Elliott Smith – “Pretty (Ugly Before)” (Live)
A whole raft of alt and indie icons are part of the 7-inches for Planned Parenthood charity project, including Foo Fighters, Björk, Bon Iver, Feist, Sleater-Kinney, St. Vincent, Laurie Anderson, and Jon Brion. And oh, by the way, one of Jon Brion’s contribution was playing pump organ on a never-before-heard live recording of Elliott Smith’s “Pretty (Ugly Before)”:
This version of “Pretty (Ugly Before)” was recorded at Los Angeles venue Largo by owner Mark Flanagan in 1999, years before the studio version eventually included on Smith’s posthumous 2004 album From a Basement on the Hill. According to Flanagan, it was Smith’s first playing the song for an audience, as an impromptu…