"Rare" Smiths Compilation Appears on Digital Music Services

A compilation of rare songs by the Smiths, simply called Rare, has popped up on digital music services like Amazon and Rhapsody. While it hasn't been determined whether the release is Warner-approved or a bootleg that somehow infiltrated these shops, the compilation does have some interesting, hard-to-find tracks, like "This Charming Man" B sides "Jeane" and "Wonderful Woman" and a studio version of Johnny Marr's instrumental "The Draize." The set is also reportedly available on some countries' iTunes stores, but we couldn't locate it in the U.S. one. Still, hard-core Smiths fans question the validity of this release, as many of the songs are available on other bootlegs, and Rare doesn't seem to have improved sound over those release.

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

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