Ritchie Valens - Ritchie Valens Story (1993)

Ritchie Valens (Richard Steven Valenzuela; May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist.

A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the CHICANO ROCK movement, Valens' recording career lasted only eight months. During this time, however, he scored several hits, most notably "La Bamba", which was originally a Mexican folk song that Valens transformed with a rock rhythm and beat that became a hit in 1958, making Valens a pioneer of the Spanish-speaking rock and roll movement.

On February 3, 1959, on what has become known as The Day the Music Died, Valens was killed in a small-plane crash in Iowa, a tragedy that also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Buddy Holly and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson....

Although The Ritchie Valens Story contains four of Valens' hits ("La Bamba," "Donna," "Come On, Let's Go," "That's My Little Suzie") some famous tracks, like "Ooh! My Head," are not here. The bulk of the disc consists of seven demos that were previously unavailable in America and a 21-minute narration by Valens' producer Bob Keane, who also compiled the album. Hardcore fans will need this for the demos...

01. Narration of Ritchie Valens' Story - As Told By Bob Keane, Producer And Manager Of Ritchie Valens.
02. Boney Maronie
03. Come On, Let's Go (Demo)
04. Come On, Let's Go
05. That's My Little Suzie (Demo)
06. Rock Little Darlin' (Demo)
07. Bluebirds Over The Mountain (Demo)
08. La Bamba (Gold Star Recording Session)
09. Let's Rock & Roll (Demo)
10. Donna (Demo)
11. Summertime Blues (Live)
12. In A Turkish Town (Demo)
13. Paddiwack Wong
14. Big Baby Blues (B-Side)
15. Malaguena (Demo)
16. Stay Beside Me
17. Ritchie Doing Commercial For Winter Dance Party, Followed By Radio Announcer From Des Moines, Iowa, February 4, 1959, The Day After The Fatal Plane Crash
18. La Bamba (B-Side of "Donna")

The Sonics - Busy Body!!! Live in Tacoma 1964

Given the many stories of their crazed on-stage prowess and the frantic drive of their classic studio sides, fans of real-deal garage rock have often wished that someone had the presence of mind to make a decent-sounding live recording of Tacoma, WA, madmen the Sonics in their glory days. And, as it happened, someone did -- a radio station in Tacoma, KTNT-AM, used to have a regular Friday night feature called Teen Time, in which they broadcast a live spot from one of the area's teen clubs. A guy in Seattle named Doug Patterson owned an Ampex reel-to-reel tape machine and frequently taped the Teen Time shows to collect songs for his own teenage band to cover, and two surviving tapes featuring the Sonics in action have been collected on Busy Body!!! Live in Tacoma 1964. Since these two shows (lasting less than 33 minutes combined, including patter from the announcer) predated the release of their debut single, "The Witch," and the epochal album Here Are the Sonics, the emphasis is on covers and instrumentals, and while the audio is quite good for AM radio broadcasts more then four decades old, the mix is a bit sloppy and Gerry Roslie's vocals are barely audible, with Rob Lind's sax and Larry Parypa's sax way up front. Still, if this isn't the ideal document of the Sonics on-stage, it's a whole lot of fun; these tapes show they were admirably tight and full of fire when playing for their fans, and having a wild good time cranking out "Ooh Poo Pah Doo," "Goin' Back to Granny's," "Night Train," and "Have Love, Will Travel" with all kinds of attitude. And while they didn't deign to play "Psycho" while Patterson was rolling his tapes, there's a wicked early version of "The Witch" that points to things to come. Busy Body!!! captures the Sonics in a transitional phase, when they were still minding the template of Northwest heroes the Wailers but developing an overdriven personality of their own, and it's loud-and-proud teenage fun. - amg

THE MONKS - Mega - Post!!

The Monks

The Monks are a garage rock band, formed by American GIs who were based in Germany in the mid to late 1960s. They reunited in 1999 and have continued to play concerts, although no new studio recordings have been made. The Monks stood out from the music of the time, and have developed a cult following amongst many musicians and music fans.

