Bootleg Review: The Who’s Who Put A Better Boot In 1976 (1999)

THE WHO
Who Put A Better Boot In 1976
(Shagadelic Productions, 68:04 min)

SOUND QUALITY: Good to Very Good soundboard (7-8), little noise and very few drop-outs. The sound is a little hollow in places but otherwise a very good recording of this old chestnut.

COVER: Front of four-color, four-panel insert has a slightly washed out copy of the famous photo of Keith Moon as a hotel bellhop, holding a tray with a couple of beer bottles and a glass, a manic look on his face. The rear of the insert has a reproduction of the original tour concert poster for this show along with smaller photos of Roger Daltrey and Peter Townshend. Inside of insert shows various photos of the band, including a notorious nude shot of Moonie. Back of CD has a live shot of Townshend and Daltrey and song listing.

TRACKLIST: Amazing Journey/ Sparks/ Acid Queen/ Fiddle About/ Pinball Wizard/ I’m Free/ How Can We Follow/ Baba O’Riley/ Squeeze Box/ Behind Blue Eyes/ Dreaming From The Waist/ My Wife/ Summertime Blues/ My Generation Jam: Talking About It, Join Together, My Generation, Blues Guitar Interlude/ Won’t Get Fooled Again

COMMENTS: This isn’t the first time that this classic Who show has been bootlegged, not even the first time on CD, but it may well be the best. Recorded live at the Swansea Festival in England on June 12, 1976, this Shagadelic release of this show is longer and of better sound quality than the scratchy old vinyl version that I’ve kept all these years. One of the reasons that it’s so popular with hard-core Who fans and music lovers in general is the overall dynamic quality of the band’s performance. Running through an energetic set that reads like a literal “greatest hits” compilation, the Who rip, rage and rock through performances of such favorites as “Pinball Wizard,” “Squeeze Box,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” among others.

It’s a memorable set, showcasing one of rock’s greatest bands playing at the top of their game and performing admirably in their own backyard. The later death of Keith Moon would change the sound and power of the band – they would become slicker and more professional as the 1970s gave way into the ’80s, but they’d never be the same again. Who Put A Better Boot In 1976 captures the Who in their full glory; it’s a must-have disc for Who fans. (Shagadelic Productions, released 1999)

Review originally published by Live! Music Review 

Bootleg Review: Frank Zappa’s Kreega Bondola (1997)

Although he sits comfortably outside of the “Top Five” of bootlegged artists, Frank Zappa has always been a favorite target of bootleggers, nonetheless. This fact particularly galled Zappa, who took great pride in bringing the same sort of intensity and passion to his live performances as he did to his studio recordings. In an attempt to try and “beat the boots” at their own game, Zappa even gathered up a number of fine, but unauthorized recordings of his work and released them himself through his association with Rhino Records. As a result, aside from the plethora of illegitimate recordings that continue to surface, there are a number of highly-recommended “authorized bootlegs” covering a significant portion of Zappa’s lengthy career, that are currently available through mainstream retailers.

Kreega Bondola, however, is not one of those releases, serving instead as a fine example of European bootleggery. A double CD set taken from a 1984 show at the Saratoga Performing Arts Centre, the release captures Zappa performing with one of the best of many bands he’d used throughout his career. The mid-‘80s were arguably the most prolific of Zappa’s 30+ years, as he developed and/or refined a number of themes that would continue to serve him well throughout the decade, including censorship, sexual politics and religious hypocrisy (aimed at the rising tide of televangelism). Releases of the era like Them or Us or Broadway the Hard Way, as well as his subsequent battle against the PMRC and Congressional testimony found the iconoclastic Zappa in the awkward position of being considered an “elder statesman” of rock. His relationship with the media at the time was an especially fragile one.

