The White Stripes - Live In London 2007

I hate the expression 'back to basics'.

Yet The White Stripes even when enlisting the bag pipes as part of their sound, have such a raw primal energy, they takes rock'n'roll music 'back to b...

I cannot think of another two piece band that generates such an impact (actually I am struggling to think of another two piece rock band as I write this - go on, shame me with the obvious).

This is The White Stripes earlier in 2007, performing live for BBC Radio One, in front of an audience of very fortunate fans.

Unfortunately there is a little bit of Radio One 'speak' early on, however once the band get going, its all good stuff.

Set list:

01 Icky Thump
(Performed for Jo Whiley Live Lounge - followed later by Zane Lowe hosting the remaining full show)
02 Let's Shake Hands
03 Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
04 The Denial Twist
05 I'm Slowly Turning Into You
06 Effect and Cause
07 The Same Boy You've Always Known
08 I Think I Smell A Rat
09 Ball and Biscuit
10 Wasting My Time
11 You're Pretty Good Looking
12 A Martyr For My Love For You
13 Hotel Yorba
14 Blue Orchid
15 Hello Operator
16 We're Going To Be Friends
17 I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
18 Seven Nation Army

The performance was at the Maida Vale Studios, Maida Vale, London, and originally broadcast live on the 13th June 2007.

This is a very high quality recording of the show - fully mixed stereo soundboard, with digital post production.

Reloaded - 03/June/2015 - download link in comments.

Alanis Morissette - Miss Thing (1996)

Back in July, I ran a piece on the 1991 'Alanis' album, and the rather dated 1980's 'disco' sound. This was rather cruel considering how young she was at the time (1991 that is, not last July!).

I am, I hope in my own small way, something of an advocate for some of the excellent artists that have come out of Canada and achieved international recognition.

Alanis Morissette is no exception, indeed as previously mentioned, she was absolutely fantastic when I saw her live in London some years ago.

So in order to address the balance here is a concert of Alanis from 1996.

This is from a CD boot that seems to have emerged from the Czech Republic on 'Oxygen' records.

The album title is 'Miss Thing' which considering that the CD back cover, claims to have 'art direction and design', makes me wonder about the creativeness amongst bootleggers in that part of the world, (anyway is is now digitized and free of charge).

This is Alanis Morissette live at the Melkweg, Amsterdam, Holland on October 17th 1996.

The set list is (I think) as follows - it is different to the CD cover, so much for 'design':

1. All I really Want (7.07)
2. Right Through You (3.39)
3. Not The Doctor (7.39)
4. Hand In My Pocket (4.46)
5. Mary Jane (6.24)
6. Ironic (4.29)
7. You Learn (5.27)
8. Forgiven (6.02)
9. Wake Up (5.28)
10. You Ought'a Know (7.21)
11. Head Over Feet (4.30)
12. Perfect (3.27)
13. You Ought'a Know (4.28)*

* track 13 was recorded live during the MTV Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall, New York City, NY, on the 7th September 1996.

The material is good soundboard quality, and captures the energy and adrenalin of Alanis back in these heady days!

Reloaded August 2015 see comments.

A Trip With The Beatles - The Alternate Sgt Pepper and a Little More

The Beatles - The Alternate Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and A Little More, was released by Dolphin Productions (CDP 790103 - 2 CD set) in 1997.

Like a lot of bootleg CD releases, the packaging attempted to make the album look official, however the back cover failed to list the track contents accurately, and the front shown here was a little predictable.

However the music is the key factor, and on this occasion the album is something of a gem to put it mildly.

For nearly every track there's the mono mix at some stage in production, and a few stereo versions along the way.

There are a lot of fragments from 'The Making Of Sgt. Pepper's' with George Martin playing back the individual tracks and explaining things.

There's Anthology stuff, snippets from interviews, songs previously released on the Unsurpassed Masters series by Yellow Dog, tracks from 'The Lost Pepperland Reel' (like the Good Morning Good Morning animal noises) and more.

In summary these Cd's seem to be a complete overview of the making of the Beatles' Sgt Pepper, with commentary from George Martin, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon.

