Fables at 40

This day forty years ago (10 June 1985), was a transitional day for one of America's rapidly developing and emerging key bands, as its third album hit the stores.

After two critically acclaimed, though not necessarily high selling, LP's in 1983 and 1984, today saw the release of Fables Of The Reconstruction by R.E.M., on the IRS label.

Having put together two records of mystical and atmospheric indie folk(ish) rock, all recorded not too far from their Athens, Georgia base, in North Carolina, this new album took R.E.M. to their first recording sessions outside of the U.S. . They found themselves at Livingstone Studios in London, working with producer Joe Boyd (who had a fairly impressive c.v. of working with folk artists including Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, Sandy Denny, John Martin, as well as 10,000 Maniacs and Pink Floyd).

The resultant album has a darker feeling than their first few records, and while lyrical content was perhaps just as obscure as ever, there was some experimentation with strings and even banjo. Michael Stipe's trademark mumbling of those lyrics, that had been a hallmark of the first two albums was less befuddling, but even with clearer lyrics, they weren't necessarily any less obtuse.

The band had worked pretty much exclusively with Don Dixon and Mitch Easter up to this point, but decided it was time to freshen things up. It seems that legendary musician, arranger and producer Van Dyke Parks was considered, as were Hugh Padgham (XTC, Police and Genesis), Eliot Mazer (Neil Young) and Elvis Costello (who was very keen to produce them, but friction between his manager and IRS boss Miles Copeland put any chance of that to bed), so in the end they settled on the London-based, U.S. producer Boyd.

With Michael Stipe's latest batch of material containing a strong Southern Gothic flavour, he had initially favoured Parks, who had recently completed an album based on the Uncle Remus folk tales popular in the Southern states. Peter Buck was in the Boyd corner, being a big fan of his work with Fairport Convention, and Richard and Linda Thompson. He was actually booked up at the time, but when that other project fell through he became available and jumped onboard.

The darkness of his material was increased by conditions in London. Their commute to the studio in Wood Green from their Mayfair apartment was long, and Buck grumbled that "it rained every day it wasn't snowing." Also, Boyd's work ethic was different to what they had been used to - where Dixon and Easter worked quickly, encouraging spontaneity - Boyd was more methodical, spending much time remixing songs, removing (the band felt) some of the energy and edge.

Joe Boyd in 1980 Photo: Hannibal Records

Boyd, for his part, was impressed with the bands professionalism and organisation, and noted that while with many bands it was a battle for each member to make themselves heard and get turned up in the mix, with R.E.M. it was the opposite, they all wanted to be quieter. As the time for recording approached, he listened a lot to their old stuff, growing to love those first two records, which he said meant that "I got a bit more nervous about it, because I realised they wouldn't be quite so easy to improve upon."

In the end, the band only arrived in London with three fully formed songs that would end up on the record (Old Man Kensey, Auctioneer, Driver 8). The weather and the long commute was causing a sense of disorientation and a lack of focus for the band members. Their fatigue and this strange, damp environment, coupled with the undoubted knowledge that as soon as recording was done, there would be more displacement from the inevitable round of touring, was making them doubt themselves and asking themselves whether they could be bothered with it all.

Can't Get There From Here (Official music video)

These tensions and emotions all play into that slightly darker feeling on the songs, and ultimately give us the great record we now have.

Fables side:

Feeling Gravity's Pull : This is perhaps a slightly odd choice for an album opener, with the use of a string trio providing a dirge-like discordant quality, and its references to French visual artist Man Ray and lucid dreaming.

Maps and Legends: This was apparently inspired by a Baptist minister called Howard Finster, who was also an artist and who had created the album artwork for their previous record, Reckoning.

Driver 8: This was the second single off the record, featuring possibly Buck's ultimate catchy folk riff. It seemed to be about trying to reach a destination that is always just out of reach - Stipe would later say that "it's almost an idea, almost this fantasy or this dream, and you're fooling yourself into believing that it's almost obtainable, when in fact it really isn't."

