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From: rzepelaa@netaxs.com (Anthony J. Rzepela)
Newsgroups: alt.rock-n-roll.stones
Subject: Rolling Stones FAQ [2/4]
Date: 1 Mar 2000 07:01:21 GMT
Message-ID: <89if81$i3q@netaxs.com>
Archive-name: music/rollingstones-faq/part2
Last-modified: 2000/02/28
Version: 7.02
Rolling Stones' Mailing list/newsgroup FAQ
====================================================
http://www.netaxs.com/~rzepelaa/undercover
Part Two
The Rolling Stones--Live and Unreleased recordings
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COPYRIGHT 1994-2000 (c) Anthony J. Rzepela (editor)
This collection of four works is under the copyright of the editor,
who may, at his discretion, relinquish said copyright to the authors
named herein.
This collection may not be broken up, or be made available
by any publisher. It may not be redistributed in any form
if any changes are made to it except by the holder of the
copyright.
The editor of this FAQ retains all rights for use of it.
No author or proofreader or assistant credited herein grants
the use of his or her name to any publisher. Be warned that
attempts to publish this shared work-in-progress may interfere
with legal commitments individual authors may privately hold
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The Rolling Stones--Live and Unreleased Recordings
(Version 6.02 of *this* document, February 28, 2000)
The Rolling Stones have been around for over 30 years and have released
many albums. However, for some fans, they haven't released enough.
This is a guide for those fans who want to know what the Stones were
doing on their many unrecorded tours, or are curious to hear the various
working stages of a classic song. The only way to hear this is from
unauthorized recordings.
This portion of the FAQ is an introduction and guide to the unauthorized
recordings of the Rolling Stones. This information is for educational
purposes only. Please note that this article is _not_ written by Tony
Rzepela. Your humble author chooses to remain anonymous; call me Mr. X.
Any comments, questions, or additional information concerning this
portion of the FAQ should be posted to Undercover; I will see it and
modify the FAQ as needed.
(Thanks to those of you who have contributed. You know who you are.
Also thanks to those of you who have posted reviews to Undercover, which
I have added to fill gaps in my knowledge. Hope you don't mind :)).
This is intended to be a general reference, to be carried around when
looking for unauthorized recordings. If you see such a recording, check
the date/location in the FAQ for quality and my comments. This document
doesn't have song titles but does include standard live set lists, in
case you are looking for a live version of a certain song but aren't
sure if it was ever performed. Set lists don't vary too much except for
the first shows of a tour and the Voodoo Lounge through No Security
tours.
For song titles on a particular CD/LP, consult John Artukovich's
"Fingerprint File" at http://www.primenet.com/~united86/ (was removed
but now back), or Hendrik Mulder's "Love You Live" at
http://www.gironet.nl/home/mulderha/, or Remco Terhoeven's page at
http://home.wish.net/~gimme_shelter/. Books include _Hot Wacks_ (many
mistakes but at least the song titles are right), Nico Zentgraf's
_Collector's Delight or Collector's Disease_ (CD only, out of date now).
For current CD info, especially Vinyl Gang Productions, consult Jaime
Castenada's "The Stones Files" at http://www.zip.com.au/~jaime/.
For setlists, try accessing Nico's data on the web at
http://home.ins.de/~j.delmere/stones/books/zent.htm.
For set lists on the "No Security" tour, see Bjornulf Vik's IORR web
site at http://www.iorr.org/.
For interesting analysis and commentary on Stones concerts and outtakes,
see http://hometown.aol.com/chrism42/stones.htm.
Also, a new version of Dieter Hoffmann's "Schwarzbuch" (Black Book) is
now out. It's the definitive Stones bootleg book. This edition is done
loose leaf style so future releases can be added easily. For brief
information, see http://www.zip.com.au/~jaime/schwarzbuch/.
Unauthorized recordings may be either live concerts or studio outtakes.
Live concerts may be recorded in several ways: In the audience using a
hand held tape recorder, by a sound man from the soundboard, or from a
radio broadcast. Audience recordings will generally sound the worst,
but modern technology makes it possible to have very good audience
recordings. Studio outtakes are generally of good quality as the
recording is usually professionally done. In all cases, sound quality
will deteriorate as analog copies are made from one generation to the
next.
This is a partial list of unauthorized recordings of the Rolling Stones.
It is not complete. I have omitted many LPs and CDs, and virtually all
tape only performances. Many of the best recorded performances have
been released by as many as 10 different companies; I have listed only
the best or one of the best versions. This list is biased toward in-
print CDs since they are what most people want, and can be found without
too much difficulty. However, I have included some out of print and
hard to get items which I consider important.
Listings are by location, date, length, quality, and source. All
quality ratings from 1 to 10 are done by the author, with 1 being
unlistenable and 10 being perfect release quality. Since I can't listen
to everything, some ratings are from books, fanzines, or postings to
Undercover. These ratings are in the form of EX (excellent), VG+ (very
good plus), etc. 'm' indicates mono, 's' stereo, and 'es' electronic
stereo.
Part 1: The Early Years with Brian Jones
Most of the recordings from this period are either from media
appearances such as the BBC and TV shows, or studio outtakes. Although
the band toured constantly, there are few unauthorized concert
recordings. This was the time of Beatlemania, and screaming girls and
often riots at concerts. With the extremely primitive PA systems of the
era, the Stones were frequently drowned out by the audience.
Set lists:
Second English tour, Feb./March 1964: Talking About You, Roadrunner,
Roll Over Beethoven, You Better Move On, Beautiful Delilah, It's
Alright, Not Fade Away, I Wanna Be Your Man.
September/October 1964 UK tour: I Just Wanna Make Love to You, Walking
the Dog, If You Need Me, It's Alright, Around and Around, It's All Over
Now.
March 1965 UK tour: Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, Pain in My Heart,
Down the Road Apiece, Time is on My Side, I'm Moving On, It's Alright,
Little Red Rooster, Route 66, The Last Time, Everybody Needs Somebody to
Love.
September/October 1965 UK tour: Mercy Mercy, Cry to Me, The Last Time,
Oh Baby We Got a Good Thing Going, I'm Moving On, She Said Yeah,
Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, That's How Strong My Love is, Talkin'
'bout You.