The studio quality, and 'the story with music' production, is well thought out, it is a collectors 'must have', and of real interest for anyone with just a passing interest in The Beatles, and the development of popular music in the '1960's.

The complete track listing is I believe as follows:

Disc 1

1. George Martin & Paul McCartney - about Sgt. Pepper
2. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - mono remix 3 from take 10
3. With A Little Help From My Friends - mono remix 15 from take 11
4. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite - mono remix 4 from take 9
5. Only A Northern Song - remixed mono version from take 3 and 11
6. Fixing A Hole - mono remix from take 2
7. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (one) - remix 11 from take 7
8. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (two) - mono remix 4 from take 8
9. Getting Better - mono remix 3 from take 15
10. She's Leaving Home - mono remix 6 from take 9
11. Strawberry Fields Forever (one) - John demo tape and the songs development
12. Strawberry Fields Forever (two) - trumpet & cello development
13. Penny Lane (one) - overdub sessions
14. Penny Lane (two) - remix 11 from take 9
15. Joking - like! your having a laugh !

Disc 2

1. Within You Without You (one) - the basic track was recorded 15th March 1967
2. Within You Without You (two) - mono remix from take 2
3. When I'm Sixty-four - mono remix 8 from take 4
4. Lovely Rita - mono remix 15 from take 11
5. Good Morning Good Morning (one) - rough stereo mix of take 8
6. Good Morning Good Morning (two) - mono remix 2 of take 11
7. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) - rough mix of take 5
8. A Day In The Life (one) - rough mix of take 5 (five)
9. A Day In The Life (two) - early mix of take 7
10. Everywhere It's Christmas - excerpt from fourth fan club xmas flexi disc
11. Excerpts From The Family Way Soundtrack - George Martin Orchestra (written by Paul McCartney - 1966)
12. All You Need Is Love - take 58 - with pre-recorded rhythm track take 11 (basically the ‘live’ version)
13. It's All Too Much - from the alternative ‘magical submarine tour’ CD
14. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Jimi Hendrix Version

Although not all the material ended up on Sgt. Pepper there is a chronological order to the album in terms of the work undertaken by The Beatles at the Abbey Road Studios between November 24th 1966 and June 25th 1967, hence the 'Little More' referring not only to the commentary. The Jimi Hendrix cover at the end does seem out of place, but hey - it's Hendrix!

Reloaded - 03/June/2015 - download link in comments.

Devo - Live in Boston USA 1982

The Devo credentials 'are all there'.

The pivotal moment for the formation of Devo was the first hand witnessing by one of the bands founders Gerald Casale of the Kent State University shootings of May 4, 1970.

The first form of Devo was the 'Sextet Devo' which performed at the 1973 Kent State performing arts festival.

They are 'discovered' by David Bowie and Iggy Pop in 1976, and subsequently record 'Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!' which was produced by Brian Eno.

They are referenced as 'punk', 'new wave', 'post punk', 'art rock', and into the 1980's as the acceptable face of 'synth pop'. That's not a bad selection of street credibility references in any ones books is it?

There is so much to Devo, that I am going to take the easy way out, and provide a link HERE to wikipedia.

Actually I have read through it and learned a lot more, and of course been reminded of the fantastic visual appearance(s) they have created down the years.

This is Devo coming towards the end of their initial success story.

Within the next couple of years although they would remain firm favorites of music critics, they would see a drop in record sales and a three year hiatus began from late 1984.

So from their 'golden days' this is Devo Live at The Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA, USA, on the 11th November 1982.

Set List:

1. Time Out For Fun (4:18)
2. Patterns (2:57)
3. Speed Racer (2:39)
4. Big Mess (2:43)
5. Peek-A-Boo (4:33)
6. Out Of Sync (3:31)
7. That's Good (3:36)
8. Freedom Of Choice Theme (2:39)
9. Whip It (2:37)
10. Girl u Want (4:52)
11. Planet Earth (2:29)
12. Deep Sleep (3:32)
13. Jocko Homo (3:07)
14. Uncontrollable Urge (1:05)
15. Gates Of Steel (3:11)
16. Smart Patrol / Mr. Dna (7:05)
17. Gut Feeling (3:41)

'Jocko Homo' and 'Uncontrollable Urge' have been edited, I know not why! 'Beautiful World' was also performed at this gig, but is missing from the bootleg.

