Posts

A Trip With The Beatles - Ultra Rare Trax Volume's One and Two

Image
Ultra Rare Trax Volumes One and Two may well have been the first two Beatles boot CD's released in Europe. They had previously been on vinyl and allegedly originates from master tapes "borrowed" from Abbey Road, which obviously upset some EMI exec's. Released by prolific bootleggers Swinging Pig records on CD and made in Luxembourg, they were certainly in circulation by 1988. These are a selection of studio outtakes, and similar to material released on the official Anthology series. They are another piece of Beatles history, and make fascinating listening. Volume One track list is: 1. I Saw Her Standing There (take two) 2. One After 909 (take two) 3. She's A Women (take two) 4. I'm Looking Through You (take one) 5. If You've Got Trouble (take one) 6. How Do I Do It (take two) 7. Penny Lane (take nine) 8. Strawberry Fields Forever (take 26) 9. From Me To You (take two) 10. Besame Mucho (1962 Pete Best on drums) 11. The Fool On The Hill (demo take one) 12. P...

Whats Up Doc? - The Third One

Image
Welcome to the third ' whats up doc ' musical round up. Picking out some current and earlier albums from the year, that have the full attention of the Beehive! First of all a band I am somewhat overdue featuring, The White Stripes . Jack and Meg's latest offering 'Icky Thump' released back in June, is still a 'regular play' of mine, if your a fan you will have a copy, for those uncertain check out the following couple of tracks from the album. Links Removed - MP3 Policy. 03. The White Stripes - 300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues.mp3 09. The White Stripes - Rag And Bone.mp3 Album details HERE . Robert Plant and Alison Krauss new album 'Raising Sand' has had mixed reviews, everything from album of the month to disappointing. I personally quite like it, and if you like either musicians solo work, it is well worth checking out. 02. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Killing The Blues 05. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Gone Gone Gone Album details HER...

Lucinda Williams - New York City - 2003

Image
You may have gathered from comments elsewhere on this blog, that I am a fan of Lucinda Williams music. I was therefore delighted when I first heard this concert, I will spare you the gushing superlatives, and just say it compliments the official release 'Live at The Fillmore' recorded later the same year. This was the first part of the press release, regarding the following show. 'Bono has been confirmed to host the debut of the new, nationally syndicated Lost Highway Radio Show, which is scheduled to air in late August. The Lost Highway Radio Show will feature one artist per each hour-long program, recorded live in concert. The kickoff program will feature a special 90-minute concert from Lucinda Williams, recorded at New York's Bowery Ballroom on May 27, 2003 '. It is an excellent concert! Set List: 1-Car Wheels on a Gravel Road 2-Fruits of My Labor 3-Those Three Days 4-Blue 5-Still I Long For Your Kiss 6-Ventura 7-Something About What Happen...

Bob Marley - The Final Concert

Image
I did not realise just how long ago Bob Marley passed away, until preparing this piece. Probably because some of his music is still often heard playing, either on the radio or TV, and the fact that time does indeed seem to fly by ever faster, whatever the case, sadly aged just 36, he passed on in 1981. Bob Marley played his final concert at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA, on September 23rd, 1980. The live version of 'Redemption Song' on 'Songs of Freedom' was recorded at this show. Afterwards he sought medical help from Munich specialist Josef Issels however sadly his illness was beyond cure at this stage. Songs performed are as follows: 01. Natural Mystic 02. Positive Vibration 03. Burnin' & Lootin' 04. Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) 05. The Heathen 06. Running Away 07. Crazy Baldhead 08. War No More Trouble 09. Zimbabwe 10. Zion Train 11. No Woman No Cry 12. Jammin' 13. Exodus 14. Redemption Song 15. Comin...

Kate and Anna McGarrigle - Rochester, NY, USA - 1984

Image
Kate and Anna McGarrigle were singers, musicians and songwriters with a well earned international reputation. They have performed to critical and popular acclaim throughout North America, Europe and the Far East. Their albums have earned 'record of the year status and awards' from the likes of Melody Maker, Stereo Review, the New York Times along with many others. And songs they have composed have been widely recorded by other artists, including Maria Muldaur, Linda Ronstadt, Judy Collins, Emmylou Harris, Billy Bragg, and Nana Mouskouri. Ever since I first heard them some thirty two years ago, I have been an unashamed fan, and I guess I can blame them in part, for my love of music sung in French. This is a concert recorded live at Red Creek Cabaret, Rochester, NY, USA, in June 1984. Both Linda Ronstadt, and Maria Muldaur guested on some of the songs. Set List: As Fast As My Little Feet Can Carry Me Complainte Pour Ste. Catherine Nacl The Work Song * Heart L...

