DEEP BENEATH THE WAVES vol 72

From: xyx
To: karlerik@monet.no
Subject: Yet another new DEEP 

EVEN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS  2CD  (Dandelion DL 043/44)
   19 Dec 1997, El Rey Theater, LA, Calif  (16) + 17/18 Dec  El Rey (6)
Tracks: 22   Times: 70/69    Source: Audience   Quality: Excellent
The first complete set from the "club tour" is absolutely sensational.
From the opening chords of a roaring Maggie's, the lethal doses hit
furiously and often throughout the whole show. The sound on this
particular "field recording" is loud and strong, upfront and vivid,
and captures Dylan and the band perfectly, in both the full roaring
electric blues and the tamer, more "subtle" acoustic tunes. THE VOICE
is in your face, cracked and ancient, a voice from another age and
time, yet rooted firmly in the here and now (listening to these El Rey
shows, I get an overwhelming urge to listen to the Smithsonian
Anthology or the 1928 Mississippi John Hurt Avalon recordings. It's
like he takes you back in time to experience those days gone by). The
"Love-0" is just too good for words. Dylan plays with the phrasing by
pausing and then drawing out the last word of each line, then may
decide to do the same with another word in the next line, and back and
forth and it's just sooooo cool to hear. I'm pulling into work shaking
my head and smiling in wonderment how he pulls this off or even comes
up with gems like this from time to time. What a performance - and the
sound of the band, wow!. How wildly eclectic and versatile they are -
from the swampy, blues- rock sound of Cold Irons Bound, the straight
ahead rock of Silvio, to the old- timey feel of "Oh Babe It Ain't No
Lie" (is this the house band for "The Grapes of Wrath?") and the
majestic picking on "Love -0," they strum and pluck and bang along
with Bob and provide the perfect "coloring" for his voice and lyrics.
Best band he's ever had - most def!!!!!!!!! 

Sheryl Crow duets on H61/ Knockin' (w/a great Crow accordion) and the
filler trax from the previous 2 nights are out of this world perfect -
One Too Many Mornings and My Back Pages in particular. Beautiful
package w/8 page booklet, color photos, El Rey info, a comical essay
and LA Times review. Of all the club shows, IMO, the El Rey gigs stand
a bit above the rest. This one's the best evidence of that.

Tracks: Maggies/Black Coat/Cold Irons/ JLAW/Cant Wait/Silvio/Oh Babe/
Love-0/Tangled/Masterpiece/Joey/Till I Fell/H61/LoveSick/RDW
Filler: LARS/It Ain't Me Babe/MrTMan/RovingGambler/OneTooMany
Mornings/MyBackPages

ELECTRIC BLACK NIGHT CRASH  1CD (Junk 001)  3 Sept 1965
   Hollywood Bowl, California
Tracks: 13    Time: 71+    Source: Board?/Reel-Reel  Quality: VeryGood+
The first "real" release (non-CDR) from the recently surfaced
Hollywood Bowl tape. If I may, the cover, a 1965 color close-up of
Dylan's head in front of a microphone, is absolutely stunning. Quality
is very good, not Guitars- Kissing good but complaining about a '65
performance w/the Hawks from a board or reel source is a bit
ludicrous, no? The show provides a revealing look at Dylan at the
height of his unique powers during the acoustic set, which is
compelling and IMO a more inspired performance than the '65 UK shows
or even the '64 acoustic sets, for that matter. May be heresy but I
find this acoustic set better even than the '66 ones (I got my
flame-proof jacket on).

The electric set is a different story. You can sense the tentative,
apprehensive nature of the performance, with the reins pulled back a
bit and the confident, headlong burst into the fire that would
characterize the '66 shows not yet in evidence. Still, we get a rare
live FROM A BUICK SIX w/ some lyric variations and a chance to hear
Dylan w/the Hawks in only their second live gig (1st Forest Hills) in
very good sound, taken from the board or a reel source. In any case,
this one's a must, as much as the '63 TownHall/Carnegie, '64 NYC
Philharmonic, '65 Manchester & '66 Manchester are musts. A major link
in understanding the chain. Nice package w/the previously mentioned
cover and artwork all around. Essential. (Same quality as the intial
CDR release "Western Electric" on Wild Wolf).

TOUR DIARY '97 - ON THE ROAD TO THE HIGHLANDS  1CD (ZEN CD 978)
   August 1997 sampler
Tracks: 13    Time: 75      Source: Audience    Quality: Excellent/VG+
A fine collection of tracks from the August 1997 shows in consistently
strong EXC/VG+ quality, taken from 7 different shows, with only one
track seeing the light prior to this, so far as I can tell.  Nicely
selected for the strength of performance, it seems, as all provide
thrills and chills. I'd forgotten how enjoyable those TOUGH MAMA's
were, and the Friend Of the Devil is simply incredible. Also includes
the second of only 2 performances of the killer One Of Us Must Know
from Hershey. Very enjoyable set.

Complete track list:
LINCOLN 3 August: Sweet Marie/I Want You/ This Wheel's On Fire 
WALLINGFORD  18 August:  Pretty Peggy-O
HERSHEY  14 August: To Ramona/One Of us Must Know
CLARKSTON  10 August:  I Shall Be Released/Tough Mama/Blind Willie
MONTREAL  8 August:  LayLadyLay
VIRGINIA BEACH 22 August:  Friend Of The Devil
PHILADELPHIA 20 August:  Tears of Rage/Leopard Skin PillBoxHat

ERIC CLAPTON & FRIENDS -  "HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIC" 1CD
  (Dandelion DL017)  Shangri-La Studios, March 30, 1976
Tracks: 10    Time: 63    Source: Studio    Quality: Very Good
Clapton says,"I had a magnificent birthday party right in the middle of the
sessions and we decided to record everything and everybody that came into 
the studio. There's Billy Preston singing a couple of Ray Charles songs with

the BAND backing him along with Jesse Ed Davis, me Robbie Robertson &
Woody (Ron Wood) on guitars. Bob showed up about eight o'clock in the 
morning and it went on from there."  Here's the account of those "sessions,"
with Dylan taking the lead vocal on a few verses of "Spanish Is The Loving
Tongue," a complete and gorgeous 6 minutes of "The Water Is Wide" and
almost 5 minutes of Idiot Wind. All are acoustic, by the way. Best quality
I've heard of this material, particularly the Dylan segment. 

Rest of the tracks and who sings 'em:
Billy Preston: It's Eric Clapton's Birthday
Van Morrison: Who Do You Love & Stormy Monday
Rick Danko: Hard Times
Instrumental Jam
Clapton: Big River
Levon Helm: Steppin' Out 
A loose, fun disk, packaged nicely w/a color 8 page booklet.

xyx
                                 

1995 1996 1997 1998 T-list CDs