Brinsley Schwarz - January 1974 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Brinsley Schwarz
with the Bakersfield Brass
January 1974 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Audience recording, good quality
mp3 @ 320 kbps

Since the previous Brinsley Schwarz post has been so popular, here's some more live Brinsley. This one comes from a show in Amsterdam in 1974, and is a much longer and more complete show, as well as much less commonly available, than the widely available Cardiff, Wales show, also from 1974. More great stuff from Brinsley Schwarz.


Tracklist
01.  You Been Cheating
02.  Small Town
03.  I'll Be Doggone
04.  Love Is Gone
05.  Been So Long
06.  Ran Out Of Tears
07.  Happy Doing What We're Doing
08.  I'll Be Ahead
09.  Don't Lie To Me
10.  Surrender To The Rhythm
11.  Country Girl
12.  Range War
13.  Gonna Be A Breakdown
14.  Save The Last Dance For Me
15.  Down In The Dive
16.  Down In Mexico
17.  Ju Ju Man
18.  Wonder Woman
19.  Home In My Hand
20.  Run Run Rudolph
21.  Brown Sugar

Link updated 12/05/23
Brinsley Schwarz_1974_Amsterdam.rar

 

Brinsley Schwarz - Unknown Numbers (BBC Session Recordings) 1971-1973

Brinsley Schwarz 
1971-1973, 'Unknown Numbers' (Miscellaneous BBC Session Recordings)
FM Broadcast recordings, very good quality
Mp3 @ 320 kbps

It's certainly about time I feature something from the legendary British 'pub rock' band Brinsley Schwarz (1969-1975), who despite being a great band on their own, became known primarily for what its members went on to do afterwards. Brinsley Schwarz the band consisted of guitarist Brinsley Schwarz, Nick Lowe, keyboardist Bob Andrews, and drummer Billy Rankin, initially, and grew out of an earlier incarnation called Kippington Lodge. In 1971 (after their 2nd album), singer-songwriter Ian Gomm was added, and the roster was complete. Brinsley Schwarz released 6 fine albums between 1970 and 1974, and established a reputation as a great live band before splitting to go their separate ways in 1975. Their last album (New Favorites of...) was produced by Dave Edmunds, and they played as Edmunds back-up band on tour at that time and were featured on the live tracks from Dave's solo album, Subtle as a Flying Mallet. Of course, Nick Lowe then went on to team up with Edmunds in the great band Rockpile, as well as establish, record and produce for Stiff records (and many others, producing artists such as The Damned, Elvis Costello, Wreckless Eric, Graham Parker, and The Pretenders), as well as a full solo career of his own, on his way to becoming an icon of britiish pub rock, power pop, punk rock, and new wave, and in recent years, even gentleman crooner. Drummer Billy Rankin and guitarist Brinsley Schwarz joined up with guitarist Martin Belmont briefly in Ducks Deluxe before Schwarz and Belmont, along with keyboardist Bob Andrews then teamed up with Graham Parker to become The Rumour, and one of the best back-up bands in rock history (both with and without Graham). Ian Gomm also went on to a successful solo career. All these artists achieved some great things, but Brinsley Schwarz the band is generally only thought about as being a stepping stone to those other things. Yet, they were a great band, and their music deserves to be heard. In some ways, they are kind of the british equivalent to Buffalo Springfield, not so much in their musical style, but in the fact that although they were a great band, they are seen primarily as a pre-cursor to so much other great music (Buffalo Springfield, and members Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, and Jim Messina, of course, lead to CSN&Y, Poco, Loggins& Messina, Manassas, SHF Band, etc. as well as all their stellar solo work). But anyway, Brinsley Schwarz was pretty great, too, and their excellent musical chops, precision playing and singing, and brilliant songwriting, all stand out on these selections of tracks from various BBC live sessions. Knowing their subsequent musical directions, we expect the tight rock 'n roll sound and the soul influences they show, but what you may not expect, is the strong American country-rock influence shown here. In fact, their overall sound is more strongly influenced by The Byrds, Gram Parsons, and particularly The Band, than just about anyone else (especially in their early years). Great stuff here, yet most of it not known at all in the US. By the way, the performances/recordings included here are supposed to be different from any of the officially released BBC material (on 2 LPs, including Cruel To be Kind-2004, which is excellent), but I have not specifically verified this. So, check out Brinsley Schwarz, not for what its members did later, but for the great music they made that was all their own. 