The sound quality is superb. Without wanting to get technical here are the notes that came with this recording.

Soundboard to 'unknown' to Nakamichi Dragon to Turtle Beach Pinnacle Pro to Sound forge to
FLAC front end to mp3. Average bitrate: 266kbps, channels: stereo.

The final editors comments are 'Even though there are a couple analog generations on this one, this is easily the best sounding DEVO boot that I've heard. The only modifications I did was a slight hiss reduction in soundforge'.

I understand this level of detail pleases some, so if I have it, I am happy to share it. I will just settle for what my ears tell me, oh! and those tiny voices that follow me around from time to time, what? you don't hear them ???

Reloaded - 29/May/2015 - download link in comments.

The Beehive Candy store has official Devo material HERE to purchase if you please.

Procol Harum - WPLJ Live - New York 1971

First of all the radio bit. WPLJ became in late 1970, a '100% live free form' rock format station.

By September 1971 they had developed into the very first AOR (adult orientated rock) station in the USA.

The station would play the music of artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Deep Purple, Rod Stewart, and The Allman Brothers. The station would also play more 'popular' songs from artists such as James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Carly Simon.

All in all, and compared to the 'AOR format' in later years, at least the music was new or relatively new back then, and throughout the 1970's WPLJ was one of the most successful stations on the planet!

Procol Harum sat comfortably in WPLJ's 'free form' rock format, back in April 1971. Having moved on from the psychedelic pop music phase that was 1967's 'A Whiter Shade of Pale', Procol Harum were a well respected band, whose quite unique sound, made them difficult to pigeon hole into a specific genre.

'A Salty Dog' remains a personal favorite of mine, both the album and the single release.

Procol Harum produced a unique sound that emphasized Gary Brooker's melancholy vocal style and an evocative mix of his eclectic piano, Matthew Fisher's elegant church-like organ, B.J Wilson's dramatic drumming and Robin Trower's searing guitar, with frequent black humour and a penchant for experimentation.

Musically from the late sixties until 1971, Procol Harum was split between Robin Trower's guitar driven blues rock style and Gary Brooker's and Matthew Fisher's structured classical rock sound.

The group often combined the two into a dynamic fusion, but by mid 1971 the disparities in style became too great; the end of an era was marked for Procol Harum, with the release of their fifth album Broken Barricades, and subsequent departure of Robin Trower to form his own power trio band.

All of which helps understand why this particular bootleg is often known as 'Robin's Last Stand'.

Recorded live with an audience by WPLJ this is Procol Harum at WPLJ Radio Studios, New York, NY, on April 12th 1971. The show was broadcast on FM stereo.

The set list is:

1. Memorial Drive
2. Still There'll be more
3. Nothing that I didn't know
4. Simple Sister
5. Luskus Delph
6. Shine On Brightly
7. Whaling Stories
8. Broken Barricades
9. Juicy John Pink
10. A Salty Dog
11. Whisky Train
12. Power Failure

As regard the songs performed only two were from 'A Salty Dog', four were from the album 'Home' and five were from 'Broken Barricades' the final album to include Robin Trower.

Line up was :

Gary Brooker : piano, vocals
Keith Reid : words (organ)
BJ Wilson : drums
Chris Copping : bass, organ
Robin Trower : guitar, bass

DOWNLOAD THIS BY CLICKING ON COMMENTS BELOW, SCROLL DOWN FOR SECOND (REPLACEMENT) LINK

This is a soundboard stereo recording of the show.

The Beehive Candy Amazon affiliate store includes three great Procol Harum Cd's, click HERE and scroll down to view.

Bob Dylan Part One - The Hollywood Bowl - 1965

The controversy of it all! 1965, the year Bob Dylan 'went electric'.

Looking back now, it all seems so quaint.

Fans outraged that Bob Dylan had sold out, abandoning his folk roots, and daring to perform with a band, and not only that, some of them had 'electric guitars'.

