31 July 2013 (Day 212) – Classic Soul Albums

It was another truncated though productive day at work, getting through a number of tasks before hitting the wall.  Not wanting to be assaulted by anything especially loud, I used part of my time well, getting through three classic soul albums in the time spent at my desk.

Today’s listening gathers together some of the very few single soul albums on my iPod that are not multi or single artist compilations.   Motown is covered largely by a 4 disc set augmented by several strategically chosen compilations of key artists who are underrepresented by it.  Southern Soul, by far my preference, dominates through the 8 disc Atlantic 1947-1974 History of R&B series, a Stax Records box, a two disc set that focuses on Fame Studios and assorted others.  Even more compilations are added for the giants of this stream and those generally not associated with it or Motown, among them Wilson Pickett, Ray Charles, Booker T & The MG’s, Sam And Dave, Al Green, Solomon Burke,  Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, James Brown  and, naturally, my main man Otis Redding. 

Duplicated tracks are struck out to maximise the number of tracks I can include.  But it is not a fate for any of the tracks that appear on today’s listening where the reverse occurs and it is the tracks from the compilations that go.  Each of these albums makes for such a satisfying listen that to edit any of these in any form amounts to musical sacrilege.

(# 536) Isaac Hayes – Hot Buttered Soul (1969)

Previously one of the writers and producers at Stax Records, Hayes eventually embarked on a solo career, hitting paydirt with this his second album.  It is a key record in the history of soul comprising just 4 tracks and making a mockery of the unwritten three minute rule for soul hits at the time. Moreover, the length of the tracks and the lush production sounds, probably provided some of the initial inspiration for disco music.  But don’t let this stop you, this is reverting stuff.  The opening cut is a 12 minute reworking of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David classic Walk On By which simply demolishes any trace of the Dionne Warwick version despite the heavy orchestral intro. Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic is a 9 minute funk master class and the five minute One Woman is an anguished ballad that seems slightly out of place here.  But it is the final track that will divide listeners, an 18 minute version of By The Time I Get To Phoenix.  The first 8 minutes or so is basically a monologue in which Hayes speaks a lot but says little, although it’s bizarre today to hear him refer to the track’s “young” songwriter Jimmy Webb.  The remainder is a slow trawl through the tune which builds up to an almost operatic orchestral ending.  Somehow, the combination of the two elements works and one gets so drawn into the piece that the time simply flies by.

(# 537) Bill Withers – Live At Carnegie Hall (1973)

Recorded the previous year, this is a perfect introduction to Withers’ work harnessing tracks from the two albums that kicked off his career, Just As I Am and Still Bill.  I prefer this to the studio albums; the venue provides a magnificent sound quality that suits the music, especially on tracks such as Friend Of Mine where strings kick in.  Additionally it captures the audience’s reaction throughout the show with great detail.  Normally this is something that I loathe hearing during numbers on live albums, but on this occasion, the audience almost functions as an additional instrument or a Greek chorus that reminds you that this is soul, man!  And Bill certainly rose to the occasion with great readings of tracks such as the opener Use Me,  Ain’t No Sunshine, Grandma’s Hands, Lean On Me and Lonely Town Lonely Street.

(# 538) Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (1971)

When people write about the great “rock operas” this album is invariably excluded.  I suspect people are reluctant to include this as the medium here is soul music.  Yet this masterpiece holds together better than just about any conceptually conceived album ever released.  And the concept is astonishingly simple.  It documents the shocked reaction of an American soldier about the state of his nation on his return from the Vietnam War with many of the tracks run into each other either musically or thematically. Yet none of this would have mattered if it wasn’t for the brilliant music on offer, including the magnificent title track and the entirety of the original release’s Side 2, Right On, Wholly Holy and Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler).  In so accurately capturing a moment in time, Gaye effectively made a timeless recording.  The mood and sentiment captured here could just as easily apply to the soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan today.

