Steven Paul Smith Kills
Himself .
"Nothing’s gonna
drag me down
to a death that’s not worth cheating"
, said
Elliott Smith
With
a seemingly self-inflicted knife wound to the chest, Steven Paul Smith, better
known to his many fans as singer/songwriter Elliott Smith, revoked his own
words from Baby Britain and, at 34, joined what Kurt Cobain’s mother referred
to as "that stupid club" of rock musicians who let their world destroy them.
Smith wasn’t an idolized rock star like Cobain, nor was he as revered as Jeff
Buckley, who had already reached oracle status when he drowned in mysterious
circumstances in 1997, but he did share his peers’ romance, honesty and
vulnerability. Elliott Smith was a modern folk singer, composing stark,
melodic laments influenced by pop and rock tradition, from the ballads of Neil
Young to The Beatles at their most plaintive. His lyrics dealt obliquely with
thorny topics - alcoholism, depression, drug addiction - on which he would
rarely be drawn in interviews. He leaves a canon of five albums, each one more
expansive than - yet as intimate as - the last. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska
in 1969, raised in Dallas, Texas, and adopted an itinerant lifestyle as an
adult, enjoying spells in New York, Los Angeles and Massachusetts, where he
went to college.
"I just like moving around
because, you know, you only live once," he told Rolling Stone in 2000.
At the time of his death he was living in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, but
Elliott Smith’s heartland was the Pacific North West and Portland Oregon’s
fertile alternative rock scene. He enjoyed some domestic success with his band
Heatmiser in the early to mid-1990s. His solo career dates from this period
too, when he would record acoustically on a four-track in his basement, as an
outlet for his more introspective material. He released two sparse but
touching albums, Roman Candle and Elliott Smith in the States, but it was his
third album Either/Or which brought him to the attention of UK audiences. He
was Oscar-nominated for the haunting track Miss Misery after director Gus Van
Sant used his music on the soundtrack of his film Good Will Hunting. In a
moment as incongruous as Belle & Sebastian accepting a Brit Award, Smith
performed at the ceremony. Uncomfortable with the limelight, he came to regard
the track as a millstone and dropped it permanently from his live set. His
evocative, wistful music also cropped up in American Beauty and, pointedly,
soundtracked a suicide attempt in The Royal Tenenbaums. The circumstantial
morbidity mounts up: Smith used to play a cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s Don’t
Fear The Reaper as an encore, while the last track on his most recent album
Figure 8, released in 2000, is called Bye. There is little point resisting the
inevitable myth-making which goes with the premature death of any cherished
artist, as fans and critics search for clues to this very private man’s state
of mind. It is already known that he had
battled heroin addiction and alcoholism; his ambivalent lyrics can only fuel
speculation, as much as they provide solace for the listener. Ironically, he
was reported to be "feeling better" in his most recent round of interviews.
Eels frontman E, a musical kindred spirit, paid tribute on his website,
writing: "Elliott was a really sweet guy who wasn’t equipped to deal with some
of the cards that life dealt him." But Smith was anxious not to be painted as
the suffering artist. "Depressing isn’t a word I would use to describe my
music," he said. "But there is some sadness in it - there has to be, so that
the happiness in it will matter." Thankfully, the ultimate winners here are
his music and those who become acquainted or re-acquainted with it, as a
result of the attention his early death will garner. A sixth album, From A
Basement On The Hill, was slated for release next year and will surely see the
light of day, providing some consolation for those, like me, who cannot get
enough of Elliott Smith’s effortlessly affecting music. Tributes on fan
message boards have ranged from the candid - "the world is a worse place
without you, Elliott" - to the poetic - " I'm sorry your troubles overcame
you; great misery often rides alongside great talent.
Admits Positive Test
The British Radio Broadcast reported that Chambers' lawyer said the sprinter had failed an out-of-competition test for the banned steroid THG on 1 August. A statement by Chambers said this was not "a willful or calculated attempt on his behalf to deceive the authorities". The statement added that in eight years in competition, Chambers has "never been tempted to succumb to illegal methods of performance enhancement." Chambers faces a minimum two-year ban if the "B" test confirms the discovery in his urine sample of THG (tetrahydrogestrinone), a newly-discovered drug that is rocking the world of athletics. Chambers' lawyer, Graham Shear, added that "the IAAF (athletics' governing body) and UK Athletics' procedure is still to provide any conclusive decision". If found guilty, Chambers faces a minimum two-year ban from international competition. Under British Olympic Association rules, Chambers would also be barred from Olympic participation for life. Chambers' statement said that his trainer, Remi Korchemny, had instructed him to use as his nutritionist Victor Conte of Balco Laboratories - the company at the center of the THG scandal. It added that when Chambers heard of his positive test, he had challenged Conte, who had assured him "that all supplements given were within IAAF rules". Chambers' lawyer added: "I understand that Mr. Conte continues to deny that the supplements he prepared for my client and other athletes contain any illegal substances. This is a serious matter that the US authorities are investigating." Lyn Davies, the president of UK Athletics and a former Olympic long jump champion, declined to comment directly about the Chambers case. But he told the BBC: "UK Athletics is very vigilant and does everything possible to educate athletes and warn them about the consequences of using drugs.
Madonna is Writing her Second Book
Madonna: “ My instructor in Kabbalah turned me on to the story, which aims to demonstrate the power of words.”
Less
than two months after her debut as a children's author, Madonna has returned
to publishing with Mr. Peabody's Apples. The book takes a more
conventional approach to a picture book than Madonna's previous effort, The
English Roses, which debuted atop the New York Times' list of children's
bestsellers and remained there for five weeks. The story in Mr. Peabody's
Apples is a little hokey.
Continues on the next page.