Paris March 29, 1966 1st show: The Last Time, Mercy Mercy, She Said
Yeah, Play with Fire, Not Fade Away, That's How Strong My Love is, I'm
Moving On, The Spider and the Fly, Time is on My Side, 19th Nervous
Breakdown, Around and Around, Get Off of My Cloud, It's Alright,
Satisfaction.
Paris April 11, 1967: Paint It Black, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Lady
Jane, Get Off of My Cloud, Yesterday's Papers, Under My Thumb, Ruby
Tuesday, Let's Spend the Night Together, Going Home, Satisfaction.
No audience tapes earlier than 1967 are circulating although there are
rumors of earlier tapes.
BBC '63-'65; "Beat Beat Beat at the Beeb"/
others
I quote from an Internet review: "This 2-CD set comprises all available
studio recordings from the BBC sessions in chronological order. The quality
is very good to superb mono/stereo. Unlike other titles most of these tracks
are from tape/CD sources. Having this set makes all other titles (e.g. Get
Satisfaction If You Want, Cracking Up, Beautiful Delilah, Rape of the Vaults,
etc.) unnecessary... VGP's 'The Lost Treasure' is nothing new." However, a
follow up review said: "I totally disagree. Seems to me that 'beat beat
beat' trims beginnings and/or ends of songs in some cases that are complete in
'get satisfaction if you want.'" Note: I have not heard this yet. I assume
that "Get Satisfaction if You Want" and "Crackin' Up" combined have most of
these tracks but miss a few.
Ed Sullivan TV '64-'67; 7.5 m; "Conquer America"/others
Their famous TV appearances are available on several LPs and CDs, for over 20
years, and video as well. Many if not all performances are live vocals with
the rest of the band miming to the studio version of the song, so not that
interesting. The 1969 appearance is not on this disc because at the time of
its release, the performance was not yet 20 years old; this legal barrier was
surmounted for later releases. Of course some people don't worry about things
like that.
Outtakes '63-'65; 30 min; 9.0 s; "Bright Lights Big City"
A combination of very early outtakes and Chess Studios outtakes. Old LPs are
made from scratchy acetates but sound quite good otherwise; later CD releases
have lost the scratches. (Old LPs also have an inferior Montreux '72, see
below.) Moderately interesting; the early Stones sound none too confident in
the studio.
Misc. early live; "Bright Lights, Big City"
I quote from an Internet review: "Very nice 2cd pack with early live material
like NME poll winners 1964 and 1965, TAMI show, Saturday night at the London
palladium, Ed Sullivan shows, Ready Steady go 1965 and 1966 etc. ALL these
recording were released before but to get these recordings, you needed [a]
minimum [of] 7 titles..." Another Internet review added: "Most of this has
been available before but the NME Poll winners tracks are an upgrade to me. I
almost bought the complete 2CD NME show from 1965 just to get the 3 Stones
tracks but now for the money you get a great sounding but nothing new 2cd
Stones only set. This has a great booklet also! Unfortunately, bootleggers
have nothing new to put out so they keep rehashing old stuff with a new title
or package. Don't fall for this." Even the title is copied.
Misc. early live; "Record Mirror"
Two separate box sets. I quote an Internet review: "Overall a waste of money
unless you're new to the bootleg collecting world. If you have a decent
collection already there's nothing new here except the great booklets. The
sound is good but the quality is NOT upgraded at all. In fact there is much
hiss from the sources and some tracks have crackle[s] from vinyl! This is a
good set if you have nothing but it's nothing but a rehash of everything
that's out there already except that it's in one convenient place. It's not
worth the big price tag."
Outtakes '64-'70; 210 min; 9.0 m&s; "The Black Box"
Compilation of most of the decent sounding outtakes from the early period.
Most have been available on other releases but a few are new here. Includes
the Stones portion of the "Karaoke" (instrumental outtakes) CD. Having this
set would be enough early outtakes for most people.
Outtakes '64-'70; "From Mason's Yard to Primrose Hill"
Nothing particularly rare here, but said to be "superior" quality. I haven't
heard it. The title comes from Gered Mankowitz's limited edition photo book.
Outtakes '64-'73; 70 min; 8.0 s; "Mad Shadows"
A fine collection of material over the years including material never
available before, even to tape traders. Mostly excellent sound.
The Hague, 8/8/64; 4.0 m; "Back to the Hague"
I quote from an Internet review: "To my knowledge the first ever audience
tape of the Stones... The concert of the Stones in the Hague at the Kurhaus,
the Hague (which was one of the most fancy hotels back then) was the Stones'
first ever concert on the European continent. Opening acts were some dreadful
Dutch entertainers, which made the crowd riotous. The show started with
Walking The Dog and the crowd started to tear down the hall. Jagger lost his
mike lead and played maracas on Hi-Heel Sneakers and Susie Q. The Stones
ended with Mona (and not Not Fade Away as Karnbach and Bernson state) before
the show was cancelled by the police. Never happened something like this
before in Holland! Funny enough, the press didn't consider a Stones concert a
big thing so didn't send a camera team. Luckily for us now, a young D.J.
called Willem van Kooten decided it was important and went to the concert with
a camera and a tape recorder. He recorded the complete concert from the side
of the stage and even got to ask Jagger (during Susie Q!) if he had ever seen
something like this. Jagger responded no, and said the police had to take it
easy on the young girls. The tape is of very good quality, all instruments
can be heard loud and clear. The tape is especially funny if you understand
Dutch, since the reporter is clearly amazed at the sight of 1000 young kids
fighting! The tape is on at least on LP (Back to The Hague), on video with
the film footage, but not on CD as far as I know." Note: having heard the LP
recently, I can say it really isn't that good. The instruments are fairly
clear but vocals are totally inaudible. For completists only.
TAMI show 10/29/64; 25 min; 9.5 m; tape (laser disc)
This performance is available on at least one LP but may not be on CD. The
video is available on a legal Japanese laser disc. Fantastic performance;
being able to see it makes it even better. Great guitar work by Keith and
Brian, and Mick does all his James Brown moves.
Stereo mixes/outtakes 65-'67; 60 min; 7.5 s; "Dartford Renegades"
This includes some of the stereo mixes that are on the non-US "Hot Rocks 1"
CD, in noticeably worse quality but with slightly longer fade-outs, plus
others that have never been officially released in stereo such as "The Last
Time." Also includes outtakes dubbed from the rare German LP "As Time Goes
By."
