Friday, August 27, 2010

America - In Concert 1972 (Acoustic sets ) - Los Angeles & Holland

America

In Concert 1972 (Acoustic)
1972-11-15 (Los Angeles) & 1972-1-1

( date uncertain-Bergen, Netherlands)

Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA
Bergen, Netherlands
FM Broadcast recordings, very good quality

New upgraded versions with improved quality! Now available in both Lossless (FLAC) and upgraded mp3 (320 kbps) Updated 04/17/15

I am a huge fan of the early years of the band America (mainly 1971-1974). Their first 3 albums are all great, and their first album, in particular, is one of my top ten all-time favorites. When the trio of Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley, and Dan Peek, who were all kids of career U.S. military personnel stationed at an Air Force Base near London, became a band they took the name of the homeland they barely knew, America. When they burst on the American music scene in 1972 with their scintillating acoustic guitar interplay, strong songwriting, amazing harmony vocals, and their brilliant debut album (America, 1971), I was mesmerized. Buoyed by the hit singles, ‘Horse with No Name’ and ‘I Need You’, the album also became a #1 Hit (ironically, the singles are actually among the weakest tracks on the album – the very best songs, such as ‘Rainy Day’, ‘Donkey Jaw’, ‘Here’, ‘Never Found the Time’, ‘Riverside’, etc. were rarely heard either on radio, or in concert from these guys). They followed this up with the almost equally strong Homecoming (1972), featuring the excellent ‘Ventura Highway’, ‘To Each His Own’, and ‘Only In Your Heart’, among others. Next came the also very good, but very under-appreciated album Hat Trick (1973). Hat Trick produced no hits (only the regrettable single ‘Muskrat Love’) and did not sell nearly as well as the previous albums, but was a very solid album, their most versatile and ambitious to date. Perhaps because of the relative failure of Hat Trick, the group, who had self-produced both Homecoming and Hat Trick, decided to bring in a well-known producer for their next album, the legendary George Martin, of Beatles fame. Although this union was highly successful (at least at first), resulting in smash hits like ‘Tin Man’, ‘Lonely People’, ‘Daisy Jane’, and ‘Sister Golden Hair’ over the next couple albums, I still believe the group lost their way when they teamed up with George Martin in 1974. George made them into a much more slick, highly polished maker of hit pop records, and the scruffy trio with the shimmering acoustic guitars, stellar vocal harmonies, and somewhat rough-around-the-edges recording style was effectively gone for good. Their sound was never the same again, giving way to studio musicians, slick arrangements, lush orchestration, and layers of sound. By 1977, their songs had become increasingly tired and lackluster. Then Dan Peek left, which as far as I’m concerned ended the group (No disrespect to Dewey and Gerry, who continued on as America, but without all 3 voices, songs, and guitars together, it is just not America). Anyway, I still love those early seventies years of America. Unfortunately, there are almost no available live recordings from those years, either official or unofficial. Most of the available concerts come from the later years, after Dan had left. There are a few shows from the Martin years with all three present (1975-1977), but not many. I would love to find some shows from around 1973 (which is when I first saw them), when they were featuring songs from all of their first 3 albums, but alas, there are none I know of. However, I have found this one boot from 1972, featuring a couple of short radio shows of the original group performing just with their acoustic guitars and vocals. This was just after Homecoming was released, and in addition to songs from the first 2 albums, this also features some never released songs and an Arlo Guthrie cover. Unfortunately, the short sets are very similar, thus there are 5 songs that are repeated between the 2 shows. Also, although these are from radio broadcasts, the initial recordings I had were pretty good, but not that great (somewhat muddy sound, guitar leads not clear, minor speed fluctuations). Fortunately, more recently, alternate, much improved recordings of these broadcasts have become available. So, now, I am able to offer these improved upgraded versions of these shows, in both lossless and upgraded mp3 (320) (Originally, I only had these available as 192 kbps files). As far as I know these are among the only recordings of the group from this period (along with the longer 1972 Philly show, also available here), so it is quite precious and wonderful to hear.

