duaneiac

The Persuasions -- Live In The Whispering Gallery (of Grand Central Terminal, NYC)

14 minutes of Junior Mance and Houston Person playing "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" is about as groovy as you'd probably expect.

I was skeptical of this CD even though I liked their Beatles and Dylan tribute CDs and liked most of their Zappa tribute disc. I was just never that much into U2. I heard their songs on the radio back in the day, but never cared much about them one way or the other, certainly not enough to delve deeper into their work. What I discovered on this disc is that U2 has quite a few good songs and they simply needed some one who knew how to sing to properly present them. This, to me, is a thousand times better than the original:

One neat thing about old movies was some studio honcho, for whatever reason, would decide it was a terrific idea to cast Edward G. Robinson and (not yet Dame) Judith Anderson as brother and sister in a film and audiences would be willing to go, "Mmmmmmmmmmm, okay -- yeah, whatever". The future Dame does her best to sound American, but her elocution would still put 90% of us native speakers to shame. When people think of Edward G. Robinson, it's usually always about the voice. The voice can be easily imitated, but it was his eyes that made him an unforgettable actor. He had very expressive eyes and would have been a film star even if talkies had never been invented. He does what he can with this role, but it's really not a great fit for him. The film does have several scenes featuring the young & lovely Julie London.

Thanks to YouTube for suggesting this one to me. I'm ashamed to admit I never even heard of this guy before! What was his story? Westbound Records Tracklist: A1 Mighty Mouse A2 Summer Breeze (Seals, Crofts) 5:23 A3 Sweet Children 11:12 B1 Funk It Down 16:54 B2 Living For The City (Stevie Wonder) 21:56 B3 Walking On The Side 28:17 Caesar Frazier (og, e-p, key) Horace Ott (arr, con, p, key) David Spinoza (g) Cornell Dupree, John Tropea, Richie Resnikoff (g) Wilbur Bascomb (e-b) Bernard Purdie (dr) tracks: A3-B2 Jimmy Young (dr) A1, A2, B3 Buddy Caldwell (perc) Joe Venuto (tamb) Joe Shepley, Jon Faddis (tp) Garnett Brown (tb) Charlie Brown (ts) Babe Clarke (bar)

Prestige Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, January 5, 1967 Tracklist: A1 Samba de Orfeu (Luiz Bonfà) A2 (Good) Morning Time 5:24 A3 Money (That's What I Want) (Bradford, Gordy) 11:00 A4 Stinky Fingers 15:24 B1 Here Comes The Mocha Man 19:27 B2 Johnnie's Comin' Home No More 24:47 B3 Warning Shot (Goldsmith) 30:04 Freddie Roach (og, voc) Vinnie Corrao (g) Eddie Gladden (dr) Ralph Dorsey (perc)

I keep coming back to listen to this tune. It is such a fine combination of material. performers and arrangement.

Tonight's episode: Waiting For Godeath!

Tracklist: A1. Harvest Time B1. Love Will Find a Way B2. Memories of Edith Johnson Credits: Bass – Steve Neil Drums – Greg Bandy (tracks: B1, B2) Guitar – Tisziji Muñoz Harmonium – Bedria Sanders (tracks: A1) Organ – Jiggs Chase (tracks: B1, B2) Percussion – Lawrence Killian Tenor Saxophone, Percussion, Vocals, Composed By – Pharoah Sanders

On a few tracks there are musicians playing accompaniment including Jim Pepper, Blue Lou Marini and Bernard Purdie.

"I Woke Up In Love This Morning" never sounded so good!

I think he has quite a well-honed sense of showmanship. That version of "The Healing Game" in the video I posted above is every bit as theatrical as Elvis Presley performing "Suspicious Minds" in concert or James Brown doing "It's a Man's World". On the version of "The Burning Ground" that closes that concert, Van almost turns into a kabuki actor with his stylized stage movements.

Here's a really good performance from 1997, around the time of The Healing Game album. Van sounds like he was really into the new material. He had a great band here including Georgie Fame and Pee Wee Ellis. This version of that album's title tune (at around 36:30) is pure gold. I don't know how well it comes across on video, but moments like that, experienced live, are really mesmerizing and soul-stirring.

My thought upon seeing him in concert last November were what prompted me to start this thread. It was the fourth time I'd seen him in concert and I still really enjoyed the show. Check out the first post in this thread for more of what I wrote about it. Have you checked out the albums Days Like This or The Healing Game? I thought both of those were particularly strong releases of the past 25 years,

Disc 1 & 2 of 2.

Yes, I've been listening to quite a few shows on YouTube. I really wish he (or his management) would get around to issuing some "authorized bootlegs" of some selected concerts. There are so many ways they could go: different sets devoted to different decades from the 1960's to 2010's; different sets devoted to concerts held in certain areas like New York, San Francisco, Dublin, etc.; sets of just shows that featured string sections or shows that included horn sections. There is an immense amount of live material out there and if some of it could be collected, cleaned up and "officially" released, I'd be pleased to buy that package.

Wow -- the ultimate "love gone wrong" album! A great piece of work that is at times sad, funny, painful, wistful, but always singable.