Swedish TV 4/2/65; "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss"
I quote from an Undercover review: "...muddy but listenable... It appears
all are live vocals with pre-recorded studio backing tracks. Nothing
astounding here." (This CD also includes Paris '65-'67.)
Paris 4/18/65; 40 min; "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss"/ others
A French radio broadcast but the sound is primitive. Good concert though out
of tune toward the end, and the crowd is riotous. The show has been available
for years on many LPs and CDs, but the listed Japanese CD is supposedly the
best ever. I haven't heard it, but heard its predecessor "All Those Years
Ago," and it was the best I've ever heard. Other releases miss the first
song, are tinny, run too slow, etc. (This CD also includes Paris '65-'67 +
Swedish TV above.)
Paris '65, '66 2nd, '67; "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss"
Confusingly VGP has released these 1995? Paris rebroadcasts on two different
titles with different filler. The listed title is the later and apparently
superior release. "Still I'm Gonna Miss You" was the first; it was a single
CD of these rebroadcast plus TV show filler. Sound quality is far superior to
the original '60s broadcasts, and also superior to early '80s rebroadcasts
that appeared on LPs. I quote from an Internet review of "Gathers:" "Disc 1
contains 4 tracks from Paris April 18, 1965, 3 tracks from Paris March 29,
1966 2nd show and 5 tracks from Paris April 11, 1967, taken from a recent
French rebroadcast Musicorama in excellent mono quality. The quality of these
tracks is truly amazing; this is probably the clearest sounding material from
the Brian Jones era--and that includes the official 'Got Live.' Makes one
really wonder what is left in the Musicorama vaults, since all shows were
taped completely. Disc one rounds off with 4 tracks from a Swedish TV special
on April 2, 1965 in full playback and bad quality, completely useless (see
separate review above). Disc 2 contains the complete shows from Paris April
18, 1965 in exc. mono soundboard quality (see separate review above) and Paris
April 11, 1967 in good-very good mono soundboard quality (see separate review
below)." Note: I have only heard "Still..." and it's extremely good. Its
filler is 5 songs from Shindig TV 5/26/65. I particularly like the '67 tracks
which have some suitably freaky guitar work; also note the early-Pink Floyd-
style keyboards on Satisfaction.
Berlin 9/15/65 + Hamburg 9/13/65; "On Tour"
I quote an Internet review: "This CD is a copy of the bootleg LP's 'Brian We
Miss You' (MDR 5) and 'The Riot Show/Berlin 1965' (MDR 1). The Berlin show
sounds quite good (I mean, we're talking 1965!), and especially Brian can be
heard well. Hamburg is a typical sixties tape: muffled, only the audience can
be heard." Note: quality on the Berlin LP is poor, 3.5 m; 30 min, plus it
runs too fast! Hamburg is only one song. Haven't heard this CD, so I can
only hope the pitch is at least corrected. "Brian We Miss You," not mentioned
in this Internet review, is also poor; it's Vienna 4/2/67; 35 min; 4.0 m (see
separate review below).
Sydney 2/18/66; "He Is Not Dead"/ 1 other?
I quote from an Internet review: "...Contrary to what most people think, this
is a radio broadcast, not a audience show... In February 1966 the Stones did
a... Winter Tour, starting with two shows at the Commemorative Pavilion,
Sydney. At least four shows of this tour were aired by radio, and until now
only one show turned up on CD. The sound quality of this CD is, considering
the date when this tape was recorded off the air, quite good. It certainly is
the best sounding, complete 1966 radio show (the better sounding Honolulu show
is a true soundboard recording and not a radio show). There is a fair amount
of hiss and static, but the show is (like all early sixty shows) incredible
with a really nice set list." This CD also includes Citadel outtakes and two
tracks supposedly with Brian and Jimi Hendrix. I have not heard it.
Paris 3/29/66 1st show; 37 min; 4.5 m; "F***ing and Sucking"/ others
First available on a rare LP; the listed title is a Japanese CD. Another
French radio broadcast; the complete tape is not as good as the '65 broadcast.
It's nowhere near the quality of the Paris '65-'67 sampler above, which does
not include any of this show; it has never been rebroadcast. Interesting
performance, the Stones play very fast in '66. Unfortunately there is an
announcer between most songs, and three songs are incomplete. The listed CD
also includes Paris 4/11/67. Most recent release of this show is "England's
Rarest Hitmakers," which also includes rare official releases. Contrary to
what you may have read elsewhere, it uses the exact same incomplete source
tape with one very minor difference: "Play with fire" has a pronounced stereo
effect. Still incomplete though. Sound quality for "ERH" is slightly worse,
almost the same. It also includes rare official early studio tracks which are
unavailable on CD.
Paris 3/29/66 2nd show; 35 min; 5.0 m; "A L'Olympia 1966"/others
Available both complete and incomplete on LP; now copied onto a CD called "On
Stage" along with the 4/11/67 Paris broadcast. Quality is similar to the
above and there is no announcer. (On the '65-'67 rebroadcast above in far
better quality).
Honolulu 7/28/66; 30 min; 7.5 m; "In Action"/others
First available on LP in horrendous and then pretty bad quality, this concert
is finally available in quite good quality on CD. This is the only known true
soundboard recording from the Brian Jones era. Amusing performance; Charlie
gets to introduce a song and announces one they already did, and Mick says it
will be their last concert ever! Undoubtedly he was influenced by the
Beatles, who would have their last concert on August 29. "Paris Match" omits
the goofy introduction--another reason not to buy it. (The listed CD also
includes "Trident Mixes" outtakes). VGP's "So Much Younger Than Today," which
lifts its title from an old TSP LP, may be a slight upgrade but I haven't
heard it.
Outtakes and live '66-'69; 75 min; 10.0 s/6.0 m (varies); "Time Trip 4"
This latest in the Time Trip series, this marks a return to form after the sub
par Time Trip 3. Superb quality outtakes, either never before available or
better than before, plus a few lesser quality live tracks. "Carol" at the end
is the same version as "Ya Yas" but sounds better here IMHO. The mix is
better but there is a very slight warble from varying speed I think.
London Palladium 1/22/67; 15 min; 6.0 m; "All Those Years Ago"/others
The performance where the Stones achieved even more notoriety by not waving to
the TV audience at the end of the show. There is an interesting re-working of
"It's All Over Now." (The listed CD also includes other early material).
