Watch R.E.M. play an acoustic ‘Driver 8’ in 1984
By 1984, R.E.M. had largely found the sound that would become their signature. After four years of trial and error, during which the band produced two studio albums and toured at a seemingly endless pace, all the elements had firmly settled into place. Peter Buck’s intricate guitar lines were refined, Mike Mills had his melodic basslines at the fore, Bill Berry’s unique approach to rhythm was solidified, and Michael Stipe was becoming more confident and less mumbly with every new song.
One thing that the band were still wary of was the music business. Having signed to the independent label I.R.S. Records, R.E.M. were looking to avoid the machine in any way possible. That meant not making videos for a short while, and when they were eventually persuaded, Stipe insisted that he sing live, as seen in the video for ‘So. Central Rain’. TV appearances were atypical as well – Stipe can be seen sitting on the drum riser instead of taking part in the interview when the band made their network television debut on Late Night with David Letterman.
When it came to doing television performances, Stipe and the band were still reticent to do anything traditional. So, instead of showing up to TV studios and performing their songs, the band decided to record an acoustic set in the offices of I.R.S. and ship out the resulting footage so that it could be shown on television. It was an insight into a different style for R.E.M., one that they would embrace in earnest towards the end of the 1980s and through the early 1990s.
For ‘Driver 8’, both Buck and Mills play acoustic guitars, with Buck playing his signature arpeggios while Mills fills in on strummed rhythm. Berry doesn’t have a full drum kit to use, so he keeps rhythm on claves and a tambourine instead. As for Stipe, he doesn’t quite have the final set of lyrics for the song down just yet (‘Driver 8’ wouldn’t be released until it appeared on the following year’s Fables of the Reconstruction), but his melody and willingness to articulate is a clear step into the future for R.E.M.
As the 1980s began racing toward its final years, R.E.M. unexpectedly found themselves as one of America’s biggest stadium rock bands. They had signed with a major label, Warner Bros. Records, and even had chart hits with ‘The One I Love’ and ‘Stand’. But Buck was getting sick of the guitar. The rest of the band was getting sick of the grandeur. To counteract it, R.E.M. embraced the acoustic set-up that they had previewed half a decade prior on this performance of ‘Driver 8’.
Check out the acoustic performance of ‘Driver 8’ down below.