Tracklist
1. Country Girl (Lowe)
2. Dry Land/Unknown Number (Gomm)
3. Silver Pistol (Lowe)
4. Range War (Gomm)
5. Egypt (Lowe)
6. Nervous on the Road (But Can't Stay at Home) (Lowe)
7. Rockin' Chair (Gomm)
8. Unknown Number (Lowe)
9. It's Been So Long (Gomm)
10. Don't Lose Your Grip on Love (Lowe)
11. Surrender to the Rhythm (Lowe)
12. Home in My Hand (R.Self)
13. Ju Ju Man (Jim Ford/Lolly Vegas)
14. 30 Pounder (Instr.) (Lowe/Gomm/Andrews/Rankin/Schwarz)
15. Hooked on Love (Gomm)
16. It's Been So Long (Gomm)
17. Why Do We Hurt the One We Love? (Lowe)
18. I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (Lowe)

Tracks 1-7, BBC In Concert, June 18, 1971
Tracks 8-13 BBC In Concert, May 4, 1972
Tracks 14-18, BBC In Concert, Apil 14, 1973

These are different performances/recordings from those on the officially released BBC recordings albums

Brinsley Schwarz_Unknown Numbers-BBC_71-73.rar
Link updated 09/27/21

Steven Page - 2011-08-27 - Lowell, MA

Steven Page
2011-08-27
Lowell, MA
Audience recording, good quality
mp3 @ 192 kbps

While we are covering the topic of recent Barenaked Ladies shows, how about taking a look (listen) at what former 'Ladie' Steven Page has been up to? In 2009, founding band member vocalist/guitarist/songwriter, after 20 years with the Barenaked Ladies, announced that he was leaving the band to pursue other opportunities (solo projects, theater, etc). From the very beginning of the band, Page had been the primary lead vocalist and songwriter, but as the years went on, guitarist Ed Robertson began taking on more lead and shared vocals with Steve, as well as writing more songs, both with and without Steve as a partner. Later, with the emergence of keyboardist Kevin Hearn and bassist Jim Creegan also starting to contribute songs and singing lead, Page's role and influence was somewhat diminished. Increasingly at odds with the choices and musical direction of the rest of the band, and wanting greater input and a more consistent outlet for his songs and musical vision, it was inevitable that he would part ways with the band at some point, which came in 2009. Although like all BNL fans, I wish that he were still a part of the group, I actually am quite OK with the split. I think it came at just the right time, was needed for both Steve and the remaining BNL to grow as musicians and artists, and was just the right thing for all concerned. They had a great run together as BNL, but it was time for Steve to move on. Of course, the rest of BNL continued on without Steve, and has fared quite well, overcoming some early insecurities as a quartet, and delivering two fine and successful albums (All in Good Time-2010 and Grinning Streak-2013) since the split (and great live shows, too), with each member thriving with their increased roles (yes, the new albums are decidedly different from the 'old' BNL, but still solid albums). Steve, also, has been free to pursue more diverse activities, from writing for the theater (Bartholomew Fair:A Comedy), performing with The Art of Time Ensemble, contributing songs to movies, and releasing a solo album, Page One (2010). Unfortunately, although his solo album is very good, showing off his diversity of influences, styles, and sounds, it did not get a very good reception from the public. While the BNL albums did very well on the charts (both reaching the top 25 in the US and top 10 in Canada), Steve's album was pretty much ignored by the media (no coverage or radio airplay) and public alike (failed to chart in US, and only reached #58 in Canada - where all BNL projects usually do very well). Steve and his music deserve better. Since then, Steve has only released a single ('A Different Sort of Solitude'/'Manchild' - 2012, A-side from the film French Immersion), but hopefully is at work on more songs for another solo album. So, Here is Steve in 2011, touring in support of his Page One album, with a fine audience recording of a very good show. This show features many (7) songs from the Page One album, numerous BNL songs, as well as a few from his previous solo album project (The Vanity Project, 2005, while still with BNL - also a very fine album BTW). So, come check out Steven Page, on his own and doing fine.   