Personnel:

* Gary Burger: Lead guitar, lead vocalist
* Larry Clark: Organ, vocalist
* Dave Day: Banjo (initially rhythm guitar), vocalist
* Eddie Shaw: Bass guitar, vocalist
* Roger Johnston: drums, vocalist

The formation of The Monks:

All the members were American GIs stationed in Germany in the mid-sixties. They began playing together in 1964, calling themselves the 5 Torquays. The Torquays differed little from countless other bands of the time: They covered Chuck Berry songs and played music inspired by the British beat groups. But the band experimented together musically—Gary Burger said:

"It probably took us a year to get the sound right. We experimented all the time. A lot of the experiments were total failures and some of the songs we worked on were terrible. But the ones we kept felt like they had something special to them. And they became more defined over time."

Upon their discharge from the army the band developed a distinctive musical style, and took up a distinctive name and image to go with it. The transition from their earlier, more conventional and less provocative aesthetic to the abrasive and cutting-edge sound of their Black Monk Time period was partly induced by the influence of "a pair of loopy existentialist visionaries" called Walther Niemann and Karl-H.-Remy. Remy, a university student of design in Ulm, and Niemann, a student of Folkwang Arts Academy in Essen, "designed" the Monks as "anti-Beatles": short hair with tonsures, black clothes, ropes around the neck, image of being hard and dangerous. Remy and Niemann were an instance of the post-War West German avant-garde intelligentsia impacting Anglo-Saxon pop in a manner perhaps comparable to—but more intense than—that of the Hamburg art scene on the early Beatles.

The Monks stage garb

At the beginning of 1965, Dave Day and Roger Johnston, on a whim, got their heads shaved into monks' tonsures. The rest of the band followed their lead, and to complete the image, the band took to wearing a uniform - all black, sometimes in cassocks, with nooses worn as neckties. Eddie Shaw later claimed in his band autobiography Black Monk Time that the nooses were symbolic of the metaphorical nooses that all humanity wear. His explanation exhibited a literal translation of gallows humor. The same attitude seems to be exhibited by the blunt lyrics of the band. The brazen attitude toward sensitive subjects was reportedly not well met. They received confused audience reactions at concerts, and one attendee attempted to strangle Gary Burger at a show in Hamburg, for perceived blasphemy.

The group's sound:

The band abandoned common elements of much sixties rock n roll:

* They have very little emphasis on melody, their songs are rhythmic, rather than melodic. The rhythms are heavy and repetitive, with the drums supplying a sound often described as 'tribal'. Compare Drone music for the Western and Eastern roots of this music style. Prior to The Monks, Little Richard had written Long Tall Sally in 1956 around one single note, very similar to drone music. The Monks' focusing on rhythm rather than melody also was reminiscent of 1950s R'n'B, compare especially Bo Diddley beat, and the rhythm-based styles of musicians such as Ray Charles, The Champs (see CHICANO ROCK), Sam Cooke, and The Shadows. The mastering The Monks received, resulting in a very archaic, raw and aggressive sound, was very similar to that of contemporary, more successful German band The Rattles who were signed to the same German Polydor label as were The Monks.
* Song structures are minimal and repetitive, and do not tend to follow the standard verse-chorus-bridge patterns of a pop song.
* The band's lyrics are dadaist and playful, yet paranoid. They combine nursery rhyme style lyrics ("higgle-dy piggle-dy") with war commentary ("Why do you kill all those kids over there in Vietnam? Mad Vietcong! My brother died in Vietnam"; "People kill, people will for you/ People run, ain't it fun for you/ People go, to their deaths for you"), surreal interjections ("James Bond, who was he?") and paranoia about girls and love ("I hate you with a passion baby! And you know why I hate you? It's because you make me hate you baby!").
* The vocal delivery is strangled, wailing and frantic, contrasted to deep chanting backing vocals which recall Gregorian chant, although both lead and background vocals of The Monks are reminiscent of the Shout-and-fall modal frame typical for 1950s R'n'B recordings such as by Ray Charles, Little Richard, and others.
* Gary Burger utilises a great deal of guitar feedback and dissonance. According to Eddie Shaw's Black Monk Time, the group invented the use of audio feedback for musical purposes. It's been claimed by Burger that Jimi Hendrix caught their act in London and paid special attention to his use of feedback and the newly developed Gibson Fuzzbox along with the Wah-Wah Pedal. Perhaps the most notable aspect is that Burger eschews playing chords and scales in favour of free form bursts of improvised noise. The Monks published their album, and a little bit later The Velvet Underground and other noise rock groups would soon adopt a similar style of playing.
* Dave Day replaced his guitar with a six-string, gut-strung banjo upon which he played guitar chords. This instrument sounds much more metallic, scratchy and wiry than a standard electric guitar.

