Eric Clapton & Friends - 2007-12-31 - Woking, Surrey, UK

Eric Clapton & Friends (performing as 'Complete Abandon')
with special guests Joe Walsh, Pete Townshend, and Ringo Starr
12/31/2007
Woking Leisure Center, Woking, Surrey, UK
Soundboard recording, excellent quality (Mid Valley MVR 594/595)
mp3 @ 320K
Artwork included

Happy New Year Everyone! For this year's New Year's Eve Concert presentation here is a unique show (in great quality) from Eric Clapton and some very special friends. Apparently, this is something that Eric has done regularly, that is, perform on New Year's Eve at a small venue in Woking with a different 'band' name each time, as part of a 'dry' NYE show (apparently, the show is partly sponsored by a local Alcoholics Anonymous chapter). In 2007, the band was called 'Complete Abandon', and in addition to such notable players as Gary Brooker and Andy Fairweather Low, also featured guest appearances by Joe Walsh, Ringo Starr, and Pete Townshend. The setlist consists primarily of old Rock 'n Roll and Blues standards and classics, and is certainly not a typical Clapton show, but it is a good old-fashioned rollickin' good time, and represents a unique one-of-kind show experience. So, here is Eric and Friends as Complete Abandon in a great NYE show. Enjoy!

Tracklist:
Disc 1
1. Introduction
2. Knock On Wood
3. Reconsider Baby
4. You Can't Judge A book By Looking at the Cover
5. Sea Cruise
6. Gin House
7. Rockin' Robin
8. Rocky Mountain Way
9. Boys
10. Honey Don't
11. Old Black Joe

Disc 2
1. Auld Lang Syne
2. In The Midnight Hour
3. Hoochie Coochie Man
4. Lucille
5. Blueberry Hill
6. We Shall Not Be Moved
7. Goodnight Irene
8. Three Steps to Heaven
9. Cocaine
10. A Whiter Shade of Pale
11. Shake Rattle and Roll
12. Little Queenie

'Complete Abandon' lineup
Eric Clapton
Henry Spinetti
Dave Bronze
Andy Fairweather Low
Paul Wassif
Chris Stainton
Gary Brooker
Michelle John
Sharon White
Special guests:
Ringo Starr
Pete Townshend
Joe Walsh

http://depositfiles.com/files/cg0rlatdq

Obtained from Viva Les Bootlegs quite awhile back. Thanks!

BB Chronicles Holiday Sampler 2012 - No Rest for Ye Merry Gentlemen

No Rest for Ye Merry Gentlemen
A BB Chronicles Holiday Sampler
(A collection of different versions and variations of 'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen', performed by a variety of artists in a variety of styles)
Various Artists
mp3 @ 192-320

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays everyone! Here I have this year's Holiday collection, but this one is something different. I know that many disdain the annual holiday-themed music blitz, but as I've said before, I love Christmas and holiday music, and one of the things I love about it is hearing all the different and varied versions of some of the same perennial holiday classics. When an artist can provide a new and interesting interpretation of a familiar and well-worn standard, while still maintaining the qualities we love of the original song, it is just a joy to hear. With that in mind, what I decided to do for this year's compilation was to show some of the many different styles and interpretations of a single traditional Christmas Carol, that I find very appealing. Yes, that's right, this collection consists of a single song, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, done many different ways and styles. So, here we have 7 vocal and 7 instrumental version of that famous song, from the traditional to the bizarre, ranging from orchestral to solo guitar, accapella to choir, classical to jazz, and then some, but each with some very appealing and interesting aspects. I realize that this won't appeal to everyone, and might seem tedious to some (the same song over and over), but I really think that these are all good, some even great, versions, and it is really amazing just how varied and different the same song can be. OK, so this may not be a collection you want to consistently play straight through all the time, but certainly there are multiple different versions that you can really enjoy. Now, there were many traditional carols that I could have used for this type of exercise, but I chose GRYMG because it seemed to have among the best variety of different types of versions and styles (at least that I was familiar with), from the traditional vocal to the jazz improvisations, yet this is probably not one of the very 'top' or most famous of the carols, that is, it is not one that simply everyone does.
      But first, before we start, a little about the carol itself. This is a 'traditional' English carol, thought to have been written sometime around the early-mid 1700's by an unknown author (sometime before 1760, which was the first known published version). There has been some confusion over the meaning of the title and first line, 'God rest ye merry, gentlemen', as there should be a comma after merry. Thus, it does not really refer to 'merry gentlemen', but rather that God should keep you merry, followed by gentlemen, with 'rest' here referring to 'keep or make'. Another interesting note is that in the original published versions in the 1700's, the lyric was 'you' not 'ye, and it appears that it was changed to 'ye' in more modern times to give the carol a more quaintly old-fashioned feel. 
Anyway, hope you enjoy these. Go through and pick out your favorite (and least favorite) styles and versions. And are there any other versions you know of that you like better than these? Let me know.   

