Al Larson - Guitar/Vocals
Mike Johnson - Guitar/Vocals
Robert Christie (RIP) - Drums/Vocals
Joe Argast - Bass/Vocals
Laura McDougall - Bass on "Tonight's the Night"
Barely
know where to start with this one. Snakepit were one of Eugene's finest
bands. John O'Neil talked me into forking over $3.00 to purchase this
back in '85 never having heard the band. This tape, along with the first
two Johnson Unit tapes and the lone Moose Lodge cassette began my
obsession with obtaining every Eugene demo possible. To this day, I
don't understand how Snakepit failed to become absolutely huge. The
music speaks for itself and I'm eternally grateful to Mike Johnson for
allowing me to share this with you.
Snakepit - Soul Like a Goat (1985)
1. Wedding Train
2. Rachel
3. You Tell Me
4. A Short Narrative
5. Me & Mine
6. Sunrise
7. All Nerves
8. Still Haunts Me
9. Wishing Well
10. Waiting For You
11. Tonight's the Night (Live)
12. Art Song (bonus track)
DOWNLOAD HERE
Mike Johnson - Guitar/Vocals
Mike Johnson - Guitar/Vocals
Mike Johnson - Guitar/Vocals
Laura McDougall - Bass
Robert Christie - Drums/Vocals
This second cassette only release came out in '87 and was engineered by Ron Synovitz who was also kind enough to re-master it! This is the first time the recording has been available here and it's long overdue. Billy Karren was on the verge of joining the band and actually played on some of the live material that filled out the side but the studio tracks are just Mike, Robert & Laura. Hopefully I can get Ron to share some stories about this recording, will update accordingly.
Snakepit - From Vegas to Memphis (1987)
1. Party
2. Turn Around
3. From the Start
4. Sagetown
5. Important
6. A Smile
7. TV Eye (Live)
DOWNLOAD HERE
This second cassette only release came out in '87 and was engineered by Ron Synovitz who was also kind enough to re-master it! This is the first time the recording has been available here and it's long overdue. Billy Karren was on the verge of joining the band and actually played on some of the live material that filled out the side but the studio tracks are just Mike, Robert & Laura. Hopefully I can get Ron to share some stories about this recording, will update accordingly.
Snakepit - From Vegas to Memphis (1987)
1. Party
2. Turn Around
3. From the Start
4. Sagetown
5. Important
6. A Smile
7. TV Eye (Live)
DOWNLOAD HERE
Mike Johnson - Guitar/Vocals
Billy Karren - Guitar/Vocals
Laura McDougall - Bass
Robert Christie - Drums/Vocals
At
long last, here is the first Snakepit single! The band had previously
released two cassettes (Soul Like a Goat, already posted on this blog
and From Vegas to Memphis, coming soon) but his was the first time the
band had committed anything to vinyl. The tracks were recorded in '88 at
Smegma in Portland with Mike Lastra. I heard many years ago that they
recorded 7 tracks at the session but the 4 posted here are all I have.
If anyone can confirm that additional tracks were recorded please email
me, especially if you have the songs! Don't feel like I need to type
much about this record, it speaks for itself and you should have already
clicked the download link before you even read this far.
Snakepit - Wait ('88)
1. Wait
2. Disease
3. Susanville
4. Decay (bonus track originally appeared on Positively 13th St. compilation cassette)
DOWNLOAD HERE
Mike Johnson - Guitar/Bass/Vocals
Laura McDougall - Bass
Robert Christie - Drums/Vocals
This was the final release by Snakepit although it was not the last material they recorded. Released in 1990 by Dunghill I can't even remember if the band was still playing live at the time with Joe Preston on bass. The front cover is an ominous photo of Robert walking in his burned down apartment at 951 Patterson. The night the place burned Snakepit was supposed to be playing a show at the EMU Dining Hall, it would have been the first time they'd played Eugene in months. The tracks on this post were all recorded at Gung Ho and it's strange to hear the band in the kind of clarity that Gung Ho provides. I wish they'd recorded many many albums but after this there was only the unreleased Eeyore.
Snakepit - Waste 7" + Bonus Tracks (1990)
1. Waste
2. Million
3. Say It's So (Originally appeared on 13th St. Revisited cassette comp)
4. Rot (Unreleased)
5. Searching For a Five (Unreleased)
6. Finger In Judgement (Unreleased)
7. Lovers Understand (Unreleased, Robert Sings!)
DOWNLOAD HERE
Mike Johnson - Vocals, Guitar, Bass (?)
Robert Christie - Drums, Vocals
This unreleased album was the last studio stuff Snakepit recorded. I believe this was all done at Gung-Ho Studios in 1989 and I'm not sure if Laura was still around to play bass on these tracks, I think it was just Mike and Robert by this point. Not much to say, this should have come out over 20 years ago but for a variety of reasons, that never happened. When I asked Mike's permission to post this, he said sure although he couldn't "imagine that anyone would want to hear it." Please let him know he was wrong about that in the comments. Many of these songs later appeared in different form on Mike's solo albums, I guess that makes this sort of like Snakepit's V.U. or Another View?