It all began at the Newport Folk Festival in July of that year, with the crowd apparently 'booing' as he performed three songs with what was then most of The Paul Butterfield Band.

The legend of going electric (with the famously recorded heckle of 'Judas' the following year in Manchester - England), is of course in the scheme of things pretty unimportant, but way back then the folkies were clearly a serious bunch, not open much to their icons doing the unthinkable.

Mind you it did not do Bob's record sales any harm, and can you imagine 'Desire' or 'Blood On The Tracks' as wholly acoustic affairs?

After the Newport festival and in support of the record 'Highway 61 Revisited', Dylan was booked for two U.S. concerts and set about assembling a band.

Mike Bloomfield was unwilling to leave the Butterfield Band, so Dylan mixed Al Kooper and Harvey Brooks from his studio crew with bar-band stalwarts Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm, best known at the time for backing Ronnie Hawkins.

In August 1965 at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, the group was heckled by an audience who, Newport notwithstanding, still demanded the acoustic troubadour of previous years. The band's reception on September 3rd at the Hollywood Bowl was more uniformly favorable.

This is the Hollywood Bowl concert in full.

Acoustic Set:1. She Belongs to Me
2. To Ramona
3. Gates of Eden
4. It's All Over Now Baby Blue
5. Desolation Row
6. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
7. Mr. Tambourine Man

Electric Set (with The Band):1. Tombstone Blues
2. I Don't Believe You
3. From Buick 6
4. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
5. Maggie's Farm
6. It Ain't Me Babe
7. Ballad of a Thin Man
8. Like a Rolling Stone

This is a well preserved soundboard recording and very good quality.

Link in comments (23/02/2016).

The Byrds - Live In Holland - 1970

The Byrds have been credited with forging the link between the musical style's of Bob Dylan and The Beatles back in the 1960's.

They can also claim to be one of the pioneers of folk rock and country rock, whilst retaining a pedigree in the sixties psychedelia scene.

Not bad eh?

In 1969 they performed at the Fillmore West, the concert subsequently being released as an official album, and receiving good reviews and sales.

The following year (1970) the Byrds were touring and promoting that years 'Untitled' double album, (with the second half again being live).

During the tour the band were legitimately recorded in Holland by Dutch radio organisation VPRO.

This concert had a notably different set list than the Fillmore West concert.

This then is The Byrds, Live Concertgebouw, Amsterdam (Holland) on July 7th, 1970.

This is a pristine copy from the broadcast on the Dutch Radio 2 on August 10, 2006 by KRO, as direct from the original master tape - lets just say top quality.

Set list:

01 House announcement (Dutch language)
02 My Back Pages
03 Baby, What You Want Me To Do
04 Willin'
05 This Wheel's On Fire
06 Ballad Of Easy Rider
07 Jesus Is Just Alright
08 Medley: Turn Turn Turn >
09 Mr. Tambourine Man >
10 Eight Miles High >
11 Hold It > 'Encore Applause'
12 So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star
13 Mr. Spaceman
14 Chestnut Mare
15 Chimes Of Freedom

Band line:

Roger McGuinn - guitar, vocals
Clarence White - guitar, vocals
Skip Battin - bass, vocals
Gene Parsons - drums, vocals

Reloaded - 03/June/2015 - download link in comments.

Whats Up Doc - Number Four - 2007 and all that kinda thing...

I am going to avoid any pretentious personal charts for the year soon to pass.

Rather you can just skip back over the previous 'Whats Up Doc' posts, and if you are still awake, after the ordeal, get a feel for some of the more current music that has appealed to my ears.

Among those already featured have been, Vanessa Paradis, Clare Burson, Lucy and The Teenage Monster, Siouxsie, Tegan and Sara, Radiohead, Bruce Springsteen, Babyshambles, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, The White Stripes, Pauline Croze, and plenty of others, some well known and some not so well known.

So on this edition I thought I would fill in some of the gaps, of other artists and music, that has appealed this year.

Afterwards I will probably remember some more, so lets just say, this is far from definitive.

Neil Young's 2007 release 'Chrome Dreams II' is simply wonderful! Full of a variety of styles , it exceeded all expectations by miles. Here are a couple of examples:

Links Removed - MP3 Policy.