Tracklist: Artist - style
(All songs are variations on 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen)
1. London Symphony Orchestra w/Chorus - Traditional Orchestral (with choir)
2. The Whiffenpoofs (Yale Accapella group) - Traditional vocal (Accapella)
3. Acoustic Christmas - Instrumental (Acoustic instruments)
4. Aimee Mann (2006-12-11 - KCRW) - Contemporary vocal (Pop-rock)
5. John Fahey - Instrumental (Solo guitar)
6. Barenaked Ladies (w/ Sarah McLachlan) - Folk-Rock vocal
7. Chuck Leavell - Instrumental jazz (Solo piano)
8. Chicago - Pop vocal
9. Smokey Mtn Christmas - Instrumental (bluegrass-appalachian)
10. The L.A. Gospel Singers - Gospel-R&B vocal
11. Steve Laury - Instrumental (Smooth Jazz)
12. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Pop-soul vocal
13. Chick Corea Elektric Band - Instrumental (Jazz)
14. Brian Setzer Orchestra - Instrumental (Big Band Swing-Rock)

BBChronicles Holiday Sampler-2012_No rest.rar

BTW, my personal favorites of these are: Barenaked Ladies, for vocal version (I think this swingin' folk-rock version (w/Sarah M.) is the best overall version I've heard. It just has a very cool updated 'Kingston Trio' style to it with the upright bass, guitar and great vocals); and Chuck Leavell's (Former keyboard player for Allman Brothers and his own band Sea Level) beautiful solo piano version (Check out his excellent Christmas album "What's in That Bag?", that features several jazzy piano instrumentals of classics, as well as some funky, rollickin' vocal and original tracks, too. One of my favorite Christmas albums). Also alot of fun are John Fahey's solo guitar track (also from a very good Christmas album: The New Possibility), and Brian Setzer's swingin' Big Band versions.   

BB Chronicles Christmas Chollection 2010

BB Chronicles Echlectic Christmas Chollection 2010 (repost)

A unique mix of live and rare versions of Christmas, Winter, and Holiday Season songs from various artists.
Various recordings (FM, SBD, audience) of varying quality (mostly good to excellent)
mp3 @ 128 to 320 kbps

Here, once again, is my compilation of some lesser-known holiday songs that I put together a couple years ago. I'm reposting it again for the Holiday season for those that may not have already gotten it.  I do have another somewhat different collection that I am also putting together, and I hope to have that ready to post later this week. But for now, here is my previous (but still very good) collection. Here are a few notes about the collection (also posted previously).

I put this together from various versions and tracks I have compiled over the last several years. All of the versions here are live, otherwise unreleased, or available as free downloads, thus some of the versions are not the best quality (compared to the commercial releases). But, I think it is a fun and entertaining collection. I know there are many who are not that fond of Christmas songs in general, and modern versions of the same traditional songs in particular. But I happen to love the seasonal Christmas songs, and love to hear new and different versions of old classics, as well as original new Christmas-related songs. Thus, this collection features a mixture of old and new songs, heartfelt and jovial, serious and silly, but most probably by artists and versions you may not have heard before. Some of these tracks have been included in various other well-dispersed Christmas boots (Like Santa's Boots & Upon This Night), but there are several others that are unique to this compilation. I have purposely not included some of the more famous tracks & artists, but have gone with lesser-known versions and other stuff that I really like.