30 July 2013 (Day 211) – Starting My Non Existent C90 Mix Tape

It was another shortened day at work as I struggled to overcome the effects of my illness.  Prior to departing, I had a few meetings, etc and so had time to play only one album

(# 535) Alice Coltrane – Journey In Satchidanada (1970)

The wife of jazz master John Coltrane was an accomplished musician who played piano in his final group and also released a number of highly regarded recordings of her own which featured her harp playing.  (That’s harp as in the stringed instrument, not the harmonica.)  This is probably her best known album owing to the opening cut and title track which is a tribute of sorts to her Swami.  It’s a wonderfully serene track, but importantly, not of the type frequently used to parody hippies, yoga, Indian mysticism or all three.   Something About John Coltrane was obviously inspired by her then recently deceased husband and contains fine work by Pharaoh Saunders in John’s absence.   Indian influences and instrumentation dominates thae wonderful closer Isis And Osiris.

I’ve owned this album for a number of years now.  From the moment I first heard it, I knew that the title track would be the first track on only C90 cassette mix tape that I would eventually produce.  It’s the serenity of the track that draws me to it making for an appropriate and unsettling introduction to Dave Grohl’s power drumming that marks the start of the compilation’s second track, Nirvana’s Scentless Apprentice (from In Utero).   I’ve played that combination on many occasions; the way the two connect is so powerful that I still haven’t decided what will follow it.

In starting that mythical tape in this fashion, I want anyone who has read Nick Hornby’s book High Fidelity, or seen John Cusack’s movie adaption, to understand that l have not been influenced by the rules of compiling a mix tape that he outlines.  My own personal approach in compiling a tape is to ignore all rules other than one guiding principle.  It is that each track should be programmed as a reaction to the one that precedes it.  Ideally that can mean a clash of music style, lyrical content, tempo, etc but the reaction can also be something that extends or compliments the predecessor.  Each side of the tape should also have a definite start and end (i.e ensuring these react to each other), and the final track should hark back to the opener (once again a reaction) in some way.  In my latest mental version of the tape, the final track is Sun O)))’s 16 minute opus Alice. Although an instrumental like Journey In Satchidanada it ploughs a completely different musical path but also binding the tracks together is that Sun O))) track is a tribute to Alice Coltrane.

Another reason I wanted to start the tape with this track lies in that it jazz, a form of music that I love and would otherwise have difficulty inserting into the song sequence. Even more importantly is that the track highlights the harp, one of the least featured instruments (Alice Coltrane and Joanna Newsome apart) in my collection. My thought is that anyone thinking they would have a handle on my musical taste would immediately be thrown into a state of confusion and anyone without a frame of reference would remain non the wiser for the duration of the track.  In either scenario, this would magnify the impact of the Nirvana track as it kicks in. 