Little of the controversy that he was to become embroiled in is evident on Kreega Bondola. The performance is typical Zappa – incredibly tight, orchestrated, and well-choreographed. A lot of Zappa’s between song commentary has been “airbrushed” out in the studio, as has a lot of audience reaction to the material. You can hear the audience at times, but they’re kept very low in the mix (which isn’t necessarily bad, just extreme). As such, the band seems as if they’re performing in a vacuum. For the most part, the performances are short and succinct, seldom allowing Zappa and the band to cut loose and play. Zappa’s maestro-like mastery of the guitar kept on a short leash, FZ throwing a few bones to the audience in the way of solos, and only the title cut and “Illinois Enema Bandit” really showcase what the band was capable of musically with extended musical passages.

Overall, Kreega Bondola offers a good performance by a great artist and band. A soundboard recording, the sound quality here is top notch, with the mix leaning heavily towards the instrumentation and vocals. Although there’s little here to attract the casual rock fan, Kreega Bondola is a significant addition to any Zappa fan’s musical library. (Triangle Records, Italy, released 1997)

Review originally published by R Squared zine, "Grey Edition"

Bootleg Review: Captain Beefheart’s Captain, My Captain (1999)

SOURCE: Radio broadcast on WLIR-FM, live from My Father’s Place in Roslyn, New York; November 18, 1978 (although some sources claim that it was December 18th).

SOUND QUALITY: Good to Very Good FM broadcast (7-8) with some hollowness and echo, especially on the horns. The good Captain’s vocals are clearly up front though and the entire set is quite listenable without causing any aggravation.

COVER: Single-sided panel with color picture of Beefheart on the front cover and a different shot of the Captain on the back cover with tracklist and venue info.

TRACKLIST: Tropical Hot Dog Night (listed as “Hot Dog”)/ Hit A Man (listed as “Woman’s Gotta Hit A Man”)/ Owed t’Alex/ Dropout Boogie/ Harry Irene/ Abba Zaba/ Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles (listed as “Million Blue Miles”)/ Old Fart At Play (listed as “Old Fart”)/ Well (listed as “Well, Well, Well”)/ Ice Rose/ Moonlight On Vermont/ Floppy Boot Stomp (listed as “Floppy Boot”)/ You Know You’re A Man (listed as “You’re A Man”)/ Bat Chain Puller/ Apes, Ma        

COMMENTS: Although I don’t share many of my critical brethren’s adoration of Don Van Vleit, a/k/a Captain Beefheart, I can easily see his influence on a generation of young noisemakers. Beefheart’s blues-infused improvisational jazz skronk can be followed in a steady timeline from the early seventies through numerous bands up to, and including Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and other current critic’s darlings. Personally, when one of Beefheart’s Kenny G-wannabe brassmen start blowing and choogling like a pale Coltrane imitation, it makes me want to take a freshly-sharpened fireaxe to the box from which said offending decibels are bleating.

That said, I must admit that Captain, My Captain is a fairly accessible live performance from Captain Beefheart and crew, including his aural executioner of choice, ex-Mother of Invention trombonist Bruce Fowler. Dating from the time period of Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), the set is representative of where Beefheart seemed to be artistically situated at the time, mixing mutant blues with clever pop/rock and jazzlike, avant-garde musical experimentation. The Captain is a truly unique vocalist, sort of like Howlin’ Wolf on a steady liquid diet of broken glass and rotgut whiskey while the band, which includes guitarists Jeff Morris Tepper and Richard Redus, were capable of handling most of what Beefheart might ask of them.

This particular performance is a familiar one to fans of the Captain, having been previously circulated on vinyl and CD under such titles as Live At My Father’s Place and New York Hot Dog Night. This Tendolar CD-R version doesn’t include the entire performance, missing some four songs and at least a quarter hour from what I can tell. The neophyte Beefheart fan might find Captain, My Captain to be a heady brew, difficult to swallow in light of Beefheart’s penchant for surrealistic, stream-of-consciousness lyrics and discordant instrumentation.