Tracklist
01. Radio DJ intro
02. Riverside
03. Sandman
04. I Need You
05. Submarine Ladies
06. Don't Cross The River
07. Three Roses ->
08. Comin' Into Los Angeles (Arlo Guthrie Cover)
09. Living Isn't Really Giving (unreleased song) ->
10. Rain Song (unreleased song)
11. Horse With No Name
12.  Don't Cross The River
13.  I Need You
14.  Look Up Look Down (unreleased song)
15.  Three Roses/Comin' Into Los Angeles
16.  A Horse With No Name
17.  Everyone I Meet Is From California
18.  Sandman

tracks 1-11 - 1972-11-15, Whiskey A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA
tracks 12-18 - 1972-01-01 (date questionable), Bergen, The Netherlands - Dutch radio show

Upgraded recording, improved quality from version previously available (alternate source).

New Updated Links! (08/31/21)
FLAC - America_1972 Radio Sets_LA&Netherlands_upgraded-FLAC.rar

mp3 - America_1972 Radio Sets_LA&Netherlands_upgraded-mp3.rar

Friday, August 20, 2010

Neil Young - 1976-03-11 - Tokyo, Japan

Neil Young & Crazy Horse
1976-03-11
Live at Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan

'Arena Of Gold' [Tarantura]
Master Audience recording, very good quality
New Upgraded quality to 320kbps mp3 files!
(previously available @ 192k)
Artwork Included

Ok, to wrap up this set of Neil Young posts, I decided to go ahead and post one of the 1976 Japan shows, because in checking, they don't seem to be as widely available as I previously thought, even though a few have been featured on some other blogs. Although no soundboard recordings have surfaced from these shows (Perhaps Neil is still holding these for future release in the Archives series?), this is one of the best audience recordings of these Japan shows, the final night in Tokyo, at Budokan Hall. As was the composition of Young’s shows at the time, the first set was solo Neil Young with acoustic guitar or piano. And as usual, he unveiled several 'new' songs on this tour, including 'Too Far Gone', 'Let It Shine', 'Lotta Love', and 'No One Seems to Know'. The second (electric) set brought on Crazy Horse, and featured the first live versions of the recently released Zuma classics 'Like a Hurricane', 'Cortez the Killer', and 'Drive Back' , as well as searing versions of 'Southern Man', 'Cowgirl in the Sand', 'Cinnamon Girl', and others. It is a delight to hear this period of Young’s career when there is such a sense of tension, freshness, surprise and a certain desperation to these songs.

Disc 1: Neil Solo acoustic
01. Tell Me Why (5.8MB)
02. Mellow My Mind (5.0MB)
03. After The Gold Rush (6.1MB)
04. Too Far Gone (4.4MB)
05. Only Love Can Break Your Heart (4.8MB)
06. Let It Shine [released on Stills-Young Band’s Long May You Run album] (6.5MB)
07. A Man Needs A Maid (5.4MB)
08. No One Seems To Know [unreleased] (4.8MB)
09. Heart Of Gold (5.7MB)

Disc 2: w/Crazy Horse (electric)
01. Intermission
02. Country Home
03. Don’t Cry No Tears
04. Cowgirl In The Sand
05. Lotta Love
06. Like A Hurricane
07. The Losing End
08. Drive Back
09. Southern Man
Encore
10. Cortez The Killer
11. Cinnamon Girl

Lineup
Neil Young - guitar, vocals
Billy Talbot - bass
Frank Sampedro - guitar
Ralph Molina - drums

New Link! New version, with upgraded quality (320 kbps) files (Updated 08/24/21)
Neil_Young_1976-03-11-Tokyo_Japan-320.rar

FYI: A Lossless (FLAC) version of the show from the same venue but the previous night (3-10-76) is available at Quality Bootz here.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Buffalo Springfield - The Missing Herd (Live, outtakes, rarities compilation)


Buffalo Springfield
The Missing Herd
(2-CD compilation of demos, outtakes and live rarities)

Varying quality recordings, mostly very good
Lossless (FLAC) files
Artwork is included.

