The Ides Of March - Early recording?

Forostar said:
It is more logical that Ides was recorded during the album session because they had more time. They could have done it with the purpose on mind: let's do the intro, we need that as a tape for the show. That was a simple, concrete result. They did not need to record Wrathchild at the album session. They wanted to play that live, and did not wish to use it for the album either. Therefore there did not have to be a Wratchchild studio version connection.

If they recorded it at Muthas it was used earlier. Too bad we miss bootlegs. Well, I think I gave you a shitload of logical reasons. Let it sink in.

I'll see if I can do more research as well.
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They could have done that Foro, I mean, recorded to be used as the intro. Unfortunately the bootlegs don't offer a good enough quality to hear if the quality resembles the album. However if they did recorded it with Malone I would think they should have recorded it during the running free single version sessions.
 
Let's try to contact this man: Martin Levan
(EDIT: I just did. I hoped it worked, I filled in some form and I am not sure if it was sent well)


I would not be surprised if Maiden Revelations had already checked some stuff with him when they published this article.

https://maidenrevelations.com/2012/10/19/feature-friday-the-birth-of-the-iron-maiden-sound-1980-81/


.... Early sessions had been done while drummer Doug Sampson was still in the band, with producer Guy Edwards. The first Maiden producer can still lay claim to one piece, Burning Ambition, which later showed up on the B-side of the Running Free single. But the band was unhappy with the sound and wanted someone else to work with.

A footnote to this story is the fact that Maiden recorded two tracks for the Metal For Muthas compilation album in late 1979, before starting their debut record. The band put down Sanctuary and Wrathchild with the help of EMI’s in-house producer Neal Harrison, but it is probably unlikely that band-leading bassist Steve Harris and hard-bargaining manager Rod Smallwood would have considered using a producer with such close ties to the record company for their own album.

metalformuthastour1.jpg

Iron Maiden on the Metal For Muthas tour in early 1980.

Who to get? An attempt at working with The Sweet guitarist Andy Scott was aborted when the would-be-Maiden-producer suggested that Harris use a guitar pick and not his fingers. The search continued…

Even the EMI leadership at the time can’t necessarily remember why Iron Maiden were put to work with producer Will Malone. In late 1979, Maiden had signed their first record contract, a contract that manager Smallwood made sure was for the long-term, with no option for EMI to chicken out until at least three albums had been recorded and released. You’d think the record company would be very particular about getting the right producer for such a commitment.

But the band entered Kingsway Studios with Malone in January 1980, just as soon as they had gotten guitarist Dennis Stratton and drummer Clive Burr in to complement the line-up that already comprised Harris, guitarist Dave Murray and singer Paul Di’Anno. ....

.... Stratton was the most experienced studio musician in Maiden, and he also found the producer a little too lofty. However, the new Maiden guitarist saw the bright side of the situation: “Will might not have been the greatest producer in the world, but it meant that we could get on with it with the engineers.”

And the engineer on the first Maiden album was one Martin Levan, who went on to have a distinguished career as producer and engineer. “And he was good, thank God,” said Harris. “We actually got some good sounds down.” Levan’s engineering skills facilitated the young and inexperienced Maiden and made the debut album what it is.

levan2.jpg

Much respected engineer Martin Levan helped Maiden overcome the obstacle of a lofty producer.
 
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Forostar said:
However little or dissatisfying, he still did production work for the band Iron Maiden.
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This is the sentence I deleted

In the early 1980s, Scott went into production and produced records for bands including [[Iron Maiden]].
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Produced is an exact meaning. He did not produce any record for Iron Maiden because there's not a single credit to him, and that's what I wrote as a reason for deletion. Also the word is plural so it made the entire sentence highly misleading. As I don't have anything to do with this person, I don't know him, I just deleted it and didn't want to meddle with fixing it to be true, like "was unsuccessfully involved in production", because that would require quotations and I really don't care that much. My reason to delete stands firm as is and whoever is involved with his wiki page can try doing a better job.

Hope that clarified :)
 
Luisma said:
How do you understand what he says? To me is pretty clear they rehearsed at the Hollywood Studios and the move to record after that.

As @GhostofCain says, I believe the mystery version was either recorded at one of the sessions we know of (a very knowledgeable person is adamant that this isn't the case) or in between these dates, but not on the IM sessions.
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I would be sceptical about it being recorded at an unknown session. Ides of March is 1 minute long, I doubt they would have went to a studio to specifically record that alone, and I'd guess if they were recording other things at this mystery session nerds like us would have discovered information about it already LOL
 
Hello everyone. In the past days I have make a LOT of effort to contact people who could help me clarify this matter and I have reached a conclusion thanks to the amazing people who have helped me. The mystery version of The Ides Of March was a live recording the band did at a rehearsal at The Ruskin Arms in April 1979 and polished to be used as an intro tape during the January sessions of 1980 (recordings of Running Free for the single).
 
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Magnus said:
Well done @Luisma !
So it's Doug on drums after all?
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Thanks mate! It was really, really cool to have the help of pretty knowledgeable people willing to help and share their info so I can keep giving great details to my soon to be finsih book. Now all I need is someone willing to share at least some songs of a 1978 or 1977 concert :)

And answering your question @Magnus YES it is Doug on drums!
 
And Tony Parsons on guitar. Is this the same lineup that went to BBC Radio 1 in November 1979?
 
Zare said:
And Tony Parsons on guitar. Is this the same lineup that went to BBC Radio 1 in November 1979?
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Hi @Zare no. The last gig with Tony Parsons, according to my research, was at the Lion at Warrington on 24 November 1979.
 
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Luisma said:
Hi @Zare no. The last gig with Tony Parsons, according to my research, was at the Lion at Warrington on 24 November 1979, so it would have to be with Stratton on guitar.
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But Doug and Dennis never played together? When Dennis auditioned, Doug was already out?
And that's why he suggested Clive in the first place.
 
I corrected my original post about the origin of the mystery session after checking my notes. The version was recorded at a pre gig rehearsal at the Ruskin Arms on April 1979 and polished during the Running Free single sessions. The line up should have been Paul Di'Anno, Dave Murray, Paul Cairns, Steve Harris, Doug Sampson
 
Magnus said:
But Doug and Dennis never played together? When Dennis auditioned, Doug was already out?
And that's why he suggested Clive in the first place.
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Thanks to your comment I had to go and check my late night notes from yesterday. I have corrected myself now
 
Luisma said:
I corrected my original post about the origin of the mystery session after checking my notes. The version was recorded at a pre gig rehearsal at the Ruskin Arms on April 1979 and polished during the Running Free single sessions. The line up should have been Paul Di'Anno, Dave Murray, Paul Cairns, Steve Harris, Doug Sampson
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Blimey, so not only did they deny him credits on The Soundhouse Tapes but also used the tape with him (and Doug) to open gigs? Cool.
 
Stuff like this is why I have a hard time sympathising with the band when these lawsuits pop up. So much stuff happened in the early days it becomes obvious that a lot of people were denied credit for work they had put in. Not to say all the lawsuits are genuine and fair but i really don't believe that first album was written by those who are credited
 
Luisma said:
Hello everyone. In the past days I have make a LOT of effort to contact people who could help me clarify this matter and I have reached a conclusion thanks to the amazing people who have helped me. The mystery version of The Ides Of March was a live recording the band did at a rehearsal at The Ruskin Arms in April 1979 and polished to be used as an intro tape during the January sessions of 1980 (recordings of Running Free for the single).
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Great sleuth work. I thank you for it!
 
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