Unreleased

1987    Big Top Halloween sessions

no artwork

Recorded: April-September 1987

Greg Dulli - vocals, guitars, harmonica / Rick McCollum - lead guitars / John Curley - bass / Steve Earle - drums, percussion. Additional musicians: Wayne Hartman - pedal steel on Life In A Day / Jason Arbenz - backing vocals on Push.
Produced by the Afghan Whigs. Recorded, engineered and mixed by Wayne Hartman at Group Effort Studios, Crescent Springs, KY. The first five songs are early mixes (and even different recordings) of the tracks that were released on the Big Top Halloween album. "Untitled 1" is a genuine outtake, recorded for, but not included on the album. "Untitled 2" and "Untitled 3" are poorly recorded acoustic rehearsals that not even deserve the title 'demo'... All eight tracks are available in the trading circuit.

Note: A genuine Whigs song (title unknown) was recorded live in February 1987 by a member of the audience and is available amongst traders. A song called "Hit The Lights" (not a cover of the Metallica song with the same title) was played during a show for Cincinnati's WVXU Radio in 1988. Never released, but this live version circulates amongst traders as well.

1989    Jugula    demonstration tape

no artwork

Recorded: January 1989 (?)

Greg Dulli - vocals, guitars / Rick McCollum - lead guitars / John Curley - bass / Steve Earle - drums, percussion.
Recorded (party recorded?) at Reciprocal Recording, Seattle, WA. Produced by Jack Endino. Released early in 1989 as a DIY-tape and probably sent around to get gigs, this demo (probably culled from different recording sessions) got the Afghan Whigs their recording contract with Sub Pop.

Note: This version of "I Am The Sticks" was to be their first single (SP32). "King Of Millville" was the Whigs' contribution to the "Where The Hell Are The Good Scissors?" compilation album. The versions of "Southpaw" and "I Know Your Little Secret" differ from the ones that were included on "Up In It" (SP60), while a rerecorded version of "Turning In Two" eventually surfaced on the "Retarded" 12"/CDS (SP4/115, Germany). "Ciaphas" is an early, sped up version of the song "My Curse", that saw its eventual release on the "Gentlemen" album. "Butterflies" and "All Is Not Lost" have never been commercially available. The Jugula demo in it's entirely, without the original artwork though, circulates amongst traders.

1989    Up In It sessions

        No known demos/outtakes

1991    Congregation sessions

        No known demos/outtakes

1993    Gentlemen sessions

        No known demos/outtakes

Note: In an interview, John Curley mentioned that demos for the album were recorded, but didn't mention any titles. Possibly, "If I Were Going" was one of the demos (being the only album track recorded at Ultrasuede, a month prior to the rest of the songs).

1995    Black Love sessions

Recorded: August-September 1995

Note: In an interview, Greg Dulli mentioned that during the Black Love sessions, "We ran a guitar through a Leslie speaker to see what it sounded like. Pretty cool, but only if you were on mushrooms. The song didn't make it onto the record." Not available.

In August 1994, the Afghan Whigs played a song (title unknown) during their Reading Festival concert that was never released, but the live recording circulates amongst traders.

1997    Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers sessions

Recorded: February/summer 1997

Greg Dulli - vocals, guitar, bass, piano, organ, mellotron, kalimba, wurlitzer / Harold Chichester - vocals, guitar / Shawn Smith - vocals, guitar, bass, drums, piano / Barrett Martin - tabla, oud, kalimba, sitar / Derek Dicenzo - guitar / Roderick Paulin - saxophone / Corey Henry - trombone / Kermit Ruffins - trumpet / Barb Antonio - cello / Ryan Hadlock - synthesizer, guitar / Jarrod Olman - backing vocals / Michael Horrigan - drums, backing vocals / Kenny Woods - backing vocals / Steve Meyers - backing vocals / Aaron Hammond - congas / Sophia da Silva - vocals on Verti-Marte / Teresa Fyffe - violin / Greg McMullen - pedal steel. Note: not all of these people might have been involved!
Recorded in Seattle (Magnolia), WA (February, 1997), New Orleans, LA (summer 1997). Produced by Greg Dulli. Mixed by Greg Dulli and Ryan Hadlock. Engineered by Ryan Hadlock. Additional engineering by John Curley and Kerry Brown.