Vienna 4/2/67 + The Hague 4/15/67; "Groovin' Around"/others
I quote from an Internet review: "...The first 7 songs from Vienna are
listenable and not bad for the time. At least the sound is far better than on
the old LP. I would rate it 5.0 m. The last 7 songs are from the Houtrusthal
(corrected), the Hague (the Netherlands) and are of poor quality. What can be
heard is the Dutch audience discussion the show, and lots of screaming?"
Note: I haven't heard this CD but Vienna 4/2/67 on an LP is 4.0 m.
Paris 4/11/67 complete; 30 min; "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss"
This is the best available complete recording of the 1967 tour of Europe, the
last tour with Brian Jones. I have not heard the listed title, but it is said
to be an improvement over "F*cking and Sucking." It also includes the
'65/'66/'67 partial rebroadcast from 1995?, which is the best possible
quality, plus Paris 4/18/65 complete (see separate reviews above.)
TSMR sessions 5-9/67; ~430 min; 9.5 s; "The Satanic Sessions"
7 (!) CDs worth of rehearsals for TSMR, with Jigsaw Puzzle rehearsals on the
8th CD. Near-perfect quality; in some respects better than the official
release. These are early run-throughs of songs, some barely recognizable
compared to the finished album versions. There are also jams which were never
released, and it's easy to see why. Some remind me of the Kinks, possibly
because there's lots of piano by Nicky Hopkins (I assume). There are no
vocals and lots of aborted takes. Interesting to hear once but probably not
worth repeated listening. Note: This does not have as many takes of
"Citadel" as "Request and Requires," but it's much better quality.
Surrey 3/68 reh + int; 45 min; 5.5 m; "1968 Surrey Rehearsals"
Interesting jams with the origins of Jumping Jack Flash, Stray Cat Blues, and
many other classics. Brian is not present; Mick and Keith laugh about it.
This was apparently recorded on a portable tape recorder by a visiting
reporter, and the quality is not very good. The Japanese CD is better than
the original LP.
Part 1a: Brian is phased out
The Stones did their last tour with Brian in the spring of 1967. They
were unable to tour after that due to Brian's legal and health problems.
The Rock and Roll Circus was to be a way around this, bringing the
performance to the audience instead of the other way around.
Beggars Banquet outtakes; 73 min; 9.5 s; "RSVP"
An interesting yet frustrating CD of alternate takes and mixes from "Beggars,"
plus outtakes from that era. Some of the alt mixes sound arguably better than
the official release, but others simply sound odd. A few run too fast. All
the outtakes are available in better quality on old vinyl LPs; most are
probably dubbed from "Trident Mixes" (see below). Worthwhile, but probably
would have been better if it had not attempted to make an almost-complete
alternate "Beggars." Re-released as "RSVP Revisited" with some new tracks
lifted from the Beggars disc on "The Satanic Sessions" Vol. 2 and other
previously available sources, and without the "Trident Mixes" dubs. Worth
getting only if you don't have the original already.
"Sympathy..." reh. 5-6/68; 20 min; 8.0 m; "Angie"
This LP has part of the music in the "Sympathy for the Devil" movie. Good
sound but not necessary now that the film is easily available.
Outtakes '68-'72; 70 min; 8.0 s; "On the Rocks"
Decent collection of outtakes including a few which first appeared here. Good
sound quality but later releases such as "The Black Box" (above) make this
mostly unnecessary.
Outtakes '68-'72; 70 min; 9.5 s; "Trident Mixes"
One of the classic LPs; has been copied onto CD. Fantastic sound quality,
especially for the vinyl era, though it's a bit scratchy. Some if not all the
music is from acetates, which are generally scratchy, so that could be the
reason. Several interesting cuts but I find some of the instrumentals pretty
dull. If you can find them, there are 2 CD-Rs of this material plus the Exile
outs (see below), which are said to be very good quality without surface
noise. Some of the same material is on "Hillside Blues," for which I quote an
unpublished review: "Contains the well-known Trident material, and the Exile
outtakes material in pretty nice quality. Better than previous CDs, but who
knows how good the master/'best quality available' master tape may be..."
Outtakes/diff. mixes '68-'73;100 min; 10.0 s; "Time Trip" 1 and 2
An interesting yet frustrating set of CDs. Some alternate takes of classic
songs, plus slightly different alternate mixes, mostly Sticky Fingers era.
Also includes a few Exile era outtakes ca. 10/70 which have surfaced
elsewhere, one track from the 6/23/72 Dallas rehearsals, alternate Sway from
the 45, a TV broadcast, etc. A fair number of tracks are repeats; Vol. 2
includes Montreux 5/21/72 complete, out of order, while Vol. has 3 of the 6
songs, and some of the supposedly different alternate mixes sound identical to
my ears. The outtakes, alternate mixes, and Montreux have superb sound
quality for the most part. Beware of early pressings of these CDs which have
deteriorated by now to the point where they are usually unplayable; look for
cracks in the playing surface.
R & R Circus reh. 12/10?/68; 10 min; 7.5 m; "Gravestones"
With the release of the R&R Circus video and CD, I'll mention that alternate
versions of Parachute Woman and YCAGWYW are available on this old LP. Where's
the video? (I'm also told that the boot LP versions of "Yer Blues" [not on
this LP] are different from the official release. Haven't checked yet.
Anyone?) (This rare old LP is a mixture of all sorts of tracks, which are all
out on CD now in better quality, except for these two songs. It's usually
packaged with "Rape of the Vaults," an LP of BBC tracks in low fidelity).
Part 2: The middle period with Mick Taylor
After the forced exit of Brian, the Stones hired Mick Taylor as new lead
guitarist. His excellent playing made this lineup arguably the best for
live performances.
His first gig with them was a free concert in London's Hyde Park before
several hundred thousand people. Brian Jones had died 2 days earlier
and the concert became a tribute to him.
Hyde Park 7/5/69; 85 min; 8.0 m; "Hyde Park 1969"/others
First released on LP from an audience tape; later releases are from the movie
soundtrack and a 1979 WLIR FM documentary, with only "Down Home Girl" from the
audience tape. The performance is sloppy but energetic. This concert has an
unusual set list, partly due to Taylor's unfamiliarity with the band. Note
that some CDs are dubbed from LPs so they sound good but still have surface
noise; the Swingin' Pig release is from tape. As of late '98 a new CD "In the
Park" became available. It's a 63 min audience recording, different from the
previous one, and not real good. There's considerable crowd noise, Jagger's
voice overpowers the band, and no between song dialogue. Avoid.