The newbie might want to start with the legitimate release Safe As Milk, work their way up to Trout Mask Replica and then jump into Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) before searching for the one of many Beefheart boots that circulate in fan circles. As for the dedicated follower, they probably already have the material here, albeit in not as sonically pleasing a form. An acquired taste and touchstone of modern alt-rock, the good Captain is nothing if not a true original. (Tendolar Records CD-R, released 1999)

Review originally published by Live! Music Review zine...

Bootleg Review: Roy Buchanan’s Telecaster Country (1999)

SOURCE: Radio broadcast on WLIR-FM, live from My Father’s Place in Roslyn, New York; August 17, 1973.

SOUND QUALITY: Good FM broadcast (6-7) with some hollow, cavern feel to it. When Buchanan hits the high notes on his Fender Telecaster, though, they ring clear as a bell.

COVER: Four-color, four-panel insert with picture of a young Buchanan on front cover playing his beloved axe, a sepia-toned pic of Roy in the studio with guitar in hand on rear of insert. Inside offers excerpt of Guitar Player mag interview with the artist while back cover shows a much older Buchanan and offers tracklist and venue information.

TRACKLIST: I Can Fly Now/ C.C. Rider (listed here as “See See Rider”)/ Susie Q/ Hey Joe/ Blinda Lou/ Johnny B. Goode/ Bad Case Of The Blues/ Green Onions/ Pete’s Blues/ You Don’t Own Me       

COMMENTS: Since editor Bill tossed this musical hand grenade in my lap, I handled the crisis as best as I could. You see, in my ignorance, I knew little about Roy Buchanan other than his name and the occurrence of his tragic death. I was uninitiated in the wonderful legacy that this Telecaster maestro left behind in his wake and therefore had to dig up every scrap of info that I could on the artist. Thanks to Big Joe at Rossi’s Record Room in Brentwood TN, I acquired copies of Buchanan’s first two albums; later a copy of Sweet Dreams: The Anthology, a two-CD retrospective of Buchanan’s work fell into my lap. I was ready to tackle “Darth” Glahn’s review assignment with the proper tools to do the job.

Buchanan’s story, for those of you as blind as I once was, is classic blues material all the way. Born in Arkansas, raised in the California desert, Buchanan grew up in the Pentecostal Church of God, his father a fire and brimstone preacher. He often attended revivals with members of the area’s black church and, falling in love with gospel music, the blues and African-American guitarists like Blind Boy Fuller, Buchanan taught himself to play. He left home at fifteen, made his first recordings at the tender age of twenty, and played with folks like Ronnie Hawkins, Dale Hawkins and Freddie Cannon. He really wasn’t discovered until he was almost 32 years old, when a 1971 Rolling Stone article sang his praises. A checkered career followed, with a slew of major label recordings, a handful of indie sides and lots of live performances earning Buchanan lots of critical praise but little in the way of filthy lucre. He tragically took his own life in 1998 after a minor arrest for public drunkenness.

Said story is a way of explaining that Buchanan may well be one of the first true “cult” artists, a six-string wizard without peer who numbered among his admirers folks like Stanley Jordan, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck, John Lennon, and Steve Cropper. All of which makes the appearance of this show especially poignant, since the market for Roy Buchanan boots must rank just above live discs by Stuffy & the Frozen Parachute Band or Hello People on the “labour of love” obscurity scale. Telecaster County documents a pretty tasty show, tho’, a fine mix of rocking covers like “Johnny B. Goode,” “Green Onions,” and “Susie Q” with extended blues jams on tunes like “Hey Joe” and the ten-minute “Bad Case of the Blues.” Although this show took place chronologically between Buchanan’s second album, released in ’73, and 1974’s “That’s What I’m Here For,” there’s very little overlap in songs. The performances slash and burn, however, Buchanan’s Telecaster dominating the arrangements – the shy artist never liked singing much and mostly stuck to instrumentals – while the rest of the band struggles to keep up.

