Pre-Fame Projects Recording/Writing Timeline and Creative Process Discussion

[lanaismamom 11,553]

Just like "«Lust for Life» Album Recording/Writing Timeline and Creative Process Discussion" thread, I decided to create this thread for a discussion of Lana's pre-fame times, since I feel this time gets much less appreciation from Lana fans, and it's also a very large and important time for a Lana career's timeline. If I missed something let me know:

 

Spoiler

From an early age, Lana was already interested in poetry and singing. So, she wrote her first song at the age of 11 or 12 and called it "China Palace", which tells about her idea of what it was like to be a princess and she also mentions strawberry daiquiri. The next seven years of the singer's life are little known to us, except for the fact that she suffered from alcoholism during this period and was sent to school in Kent ("Kent School"), Connecticut. But upon reaching the age of eighteen (2004), Lana moved back to New York, where she enrolled at Fordham University. That's when Lana's musical career began, where she first tried her hand as a singer and later recorded her first two studio EPs titled "Young Like Me" (alternatively known as "Rock Me Stable") and "From the End" in 2005 *a small number of physical copies were made for "Young Like Me", a photo of one of them shared by a Grant family friend*.

The EPs were written and recorded entirely by Lana under her real name Elizabeth Grant (Lizzi Grant's name also appears in the registration) after her uncle taught her how to play 6 chords on the guitar and then she realized that she could "make a million songs with just those 6 chords", but they were never released and the primary sources were the EPs registrations in the "U.S. Copyright Catalog". At the same time Lana started working under the pseudonym "May Jailer" on the first studio album called "Sirens" that includes some tracks from the first EPs plus some new ones. The album was finished somewhere in early 2006 but was never released, but was sent out to some magazine publications for review. The work on the album was done in Lana's hometown, Lake Placid, New York, at Jim Cushman Studio.

 

Songs, that were presumably intended for the album, but didn't make the cut, are:

- "Blizzard";

- "You, Mister";

- "There's Nothing to Be Sorry About";

- "More Mountains";

- "In Wendy";

- "Wait";

- “For Charlie” (uploaded on Lana’s MySpace page in May 2006; speculated to be the same song as “For You”; speculated length is 2:30);

- “For K” (speculated to be an alternate title for a song "Pretty Baby"; might be a different song);

- “of a” (uploaded on Lana’s MySpace page in May 2006; most likely“Birds of a Feather”);

In January 2006 Lana meets Bob Leone – a person, who invited her to participate in a 10-week songwriting workshop sponsored by the Songwriters Hall of Fame and encouraged her to begin performing. Throughout 2006 she continues to perform in New York bars with her own songs. And so, in September 2006, Lana participated in a live songwriting contest, where she met Van Wilson, who was a judge and a talent scout who was working for the “5 Points Records” label. She caught his attention and by 2007 she had signed a $50,000 contract with this label, where she would later release her first studio album “Lana Del Ray a.k.a. Lizzy Grant”. Also, throughout 2006, Lana created the mixtape "The Phenomena of Lizzy Grant", whose songs were produced by Paolo De Gregorio and unknown producer and which was completed on January 10, 2007. Little is known about the purpose of the mixtape.

During 2007, Lana continues recording demos with Steven Mertens as one of the main producers. During that time, the album’s early recordings were already shaping into the album, whose working title by that time was “God Bless America”. Around this time, Lana creates a mixtape CD from 3 tracks - "Roller Dirby" ("Pin Up Galore" demo), "The Ocean" ("Kill Kill" original version) and "Ruby" ("Put Me in a Movie" demo), and gave it to her friend and university professor, Mark Naison. Eventually, somewhere in late 2007, a defining mixtape titled "No Kung Fu" was composed out of a few songs and sent out to a number of producers, including future producer of "Lana Del Ray a.k.a. Lizzy Grant" - David Kahne. By the time David came into Lana's life, she had a certain number of songs and demos ready. Here's a list of such songs, some of which could probably be considered as outtakes for the first studio album as well:

Songs from mid-end 2006:

- "Ben's Song" (sang in the interview; later to be reworked into "Ben," which remains unleaked);

- "You’re Gonna Love Me" (sang in the interview);

- “Run Motorcycle” (sang in the interview; unconfirmed title);

