Sounds from the Tommy Aguilar Band

Clips are in real audio format.

Originally, we had a couple of songs from TAB’s Chorus Verses Chorus album here — until we heard some discouraging words from Hor Zacowitz with the UniGram Music Group’s legal department, threatening a lawsuit. TAB’s old label Poly Brothers Records may no longer exist (it was one of several labels folded in the 1999 UniGram merger), but the long arm of copyright law remains.

So we’ve dipped into our stash of TAB’s old worktapes, recorded at the group’s rehearsal space. Rough though they may be, these works-in-progress give an intriguing glimpse of Tommy Aguilar’s music at an evolutionary phase. We’ll be adding more songs later, so be sure to check back.

“Rock Hit Hard” Click for Real Audio of this track

Better-known as “Rock Hit Back to Black,” this song eventually became TAB’s first independently released single. This early version has more of a Yardbirds raveup feel than the Buddy Holly tribute it later evolved into. Another curiosity is the lyrics’ reference to a “baseball bat,” noteworthy because Tommy hated sports of all kinds (not surprisingly, that line didn’t make it onto the single).

“Dumb & Number” Click for Real Audio of this track

A vastly different arrangement of this song appeared on Chorus Verses Chorus, including keyboards, oboe and string section. This is said to be the first time TAB ever played it.

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“Bandtown”Click for Real Audio of this track

A Chorus Verses Chorus outtake, “Bandtown” later surfaced on [Second Verses: Unfinished Business, Volume 1] in a more polished version with different lyrics. There has been speculation that this song was recorded under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms — see the lyrics, “Eat me, I’m a peach, I’m a pear, I don’t care” — but we’ve always figured Tommy was just really, really hungry on the day they recorded this. The outro chorus also shows a previously latent Pantera influence not obvious in TAB’s other music.

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“Comin’ Down”Click for Real Audio of this track

Another Chorus Verses Chorus song. In this early rendition, it’s a dirge that gradually builds up (as well as a rare example of the falsetto part of Tommy’s vocal range). By the time it made it onto an album, “Comin’ Down” started out fast and got faster.