Author Archives: Steve Matteo

The following, is part six of our live concert releases series. —Ed.

The UK music scene has morphed from one trend to another. In the 1960s it was the British Invasion and its aftermath that dominated. In the 1970s it was glam, punk, and eventually new wave, which only grew bigger in the 1980s. Synth-pop was also big in the ’80s. The ’90s was dominated by Brit Pop. It was also the decade that saw the arrival of Radiohead.

Proving the health of the UK pop music scene, the beginning of the century once again saw the emergence of a slew of artists that exhibited all the best traits of British pop music, including Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Keane, Amy Winehouse, Adele, and Sam Smith, to name just six. Only artists from the latest wave remain, with two that are most missed from the ’90s and from the early part of the century being Oasis and Amy Winehouse, respectively. Thankfully, several new live archival releases will delight the ardent fans of these British legends from iconic performances.

First up is one of the most famous concerts in British pop history: the performances of Oasis at Knebworth in 1996 on August 10th and 11th. We will review the 3-LP set and the film, Knebworth 1996, directed by Jake Scott. The film is as much a movie about the British fans of Oasis as it is a concert documentary. The core lineup for Oasis at this time was Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, Paul Arthurs, Paul McGuigan, and Alan White. Thirteen other support and guest musicians also appear on these releases, including John Squire, formerly of the Stone Roses, who plays guitar on “Champagne Supernova” and “I Am the Walrus.”

Few filmed concerts so perfectly capture the love affair between a British group and its fans with 250,000 in attendance. Aside from the bracing performances of the group—at the top of its game—there are also interviews with its fans who were there to witness British pop music history. Other interviews include members of the band and those who put on the show.

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2022 has shaped up to be quite the year for fans of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. The Mothers 71 has been released as an 8-CD box set and a 3-LP vinyl edition. The Zappa/Erie set has been issued as an album-sized, 6-CD set, and Rainbow December 10, 1971 has been issued as a 3-LP vinyl set. Three of these releases are interconnected. The Mothers 71 CD box includes the entire Rainbow Theatre concert, which came roughly six months after the four Mothers 71 Fillmore shows.

The Mothers 71 reissues are beloved for many reasons and these new reissues are the best to ever be released. These performances were recorded using then cutting-edge live sound technology with the use of a 16-track machine. There was also a ¼-inch tape used with a 2-track machine for a live line mix. Given the size of the group and the superb concert-hall acoustics of the Fillmore East theatre, the original live analog tape recordings sound excellent more than 50 years after the fact.

Although some of the original analog 16-track recordings were lost or haven’t weathered 50-plus years of storage and tape preservation, the 2-track tapes are used as back-up here to fill in the gaps of chronicling so extensively these historic concerts. All the performances where the group was joined for encores by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, owned by the Lennon estate, make their complete debut on this new reissue. Some of those recordings were previously released by Zappa and others were released from Lennon and Ono on their Sometime in New York City album, originally released in 1972.

The critical historical aspects and advanced technological nature of these concert recordings is enhanced by the poignancy of these dates, which marked the conclusion of the short, roughly five-year run of the two Bill Graham Fillmore venues in New York and San Francisco. 1971 was a key year for Fillmore concerts, resulting in seminal live album recordings, including The Allman Brothers Band Live at the Fillmore East, non-rock gems Aretha Live at Fillmore West, and Live at Fillmore West from King Curtis, as well as Spread Your Wings and Fly: Live at the Fillmore East from Laura Nyro, which was recorded in 1971 but not released until 2004.

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As far as reissues and archival releases are concerned, The Rolling Stones are clearly on a roll. Hot on the heels of the group’s lauded Live at the El Macombo release comes what must be considered one of the best reissue packages from the group in its entire career.

This limited-edition mono box contains 18 seven-inch discs that are either singles or EPs. The set includes both UK Decca Records releases and US London Records releases. The music was remastered by Bob Ludwig and engineered by Sean Magee at Abbey Road Studios. The music was taken from the original analog tapes that were transferred to digital files, although the digital transfer has not in any way been a deterrent. In fact, most of the UK singles and EPs, although a bit different from the original seven-inch releases, sound great and the London US discs in many instances sound better than some of the originals. Still, one wonders why the discs weren’t cut directly from the analog tapes.