A key to my approach was going to be my suspicion that the great majority of listeners are unfamiliar with this magnificent piece of music.  Unfortunately, and to my great annoyance, in recent years the track has started to pop up in some compilations.  It is reportedly a favourite of Paul Weller’s who has apparently included it in no less than three separate compilations of his. This connection might also explain why it appears as the opening track on the CD soundtrack  the Glastonbury Concert documentary.  But I will not resile!  It (and the Nirvana Track) will kick off that tape if I could ever compile it to my satisfaction.  All I need to do is factor in the Sun O))) track, The Flaming Groovies Shake Some Action,  something by Sonic Youth, Otis Redding and The Boss (all obviously), Arthur Conley’s Sweet Soul Music, Dylan’s Changing Of The Guard, Pere Ubu’s Non Alignment Pact, Faust’s Krautrock, Son House’s John The Relevator (for a long time the opening track until I found the Coltrane track), a track by The Saints (either I’m Stranded, This Perfect Day or Know Your Product), The Stone’s sledgehammer version of Street Fighting Man from the Nasty Music bootleg, Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir, Cold Chisel's Houndog, Aretha Franklin’s version of The Weight, an example of King Tubby’s dub genius, The Stooges Search And Destroy, Max Romero’s War Inna Babylon, The Fall’s How I Wrote Elastic Man, The Deftones’ Pink Maggit, The Go Between’s Apology Accepted, Johnny Cash’s version of Hurt, Lou Reed’s The Blue Mask, The Replacements’ Answering Machine, Come’s Off To One Side, the Pixies Gouge Away, Patti Smith’s  Gloria, The Sex Pistols God Save The Queen, The Screaming Trees’ Gospel Plow, Pavement’s Cut Your Hair, The Supersuckers’ Born With A Tail,  Van Morrison’s Wonderful Remark, Faith No More’s Epic, Primal Scream’s Accelerator, Radio Birdman’s New Race, The Powdermonkey’s Straight Until Morning,  The Black Crowes’ Remedy, Television’s live cover of The Stones’ Satisfaction (hear it on The Blow Up), The Supremes Reflection, Elvis Presley’s If I Can Dream, Husker Du’s You Can Live At Home, Neil Young’s Campaigner, Pink Floyd’s Time, the version of Metallica’s Masters Of Puppets from the S+M album, the long version James Brown’s Say It Loud (I’m Black And I’m Proud), The Chemical Brothers Private Psychedelic Reel, the unadorned version of The Beatles While My Guitar Gently Weeps from Anthology 3, The Afghan Whigs’ Faded, Richard Hell’s (I Belong To) The Blank Generation,  the live version of AC/DC’s For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) from the Backtracks box set in front of a crowd of crazed Moscowvites………

29 July 2013 (Day 210) – J.J. Cale

Still feeling the effects of my bronchitis, I returned to work.  After a couple of weeks away, there was much to do, my most pressing concern being the need to work up a presentation I have to deliver at a prestigious seminar next week.  This task is not helped by a number of coughing fits and an inability to concentrate for lengthy periods, usually a massive strength of mine.  I also worked with a heavy heart after hearing about the death of J.J Cale.

I can’t say that I’m been a lifelong Cale fan but I’ve learnt to appreciate his influence over modern music.  Indeed there was a period of time where I resented his influence, particularly over Eric Clapton’s solo work, assuming that he was solely responsible for Slowhand’s retreat from the fiery rock of Derek And The Dominoes towards a quieter, more reflective sound. 

It was only as time went by and I realised it’s far more satisfying to have access to a much wider musical palate that the penny dropped.  I learnt that Cale knew how to exploit guitar virtuosity without ever having to resort to loud and lengthy soloing.  Listen to his best records and it becomes apparent how he draws attention to the best musical elements in each track, including his distinctive Southern drawl, without ever compromising the song.  And yet, almost inevitably, attention is drawn to his sublime guitar work irrespective of whether it’s just a brief lick or a solo. No wonder Clapton was drawn to him.  Although the music has a leisurely, unfussed quality, it is actually quite intricate and listening to it on headphones is a rewarding experience.

And so in tribute to the man, I set my iPod to its sole Cale album on repeat, fastened on my headphones and set the volume to low;

(# 534) J.J Cale – Anyway The Wind Blows.  The Anthology [disc 1 only] (1997)

This is a two disc 50 track overview of Cale’s career and Disc 1 covers his most influential recordings.   Call Me The Breeze (later covered successfully by Lynyrd Skynyrd), Crazy Mama, I’ll Make Love To You Anytime, Don’t Cry Sister, Magnolia, After Midnight and Cocaine are all present and accounted for in remastered versions.  But there’s lots of other tracks to enjoy including Midnight In Memphis, an evocative instrumental; Lies, with its incredibly distinctive Claption sound alike guitar lines; the Santana influenced Durango and Sensitive Kind with its deft use of strings. 

20–28 July 2013 (Days 201-9) – Rockin’ Bronchitis And The Boogie Woogie Royal

My attempts to blog on a regular basis during this period was  completely derailed by my illness.  In any case there wasn't much to blog about and so, in order to spare readers the gruesome and repetitious details, here are the (relative) highlights of the period. 

