Elliott Smith
A Portland songwriter who moved from whispered four-track albums to strings and horns, with an Academy Award nomination along the way.
- Origin
- Omaha, Nebraska, and Portland, Oregon, United States
- Years active
- 1994-2003
- Genres
- singer-songwriter, indie rock, lo-fi
- Labels
- Cavity Search, Kill Rock Stars, DreamWorks, ANTI-, Domino
- Also known as
- Steven Paul Smith
Portland
Steven Paul Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on 6 August 1969. He grew up mostly in Texas and moved to Portland, Oregon at fourteen. After graduating from Lincoln High School he began calling himself Elliott. At Hampshire College in Massachusetts he formed Heatmiser with his classmate Neil Gust, and the band played around Portland from 1992 and made three albums.
His solo songs began as four-track recordings made while he was still in the band. Roman Candle) was recorded in late 1993 in the basement of JJ Gonson, who managed Heatmiser. He had expected only a deal for a seven-inch, but Cavity Search asked to release the whole record, and it came out in July 1994. Smith said its reception quickly overshadowed Heatmiser, which broke up before its last album appeared.
Kill Rock Stars
Mary Lou Lord invited him to tour with her and helped him sign to Kill Rock Stars. His self-titled second album, Elliott Smith, came out in July 1995, led by the single Needle in the Hay. Either/Or followed on 25 February 1997. He produced it with Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf, recorded it in several Portland locations, and took its title from Kierkegaard. Smith played all the instruments himself. Pitchfork's Matt LeMay later wrote that it showed Smith as both an intimate folk songwriter and a one-man pop band.
The film director Gus Van Sant, who also lived in Portland, put songs from Either/Or, among them Between the Bars and Say Yes, into Good Will Hunting, and Smith wrote a new song for it, Miss Misery. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Smith agreed to play it at the 1998 ceremony, in a white suit with the house orchestra, only after the producers said someone else would play it if he refused.
DreamWorks
He then signed to DreamWorks. XO, released on 25 August 1998 and produced by Schnapf and Rothrock, added a horn section, Chamberlins and string arrangements. It reached 104 on the Billboard 200. Its lead single, Waltz #2 (XO), reached 52 in the UK, and he played it on Saturday Night Live on 17 October 1998. He moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1999, and his cover of the Beatles' Because was heard in the end credits of American Beauty.
Figure 8 appeared on 18 April 2000 and was partly recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. It entered the Billboard 200 at 99, the highest US placing of any album in his lifetime. Its first single was Happiness. In 2001 Needle in the Hay was used in Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums, and Smith was reportedly unhappy about its use.
After
Smith played two solo acoustic concerts at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood on 31 January and 1 February 2003. His last show was at Redfest in Salt Lake City on 19 September 2003, where the final song he played was the Beatles' Long, Long, Long. He died in Los Angeles on 21 October 2003, aged 34.
He had been working on a new album, and his family asked Schnapf and Joanna Bolme to finish it. From a Basement on the Hill came out in October 2004 and debuted at 19 in the US. The compilation New Moon followed in 2007, the documentary Heaven Adores You in 2015, and deluxe editions of XO and Figure 8 on what would have been his fiftieth birthday in 2019. Frank Ocean, Beck, Phoebe Bridgers and Madonna are among the artists who have cited him as an influence or covered his songs.
Records
- Elliott Smith 1995 · Kill Rock Stars
The self-titled second album, mostly Smith alone with an acoustic guitar, and the first on Kill Rock Stars.
- Either/Or 1997 · Kill Rock Stars
His third album, the bridge between the bedroom records and the major-label sound, and the source of the songs Gus Van Sant chose for Good Will Hunting.
- XO 1998 · DreamWorks
The major-label debut, with strings, horns and Chamberlins around the same double-tracked voice.
- Figure 8 2000 · DreamWorks
The last album he finished in his lifetime, made with Rothrock and Schnapf and partly recorded at Abbey Road.
- From a Basement on the Hill 2004 · Domino (UK) and ANTI- (US)
The unfinished last album, mixed and sequenced after his death by Rob Schnapf and Joanna Bolme.
Songs
- Between the Bars Either/Or · 1997
The Either/Or track that went into Good Will Hunting.
- Say Yes Either/Or · 1997
The Either/Or closer, a love song that dares to hope.
- Waltz #2 (XO) XO · 1998
The lead single from XO, set in a karaoke bar.
- Miss Misery XO · 1997
The song written for Good Will Hunting that earned an Academy Award nomination.
- Needle in the Hay Elliott Smith · 1995
The single that led his self-titled album, later heard in The Royal Tenenbaums.
- Happiness Figure 8 · 2000
The first single from Figure 8.
Related artists
Heatmiser, The Beatles, Big Star, Bob Dylan, Quasi
Where to go next
Reference
- Elliott Smith A full biography with discography and legacy.
- Roman Candle The 1994 debut album.
- Waltz #2 (XO) The XO single.
Writing and criticism
- Pitchfork on Either/Or, 2017 Matt LeMay on the expanded edition.
- Pitchfork on Figure 8, 2000 Ryan Schreiber's contemporary review.
- Pitchfork on XO, 2023 Jayson Greene's Sunday Review of the DreamWorks debut.
- Madonna sings Between the Bars A 2013 Pitchfork news item.
- XO and Figure 8 deluxe editions The 2019 reissues announced.
Live performance archives
- Reading Festival, 29 August 1998 A concert tape on the Internet Archive.
- Umbra Penumbra, Portland, 17 September 1994 One of his first solo performances.
- Henry Fonda Theatre, 31 January 2003 A soundboard recording from his 2003 Hollywood shows.
Fan sites and communities
- Sweet Adeline A long-running fan-run site, last updated with news from 2013.
Sources
- Elliott Smith, Wikipedia
- Roman Candle (album), Wikipedia
- Elliott Smith: Either/Or: Expanded Edition, Pitchfork (2017-03-07)
- Elliott Smith: XO, Pitchfork (2023-07-30)
- Elliott Smith: Figure 8, Pitchfork (2000-03-31)
- Sweet Adeline, sweetadeline.net