Before that the CD starts off with Lori perfoming "When I'm Weakening" with Chris Bjorklund (Trial By Fire, Bloodsport, Strike Under) followed by a live version of "Deja Vu (Parisian Whore) accompanied by Paul Hiraga (The Mings, Breaking Circus). Four more songs with Chris Bjorklund (seen below in a clip from the 2007 Chicago punk rock documentary "You Weren't There") are on the CD; "Nope" and "Mirror, Mirror" (Lori Wray compositions) and "Trapeze" and "This Is My Own" with music by Chris and lyrics by Lori. Chris' brother Steve Bjorklund (Breaking Circus, Strike Under) also engineered and played on all five of their tracks.
Hisstory rounds out with a few more interesting inclusions. "Hate Your Own" is a demo Lori recorded with Everthread, the band she formed with Rich Howard, Jeffrey Herrmann and David Domal in 1994 (a different version of the song appears on 1997's Safely Crass).
Another live recording,
"I'm Gettin' Nothin' For Christmas" is a sassy cover of the 1955 novelty hit that Lori performed at one of her Bryant Lake Bowl shows.
1 When I'm Weakening
|
For those looking for the first "lost" Lori Wray album (the material that was left out when Introducing Lori Wray came out as a four song EP), treasure is found here with original versions of "Cold, Cold Time", "Love, Love or Lack Thereof" and "Song about Leaving A Lover" completing the missing pieces. On this disc you also get to hear "True Love In A Day," the second track Lori recorded with the Jayhawks in 1987 during these same sessions produced by Ed Ackerson. These are the songs along with covers that Lori performed live with the 27 Various at 7th Street Entry and Mainroom First Avenue shows in 1987 and '88.
The collaboration with the Bjorklund brothers is one of the more surprising ones Lori had as they are better known for their music in the Chicago punk and post punk scene. Still the songs included here fit well with Lori's other material and she herself had a wide spectrum of tastes across all styles of music. These five tracks (recorded in 1990 and 1993) might well have been part of a another "lost" album as they are all really good songs and I'm guessing there might have been more material from these sessions as well.
"Dirty Little Boy" is a boisterous live recording of a Keith Patterson penned
song caught from a 1995 show with The Spectors. A good example of Lori's ability to sync in with another band's material and make something new of it. 
Two other tracks, "Eso Vallé" and "Psyche's Prayer," are examples of the many side projects Lori participated in over the years. Often asked to lend her vocals to other artist's projects there are many examples of her performing her collaborators lyrics and lending back-up vocals to other groups.