20 July

Spend day in bed except for quick shopping excursion and a cameo appearance at the major birthday celebration of a friend.  A number of work colleagues are present and I stupidly indicate I’ll be at work on the Monday.

21 July

Spend day in bed in an attempt to be fit for a return to work.

22 July

Go to work. and soon realise I've made a mistake.  Check emails.  Sign off on end of financial year work assessment after which my Manager sent me home.  Spend afternoon asleep at home in bed.

23 July

I become doubly sick as I awake to the news of the birth of His Royal Highness Prince Name TBC, the future King of England and, should we fail again to understand the concept of a republic, Head of State for Australia. 

My newly found sense of nausea comes not  from this reminder that my supposedly egalitarian country, the home of multiculturalism, mateship and the concept of a “fair go” for all, is prepared to put up with a largely ignorant attachment to this last bastion of  old world wealth and privilege. Rather it comes from the sycophantic nature of Australia’s TV coverage of the event.  Realistically, the birth should be covered here in much the same way as that conveyed by the Royal Family in their easel message at Buckingham Palace.  (That is, that a healthy baby of x weight has been born at time y, the mother is fine, a name has not yet been revealed and a nation is happy.)   But I’m bombarded with all kinds of the most useless speculative reporting conceivable and I’m rooted to the coverage much like a horrified onlooker at a disaster site as the media ponders weighty matters such as;  Was Prince William present at the birth?  Did he cut the cord?  Will he be spending the night at the hospital? Has he told his father, Prince Harry, Catherine's parents, Pippa and The Queen?  Who would have been told first? Will the Queen see the baby before going on holidays on Friday? Will anyone be visiting today?  Or tomorrow?  Is there an entrance where visitors can arrive without being seen?  What’s it like to give birth in the hospital?  (I figure lying on a bed just like in any hospital.) What names will be chosen?  What names won’t be chosen? Have they been chosen already? When will the names be announced? Does Prince William need to run the names past the Queen first? Will the announcement of the chosen names be delayed if the Queen goes on holiday without seeing the baby? Can the chosen name be changed upon the Prince’s ascension to the throne? Who’ll be the Godparents?  Can they possibly be Harry and Pippa? What’s the baby’s astrological star sign?  What are that sign’s characteristics? How long will the baby stay at the hospital?  Where will it spend its first night after leaving the hospital?   Will it go to Buckleberry?  Will it go to the Queen’s summer holiday estate? Where will the baby live pending William’s completion of his military placement -  Buckleberry, the Queen’s summer holiday estate or some other place? Will William and Catherine be hands on parents? Will they employ a Nanny?  I wait in vain for anyone to acknowledge that the new Prince will be a future Australian Head Of State.

I escape and see my doctor again.  This time he diagnoses bronchitis and orders me to stay home for the remainder of the week.  Great!  I’d hate to miss out on more Royal Baby news as it doesn’t happen.  Go home and drift in and out of sleep.

24 July

Drift in an out of sleep all day.  Prince Name TBC leaves hospital. At least my nausea starts to recede.

25 July

Prince Name TBC becomes Prince George.  Nausea disappears and daytime TV reverts to its usual numbing state.  My sleep quotient increases…..

26 July

……and increases.

27 July

Leave house for shopping and a family birthday celebration.  Otherwise stay in bed.

28 July

Stay in bed all day.  Watch the Bulldogs defeat West Coast on TV and begin to see light at the end of our tunnel.  Reasonably sure of a return to work tomorrow.  "M", who's been magnificent during this time, inspects my body and finds no bed sores.

With such an incredibly interesting and varied lifestyle, it should come as no surprise that I listened to hardly any music.  The only albums I get through, inevitably over time between bouts of sleep are:

(# 532) The Lurid Yellow Mist featuring Dave Graney And Clare Moore  - We Wuz Curious (2008)

This was Graney’s first album credited to a band since the demise of the Dave Graney Show (and prior to that his albums with the Coral Snakes and the White Buffaloes).  This is not that surprising as this album is very much in the same vein as those bands and their deft combination of rock and lounge music with hints of jazz and a dose of humour.  The opening trio of You Had To Be Drunk, I come From The Clouds and Let’s Kill God Again is as memorable as anything found on the Coral Snakes albums and the rest of the album is extremely consistent.