The first actual tour with Mick Taylor was the fall/winter 1969 US Tour.
"Let It Bleed" was released at the end of the tour. Toward the end of
the tour the band did some recordings at Muscle Shoals, Alabama (partly
documented on "Time Trip" above). New York, Muscle Shoals, and Altamont
are documented in the movie "Gimme Shelter." The official live album
from this tour is the excellent "Get Yer Ya-Yas Out." This tour
established a pattern which would continue until 1982: US tour every 3
years, with a European tour the following year. There was no 1979
European tour, but the New Barbarians toured that year.
Typical set for 1969 US tour: Jumping Jack Flash, Carol, Sympathy for
the Devil, Stray Cat Blues, Love in Vain, Prodigal Son (not at all
shows), You Gotta Move (not at all shows), Under My Thumb, Midnight
Rambler, Live with Me, Little Queenie, Satisfaction, Honky Tonk Woman,
Street Fighting Man. Played infrequently: I'm Free, Gimme Shelter.
Played only at Altamont: The Sun is Shining (by Jimmy Reed), Brown
Sugar.
Quite a few of these shows were recorded by fans in the audience. These
tapes vary from atrocious to excellent. All of the good tapes have been
made into LPs or CDs.
Fort Collins, CO 11/7/69; 70 min; 5.5 m; "Catch Your Dreams Before They
Slip Away"
Distant, mediocre audience recording of the first show of the tour. For those
who have to have everything.
L.A. Forum 11/8/69 2nd show; 70 min; 7.0 m;"Born in a Crossfire Hurricane"/
others
This is an unusual show in that there are two completely different, above
average audience tapes. Neither tape came into wide circulation until the
'90s. This CD is the only release of the slightly better tape. This is the
best of the early shows in my opinion; Keith rocks. The other source tape is
best heard as one of the CDs in "Cocaine on a Dentist Chair."
Oakland 11/9/69 1st show; 70 min; 7.0 m; "Bring It Back Aliver"
Another audience tape that did not circulate until the mid '90s. The PA blows
out early on; the replacement system is quiet which makes for a good
recording. The performance is average. The rare "Liver Than They'll Ever Be"
LP and CD sound better than the more easily available title listed; this is
probably available on a Japanese CD as well.
Oakland 11/9/69 2nd show; 70 min; 8.0 m; "Liver Than You'll Ever Be"/
many others
The first Stones bootleg. Many, many different releases on LP, now the entire
concert is on CD. Good audience recording for the time but Mick's voice is
too loud. Average performance. The LP, the first rock music bootleg with
good sound, caused a sensation back in 1970 and was even reviewed in Rolling
Stone magazine. Original Lurch label LPs sound quite good but many later
pressings have excessive surface noise. The listed Swingin' Pig CD is not
quite complete due to tape flaws in 2 songs but there is a VGP CD of the
entire Oakland tape, with flaws. Either of these CDs is your best bet
soundwise. The latest "30th Anniversary" release is remastered and nicely
packaged to look like a Mobile Fidelity audiophile CD. Unfortunately, it
suffers from a poor mastering job which attempts to boost the guitars but
results in a shrill sound. At least it splices together the two incomplete
songs. Overall, not recommended.
Coincidentally, a primitive incomplete soundboard tape was recorded by Bill
Graham's people, and broadcast on KSAN in 1972. That recording is available
on a rare German LP "Oakland Sixty-Nine" and was later dubbed onto a CD with
the exact same packaging as well as the inferior, overly processed "Hangout"
CD. The soundboard tape sounds much different but the overall quality is
comparable.
San Diego 11/10/69; 40 min; 8.0 m; "Stoneaged"/others
Best 1969 recording though it's an audience tape, good even by modern
standards. Decent performance, marred by the amazingly out of tune show-
closer Street Fighting Man. The original LP has been copied onto CD; the
complete (70 min) performance is also available on CD. Original LPs sound
better than any CDs. Of the current, complete CDs, the VGP release, "It's No
Hangin' Matter," is preferred by some but others prefer TSP's release, which
is carefully spliced to add in missing pieces of the show. Personally, I
think VGP's is a tiny bit better. (The VGP CD also includes yet another re-
release of MSG 11/27/69).
Phoenix 11/11/69; 50 min; 6.5 m; "Gathering Madness"/ others
This is a decent audience tape which suffers from low frequency distortion.
The tape didn't circulate until the '90s. Supposedly it was recorded by the
same people (TMOQ) who did the earlier West Coast shows. Worth getting if you
have to have everything. Note "Sky Pilots" is said to be slightly better but
I haven't heard it. It also includes the Amsterdam 10/9/70 concert in
mediocre quality.
Champaign, IL 11/15/69 1st show; 60 min; 4.0 m; "Cocaine on a Dentist Chair"
This is a below average audience tape which first turned up in 1993. The tape
recorder couldn't handle the volume and distorts on everything except the
acoustic songs. Jagger's comments to the crowd are at least amusing. The
title must have gotten lost in the translation; maybe it refers to Keith's
bragging about how he used to buy drugs from a guy who stole them from
dentists.
Detroit 11/24/69; 70 min; 6.0 s; "Live in Detroit"/others
Decent audience recording for 1969 but not good by modern standards.
Originally released as the second ever Stones boot (also reviewed in Rolling
Stone mag) "We Didn't Really Get It on Until Detroit;" supposedly Mick said
this meaning it was the first really good show of the tour. Quickly copied
onto several now very obscure double and single LPs, all collectible and
scratchy! Only the first release is stereo. Now out on this CD, dubbed from
the very rare stereo 2 LP set with minimal loss in quality (noise reduction)
but some dialogue (scratchy quiet parts) chopped out. 3 songs (where are the
rest?) from a mysterious semi-professional video (!) are available in 7.0 m
quality on a rare German LP and the CD-R "American Tour, 1969 Soundboard
Compilation."
