In the fall of 2003, indie singer-songwriter Elliott Smith died at age 34 after a series of brilliant, powerful, and painful albums. His lyrics often focused on the intertwining subjects of beautiful losers, mental illness, and drug addiction and cut to my core. Elliott had become my favorite songwriter and performer, particular after I got to see him perform at New York City’s Town Hall on February 22, 2000 — which remains the best concert I’ve attended. His death was not entirely a surprise, but it was still extremely hard to take.
Although many of my friends were fans of his work, something really special happened the next spring when it came time to do our annual Unplugged acoustic concert. I had planned to play an Elliott song, “Between the Bars,” which I had chosen because not only was it a favorite, but it was relatively easy to play and sing. Elliott’s guitar playing chops far outstripped mine and had a particularly unique flair, something that makes him daunting to cover. When three different acts tried out with different Elliott Smith songs on their own, I was blown away. I had no idea his work had reached them and an impromptu Elliott Smith tribute was born.
I think I started the show. I like doing that because I can get it over with and focus on running the rest of the show. I was pretty nervous that night and my performance was disappointing to me, particularly my playing. Despite covering over a thousand songs in the last decade, I’ve continued to stay away from covering Elliott because I’m not sure what I could add to his work, and it almost seems like blasphemy. Nevetheless, I persisted. In shorts.
Maria Guerrero-Reyes was my student at the time, but I didn’t know she was a musician. I knew Julianne from HHS Debate, so was thrilled to have them take on one of Elliott’s more challenging compositions, “Waltz #1.”
NOTE: Apparently this next performance was from the next year — I know there were four Elliott covers, but I can’t find the fourth one. Oh well, I love this performance, so I’ll leave it… Kevin Larsen was another HHS Debate member. He and his sister dug deep into the Elliott Smith archive and covered “I Figured You Out,” a song he’d written and given to Mary Lou Lord to perform.
The final performer of the evening was Janelle Gendrano, who had tried out with three different songs: an amazing reinvention of The Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby with Mike Stein and Liz Pedraja, a wonderful cover of Aimee Mann’s Amateur with the same accompaniment plus Tiffany Huang, and a solo version of an Elliott Smith song that just happened to be my favorite, “Better Be Quiet Now.” She had just learned the Elliott song and was reluctant to play it because of some challenging guitar parts that she hadn’t mastered. When her first two songs slayed, I couldn’t help myself and I put her on the spot, more or less demanding that she play the Elliott Smith tune to end the night. It was a transcendent performance, made all the more perfect by its minor flaws (something rather typical of the original performer). It is the quietest I’ve ever heard the audience in the auditorium and remains my favorite moment on the HHS stage.
Fenster on Education 