Link Wray: Unauthorized live CD adds more evidence for a Hall of Fame induction

[review by Bill Glahn]

Link Wray: Live… My Father’s Place 1979 (Klondike KLCD 5079)

Venue: June 22, 1979 My Father’s Place, Roslyn, NY

Cover: 8-page insert with extensive liner notes with tray card in traditional jewel case

Sound Quality: very good - most likely taken from a circulating flac file that lists the sonic path as FM analog (3^rd generation, cassette) > DAT > CD-R clone > transfer to flac file (no eq, sound level adjusted). That would make this silver disc an internet lift, as the sound is pretty much identical. Not the kind of instrument separation you’d get from mastering analog to disc, but very listenable nonetheless.

Tracklist: Blue Suede Shoes/ Fever/ Jack The Ripper/ It’s All Over Now Baby Blue/ Baby What You Want Me To Do/ Don’t/ Money/ Peggy Sue/ Run Chicken Run/ Ace of Spades/ You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling/ Love Me/ I Fought The Law/ I Saw Her Standing There/ Rawhide/ Rumble

Comments: The gravest omission from the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, in my opinion, has to be Link Wray. And not just because he is cited as a major influence by every guitarist of note from Jimmy Page to Neil Young to Stevie Van Zandt. Many music historians have noted the sonic boom of Wray’s first hit single, the instrumental, “Rumble (1958).” Iggy Pop takes it further, citing his punk attitude. Wray has been nominated twice, but the deaf ears of the Hall’s voting contingent have never taken it to full blown inauguration. But anyone who followed Wray’s career past 1958 knows that Wray should be in the Hall for a lot more reasons than that.

“Rumble” provides a centerpiece in the film, It Might Get Loud, with Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White marveling at the playing of the single all those years later. This is a problem when a single has such a profound impact on the music world that it pigeonholes an artist like Wray. What the labels wanted was more of the same – loud and brutal instrumentals. Which Wray delivered in spades with follow-ups like “Rawhide,” “Jack The Ripper,” and “Ace of Spades.” The record companies milked the string of popularity on instrumentals until the mid sixties, whereupon instrumental artists like Wray and Dick Dale and Duane Eddy found themselves persona non-gratis.

So, in 1971, Link Wray reinvented himself and quietly jumpstarted the DIY movement in the process. Recorded in a three-track studio converted from an old chicken shack on the family farm, Wray, along with brother Vernon (no slouch either) behind the board, created a piece of Americana that stands up well to this day. He found an interested buyer for the recordings in Polydor, a European major that had opened a U.S. branch in 1969 and had an impressive list of acts. Wray would record 3 more albums for Polydor before moving on. Although relatively quiet as a recording act in the mid seventies, Wray moved to San Francisco and became a popular live act, often teaming up with John Cipollina. A number of excellent broadcast recordings featuring the Wray/Cipollina pairing over KSAN are worth hunting down. But Wray also did a lot of European touring in the late seventies, where he has always remained popular. Two Wray singles from the album, Bullshot, were released in Europe during the punk apex, a version of Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” and Little Willie John’s “Fever,” both delivered with maybe a little too much production, but both distinctly Wray. And if Iggy Pop was adopted as “godfather” by the punks, Wray was adopted as the grand elder. For once, Link Wray seemed to be in sync with, instead of ahead, of the times. At least across the ocean. Neither single was released in the States. Which is the period captured by this CD.

Several shows were broadcast on a summer promotional tour of the northeast for Bullshot, including this one. And it’s a doozy. Wray had put a live set together that consisted pretty much of a history of rock ‘n’ roll framed in power chords and stinging leads. Keith Lentin (bass) and Anton Fig (drums) provide a powerhouse rhythm section and the trio dropped the production frills and turned up the volume.

Klondike has included the entire set, starting with a rousing version of Carl Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes” and closing up with Wray’s most famous tune, “Rumble.” In between there are covers of Jimmy Reed, Elvis Presley, Barrett Strong by way of The Beatles, Buddy Holly, The Righteous Brothers and others, along with some of Wray’s best known tunes.

As a singer, Wray has a limited range (the lower register of Elvis Presley or Roy Orbison without the high end abilities of either). But he generally sticks within his limits and had become a fine vocalist by this time. On the couple of tunes where he attempts to stretch it out, (i.e. “I Saw Her Standing There”) the results aren’t particularly good. Wray paces the set with a couple love ballads, but basically it’s a start-to-finish blitzkrieg.

Two months later, he would record the highly acclaimed Live at the Paradiso live album in Europe (later released under license in the US. On Visa Records) and move to Europe soon after. Link Wray remained in Europe for the rest of his life where he enjoyed continued popularity and a steady touring career. It’s a tragedy that he never received equal respect in the U.S. and certainly an egregious oversight by the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame that he wasn’t inducted on day one. With all the testimony by musicians already in the Hall about his impact as a major influence, the continued absence of Wray remains an embarrassment. Obviously, the Hall is more interested in selling tickets these days than presenting a proper history.

With a master source tape, and a legitimate release, properly edited for mass consumption, this is the type of recording that has a shot at a Grammy award in several categories (Lifetime Achievement Award, Best Americana Roots Performance). Maybe that’s the road to get the HoF off their duff. Years of fan complaints certainly haven’t.

Bonus: If Elvis looked badass on his 1968 comeback special, Link Wray looked downright DANGEROUS on stage throughout his career, like an axe-carrying delinquent. And that's certainly how the establishment viewed him from the start. "Rumble" was banned from many radio stations because it was viewed as violent and a bad influence - sort of like the instrumental predecessor of "Louie Louie."

  

 

Warren Zevon - Simple Man, Simple Dream: Lackluster sound quality diminishes excellent performance on unauthorized CD

 

[review by Rev. Keith A. Gordon]

WARREN ZEVON Simple Man, Simple Dream (Laser Media CD)

VENUE: The Metro, Boston MA; WBCN-FM radio broadcast; September 29th, 1982.