OK now, we can't bring up Neil Young, Stephen Stills, and Richie Furay's Poco, without hearing from the group that started it all, the great Buffalo Springfield, can we? Although Buffalo Springfield seems to be known primarily for what followed from their members (CSN&Y, Young, Stills solo, Loggins & Messina, Poco, etc.), let's not forget that Buffalo Springfield was a great band themselves, pioneers and innovators of all that followed, yes, but also just a great band regardless. They were very diverse, encompassing all of the country, rock, folk, pop, and psychedelic influences in a strange and unique blend, and while they only were together for a period of about 2 years total, produced many all-time classic tracks and jams. Here is an excellent bootleg compilation (1 disc of live tracks, 1 disc of outtakes & rarities), titled The Missing Herd, which was compiled to be a companion to the officially-released 4-CD Buffalo Springfield Box Set, released in 2001. Thus, it is subtitled Vols 5 & 6 (to follow the 4 official CDs - please don't ask where are the first 4 volumes), this is the complete Missing Herd compilation. Enjoy.

Disc 1:
The Missing Herd: Vol. 5 Livestock (Live tracks) (Subtitled Vol 5 because was designed as a companion to the official four-CD Springfield box set).
01 Introduction 0:41
02 Go and Say Goodbye 2:40
03 Mr. Soul 6:27
04 Bluebird 9:18
05 Pay the Price 5:32
06 Nobody's Fool 4:11
07 My Kind of Love 4:21
08 Good Time Boy 3:32
09 For What It's Worth 3:30
10 Rock 'n' Roll Woman 4:13
11 A Child's Claim To Fame 2:36
12 Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing 4:50
13 Uno Mundo 2:32
14 For What It's Worth 3:30
15 Bluebird 12:13
16 Epilogue: On the Way Home 2:14

Tracks 1, 8, 9: Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, Calif. 5/5/68
Tracks 2 - 7: Teen and Twenty Club, Huntingdon Beach, Calif. 8/11,12/67
Tracks 10 - 15: Market Hall, Dallas 4/20/68
Track 16: Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco 12/67

Disc 2:
The Missing Herd: Vol. 6 Do Not Approach Buffalo (Demos, outtakes, alternate takes, etc)
01 Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing (demo) 3:00
02 Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It (alt) 3:08
03 "Raga 1" (unreleased) 1:29
04 Mr. Soul (alternate take) 2:40
05 My Kind of Love (alt) 2:33
06 For What It's Worth (Smothers Brothers) 2:58
07 Down to the Wire (alt) 2:31
08 Bluebird (extended mix) 9:11
09 Sell Out (demo) 2:36
10 For What It's worth (Monterey Pop 1967) 2:57
11 Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing (Monterey Pop 1967) 3:33
12 Rock 'n' Roll Woman (Monterey Pop 1967) 4:06
13 Bluebird (Monterey Pop 1967) 4:24
14 A Child's Claim to Fame (Monterey Pop 1967) 2:00
15 Merry Go Round (alt mix) 2:07
16 Uno Mundo (alt mix) 2:06
17 49 Reasons (demo) 2:32
18 Roads of Plenty (barn rehearsals 1988) 4:22
19 Stills Boogie (barn rehearsals 1988) 3:29
20 Bluebird (extended mix, alt) 9:30

(Vol 6 collects mostly demos, alternate takes and outtakes. Five songs are from the Monterey Pop Festival performance. Unreleased songs include Sellout, Raga 1, Road Of Plenty and Stills Boogie. There are two different nine-minute versions of Bluebird, featuring long jams.)

