Curved Air - Live At The BBC - 1975 & 76.

This is Curved Air recorded live for BBC Radio One. Both performances were recorded at the Paris Theatre in London.

The 1975 session was recorded on the 31st January and the BBC transcription disc also includes a version of 'Stark Naked' however that track is missing from this boot collection, it does feature in the second live session.

The second live performance was recorded on the 21st February 1976. Some of the second sessions tracks were also included on an officially released album 'Live At The BBC', however the boot edition was lifted from one of the transcription discs which were circulated in three differing versions.

Source: Soundboard - BBC transcription discs.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Prog Rock, Folk Rock.

Set: Two BBC concert Sessions

Set List:

1. Marie Antoinette
2. The Fool
3. Midnight Wire
4. Women On A One Night Stand

5. Stark Naked
6. Women On A One Night Stand
7. Young Mother
8. Kids To Blame
9. Hot and Bothered
10. The Fool

Links: Official site HERE.

Comments:

Curved Air evolved out of the band Sisyphus and was named after the piece "A Rainbow in Curved Air" by contemporary composer Terry Riley.

The musicians came from quite different artistic backgrounds, classic, folk, and electronic sound, which resulted in a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fusion with classical elements. Along with High Tide, It's A Beautiful Day and East of Eden, Curved Air were one of the first rock bands to feature a violin.

The officially released 'Live At The BBC' album is not widely circulated and used versions are changing hands for £50 ($60 US) plus on Amazon.

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

Buy: Mp3's at Amazon.co.uk - Curved Air

Gong - Great American Music Hall, 2000

Currently touring in Europe with the original line up, Gong continue to amaze audiences with their musical tales of Pot Head Pixies, Gnomes, Zero The Hero and more.

Going back to the beginning of the 'noughties' decade and Gong were continuing to tour worldwide on a regular basis.

This recording is from the 9th September 2000 at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, California.

This is a full concert and features quite a lot of material from the 1970's era of the band. Gongs latest album '2032' was released in September this year.

Source: Soundboard

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps

Genre: Progressive rock, psychedelic rock, space rock, jazz fusion.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

01. Planet Gong intro - Zeroid
02. Radio Gnome Invisible
03. Yoni on Mars
04. Bodilingus
05. Zero The Hero and the Witch's Spell -Witch's Song/I'm your Pussy
06. Magdalene
07. Infinitea - Mad Monk
08. You Can't Kill Me
09. Flute Salad
10. Oily Way
11. Outer Temple
12. Inner Temple
13. Get It Inner
14. Master Builder
15. Tropical Fish
16. The Invisible Temple
17. Selene

Band Line Up:

Daevid Allen - guitars and vocals
Gilli Smyth - vocals and space whispers
Mike Howlett - bass
Theo Travis - sax and flute
Chris Taylor - drums
Gwyo ZePix - Keyboards, Synths

Links: Official Site HERE.

Comments:

After spending most of the Eighties in his native Australia, Daevid Allen returned to the UK in 1988 with a new project, the Invisible Opera Company of Tibet, whose revolving cast included the likes of Harry Williamson, violinist Graham Clark and Didier Malherbe. This morphed into GongMaison and by 1992, the name Gong was again in use, by which time early drummer Pip Pyle had also rejoined. The band released the album Shapeshifter (subsequently dubbed Radio Gnome part 4), followed by extensive touring. In 1994, Gong celebrated its 25th birthday in London, including a performance by most of the 'classic' line-up, including the returning Gilli Smyth and Mike Howlett. This formed the basic of the "Classic Gong" band which toured worldwide from 1996 to 2001 and released Zero to Infinity in 2000 (by Allen, Smyth, Howlett and Malherbe plus new recruits Theo Travis and Chris Taylor).

Download links (three) in comments below (track four replacement link in separate comment).

Buy: MP3's at Amazon.co.uk - Gong

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Winterland, San Francisco 1975

This is Lynyrd Skynyrd live at the Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, California on the 27th April 1975.

From 1973 through to the tragic air crash in October 1977 that decimated the band, Lynyrd Skynyrd were one of the most popular live acts in rock'n'roll history.

A couple of points of interest for fans and trivia addicts, Billy Powell was absent from this show, so the band had to find a substitute for his piano part in Call Me The Breeze. Notably Sweet Home Alabama also sounds a little different as a result. Lee Freeman, who had played with Ed King in Strawberry Alarm Clock and would later play on Gimme Back My Bullets, blows the harp. An early incarnation of Lynyrd Skynrd supported Strawberry Alarm Clock back in 1968 on some East Coast tour dates.

Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Southern rock, blues-rock, country rock.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

01 Whiskey Rock a Roller - I Ain't the One
02 The Needle and the Spoon
03 I'm A Country Boy
04 Gimmie Three Steps
05 Don't Ask Me No Questions
06 Saturday Night Special
07 Railroad Song
08 Call Me the Breeze
09 Sweet Home Alabama
10 On the Hunt
11 Freebird

Links: Official site HERE. Excellent history Site HERE.

Comments:

The Winterland Ballroom, often referred to as Winterland Arena or simply Winterland, was an old ice skating rink and 5,400 seat music venue in San Francisco, California. Located at the corner of Post Street and Steiner Street, it was converted to exclusive use as a music venue in 1971 by rock promoter Bill Graham. After closing his New York City venue known as the Fillmore East in 1971, he began to hold regular weekend shows at Winterland.

Lynyrd Skynyrd joined a veritable 'whose who' of rock history by performing at the venue with the likes of bands such as Cream through to The Sex Pistols, or The Doors through to Pink Floyd and many, many more 'top class' acts having played there until it's closure in 1978.

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

Buy: Mp3's at Amazon.co.uk - Lynyrd Skynyrd

The Alan Parsons Project - Tokyo 1997.

This is The Alan Parsons Project live at The International Forum, Tokyo, Japan, on the 4th October 1997. This concert was part of the Japanese leg of the 'On Air' tour.

This comes from a two CD recording and is credited as sourced from the soundboard. Having listened to the recording (which by the way is an absolute must for any fan, or an excellent introduction to the band) the audience seems a little close and high in the mix between songs, which often suggests an audience recording. However the quality of the music and stereo mixing suggests soundboard. So I am not sure about this one, that said though, it is a great recording of a very good show.

Source: Soundboard (see above).

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps

Genre: Soft, Pop, & Prog rock.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

1. Sirius/Eye In The Sky
2. I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You
3. Can’t Take It With You
4. Old And Wise
5. Money Talks/La Sagrada Familia
6. Days Are Numbers (The Traveller)
7. Prime Time
8. Limelight
9. Time
10. Turn It Up
11. Standing On Higher Ground
12. Blue Blue Sky II
13. I Can’t Look Down
14. So Far Away
15. Fall Free
16. Cloudbreak
17. Brother Up In Heaven
18. (The System Of) Dr. Tarr & Pr. Fether
19. Psychobabble
20. Don’t Answer Me
21. Band Intro/You’re Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned
22. Games People Play

Band Line Up:

Alan Parsons - Guitar, Keyboards,Vocals & Percussion
Stuart Elliott - Drums
Ian Bairnson - Guitars & Sax
John Giblin - Bass
Peter Beckett - Vocals & Keyboards
John Beck - Keyboards
Neil Lockwood - Vocals & Guitar


Links: Alan Parson's official site HERE. Alan Parsons Project site HERE.

Comments:

From the Alan Parsons Project website, regarding how the band got it's name. - In 1974 Alan Parsons was nominated for a Grammy award to recognise his engineering work on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Soon after that he and Eric Woolfson got together with Eric acting as Alan's manager for his engineering and production work. After a string of hits, Eric had the idea of making an album on the lines of developments in the film business, where directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick were the focal point of the film's promotion, rather than individual film stars. If the film business was becoming a director's medium, Eric felt the music business might well become a producer's medium. As a songwriter, he had been developing an album inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe and he now saw a way to combine Alan's and his respective talents: Alan as the engineer and producer, Eric as the songwriter and musician.

Eric put a proposal to 20th Century Records (now Universal) along these lines. He gave it a working title of 'The Alan Parsons Project' and the record company went for the idea. They decided that they liked the proposal and the working title and so it stuck - The Alan Parsons Project was born.

Bearing in mind Alan's known association in the business with Pink Floyd and The Beatles plus the fact that Eric was also the manager of The Project, Eric felt it was better to use Alan's name as the figurehead.

Reloaded 21/June/2015 - link in comments.

Beehive Recommends - Keb Mo

Keb Mo is a singer, songwriter and guitarist whose musical origins are firmly linked to the Delta blues.

His Grammy awards and nominations are testimony to his outstanding talent. Keb has a distinctive sound and yet embraces pop, rock, folk and jazz within his craft.

Having said all of that, his natural blues stripped down to just guitar and vocals is both refreshing and moving.

His new contemporary blues album is quite appropriately named Live & Mo. It features six awesome live performances from notable moments on the road, and four brand new studio recordings, including the anthemic song A Brand New America, a band version of the inspirational Victims of Comfort, the funky sound of Government Cheese, and the back-porch rhythm and blues of Hole in the Bucket. If you already know the mood and style past releases Keb’Mo, you’ll dig “Live & Mo”.

Listen:
'Am I Wrong'



MP3: Am I Wrong.
Website: Official Site.
Buy: Keb' Mo'