SOUND QUALITY: Although it’s nowhere near as bad as those one-star reviews on Amazon would have you believe – I’m guessing that many of these amateur critics just recently discovered the wealth of dodgy “copyright gap” CD releases available these days – the CD’s sound is somewhat muddy with a few sonic artifacts creeping in along the edges and an overall hollow feel to the performances. It sounds like you’re standing against the back wall of a cavernous warehouse and watching the show, with all the echo and distortion that implies; not unlistenable by any measure, but not of the quality of the legit, label-released Stand In the Fire LP (which, strangely, a lot of people compare this to?).

COVER: Laser Media isn’t known for spending a lot of time or money on the label’s CD packaging, so you get a sepia-toned Zevon photo for the front cover (the same pic as the previously-released Live In Boston 1982 set on Live Wire) with a track listing on the rear of a single-ply insert. The tray card lists the songs again and, in the fine print, states that this CD is an “official radio broadcast.” Sure it is…

TRACKLIST: 1. Johnny Strikes Up the Band • 2. The Overdraft • 3. A Certain Girl • 4. Let Nothing Come Between You • 5. Jeannie Needs A Shooter • 6. Join Me In L.A. • 7. Gorilla, You’re A Desperado • 8. Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner • 9. The Envoy • 10. Simple Man, Simple Dream • 11. Bill Lee • 12. Charlie’s Medicine • 13. Jungle Work • 14. Play It All Night Long

COMMENTS: Singer/songwriter Warren Zevon enjoyed modest commercial success when his third album, 1978’s Excitable Boy, achieved Gold™ Record status on the back of the Top 30 hit “Werewolves of London” which, in turn, drove the album into the Top 10 on the charts. Zevon’s follow-up, 1980’s Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School, while performing admirably (peaking at #20), was considered a step backwards commercially and creatively (note to critics: it’s actually a pretty great record). A poorly-performing live set, Stand In the Fire (which ain’t half-bad, either…) haunted the upper half of the albums chart and signaled that Zevon’s commercial momentum may have stalled.

Although his fortunes had begun to wane somewhat by the time of The Envoy, Zevon still put on a heck of a live show, and this FM radio broadcast by WBCN in Boston is a fine example. The set list on this CD release (which is not the full show – see below) draws three tracks from The Envoy, six songs from Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School, a pair from Zevon’s self-titled 1976 Asylum Records debut, two songs from 1978’s Excitable Boy, and a reverent cover of the John David Souther ballad “Simple Man, Simple Dream,” from which the CD is titled. Zevon and his journeyman touring band, which included guitarist John Wood and bassist Larry Larson, provide the performances with plenty of energy and enthusiasm.

Zevon also knew how to structure and pace a live show, opening in Boston with a brace of unbridled rockers in “Johnny Strikes Up the Band,” the guitar-happy “The Overdraft,” and a raucous take of the Yardbirds’ (by way of Ernie K-Doe) “A Certain Girl” before cooling off with the mid-tempo “Let Nothing Come Between You.” From this point, Zevon sandwiches heavier tracks like “Jeannie Needs A Shooter,” “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner,” “The Envoy,” and “Jungle Work” between more nuanced songs like “Simple Man, Simple Dream” and the piano-driven “Bill Lee.” The fierce “Join Me In L.A.” evinces a deep, funky groove while “Gorilla, You’re A Desperado” is provided an appropriately jaunty, tongue-in-cheek reading. Simple Man, Simple Dream closes with the wickedly satirical “Play It All Night Long,” which offers a barbed condemnation of the myth of the simple Southern lifestyle with direct references to Lynyrd Skynyrd.

A few cavils to share – first of all, Simple Man, Simple Dream offers roughly half of Zevon’s actual concert performance that night, which ran a hefty 27 songs if you include the encore (and why wouldn’t you?) and don’t count onstage banter and introductions. The aforementioned Live In Boston 1982 sports two discs (instead of Laser Media’s single), was released earlier, offers three additional tunes from The Envoy, and includes the encore performances of “Excitable Boy,” “Werewolves of London,” “Carmelita,” and “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead.” Headless In Boston is a similar single-disc set, but it runs a healthy 19 tracks and includes the very cool encore performances.

Summing up, this is another typical shabby “copyright gap” CD release by the folks at Laser Media, a U.K. company that specializes in obscure radio broadcasts that are offered in what is the absolute cheapest packaging available, with little-or-no credits and carrying a premium price tag. A quick look at a list of the label’s releases on Discogs displays a diverse and, to the fanatical classic rock fan, mouth-watering roster of albums by artists like Yes, Thin Lizzy, Aerosmith, David Bowie, Tom Waits, Jeff Beck, Van Halen, Rory Gallagher and, yes, Warren Zevon. Overall, this is a stellar performance by Zevon and band but with mediocre sound. If you absolutely have to own it on compact disc, that’s OK but, with a little Googling, you can find the complete Boston show online and enjoy it for free!

Grade: C+

Bonus View: a couple nights later

 

Free Will - Live At Jabberwocky 1970: Previously Undiscovered Gem on Vinyl

 [review by Rev. Keith A. Gordon]

FREE WILL

Live At Jabberwocky 1970

(The Grail Record Productions, Italy)

VENUE: The Jabberwocky, Syracuse NY; July 1970.

SOUND QUALITY: Decent soundboard recording for the era, probably captured on portable reel-to-reel and put through its paces with modern mastering and studio gimcrackery. It could be worse, given the vintage of the recording, the mix awfully dense and quiet to the point of distraction. The entire album could have used more EQ to balance out the frequencies and they could have pumped up the volume with some slight compression. It’s listenable, though, provided you turn it up, and while the vocals are pretty muddy, and the guitars tend to dominate the sometimes sludge-like instrumentation, the two records capture the high spirits of the performance.   