Snakepit - Eeyore (Unreleased '89)
1. Home Ground
2. Impatient & Unwilling
3. You're Alive
4. Separation
5. Giving Up on Time
6. Passed By
7. F.M.D.
8. Another Time
9. Slipping Away
10. A Reason
11. Obvious
12. Victim
DOWNLOAD HERE
Mike Johnson - Guitar/Bass/Vocals
Laura McDougall - Bass
Robert Christie - Drums/Vocals
This was the final release by Snakepit although it was not the last material they recorded. Released in 1990 by Dunghill I can't even remember if the band was still playing live at the time with Joe Preston on bass. The front cover is an ominous photo of Robert walking in his burned down apartment at 951 Patterson. The night the place burned Snakepit was supposed to be playing a show at the EMU Dining Hall, it would have been the first time they'd played Eugene in months. The tracks on this post were all recorded at Gung Ho and it's strange to hear the band in the kind of clarity that Gung Ho provides. I wish they'd recorded many many albums but after this there was only the unreleased Eeyore.
Snakepit - Waste 7" + Bonus Tracks (1990)
1. Waste
2. Million
3. Say It's So (Originally appeared on 13th St. Revisited cassette comp)
4. Rot (Unreleased)
5. Searching For a Five (Unreleased)
6. Finger In Judgement (Unreleased)
7. Lovers Understand (Unreleased, Robert Sings!)
DOWNLOAD HERE
Mike Johnson - Vocals, Guitar, Bass (?)
Robert Christie - Drums, Vocals
This unreleased album was the last studio stuff Snakepit recorded. I believe this was all done at Gung-Ho Studios in 1989 and I'm not sure if Laura was still around to play bass on these tracks, I think it was just Mike and Robert by this point. Not much to say, this should have come out over 20 years ago but for a variety of reasons, that never happened. When I asked Mike's permission to post this, he said sure although he couldn't "imagine that anyone would want to hear it." Please let him know he was wrong about that in the comments. Many of these songs later appeared in different form on Mike's solo albums, I guess that makes this sort of like Snakepit's V.U. or Another View?
Snakepit - Eeyore (Unreleased '89)
1. Home Ground
2. Impatient & Unwilling
3. You're Alive
4. Separation
5. Giving Up on Time
6. Passed By
7. F.M.D.
8. Another Time
9. Slipping Away
10. A Reason
11. Obvious
12. Victim
DOWNLOAD HERE
Thank you thank you! I'm a big fan of Mike's work, so I'm really excited to give this a listen. Sorry to have discovered it a few months late, guess I'll find out of the hosting mirrors still work!
ReplyDeleteI've downloaded and have been listening to all this stuff and it really is amazing. Some of my favourite people were in this band and... it was just such a great band. Thank you so much for making the music available. I can't tell you how much I appreciate hearing it all again.
ReplyDeleteSnakepit - From Vegas to Memphis (1987) ....file not found ...please upload this file!!! Huge thank!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Lived, not sure what to tell you because I just clicked on the link and it works fine. Give it another shot. Re-upped Mike's solo cassette too.
ReplyDeleteplease update
ReplyDeleteSaw these guys several times in Eugene, and bought their records... cool nostalgia ala House of Records. thanks for sharing some that I had not heard!
ReplyDeleteFinally I get to hear the infamous Eeyore record. Plus the early cassettes. I just have the two singles and the special singles box which I've never opened. Stoked to hear this. I was at the show at the EMU that the Hellcows were playing at and remember seeing the word spread that The B had burned down. I think the only time I saw them live was at The B at some earlier date, but I was still in musically formative years and didn't know what to make of it then.
ReplyDeleteBTW - I can't remember the name of the other guy then John that worked at The House Of Records that was also in bands (had black sort of poofy curly hair), but thought it was hilarious that he entered is experimental punk/noise outfit into a UofO dorm's Battle of the Band. In tribute and with some good natured mockery I'm sure, the band was named Toad Cage. They were not well received, but I got a good laugh.
ReplyDeleteThis is all incredible. Every second of it. Mike, if you're reading this, it was an absolute pleasure to hear this. And the legendary "lost" album is incredible. "Victim" is truly harrowing, but beautiful. Thank you. ~Jesse xx
ReplyDeleteI can't believe there's a lost Snakepit album. Really cool. Thanks. - Tobi
ReplyDeleteI can't believe there's a lost Snakepit album. Really cool. Thanks. - Tobi
ReplyDeleteit’s crazy how many bands wound up coming out of Snakepit. That’s something Pierce (Robert’s brother) and I talked about a lot.
ReplyDeletethis is so great. love all of mike's work, can't get enough
ReplyDelete