Baltimore 11/26/69; 60 min; 6.5 m; "Devil's Disciple"
Decent audience tape of one of the best 1969 shows. First available on the
"Devil's Disciple" LP, now the entire tape is on CD in better sound. The
listed VGP CD, using the title of the old LP, is said to be slightly superior
to "Baltimore 1969" though it's the same source tape. The listed CD also
includes Little Queenie from a rare Gimme Shelter outtake video. A new source
tape for the first 30 minutes of the concert started circulating in the summer
of 1995 and was soon made into the misleadingly titled "Live in Washington
1969" CD; later pressings have the title corrected to Baltimore. Its quality
is even better. Love in Vain on "Ya Yas" is from this show, not NYC as
claimed.
MSG, NYC 11/27/69; 65 min; 7.0 m; "It's No Hangin' Matter"/
others
This show was another early boot LP; the entire concert is now on CD, roughly
the same quality but without LP surface noise. Above average audience tape,
good show. The listed CD is said to be the best ever release; it also
includes San Diego 11/10/69.
MSG, NYC 11/28/69 2nd show; 65 min; 5.0 m; "Live in NY 1969"
This rarely circulated tape is not a good recording, but it's a useful
document for those who want to hear a "Ya Ya's" show without overdubs. (This
CD also includes the 11/27/69 show).
"Ya Yas" acetate; 46 min; 9.5 s; "F*ck Yer Ya Yas Out"/1 other
First available on the impossibly rare LP "Broadway" in mono, now in stereo on
CD. This CD is dubbed from an acetate with somewhat different version of the
tracks on "Get Yer Ya Ya's Out." Most interesting are probably the extra
Keith (not Mick Taylor) guitar solos in Jumping Jack Flash and the missing
verse in Sympathy. There is noticeable surface noise from the acetate but the
sound is very listenable. The listed CD also includes bonus tracks from
"Gimme Shelter" in the best quality I've heard. For very detailed analysis on
the sources for "Get Yer Ya Yas Out" and various LPs/CDs, see
http://members.aol.com/jmpjflash/yaya.htm
Boston 11/29/69 2nd show; 65 min; 6.5 m; "That's No Way To Get Along"
Above average audience tape. Not great though. This CD runs a little fast.
West Palm Beach, FL 11/30/69; 70 min; 6.5 m; "Palm Beach 1969"/others
A good up front audience tape, marred by speed variations which start halfway
through. This was a damp, chilly concert where the Stones didn't go on until
4 AM, and the guitars are frequently out of tune. Still worth hearing. This
Japanese CD is made from a very low generation tape, probably the best
available. Note: VGP has released "Miami Pop Festival," which might be
better.
Altamont Speedway 12/6/69; 82 min; 5.5 m; "The Killer Festival"
The infamous free concert. A tape recorder is visible in the "Gimme Shelter"
movie; is this the tape? The recording is flawed, very muffled at times, and
the drums are frequently inaudible. Great concert highlighted by improvised
performances of Jimmy Reed's "The Sun is Shining" (or Lightnin' Slim's "Help
Me Spend My Gold," if you prefer that title) and the just-written "Brown
Sugar." Even the comments from the crowd are interesting. This 2CD set has
the entire concert in best-ever audience quality, in mono instead of the usual
reprocessed stereo. One song, "Gimme Shelter," is available from a near
perfect board tape on "A Shot of Salvation" below.
"Gimme Shelter" soundtrack; 40 min; 9.5 s; "There's No Angel Born in
Hell"/ others
There are several LPs and CDs made from the movie soundtrack. Unsurprisingly,
those released after the movie became available on HiFi video sound quite
good. Unlike "Ya Yas," these songs have minimal if any overdubs. Note that
the video in the movie is spliced together from several shows and does not
always match the music. The remastered video which was released in 1992? is
virtually in mono but ca. 1989 CDs are stereo because they are made from the
earlier HiFi videos. (Don't know if the "Gimme Shelter" unauthorized CD is
mono or stereo.)
Live & Studio '69-'74; 60 min; 8.5 s; "A Shot of Salvation"
This was the first outtakes CD to break new ground compared to the vinyl era.
It has outstanding to excellent sound and includes material never before
available, even on tape. Rumor has it that this and some of the other
"Scorpio" and related CD are made from tapes sold at Sotheby's auction house,
which would certainly explain why some of the material is "new" to collectors.
Brown Sugar/Wild Horses outtakes; 9 min; 9.5 s; "Mick Taylor We Miss You"
The very first pressings of "Hot Rocks" had alternates versions of Brown Sugar
and Wild Horses. ABKCo quickly released corrected LPs but a few of the mis-
pressings made it to stores. They are extremely rare. Surprisingly these two
songs are only on one LP and no CDs as far as I know. On the listed LP the
quality is quite good but they run a little fast. Musically these takes are
similar to but not the same as the versions heard in "Gimme Shelter."
The next tour, Europe in the fall of 1970, was musically similar to the
1969 US tour except that a horn section was used for the first time.
Typical set for 1970 European tour: Jumping Jack Flash, Roll Over
Beethoven, Sympathy for the Devil, Stray Cat Blues, Love in Vain,
Prodigal Son, Dead Flowers, Midnight Rambler, Live with Me, Little
Queenie, Let it Rock, Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk Woman, Street Fighting
Man. Played infrequently: Gimme Shelter.
Most of these shows are available as audience tapes. As with 1969
tapes, quality varies from atrocious to pretty good. Almost all of the
good tapes have been made into LPs or CDs.
Malmo, Sweden 8/30/70; 71 min; 5.0 m; "Made in Sweden"
This recording, like the other two in this 3 CD set, is a very typical 1970
audience tape, which is to say it's lousy by almost any standard. The sound
is garbled in the middle of the concert. Definitely for fanatics only. At
least it's roughly the equal of the tape being traded. This is the first show
of the tour and the only known 1970 performance of Gimme Shelter. (This CD
also includes other 1970 Swedish recordings). Also available as the single CD
"Sweden 1970."
Stockholm 9/4/70; 39 min; 5.5 m; "Made in Sweden"
Probably the best recording of the set, which isn't saying that much, but
unfortunately not complete.
Gothenburg 9/6/70; 58 min; 4.5 m; "Made in Sweden"/1 other
Almost complete, but this is the worst recording of the three. Also available
on "Live in Frankfurt and Gothenburg."
Hamburg 9/14/70; 67 min; 6.5 m; "Let it Rock"/others
Decent, well balanced audience tape. The speed gets warbly toward the end.