New Link! (Updated 08/28/14)
Disc 1 (vol.5): Buffalo Springfield_Missing Herd Vol.5_FLAC.rar
Disc 2 (vol.6): Buffalo Springfield_Missing Herd Vol.6_FLAC.rar

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Stills-Young Band - 1976-07-07 - Providence, RI


Stills-Young Band
(Stephen Stills & Neil Young)
1976-07-07
Providence Civic Center, Providence, RI
Master audience recording (Dan Lampinski), very good quality
mp3 @ 320 kbps
Artwork included


OK, here's the second part of the 7/7/76 post, the headline act, the Stills-Young Band. The Stills-Young Band consisted of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, and several of the members of Stills' former band Manassas, and represented a very brief reunion of Young and Stills. The pairing seemed odd at the time, since it was usually the friction between Young and Stills that ended their previous collaborations, from Buffalo Springfield to CSNY. Young has said that the reason he joined up with Stills again at that time was that he wanted to return to some of the interesting guitar explorations and interplay the two of them created in Buffalo Springfield. However, perhaps not surprisingly, the reunion was briefer than expected, because after quickly recording their only album as a band and setting off on tour, Young apparently tired of the group and just left in the middle of the tour, notoriously sending Stills a telegram saying he was gone and not coming back. Stills and band continued the tour without Young. Overall, 1976 was a very interesting and productive year for Young. In the early part of the year Young had a highly successful tour of Japan and Europe with Crazy Horse, and according to many fans those Japan shows rank among his very best. Then he returned to record with Stills, and they set out on tour months before the album was released. By the time the album was released in September, the band was already defunct. Several places have reported that Young only played on 8 dates of the tour, but that is wrong, he played on 19 dates before leaving, about half of the planned tour. In between and around all this, Young was also writing and recording some of his most memorable tunes around this time, many of which would not be released for some years, including 'Pocahontas', 'Like a Hurricane', 'Powderfinger', 'Too Far Gone', and several others (many were part of the great unreleased album, Chrome Dreams). Later in the year, Neil toured again with Crazy Horse, and then finished his concert year on Thanksgiving on stage with The Band for 'The Last Waltz'. As for the Stills-Young performances, they were interesting, and Young was at the top of his game (not as much for Stills) but even at this fairly early stage of the tour, there seems to be little interaction between Stills and Young, with there being a clear separation between the Stills songs and the Young songs. Those who were at the shows said they were rarely even onstage together. The performance, however, is quite good overall, but why they chose to sing 'Suite:Judy Blue Eyes' without Crosby or Nash present is very strange (it is downright painful to hear Young and Stills trying to sing the harmony vocals). Nonetheless, it is another unique and interesting chapter in Neil Young's strange career. (BTW, all Young fans should already have Chrome Dreams and some of the 1976 Japan shows, which are available on several other blogs - only reason I haven't posted them here).

Electric Set
01. Love The One You're With
02. The Loner
03. Helpless
04. For What It's Worth
05. Long May You Run
06. Black Queen
07. Southern Man

Acoustic Set
08. Sugar Mountain
09. Midnight On The Bay
10. After The Goldrush
11. Word Game
12. 49 Bye-Byes >
13. Circling >
14. 49 Bye-Byes
15. Treetop Flyer
16. Blackbird
17. Heart Of Gold
18. Ohio

Electric Set
19. band introductions
20. Buyin' Time
21. Let It Shine
22. Make Love To You
23. Cowgirl In The Sand
24. Mr. Soul
25. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes

Jerry Aiello - keyboards
Joe Lala - percussion, vocals
George "Chocolate" Perry - bass, vocals
Stephen Stills - guitar, vocals
Joe Vitale - drums, vocals
Neil Young - guitar, piano, harmonica, vocals

New Link! (Updated 12/30/13)
Stills-Young_1976-07-07_-_Providence.rar


Sunday, August 8, 2010

Poco - 1976-07-07 - Providence, RI


Poco
1976-07-07
Providence Civic Center, Providence, RI
Master audience recording (Dan Lampinski), very good quality
mp3 @ 320 kbps
Artwork included