I start  things off with a couple by the wonderful Aimee Mann (from a radio broadcast promoting her 2006 unconventional Christmas album, One More Drifter in the Snow, and as you might expect from her, it's not the most cheery Holiday album, but still very good), first a rather somber, but spirited 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman', followed by one of her own powerful originals, 'Calling Mary'. Next up is one I consider a Christmas Classic, but is not very well-known. It is the very beautiful, but melancholy 'Christmas Face' by Fisher. I first heard this over 10 years ago on the old mp3.com site, and it is just a gorgeous song. Fisher has survived their entire career solely on internet sales of their music, and they regularly offer their Christmas songs, including this one, for free download at their website. This is a seasonal favorite at my house. As good a start as those songs are, however, it was really time to lighten things up, so who better to bring some fun to the Holidays but The Barenaked Ladies, and their 'Jingle Bells' is a riot, perhaps the best version of this song ever (It starts all slow, overly serious, and pretentious, but then bursts into all out childish fun and glory, even including the perennial grade school variation verse [you know, 'Batman smells...' etc.]). Then things get even more ridiculous as Horatio Sanz and his SNL buddies take the stage with their ultra-cheesy, yet somehow cool, 'I Wish It was Christmas Today' taken from the original SNL broadcast (This may have been Horatio Sanz' finest moment on SNL). Then the 'Ladies are back with a clever and original ditty,'Elf's Lament' (from their excellent 2004 Barenaked for the Holidays album), a twisted take on a labor dispute at Santa's Workshop. Next, we return to somewhat more traditional holiday fair with Marti Jones' version of 'Rockin Around the Christmas Tree'. For those not familar with Marti, she was a wonderful female vocalist who had a string of fine albums in the '90's (Again, this is one of the best versions of this song I've heard). Then there is Bruce Cockburn with a gritty 'Early on one Christmas Morn', followed by Jackson Browne actually doing a cover of the little-known Timbuk3 satirical holiday protest song 'All I Want For Christmas is World Peace'. Next, is Steven Page (from BNL) in a fun duet with Rita MacNeil (Canadian TV hostess?) from her TV show. Next is another internet oldie, a song I discovered from the old mp3.com site over 10 years ago, a vocalist that went by the name C. Basinet doing 'Santa Baby' (I don't know anything about her, or what happened to her after this, but again, this is one of the best versions I have heard of this song). Then we have slightly different versions of some traditional songs done by Dave Alvin and Brian Setzer's Swing Orchestra, and a Greg Lake solo version of ELP's 'I Believe in Father Christmas', followed by a hilarious rebuttal by The Kinks, who have quite a different take on 'Father Christmas' (Unfortunately, the quality of this live version is sub-par, but it was the only decent unofficial recording of this classic I could find. If you have the original studio version, by all means substitute it in place here). Next is a short Christmas ditty from Yo La Tengo, a moving rendition of 'Please Come Home for Christmas' by Fiona Apple, and Rick Danko's 'Christmas Must Be Tonight'. Another underrated vocalist, Shawn Colvin, contributes a touching 'Merry Little Christmas', followed by a beautiful, stirring version of Joni Mitchell's classic 'River'. The Christmas portion of the collection comes to a rousing finish with Darlene Love's yearly revisit of 'Christmas (Please Come Home)' for the David Letterman Show (this was the 2006 version) of what has become a twenty-something-year TV holiday tradition. Then we move on to New Year's as Dave Edmunds rings it in with Chuck Berry's 'Run Rudolph Run' from an MTV NYE Bash (I think Edmunds studio version of this song is THE definitive version, even better than Chuck's own). Then Graham Parker gets serious and enlightens us about the 'New Year's Revolution', a great and compelling song. And finally, we close the whole thing out with a suitably austere and touching 'Auld Lang Syne' by Fisher. Anyway, so there it is, hope you like it. Let me know what you think of this compilation relative to other offbeat Christmas collections out there.

Hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas and Holiday Season.
Tracklist
01. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Aimee Mann (2006-12-11 - KCRW Santa Monica)
02. Calling Mary - Aimee Mann (2006-12-11 - KCRW Santa Monica)
03. Christmas Face - Fisher (free download - www.fishertheband.com)
04. Jingle Bells - Barenaked Ladies (2004-12-14 - WTMX Chicago)
05. I Wish It Was Christmas Today - SNL (H.Sanz, J.Fallon, C.Kattan, T.Morgan - TV)
06. Elf's Lament - Barenaked Ladies (2004-12-14 - WTMX Chicago)
07. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Marti Jones (1995-12 - Birchmere FM)
08. Early On One Christmas Morn - Bruce Cockburn (1992-12-20 - NY FM)
09. All I Want For Christmas Is World Peace - Jackson Browne (1993-12-12 - NY FM)
10. Baby It's Cold Outside - Steven Page & Rita MacNeil (1993 Canada TV)
11. Santa Baby - C. Basinet (2000? - from old mp3.com site)
12. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Dave Alvin (1992-12-25 - Hollywood FM)
13. Sleigh Ride - Brian Setzer Orchestra - 2009-12-12 - Thackerville)
14. I Believe in Father Christmas - Greg Lake (1994-12 NY TV)
15. Father Christmas - The Kinks (1977-12-13 - Pawtucket)
16. It's Christmas Time - Yo La Tengo
17. Please Come Home For Christmas - Fiona Apple (live)
18. Christmas Must Be Tonight - Rick Danko (1997-12-08 - Wash. DC)
19. Merry Little Christmas - Shawn Colvin (1998-12-24 KGSR Austin FM)
20. River - Shawn Colvin (1998-12-24 KGSR Austin FM)
21. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love (2006-12-22 - Letterman Show TV)
22. Run Rudolph Run - Dave Edmunds (1986-12-31 - MTV RocknRoll Ball)
23. New Year's Revolution - Graham Parker (1994-12-18 FM)
24. Auld Lang Syne - Fisher - (free download - www.fishertheband.com)

New Link! Updated 09/29/23
BBChronicles_Christmas_2010.rar.