COVER: Pretty dang swanky for a label I’ve never heard of in almost 50 years of collecting and writing about music. The Grail Record Productions out of Italy doesn’t seem to have a very large catalog – a mere four albums listed on Discogs, with three of ‘em by this band Free Will. But Live At Jabberwocky 1970 sports a handsome gatefold cover with cool cover art printed in silver ink against a black background. The inside features a bunch of color photos of the band in typical 1970s rock star poses on stage, while the rear cover lists the songs in gold ink and offers more arcane-looking, silver-printed artwork. Thick slabs of vinyl are housed in slick, high quality paper sleeves. An overall impressive job; I’ve seen major label releases that showed a lot less effort in their packaging than The Grail does here. 

TRACKLIST 

Side One: 1. Good Rockin’ Tonight • 2. Big Boss Man • 3. Someplace Is Something • 4. Handbags To Gladrags • 5. The Hunter • 6. Help Me

Side Two: 7. Carry Me Home • 8. Candy Man • 9. Big-Legged Woman • 10. Country Road • 11. Stormy Monday • 12. Swingin’ Sheperd Blues

Side Three: 13. Needle and Spoon • 14. Free Will Boogie • 15. Bright Lights, Big City

Side Four: 16. Dink Soup • 17. Mother Earth • 18. Ridin’ With the Devil 

COMMENTS: Free Will was a 1970s-era blues-rock band from upstate New York (Syracuse area) that toured clubs and colleges in the East Coast region. Formed in 1968 by singer Joe Whiting and guitarist Mark Doyle, the line-up also included rhythm guitarist George Egosarian, bassist John DeMaso, and drummer Tom Glaister. To be honest, there’s not a heck of a lot of info on the band on the old Internet – they skewed towards a bluesy sound that took advantage of Whiting’s strong vocals, mixing blues and rock covers with a handful of original tunes, and their dynamic live shows earned Free Will a loyal following in the tri-state (NY-NJ-PA) area. 

Somewhere along the line, the band’s demo tapes brought them to the attention of A&R guys at RCA Records and a subsequent record deal. The label changed the band’s name to the absurd moniker Jukin’ Bone and emphasized the “rock” side of the band’s sound across a pair of poorly-received 1972 albums – 1972’s Whiskey Women and Way Down East – neither of which sold all that well. It wasn’t for lack of trying, however, the band touring far and wide and opening for folks like ZZ Top, Freddie King, the Allman Brothers, John Mayall, the Kinks, and others, and they received rave reviews from Creem magazine. But the horrible album cover art and an obvious lack of label support sank the bands hopes and they broke up rather badly in 1973.

Somewhere down the line – most likely when Free Will/Jukin’ Bone frontman Whiting was touring with Kim Simmonds and Savoy Brown – the Italian reissue label Akarma took an interest in the 1970s-era rockers and licensed the band’s early demos for CD reissue. However, this double-live Free Will album comes courtesy of The Grail Record Productions, and although I don’t know if they have any connection to Akarma, the set was licensed from Free Will guitarist Mark Doyle (who is evidently the keeper of the Free Will/Jukin’ Bone flame), so it’s a legit effort. 

Free Will’s Live At the Jabberwocky 1970 captures the band performing a red-hot pair of sets at a long-gone Syracuse NY venue, evidently sourced from a reel-to-reel soundboard recording and offering sound typical for such antiquated technology. What the performance lacks in sonic quality, however, it more than makes up for in energy, inspiration, and talent. The set-list is a curious mix of blues and R&B standards with a handful of pretty cool original songs as well as a couple of “poppier” cover tunes thrown in for good measure. By the tail-end of the band’s second set, they begin to let their freak flag fly with longer and longer takes on tunes like Memphis Slim’s “Mother Earth” (which sounds like early Led Zeppelin) and Chris Youlden’s “Needle and Spoon” (from Savoy Brown’s 1970 album Raw Sienna, an obvious major influence on Free Will).

Live At the Jabberwocky 1970 opens with Roy Brown’s 1947 jump-blues hit “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” delivered with a slow blues grind that’s heavy on bass and circular guitar riffs, the mid-tempo song tailor-made for onstage pyrotechnics. Jimmy Reed’s “Big Boss Man,” a 1961 blues-shuffle that has been recorded by everybody from Elvis Presley to Mercury Rev, is provided some appropriately greasy guitar interplay behind Whiting’s growling, Howlin’ Wolf styled vox while Albert King’s “The Hunter” offers up all the menace of the original with Doyle’s guitar driving the deep-rooted groove. The band delivers a subtle take on James Taylor’s “Country Road,” playing up the song’s folkish leanings with an inspired Whiting vocal and lush backing instrumentation. They dip into the Jimmy Reed songbook again with “Bright Lights, Big City,” augmenting the song’s Chicago blues roots with scorching guitar and swells of instrumentation.

A cover of former Manfred Mann frontman Mike D’Abo’s “Handbags and Gladrags” (listed incorrectly in the album credits) is one of a few oddball song choices here…British singer Chris Farlowe had the original chart hit with the song in 1967 (produced by D’Abo), which would inspire Rod Stewart to cover the tune a couple of years later (with D’Abo on piano) to little or no commercial success. Whiting manages to wring every ounce of emotion out of the lyrics with a fine performance while the band eschews loud and rowdy for a more nuanced instrumental backdrop. A cover of British singer, songwriter, and actor Anthony Newley’s “Candy Man” is another outlier, the band taking the signature Sammy Davis, Jr song and beating it into a slow-burning blues-rock dirge with uranium-heavy guitars and sly vocals that completely change the vibe (if not the original intention) of the lyrics.  

Side three’s cover of Savoy Brown’s “Needle and Spoon” and the following “Free Will Boogie” (patterned after the aforementioned band’s “Savoy Brown Boogie” and incorporating tunes by Carl Perkins, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis, among others) provide nearly 23 minutes of pure booger-rock cheap thrills. Both songs feature extended jams displaying the band members’ instrumental skills (including Whiting’s honkin’ sax), both include plenty of razor-sharp fretwork and chooglin’ rhythms, and both performances come to a conclusion before you tire of hearing them. Ditto for the side four band jam “Dink Soup,” a nasty lil’ stinker with a low-slung groove, Whiting’s brassy saxwork, rolling percussion, and an overall sound that was a couple years ahead of its time, when it would have fit perfectly on FM radio playlists.   