Eric Clapton - Hartford, Connecticut - Live 1985

Image
This is Eric Clapton during the first leg of his 1985 Behind the Sun - North American Tour. During the mid 1980's, Eric Clapton recorded two albums produced by Phil Collins, and spent much of that period touring. Having overcome his addictions, his performances were fresh and energised, as this concert demonstrates. The concert was recorded at the Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut (United States) on the 1st May 1985. Set List: Tulsa time Motherless children I shot the sheriff Same old blues Blues power Tangled in love She's Waiting Wonderful tonight Lay down Sally Badge Let it rain Cocaine Forever Man Layla Band line up: Eric Clapton - Guitar, Vocals Donald 'Duck' Dunn - Bass Tim Renwick - Guitar Chris Stainton - Keyboards Jamie Oldaker - Drums Marcy Levy - Backing Vocals Shaun Murphy - Backing Vocals This is a good quality stereo recording - not sure of the source, some editing suggests FM radio. Reloaded - 09/June/2015 - Link i...

Hole - Live In New Orleans - 1994

Image
Courtney Love may be the stuff of celebrity and show business gossip these days, she certainly seems to have found her own personal 'self destruct' switch, and flicked it a few times. All of which can easily overshadow the fact that with the band Hole , she recorded some good alternative rock songs along the way, some even Grammy award nominated. Live Hole were more than capable of being the 'grunge' act, however their 'rough' and sometimes 'edgy' sound, was more than complemented by some tight and professional musicianship. In June 1994 just four months before this recording, Hole appeared at the Reading Festival in England. Legendary British DJ John Peel wrote the following about that particular day: "Courtney's first appearance backstage certainly caught the attention. Swaying wildly and with lipstick smeared on her face, hands and, I think, her back, as well as on the collar of her dress, the singer would have drawn whistles of astonishment ...

Rod Stewart - Live In Glasgow - 1983

Image
This is Rod Stewart live at The Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland recorded on June 18th 1983. Ibrox Stadium is home to Rangers Football Club (FC), Rod is a supporter of their bitter rivals Celtic FC, however his popularity in Scotland ensured he was well received at this venue. Rod has been an ambassador of the Scottish (national) Football Team down the years, and not surprisingly has played the game regularly himself, and is known to kick footballs into the audience at concerts. This is from his Body Wishes tour, and is limited to an FM broadcast of the show, featuring the opening two numbers, and the latter part of the concert. Set List: 1. Tonight I'm Yours 2. Sweet Little Rock n Roller 3. Dancin' Alone 4. Tonight's The Night 5. Passion 6. She Won't Dance With Me/Little Queenie 7. Sweet Surrender 8. I Don't Want To Talk About It 9. You're In My Heart 10. Maggie May 11. Sailing Sound Quality: Very good FM stereo. Some Rod Stewart and T...

Bootleg Originals Part Six - Janis Joplin - Honolulu 1970

Image
This is Janis Joplin live in Honolulu, USA, on the 6th July 1970. Sadly she would only perform nine further concerts after this, and died aged 27 on the 4th October 1970. She was with out doubt, one of the most popular and influential singers of the sixties and is considered to be one of the greatest female rockers of all time. This is a complete & unedited concert by Janis Joplin with Full Tilt Boogie, recorded through the soundboard (stereo quality @ 160kbs). Janis is in incredible form, her interaction with the audience and the whole concert is just wonderful. This is in my opinion an absolute must for any fan, and even those of you, with just a passing interest. Set List: 1-Tell Mama. 2-Half Moon. 3-Move Over. 4-Stage Problems. 5-Maybe. 6-Summertime. 7-Janis Banter. 8-Get It While You Can. 9-Kozmic Blues. 10-Encore Break. 11-Piece of My Heart. Much has been written about Janis Joplin since her passing, however her music remains as vibrant and timeless...

Public Image Limited - Live in Finland 1992

Image
This is from the tour promoting the band's last album to date, 1992's That What Is Not. John Lydon disbanded the group a year later after Virgin records refused to pay for the tour supporting the album and Lydon had to pay for it out of his own pocket. As far as I know John Lydon still considers the band to be on hiatus. This boot often goes under the name 'Rotten To The Core' whatever the name, this is one stonking performance. Performing in Finland at the Provinnssi Rock Festival on the 6th June 1992, - this is a full stereo soundboard recording (@192kbs). The gig consists of: 01. This Is Not A Love Song 02. Criminal 03. Love Hope 04. Think Tank 05. Rules & Regulations 06. Acid Drops 07. Cruel 08. Don't Ask Me 09. Body 10. Disappointed Band Line up: Vox - John Lydon Guitar - John McGeoch Bass - Allan Dias Guitar/Keyboards - Ted Chau Drums - Mike Joyce NEW DOWNLOAD LINK IN COMMENTS BELOW One day John Lydon and his PIL colleagues will receive the recog...