Some other Christmas-themed offerings still available here on the blog are:

A couple of  Bruce Springsteen Live Holiday Collections available Here

Chicago's Live Christmas Show from 1998 available Here

Graham Parker & The Rumour - 2012-12-02 - Huntington, NY

Graham Parker & The Rumour
December 02, 2012
Live at The Paramount, Huntington, NY
mp3 @ 320 kbps
Audience recording, very good quality

This just in, another wonderful show from the current Graham Parker & The Rumour Reunion Tour. This one, from just about a week after the first show in Tarrytown (featured here), is from Huntington, NY, has a somewhat shorter set, but features a better recording (brighter, clearer) than the last one, and thus makes it easier to hear everything the band is doing (as well as Graham's heartfelt vocals), which makes this one even more of a joy to listen to (although it is missing several great songs from the opening night show). One song that was added for this show, though, was 'Stupefaction', from The Up Escalator. So, here is another great show from these legendary performers on another stop on this legendary tour (for details on band and tour, see previous post). Enjoy!

Tracklist:
01. Fool’s Gold
02. Stop Cryin’ About The Rain
03. Hotel Chambermaid
04. Get Started. Start A Fire
05. Watch The Moon Come Down
06. Live In Shadows
07. I’ll Never Play Jacksonville Again
08. A Lie Gets Halfway ‘Round The World
09. Long Emotional Ride
10. Discovering Japan
11. Nobody Hurts You
12. Protection
13. Stupefaction
14. Local Girls
15. Passion Is No Ordinary Word
16. Soul Shoes

Lineup:
Graham Parker - vocals, guitar
Steve Goulding - drums
Andrew Bodnar - bass
Bob Andrews - keyboards, vocals
Martin Belmont - guitar, vocals
Brinsley Schwarz - guitar, vocals

GPRumour_2012-12-02_-_Huntington.rar

Graham Parker & The Rumour - 2012-11-24 - Tarrytown, NY

Graham Parker & The Rumour
November 24, 2012
Live at the Tarrytown Music Hall, Tarrytown, NY.
Audience recording, very good quality
mp3 @ 192 kbps
Custom artwork

This is turning into a big year for one of our long-time favorites, Graham Parker. Earlier this year, he reunited with his legendary crack back-up band from his glory days, the Rumour (complete with all 5 original members), and now they have released their first new album together in over 30 years (titled Three Chords Good, available now), and even better, have now started out on tour together, again, for the first time in over 30 years. Graham and the Band are also featured prominently in a new Hollywood Movie (Judd Apatow's This Is 40, starring Paul Rudd) that is premiering soon, and is providing much (needed) publicity for Graham and the Rumour (and yes , they actually appear and perform in the movie, not just as part of the soundtrack). And to top that all off, here is an actual recording from the first night of their new tour, launched in Tarrytown, NY, 11-24-2012. So, here is a good quality audience recording from that first night, and it shows Graham and the Band in fine form. They put on a great show, featuring a good mix of new songs (7 from the new album) and old classics (over a dozen from the classic period of GP&The Rumour). Ok, maybe they don't still have the same fire and intensity they once did, but they sound great, and it is wonderful to hear them back together playing live again. And, although I have not heard the entire new album, what I have heard (and the new tracks here), sound really good to me, so I'm sure the new album is worth getting, too (I will be getting it, just haven't gotten to it yet). So, anyway, enjoy this gem in the next stage of Graham's wonderful career, and really, how great is it to hear him with the entire Rumour band (Martin Belmont, Brinsley Schwarz, Bob Andrews, Andrew Bodnar, and Steve Goulding)?  Enjoy.

Taper (larryrulz) notes: Fantastic start to the first Graham Parker and The Rumour tour in over 30 years. The audience was into it but not a distraction at all. The setlist is a good mix of new and old… In this recording, there is a gap of about two minutes’ duration between the end of 'Local Girls' and the beginning of 'You Can’t Be Too Strong'. The gap consists mostly of applause and a very brief portion of Graham’s banter before 'You Can’t Be Too Strong'. No music is missing.