Many of these musical elements are also found in sixties New York acts like The Fugs and The Godz in particular, but also The Velvet Underground. When the Monks developed their sound, the only one of these bands who had put out any records was the Fugs; it is unclear if the Monks had actually heard the Fugs or developed their sound independently.

Because of these features, the Monks are often referenced as forerunners of the later punk movement.Their use of improvisation, noise and motorik rhythms (as well as their geographical location) has also led to them being cited as the godfathers of krautrock.

After the Monks:

* As of August 2006, lead singer Gary Burger serves as mayor of Turtle River, Minnesota.

* In 2006 play loud! productions completed the documentary film Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback in conjunction with the release of the album silver monk time - a tribute to the monks.

* Eddie Shaw went on to play in a progressive rock band called Copperhead in the 1970s and went on to become an accomplished fiction writer, who also wrote their autobiography Black Monk Time. Shaw's fictional work is based on his experiences growing up in Nevada and is published under his full name, Thomas Edward Shaw.

Influence:

Artists to have acknowledged the Monks as an influence include The White Stripes, Henry Rollins, the Beastie Boys and Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, as well as The Fall. The latter covered both "I Hate You" and "Oh, How to Do Now" on their 1990 album Extricate (under the titles "Black Monk Theme Part I" and "Black Monk Theme Part II", respectively), as well as the song "Shut Up!" on their 1994 album Middle Class Revolt. The Fall have also covered "Higgledy-Piggledy" for the Monks tribute CD Silver Monk Time. The White Stripes named The Monks as one of their key influences, noting that "their melodies were pop destructive".


I Love These Fuckin' Guys! They're Fuckin' AWESOME!!

MONKS MEGA-POST:

BLACK MONK TIME

FIVE UPSTART AMERICANS (demos)

SILVER MONK TIME (tribute album)

+ BONUS STUFF...

Art of Field Recording: Volume II : 50 Years of Traditional American Music

"Art Rosenbaum is a folk revivalist of the old school. He believes that traditional ballads, blues, spirituals, and fiddle tunes are among the glories of American culture. Last fall, Dust-to-Digital released Art of Field Recording: Volume I, a four-CD retrospective of Rosenbaum’s work. It contained everything from ring shouts and murder ballads to a song about twenty frogs going to school. It was full of throaty voices and clanging banjos and the incidental music of daily life—babies crying, bar glasses clinking, cicadas on a summer night." — Burkhard Bilger, The New Yorker

Art of Field Recording Volume II is a four disc set with a 96 page book that contains essays and annotations by Art and over 100 illustrations and photographs by Art and his wife Margo. Art took a similar approach to Harry Smith in assembling the music: the discs are divided into Accompanied Songs and Ballads, Unaccompanied Songs and Ballads, Sacred, and a Survey disc that has a little bit of everything.

Track Listing:

CD1: Survey

01. Fidel Martin - La Grondeuse (The Scolding Woman)
02. Eddie Bowles - Blues
03. Frosty Lamb and Buzz Fountain - 12th Street Rag
04. Dwight "Red" Lamb - Danish Galop
05. Tony Bryant - Broke Down Engine
06. The Balfa Brothers and Nathan Abshire - J'ai Pass̩ Devant Ta Porte
07. The Balfa Brothers and Nathan Abshire - Colinda
08. Jake Staggers - Garfield
09. Bobby McMillon - The Devil Song [Child 275]
10. John W. Summers - Unnamed Tune
11. Kirk Brandenberger and Art Rosenbaum - Going Across the Prairie
12. Uncle John Patterson - Muddy Roads of Georgia
13. Cecil Barfield - Georgia Blues
14. Mary Lomax - Billy Staffer (The State of Arkansas) [Laws H1]
15. Eller Brothers - Cindy In The Summer Time
16. Ross Brown and Howard Cunningham - General Lee's Surrender
17. Neal Pattman - Shortnin' Bread
18. Juanita and Oscar "Shorty" Shehan - Free Little Bird
19. Juanita and Oscar "Shorty" Shehan - The Soldier And The Lady [Laws P 14]
20. Shirley Griffith - Big Road Blues
21. Pete Steele - Harlan County Farewell Tune (Rambling Hobo)
22. Earl Murphy and Andy Carlson - Marmaduke's Hornpipe
23. Bert Hare - Jonah
24. Smoky McGinness and Bob Black - Turkey In The Straw
25. Clester Hounchell - Paddy On The Turnpike
26. Anna Sandage Underhill - Play Party Songs: In this Ring/I'd Rather Be A Farmer's Boy
27. The Chancey Brothers - Mulberry Gap/Cumberland Gap
28. Louie and Henry Riendeau - Fred Rogers' Reel
29. Scrapper Blackwell - Goin' Where The Monon Crosses the Yellow Dog