In going back through the blog, I noticed that it has been over a year since I posted any Neil Young, which was quite surprising, and that needed to be corrected. So, I decided to post a show from the brief tour of the Stills-Young Band in 1976, and of the available shows, the show from Providence, which has only recently become available as a high quality master recording from renowned taper Dan Lampinski, was by far the best quality. And with that show came a bonus, the complete set of the opening act, Poco. And as anyone who enjoys this band knows, there seem to be very few available recorded shows from this fine band. In addition, Poco happens to fit in well with last month's theme of great, underappreciated bands (as well as being the third band in row I've posted that starts with the letter 'P'). So, this is the first of a 2-part post from the concert on July 7, 1976, featuring Poco as opening act, and then the main set from the Stills-Young Band. Poco, is another great band that never really seemed to get over that hump that separates a fine critically-successful band with a strong cult following from the widespread acclaim and commercial sales of the most successful bands. There's no question that Poco was one of the pioneers and originators of the country-rock sound and style that became popular in the seventies, mixing a driving rock sound with the more traditional instrumentation and quality pickin' (pedal steel guitar, dobro, banjo, etc.) and harmony vocals of bluegrass and country, and throughout the years they remained one of the very best. Originally formed in 1968 by Richie Furay, Jim Messina, and pedal steel guitarist Rusty Young following the demise of Buffalo Springfield, they never achieved the success of their former bandmates, Stills and Young, nor that of later bands they inspired, such as the Eagles. Perhaps, they were a bit too country for most rockers in those days ("Too country for rock radio, too rock for country radio" it seemed). Whereas most of the more successful bands turned to a more pop sound, Poco retained more of that countrified feel throughout the '70's. One problem Poco had was the lineup seemed to be constantly changing. Original bassist Randy Meisner left after 1 album (later to become a founding member of the Eagles). Messina left after the 2nd album, and Furay himself also left in 1973 (after 5 albums). However the primary core of the group through those '70's years was fairly constant, with Rusty Young (guitar, dobro, banjo, pedal steel, mandolin, etc), Paul Cotton (guitar), Timothy B. Schmit (bass), and George Grantham (drums) all being with the band from 1970-1977. Tim Schmit then left the band in 1978 to replace Meisner in the Eagles (Ironically, Schmit had originally replaced Meisner in Poco, then left Poco to replace Meisner in the Eagles, and only then becoming 'famous'). Poco always seemed to be the minor leagues relative to the 'major league' acts of the Eagles, CSN, etc.). However, their music was just as good (or better) than any of those other acts for most of those years. Anyway, so here they are opening for Stills-Young in 1976. This was after Furay had left, but still with the core lineup of Young, Cotton, Schmit, and Grantham, and during a particularly productive period. BTW, the band continued (in a somewhat different form) through the '80's, and has gotten back together at various times (and in various forms). There is still a version of the band touring today. This band also is one of those that seems to have gotten much more respect in retrospect than they ever got when they were around the first time, being the subject of numerous compilations, re-issues, and 'best of' collections.

Tracklist
01. Sagebrush Serenade
02. Rocky Mt Breakdown
03. Faith In The Families
04. Starin' At The Sky
05. Too Many Nights Too Long
06. Magnolia
07. Steal Away
08. Keep On Tryin'
09. Rose Of Cimarron
10. Georgia Bind My Ties
11. Sittin' on a Fence
12. Good Feelin To Know
13. Hoedown
Opening for the Stills - Young Band

New Link! (Update 06/25/23)

Monday, August 2, 2010

The Pousette-Dart Band - Outtakes 1976-1978


The Pousette-Dart Band
Outtakes (1976-1978)

Studio outtakes, very good quality
mp3 @ 128

For those who are (or have recently become) fans of PDB, here are some studio outtakes from PDB recording sessions of tracks that never made it on any of their official releases, and one live track of an unrecorded song. These were compiled (except the live track) from Jon Pousette-Dart's web site: (http://www.pousette-dart.com).

Tracklist:
1. Everybody's Going For the Money
2. First Class Freight
3. How Can Our Love Grow?
4. Out of Love
5. The Same Thing
6. Wanting The Need
7. Blindman
8. Movie Score Sample
9. Amsterdam
10. Night Time (Live)

Link Updated 10/3/21
Pousette-Dart_Band_outtakes1976-78.rar