The original material on Live At the Jabberwocky 1970 makes one sit up and take notice. Playing in the same hard rock sandbox as contemporaries like Free, Cactus, and Humble Pie, given the proper producer and some creative nurturing, the band could have ridden its songs up the charts (or at least onto FM radio). “Someplace Is Something” is a lively lil’ shuffle with slinky vocals that beat Jo Jo Gunne to the punch by a couple of years while side two’s opener, “Carry Me Home,” gets funky with some fine chicken pickin’ and a complex rhythmic backdrop that descends into a lovely chaotic mess by the end. The set-closer, “Ridin’ With the Devil,” showcases all of the band’s potential in an exhilarating seven-minute roller-coaster ride of night and day ambiance fueled by explosive, locomotive percussion, thunderbolt bass riffs, and manic guitar-mangling.  

The band’s lyrics aren’t readily discernible on this live recording, but Whiting’s vocals are impressive, the band is tight, and Doyle is an imaginative and entertaining guitarist – i.e. the band was rock ‘n’ roll clay reading for molding by the right production/label team. Sadly, it was not to be, for while Free Will was a promising gang of young hard rockers, their RCA signing, name change, and lackluster LP releases derailed whatever forward momentum the band had created with its electrifying live performances. They would get the original gang back together in 2017 to record a new album, Unfinished Business, for Akarma Records and they would be inducted into the Syracuse Music Hall of Fame at the same time. In the annals of “what could have been” in rock ‘n’ roll, Free Will were one of the good ‘uns.  Grade: B+  

For more info on Free Will, check out the Jukin’ Bone website

Bonus view:

Great Poco Release on Bootleg CD: Live from 1975

 

Poco: Live: Wollman Memorial Skating Rink New York 22^nd August 1975 (Rox Vox 2159)

Venue: As titled

Sound quality: Stunning. Significantly better than most other Rox Vox releases

Cover: digi-pak with slot inside holding 8-page booklet with photos and liner notes. Nice presentation.

Tracklist: Keep On Tryin’/ Sagebrush Serenade/ Blue Water/ Fools Gold/ Rocky Mountain Breakdown/ Bad Weather/ Hoedown/ Ride The Country/ Making Love/ Georgia Bind My Ties/ Restrain/ Railroad Days/ Sittin’ On A Fence/ High And Dry/ A Good Feelin’ To Know/ A Right Along

Comments: An article came through my Facebook newsfeed a couple of months ago with the poster taking issue with NPR's typically narrow focus and condescending attitudes towards rock, often ignoring it altogether. I'm no Deadhead, but leading off by referring to Jerry Garcia's playing on CSNY's "Teach Your Children" as "primitive" is not a good start. It's an instantly recognizable and inventive part of rock history and was recorded when Garcia had only been playing the instrument for about a week. If there is evidence that Garcia was a genius, that is exhibit A. And I wasn't the only one to notice the short shrift Rusty Young got for his innovative experiments on the pedal steel. Music coverage has expanded ~a little~ in recent years on NPR, but not so much that I didn't cancel their newsletter after giving it a second chance. Same ol' prejudice, priorities, and narrow vision. Some local NPR music programs seem to be far more adventurous than the national organization. I'm not a fan. So sue me.

 And now Rusty Young is dead, having passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack on April 14. While NPR, in their article dated Jan. 20, 2020, didn’t feel it necessary to include Young’s contribution to the expansion of the pedal steel, he will not be subject to such an oversight here. His contribution was HUGE.

 I first saw Poco in concert during their tour supporting the DeLIVErin’ album, an album I still rate among the Top 10 live albums of all time. And as good as that album was, the expanded performance at Trenton State Teacher’s College blew my 16 year-old mind away. The harmonies, the songs, the jams on medleys, and the other-worldly sound emanating from Rusty Young’s pedal steel – all of it. I looked around for a Hammond B-3 organ. It wasn’t there. That was Young coaxing organ sounds out of his pedal steel by playing chords through a Leslie cabinet when he wasn’t expertly playing more traditional runs to rock melodies.

Poco has never been the subject of bootlegger’s affections, receiving just one release during their heyday by the great TMOQ label, Country Bump (TMOQ 73036). TMOQ could certainly recognize a great live performance when they heard one. And if it’s a 1971 radio broadcast emanating from Columbia Studios in L.A., (9/30/71) all the better. It’s an album worth tracking down, but don’t expect to get it cheap. Despite being a band that never dominated the charts, Poco fans are a loyal bunch and Country Bump is one rare slab of vinyl.

Which brings us to this CD. In 1975, Poco was in a transitional period, having been reduced to a four piece with a label switch from Epic to ABC. Although their former label, Epic Records, released a contract fulfillment live album in 1976, that record was actually recorded in late 1974. With Poco’s first release on ABC, 1975’s Head Over Heels, the group seemed revitalized and it showed on their supporting tour. The album peaked on the Billboard album charts at number 43, far surpassing the previous year’s Seven, with their single, “Keep On Tryin’,” being the bands first single to break the top 100 since 1970’s “C’mon.”

Wollman Memorial Skating Rink starts off with “Keep On Tryin’” and Poco work a total of 4 songs from their current album into the set, including the fabulous (and criminally overlooked) “Georgia Bind My Ties.” Much of the rest of the set consists of more contrified material from their most recent albums (“Sagebrush Serenade,” “Blue Water,” “Bad Weather” being among the best), ending on a rockin’ note with a pairing of “A Good Feelin’ To Know” And “A Right Along,” the last being another overlooked gem by AOR radio from 1973.

If Poco had mellowed any since DeLIVErin’, it wasn’t much. This is the 2^nd best live album of the band’s career and compliments DeLIVErin’ nicely.

 Grade: A

Bonus view:

Double live CD by the Meat Puppets. Does it add up to one good one?