(# 533) The Huxton Creepers – 12 Days To Paris (2011 extended reissue of 1986 album)

The Huxton Creepers were a gritty Melbourne rock band, much beloved on the local pub circuit, with knack of producing strong melodies with memorable choruses.  This album is one of the more fully realised debut albums produced by any Australian band and includes strong material such as My Cherie Amour, Autumn Leaves, I Swallowed My Pride and the utterly convincing closer, I Will Persuade You.  This reissue expands the original album by 4 tracks and adds a bonus album of B-Sides, demos, tracks released on compilation albums and a handful of live tracks.  The highlight are live versions of Shake Some Action and a brave assault on  Creedence’s Ramble Tamble recorded early in their career for Melbourne radio. 

19 April 2013 (Day 200) – Being Sick At The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame

My illness continues and I’m down to my last music related DVD.  Or should that be DVD box set?
At least it kept me busy.

(AV 31) Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Live (2009)

This is a massive 9 DVD set that includes live performances from the first 25 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction ceremonies.  At each ceremony all of the inducted acts are invited to perform two or three of their classic numbers, frequently with fellow musical superstars (especially Bruce Springsteen) deputising for departed, estranged or deceased inductees.  New members are inducted by a fellow musician of their choice and then provide an acceptance speech.  Each disk contains approximately an hour of live performances selected from these ceremonies. The package’s outer cover provides no idea of each disc’s contents other than a mouth watering list of the various acts whose performances are included.

So far, so good.  Unfortunately, the package makes for frustrating viewing owing to the way in which the performances have been sequenced.  The entire performance of any one act is not included in its entirety; any that are have been spread across the various discs.  Moreover, although each disc is titled, no real theme is apparent in each disc’s selection except for Disc 6, titled I’ll Take You There, a showcase of black acts.  And given the way black musicians are presented in the remaining 8 discs -  usually supporting white acts or appearing in otherwise all white superstar jams and with only Aretha Franklin given their own track – this probably well intentioned showcase could be accused as tokenism, or worse, pandering to racist purchasers.  Women are also under represented in the collection, but this is a consequence of the overall selection process rather than any problem in compilation.

As a result, the key to enjoying this package lies in selecting individual tracks.  And there’s some magnificent performances here, far too many to list here.  My personal favourites include an awesome version of Train Kept A Rollin’ performed by the combination of  Metallica, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Joe Perry, Ron Wood and Flea; Wilson Pickett’s In The Midnight Hour with backing from Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band; Bo Diddley’s performance of Bo Diddley backed by Robbie Robertson and Eric Clapton and, best of all, a sublime version of the Beatles While My Guitar Gently Weeps initially by Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood and Dhani Harrison which gets transformed to another level courtesy of Prince’s inspired fretwork.

But there’s one other reason to purchase this set.  Included in the extras for the first 8 discs are randomly selected and arranged induction and acceptance speeches from the ceremonies.  (Unfortunately, none of these are specifically identified in the packaging.)  These provide some great moments of heartfelt emotion, such as Bono’s wonderful induction of Bob Marley and Pete Townshend’s tribute to The Rolling Stones in which he reveals the extent to which they influenced The Who.  And then, there’s also Paul McCartney’s induction of John Lennon as a solo act in which he refers only to Lennon’s work in The Beatles! 