The physical discs were manufactured at MPO, the legendary and long-running pressing plant in France. The discs are flat, sturdy, thick, flawless slabs of pristine plastic that will sound great and last forever with the proper care. As for a few minor quibbles, there are no inner sleeves included, and the jackets for the UK Decca releases are not laminated, and the EPs do not have flip-back packaging. In fact, although the replication of the original art of the generic Decca sleeves and picture sleeves is done well, it is not an exact duplication in many instances. All the contents are housed in a sturdy box and the package also includes five photos, a poster and a 32-page booklet.

The poster is of a photograph that became the first major break for a Town and Country magazine staffer named Linda Eastman, who would eventually marry Paul McCartney. The photos, including the one which became the poster, were taken on a boat docked off of a Manhattan boat basin in June of 1966. They launched Eastman’s esteemed career as a rock photographer, which led to her brief time as the house photographer at the Fillmore East. Unless the photo was from another photographer, which is doubtful, oddly, she is not credited in the booklet’s notes.

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This is part four of our summer live concert album series. —Ed.

The Rolling Stones are arguably the greatest live musical act in rock ‘n’ roll history. While the group only released three live albums during its 1960s and 1970s heyday and one of them wasn’t even a truly live album, as the years have gone by, the group has more than made up for that oversight.

Along with releasing twelve official live albums since 1966, the group has also released 20 “official bootlegs” since 2011, available in a variety of media formats, along with various miscellaneous live releases from ABKCO and Eagle Rock/Mercury Studios. The latest release of live material, Live at The El Mocambo, does not fall under the category of official bootlegs and may be one of the best live releases in the group’s history.

This new set is available as either a 2-CD or 4-LP vinyl set. We will be reviewing the vinyl set. The vinyl is housed in a slip-case that contains two double albums, pressed on 180-gram vinyl, with each two-album set in a gatefold package. The eighth side of this four-LP set features an etching of the group’s iconic tongue logo.

In March of 1977, The Rolling Stones played two nights at the Toronto club El Macombo. From the tiny stage, in front of about 350 people and with support from the likes of Billy Preston, Ollie Brown, and Ian Stewart, and with Ron Wood by then comfortably ensconced in the group after replacing Mick Taylor in 1975, the group was at a peak of live playing.

Four tracks here originally appeared on the 1977 double album Love You Live. The material on that release was from the first night. Unfortunately, on the second night there were sound problems and even worse, it was supposedly the better night. However, this new release features the entire second night and three performances from the first.

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Two recent live releases from Ronnie Wood and John Lodge stepping out from their main gig are well worth checking out.

Ron Wood of The Rolling Stones returns with the second of three live tribute albums. This one is, Mr. Luck, The Ronnie Wood Band, a Tribute to Jimmy Reed Live at The Royal Albert Hall. The first tribute album of the trilogy was Ronnie Wood with his Wild Five Mad Lad A Live Tribute to Chuck Berry, from 2019. The third in the series has not been announced just yet.

While the previous tribute was available as a single CD, vinyl disc release or CD/vinyl box, this new one is available as a CD or a double-album vinyl set on limited edition blue smoke-effect vinyl. The previous release featured guest vocalist Imelda May and the vinyl and CD/vinyl box are both out of print. This release features Mick Taylor on guitar, along with Paul Weller, Mick Hucknall, Bobby Womack, and Tommy Hare, and was recorded in 2013.

The Mississippi blues guitarist was born in 1925 and passed away in 1976, living long enough to see the enormous influence he had on the electric blues guitar bands from the UK that sprouted up in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Some of the Reed songs covered here were staples of the set lists of British R&B bands—“Ain’t That Loving You Baby;” “Honest I Do;” “Shame, Shame, Shame;” “Big Boss Man;” and “Bright Lights, Big City”—and Wood and his band clearly love playing these songs.

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As a follow-up to our last live music roundup, here are two recent live, Steely Dan-related releases. During its ‘70s heyday, Steely Dan was known as the consummate studio band, releasing seven studio albums between 1972 and 1980 along with contributing the main title theme song to the film FM in 1978.

In 2000, the group returned and released two more studio albums. Steely Dan performed live in 1972, 1973, and 1974. Other than one show in 1978 at Cornell University in New York and with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of the group participating in the New York Rock N Soul Revue in 1992, the band didn’t perform live again until 1994.

There was a live album released of performances of the New York Rock N Soul Revue in 1991 entitled The New York Rock and Soul Revue: Live at the Beacon. Alive In America, the one and only live Steely Dan album came out in 1995. Now comes the first Steely Dan live album since Becker’s passing: Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live! Becker died in 2017 and these two live albums are the first albums released since his death. After four studio solo albums from Donald Fagen, his first live album, Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly Live, has been released.

