MMJ 101 - The Screams

[thebigbang]

Every now and then someone remarks about what might be Jim James' best scream during a show and it makes me think of the video stream of the 1999 performance linked below.

Anyone who discovered the band much more recently should really enjoy this.  From the beginning it is all there, the reverb, the wailing vocals, the passionate playing and the screams.  Especially the screams.  Jim's shouts and hollers are a wonder in most of these songs.  He had a "best scream" candidate in all of the early shows I saw.

Something that might surprise you about this performance is that the first two songs played (One Big Holiday and I will sing you songs) did not make it on to an album until their third release "It Still Moves" four years later.

NOTE: This was 1999 and video streaming a live performance on the internet was a novelty.  The sound and video are not in sync.  Also, because this was a benefit show it is 2 hours and 39 minutes long and the Jacket appears in the middle of it.  To save you the tedium of sitting through the whole thing, I am posting the MMJ set list and time stamps so you can skip strait to the good stuff.

59:50  Introduction of MMJ
1:00:10 One Big Holiday
1:05:38 I will Sing You Songs
1:12:15 War Begun
1:16:50 Old September Blues
1:21:50 Evelyn Is Not Real
1:25:00 The Bear
1:29:25 The Dark
1:33:00 It's About Twilight Now

About that screaming: from the 1:35:20 mark until 1:36:50, the only vocals are Jim screaming and hollering and even growling near the end.   A full minute and a half of screams, all to great effect.  So listen to this before saying "that was the best JJ scream ever".  He set the benchmark high right from the beginning.

http://www.52media.com/  
(click on the 52webcast link at the top of the page to get the video)

After listening to this, all will know why Jim included the lyric "Nobody ever screams anymore" in The Dark.  Celebrate!

[aMD]

Nice thread.

Jim really tapered off the screaming when they started playing a lot of shows. In the early days, when they were playing a show here and there in Louisville in between trips to the netherlands Jim could get away with screaming his lungs out. Doing that night after night is just impossible.

Jim took singing lessons in 2000 or 2001 to figure out the "right" way to sing as to not put further strain on his voice.  That was about the same time the screaming and the crazy head-banging stopped. To me, the peak of Jim's singing voice was in late 2000 into 2001, right before they started majorly touring.

I miss the head-banging and screaming but I knew it was a small sacrifice if they could go out and conquer the world.

Here's two of the greatest all time screams on back-to-back songs from the some show, 10-27-00:
Honest Man
http://www.archive.org/download/mmj2000-10-27.WFPK/mmj2000-10-27t10_vbr.mp3
It's About Twilight Now
http://www.archive.org/download/mmj2000-10-27.WFPK/mmj2000-10-27t11_vbr.mp3

[Magnix]

Nice one! And the oldest live recording so far ... The date that comes with the vid is September 27, 1999. When I started my site, Jim mailed me the (known) dates of MMJ performances from before their first Dutch shows, His list had the Harvest Showcase as September 16, 1999!? Can anyone confirm?
By the way, they also 'did' the 2000 and 2001 editions of the Harvest Showcase, resp. on September 22nd and October 13th.

[EAZYE]

Nice Thread.  Thanks for posting ;)

They sure do look young in that video.

[Bangs Brownwood]

From The Ogden 1/13/07

[ycartrob]

good screams here at the end of the show, It's About Twilight Now.

http://www.archive.org/details/mmj2005-06-04.ak40.flac16

some quality sreaming, and perhaps even some yellin'

[Kory]

Nice one! And the oldest live recording so far ... The date that comes with the vid is September 27, 1999. When I started my site, Jim mailed me the (known) dates of MMJ performances from before their first Dutch shows, His list had the Harvest Showcase as September 16, 1999!? Can anyone confirm?
By the way, they also 'did' the 2000 and 2001 editions of the Harvest Showcase, resp. on September 22nd and October 13th.

I think that's the one, I've talked with 52media and they won't give up a better quality video until Jim decides to do something with them. I think they just want some money or something, 52 said they have emailed him for a few years and he hasn't responded. I'd love to see it in better quality. I'm sure Jim has the tape though and that's the one on his list.
I wish Jim would trade tapes with me...