 

[review by Bill Glahn]

Meat Puppets: Meltdown/Attacked By Monsters (Interference INTR2CD0006)

Venue: (CD1) 9/1/88 KCRW Studios, Santa Monica, CA (CD2) 4/16/93 KCRW studios, Santa Monica, CA

Sound Quality: very good low generation broadcast recordings, mildly compressed

Cover: 8-page booklet and tray card in slimline double jewel case

Tracklist: (CD1) Introduction-In Love/ Wish Upon A Stone/ Light/ Touchdown King/ Bali Ha’i/ Automatic Mojo/ He’ll Have To Go/ Magic Toy Missing/ Pass Me By/ Meltdown (CD2) Introduction/ Lake Of Fire/ Violet Eyes/ Never To Be Found/ Attacked By Monsters/ El Paso City/ White Sport Coat

Comments: 

The phone is no friend of Curt Kirkwood's. Too often, the tidings it bears are foul. He calls them “incomings from Tempe.” They go like this: Your brother's wife overdosed this morning; she's dead. Your brother got busted again last night, and he told the cops he was you. Your brother showed up at my house yesterday with a crack pipe and a bag of needles, and he looks like hell. Your brother took off from rehab. Your brother's holed up in a Motel 6 on the Black Canyon Freeway, smoking rock like it's judgment day. (Austin Chronicle, Shooting Star, January 1, 1999)

That was just the first paragraph of the revealing article in the Austin Chronicle documenting the band’s decent. You can read the whole sordid affair on this link. 

The last 2 albums that the original line-up would make until 2019 were the ominously titled Too High To Die (1994) and No Joke! (1995). The first of those two yielded the band’s only chart single, “Backwater.” The second, despite a crafty production by the Butthole Surfers’ Paul Leary (a man experienced in navigating minefields in a band prone to drug excess with newfound major label cash), barely dented Billboard’s Top 200 album chart. No Joke!, may have sounded great, but the subject matter was something radio wouldn’t touch.

As unauthorized live CDs go, there isn't a whole lot around on the Meat Puppets. That makes this release something of a surprise.

Meltdown/Attacked By Monsters presents two radio broadcasts from college station KCRW in Santa Monica. The first in 1988 when the band were darlings of college radio and the alternative press, the second as a major label act on the verge of stardom – in no small amount due to a guest appearance by the Kirkwood brothers on Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged session.

On the 1988 broadcast, the Meat Puppets appear fairly focused on playing material for their album-in-progress, Monsters, with 4 tracks from that release and one more that would appear as a bonus track on a later CD re-issue of that album. There’s a couple of tracks from previous albums included in the set and a couple offbeat covers including “He’ll Have To Go,” performed in a way Jim Reeves fans couldn’t possibly envision. But a significant portion of the disc is taken up by the band doing their best to be “witty.” And failing. The sorriest example being the rather stupid rendition of “Bali Ha’i” that takes up the first 2 minutes of track 5 followed by 5 more minutes of a ludicrous conversation about Brian Wilson. “Brian Wilson led the band, Brian & the Family Stone and their big hit, ‘Stand.’” Please. And the DJ, of course, laughs at every witticism and plays along. She obviously feels the hipness of their presence and wants them back. Unfortunately these bits of comedy, which you will never want to hear again, are not indexed separately from the songs. There is some relief that the next track, a blistering version of “Automatic Mojo,” is a stand-alone track. As is the take on “He’ll Have To Go.” Then back to inane conversation tacked onto “Magic Toy Missing.” Disc one contains some brilliant moments and far too many cringe-worthy ones. On to disc two.

The 1993 broadcast repeats the formula of not separating songs from conversation, only it's much shorter in length. Sure, you get the song you’ve been waiting all this time to hear, “”Lake of Fire.” And it concludes with an acoustic version of Marty Robbins’ “White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation” before the all-too-precious DJ concludes the session. But it’s a totally uninspired version. The drugs are, apparently, wearing off.

In totality, the combined length of BOTH discs is a bit under 72 minutes. The amount of music presented is about half that. With a lot of editing, this might amount to a fine vinyl LP. Considering that the cost would be about the same as this 2CD without the bullshit, maybe some enterprising vinyl company will do just that.

Grade: despite the excellent sound, this gets a C-

Bonus view: a full concert from 1992. Great sound and visuals.

Live double CD: Mike Bloomfield show from 1974

MIKE BLOOMFIELD

Bottom Line Cabaret 31.3.74

(Klondike Records)

VENUE: The Bottom Line, New York City, March 31st, 1974

SOUND QUALITY: Fair to middlin’ radio broadcast, probably second-generation tape, with frequent loss of the lower frequencies and bouts of distortion and occasional feedback. Slightly muddy sound overall, but in no sense a ‘deal killer’ as the vocals are mostly legible, Bloomfield’s guitar cuts through the muck, and the piano playing is easily discernable. Given the age and provenance of the recording, it’s quite listenable. 

COVER: Eight-page booklet features sepia-toned photo of Bloomfield on front with red title banner, action photo of the guitarist on the back on the CD booklet. Inside offers cool color pics and a couple pages of anonymous yet informative liner note. The CD tray card duplicates the back insert photo and includes the tracklist and the European label’s bloato-hype about Bloomfield.

TRACKLIST: 

Disc One: 1. Band Introduction • 2. Don’t You Like To Me • 3. Linda Lou • 4. Sweet Little Angel • 5. Unchain My Heart • 6. Inside Information • 7. Tryin’ To Find the Door • 8. Glamour Girl

Disc Two: 1. Heartbreak • 2. Imagination • 3. Let Them Talk • 4. Trouble Ahead of Me • 5. If I Get Started All Over Again

COMMENTS: 

The history of rock ‘n’ roll is littered with guitar heroes, godly fretburners like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Duane Allman, and Stevie Ray Vaughan that redefined the instrument for a new generation. There also exists a slate of minor deities, influential axe-wielders that, while not worshipped as ardently as the aforementioned top tier of guitarists, were nevertheless influential, consequential, and often times as talented as their better-known peers. Count artists like Rory Gallagher, Peter Green, Roy Buchanan, Robin Trower, Kim Simmonds, Tommy Bolin, and Mick Ronson among these ranks. Then there’s guitarist Michael Bloomfield, who stands in a class entirely his own…

Born in Chicago in 1943, just prior to the post-war “Baby Boom,” Bloomfield caught the ‘blues bug’ at the age of 14 after seeing folk-blues artist Josh White perform. He began hanging around the blues clubs on Chicago’s South Side and sat in with Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson at the age of 16 years. Bloomfield made his bones playing with giants like Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, who demanded a high level of virtuosity from their associates. Before long, Bloomfield hooked up with singer and harmonica player Paul Butterfield, fellow guitarist Elvin Bishop, and a monster rhythm section in bassist Jerome Arnold and drummer Sam Lay, who came from Howlin’ Wolf’s band. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band would bring the blues to white audiences with a pair of groundbreaking mid-‘60s albums.

