lifeblood: discography: 1981 - tuesday's children (the b band)

independently released cassette under the name the b band, an early name for indigo girls. it is not known how many copies of the cassette were issued or if there was artwork. this release is long out of print.

cassette bootlegs of this release were widely circulating in the fan community starting around 1989. the excellent sounding audio files below were taken from the commercial cd bootleg early recordings 2 - levees that break in my heart, which was created and sold in november 1996 by perry thompson, then owner of rainy day records in atlanta, georgia. the cds were $19.95 each and were advertised for sale on the now defunct listserv@netspace.org e-mail list.

download a zip file with all the individual tracks

(53:01)

side a:

01. wysteria (4:18)
--words and music by dan fogelberg (lyrics) (listen)
02. carolina in my mind (4:45)
--words and music by james taylor (lyrics) (listen) (background)
03. a junkie's lament (2:25)
--words and music by james taylor (lyrics) (listen)
04. her town too (4:17)
--words and music by james taylor (lyrics) (listen)
05. house at pooh corner (2:56)
--words and music by kenny loggins (lyrics) (listen)
06. danny's song (3:12)
--words and music by kenny loggins (lyrics) (listen)
07. rock me on the water (3:53)
--words and music by jackson browne (lyrics) (listen)
08. father and son (3:12)
--words and music by cat stevens (lyrics) (listen)

side b:

09. come down in time (3:23)
--words and music by elton john and bernie taupin (lyrics) (listen) (background)
10. it's too late (2:27)
--words and music by carole king (lyrics) (listen)
11. you've got a friend (4:01)
--words and music by carole king (lyrics) (listen)
12. dancing shoes (3:21)
--words and music by dan fogelberg (lyrics) (listen)
13. long ago and far away (2:55)
--words and music by james taylor (lyrics) (listen)
14. back together again (2:21)
--words and music by emily saliers (lyrics) (listen)
15. a heart in new york (2:33)
--words and music by benny gallagher and graham lyle (lyrics) (listen) (background)
16. tuesday's children (3:13)
--words and music by amy ray (lyrics) (listen) (background)

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1995-09: indigo girls, record collector:

the duo met in 1975 when emily was 11 and moved down from connecticut to georgia. at elementary school, she came across 10-year-old amy, and the pair became close friends, although they didn't begin playing music together until 1981, when they were at high school. initally, they called themselves the b-band ("after something rude"), and their first tape, "tuesday's children", was recorded that year, comprising mainly cover versions, though with an original song from each of them. even at this early stage, when they were in their mid-teens, the girls' intricate acoustic guitarwork, caramel harmonies and poetic songwriting - the prime ingredients of their modern work - were in place.

"i can't think of another group right now that has the same kind of combination," says emily, trying to explain the mercurial blend of voices and personalities. "i'm much more mainstream in sensibility, more pop, not as much edge, roughness and things."

certainly amy's influences, the pre-grunge of husker du and neil young, are far removed from emily's heroine, singer- songwriter joni mitchell.

"we write individually", explains amy. "we just have different styles of writing. our vocabularies are so different: mine is probably a little more abstract, emily is more of a narrative writer! we tried writing together once. it was a terrible song: we stole all these bob dylan lyrics. we were even going to call the song 'blood on the tracks' at one point!"

away at different colleges in the early-to-mid 80s, the girls spent the next four years playing solo and as a duo, saliers and ray until they both ended up transferring to emory university in atlanta. there they made a lasting commitment to perform together, settling upon the name indigo girls. "i found it in the dictionary," says amy, "i just thought it was catchy." "it's blue and it's deep, i think it has a ring to it," emily adds.

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2001-08-03: indigo girls - talent seen once in a blue moon, the easton express-times:

when she was in sixth grade, saliers and her family moved to decatur, ga., and she began attending laurel ridge elementary school, where ray was a fifth grader.

when both were in high school, they started playing music together in preparation for a school talent show, and were soon performing at open-mike nights at local bars, calling themselves either saliers and ray or the b-band.

by 1981, ray and saliers had completed their first basement tape (literally - it was recorded in ray's basement) called "tuesday's children," a collection of cover songs augmented with two original tunes.

ray continued her songwriting and, the following year, she recorded a solo tape of her own material called "color me grey."

after high school, saliers became an english major at tulane university, and the next year, ray headed off to nashville, tenn., to study english and religion at vanderbilt university. but being away from home didn't sit too well with either, and by 1984 both were back in atlanta as students at emory university.

in 1985, again performing together on a regular basis, they decided to go by the name indigo girls. in one of the time-honored traditions of rock, the name held no real significance - ray chose "indigo" from the dictionary because the word sounded cool.

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2004-05-17: singer of the week, unknown

biography

emily saliers was born on july 22, 1963 in new haven, connecticut, while amy ray was born the following year on april 12, 1964, in atlanta, georgia. the two met when emily saliers' family moved to decatur, georgia. emily was enrolled in laurel ridge elementary school, the school that fifth grader amy ray was already attending.

their musical affiliation began when the two were in high school. calling themselves "saliers and ray" and "the b-band," they formed a musical act and their first rehearsals took place at school talent shows.

from grey to indigo blue

they quickly moved up the ranks, playing at open mike nights in local bars. in 1981, they recorded their first tape, tuesday's children in amy ray's basement, followed by a 1982 recording of "color me grey," a solo effort by ray.

the duo's name, "indigo girls," was not adopted until 1985 (ray had seen the word "indigo" in a dictionary and thought it was catchy). with the release of their first single, "crazy game/everybody's waiting for someone to come home (a b-side)," the music industry had yet to catch on.

in 1987, the indigo girls independently released their first album, strange fire (it was rereleased in 1989 under the epic label). though they were told that they would never secure a deal because their songs were apparently too "immature," their music eventually led to a record deal with epic records in 1988.

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2005-06-24: indigo girls return home as festival headliner, southern voice:

saliers and ray formed their friendship at laurel ridge elementary school in decatur when ray was in the fifth grade and saliers was in the sixth grade.

in high school, the duo began performing together at local bars and clubs as the "b-band" and also as "saliers and ray." in 1981, the folk duo recorded "tuesday's children," their first tape, recorded in ray's basement.

in 1982, during ray's senior year at shamrock high school, she fell in love for the first time with a woman, but she had no idea that same-sex love was taboo.

"we were inseparable," she recalled. "my mom and teachers asked what was going on and i told them, 'i'm in love with her!' being gay and in the suburbs in decatur back then was a lot harder than today ... i didn't know what being 'gay' meant."

but when she finally came to terms with her sexual orientation, coming out to her family was difficult, she admitted. but her sisters - also lesbians - paved the way for her, and she now holds her parents, family and friends up as a truly supportive circle.

"they're so great now, it's hard to remember how hard it was," she said.