Other than a few tapes that the hardcore faithful keep in circulation, there’s not much live Buchanan to be found in this world, and most of it is from late in his career. With much of his official efforts lapsing into undeserved obscurity, I’d recommend that anybody who loves guitar playing first check out Sweet Dreams: The Anthology. If you dig that, I’d heartily recommend Telecaster County, a fine document of an artist in his prime. (By the way, do you think that the producers of this disc meant to call it “Telecaster Country”? Surely the fabled guitar deserves its own fantasyland and not just a single county, eh?) (Head Records CD-R, released 1999)

Review originally published by Live! Music Review zine...

Bootleg Review: Manic Street Preachers' Street Preaching (1996)

It’s been five years now since my trip to London, but I remember it like it was yesterday. The buzz on the street was for a band that many were calling a cross between the Sex Pistols and the Clash. The British music media was raising a clamor, as well, waxing ecstatic over the band. Intrigued, I spend most of that week trying to hunt down a handful of singles released at that time by the Manic Street Preachers.

Half a decade later, the Manic Street Preachers are one of rock music’s great “might have beens.” Hugely successful in the U.K. and throughout Europe and Japan, their blend of hardcore punk and British pop – or “popcore,” as it’s been terms – never quite caught on in the United States beyond a small audience. Just as their American label was about to release their third album, The Holy Bible, guitarist Richey James disappeared. Vanished, gone, dropped off the face of the planet altogether. That was a year or so ago and, to the best of my knowledge, he’s yet to be found.

‘Tis a shame, actually, given that there seems to be a minor Brit-pop fever spreading stateside what with bands like Oasis, Pulp, and Blur catching fire. Had their third album not been shelved, who knows what MSP might have achieved. There exists a handful of live discs from the band’s short-lived career. Street Preaching, on Italy’s Kiss The Stone label, is a fine documentation of MSP in a performance atmosphere. Culled from 1992 tours of Europe and Japan, Street Preaching includes many of the band’s early English hits like “You Love Us,” “Crucifix Kiss,” “Stay Beautiful,” and “Slash and Burn.” A few songs are included twice (“You Love Us” three times!), represented in slightly varying forms.

The performances captured on Street Preaching may or may not be typical MSP. This 70-minute disc does a fine job of showcasing the band’s electric appeal, however. Vocalist James Dean Bradfield’s charismatic delivery mesmerizes the audience while James’ guitar burns and blisters through every song. Bradfield’s onstage patter is kept to a minimum, so what is presented illustrates a swaggering, confident rock ‘n’ roll frontman. The Manic Street Preachers could have been a big band in the U.S. Luckily, we have Street Preaching, a musical snapshot freezing the band forever in time. Grade: A

Also on That Devil Music: Manic Street Preachers’ Know Your Enemy CD review

Review originally published by R Squared: Rock ‘n’ Roll Kulture for the Masses zine, 1996

Bootleg Review: Rage Against The Machine’s Who’s On First? (1995)

A current fave among tape traders and bootleggers, there are a number of Rage Against The Machine performances circulating among the collecting community. One of the better collections, taken from the band’s 1993 U.S. tour is Who’s On First?, released by the Hawk Records label in Italy. The songs compiled on Who’s On First? represent some of the band’s better performances, versions of “Bombtrack,” “Bullet In the Head,” and “Killing In the Name” offering extremely energetic musical and vocal gymnastics. 

Zach de la Rocha’s spoken rendition of Alan Ginsburg’s “How To Be Played On A Jukebox” is particularly potent, tying together the F.B.I., the C.I.A., and the Mafia in the world drug trade, fighting against democracy in Viet Nam and elsewhere under the aegis of multinational corporate capitalism. Underscored by darkly threatening instrumentation, it is a fiercely venomous rendering of the song.

Altogether, Who’s On First? runs nearly 50-minutes in length, offering a fine set of Rage Against The Machine’s most popular songs. With the band’s recently-released Evil Empire tracking quite well on the charts, a summer tour and guest appearance at Lollapalooza, Rage Against The Machine will continue to increase its fan base with a monstrous live persona. Until the inevitable live recordings from their upcoming 1996 tour start to appear, I’d heartily recommend Who’s On First? to the band’s rabid fans. Grade: B

Review originally published by R Squared: Rock ‘n’ Roll Kulture for the Masses zine, 1996

Bootleg Review: NRBQ's Wally, Stu, Lou & the Q! (2000)

Source: My Father’s Place, Hoboken NJ, September 26, 1981

Sound Quality: Very good radio broadcast from WLIR-FM with just a little hollowness to the overall sound but nevertheless a very engaging show, especially considering the vintage.