CD2: Religious

01. Brown's Chapel Choir - Welcome Home
02. Myers Family and Friends - The River Of Jordan
03. Fleeta and Rev. Nathaniel Mitchell: with Lucy and Brady "Doc" Barnes - Brother, You Ought t've Been There
04. Georgia Sacred Harp Convention - New Prospect
05. Bert Hare - No Man Can Love Me Like Jesus
06. Ebenezer East Church - He's Calling Me
07. Gordon Tanner and Smoky Joe Miller - Out Of My Bondage
08. Tickanetley Primitive Baptist Church - Mother, Tell Me Of The Angels
09. Otha Cooper - No Room At The Hotel
10. The Traveling Inner Lights - Let's Have A Family Prayer
11. Over in the Glory Land Golden River Grass
12. Rev. Willie Mae Eberhart, Sister Fleeta Mitchell and Eddie Ruth Pringle - A Charge to Keep I Have
13. Jake Staggers and Family - How Long the Train Been Gone?
14. Pilgrim's Rest Primitive Baptist Church - Lord, Remember Me
15. McIntosh County Shouters - Eve And Adam (Pickin' Up Leaves)
16. Otha Cooper and Imogene Riggens - There's A Man Going Around Taking Names
17. Lucy and Brady "Doc" Barnes - Savior, Don't You Pass Me By
18. Laethe Eller and Berthie Rogers - Oh That Terrible Day
19. Cora Thompson - I Know I Got Religion
20. Silver Light Gospel Singers - Dry Bones
21. House of God, Sarasota, Florida - Walk With Me

CD3: Accompanied Songs and Ballads

01. The Chancey Brothers - I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground
02. The Eller Family - Going To Georgia
03. George Gibson - Southern Texas
04. Lucy and Brady "Doc" Barnes - Raise A Ruckus Tonight
05. Myers Family and Friends - The Rambling Boy [Laws L12]
06. Shorty Ralph Reynolds - Want To Go To Cuba, Can't Go Now
07. Ola Belle Reed - The Boat's Up The River
08. Pat Hudson - Hog Drivers
09. W. Guy Bruce - As I Walked Out One Morning In Spring
10. Gordon Tanner and Smoky Joe Miller - Devilish Mary
11. Buell Kazee - Barbara Allen [Child 84]
12. Jack Bean - Steamboat Bill
13. Lawrence Eller and Ross Brown - John Henry [Laws I1]
14. Mose Parker - John Henry [Laws I1]
15. Willard Benson - John Hardy [Laws I2]
16. Myers Family and Friends - Old Joe Clark
17. Dr. C. B. Skelton - The Miller's Will [Laws Q21]
18. Lawrence Eller - On Top Of Old Smoky
19. Pete Steele - Last Payday At Coal Creek
20. Helen McDuffie and Leasie Whitmire - The Wreck On The CC&O Road [Laws G3]
21. Buzz Fountain - Quit That Ticklin' Me
22. Mabel Cawthorn - Going To The Country (Some Kind of Blues)
23. Myers Family and Friends - Talking Blues
24. The Eller Brothers and Ross Brown - Don't Go Riding Down That Old Texas Trail
25. Jack Bean - Ring Ching Ching

