LEFT
JIM
GGDEGB [capo 11]
LEFT/RIGHT
A SECTION 00:00-01:53 To quote the man himself from the Summer 2004 issue of Guitarist: "I only use those when I get in to insane parts. There's a song called "I Love You Golden Blue" where, for the whole of the intro, I do this thing where I take the guitar cord out of the guitar and I click on the Turbo Rat and the Wah setting on the Mu-Tron all the way up on high, and I plug that cord in to the other input on the amp so it loops through the amp it creates this frequency feedback that is just below dog's ears. A very high frequency, but a totally great pitch. I play with that a bit by improvising on the different pedals. That's a sound that I'm really in to right now, just rockin' that. And just playing the amplifier." I don't think Lee plays any guitar during the intro, but he is playing organ. Jim strums on the "wrong" side of the capo for the duration of the intro. Kim strums ugly bass chords every ten seconds or so. She may be changing up the shape, I don't know, this sounds pretty good to me but I don't think it matters that much. Maybe fret the root octave on the A string instead of playing it open? G---8------11------8------13------10------16------13------15------13------17------ D---7------10------7------12-------9------15------12------14------12------16------ A---0-------0------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0------ E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B SECTION 01:53-02:27 Thurston plays a pretty simple figure, varying his picking on repeats. He uses his thumb for the 7th fret. B-----------5--------------7-------------0--------------0---------- E-------5-----5------------5-5-5-----0-----0--------------0-------- F#-------------------------0-0-0--------------------7-------7------ x 4 F#---0-------------0--0--0-0-0-0--7----7-----7-7--7---7--------0--- F#---0----0--------0--0--0--------7----------7-7------------------- F#---0----0--------0--0--0--------7----------7-7------------------- Lee does not play guitar during this part. Jim comes in on Thurston's 3rd rep. He is playing very similar things in both speakers. It sounds like he has some modulation on the 5th fret hammer-on part, and might be using an octave effect too? B-------------------------------- G-------------------------------- E-------------------------------- D-----0-------3----5---3^5^3^5--- x 2 G---0-----2^3------5---3^5^3^5--- G---0--------------5---3^5^3^5--- Kim: G---------------------------------------------------------------------- D---------------------------------------------------------------------- x 2 A------------------------------------4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4--- E---2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2------------------------------------ C SECTION 02:27-02:45 Thurston plays this riff, reversing the order of the walking notes on the repeat. It's not as clear on the record, but in live versions he would step on his MXR Phase 90 almost at random during the middle of this riff, particularly when going up to the 10th fret on the B string. B------------10-----12--9------------------7-9--- E---------9----------------------------7-9------- F#--------7---------12--9----------7-9----------- F#---0-0-----------------------7-9--------------- F#---0-0----------------------------------------- F#---0-0----------------------------------------- B------------10-----12--9------7-9--------------- E---------9------------------------7-9----------- F#--------7---------12--9--------------7-9------- F#---0-0-----------------------------------7-9--- F#---0-0----------------------------------------- F#---0-0----------------------------------------- Lee enters at 2:38 on the second rep of this section: D-------------------------------------- G---2-2----4--1--------11\13--13/11---- C-------------------------------------- D-------------------------------------- G---2-2----4--1--------11\13--13/11---- C-------------------------------------- Jim: B---------------------------------------------- G------------------5--2-----0^2^0-------------- E-------------6-------------------1--1^0------- x 2 D-----0---3/5------5--3------------------0----- G---0--------------------------------------3--- G---0------------------------------------------ Kim: G---------------------------------------------------------------------- D---------------------------------------------------------------------- x 2 A---------------------------------------------------------------------- E---2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4--- B SECTION 02:45-03:01 Lee plays a note with very long, heavy delay and modulation: D-------------------------- G---11-----------6--------- C-------------------------- x 2 D-------------------------- G---11-----------6--------- C-------------------------- Jim plays the same riff as before, with a couple extra notes here and there (for example the 2nd fret before the 5th fret chord). B-------------------------------- G-------------------------------- E-------------------------------- D-----0-------3--2--5--3\5/3\5--- x 2 G---0-----2^3-------5--3\5/3\5--- G---0---------------5--3\5/3\5--- C SECTION 03:01-03:18 Lee plays the same thing as before, but twice this time. Jim ends his lick slightly differently the second time so it can lead into the next part. B---------------------------------------------- G------------------5--2-----0^2^0-------------- E-------------6-------------------1--1^0------- D-----0---3/5------5--3------------------0----- G---0--------------------------------------3--- G---0------------------------------------------ B------------------------------------------------- G------------------5--2-----0^2^0----------------- E-------------6-------------------1--------------- D-----0---3/5------5--3--------------3/2-0-2-3~~-- G---0--------------------------------------------- G---0--------------------------------------------- D SECTION 03:18-03:52 Thurston uses his thumb for this riff: B---------0----------------5-5-5-5--5-5-2---2-2-2-2-2-2^0-0--- E-----------0-----------0--0-0-0-0--0-0-0--------------------- F#-----3------3-----3------3-3-3-2--2-2-2--------------------- x 4 F#--3----3-------3----3----3-3-3-2--2-2-2--------------------- F#--3------------3---------3-3-3-2--2-2-2--------------------- F#--3------------3---------3-3-3-2--2-2-2--------------------- Lee: D------------------------------------------------------------- G---2----4-1--------2------1------2------1-------2------1----- C------------------------------------------------------------- D------------------------------------------------------------- G---2----4-1--------2------1------2------1-------2------1----- C------------------------------------------------------------- Jim's part is pretty hard to make out on the album. He's using a Mutron Wah-Vol with some echo