American Girls: Difference between revisions

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 "American Girls" was first recorded by Rivers Cuomo on his DA-88 machine in September of 1997, while living in Boston. When asked about his songwriting structure in an e-mail correspondence in [[2001]], Cuomo responded: "Round about the time I wrote American Girls, I started getting interested in what one of my professors calls "Strophic" composition: where one verse is essentially the same as the last. I think this form produces less "emotional" music, but the masters of the form, including the Beatles and Nirvana, don't seem to let their listeners down with it. I'll admit I haven't found a way to pull it off yet." <ref>Cuomo, Rivers. "Re: Another Rivers Voice Comment" Message to Matt (archived). 2 December 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20080603104847/http://www.members.shaw.ca/ridd2/correspondence/matt.html</ref> On [[December 18]], [[2020]] Cuomo mentioned in [[Riverpedia archive - 12/18/2020 #Lovely|an article]] on [[Riverpedia]] that the song was originally conceived for the potential side-project [[Lovely]].<ref>Cuomo, Rivers. “Lovely.” Mister Rivers' Neighborhood, 18 Dec. 2020, 1:41 PM UTC, http://www.riverscuomo.com/wiki/Lovely</ref> In 2020, Cuomo released a demo of the song as part of the digital compilation ''[[Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years]]''.
-Following the departure of [[Matt Sharp]] from Weezer, Cuomo began performing shows around Boston as both Weezer "try-out" shows as well as shows under his new side-project, [[Homie]]. "American Girls" was first performed live at [[Rivers Cuomo concert: 09/26/1997 - Cambridge, MA|the first of these "try-out" shows]] at T.T. The Bear's Place in Cambridge in September of [[1997]]. At this show, Cuomo introduced the song by saying that it was about "how American girls can be kinda rough sometimes." Cuomo was joined by future Weezer bassist [[Mikey Welsh]] on bass, [[Kevin Stevenson]] (of the band The Shods) on guitar, and [[Zeph Courtney]] (of Chevy Heston and Stompbox) on drums. The group also played it at [[Rivers Cuomo concert: 10/08/1997 - Cambridge, MA|another show]] on [[October 8]], and one additional time at [[Homie concert: 11/21/1997 - Cambridge, MA|the second of two Homie shows]] on [[November 21]]. These live performances resemble the tone of Cuomo's original demo, and are sometimes referred to by fans as the "hard rock" or "rocked out" version of the song, in contrast to the slowed-down ballad form of the ''Meet the Deedles'' release.
+Following the departure of [[Matt Sharp]] from Weezer, Cuomo began performing shows around Boston as both Weezer "try-out" shows as well as shows under his new side-project, [[Homie]]. "American Girls" was first performed live at [[Rivers Cuomo concert: 09/26/1997|the first of these "try-out" shows]] at T.T. The Bear's Place in Cambridge in September of [[1997]]. At this show, Cuomo introduced the song by saying that it was about "how American girls can be kinda rough sometimes." Cuomo was joined by future Weezer bassist [[Mikey Welsh]] on bass, [[Kevin Stevenson]] (of the band The Shods) on guitar, and [[Zeph Courtney]] (of Chevy Heston and Stompbox) on drums. The group also played it at [[Rivers Cuomo concert: 10/08/1997 - Cambridge, MA|another show]] on [[October 8]], and one additional time at [[Homie concert: 11/21/1997 - Cambridge, MA|the second of two Homie shows]] on [[November 21]]. These live performances resemble the tone of Cuomo's original demo, and are sometimes referred to by fans as the "hard rock" or "rocked out" version of the song, in contrast to the slowed-down ballad form of the ''Meet the Deedles'' release.
 Cuomo recorded additional demos of "American Girls" the following winter, including a demo at his home in Cambridge, as well as a "pro" demo engineered by Ross Humphrey. Cuomo subsequently recorded a full Homie album with [[Fred Eltringham]] (of Gigolo Aunts) and Drew Parsons (of Tracy Bonham's band) at a studio (most likely Fort Apache), but the album was never released, and it's not known if "American Girls" was among the songs recorded.
 A new version of "American Girls" was recorded in Boston for the [[Meet The Deedles: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack|soundtrack to the film ''Meet the Deedles'']], released [[March 24]], [[1998]]. Though it is technically attributed to Homie, "American Girls" was the [[:Category:Book-end tracks|final recording]], to date, to feature the Weezer line up of [[Rivers Cuomo]], [[Matt Sharp]], [[Brian Bell]], and [[Pat Wilson]]. The recording also features instrumentation from [[Yuval Gabay]] and [[Sebastian Steinburg]] of Soul Coughing, guitar by [[Greg Brown]] of the band Cake, and additional vocals from Cuomo's childhood friends [[Justin Fisher]] and [[Adam Orth]] as well as Geffen A&R representative [[Todd Sullivan]].
 ==Reception==
 Weezer songblog [[Teenage Victory Songs]] gave "American Girls" a positive review, including it within the sites' "[[:Category:Teenage Victory Songs The Grand Playlist|Grand Playlist]]," a grouping of Weezer's just-below-best work.