CD4: Unaccompanied Songs and Ballads

01. Mary Lomax - Fair And Tender Maidens
02. Virgil Sandage - The Bird's Song
03. Anna Sandage Underhill - The Elfin Knight [Child 2]
04. Stan Gilliam - Gypsy Davy [Child 200]
05. Mary Lomax - Black Jack Davy [Child 200]
06. Ray Rhodes - Black Jack Davy [Child 200]
07. Oscar "Doc" Parks - The Battle Of Stone River
08. The Phillips Wonders - Froggy Went A-Courting
09. Mary Heekin - The Factory Girl
10. Jim Cook - I'm A Noble Soldier
11. Anna Sandage Underhill - The Young Man's Lament
12. Vern Smelser - The Butcher's Boy [Laws P24]
13. Ollie Gilbert - Lady Lye [Child 79]
14. Stan Gilliam - Lullabies
15. Ollie Gilbert - Utah Carl [Laws B4]
16. Mary Ruth Moore - Billy Button
17. Oneitha Ellison and Group - Ring Plays
18. Mr. and Mrs. Lazore - Mohawk Love Song
19. Alice Gerrard - Shenandoah
20. Greg and Lala Brown - Two Little Boys
21. Mary Lomax - Down In The Arkansas
22. Bonnie Loggins - I'll Drink And Be Jolly
23. Brady "Doc" Barnes - We'll March Around The Wall
24. Vern Smelser - John Came Home [Child 274]
25. Margaret Kimmett - The Farm Out West
26. Ray Rhodes - Frankie And Johnny [Laws I3]
27. Della Mae Reedy - The Farmer's Son Mistress
28. Maude Thacker - The Famous Wedding [Laws P31]
29. Stan Gilliam - Sail Away, Lady/Greenback
30. Sudie Parks - The Lame Soldier
31. Oscar "Doc" Parks - Pearl Bryan [Laws F2]
32. Bonnie Loggins - Sing, Sing, What'll I Sing?

Art of Field Recording: Volume I : 50 Years of Traditional American Music

Art of Field Recording: Volume I : 50 Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum

Art of Field Recording: Volume IThe sampler CD for this set was released in 2006 with the thought that the final result would be a five' disc set, but after spending a long time with Art pondering the vast quantity of material he has amassed over the years, we decided to extend the release into multiple box sets. Volume I was released in November 2007, and Volume II is planned for 2008. If all goes well, there will be a third and final installment in 2009.

Art of Field Recording Volume I is a four disc set with a 96 page book that contains essays and annotations by Art and over 100 illustrations and photographs by Art and his wife Margo. Art took a similar approach to Harry Smith in assembling the music: the discs are divided into Blues, Instrumental and Dance, Sacred, and a Survey disc that has a little bit of everything.

Disc 1 - Survey
Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down - Reverend Willie Mae Eberhart & Sister Fleeta Mitchell
Fred Adams - Ray Rhodes
Billy in the Low Ground - Gordon Tanner & Smokey Joe Miller
Frankie and Johnnie / Twenty Froggies Go to School - Margaret Kimmett
Cup of Faith / Beaudoin Quadrille - Fidel Martin
The Drowsy Sleeper - Mary Lomax
Little Red Rooster - The Myers Sisters
Tony Gave a Picnic - Ralph Sheckel
Mama Whoopin' the Blues - Neal Patman
Old John Henry Died on the Mountain - Henry Grady Terrell
Going Down the Road Feeling Bad - Golden River Grass
Hambone - The Phillips Wonders
Darby's Ram - Bobby McMillon
Darlin' Corey - Shorty Ralph Reynolds
Carabina Treinta-Treinta (30-30 Rifle) - Epifanio Sanchez and Group
I'm Dying, Mother - Bert Hare
Eternal Day - Sacred Harp Singing Group
Tom Watson Tune - Mabel Cawthorn
A Melancholy Sound - Arthur Vandeveer
What You Gonna Name that Pretty Baby? - Laethe Eller
Who Killed Poor Robin? - Ollie Gilbert
Free Go Lily - Brady Doc and Lucy Barnes
Brickyard Joe - John W. Summers
Lord Randolph - Mary Heekin
Fly Around My Blue-Eyed Gal - Lawrence Eller & Vaughn Eller
Irish Washerwoman - Old Threshers' Fife and Drum Band
Lord Daniel - Mary Lomax
Song of Fifty Cents - Jack Bean
One Saturday Night When I Come Home - Dr. David Rosenbaum