Note: Supposedly leaked by Elektra when the Afghan Whigs walked out on their record deal. Contains two unreleased tracks, "4 Glass Of You" and "Deepest Shade", and most songs are different mixes, without the Fila Brazillia touch. "Kites Are Fun", a cover of a band named The Free Design from 1967 and recorded live in the studio (with Greg Dulli on drums), is included on most bootleg copies, but was never meant to be a part of the original album.

1997    Monument Ave. sessions

Recorded: 1997 or 1998

Greg Dulli - vocals, all instruments.

Note: As well as acting in the movie "Monument Ave." (1998), Greg Dulli also wrote the music score for the film. Most of it is instrumental, spherical, but at the end, when the movie credits are shown, the song "Black Love" is played. It's a completely different version of "Love" from the Twilight Singers album. The movie soundtrack was never released, but the movie itself is was made officially available on VHS and DVD.

1997    1965 sessions

Recorded: Autumn 1997/Spring 1998

There are some white label CDR promos and advance promo tapes without ID# around that contain a different mix of "Citi Soleil", due to the fact that the rights for the movie sample in the actual legit release weren’t secured yet. During the 1965 sessions, the Whigs recorded The Clash's "Lost In The Supermarket", which was released on The Clash tribute CD "Burning London". They also committed a version of John Lennon's "Woman" to tape, meant to be released on a John Lennon tribute album. The album was released, but the Whigs track wasn't included. "Nightime" was recorded for the Big Star tribute album "BIG STARsmall world", that was brought under by Ignition Records but never released however... LunaSea Records released a completely different Big Star tribute CD late 2001, without a Whigs' contribution...

1999    Unreleased Whigs demos #1

Recorded: August/September 1999

The Afghan Whigs recorded some songs (six?) in a studio in New Orleans,  the week before their final US tour. Greg mentioned this in an interview a few days before the first Shim Sham Club show of that tour (September 3, 1999). In the studio they were joined by Alex Chilton. According to rumor they did some cover versions and possibly some own songs, none of which have seen the light of day so far.

The song "Run Rabbit Run", written by Greg Dulli on piano, was part of the Whigs set since February 1999. Rumored to be included on the next Twilight Singers album, it has never seen a release yet. There are a few live recordings of the song, though. In July, a song called "Bang Bang" was played a few times during concerts in Europe. There's one live recording (Tilburg, Holland) available in the trading circuit.

2000    Twilight As Played By... sessions #2

Recorded: February-March, 2000

Greg Dulli spent five weeks in Kingston-Upon-Hull in February and March 2000, to finish the "Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers" album with the help of Fila Brazillia (Steve Cobby and David McSherry). The three of them worked together on 8 songs for the album, but probably tried some other songs as well. As well as recording, Fila Brazillia also remixed four tracks. The remixes for "That's How That Bird Sings" and "Verti-Marte" were released as a promo only CDS. It's unclear if the remixes of "King Only" and "Twilight" are the versions that ended up on the album, or that they are still shelved.

2000    "The Unbreakable Afghan Whigs" demos

Recorded: Late 2000/Early 2001

When the Afghan Whigs called it quits on February 6, 2001, they had just started working on a new album and already taped five or six demos. Greg Dulli mentioned "The Unbreakable Afghan Whigs" as a title during an interview, and the sound would reflect "his fractured version of the blues". Possibly these demos were recorded by Greg Dulli alone, without the rest of the group. I have no further information about this.

The song "Umbretta", played during the Twilight Singers tour (October 2000), definitely had a Whigs flow though, and it might well have been put to tape in this period.