Good performance as are all 1970 shows. Also available on "Prodigal Sons Tour
Mother Europe," coupled with a poor recording from Copenhagen 9/12/70. Also
available on "Germany 1970," paired with Frankfurt 10/5.
Berlin 9/16/70; 70 min; 7.0 m; "Shake Your Hips"/others
Above average audience tape but not great by modern standards. Very good
performance before a wildly enthusiastic crowd. Parts of the concert are also
available on LPs in varying quality. This Japanese CD is the best release yet
of this concert and surpasses all previous LPs and CDs.
Cologne 9/18/70; 65 min; 7.0 m; "Cologne 1970"/others
Above average audience tape which did not turn up until 1993. Worth hearing.
There is a dedication to Jimi Hendrix, who died that morning. There is at
least one other CD of this show which has tape flaws through the first 4-5,
called "Eau de Cologne"--avoid it.
Stuttgart 9/20/70; "European Tour Stuttgart 1970"
There's probably a reason this concert was not released on LP or CD until 28
years after the fact. I quote from an unpublished review: "...overall I'd
say a touch below average: 5.0 mono; the quality is fairly even throughout
and gets slightly better during HTW and SFM. SFM is cut-off at the end.
[There is] some noticeable audience noise during JJF's beginning."
Paris 9/22/70; 70 min; 5.5 m; "Paris Affair"
(FM w/commentary)
This tape comes from a French radio broadcast, but the sound isn't very good.
Apparently the source tape came from a microphone held to the radio speaker.
How times change. The recording is certainly no better than an audience tape,
and the between song commentary is annoying. This VGP CD is a little better
than previous releases but might run a little fast.
Paris 9/23/70; 60 min; 7.5 m; "Shake Your Hips"/others
The only 1970 soundboard recording to date, and a primitive one at that which
surfaced in 1993. It's another fine 1970 show with a long "Brown Sugar" and
hot "Sympathy." This Japanese CD is the best release yet of this concert and
surpasses all previous CDs. For some reason it's missing the last two
(inferior quality) songs from a radio broadcast which were on an earlier CD,
also from VGP. (Note: There is a great [9.0] snippet of "Sympathy" from this
show on VGP's "From the Vaults;" see below).
Various live '70-'73; 58 min; varies; "From the Vaults"
This is a compilation of various live performances and the quality varies
widely, from 5.5 to 9.0. Starts off with an amazing incomplete recording of
"Sympathy" from Paris 9/23/70, which is by far the best soundboard recording
of 1969 or 1970. Where's the rest??? It's all downhill after that, but worth
getting anyway as it includes the two Dick Cavett show '72 tracks and the
Montreal '72 newsreel audio in fine quality. There are also two songs from
the Vienna '73 audience tape in best ever quality. Lesser tracks are various
audience recordings, and '73 German TV tracks which can be heard on "MT We
Thank You" (see below) in better quality.
Milan 10/1/70; 60 min; 5.5 m; "Street Fighting Men in Milan"
This LP was really criticized in "Hot Wacks," the so-called bootleg bible. In
fact it's a very typical 1970 audience tape, unfortunately with many cuts and
an incorrect song listing. Worth picking up for those interested in the 1970
tour; I don't think this is on CD.
Frankfurt 10/5/70; 60 min; 5.5 m; "Live in Frankfurt 10/5/70"/1
other
An average audience recording, a little warbly sounding. Missing one song.
Worthwhile for Taylor fanatics. Also available on "Germany 1970," paired with
Hamburg.
Frankfurt 10/6/70; 45 min; 6.5 s; "Live in Frankfurt and..."
This is an above average recording for the time but not great by modern
standards. The CD is made from a rarely traded tape. The tapers are audible
on the tape and sound American; you get one guess as to what they're doing
while watching the show. (This CD also includes the poorly recorded
Gothenburg 9/6/70 show).
Essen 10/07/70; 50 min; 7.0 m; "European Tour 1970"
Another early boot; until the mid '80s this was the only easy to get 1970
show. A very well recorded audience tape of a good concert. The LPs have
been copied onto CD, but the best source is the old Rubber Dubber 2 LP set
though all pressings have surface noise.
Before their contract with Decca expired, The Stones were required to
record one more song. Fed up with Decca, they recorded Cocksucker
Blues, an obscene tale about a lonesome schoolboy. Its unauthorized
releases are frequently paired with a studio outtake of Brown Sugar
featuring Eric Clapton on third guitar.
"CS Blues"/"Brown Sugar"; 10 min; 10.0 s; "CS Blues"/12"/7"
"CS Blues" is a cool song if you're not offended by the subject matter and
have a sense of humor about it. Even Mick cracks up a little while singing.
This "Brown Sugar" is interesting and has more of a funky/party feel than the
official version. Both songs are usually available in extremely good quality.
The band did a farewell tour of England in March, 1971 before moving to
France as tax exiles. "Sticky Fingers" was released after this tour.
Let It Rock from Leeds 3/13 has been legally released in Europe on
vinyl.
Typical set for 1971 English tour: Jumping Jack Flash, Live with Me,
Dead Flowers, Stray Cat Blues, Love in Vain, Midnight Rambler, Bitch,
Honky Tonk Woman, Satisfaction, Little Queenie, Brown Sugar, Street
Fighting Man. Played infrequently: I Got the Blues, Let It Rock
(encore).
Coventry 3/6/71 2nd show; 62 min; 5.0 m; "Farewell tour Coventry 1971"
After this release, every known tape from this short tour is now out on CD.
Too bad this is such a bad recording; if more '71 tapes were around this
probably never would have come out on CD. This might be worthwhile for those
who want to hear more from 1971.
Leeds, UK 3/13/71; 60 min; 10.0 m; "Get Your Leeds Lungs Out"/
many others
Great recording from the BBC though in mono. The first 2 songs are missing
from every release. Relatively laid back performance. The rare LP on the
Royal Sound label is the best sounding release IMHO, but Swingin' Pig releases
are nearly as good. Their "...Revisited" CD features thunderous bass, and
includes the stereo "Let It Rock" from the Spanish "Sticky Fingers" LP. (The
Revisited CD is also electronically reprocessed to simulate stereo, and runs
faster than TSP's original release).
London 3/14/71; 52 min; 6.5 m; "London Roundhouse"
Mediocre audience recording on LP. Good performance. "More Music and Better
Sound" LPs have "Prodigal Son," others don't. The LP sounds a little slow.