But some of the acceptance speeches are also memorable and not all of them for their positivity.  The two most notorious acceptances  - Mike Love’s as part of the Beach Boys induction in which he baits a number of the superstar members of the audience and the speeches by all the inducted members of Blondie which revealed the extent of the rift between present day members Chris Stein, Deborah Harry and Clem Burke as opposed to former members Gary Valentine, Nigel Harrison and Frank Infante  - are present here.  Brian Johnstone quoting Bon Scott during AC/DCs induction was a nice touch, as was the members of The Grateful Dead bringing out a life sized cardboard cut off of Gerry Garcia with them onto the stage.  Hearing Johnny Ramone actually say something nice about deceased Joey was a genuine shock but for mine the best moments were listening to founder and Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner’s seeming incomprehension whilst reading The Sex Pistols letter of refusal and Jeff Beck’s humourous speech as part of The Yardbird’s induction.  It went something like this; “I did record other stuff after the Yardbirds. Someone said that I’ve a lot to be proud but I’m not.  They [pointing to the other members of the band] kicked me out so f**k you!”

18 July 2013 (Day 199) – More DVDs

There has been minimal improvement in my condition.  The phlegm in my throat appears to have broken up a little but I’ve now got a migraine.   This limits my ability to do anything other than view DVDs and I’m beginning to run out of those with a musical theme - in concert performances, documentaries or the occasional compilation of an act’s video clips.  Hollywood musicals are a definite no go area.

I’ve always had a conceptual difficulty with Hollywood musicals.   There’s a story, it proceeds and then at some key or otherwise undetermined moment, the characters break out into song and an elaborate choreographed dance routine.  Just like in real life.  I know musicals aren’t made to be taken literally and songs are meant to express the inner feelings of the characters at the given moment but I simply don’t buy it.  There have been moments in my life where I have burst into song to express an emotion but I don’t sing with perfect pitch and, as far as I’m aware, there are no moveable walls in my house that conceal an orchestra or dancers.  All I know is when I burst into song unaccompanied people stick fingers in their ears and ask me to stop.

Instead I see the musical as something that works best when the actors in them portray real people who sing like the majority of people on the planet (that is badly).  So step forward the adaptation of Mama Mia!  or Woody Allen’s Everyone Says I Love You.  Movies set in a form of fantasy land (such as the Wizard Of Oz) or in a scenario that accounts for why the characters can sing (such as Singin’ In The Rain) are conceptually solid enough to hold my interest, provided of course the music is OK.

But I digress.  In between fits of sleep, today I watched;

(AV 29) The Flaming Lips – The Fearless Freaks (2005)

This documentary was compiled by band associate Bradley Beesley from over 400 hours of footage, home super 8 movies and other sources.  It is a comprehensive history of the band until the release of the Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots album.  Although just about every past and present member of the band is featured, the emphasis is firmly on Wayne Coyne and Steven Drozd, their families and their hometown of Oklahoma City.  Scenes set in the latter appear to silently demonstrate just how their surroundings have influenced the creation of such mind blowing, escapist music and, in Drozd’s case, descent into drugs.  In one unforgettable gruesome scene, Drozd describes his heroin addiction to camera whilst calmly setting himself up for a hit.   Fortunately there’s enough music from across their career to keep fans happy and each track can be played in full outside of the film.

(AV 30) Paul Simon – Under African Skies (2012)

This documentary was produced to mark last year is a 25^th Anniversary of Simon’s Graceland album and can be purchased separately or, as in my case, part of the extended version of the album.  There are effectively two parts to the story; the genesis/recording/live performance of the music and the consequent furore surrounding Simon’s breaking of the United Nations anti apartheid  cultural boycott of South Africa.  To tell these stories, Simon journeyed back to South America for a special concert featuring all of the original musicians and a discussion with Ray Tambo, the founder of Artists Against Apartheid and arguably his most outspoken critic.  Simon comes across as slightly naïve about the South African situation.  He eloquently explains how South African music inspired him to seek out the musicians and record with them and that he couldn’t see how his actions could possibly hinder the anti apartheid fight.  After all, he did not discriminate against the black musicians with whom he recorded and toured the world and whose talents he brought before the world.  Naturally they do not say a bad word about him, however, Tambo makes the telling observation that Simon’s actions only benefitted just those musicians and not the wider population, which is why the boycott was in place in the first place.  This appeared to be the key argument that leads Simon to apologise for the offense he caused.  And yet, one can’t help but think that by creating the music and the furore Simon might have generated as much publicity for the anti cause as had the rockers with the Sun City album.  It is absolutely fascinating stuff and an issue that can be debated forever.  Pity, though the documentary makes no reference to the track recorded with Los Lobos and the furore that track has since generated regarding its authorship.

