Over the years, I’ve wondered why the bands Calexico and Brokeback both released a song called “Flat Handed and on the Wing.” Calexico’s version first appeared in 2000 on Travelall, a tour-only release. The Brokeback rendition came a few months later as the second track on their 2001 album Morse Code in the Modern Age: Across the Americas. “Flat Handed and on the Wing” by Calexico is not available on any streaming platforms, but Brokeback’s version can be heard here:
Both songs share the same name and players, have similar running times, but differ slightly in their approaches. Calexico’s release is a western soundscape, a prime example of the “desert noir” moniker bestowed upon them by writer Fred Mills, while Brokeback’s rendition is more sculpted, producing sounds reminiscent of boozy church bells and moaning. Brokeback’s “Flat Handed and on the Wing” forces the listener to wonder if the ground is capable of breathing.
While interviewing Brokeback’s impresario Douglas McCombs for Aquarium Drunkard, I took the opportunity to ask him about the background of “Flat Handed and on the Wing”:
“Well, the story behind that is that the duo version of Brokeback, in the late 90s, was me and Noel Kupersmith and we were on tour having not recorded anything [as a duo]. The first Brokeback LP was out, which was mostly just me. We were on tour with Chicago Underground Duo, and we were down in the Southwest. Joey [Burns of Calexico] said, “Hey, come to the studio tomorrow. Let’s just goof around before you leave town or something.” And we did this thing. Neither one of the Chicago Underground Duo were there. They slept in or something. So, it was me and Joey, and [Jon Birdsong], his cornet player who was visiting town. He was friends with Joey and not an actual Calexico member. Also, Noel Kupersmith was on bass, in my opinion, the most important element of the song, or at least the binding element.
We improvised this long thing, and then we left town. We had a CD burn of it, and we were listening to it in the van. Chad [Taylor] and Rob [Mazurek of Chicago Underground Duo] were like, ‘That’s what you guys did this morning? This is fucking amazing! We should have gotten up and gone to the studio with you!’ We listened to it, and we were thinking, ‘Wow, this really does sound good. I wonder if Joey would be okay with us using it as a Brokeback recording.’
So I talked to Joey about it and what I suggested was we’ll do our mix of it and Calexico will do their own mix of it, and we’ll each name it something different, then there’s no problem with the publishing or whatever. It’s improvised music; it’s not like it’s a composed song. If Calexico names it something and Brokeback names it something then it’s registered under two different song titles. Nobody’s going to know the difference and we can get royalties from it. Joey was cool with it, and then we named it and mixed it and released our version of it. And then Joey named it the same thing [laughs]. He put it on one of those Calexico bonus tour CDs. So now I guess we all share the publishing or whatever.
Calexico’s version of it was more straight, just the whole improvisation. I did a mix of it with Casey Rice; he was a longtime Tortoise collaborator. We harmonized the cornet and did some slightly weird things to it. I tried to build some drama with it by dropping out some instruments at different times. I still really like that thing. So that’s the story.”
Recliner Notes 