Losing Touch With My Mind Peter has said that the bassline is a straight rip-off of that from Citadel from the Rolling Stones Their Satanic Majesties Request. Cant actually hear this myself.
Hey Man many of the lyrics are adapted from Fixin To Die Blues, written by Bukka White, but recorded by many artists. There is a version on Bob Dylans self-titled debut album, which contains at least one other source of Spacemen inspiration, so they would definitely have heard it, but the most likely origin is Whites recording. The chorus is based on the traditional gospel refrain, recorded by many - contemporary recordings include one by Bob Marley.
Rollercoaster a cover of a Thirteenth Floor Elevators song, from their album "The Psychedelic Sounds Of The Thirteenth Floor Elevators". Many Spacemen fans adore the Elevators, and far be it from me to upset them but the Spacemen 3 versions of Rollercoaster piss over every Elevators version Ive heard from some considerable height.
Mary Anne a cover of the song Just One Time by Jucy Lucy. Jucy Lucy were formed by Glen Campbell (not the famous one), who had previously been in The Misunderstood.
Little Doll a cover of a Stooges song.
O. D. Catastrophe Peter wrote the music for this while still at school. After hitching up with Jason, the latter sung the lyrics to the Stooges T.V. Eye over the top the song was even known as T. V. Catastrophe for some time. The lyrics were developed somewhat by the time the song was recorded for Sound Of Confusion, but are still so close to T.V. Eye that at least one reviewer of a Spacemen 3 gig assumed it was simply a cover the music is not identical, but neither is it dissimilar.
Ode To Street Hassle The melody is taken from "Street Hassle" by Lou Reed, from the album of the same name.
Transparent Radiation a cover of a song by The Red Crayola, contemporaries of the Elevators. The most well known and widely available Crayola version is on their album The Parable Of Arable Land, but the version that influenced the Spacemen 3 reading is taken from the International Artists compilation album Epitaph For A Legend.
Come Down Easy a pretty blatant rip-off of In My Time Of Dying, most probably inspired by the version on Bob Dylans self-titled debut album. Although Dylan claims the song as his own, it is far older, deriving from a Blind Willie Johnson song called "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed". This original version doesn't contain the line "Well well well / So I can die easy", which was present by the time the song was recorded by Josh White, the version that was the likely inspiration for Led Zeppelin's version. And Zeppelin claim it as their own too! Dylan, Zeppelin and Spacemen 3 - you liars! Still one of the best Spacemen 3 songs. (Much of this info from the fascinating Turn Me On, Dead Man site).
Call The Doctor included as a curiosity J.J. Cale has a song of the same name on his album "Naturally", which also includes They Call Me The Breeze, which Jason later used as the basis for Run on the first Spiritualized album. Despite this, the actual content of the Spacemen 3 song is genuine Kember/Pierce.
Starship an adaptation of a Sun Ra/MC5 composition, that features on the MC5 album Kick Out The Jams.
Soul 1 not directly taken from any one source, as far as I know, but is intended to evoke the sound of Stax records. And does it pretty well.
Come Together a cover of an MC5 song, again from Kick Out The Jams.
Revolution Peter was miffed that some people had accused him of stealing the music from an MC5 song called Black To Comm for O.D. Catastrophe. Although he was a huge MC5 fan, he hadnt heard this song. It was obvious that, by the time he wrote Revolution, he had the basic riff is very similar. Some of the lyrics are adapted from the opening speech on Kick Out The Jams, the opening ascending chords are very close to those of "Come Together", and if you want to stretch a point, the opening exclamation of Look out! could be a steal from the Stooges Loose.
Suicide as Peter would say before playing this song live, This song is dedicated to Martin Rev and Alan Vega Suicide. Suicide were another big influence on the Spacemen, and this musical tribute evokes the haunting Suicide sound. Peter has said that it is based on the Suicide song Mr Ray, but it sounds more like the live version on "Live at CBGB'S, NYC, 25 May 1978" (a bootleg included on the recent Blast First reissue of the first Suicide album) than the one on the second Suicide LP.
Che a song from the first Suicide album, augmented by some new lyrics by Peter.
May The Circle Be Unbroken a gospel song, performed by many artists over the years, perhaps most famously the Carter Family. The Spacemen 3 version is based on a 1960 recording by The Staple Singers, and is practically a note-by-note and sound-by-sound copy. Jasons wistful vocals still manage to make it one of the most effective Spacemen 3 recordings, which must be seen as a credit to his X-factor and to the talent of Pop Staples.
Any Way That You Want Me cover of a song by Chip Taylor, popularised by The Troggs.
Girl On Fire cover of a song by The Perfect Disaster, who were contemporaries and friends of Spacemen 3. The Perfect Disasters Josephine Wiggs (later to be a member of The Breeders) plays on the Spacemen version.
I Love You some of the lyrics are lifted from Bob Marleys Duppy Conqueror, while the basic structure is based on Marleys Mr. Brown. It is also reminiscent of The Troggs Wild Thing, so it may be no coincidence that both feature flute solos.
"Set Me Free (Reprise)" - the line "Your eyes, it's a day's work just to look into them" is lifted from "It Tango" by Laurie Anderson, found on her "Big Science" album.
When Tomorrow Hits a cover of the Mudhoney song, from their album Mudhoney.
Its Alright written by Bo Diddley, it's likely that the Spacemen 3 version is inspired by the cover by the Rolling Stones from their 1965 album "Out Of Our Heads".
We Sell Soul bit of a strange one, this. It's sort-of a cover of "We Sell Soul" by The Spades, a group who transformed into the Thirteenth Floor Elevators. The Elevators took the germ of the song and remade it as "Don't Fall Down". The Spacemen version mixes the two, but owes more to the latter version than the former.
Velvet Jam a jam in the style of the Velvet Underground. The VU themselves jammed in a not dissimilar style, and a version has since been released called "Booker T Jam". The Spacemen 3 track was known by bootleggers as "Velvet/Booker T Jam" before its official release.
I Want You Right Now instrumental version of the Troggs' "I Want You", via the MC5 version on "Kick Out The Jams".
Bo Diddley Jam a jam in the style of Bo Diddley, not taken from any of his songs exactly, but utilising the famous Diddley rhythm.