Tracklist
01-lntro
02-A New Shore
03-Jane
04-Toronto To Lowell (talk)
05-lndecision
06-The Old Apartment
07-She's Trying To Save Me
08-Clifton Springs
09-Setting Up The Video (talk)
10-0ver Joy
11-Call And Answer
12-Honeymoon Story (talk)
13-Marry Me
14-School During Summer (talk)
15-What A Good Boy
16-Enid
17-These Wasted Words
18-So Young, So Wrong, So Long
19-0ld Lady Diarrhea (talk)
20-lf You Love Me
21-lt's All Been Done
22-The Chorus Girl
23-Thank You For Sharing
24-lntermittently
25-Brian Wilson

Steven Page_2011-08-27_LowellMA.rar
Link updated 11/8/21

Barenaked Ladies - 2013-10-19 - Atlantic City, NJ

BNL 2013-07-21 - Bangor (photo by BBKron)

Barenaked Ladies
2013-10-19
Tropicana Showroom, Atlantic City, NJ
Audience Recording, pretty good quality
mp3 @ 128 kbps (only available version)







Ok, here's the finale to the featured performers from the 'Last Summer On Earth Tour 2013', The Barenaked Ladies. As mentioned previously, I had the great fortune to be able to attend one of the shows from this tour, and it was a wonderful experience (This was a show I took the whole family to see, as my kids are also big fans of both Ben Folds and BNL). However, once again, I do not have any shows from the actual LSOE Tour to share, but I did find this October 2013 show from Atlantic City (which was the only 2013 show recording I could find). It is a nice show, and since it is from a standalone BNL concert, it has a longer setlist than they played as part of the LSOE tour. However, it is not a great recording, and I only found it available at this low quality 128 bitrate (This was made available through the bnlfans.net site). But despite those limitations, it still gives a good example of their current shows, highlighting the Grinning Streak and All in Good Time albums.

Tracklist
1. Odds Are
2. Never Is Enough
3. Pinch Me
4. Banter-beach cleanup
5. Let There Be Light
6. Gonna Walk
7. Every Subway Car (with Melissa McClelland)
8. Keepin' It Real (with Whitehorse)
9. Smile
10. Maybe Katie
11. For You
12. Brian Wilson
13. On the Lookout
14. Did I Say That Out Loud?
15. Aluminum
16. Big Bang Theory Theme
17. One Week
18. If I Had $1,000,000
19. Barenaked Rap/pop medley
Encores
20. Old Apartment
21. Alcohol
22. Blister in the Sun (Violent Femmes cover)

Originally made available through bnlfans.net
 

Link updated 11/8/21
Barenaked Ladies_2013-10-19_Atlantic City.rar

Ben Folds Five - 2012-06-02 - Mountain Jam, Hunter, NY

LSOE Tour 2013-07-21 - Bangor, ME

Ben Folds Five
2012-06-02
Mountain Jam, Hunter, NY
Audience recording, good quality
Avaialble in both Lossless (FLAC) and mp3 versions

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
 Recorded and produced by acidjack

Continuing on with artists I've recently seen live, here is the next performer from last summer's, 'Last Summer On Earth Tour', the one and only Ben Folds Five (I had intended to highlight these artists last summer, closer to the actual tour, but just never got around to it then, so here it is now). As most of you should know, Ben Folds Five initially broke up amicably back in 2000, allowing Ben to pursue a solo career and other projects (resulting in his multiple stellar solo albums), and Darren Jesse forming his own succesful indie band, Hotel Lights. The band first got back together for a one-off appearance and project in 2008, for the MySpace 'Front To Back' Series, performing their last album, The Unauthorized Biography of Rheinhold Messner in its entirety. In 2011, they also got back together briefly to record 3 new songs for Ben's 3-CD career retrospective album, The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective. This reunion was so succesful that they decided to get back together to record a new album the following year. Thus, their new album, The Sound of the Life of the Mind, was released in September 2012, and an extensive tour followed. A new live album, Ben Folds Five Live, from that tour was released in Summer 2013. That same year (2013), BF5 joined up with Guster and the Barenaked Ladies as part of the Last Summer on Earth Tour (which was where I saw them). I had hoped to find a recording of BF5 from that recent tour, or at least the earlier Sound of the Life of the Mind Tour, but have not found any unofficial recordings to share. Of course, that tour is well represented on the recent official live album, which I heartily recommend. However, prior to these more recent shows, in June 2012, BF5 performed at the Mountain Jam Festival, which was their first full-scale live concert performance as BF5 since their break-up in 2000, and that performance is what I have to present today (and is the most recent available BF5 show I could find). Because this show was before they had finished recording the new album, it does not include any of their new material, but is still chock full of the old classic BF5 songs. However, this show is exclusively available through the NYCtaper website and as per their policy, they request that all downloads be made through their site, and not reposted elsewhere. So, I have honored their request and have only posted the link to their website, which is where the actual download links are located. But please, go there and enjoy this BF5 show.