The Clash - Live in Los Angeles 1982

Image
This is The Clash Live at the Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, on the 29th October 1982. They were the main support act for The Who on this occasion, whilst supporting them across the USA predominately in large arena's and stadiums. This was around the time that the band begun to suffer from a lot of 'internal wrangling' partly as Topper Headon had been replaced by Terry Chimes on drums, and probably due to the toll of constant touring and album recording. This remains however a very cohesive and solid performance, and the audio quality is spot on (stereo soundboard). Set List: 01. London Calling 02. Police On My Back 03. The Guns of Brixton 04. This Is Radio Clash 05. Spanish Bombs 06. Rock the Casbah 07. The Magnificent Seven/Armagideon Time/The Magnificent Seven 08. Janie Jones 09. Train In Vain 10. Tommy Gun 11. Clampdown 12. Brand New Cadillac 13. Should I Stay Or Should I Go 14. I Fought the Law Reloaded - 09/June/2015 Link in co...

Brian Wilson - Live In Denmark - 2005

Image
Brian Wilson is one of a very few number of artists, that I feel comfortable about being referred to as, a musical legend or the like. It's not just the fact that he overcame his personal health difficulties, that kept him out of the music scene for so long, that gives him the right to such accolades. For me it is the music. Pure and simple, just that - the music. His contribution to the Beach Boys legacy in recent years, and the stunning recreation of so many classics live, along with some newer material, has been the proverbial 'breath of fresh air' popular music so often begs for. This is Brian Wilson at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark in 2005. The annual Roskilde festival has a number of synergies with the UK's Glastonbury festival amongst others, their web site is well worth a visit, I wonder if getting tickets is just as difficult? Therefore it is no suprise that he played Glastonbury just a few days earlier, as part of the Smile tour from that year. ...

Bootleg Originals Part Five - Led Zeppelin - Blueberry Hill

Image
When I was a mere young lad in my teens, this Led Zeppelin bootleg was often talked of, in 'hushed undertones', however neither my friends or I ever owned a copy. For a while it became something of a status symbol to have heard it, or even know of someone, that had a copy. In reality as far as bootlegs go this really is something special. Cutting and pasting shamelessly from Wikipedia, (where this boot has it's own entry!) here is a rough history of the bootleg. Live On Blueberry Hill (also known as Blueberry Hill) is an audience recording. It is well known for being one of the first ever Led Zeppelin bootlegs, and indeed one of the first ever rock and roll bootlegs ever released. It was initially released on the Blimp label. The sleeve notes described it as "One hundred and six minutes and fifty three seconds of pure alive rock." The album was subsequently pressed on the Trade Mark of Quality label and shipped to England. Live On Blueberry Hill de...

Hootie and the Blowfish - Acoustic

Image
Hootie and the Blowfish originally formed at the University of South Carolina back in 1985, the line up being, Darius Rucker, Dean Felber, Jim "Sonny" Sonefeld and Mark Bryan. This is an acoustic gig, with some extras, that having listened to earlier today, sounds really good. I am not that familiar with their music, however having enjoyed this, I will be checking out some more! The concert was recorded on 'home turf' at the Horeshoe, University of South Carolina, and consists of: Set List: 1. Time 2. Sad caper 3. Running From An Angel 4. She Crawls Away 5. The Earth Stayed Cold At Dawn 6. Gravity Of The Situation 7. I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You 8. Let Her Cry 9. So Strange 10. Hold My Hand Plus recorded at GLR (BBC Radio) London on the 1st May 1996 (acoustic session). 11. Sad Caper 12. The Earth Stayed Cold At Dawn Finally Live at The Ed Sullivan Theatre NYC on the 23rd May 1996 13. Old Man and Me Sound quality is very go...

Kate Bush - Butterfly Kisses

Image
I have always liked Kate Bush . She epitomises every thing that is good about a creative artist & musician. I could go on and on, I guess you know all this. She has been, and remains one of the best female artist's in popular, and contemporary music. This is a compilation of live TV appearance soundtracks, 70's & 80's charity contributions, and limited live material that has been circulated under the title ' Butterfly Kisses'. I am not sure if this was originally one of those cynical 'rip off' Cd's traded as an official release, or just a collection of fans material (hopefully it is the latter). Track listing: 01 - Wuthering Heights (3:00) BBC TV, Top of the Pops - 16 Feb 1978. 02 - The Man with the Child in His Eyes (2:51) 03 - Them Heavy People (2:48) TV (New York), Saturday Night Live - 09 Dec 1978. 04 - Under the Ivy (2:13 Studio, Abbey Road, March 1986. 05 - Breathing (3:07) 06 - Do Bears? (3:49) BBC TV, Comic Relief - 04 April 198...