Cover: Single-sided insert front cover has color shots of the four individual band members; the back cover has a single shot of the band along with tracklist and venue information. A minor caveat, however – the band shows show the current NRBQ line-up that includes guitarist Johnny Spampinato; the guitarist at the time of this performance was Big Al Anderson, who spent nearly 20 years with the band before retiring from the road to become a songwriter in Nashville.

Tracklist: I Want You To Feel Good Too • That’s Neat, That’s Nice • North To Alaska • You Can’t Hide • Michael Row Your Boat Ashore • It Was An Accident • Don’t She Look Good • Feel You Around Me •Wooly Bully • RC Cola & A Moon Pie • Music Goes Round & Round •The Dummy Song • I Want You Bad • Stop In The Name of Love • You Are My Destiny • Little Drummer Boy • Me And The Boys • Shake, Rattle & Roll • Captain Lou • Daddy O • Ridin’ In My Car • Things We Like To Do

Comments: Why aren’t these guys in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? After all, they kicked out their first sides in 1969, beating the Hall’s 25-year qualifying mark by a good half-decade. They’ve traveled more miles across the United States than a truck driver’s rubber pillow, and they’ve probably played as many shows as any rock band, anywhere. A slew of records, a cult following, a couple of minor hits – isn’t this what rock music is all about? Screw the Bee Gees, I’ve seen the true face of rock ‘n’ roll and it looks a lot like NRBQ.

My ranting aside, the New Rhythm and Blues Quintet has been a part of the American landscape for so long that it’s easy to take them for granted. A talented touring band with a bag of tricks that ranges from roots-rock to blues, jazz, pop, and beyond, NRBQ is the definition of a cult band. All of which makes it quite surprising that the band doesn’t have a larger presence in the shadowy world of tape trading and bootleggers. Although there are a few NRBQ live shows to be found on tape, Wally, Stu, Lou & the Q! is the first that I’ve found on CD. It’s pretty representative of the band and their capabilities, mixing musical genres like nobody’s business.

The disc includes a few minor NRBQ hits such as “RC Cola & A Moon Pie,” the wonderful “I Want You Bad,” the raucous “Me and The Boys,” and one of the best summer romance songs, “Ridin’ In My Car.” Hanging out with the infamous “Captain” Lou Albano a good half-decade before Cyndi Lauper (he even introduced the band this night), the ‘Q’ immortalized the wrestling legend with their rollicking “Captain Lou.” The entire performance here is assisted by the Whole Wheat Horns, who punctuate each song with an indelible brassy signature.

A time-tested NRBQ crowd-pleaser that is captured here is the tradition of “The Box” in which the band takes audience requests, playing whatever they’re asked to. The results can be quite terrifying, as when the band launches into a dreadful rendition of “Little Drummer Boy” or “Stop In The Name of Love” complete with falsetto vocals. Claiming that they “know every song ever written,” it’s a testimony of the Q’s talents that they can pretty much pull off a performance of anything that the audience asks, some covers coming off better than others.

If Terry Adams, Joey Spampinato, Tom Ardolino, and Al Anderson (most recently Johnny Spampinato) never make it into the hallowed halls of Cleveland’s “mistake on the lake,” they can take solace in the fact that they’ve entertained audiences with style and sincerity for over thirty years. Wally, Stu, Lou & the Q! is a fine documentation of just one of over a thousand nights that NRBQ has rocked the house in some cloudy bar, and a welcome addition to any music lover’s library. (Tendolar Records #TDR-138, 71:40 min)

Originally published by Live! Music Review, 2000