But first, Bloomfield made a splash playing behind Bob Dylan at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival and appearing on the Scribe’s 1965 LP, Highway 61 Revisited. It was during these sessions that Bloomfield met and befriended musician Al Kooper, who would become an integral part of the guitarist’s career. Bloomfield soon tired of the Butterfield Band’s rigorous touring schedule and left the band after those first two albums, relocating to San Francisco and forming Electric Flag with his old Chicago buddies Barry Goldberg and Nick Gravenites. Bloomfield would leave the Flag after the band’s debut album, A Long Time Comin’, subsequently lending his talents to recordings by artists like Chuck Berry, Mother Earth, Mitch Ryder, James Cotton, and Janis Joplin, among others, while weighing the options of his solo career. 

Bloomfield reunited with Muddy Waters (and Butterfield) to record the revered 1969 Chess Records LP Fathers and Sons, and released two critically-acclaimed collaborations with Kooper in 1968 – Super Session and The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper – that were modestly successful and seemed ready to launch the guitarist into the stratosphere. Flash forward to 1974, and Bloomfield’s career opportunities are, in a word, uncertain. His solo debut, 1969’s It’s Not Killing Me, was poorly-produced by his buddy Gravenites and underperformed on the charts. Bloomfield tried to self-medicate his problems away, and his heroin addiction worsened to the point where he stopped playing guitar altogether for a while in 1970. It took a letter from his idol B.B. King (who was asked to intervene by Bloomfield’s mother) to motivate him to pick up his instrument and play again.  

Bloomfield recorded his second solo album, 1973’s Try It Before You Buy It, which the label subsequently refused to release at the time (it finally saw the light of day in 1990). Columbia Records forced the guitarist into an odd creative marriage – the Triumvirate album with Dr. John and bluesman John Hammond, Jr. – which was poorly reviewed and barely sold, and Bloomfield would reunite with his Electric Flag cohorts for a single 1974 album, The Band Kept Playing, that was equally troubled. Although Bloomfield preferred to play shows close to his West Coast home, the IRS came calling with a huge tax bill for the years 1968-1972. As such, tours to distant locations like Miami, Boston, Toronto, and Buffalo followed. March 1974 found Bloomfield in New York City, where he performed a two-night stand at The Bottom Line club. 

The first of these two concerts – the night of March 31st – was broadcast live by WNYU-FM radio and now finds its semi-legit release on CD as Bottom Line Cabaret 31.3.74. For this particular show, the guitarist fronted a band that included Al Kooper and Barry Goldberg on keyboards, bassist/vocalist Roger Troy (from Electric Flag), and drummer George Rains (who had played with Mother Earth and Boz Scaggs). It’s a fairly spirited show, the guitarist leading his talented crew through a strong set of classic blues tunes with a handful of original songs. Tampa Red’s Chicago blues gem “Don’t You Lie To Me” kicks off the show, a rowdy up-tempo song with plenty of honky-tonk piano-play and ferocious guitar playing. The similarly-jaunty “Linda Lou” suffers from some muddy sound, but the song’s rowdy country-styled arrangement shines (as does Bloomfield’s stinging guitar).

A cover of the B.B. King classic “Sweet Little Angel” (also recorded by the aforementioned Tampa Red) features plenty of Bloomfield’s scorching fretwork and Troy’s bluesy vocals riding atop squalls of piano notes. The vocals nearly disappear during a cover of Ray Charles’ “Unchain My Heart,” but the song’s innate soulfulness rises to the top in a sonic stew of raging piano keys and fluid, funky guitar. Bloomfield’s guitar jumps right into Electric Flag’s “Inside Information,” suggesting an odd tape edit, but Troy’s vocals here – which mimic Otis Redding’s earthy tones – strike home as the band shuffles along behind him. The Chicago-styled “Glamour Girl” is plagued with some feedback and distortion, but Bloomfield’s guitar rings clear, as does the passionate piano playing behind him.

The second disc “joins the show already in progress” as the band is already jukin’ its way through “Heartbreak” when you hit ‘play’. No worries, though, as the song is a rockin’ blues tune that, while the performance is somewhat fuzzy sonically, the band’s rowdy intent jumps out of the grooves nonetheless. The liner notes say that Kooper sings “(I’ve Got To Use My) Imagination” (listed as “Imagination”), but I believe that it’s actually Barry Goldberg, who wrote the song and recorded it for his self-titled 1974 album. Regardless, it’s a great blues-rock tune with chiming keyboards and a deep rhythmic groove with subtle, sparing guitarplay by Bloomfield.

The pace slows down drastically for “Let Them Talk,” a R&B gem that was a hit for Little Willie John in 1959. Troy’s emotional vocals are paired with Bloomfield’s elegant fretwork, Gospel-toned organ, and tasteful piano accompaniment. Bloomfield recorded the song for his shelved Try It Before You Buy It album and it’s Columbia’s loss that it didn’t release the track as a single as the guitarist’s performance and tone here are incredible. A red-hot cover of Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “I Smell Trouble” (listed here as “Trouble Ahead of Me”) is delivered as a scorching blues-rock tune with a shuffling Chicago-styled rhythm and ferocious guitar playing and an extended jam that features dueling keyboards. The concert closes out with the up-tempo “If I Get Started All Over Again,” a sort of R&B-tinged pop song with high-flying fretwork and an undeniable melodic hook.       