Even before Becker’s passing, Steely Dan was playing extended engagements primarily in the Northeast, where each night of a run, usually at a concert hall, they would play one album in its entirety and other songs. Available on CD and 180-gram vinyl, but covered here from the double-album vinyl set, there are 12 performances from 2018 on this new live album: two from the Beacon Theatre in New York, four from the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, two from The Met in Philadelphia and four from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut.

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The 2022 live concert season looks like it will shape up to be a vast improvement over 2020 and 2021, although as of this writing, the vagaries of the virus continue to complicate people’s lives and create uncertainties. Regardless of how the season plays out, it’s a good time to take a look at some of the better live concert releases that have arrived on store shelves. The live album doesn’t get the love it used to, but many excellent releases come out every year and shouldn’t be overlooked. All of the releases covered here, except for one, are available on vinyl and that one is also out on DVD. For this article, we will cover releases from artists primarily associated with the West Coast ’70s and singer-songwriter album genres.

First off, let’s start with Still Deliverin’ / Deliverin’ Again: 50th Anniversary Return to the Troubadour, Live In Concert, from Richie Furay from DSDK, available as either a two-CD set or a DVD. The Still Deliverin’ title refers to the live album Deliverin’ released by Poco in 1971, a group Fury founded. Furay was, of course prior to Poco, a founding member of Buffalo Springfield.

This live concert consists of two sets, recorded at the Troubadour in West Hollywood from November 16, 2018. The first set is a retrospective primarily of Furay’s non-Poco material, featuring two Buffalo Springfield and solo songs. The second set is a recreation of the famed live Deliverin’ album recorded at Madison Square Garden in 1971.

Furay really makes this material work well. Most of the songs here came from Poco, where Furay was joined by Jim Messina, Rusty Young, Timothy B. Schmit, and George Grantham. Through his sheer talents as a band leader and especially peerless vocalist, he comes up with one of the best live albums in memory. The set where Furay recreates the Deliverin album is flawless and a reminder of what a great band Poco was. Former Poco member and current member of the Eagles Timothy B. Schmit joins in on “Good Feeling to Know.” Poco was never really given its due and the merciless East Coast rock press gave them short shrift.

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There was a time in popular recorded music history when certain record labels had a clear artistic vision or were a home for true artists. These labels—Blue Note, Sun Records, Atlantic Records, Motown, and Stax to name five—became the home of some of the most groundbreaking talents of the post-war era, primarily in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Later, labels like Reprise, Warner Bros., A&M and others became a place where musicians could begin their careers and slowly develop, eventually becoming the blockbuster artists of the vinyl album heyday of the 1970s. There are certainly many others worthy of mention here.

One of the keys to the success of these labels was the men and women that ran them or, in some cases, also owned them. Elektra Records, founded by Jac Holzman, must be mentioned. The label began primarily as a folk label, was significant in the development of world music through its Nonsuch imprint, and then became a defining label of ’70s popular album music. Independent Jazz, R&B, and folk labels in their heyday often released albums that transcended music and became culturally significant in the development of the rapid social and political changes of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Along with Elektra, Smithsonian Folkways was a major label releasing folk music.

A label that has been one of the most important and longest-lasting folk and roots music labels is Vanguard Records. Any record collection that includes a healthy amount of seminal folk music would include plenty of releases from Vanguard. Begun in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York, early on the label was the home of Eric Anderson, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Richard and Mimi Farina, Cisco Houston, Ian & Sylvia, Phil Ochs, Paul Robeson, and Tom Paxton, among many other artists.

Vanguard also released classical music, blues, country, and music from such undefinable artists as Sandy Bull, John Fahey, and Bert Jansch. Even as folk music waned in popularity in the mid-’60s, the label still released albums that redefined popular music from such artists as Country Joe and the Fish, Jim Kweskin, Patrick Sky, and Jerry Jeff Walker.

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The singer-songwriter movement that began in the late ‘60s and blossomed in the ‘70s became one of the most dominant musical movements of that very rich era. It’s influence only seems to continue to grow and the key music of the genre holds up remarkably well.

While many think of American or Canadian artists as the dominant artists of the genre—Joni Mitchell, Carole King, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Gordon Lightfoot, Carly Simon and others—some British artists were also key to the sound, particularly Cat Stevens. His album Tea for the Tillerman in 1970 became one of the most important and commercially successful albums of the era. A Super Deluxe 50th Anniversary Edition of the album was released in 2020, along with Mona Bone Jakon, his previous album, which was also released in 1970.