- "Munny Hunny" (published on Lana’s site in August 2006);

- “Fordham Road” (published on Lana’s site in August 2006);

- "Pawn Shop Blues" (Demo; the song was written in June 2006 and firstly performed on July 15, 2006, and published on Lana’s site in August 2006 under the title “Bread and Oranges”, and later in September 2006 retitled into “Pawn Show Blues”);

- “Your Band Is All the Rage” (unconfirmed year);

- “Joan and Bobby” (snippets of a live performance available; unleaked);

- “Vacation” (snippet sang in the interview; unleaked);

- “Diamonds & Rust” (unleaked; different form a Joan Baez song);

Songs from 2007:

- "4th of July" (laptop demo; uses parts from "Put Me in a Movie");

- "Bentley" (laptop demo; speculated to be later reworked into the song "Reflec," which remains unleaked);

- “Crooked Cop” (laptop demo);

- “Let My Hair Down” (= “Dance Man”; live take; was made in January 2007);

- "Disco" (pre-David Kahne demo from unknown producer is from August 2007);

- "Get Drunk" (pre-David Kahne demo from unknown producer is from August 2007; appeared on “No Kung Fu” EP);

- "Jimmy Gnecco" (produced by Arthur Lynn; appeared on “No Kung Fu” EP);

- “Marilyn” (live performance available);

- “Me & My Boyfriend” (live performance available);

- “Trees” (live performance available);

- “When I’m With You” feat. Steven Mertens (sang live; the song was written by Steven Mertens 10 years prior the performance; studio version potentially doesn’t exist);

- Other songs/demos, made with Steven Mertens (speculated);

- "Pin Up Galore" (the song was produced by Steven Mertens in 2007 and it’s one of a few unreleased songs performed live, that makes it a strong contender for a possible song intended for “Lana Del Ray a.k.a. Lizzy Grant”; the first performance of the song is from September 2008);

- "Trash Magic" (the song was produced by Steven Mertens in November 2007 and it’s one of a few unreleased songs performed live, that makes it a strong contender for a possible song intended for “Lana Del Ray a.k.a. Lizzy Grant”; the first performance of the song is from December 2008);

- "Wayamaya" (produced by Steven Mertens in 2007);

- Unknown 5-minute 2007 Song with Paolo De Gregorio;
Songs, that would later reworked by David Kahne and released in "Lana Del Ray a.k.a. Lizzy Grant":

- “O Say Can U See” (Live take, the earliest version is from January 2007);

- "For K, Pt. 2" (Demo; the earliest version is from January 2007; pre-David Kahne demo from unknown producer is from August 2007; the song’s origins are presumably from 2006 alongside “Pawn Shop Blues”);

- “Raise Me Up (Mississippi South)” (the earliest known version is from February 2007; pre-David Kahne demo from unknown producer is from August 2007);

- "Put Me in a Movie" (“Ruby” Demo’ the earliest known version was made in July 2007; produced by Steven Mertens; appeared on “No Kung Fu” EP);

- "Mermaid Motel" (Demo; produced by Steven Mertens in September 2007; appeared on “No Kung Fu” EP);

- "Brite Lites" (Demo 1; produced by an unknown producer; appeared on “No Kung Fu” EP);

- "Jump" (Demo; produced by wether Arthur Lynn or Steven Mertens; appeared on “No Kung Fu” EP);

- "Yayo" (Demo; producer is unknown; appeared on “No Kung Fu” EP);

- "The Ocean" (original version of the song "Kill Kill"; produced by Steven Mertens);

- "Queen of the Gas Station" (“Queen” Demo; produced by Steven Mertens in October 2007).

 

Lana recalls her time working with David with warm words: "My producer David Kahn and I got along really well because he knew I lived in my songs, and so he just tried to make them better. He asked me in an email what I wanted the record to sound like, and I said, "I want it to sound famous, like a sad party." He thought it was a great idea, and we started working the next day." With that said, Lana and David worked every day for three months, resulting in the record "Lana Del Rey a.k.a. Lizzy Grant", which was completed on February 28, 2008, the day the last song, "Raise Me Up (Mississippi South)," was mastered. Back then, tracklist looked this way:

 

1. "For K, Pt. 2";

2. "Gramma (Blue Ribbon Sparkler Trailer Heaven)" (the song doesn’t have a older version);

3. "Jump";

4. "Yayo";

5. "Put Me in a Movie";

6. "Oh Say Can You See";

7. "Pawn Shop Blues";

8. "Queen of the Gas Station";

9. "Kill Kill";

10. "Raise Me Up (Mississippi South)";

11. "Smarty" (previously didn't have a studio version);

12. "Brite Lites";

13. "Mermaid Motel".