Tracks [Total Time 1:23:43]
 01 Jackson Cannery [fades in]
 02 Theme from Dr. Pyser
 03 Fair
 04 [banter]
 05 Selfless, Cold and Composed
 06 Uncle Walter
 07 [banter]
 08 Where’s Summer B?
 09 Mess
 10 Battle of Who Could Care Less
 11 Brick
 12 [banter]
 13 Emaline
 14 Army
 15 Kate
 16 Alice Childress
 17 [banter]
 18 Song for the Dumped
 19 Narcolepsy
 20 [improv]
 21 Underground
 22 One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces

Download (mp3 or FLAC) available exclusively through the NYCTaper website here

Pictures shown here are from the 2013 Last Summer On Earth Tour (07-21-2013, Bangor, ME, photos by BBKron), and not from the 2012 Mountain Jam Show

Guster - 2013-07-30 - Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY

Guster 07-21-2013 - Bangor, ME photo by BBKron

Guster
2013-07-30
Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY
Last show of the 'Last Summer On Earth' Tour 2013 (which also featured Ben Folds Five and Barenaked Ladies)
Audience recording (S.Bernstein - archives.org), Good sound quality
mp3 (VBR ~192 kbps) files (Lossless version available at archives.org)

Continuing with artists that I have seen live recently, here is Guster. I saw Guster last summer as part of the 'Last Summer On Earth Tour', which featured Guster, Ben Folds Five, and Barenaked Ladies in a great combination of bands I love for a sensational tour de force concert program. I have to admit, though, that it was primarily the pairing of BF5 and BNL (two of my, and my  whole family's, favorite bands) that I was most interested in. I was only vaguely aware of Guster at that time, having only heard a couple songs by them. But, in anticipation of the concert I began to look more seriuosly at them and their music, and was very impressed. There is a lot to like about Guster. First, some background. Guster is a Boston-area band, first formed back in the early nineties by Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, and Brian Rosenworcel while they were students at Tufts University, and were primarily a local area band for several years (and their first 2 independently made albums, Parachute (1994) and Goldfly (1997)). They finally broke wider on the alternative rock scene in 1999 following their third album, Lost and Gone Forever, and the release of 'Fa Fa' as a single. Subsequent albums Keep It Together (2003), Ganging Up on the Sun (2006) and Easy Wonderful (2010) have continued to enhance their reputation as an excellent band. In 2013 they also released a live acoustic album. Their sound features bright vocal harmonies and melodies in a shimmering acoustic-rock style, with humor and warmth. Another aspect of their sound, particularly in the earlier days, was that percussionist Brian played most all of the percussion effects with his bare hands (bongos, congas, cymbals, other drums, etc.). In addition, they are one of the most fan-friendly bands around, offering much free music and access to fans, and they all really seem like just nice, regular guys. They have an open taping policy for their live shows, with the result being that literally hundreds of audience recordings from their live shows are available freely through the Live Music Archives (archive.org) website. In fact, right now, they are also offering a new official live album (recorded with a symphony orchestra) available for freee download through their website, see below. So, it is very easy to go abd check out their music and through all stages of their career. Anyway, since getting to know these guys and their music now, I can't believe that I wasn't a fan before this, as I like everything about them. So, if you haven't checked out or gotten to know Guster, please do so now. You'll be glad you did. Here I offer the last show from last year's Last Summer on Earth Tour, and since they performed only shortned 45 minute sets at these shows, I have also added on some bonus tracks that consist of some additional songs from their free LL Bean show a couple weeks later.