Mona Bone Jakon signaled a sea-change in Stevens’s music. He had previously written and recorded very pop-oriented music for the Deram label, that was often lumped in with the then waning British Invasion sound. Mona Bone Jakon also began his relationship with Chris Blackwell and Island Records. Equally influential and as timeless as Tea for the Tillerman, his next album, Teaser and the Firecat, released in 1971, is now also available in a Super Deluxe 50th Anniversary Edition.

This set is as fulsome as the Tea set including for starters four CDs. CD one is a 50th anniversary remaster of the original 10-track album. CD two includes 17 demos, alternate versions, rehearsals, bonus tracks, and new recordings of “The Wind” and “Bitterblue.” CD three, entitled Live On Air, UK 1970/71, includes 20 live radio and television performances, mostly from the BBC. CD four is a 12-song live performance from Montreux, Switzerland on May 2nd, 1971.

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Many fans and collectors of music from the 1960s have a particularly soft spot in their hearts and minds for psychedelic music. The genre broadly encapsulates a variety of styles, yet is narrowly slotted into a very brief time period, roughly late 1965 through late 1968.

When one thinks of ‘60s psychedelia, two British groups, and specifically a handful of singles and albums they released in the ‘60’s, come to mind. Those two groups are, of course, The Beatles and Pink Floyd. Yet, when many music fans think of psychedelia from the ‘60s, American groups, particularly from San Francisco, are usually thought of first. British psyche, other than the aforementioned, are often forgotten.

Thankfully, a glorious new 5CD set, Think I’m Going Weird: Original Artefacts From The British Psychedelic Scene 1966-1968, has been released, and it will remind everyone how rich and varied the British psychedelic scene was from 1966 through 1968. This set is particularly welcome, as the only other such box set to be produced that included almost as much music as this new one, is sadly out of print. That one, Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, released by Rhino in 2006, covered more years (1964–1969) and was just as lovingly produced as this set, but decided it would be cool to spell artefacts incorrectly.

The Beatles and Pink Floyd are not included on this set and they may be the only serious omissions. Also, not only was the music here wisely chosen, spanning 122 tracks and including 50 minutes of previously unreleased music, but the packaging is unbeatable, including period photographs, album and singles cover art, and a 60-page book, with an informed and entertaining 25,000-word essay. This is a package to keep one busy for months at a time and it can be dipped into for listening, reading, or just tripping out on the artwork.

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One thing the recently delayed and altered Grammy Awards made clear is that rock music is no longer on the radar of today’s pop music tastemakers and many music fans. Other than a few token nods to the genre, the awards show and today’s music charts reveal an almost total absence of what was once the ruling musical sound in popular music.

Thankfully, another genre that also was in its heyday during the ‘60s and ‘70s does seem to be going through a revival. That genre is R&B and its cousin soul music. Silk Sonic and H.E.R., while also mixing other styles with R&B and soul, were prominent at the Grammys. Groups like The Black Keys and The Roots have been exploring related retro genres with much success, and Alabama Shakes and Brittany Howard have also been scoring with their roots stew. Gary Clark Jr. has also brought a guitar blues approach to the party.

These groups and artists are just some of the more popular and well-known, and all mix different styles to create their own contemporary sound. The Black Pumas have quickly joined the elite of this revival, and Michael Kiwanuka has slowly achieved a key place in this scene. Others that have been making soul waves include Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Leon Bridges, and Yola. One more name to add to this welcome revival is Curtis Harding.

Harding released his third album and second for Anti late last year and could easily eclipse everyone mentioned here. Like Leon Bridges, he prefers a more chill vibe, and like Michael Kiwanuka, he puts out recordings that are immaculately and imaginatively produced. Unlike most mentioned here, he draws from many other strands of music, including both cool and more experimental jazz. On this latest release, there are times he seems to be tapping into What’s Going On-era Marvin Gaye and the experimental, but groove-conscious side of ‘50s and ‘60s Ornette Coleman.

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Pink Floyd has been extremely busy over the past several years in releasing ambitious reissue projects. The two most talked about have been The Early Years (2016) and The Later Years (2019) mammoth boxes. Both sets are sold out, but available on the used market and fetch high prices.

As a consolation for those who missed out on the sets when they were released, or who would prefer to only have various parts of the sets, several live releases have come out in the past few years. So far, The Delicate Sound of Thunder (2019) was released on its own from the upgraded The Later Years box version, and Live at Knebworth (2021), available in full for the first time in The Later Years box, has also been issued on its own.