 

The original release date for the album, that, at one point, was called “Nevada”, was February 14, 2009 and, after completing the mastering, throughout 2008, Lana continued to work with other unknown producers and David Kahn, making several more compositions that may still have been intended for the album. Some of such compositions are in the following list (note: songs that are in this list and made by David Kahne were probably made earlier):

 

Laptop demos/tracks, made with other producers:

- "Axl Rose Husband" (laptop demo; later to be reworked into the song "Axl," which remains unleaked);

- "C U L8 Alligator" (laptop demo);

- "Coca Cola" (laptop demo);

- "Dance for Money" (laptop demo; speculated to be later reworked into the song "Lemonade Motocycle Heaven," which remains unleaked, since the original file for that laptop demo is “Lemonade Motorcy”);

- "Diet Mt. Dew Baby" (laptop demo; the track was worked on throughout 2008-2011 times and eventually was released on "Born to Die"; the track has a version with the same instrumental as a demo of "Hundred Dollar Bill" titled "Gorgeous $100"/"Ruby Tuesday"; there's an unleaked studio version of the track from 2008 titled "Diet Mntn Dew", with a rumored length 5:36);

- "Elvis" (laptop demo);

- "Jesus Is My Boyfriend" (laptop demo);

- "1949";

- "Come When You Call Me A.M.E.R.I.C.A";

- "Roll with Me (On the Radio)";

- "Strangelove";

- "Beach Boys" (laptop demo; contain some lyrics from “Diet Mountain Dew; unleaked);

- "Star Lux" (laptop demo; supposedly made in 2008; unleaked);

- "W" (uploaded by Lana on her MySpace page in 2008; there are rumors that this is the same song as "Wayamaya");

Tracks, made with David Kahne:

- "Ben";

- "Axl";

- "Reflec";

- "Bounce";

- "Coconut and Key Lime Pie";

- "High";

- "Lemonade Motorcycle Heaven";

- "Jimmy Gnecco";

- "Me & My Boyfriend";

- "Roundup";

- "Slow Gin Fizz";

- "White Pontiac Heaven";

- "$100 Bill (described by David as "progressive and aggressive)";

- "C-Note" (a demo of David Kahn's variation of the song "Hundred Dollar Bill"; is the only leaked song from this producer, for the song was not obtained by hacking the producer, but by hacking Lana's laptop);

- Other reworked tracks by David Kahne (the exact list of songs reworked by David Kahn is unknown, but there are rumors that he may have also reworked "Trash Magic," "Marilyn," "Disco", "Get Drunk”, “Pin Up Galore” and other unknown songs from 2007).

 

On October 22, 2008, Lana released the "Kill Kill” EP. Although Lana had no plans to release it, with the advent of iTunes, David suggested releasing the mini-album to get more publicity for Lana (which was later deleted). There was even an interview filmed for this mini-album, which remained unreleased but was leaked on August 1, 2019. Another unknown project was presumably made around this time and it's called "Sugarbaby" EP.

It's unknown if it's just an alternate title for "Kill Kill" EP or entirely different project, containing unknown songs.

 

The year 2009 came, but Lana's album was indefinitely postponed, and all of 2009's work already belongs entirely to the sessions of the next studio album, which would later become "Born to Die". In 2009, the alias "Lana Del Rey" became increasingly entrenched with Lana, and by the end of 2009, Lana wanted to change the album title from "Lana Del Ray a.k.a. Lizzy Grant" to "Lana Del Rey a.k.a. Lizzy Grant", while adding some unknown songs (“Hundred Dollar Bill” is speculated to be one of these songs, as Lana performed it live the first time in June 2009), but the management didn't approve this move of Lana. And then, on January 4, 2010, the album was officially released, but was subsequently removed from the streaming sites and rights for this album were later bought by Lana.

There's no way to tell for sure what tracks are actual outtakes from the album, so I hope we will figure out more dates and more information that are important for the timeline in this thread!