Bloomfield’s career would teeter on throughout the decade until his death under mysterious circumstances in 1981. The guitarist allegedly provided music for the Mitchell Brothers’ adult films for $1,000 an hour. With his old pal Goldberg in tow, Bloomfield hooked up with singer/songwriter Ray Kennedy as KGB, which released a single self-titled album in 1976 (the band also including Blind Faith’s Ric Grech and Carmine Appice of Cactus). Bloomfield recorded an instructional album for guitarists titled If You Love These Blues, Play ‘Em As You Please, which was underwritten by Guitar Player magazine. Bloomfield released a handful of solo albums for fellow guitarist John Fahey’s independent Takoma Records label, including the acclaimed 1977 set Analine and 1979’s Between A Hard Place & the Ground. Bloomfield’s final solo album, Cruisin’ For A Bruisin’, would be released the same day as his death.

Klondike Records is no newcomer to “copyright gap” albums, the Cyprus-based semi-bootleg imprint releasing live recordings by artists as diverse as Bloomfield, the Patti Smith Group, Blue Öyster Cult, Burning Spear, Tom Waits, Sun Ra, and Talking Heads, among many others, concerts dating from the early 1970s through the early ‘90s. This particular Bottom Line show has been previously-released on both vinyl and CD as More Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield & Al Kooper, and has been readily available in tape-trading circles and on torrent streams for decades. 

In the years since his death, a handful of live Bloomfield albums have been released legitimately, most notably Live At the Old Waldorf (1998), Fillmore East: The Lost Concert Tapes (2003, with Al Kooper), and Live At McCabe’s Guitar Workshop (2017), all of which are worth adding to your collection. All of these live discs display Bloomfield’s incredible talents and virtuosity, his skills influencing a generation of guitar-slingers to follow. With his status growing in the decades since his death, Bloomfield was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2012 and into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 as a founding member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Bottom Line Cabaret 31.3.74 provides a glimpse at the talents upon which Bloomfield’s legend continues to grow. Grade: B (Rev. Keith A. Gordon)

Bonus view: 

 

Live CDs from Santana, Dio, Traffic and more

 

[In the sense that the same shows often appear on a variety of labels, the rash of broadcast loophole recordings of recent years is no different than the tsunami of copyright gap CDs of the 1990’s. Here are a few short reviews of some of the latest examples, along with some similarly short reviews from the back pages of the Live! Music Review print editions.]

Dio: Live In Santa Monica 1983 (Klondike 5073)

Venue: Santa Monica, Ca 10/7/83

Sound Quality: very good to excellent radio broadcast, a little compressed.

Cover: 8-page insert and tray card in standard jewel case.

Track Listing: Station Introduction/ Stand Up And Shout/ Straight Through The Heart/ Shame On The Night/ Stargazer/ Guitar Solo/ Heaven And Hell/ Holy Diver/ Rainbow In The Dark/ Man On The Silver Mountain> Starstruck

Comments: Bootlegs of this King Biscuit Flower Hour radio broadcast go back to numerous vinyl releases (mostly of European manufacture) in the 1980s. 5 tracks appear on the official deluxe edition of Holy Diver (2012).

The tour was the first for the debut album (Holy Diver) of Ronnie James Dio (more accurately, the band Dio named after himself). By 1983 Dio was a well-known commodity in the world of hard rock, having previously fronted the bands Elf, Black Sabbath, and Rainbow. Dio brought along former Sabbath bandmate, Vinny Appice, former Rainbow mate, Jimmy Balin, and unknown guitarist (at the time)Vivian Campbell, to take the album charts by storm. The band would go through numerous line-up changes through the years, but never recapture the sales that Holy Diver enjoyed. As a bootleg, Live In Santa Monica serves little purpose these days, as the bulk of the material has been released officially.

Santana: Live At The Bottom Line, New York 1978 (Boiling Point 003)

Venue: Bottom Line, NYC, NY 10/16/78

Sound Quality: very good to excellent broadcast recording from low generation source

Cover: Single panel insert and tray card in slimline double jewel case. Bare basics and does not list recording date

Track Listing: (disc 1) Intro> Well Alright/ Black Magic Woman/ Gypsy Queen/ Dance Sister Dance/ Europa/ Dealer/ Spanish Rose/ Incident At Neshabur/ Victory Is Won/ Move On/ Batuka/ No One To Depend On/ (disc 2) One Chain/ Toussaint L’Overture/ She’s Not There/ Open Invitation/ Jungle Strut/ Transcendance/ Evil Ways

Comments: As FM radio made its move from free-form to AOR formats, Santana moved in the opposite direction, moving deeper into albums with jazz stylings and spiritual concepts. They would find themselves absent from the Top 40 charts for 5 years before releasing the part live/ part studio album, Moonflower. With that release, a much more accessible album, they finally returned to high rotation radio play with a pop cover of The Zombies’ “She’s Not There.” In 1978 they released the follow-up, Inner Secrets, once again with an eye toward the more narrow formats radio had taken. The result was another Top 40 hit, “Stormy,” and two other singles that cracked the Top 100, the disco-ish “One Chain” and a remake of another radio classic, Buddy Holly’s “Well Alright” – modeled after Blind Faith’s hit version. Columbia Records must have been thrilled as sales skyrocketed. Fans favoring Santana’s more adventurous work, not so much.

Live At The Bottom Line features the band touring in support of that album which would be followed by another crack at the charts with 1979’s Marathon, another Top 40 hit, “You Know That I Love You,” and a new singer (Alex Ligertwood) that sounded an awful lot like the previous one (Greg Walker). By 1981’s Zebop!, the commercial move was in full flower and the Latin rhythms most favored by fans of the Woodstock-era almost entirely absent. What we get from this 1978 performance is a last-look at a smoking band on the verge of a complete overhaul. Not entirely for fans of earlier days, but fans of the more pop-oriented Santana should love it.