to really make the notes sound almost like, well, Lee's organ. Which this part blends into since they're both mixed towards the left speaker. I would recommend checking out a live version, preferably a video, to see/hear how he approached the part live. Check out Portland 2004 and then one of the summer 2005 festivals and see how much he's expanded his part to include some pretty busy licks. At the heart of it, he's playing around these two shapes at the 3rd and 2nd fret, with a heavy filter courtesy of the Wah-Vol. This is just an approximation, he does not play the little lick at the end that mimics Thurston's riff each time, but it's part of the overall theme. B------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------ G------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------ E------------------------------------------0----------------------- shapes: ---0----0--- D---3--3-3-3----3--3-3----3------3-3-3-3-3------\7-7-7-5-5/3-3~~--- ---3----3--- G-------------3---------3---3-2------------------------------------ ---3----2--- G------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------ Kim: G---------------------------------------------------------------------- D---------------------------------------------------------------------- x 4 A---------------------------------------------------------------------- E---5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5--4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4--- B SECTION 03:52-04:09 Lee plays the same thing as before but with heavier modulation, and more emphasis on the F# notes than the C#. C SECTION 04:09-04:26 Lee plays the same riff twice. Jim repeats a simile of his previous C section riff with the alternate ending. D SECTION 04:26-05:00 Lee: D------- G---2--- C------- Lee plays the first note of this section, then his guitar drops out until 6:20 D------- G---2--- C------- Jim plays a variation on his Wah-Vol echo tweeting. E SECTION 05:00-05:46 Thurston: Start this section by strumming the low F# strings, then pick out these notes: B---12-----9-------------------------------------------------- E----------------12-----9-----9-9-11-12-11-9--9-11-12-12-11--- listen for the "blues" rhythm F#----------------------------0-0--0--0--0-0--0--0--0--0--0--- F#----------------------------0-0--0--0--0-0--0--0--0--0--0--- F#----------------------------0-0--0--0--0-0--0--0--0--0--0--- F#----------------------------0-0--0--0--0-0--0--0--0--0--0--- Play that whole progression 4 times, then repeat the full "blues riff" two more times. Lee does not play guitar during this part. Jim goes back to strumming behind the capo for this part. It sounds like both in the left and right speakers. However, I'm pretty sure the guitar following Thurston's notes is also him. At first he's in sync, then he steps back a beat. During live performances, he would actually strum behind the capo with his right hand for this entire section, but fret the notes (with heavy modulation) along with Thurston with his left hand. Check it out! On the record I assume he did pick the part out. I did consider that this was Lee's part on the album, since his guitar seems to leave the mix at this point, and maybe Jim just tried to incorporate some of it into his live role since Lee was on organ. However, it really sounds like it's a continuation of Jim's left speaker part. He plays the low strings momentarily while Thurston is droning his, then starts picking along with Thurston's riff: B---1----------------------------------------------- G---------2----------------------------------------- E---------------1-------------3--5-3------3---5-3--- D---------------------0-------0--0-0------0---0-0--- G---------------------------0---0-----0-0---0------- G---------------------------0---0-----0-0---0------- Play that whole progression 4 times, then repeat the full "blues riff" two more times. Kim plays: G--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- x 3 A--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E---2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--2--2--2-2-2--2--2--2-2-2--- G--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E---2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--\14--14--14-14-14---14--14--14-14-14--- G------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E---14--14--14-14-14---14--14--14-14-14---14--14--14-14-14---14--14--14-14-14--- F SECTION 05:46-06:20 Thurston: B---21---------------------------------- E-----------19--21-------21-19---------- F#------------------------------21-19--- F#-------------------------------------- drone open low F#s throughout F#-------------------------------------- F#-------------------------------------- Lee does not play guitar during this part. Jim: B--------------------------------- G--------------------------------- E-----3-------3----3-------3------ D-------2------------2------------ G---5------------5---------------- G--------------------------------- B-------------------------------------------------- G-------------------------------------------------- E------0------------------------0------------------ D---3----3---------3---------3----3--------3------- G-----0----------0-------------0---------0--------- G--------------------0-----------------------0-0--- B---------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------- E-----3~-------3~---------3~-----------3~~----- D---2---2~~--2----------2---2~~--2~--2~--2~---- G------------------------------------------2~-- G---------------------------------------------- B---------------------------------------------------- G-------2~---------2~---------2~---------2~---------- E-----3---3~~----3---3~~----3---3~~----3---3~-------- D--------------------------------------------3^0-0--- G---------------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------------- Kim plays: G---------------------------- D---------------------------- x 4 A---------------4--4--4--4--- E---2--2--2--2--------------- D SECTION 06:20-07:03 Lee: D-------------------------------------------------------- G---2----4\6--4----------------8\9-----13\14---16---11--- C-----------------8-------8\9---------------------------- D-------------------------------------------------------- G---2----4\6--4----------------8\9-----13\14---16---11--- C-----------------8-------8\9---------------------------- D---------------------------------------------- G------------------------16\18--16----14-13---- C---------------------------------------------- D---------------------------------------------- G---14-----13-----14-----16\18--16----14-13---- C---------------------------------------------- Jim plays a variation on his Wah-Vol echo tweeting. End on F#. text + tab by Chris Lawrence special thanx to Cody Knoefel for his original tab of Jim's part!
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