17 July 2013 (Day 198) – In Bed With The Ramones

Still no improvement in my condition but I only started taking the antibiotics yesterday.  At least I managed to find someone get the heating duct repaired today and so can try to recover in some degree of comfort.

The quest for something to occupy my time continues. (Un)Fortunately lethargy gives way to a bit of sleep and four of my waking hours at home without “M” are spent in the company of “Da Brudders” Ramone.

(AV 28) The Ramones – It’s Alive 1974 – 1996 (released 2007)

The Ramones played 2265 gigs before calling it a day in 1996 and this release is a magnificent testament to that achievement.  Its two discs and 113 tracks covers 33 different performances over their 22 year history including concerts and appearances on TV programs.  Every classic Ramones  track is present, including latter day notables such as Pet Sematary, Bonzo Goes To Bitburg and R.A.M.O.N.E.S.

I suspect Disc 1 will be the one that Ramones freaks will play the most often.  It commences with rough black and white footage of three tracks (Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue, I Don’t Wanna Go Down to the Basement and Judy Is a Punk) filmed in CBGB’s in September 1974.  It is a true revelation for any students of the evolution of punk as it conclusively proves that The Ramones in New York City and The Saints in Brisbane had arrived at the same musical point simultaneously and completely independent of each other.  For evidence, listen to these three Ramones tracks and then compare them to the hard to get Saints album The Most Primitive Band In The World Live From The Twilight Zone, Brisbane 1974.

The rest of Disc 1 contains a variety of, mainly US, appearances as the band gradually tighten their sound and learn to run the tracks together, eliminating the awkward silences that are apparent between numbers early on.  There’s a lot of great material here, especially a sensational four track appearance on TV’s Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert in August 1977.  The opening number here, Loudmouth, is an absolutely magnificent and exciting performance that must have won over more than a few fans and the remaining numbers (Here Today Gone Tomorrow, Chinese Rocks, and Teenage Lobotomy) are almost as good.

But it is the final 14 tracks of the disc that forms the holy grail of this entire collection and the single reason to splash out your hard earned if you’re a fan.  These tracks were recorded at The Rainbow Theatre in London on December 31, 1977 which, as all true Ramones fans will tell you, was the performance immortalised on their seminal live album It’s Alive.  (How this was not played up in the marketing for this release is beyond me unless the motive was to preserve sales of the CD.)  This is the Ramones performance and miraculously most of the key parts of the show, especially the explosive finale of I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You, Pinhead, Do Yo Wanna Dance?, Now I Wanna Be A Good Boy, Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue and We’re a Happy Family, have been preserved.  The footage quality is not great and there are times where you think that the soundtrack and footage are not in synch, but I don’t care.  This is how I prefer to remember the band – young, healthy and super aggressive.
 

DVD 2, by comparison, becomes less exciting as it goes on.  Age and other factors gradually catch up with the band so that, by the end, Joey and Johnny are relatively static on stage.  (Crucially, only a total of 11 tracks come from the  final 8 years of the band’s history.)  However, there is still a lot of good material, especially the opening 11 tracks, Blitzkrieg Bop among them, which come from an appearance on German television in September 1978. There’s also a performance of Rock ‘n’ Roll School, appropriately enough on Sha Na Na’s TV show,  as well as some awkward appearances  on the BBC’s Top Of The Pops and better ones on The Old Grey Whistle Test.  And then there’s a 9 track sequence from their set at the original Us Festival in California in 1982.  Despite the inspiration the band derived from Californian surf music, somehow the combination of a daytime set, bikini clad girls in the audience and a large stage seems to dilute the music. Still it is fascinating watching the band try their hardest to win over probably its toughest audience.