Bootleg Originals Part Four - Jefferson Airplane - New York 1967

Image
Am I glad I was just a minor in 1967. The whole hippie, summer of love, flowers in your hair, psychedelic thing would surely have sucked me in. These day's, I'd be recounting tales of just how 'far out' I really was, in that boring monotonous way that only old stoners can. Hmmm maybe... This is another moment in rock music history. First of all the venue, the 'Cafe Au Go Go'. The Cafe au Go Go was a Greenwich Village night club located in the basement of 152 Bleecker Street, New York, NY. The club was the first New York venue for the Grateful Dead, and has a veritable whose who, of 1960's artists that played there. Jefferson Airplane performed for two weeks at the Cafe au Go-Go, with supporting act Richie Havens, from February 1967. This recording was from 4th March 1967. As far as the Jefferson Airplane go, they had formed in 1965, in San Francisco, with their debut show on August 13th 1965, at the Matrix nightclub (San Francisco). Vocalist ...

The Black Crowes - Live In London - The Following Evening

Image
Celebrating the 100th post on this still very young blog, I can think of no finer band than The Black Crowes. Back on the 26th July, I put up the full concert from the 19th March 2006 at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire. The following evening (yep - I make that the 20th) they played a second concert, and here is where you start to learn just how cool, unique, talented, and other thingies the Black Crowes are. They play a very different set, different songs, unique jams, and a stonking performance. Now the 19th March gig can still be downloaded, so if you are new to the band, why not download the first part of the 19th and compare it to the first part of the 20th March performance. If you are not a fan at the end of both, do the following. Go and stand in front of a full length mirror, look yourself up and down (no touching) and say out loud, "I am not a rock'n'roller". There is no known cure for this condition, however a quick dose of James Blunt,...

Whats Up Doc? - Second Helping

Image
Time for another bout of Whats Up Doc? Plenty of very good new music, some brand spanking new, some recent. Not long now before the record industry starts the season of inevitably dodgy repackaged compilations... So whats on my play list right now? Lets start with the new album from Siouxsie namely 'Mantaray'. If you like anything by the Banshees, or The Creatures, it's a must to check out. Have a listen to: Links Removed - MP3 Policy. Siouxsie - Into a Swan (radio edit).mp3 Official site and more info HERE . Radiohead have announced the release of a new album - 'In Rainbows', as I am sure all their fans already know. For full details go to their site HERE . Two options, one - pre-order to download the single album, you choose the amount you want to pay, and two - order the comprehensive Cd & vinyl package, that will be dispatched in December. Some of the songs from the new album were played on their tour last year. Whether they are like the finished article, ...

Bootleg Originals Part Three - The Waterboys - Glastonbury 1986

Image
When is a bootleg, not a bootleg? "I think 1986 was a peak", states The Waterboys founder Mike Scott, "We never really came back to where we were in 1986." How good was their concert at Glastonbury in 1986? So good that in 1998, Mike Scott released a live album of The Waterboys including the Glastonbury performance, despite the fact it had been bootlegged from the radio broadcast twelve years earlier! It's all a bit of a conundrum, when you consider the 'official release', and what has subsequently happened, it goes like this. According to Mike Scott, the album was put out by New Millennium Records (although Amazon.com credits it to "Msi", and All Music Guide credits it to "Pilot" and "Griffin"). Mike Scott claims that New Millennium stopped paying royalties to the band but continued to sell the album. The album is not listed on the band's own 'official' discography. Whatever the actual facts are,...

A Trip Before The Beatles - The Quarrymen 1960

Image
If you are not familiar with The Quarrymen , John Lennon's 'skiffle' group, that eventually became The Silver Beatles, and then of course The Beatles, the Wikipedia article HERE is really interesting. I thought of just providing some selected parts within this posting, but the whole article provides excellent background to this recording. This rehearsal recording was made just four weeks before they changed name to The Silver Beetles, and John Lennon's friend Stuart Sutcliffe made up the quartet. This recording was made at Paul McCartney's home early in 1960, prior to Pete Best joining as drummer, and of course the Hamburg, Germany era. This is obviously a wonderful piece of musical history, and the audio quality reflects the historical aspect, home taping circa 1960, likely on one microphone, and with a muffled sound and hiss, that an old tape would retain however much you try to clean it up. That said I find it fascinating, and a must have for any Beatl...