Life and How to Live It: The title comes from a book called Life: How To Live by an oddball Athens author Brivs Mekis, which was never actually distributed and was only found after his death. This was, as Pitchfork would later note, Stipe "at his most spirited and unhinged."

Old Man Kensey: This was about an actual local dog kidnapper who used the ransom money he gained, in order to get drunk. Musically, this seems to be a partner for Feeling Gravity's Pull, with a strong, pulsing bass line and slightly discordant, ringing guitars.

Driver 8 (Official music video)

R.E.M. at Werchter Festival, 1985

 Reconstruction side:

Can't Get There From Here: This was an obvious choice to be the first single from the record. Full of catchy hooks, driving beats and a bit of brass, not to mention some lovely funky guitar from Buck and the essential backing vocals that would become Mike Mills staple. It also has the funniest / funnest video they ever produced - just plain daft.

Green Grow The Rushes: This was part of a pact that Stipe made with Natalie Merchant, lead singer of fellow college rock band, 10,000 Maniacs; to make sure that they both wrote songs about the genocide of Native Americans in the U.S. That same year, her song, Among The Americans appeared on The Wishing Chair album, while Green Grow The Rushes was his contribution.

Green Grow The Rushes (Audio only)

Kohoutek: A beautiful and melancholy little ditty, which perhaps gets a little lost in here, although Stipe's vocals are good and strong here. It was inspired by the Kohoutek comet (named after astronomer Lobos Kohoutek), which promised to be a big spectacle but faded away quickly. This was used as a metaphor for a relationship that doesn't quite meet expectations.

Auctioneer (Another Engine): This provided the most obviously rock driven song on the album. Again fuelled by some trademark Buck riffing, it was sonically much more powerful than anything since their Chronic Town EP back in 1982.

Good Advices: Another song driven by some bright and jangly Buck guitar work, perfectly setting off some plaintive, thoughtful vocals from Stipe. It is a slow burner that plods along nice and sedately, although a brief key change midway suggests a change of pace, which never really materialises.

Wendell Gee: A song with a bit of emotional heft to finish the record (not to mention Buck on banjo this time - and some glorious Mike Mills backing vocals), and the one that (perhaps an odd choice) became the third single (in Europe only). By reaching number 91 in the UK chart, it gave them their first chart entry there. The Gees were an Athens family of small business owners, and this is a storytelling song in the Southern tradition.

Wendell Gee (Audio only)

***

There is a certain, deliberate nuance in the circularity of the record's title, and whether it should be called Fables of the Reconstruction, or Reconstruction of the Fables (there are two front covers to reflect that). Reconstructing the fables could reference the groups storytelling ability, but reconstruction also hints at the South's civil war past, and the how it had to be rebuilt after the war.

Ultimately, it was perhaps their ode to their home region, perhaps trying to redress the balance from what Buck noted was the prominent view, that on television, "Southerners are always hicks. They're idiots. Everyone always tends to look at you as if it's a miracle that you're a normal person from the South." He would add that "there's more of a feeling of place on this record. A sense of home and a sense that we're not there."

Fables would provide R.E.M. with their first foray into the UK Top40, when it reached the heady heights of number 35.

Auctioneer (Another Engine) (Live in Germany, 1985)

The reviews were generally good; lots of critics noted its darkness and often intense atmosphere, but often the feeling was that it was not quite as consistent as the first two records. Transitional is another term that was used retrospectively; songs like Green Grow The Rushes and Good Advices might have fitted fairly comfortably on those earlier albums, while Auctioneer definitely hinted at the more direct, dynamic feel that was to come on Life's Rich Pageant.

What we can definitively say with forty years of hindsight, is that any comparison with the first two records is probably very unfair - as they are two of the best albums of the whole decade! While it perhaps lacks the aforementioned consistency - several of the tracks are merely 'very good' and maybe get lost a bit - but when it is strong, with songs like Can't Get There, Driver 8 and Life And How To Live It, it is as good as anything they have done, before or since.