Thank you to @Surf Noirfor a large details information's providing and to @sparklrtrailrheavenfor his threads and timelines during 2006-2009 times!

[Strangelove 1,847]

What date is exactly pre-fame? She was making Born To Die music before she got famous. Not sure if it is on purpose but I see a few producers are missing such as Andy Kravitz and Princess Superstar.

[Dark Angel 203,501]

YAYYY!  

[lanaismamom 11,553]

here's one thing that i didnt know where to put but this sugarbaby EP still remains a mystery!

[Dark Angel 203,501]

Just now, lanaismamom said:

here's one thing that i didnt know where to put but this sugarbaby EP still remains a mystery!

 

maybe wherever the kill kill EP is mentioned? since kill kill is listed on this registration and sugarbaby also seems to include gramma

[Veinsineon 77,836]

Can we share theories? My theory is that David Kahne’s Reflec is a finalized version of that Bentley Laptop Demo 

[Dark Angel 203,501]

i'm only skimming through right now, but when i'm with you wasn't actually performed in may 2007, it was performed in somebody's living room, and the song was written by steven mertens 10 years prior

[lanaismamom 11,553]

1 minute ago, Surf Noir said:

i'm only skimming through right now, but when i'm with you wasn't actually performed in may 2007, it was performed in somebody's living room, and the song was written by steven mertens 10 years prior

 this is exactly why i made this thread! thank u for the fact gonna edit 

[Embach 45,058]

Omg yes we finally got a Lizzy thread too! Idk how unpopular it is but AKA is one of my favorite Lana albums ever. It's in my top 4 Lana albums 

There is something so beautiful and mysterious about Lizzy era, truly ahead of her time 

 

I love Sirens too, A Star For Nick is probably my favorite Lana unreleased song (w Fine China and Hollywood)

 

I neeeeeeeeed to hear For Charlie

 

 

[lanaismamom 11,553]

3 minutes ago, Surf Noir said:

i'm only skimming through right now, but when i'm with you wasn't actually performed in may 2007, it was performed in somebody's living room, and the song was written by steven mertens 10 years prior

oh maybe that was a cover when im with you, because i was scrolling through these early shows and saw that

[Dark Angel 203,501]

okay, i'm reading through and here's anything that is incorrect/any additional information

 

china palace also mentions strawberry daiquiris, according to lana herself (very minor detail lol)

 

i personally don't think your band is all the rage is from 2006, it sounds just like her other laptop demos from 2009, but i don't know if anybody reliable has ever clarified that, that's just what i think

 

there's also the pin up galore demo titled roller dirby, and the 2 trash magic demos, which i would assume were all produced by steven mertens, the second trash magic demo that has the exact same chorus as the final version of trash magic, the one we've had since 2012, was recorded on november 21, 2007

 

there's also the 1949 laptop demo (although i can understand if it's redundant to include every single demo lol)

 

david kahne also did his own version of motel 6, and he described his version of hundred dollar bill as "progressive and aggressive"

[lanaismamom 11,553]

4 minutes ago, Surf Noir said:

okay, i'm reading through and here's anything that is incorrect/any additional information

 

china palace also mentions strawberry daiquiris, according to lana herself (very minor detail lol)

 

i personally don't think your band is all the rage is from 2006, it sounds just like her other laptop demos from 2009, but i don't know if anybody reliable has ever clarified that, that's just what i think

 

there's also the pin up galore demo titled roller dirby, and the 2 trash magic demos, which i would assume were all produced by steven mertens, the second trash magic demo that has the exact same chorus as the final version of trash magic, the one we've had since 2012, was recorded on november 21, 2007

 

there's also the 1949 laptop demo (although i can understand if it's redundant to include every single demo lol)

 

david kahne also did his own version of motel 6, and he described his version of hundred dollar bill as "progressive and aggressive"

do u mean slow gin fizz? yeah its there!

i didnt include demos for 1949 pin up galore and trach magic because i dont think they were worthy to mention just because we have finalized version of these and we dont have exact dates for these demos to add timeline somehow

i think i should mention the 3 tracks CD given to her friend tho

by the way, is the 4:34 version of queen of the gas station is from david kahne and not from steven mertens?