Tracklist:
1.  What You Wish For (cuts in)
2.  banter - Brooklyn bonafides
3.  Architects & Engineers
4.  Airport Song
5.  Manifest Destiny
6.  banter - last night of tour
7.  What You Call Love
8.  banter - pod of energy
9.  Come Downstairs And Say Hello
10. Do You Love Me
11. banter - tax deduction suit
12. Ramona
13. Satellite
14. Barrel Of A Gun *
15. banter - amazing summer
16. This Could All Be Yours

Bonus Tracks:
from 2013-08-10
L.L. Bean Discovery Park, Freeport, ME
(Free Outdoor Concert sponsored by LL Bean)
17. The Captain
18. Happier
19. Demons
20. Bad Bad World
21. Amsterdam
22. Hang On

* = w/Ed Robertson from Barenaked Ladies on vocals

mp3 - Guster_2013-07-30_Brooklyn NY.rar
New link (Updated 11/9/21)

Lossless versions of this show, as well as several dozen other Guster shows, are available through the
live music archives here

Also, new official Live Guster album 'Live with the [Redacted] Symphony' is now available for FREE download through the band's website (www.guster.com and noisetrade.com)

Guster 07-21-2013 - Bangor, ME photo by BBkron

John Hiatt & Lyle Lovett (solo acoustic) - 2010-02-01 - Zurich, Switzerland

John Hiatt & Lyle Lovett
An Acoustic Evening with (solo [&duo] acoustic performance)
2010-02-01
Volkshaus, Zurich, Switzerland
Audience recording (SRM), very good quality
Available in both lossless (FLAC) and mp3 (320 kbps) versions

A few weeks ago I had the extreme pleasure of seeing John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett perform live as part of their 'An Acoustic Evening with John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett' concert series, which they have been doing together occasionally,  on and off over the past couple decades (they mentioned as far back as 1989), and what a joy it was seeing and hearing these two old pros sit back and just play their music in such a casual, personal setting. It is just great to get to hear these guys in smaller venues (with better acoustics) for this more intimate acoustic show. They just come out on stage, each with their guitar, sit down, start having a friendly conversation, and then each in turn plays one of their songs, alternating between them with each song, sometimes commenting on or asking about each other's songs. With no advanced setlist or advanced preparation, they just play what they feel like playing, often being influenced or inspired to do a particular song based on what the other just played. It's like having them in your own living room just sitting there playing their masterful selections of songs. It was great. For the most part, they each just played their own songs, with not alot of duets or shared songs (Hiatt would sometimes join in with Lyle to provide some added lead or rhythm guitar, but Lyle generally just sat back and listened when John played his songs, adding some harmony vocals on only a few select songs). But, a great show it was, and although they each played several of my favorite songs by them, of course there were also many they did not get to, but also played several lesser known gems that they were inspired to bring out that night. If you get the chance to catch their show together, by all means do. Anyway, in honor of that show, here is a recording of John and Lyle together for a similar type show from a few years ago (I could not find any recordings of their current acoustic tour). It is very good quality for an audience recording, and also considering the acoustic nature of the show. This show features several of the same songs they perfomed at the show I saw, as well as several other different ones. Enjoy.

Tracklist
disc 1:
01) announcement
02) JH: Drive South
03) talk
04) LL: LA County
05) talk
06) JH: Memphis In The Meantime
07) talk
08) LL: I Will Rise Up
09) talk
10) JH: Walk On
11) talk
12) LL: Fiona
13) talk
14) JH: My Baby
15) LL: Nobody Knows Me
16) talk
17) JH: Crossing Muddy Waters
18) LL: Don't Cry A Tear For Me
19) JH: Like A Freight Train

disc 2:
01) talk
02) LL: She's No Lady
03) JH: Tennessee Plates
04) talk
05) LL: Natural Forces
06) JH: Thunderbird
07) talk
08) LL: If I Had A Boat
09) JH+LL: Thing Called Love
10) LL: My Baby Don't Tolerate
12) talk
13) JH+LL: Ain't No More Cane
ENCORE
14) JH: Have A Little Faith In Me
15) talk
16) LL: Step Inside This House

New Links! Updated 11/9/21
mp3 - JH&LL_2010-02-01_Zurich_mp3-disc1
          JH&LL_2010-02-01_Zurich_mp3-disc2

FLAC - JH&LL_2010-02-01_Zurich_FLAC-disc1
            JH&LL_2010-02-01_Zurich_FLAC-disc2