Disc 2 - Religious
Don't You Let Nobody Turn You 'Round - Silver Light Gospel Singers
Medley - Rev. Howard Finster
Assurance - Sacred Harp Singing Group
In the Silence of the Midnight - Bonnie Loggins & Mary Lomax
Let Me Fly - Lucy Barnes & Rev. Nathaniel Mitchell
Over Yonder Where Jesus Is - Leona Ruth
Guide Me, Thou Great Jehovah - Rev. Willie Gresham and Group
Teach Me, Master - Brady Doc and Lucy Barnes and the Gilmore Family
Lonesome Valley - Lawrence Eller, Vaughn Eller and Ross Brown
Walk with Me - Brady Doc Barnes and Lucy Barnes
Jubilee - Lawrence McKiver and the McIntosh County Shouters
Wade the Water to My Knees - Lucille Holloway and Basers
The Lord Is Risen - Deacon Tommy Tookes and Congregation
Sit Down, Servant - Ida Craig
I Am on the Battlefield for My Lord - Lucy Barnes & Rev. Nathaniel Mitchell
Idumea - Richard & Elula Moss
An Address to All - Tickanetley Primitive Baptist Church
Walking Along the Heavenly Road / I Am a Poor Pilgrim of Sorrow - The Phillips Wonders
Lenox - Tickanetley Primitive Baptist Church
Scarlet Purple Robe - Georgia Jean Eversole
Where the Soul of Man Never Dies - Newman Young & Smokey Joe Miller
Blow, Gabriel - Nathan Palmer
Do, Lord, Remember Me - Gospel Supremes
My Number Will Be Changed - Macedonia Baptist Church & Naomi Bradford
Hush and Listen - Rev. Willie Gresham and Macedonia Baptist Church

Disc 3 - Blues
Georgia Bottleneck Blues - Cecil Barfield
Carroll County Blues - Gordon Tanner & Smokey Joe Miller
Brooks' Blues - Brooks Berry & Scrapper Blackwell
Key to the Highway - Bill Giles & Neal Patman
Red River Blues - J.T. Adams
Nobody's Business - George Childers
Bowles' Blues - Eddie Bowles
Got the Blues So Bad - Cliff Sheats
Guitar Pete's Blues - Guitar Pete Franklin
Peach Orchard Mama - James Yank Rachel & Shirley Griffith
Big Leg Women - Guitar Pete Franklin & James Easley
Leaving Here, Don't Know Where I'm Going - Art Rosenbaum & Joe K. Rakestraw
The Mogul - Neal Patman
Deep Ellum Blues - Buford Boyd & Willard Benson
River Line Blues - Shirley Griffith
Going Down the Road Feeling Bad - Jake Staggers
I Cried All Night Long - Harvie Sims
Maggie Campbell Blues - Shirley Griffith
How Long Blues - Guitar Pete Franklin
A Blues - Scrapper Blackwell

Disc 4 - Instrumental and Dance
Lost Indian - Dallas Henderson
Flat Foot Charlie - Ben Entrekin & James Patterson
Down the Road - Lawrence Eller & Vaughn Eller
Sally, Won't You Have Me, Do Gal Do - Clester Hounchell
Fox Chase - Coy Martin
Fox Chase - Neal Patman
Medley - Gordon Tanner & Smokey Joe Miller
Mandolin Stomp - James Yank Rachel and Shirley Griffith
Omie Wise - Albert Hash
Train 45 - Albert Hash & Art Rosenbaum
Turkey in the Straw - George Childers
Arkansas Traveler - Larry Riendeau & Louis Riendeau
Fynne's Polka - Dwight "Red" Lamb
Pigtown Fling - Newt Tolman
Stony Point - Art Rosenbaum & John W. Summers
Cowboy Waltz - Bill Ashley & Earl Murphy
Walk, Little Julie - Clester Hounchell
Five to My Five - Rev. Howard Finster
Quit Kicking My Dog Around - Delbert Spray and Art Rosenbaum
Yankee Doodle - Old Threshers' Fife and Drum Band
Jig Medley - John W. Summers
Big Foot Feller - Buell Kazee
Don't Let Your Deal Go Down - Buford Boyd
Shout, Lulu - Uncle John Patterson
Shout, Lulu - Jake Staggers
Shout, Lulu - W. Guy Bruce
Sally Ann - W. Guy Bruce and Guy Bruce Jr.
Arkansas Traveler - Gordon Tanner, Phil Tanner, Art Rosenbaum and Larry Nash
Beaumont Rag - Frosty Lamb and Buzz Fountain
Whistler's Waltz - Kirk Brandenberger and Art Rosenbaum
Shady Grove - W. Guy Bruce
Coal Creek March - Ross Brown
Coal Creek March - Pete Steele
Jenny Nettles - Harry "Pappy" Wells
Fourteen Days in Georgia - Lyman Enloe and Bob Black
She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain - Maude Thacker
Audio Samples Billy in the Low Ground - Gordon Tanner & Smokey Joe Miller
Mama Whoopin' the Blues - Neal Patman
Don't You Let Nobody Turn You 'Round - Silver Light Gospel Singers
Medley - Rev. Howard Finster
Georgia Bottleneck Blues - Cecil Barfield
Brooks' Blues - Brooks Berry & Scrapper Blackwell
Lost Indian - Dallas Henderson
Down the Road - Lawrence Eller & Vaughn Eller