Traffic: Live In London (London Calling LCCD5062)

Venue: Paris Theatre, London, UK 4/30/70 (BBC broadcast)

Sound Quality: Excellent broadcast recording, most likely from a pre-broadcast transcription disc of one of the many BBC re-broadcasts of the show.

Cover: Nice graphics in cardboard digipak containing 8-page booklet inside with period photos and an article from the 5/29/70 issue of Friends magazine. But you have to wonder if there is any fan involvement here when the title of one of their most famous albums (John Barleycorn Must Die) is wrongly titled on the back cover as “John Barleycorn Is Dead.”

Track Listing: Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring/ Every Mother’s Son/ No Time To Live/ Medicated Goo/ John Barleycorn/ Pearly Queen/ Stranger To Himself/ Empty Pages/ Glad/ Freedom Rider

Comments: Part of the agreement to allow Steve Winwood to record for a competing label (the Blind Faith album) was for Winwood to record two additional albums in the future for Island Records. Island would accept either newly recorded solo albums or new Traffic albums. With the quick break-up of Blind Faith, Winwood would begin work on a new solo album. As the sessions proceeded, Traffic bandmates Chris Wood and Jim Capaldi would become involved and the result was a new Traffic album, John Barleycorn Must Die. Before the album was completed, the trio would appear on the Beeb’s In Concert series. This is the result – a stripped down Traffic performing old favorites and new songs not yet familiar to the public. It’s magnificent. Highly recommended for folks that missed the earlier versions.

Various Artists: Anti-Nuclear Disarmament Rally Central Park NYC ’82 (Rox Vox RVCD2090)

Venue: Central Park, NYC, NY 6/12/82

Sound Quality: Good radio broadcast with flaws reminiscent of a multi-generational source 

Cover: 8-page booklet with liner notes and tray card in slimline double jewel case

Tracklist: (disc 1) For Everyman (Jackson Browne/ The Pretender (Jackson Browne & Gary U.S. Bonds)/ Imagine (Joan Baez)/ Promised Land/ Running On Empty/ Backstage (Jackson Browne & Bruce Springsteen)/ Tumbling Dice/ Blue Bayou/ It’s In His Kiss/ Desperado/ Heatwave/ Back In The USA/ Backstage (Linda Ronstadt) (disc 2) That Lonesome Road/ You’ve Got A Friend/ Band Introductions/ Up On The Roof/ Stand And Fighr (James Taylor)/ No More Nukes (Joy Ryder & Avis Davis)/Plutonium Is Forever (John Hall)/ Power/ Get Together Finale (John Hall with Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, & Carly Simon)

Comments: Not a lot to recommend this one - some tape-fluctuation and thin sound. While the performances are generally fine, they are incomplete. Plus, there’s a lot of DJ blabber throughout. Still, if you desire a companion piece for the No-Nukes official release, this might suffice until a better recording comes along.

Back Pages: (more short reviews from the August 1997 print edition of Live! Music Review, available on the Internet for the first time)

AC/DC: Hola Madrid (MM 002)

Venue: The Main Bullring, Madrid, Spain 7/4/96

Sound Quality: excellent broadcast recording

Cover: 2-panel insert and 2-sided tray card

Tracklist: Back In Black/ Shot Down In Flames/ Thunderstruck/ Girls Got Rhythm/ Hard As A Rock/ Shoot To Thrill/ Boogieman/ Hail Caesar/ The Jack/ You Shook Me All Night Long/ Whole Lotta Rosie/ Highway To Hell/ For Those About To Rock

Comments: AC/DC hasn’t messed with their formula for 20+ years and it still works. This broadcast has appeared on a number of other releases.

The Doors: Wanted (Sugarcane Records SC 52016)

Venue: The Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada 6/6/70

Sound Quality: Compressed radio broadcast, badly eq’d

Cover: One picture of Morrison’s face made to look like a wanted poster

Tracklist: Roadhouse Blues/ Backdoor Man/ Five To One/ When The Music’s Over/ Who Do You Love?/ Light My Fire/ The End

Comments: Just another version of one of the most bootlegged radio broadcasts, and not a very good one at that.

Foo Fighters: Brixton (KTS 518)

Venue: 1-11 The Brixton Academy, London, UK 11/14/95; 12-13 The Lowlands Festival, Holland 6/27/95; 14 NYC, NY 7/95; 15 London, UK 11/16/95

Sound Quality: excellent broadcast recordings

Cover: 12-panel insert and 2-sided tray card. Lots of pictures of Dave Grohl on stage, possibly from video

Tracklist: Enough Space/ This Is A Call/ Winnebago>Watershed/ For All The Cows/ Weenie Beenie/ Big Me/ I’ll Stick Around/ Alone And Easy Target/ Up In Arms/ Gas Chamber/ Exhausted/ My Hero/ Ho, George/ This Is A Call/ Winnebago>Watershed

Comments: Typical of any number of other high quality Foo Fighters broadcasts, Brixton comes highly recommended only if you haven’t already got two or three other bootlegs featuring the same or similar material. And if you haven’t yet, you haven’t been looking. Grohl & company deliver with the usual high energy, but the seasoned collector will probably want to wait for something featuring material from the latest album. The final track is a specially recorded studio version for the BBC.

Elton John: Rocket Man (Live Line 15460)

Venue: Worceter, MA 1983

Sound Quality: Excellent broadcast recording

Cover: Generic 1-piece front cover & tray card

Tracklist: Tiny Dancer/ Rocket Man/ Daniel/ Candle In The Wind/ The Bitch Is Back/ Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me/ Who Wears These Shoes/ I’m Still Standing/ Goodbye Yellow Brick Road/ Your Song/ Philadelphia Freedom/ Saturday Night’s Alright/ Crocadile Rock

Comments: There’s a few fade-outs at the end of songs in this highly circulated recording. This disc contains the kind of sound quality that will please the person that buys 20 CDs a year, but a recording that every serious Elton John fan already has.

[All reviews by Bill Glahn]