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.