Tracklist:
01. Fool’s Gold
02. Stop Cryin’ About The Rain
03. Nothin’s Gonna Pull Us Apart
04. Snake Oil Capital Of The World
05. intro to Get Started. Start A Fire
06. Get Started. Start A Fire
07. Watch The Moon Come Down
08. intro to Old Soul
09. Old Soul
10. Hotel Chambermaid
11. Live In Shadows
12. A Lie Gets Halfway ‘Round The World
13. intro to Jacksonville
14. I’ll Never Play Jacksonville Again
15. intro to Long Emotional Ride
16. Long Emotional Ride
17. Discovering Japan
18. Nobody Hurts You
19. Protection
20. Thunder And Rain
21. Coathangers
22. Local Girls
Encore 1
23. You Can’t Be Too Strong
24. Passion Is No Ordinary Word
25. applause
Encore 2
26. Don’t Ask Me Questions
27. Soul Shoes

Lineup:
Graham Parker - vocals, guitar
Steve Goulding - drums
Andrew Bodnar - bass
Bob Andrews - keyboards, vocals
Martin Belmont - guitar, vocals
Brinsley Schwarz - guitar, vocals

GPRumour_2012-11-24_Tarrytown.rar

Thanks to the taper (larryrulz) and BigO Worldwide for making this available.

Steely Dan - 1994-09-02 - Dallas, TX SBD

Steely Dan
September 2, 1994
Live at Starplex Amphitheater
Dallas, TX
Soundboard recording, excellent quality
mp3 @320k
Artwork included

OK, here's a another recent find that has already appeared on a number of other blogs, but this is just too good to not post here as well. What we have here is a superb-sounding soundboard recording from the 1994 'Dan Tour. This is easily the best quality recording available from this tour, and likely one of the best-sounding 'Dan boots from any tour, so this is some great stuff, that apparently has only recently become available.
Although I personally much prefer the early 'Rock Band' Dan of the 1974 tour to the later 'Smooth Jazz' Dan of these later tours, still, any year Steely Dan is great stuff, and for these initial reunion tours of 1993-1994 it was soooo good to finally get to hear Steely Dan live again after so many years (like almost 20?) of no Live Dan shows. So, here we have a fantastic recording and a great show, featuring a similar, but still somewhat different, setlist from that featured on the 1993 tour (as indicated in 1993 St.Louis show previously posted here. This time, we still have 2 tracks from Becker's solo album '11 Tracks of Whack', but they are 2 different songs this time ('Down in the Bottom' and 'Hard Up Case' replaces 'Book of Liars' and 'Fall of '92'). This show, surprisingly, does not contain any songs from Don's solo albums (previously, they had featured 'IGY' and 'Green Flower Street' from The Nightfly, and 'Teahouse on the the Tracks' from Kamakiriad), but that allows them to feature more Steely Dan tracks, including 'True Companion', 'Aja', 'Kid Charlemagne', 'Sign In Stranger', and 'FM', that were not played at the previous year's St.Louis show, so we get to hear several different songs this time around, as well as the great rest of the show as previously featured, and, again, in wonderful quality. Enjoy!
 
Tracklist
Disc 1
01 Instrumental Overture (The Royal Scam->Parker's Band->the Fez)
02 Aja
03 Reelin In the Years
04 Josie (with Drum Solo)
05 Hey Nineteen
06 Down in the Bottom
07 Sign in Stranger
08 Peg
09 Band Introductions
10 Babylon Sisters
11 Black Friday

Disc 2
01 True Companion
02 Green Earrings
03 Bodhisattva
04 Deacon Blues->
05 Tomorrow's Girls
06 Hard Up Case
07 Chain Lightning
08 Third World Man
09 Kid Charlemagne
10 My Old School
11 FM

------------------------------------

THE BAND:
Donald Fagen: Vocals, Fender Rhodes, Melodica
Walter Becker: Guitar, Vocals
along with,
"The Citizen Steely Dan Orchestra 1994"

Dennis Chambers: Drums
Bill Ware III: Vibes, Congas, Percussion
Tom Barney: 5-string Bass
Georg Wadenius: Guitars
Warren Bernhardt: Acoustic Piano, Fender Rhodes
Diane Garisto: Vocals
Brenda White-King: Vocals
Catherine Russell: Vocals
Chris Potter: Tenor Sax
Cornelius Bumpus: Tenor Sax
Bob Shepard: Tenor, Alto and Soprano Sax

 Steely_Dan_1994-09-02_Dallas_mp3.rar

Thanks to T.U.B.E. and BigO Worldwide, where I first became of (and obtained) this show, for making it more available.