The Song:"Jimmy Carter" is a song that was only played live in 1994 and 1995. It wasn't played every night, but it did continue to appear for quite awhile, and much longer than you'd expect an unreleased noisy jam would.
The song begins with a similar groove to the electric version of "
Tasergun" on
Stereopathetic Soulmanure. Beck then plays a short solo on his mini-Casio (a keyboard he could wear like a guitar), before the band rejoins. They circle like this a couple of times, until crashing into a long coda of Sonic Youth-like feedback and shouting. There are no lyrics. The song often was a blistering concert-ending performance.
Live:Played live 20 times:
June 11, 1994June 21, 1994June 27, 1994June 28, 1994June 29, 1994October 21, 1994October 25, 1994October 26, 1994October 28, 1994October 29, 1994...and
10 more.
Earliest known live version:
June 11, 1994Latest known live version:
August 27, 1995On June 11, 1994, Beck announces that "this is the Casio rock segment, prog rock, flogging."
Watching the video bootleg of the show on June 27 1994, is great. The "Jimmy Carter" was incredible, the band really got pumped up for it, jumping around, rocking. The drummer even set his cymbals on fire!
On October 28 1994, Beck introduced the song by saying "You guys must like power ballads! We got some! This is a power ballad for you." "Jimmy Carter" is pretty powerful, but calling it a ballad is a stretch. This is probably the best recording and performance of the song. It's pretty cool, especially with the long freaky ending.
The version on November 5, 1994 is for some reason aborted. Instead of the cool jam ending, after the second Casio solo, they instead just sort of feedback out for a short while.
The version on December 1 1994 is pretty cool, though the annoying French DJ starts talking over the end. You can just barely hear Beck going ABSOLUTELY NUTS shouting in the background as the band is ending the show.
Many months later at Randall's Island on July 28 1995, the song reappears. Beck is in the middle of the Lollapalooza tour. He declares at the start, "We're gonna get a bit progressive. Please indulge us. Are you ready for this? We have the technology." Beck ends the song with a few "Adios!" As always, the song closes their set with a bang.