Neil Young - 01 Beautiful Bluebird.mp3
Neil Young - 09 No Hidden Path.mp3

If you have not checked out Beirut, then please do, Zach Condon has come up with some incredible music that skips across genres with ease. I just love watching the music press trying to place them in one. From the second album 'The Flying Club Cup' here's some choices:

Beirut - 02 - Nantes.mp3
Beirut - 03 - A Sunday Smile.mp3
Beirut - 04 - Guyamas Sonora.mp3
Beirut - 09 - In The Mausoleum.mp3

The previous album 'Gulag Orkestar' has a wonderful 'Balkan gypsy style' , like I say hard to define, all I can say is check them both out!

Bjork remains as popular as ever, her album 'Volta' this year, is a favorite of mine, and watching the Glastonbury concert (albeit on TV sadly), was really superb.

Bjork - Earth Intruders.mp3
Bjork - Volta - 07 - Pneumonia.mp3
Bjork - Volta - 09 - Declare Independence.mp3

Grinderman was a rollicking blast from Nick Cave and three other Bad Seeds, gone was some of the seriousness on more recent material, and a little bit more rock'n'roll.

Nick Cave & Grinderman - Go Tell The Women.mp3

Have I mentioned Arcade Fire this year? OK so here is another shameless plug for their second album 'Neon Bible'. That's all it is, a shameless plug.

Arcade Fiire - 05 - Black Wave Bad Vibrations.mp3
Arcade Fire - 07 - The Well and the Lighthouse.mp3
Arcade Fire - Black Mirror (1).mp3

I banged on about Rilo Kiley last year on another blog, this years album 'Under The Blacklight' has gained lots of attention, and that's deserved as far as I am concerned. Its a good album, a little less indie a bit more LA classic pop, and whats more highly enjoyable.

Rilo Kiley - Dreamworld.mp3
Rilo Kiley - 05 - Under the Blacklight.mp3

Last month I mentioned Kate Nash, and commented that I was not sure what to make of her album. Yes I still here Lily Allen in there, and I can add Goldfrapp as well now, but actually I really like her music. Here's a couple more reasons:

Kate Nash - Foundations.mp3
Kate Nash - Carolines a Victim.mp3

Finally a totally unrelated song from the late great Kirsty MacColl - do I need a reason?

Kirsty MacColl - A New England.mp3

You can find all the featured artists albums in the Beehive Candy Store with some quick links HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Minneapolis Live - 1999

There are so many positive things to write about Tom Petty and his musical career. For me three things stand out immediately with a dozen or so more, hot on their heels.

First of all the music both solo and with The Heartbreakers, and whether studio or live, has been almost 'a' typical working mans (and women's!) rock'n'roll, and also so good to sing or dance along to.

Secondly he has the respect and admiration of so many other musicians and artists, and yet his personal ego appears from a far, to be permanently under control.

My third initial thought is how he has been prepared to stand up to the music industry, and maintain his principles against the cynical ways within. He has also spoken out on the dire state of commercial radio, and so gets my immediate thumbs up on that one.

This is a really good performance (well after the above comments what else would you expect), recorded at the Target Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA, on the 3rd August 1999.

The set list is:

01. Jamming Me
02. Running Down A Dream
03. Breakdown
04. Swingin'
05. Don't Do Me Like That
06. Last Dance With Mary Jane
07. I Won't Back Down
08. Listen To Her Heart
09. Diamond Head
10. Don't Come Around Here No More
11. Walls Fall Down
12. Room At The Top
13. You Got Lucky
14. Free Girl Now
15. You Wreck Me
16. Free Fallin'
17. Gloria
18. American Girl

Replacement link in comments or click on the picture (24th January 2010).

This is a stereo soundboard recording that I understand originated from the SFX Radio Network. The audio quality is excellent.

The Beehive Candy Store has a few Tom Petty Cd's for sale, including new & used at sensible prices - click HERE for more details.

The Wikipedia main article on Tom Petty, makes interesting reading, and hopefully explains some of my opening comments more clearly. Click HERE to read.