No Confidence Man

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Shytown"/"No Confidence Man

| cover = Shytown-No Confidence Man cover.jpeg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Elliott Smith and Pete Krebs

| album =

| A-side = Shytown

| B-side = No Confidence Man

| released = {{Start date|1994}}

| recorded = August 14, 1994

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = {{flatlist|

}}

| length =

| label = Slo-Mo

| writer = Pete Krebs, Elliott Smith

| producer = Elliott Smith

| chronology = Elliott Smith

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| title = No Confidence Man

| title2 = Shytown

| next_title = Needle in the Hay

| next_year = 1995

}}

"No Confidence Man" is a song by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. It was originally released in 1994 by record label Slo-Mo as the B-side to a split 7-inch vinyl single with Pete Krebs, with Krebs' track "Shytown" making the A-side, making it his first solo single.

Recording

"No Confidence Man" was recorded in one day, on August 14, 1994. Engineering was handled by Smith.{{cite book |last=Nugent |first=Benjamin |date=April 1, 2009 |title=Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=9780786738106 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EM87EQx_ZsEC&dq=%22elliott+smith%22+%22no+confidence+man%22&pg=PT66 |accessdate=February 18, 2015}}

Content

The lyrics refer to a character named "Charlie", who has been referenced in at least one other of Smith's songs, and is a possible reference to Smith's stepfather Charlie Welch.{{cite web |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2014/01/elliott_smith_no_confidence_man.html |title=Lost Elliott Smith Single Unearthed for Charity | OregonLive.com |last=Greenwald |first=David |date=January 27, 2014 |website=OregonLive.com |accessdate=February 18, 2015 |archive-date=February 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218120429/http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2014/01/elliott_smith_no_confidence_man.html |url-status=live }}

Release

The single was originally released in 1994 by record label Slo-Mo.

It was re-issued in digital format in 2014 by UseMusic.org,{{cite web |url=https://www.portlandmercury.com/music/2014/01/29/11616667/mike-doughty-reworks-old-elliott-smith-tape-causes-consternation |title=Mike Doughty Reworks Old Elliott Smith Tape, Causes Consternation | Blogtown, PDX | Portland Mercury |last=Lannamann |first=Ned |date=January 29, 2014 |website=The Portland Mercury |accessdate=February 15, 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220025546/http://www.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2014/01/29/mike-doughty-reworks-old-elliott-smith-tape-causes-consternation |archive-date=2014-02-20}} with proceeds going to Outside/In, a not-for-profit Portland, Oregon organisation that works with homeless youth. The tracks were remixed by producer and Elliott Smith archivist Larry Crane: "I remixed these recently from excellent transfers of the original 1/4-inch, 8-track master tapes, so the audio is quite a bit better than old transfers pulled off vinyl".

Track listing

; Side A

  1. Pete Krebs – "Shytown"

; Side B

  1. Elliott Smith – "No Confidence Man"

References

{{reflist}}