Both reissues, in addition to the new PULSE Restored & Re-Edited, are from the post-Roger Waters years. All three are released on vinyl, CD, DVD, and Blu-ray, except the new PULSE which is being re-released on DVD and Blu-ray. The PULSE audio reissues on CD and all-analog vinyl came out in 2018. The vinyl reissue is already out of print and commands hefty prices on the used market.

PULSE, directed by David Mallet, was originally released in 1995 on VHS, DVD, and Laserdisc. It chronicled the group’s October 1994 concert at Earl’s Court in London on its Division Bell tour. It was also released on CD/MiniDisc, vinyl, and cassette. The original CD release featured a red pulsing LED light, and the four-LP edition is also a collector’s item. The music releases were mixed in QSound to provide a 3D sound effect on two-channel stereo sound systems and the vinyl was mastered from analog tapes.

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Fans of The Beatles have no shortage of excellent new books related to the group to read these days. A slew of tomes that cover a wide variety of topics have come out lately and all are not to be missed.

Bruce Spizer continues to write and publish some of the best books on the Beatles. Along with Mark Lewisohn, he is one of the foremost experts on the group in the world. Spizer started out by writing and publishing several books that dissected the history of the group, primarily through the volumes he wrote on the record labels that released the group’s music, with an emphasis on Vee-Jay, Parlophone, Capitol, and Apple.

His books about Apple Records also covered solo recordings from members of The Beatles. These oversized editions were sturdy, hardcover books, with slick color art, heavy on detail, and truly definitive works. They are not just for the serious reader of books on The Beatles, but also for those who love beautiful books filled with a myriad of images related to the group’s recorded output. For several years now, Spizer has changed direction and is writing and publishing books that focus on individual albums and are in a more compact 9 x 9 format.

The latest book in this Albums Series is The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine (498 Productions). Like the previous editions in the series, the text gives an informed look at the music and times, with additional contributions from Spizer’s regular collaborators and fan recollections.

The books make wonderful companions to the deluxe reissue packages on the music of The Beatles that have come out since Sgt. Pepper, although this latest book works better in tandem with the respective film reissue packages. Serious fans of The Beatles will want to have all of the books Spizer has written and published on the group and keep them close to their collection of the music and films of the group.

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The Oscars were telecast on March 27th. Hans Zimmer won best original score for Dune, “No Time To Die” by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell won best original song. Although Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch surprisingly received zero nominations, the film’s original soundtrack album should not be overlooked.

One of the delights of the films of Wes Anderson is the music. It’s no secret that Anderson is a huge fan of the key British bands of the mid-’60s, particularly the mod pop bands of the Swinging London period. This may be partially why many of his soundtracks are released through ABKCO Records, the label that owns the London Records/Decca years catalog of the music of The Rolling Stones that covers all of the group’s 1960s recordings.

There are other sounds Anderson clearly loves, including the kind of sophisticated continental European film soundtrack and pop music sound that wouldn’t be out of place in movies from France or Italy that were made in the ’50s or early ’60s.

These tracks are all wonderful musical touchstones and add greatly to Anderson’s films by either placing appropriate period music in a certain scene, or serve as a counterpoint to contemporary action that adds a gauzy romantic verisimilitude to the film. If all that wasn’t enough, Anderson has employed on five soundtracks the music of French film composer Alexandre Desplat since Fantastic Mr. Fox in 2009. Desplat won one of his two Oscars for best-original score for the soundtrack music he provided for Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel. Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs, both animated Anderson features, garnered Oscar nominations for him.

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Fans of Paul McCartney continue to be treated to a myriad of archival releases of solo and Wings music. CDs, expanded CDs, box sets, standard vinyl reissues and expanded vinyl reissues have recently been joined by the Paul McCartney Half-Speed Mastering Series.

These are single album vinyl releases, with no bonus materials, that faithfully replicate the original album’s art and packaging and are mastered using the bespoke audiophile mastering technique at Abbey Road studios. This series has so far yielded his debut solo album McCartney from 1970 and, from Paul and Linda McCartney, Ram from 1971. The newest in the series is Wild Life (Capitol), also released in 1971.

What distinguishes this release from the previous two is that it is a Wings album. This was the first album from the group, and is credited on this reissue to Paul McCartney and Wings. That group consisted of Paul, Linda, Denny Laine, formerly of the Moody Blues, and Denny Seiwell on drums.

This is also the first album in the series that did not use the original analog tapes for the remastering process but instead used a high-resolution transfer of those tapes. It’s not clear why the original tapes were not used, but the sound here is fine, and in fact the nature of some of the instrumentation may have even benefited from a more digital approach, if that’s possible.

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