DEEP BENEATH THE WAVES vol 52

Subject: DEEP BENEATH THE WAVES vol 52
From: xyx  
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 1997 07:36:18 +0500

  Here's a couple of relatively "older" new ones, both the latest editions
of (for the most part) worthwhile continuing "series......."

HARD TO FIND VOL 4 aka
HARDEST TO FIND (LOST DIAMONDS 1986-96) aka
20 SUPERB DYLAN RARITIES 1986-96  1CD (Treasure Records 187071-3) Various
  rarities> live, promotional, sampler, soundtrack, radio shows
  Tracks: 20    Time: 79+   Source: TV&Radio Broadcasts/Official LP/Audience
  Quality: Very Good to Outstanding
The latest HTF ties together another interesting and eclectic batch of rare
trax that should satisfy all tastes. The rare diamonds:
OLD ROCK & ROLLER 7/3/90  Hamburg, GER  one & only performance & a good one
PEOPLE PUTTING PEOPLE DOWN 6/6/91 Rome  see above, very unusual delivery
TUPELO HONEY  Belfast 2/6/91  inspired duet w/Van
CRAZY LOVE
FOREIGN WINDOW
ONE IRISH ROVER (all 3) Athens 6/27/89 (from UK TV '91) all duets w/Van
   Morrison and I love 'em, particularly ForeignWindow where Bob provides
   some beautiful harp and guitar accompaniment. All 3 are performed as if
   they are alone in a room, just doing songs for their own enjoyment.
ONE IRISH ROVER  6/12/93  London  interesting to compare this to above
FOREVER YOUNG  11/18/93 Letterman TV  enigmatic Bob at his best
I SHALL BE RELEASED/RING THEM BELLS  Japan 5/21/94   the other 2 he did
  besides HardRain w/the orchestra. If you ain't heard 'em, shame on 'ya.
REAL REAL GONE  Dublin 4/12/95  enjoyable rocker w/Van , seems like it fits
RING OF FIRE  Feeling Minnesota  s'track
Nice to have if you don't already have 'em:
IT AIN'T ME BABE  7/31/86  radio show live track opens the set - odd choice
GOT LOVE IF YOU WANT IT/IMPORTANT WORDS  Down in Groove sessions taken from
    Argentina LP (fair transfer) and a promo cassette on the latter
HARD TIMES  Willie Nelson tribute 5/93  Bob at his "WGW"-era best
Wondering why they are there:
BLOWIN' IN THE WIND  MLK Day 1/20/86 w/P,P & M, S. Wonder - very little Bob
MR TAMBOURINE MAN  from Roy orbison Tribute w/Byrds from the box set
MOST OF THE TIME edited single
KNOCKIN'ON HEAVENS DOOR 7/5/96 IT-decent quality but fades out - an 8 ball
  Despite the inclusion of the last 4, a set that has a certain cohesion
(to me at least) and overall excellent sound. It's nice to have things like
this together in one place and is a worthy successor to previous HTFs 1&3.

EXCLUSIVE SERIES '96  1CD (ES 004) Various Germany +1  '96 compilation
  Tracks: 12   Time: 77+    Source: Audience     Quality: Very Good
I'll get right to the point - this set is top heavy with 5 tracks from the
incredible Berlin 6/17/96 show. Ordinarily, this would be a good sign. For
those familiar with the 2CD set "Soul," however, these tracks fall short
in the quality department, sounding a bit compressed and noisy compared
to the astonishingly smooth and upfront quality found on "Soul." They are
still very good but just not up to par w/that release. I might add that
the tracks-Drifter's/ShakeSugaree/AlabamaGetaway/Pos4thStreet/FriendDevil-
suffer a bit outside the "context" of the whole Berlin show, a show that
(IMO) was one of the best, from beginning to end, of the last several years.
Fortunately, the remaining 7 tracks are all well chosen and inspired
performances. Highlights for me are a killer Sweet Marie from Tambach 7/10
w/an incredible keyboard sound from Bucky's steel and a strong vocal
performance by Bob on PrettyPeggyO from Frankfurt 6/19. No less impressive
are a raging 8 min TearsOfRage (also Tambach), a rock 'til you drop 7Days
(also F'furt), and a wonderful Shelter (Konstanz 7/3). As for
ThisWheelsOnFire from Salzburg 7/9, well, the song is ablaze with feeling.
NewMinglewoodBlues (Lux 6/24) wraps it all up - it's not my favorite song
and apparently not Bob's either as they never do it anymore - but it's
in nice quality so if you like it................anyway, a nice collection
that would be much improved had they used "Soul" as a source for the Berlin
selections or, better yet, replaced them altogether w/5 tracks from other
shows.

xyx

1995 1996 1997 1998 T-list CDs