Stomu Yamash'ta - Go Live in Paris

The primary difference when comparing this live performance and the rendering simply titled Go (1976) is that Go Live From Paris (1978) presents the proceedings (as they exist) in a properly linear fashion, as correlated to the Eastern mythology that informed the extended two-part suite. This is in direct contrast to Go, which assembled the contents out of sequence. The stage show was recorded at the Palais Des Sports in Paris, France on June 12, 1976 and the recital setting allows for considerably longer and more exploratory interaction amongst Stomu Yamashta (percussion/piano), Steve Winwood (vocals/keyboards) and Michael Shrieve (drums). They are joined by legendary jazz axeman Al DiMeola (guitar) as well as Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel veteran Klaus Schulze (synthesizer) -- all of whom had contributed to Go. Filling out the band are Jerome Rimson (bass), Pat Thrall (guitar), Brother James (congas) and Karen Friedman (vocals). In terms of sheer intensity, it is hard to beat DiMeola's searing leads and Winwood's blue-eyed soul on the driving "Ghost Machine," easily topping its former incarnation. "Surfspin" lands into the funky mid-tempo "Time Is Here" highlighted by Karen Friedman's expressive exchanges with Winwood, while Rimson punctuates the rhythm with some penetrating bass interjections. This is followed by the sole Winwood composition "Winner/Loser," which further exemplifies how the spontaneity of the concert yields results that best their predecessors. In fact, on the whole the material on Go sounds like a blueprint for the exceptional and inspired outing found here. The second movement commences with fairly even renditions of the trifecta "Solitude," "Nature" and "Air Voice" -- which had previously been given the name "Air Over." "Crossing the Line" is an additional zenith, spotlighted by Winwood's emotive vocals and the untamed and otherwise incendiary frenzy of fretwork courtesy of DiMeola. Clocking in just shy of a quarter-hour, "Man of Leo" provides another opportunity for the players to loosen up and fuse their collective improvisations behind DiMeola's intense soloing and the similarly seminal instrumental offerings from Shrieve, Rimson -- who is at his most melodic -- and Freidman's haunting warbles. In 2004, Hip-O Select compiled both Go and the companion Go Live From Paris (1977) on to a limited-edition (of 2,500 copies) two-CD set remastered by Gavin Lurssen and includes all of the original notations, lyrics and artwork within a 16-page liner booklet.

1. Space Song (2:29)
2. Carnival (1:18)
3. Windspin (8:17)
4. Ghost Machine (3:51)
5. Surfspin (2:12)
6. Time Is Here (6:58)
7. Winner Loser (5:26)
8. Solitude (2:01)
9. Nature (4:27)
10. Air Voice (2:19)
11. Crossing The Line (5:33)
12. Man Of Leo (14:22)
13. Stellar (1:22)
14. Space Requiem (3:14)

Total Time: 63:49

Line-up / Musicians

- Stomu Yamashta / percussion, piano, synthesizers
- Steve Winwood / vocals, keyboards
- Michael Shrieve / drum kit
- Klaus Schultze / synthesizers
- Al Di Meola / solo guitar
- Jerome Rimson / bass
- Pat Thrall / guitar
- Brother James / congas
- Karen Friedman / vocals