2001    Session with Steve Cobby

Recorded: Late February, 2001

Greg Dulli  - all instruments?/ Steve Cobby - programmer, engineer, co-producer.

Steve Cobby from Fila Brazillia went to Coldwater Canyon, California in February 2001, to "help Greg Dulli write his new LP". The project lasted 14 days and resulted in three songs. None of these have surfaced yet. The project was not a success, according to Cobby. Greg turned out to be a perfectionist and a workaholic, recording 14-17 hours straight each day. "I know Greg's happy with the final results which is all I wanted, but he'll need to find another mule to finish his LP", he wrote in his online diary.

2001    Unreleased Twilight demos

Recorded: May, 2001

On her homepage, bassist/singer Abby Travis mentioned she, and a guitar player named Jon (Gigolo Aunts' lead guitarist Jon Skibic, presumably), did some recording with Greg Dulli in Los Angeles in May, 2001. In December 2001, Abby Travisco-produced a track for the Twilight Singers "which should appear on an upcoming Robyn Hitchcock Tribute Album". None of these were ever released, and didn't surface in the trading circuit.

2001    Kingston-Upon-Hull session

Recorded: November, 2001

Steve Cobby of Fila Brazillia mentioned in his online diary Greg Dulli, "a man I vowed to never work with again", came to the Fila studios in Kingston-Upon-Hull, England to finish off a song he had recorded.

2002    Blackberry Belle sessions

Recorded: 2002

Songs that were recorded in Los Angeles and New Orleans for the second Twilight Singers album, entitled "Blackberry Belle" and released in October 2003. Personnel include Greg Dulli (most of the guitar and keys/strings, producer), Mike Napolitano (guitars, co-producer in New Orleans), Mathias Schneeberger (keys, co-producer in Los Angeles), Steve Meyers (backing vocals), Susan Marshall (backing vocals on one song), Petra Haden (vocals and violin on "Teenage Wristband" an three other songs), Apollonia Kotero (vocals on "Teenage Wristband"), Mark Lanegan (vocals on "Number 9"), Michael Sullivan (bass), David Rosser (bass on two tracks), John Curley (bass on "Pussywillow Papillon"), Jerome Dillon (drums on "Pussywillow Papillon") Harold Chichester (drums on one track), four other drummers, Muggs (scratching).

Greg Dulli recorded 30-50 songs for "Blackberry Belle". None of the outtakes have surfaced yet. Note that this version of "Pussywillow Papillon" differs from "Papillon" on the album. John Curley plays bass here, for one thing. The track "Fat City" is included on Muggs' solo album "Dust" (see Odds and Ends section). Greg Dulli included a 'slight return' of the song on Blackberry Belle.

2003    Blackberry Belle sessions #2

Recorded: early 2003

New titles, compared to the first Blackberry Belle sessions, and all included on the album (except "Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair" that appeared on a limited edition CD single). It's certain, Greg Dulli did the finishing touches to the album tracks early 2003, which also meant re-recording parts of the album or songs already recorded during the first sessions. Mo known outtakes from this second session.

The 'final' lineup compromises Greg Dulli (most of the guitar and keys/strings, producer), Mike Napolitano (guitars, co-producer in New Orleans), Mathias Schneeberger (keys, co-producer in Los Angeles), Steve Meyers (backing vocals), Petra Haden (vocals and violin on "Teenage Wristband" an possibly other songs), Apollonia Kotero (vocals on "Teenage Wristband"), Mark Lanegan (vocals on "Number 9"), Michael Sullivan (bass), Jon Skibic (guitar), Brian Young (drums), Scott Ford (bass), Stanton Moore (drums), Greg Wieczorec (drums), Chris Phillips (drums), Matt Hergert (drums), Hoss (vocals), Nikki Crawford (vocals), Jesse Tobias (guitar), Rick Steff (keyboards), Richard Ford (guitar), Kamasi Washington (saxophone), Josh Lampkins (trombone), Chris Gray, Amay.