Disowned, Derided and Deleted

Stinky and I started kicking around the idea for our latest Jon-Ky Records release over a year ago. It's a compilation of songs from albums that have been disowned or derided by their creators. I put together the first volume of Disowned & Derided. Stinky's choices will be posted next. 

Here are Stinky's top five reasons why a musician or band might badmouth their own work:

1. Caved To Pressure To Make A Hit Record/Changed Their Signature Sound

2. Drug Addled Recording Sessions

3. Unhappy With The Producer/Production

4. The Writing Wasn’t Up To Par

5. The Performances Weren’t Up To Par

Artists who caved in to pressure from record labels or producers include Captain Beefheart (on Unconditionally Guaranteed and Bluejeans & Moonbeams), The Monkees (Changes) and John Cougar (Chestnut Street Incident). Some albums were released without the artists' consent, like Van Morrison's Blowin' Your Mind and the debut of Big Brother And The Holding Company.

Bands who changed their signature sound include Celtic Frost (Cold Lake) and Bad Religion (Into The Unknown). I also included a couple songs from disowned albums by artists who hadn't found their signature sound yet (American Music Club, Pantera, and Billy Joel's hard rock duo Attila). Speaking of BJ, he was briefly a member of Dick Wagner's band Ursa Major after Attila split up.

Artists who were unhappy with their performances include Linda Ronstadt (Silk Purse) and Ian Hunter (Overnight Angels). Other musical missteps include The Beach Boys' M.I.U. Album, Hall & Oates' War Babies, Funkadelic's Connections And Disconnections, The Clash's Cut The Crap, and Van Halen III. 

Some disowned albums have been blocked from reissue: Emmylou Harris' Gliding Bird, Bob Seger's Brand New Morning, Mickey Newbury's Harlequin Melodies, Scott Walker Sings Songs From His TV Series, and Mark Everett's Bad Dude In Love. Thanks to Farq for that last rarity!