[palemoonbaby 15,270]

i knew Surf is gonna be first here

[Dark Angel 203,501]

4 minutes ago, lanaismamom said:

do u mean slow gin fizz? yeah its there!

i didnt include demos for 1949 pin up galore and trach magic because i dont think they were worthy to mention just because we have finalized version of these and we dont have exact dates for these demos to add timeline somehow

i think i should mention the 3 tracks CD given to her friend tho

by the way, is the 4:34 version of queen of the gas station is from david kahne and not from steven mertens?

 

yeah i think you should mention that CD!

 

honestly, i don't know  i always believed that longer demo with the weird extended outro to be produced by steven mertens, but i've heard other people say it was produced by david kahne, it isn't impossible, because we do have the early mixes for put me in a movie and raise me up (mississippi south), but the 4:34 demo of queen of the gas station sounds pretty similar to the "queen" demo, i really don't know lol

[Embach 45,058]

25 minutes ago, Surf Noir said:

china palace also mentions strawberry daiquiris, according to lana herself (very minor detail lol)

What are the chances that she recorded China Palace? She was like 11 then right?

[Dark Angel 203,501]

7 minutes ago, Embach said:

What are the chances that she recorded China Palace? She was like 11 then right?

 

yeah, she was around 11, honestly i highly doubt she recorded it, but it's interesting that she still remembered it!

[lanaismamom 11,553]

here is a little list of known demos from 2005-2008 times
1. "A Star for Nick" (Version 2; said to feature minor lyrical difference);
2. "Mermaid Motel" (Alternate version; titled "Mermaid Hotel"; length 3:00);
3. "The Ocean" (Version 2);
 

Speculated
1. "The Ocean" (Version 3; scrobbled title "Ocean"; length 4:49);
2. "The Ocean" (Version 4; scrobbled title "Ocean 2"; length 4:07);
3. "Marilyn" (Demo);

4. "Me & My Boyfriend" (Acoustic Version);

5. "Dance for Money" (Version 2; speculated to feature new vocals);

With this i remembered the question, @Surf Noirdo u remember when Queen of the Gas Station, Mermaid Motel and Smarty were registered? i read it was in like 2011-2012 times with title "Gas Station", "Mermaid Hotel" and "Smartie" or were they earlier registrations from 2007-2008?

[lanaismamom 11,553]

also i believe that Kill Kill EP versions are really slightly different in the most minor way, but i couldnt find Kill Kill and Yayo EP versions, but i managed to find gramma in lanapedia comments section, that is said to be extracted from david kahnes site and it also matches with the length of Kill Kill backcover https://vincristin-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/song/file/596/Gramma_copy.mp3

[Dark Angel 203,501]

5 minutes ago, lanaismamom said:

here is a little list of known demos from 2005-2008 times
1. "A Star for Nick" (Version 2; said to feature minor lyrical difference);
2. "Mermaid Motel" (Alternate version; titled "Mermaid Hotel"; length 3:00);
3. "The Ocean" (Version 2);
4. "Dance for Money" (Version 2; said to feature new vocals);
 

Speculated
1. "The Ocean" (Version 3; scrobbled title "Ocean"; length 4:49);
2. "The Ocean" (Version 4; scrobbled title "Ocean 2"; length 4:07);
3. "Marilyn" (Demo);

4. "Me & My Boyfriend" (Acoustic Version);

With this i remembered the question, @Surf Noirdo u remember when Queen of the Gas Station, Mermaid Motel and Smarty were registered? i read it was in like 2011-2012 times with title "Gas Station", "Mermaid Hotel" and "Smartie" or were they earlier registrations from 2007-2008?

 

i believe the ocean (version 2) was reliably scrobbled so it's likely that it exists, but dance for money version 2 hasn't been 100% confirmed to exist, it's speculated like the other four demos you've listed

 

i don't really know when gas station, mermaid hotel, or smartie were registered, unfortunately, but what i can say is that the only alt. title which is confirmed/known to be an actual other version is mermaid hotel, i think anything regarding gas station and smartie being alt. versions is just speculation

[lanaismamom 11,553]

also all names lana used in 2004-2009
elizabeth grant
lizzi grant
may jailer
lizzy grant
lana del ray
lizzy grant and the phenomena
sparkle jump rope queen
queen of coney island - ?
lana rey

lana rey del mar
lana del rey