This has been copied onto different Japanese CDs. The CD of the same name
sounds over-processed to my ears but I recommend the version that comes with
the "Lost Marquee Tapes" set (see below), as it's a nice transfer, speed
corrected and carefully equalized.
Marquee Club 3/26/71; 40 min; 8.0 m; "Marquee 71 + Sticky Out" (sic)
TV broadcast with bad sound for a professional recording. Fine performance
but it was touched up in the studio. This is the only live version of "I Got
the Blues." The touched up original broadcast is available on several LPs but
the CD listed above is best. The unenhanced performance, which was going to
be re-broadcast in 1992, is available on 2 different CDs; the better one is
the Japanese "The Lost Marquee Tapes 1971."
"Exile on Main Street" was recorded in the basement of Keith's house in
France. Outtakes are available.
"Exile" outtakes 10/70; "Wingless Angels"/others
No, this isn't Keith's Rastafarian release. It's 10 Exile outtakes in
arguably best ever quality, though with some hiss. Leadoff track is the early
version of Shine A Light (Get A Line On You), from an official Leon Russell
Mobile Fidelity CD. Also includes 7 songs from Fort Worth/Philadelphia '72
(see below), equal in quality to "Very Ancient, Thank You Kindly" (see below).
Rehearsing for the upcoming 1972 US tour, the Stones were filmed by the
BBC.
Montreux rehearsals 5/21/72; 25 min; 9.0 m; "Gather No Moss"
Also available on several LPs ("Bright Lights Big City" for one) and the Time
Trip CDs; the listed CD is fine quality, and runs straight through without
cuts. BUT it isn't quite as good as Time Trip 2 and misses the last song
Loving Cup, which is not live but a mimed outtake.
The 1972 US tour in support of "Exile on Main Street" was successful
both musically and financially. Not one but two movies were made, the
unreleased behind-the-scenes "Cocksucker Blues" and the concert
documentary "Ladies and Gentlemen the Rolling Stones." Several concerts
were recorded for a double LP live album but it remains unreleased due
to Decca withholding the rights to songs.
Typical set for 1972 US tour: Brown Sugar, Bitch, Rocks Off, Gimme
Shelter, Happy, Tumbling Dice, Love in Vain, Sweet Virginia, You Can't
Always Get What You Want, All Down the Line, Midnight Rambler, Bye Bye
Johnny, Rip This Joint, Jumping Jack Flash, Street Fighting Man. Played
infrequently: Loving Cup, Honky Tonk Woman (encore), Uptight/
Satisfaction (encore). Played once: Torn and Frayed, Ventilator Blues,
Don't Lie to Me, Dead Flowers, Sweet Black Angel.
Many of these shows are available as audience tapes, with the quality
ranging from atrocious to very good. All of the good tapes have been
made into LPs or CDs except for snippets here and there.
Vancouver 6/3/72; 85 min; 6.5 m; "Vancouver 1972"
Decent audience recording. First show of the tour and sloppy, but this is the
only live performance of several songs. This Japanese CD is said to be the
better of at least 2 from this show.
Seattle 6/4/72 1st show; 80 min; 5.0 m; "A Fair to Remember Revisited"
Seattle 6/4/72 2nd show; 80 min; 6.0 m; "A Fair to Remember Revisited"
I read a favorable review of this on Undercover but am not so impressed. The
first show has never been available in very good quality; this CD is about as
good as it gets which is to say average '72 audience at best. The recording
sounds a bit slow too. The second show is an above average recording for the
era but this CD is not made from the best available tape; there is hiss which
shouldn't be there. This definitely runs slow as well. At least both shows
include "Loving Cup." The CD title is lifted from a European LP of the mid
'80s.
San Francisco 6/8/72 2nd show; "Midnight Magic"
A previously uncirculated tape turns up on CD after a mere 26 years. I quote
from an Undercover review: "...it's your usual-sounding '72 audience
quality... not terrible, but very average: sound is pretty distant..., people
talk, the usual drill. Besides being a 'new' recording, there are 2 obvious
reasons to need this: Loving Cup, and an encore (HTW - only other encore in
'72 being Boston 1st night)... At a conservative guess, [this] is probably
about a 6.5 in terms of sound quality. Finally VGP used Annie Leibovitz's
classic shot of Keith flaked out backstage for the cover (lovely shiny VGP
card - worth the price alone). They even managed to find a not-incredibly-
boring Mick Taylor shot for the back, which must be something of a record.
Certainly worth having if '72 is your bag."
Hollywood Palladium 6/9/72; 55 min; 6.5 m; "Burning at the..."
Decent audience recording. Very good show. For some reason none of the 1972
TMOQ recordings turned out as good as their 1969 recordings. LP has been
copied onto a rare Japanese CD.
LA Forum 6/11/72 2nd show; 80 min; 6.0 m; "Get Your Rocks Off"
Decent audience tape but not great. Not sure if this has been copied onto CD
(yet).
Chicago 6/19/72;
A new tape turned up in 1997 and is now out on CD. I quote from an Internet
review: "...[H]orrible and almost unlistenable. Don't waste your money on
this CD. Speed problems and [an] all around bad recording."
Dallas 6/23/72 reh.; 135 min; 7.5 s; "Stones Touring Party"/ others
Apparent studio rehearsals, perhaps to get ready for the upcoming filming.
Hard to say, because the material is fairly uninteresting jams with little in
common with the '72 set. Mediocre mixing board recording with excessive
vocals.
Fort Worth 6/24/72 1st show; 83 min; 6.5 m; "Sweet Black Angel"
The first and second show are out complete from 1st generation previously
uncirculated audience tapes, recorded near the stage. Keith's guitar is very
loud but not objectionable; otherwise these are very nice recordings though
perhaps a bit trebly. Most interesting to collectors, these shows feature
rare songs, as the band was filming the "Ladies and Gentlemen" tour movie.
The 1st show includes the previously unknown Sweet Black Angel and Dead
Flowers. (Also available on a competing CD "Ain't No Angel on Main Street,"
also a 4CD set, said to sound better, and with bonus tracks from Philly).
Fort Worth 6/24/72 2nd show; 76 min; 8.0 s; "Ahmet Ertegun Thank You
Kindly"/others
A soundboard tape turned up for this show in 1998, minus two songs. This is
well worth hearing, and it's not the usual spliced sources like Philadelphia
Special. This recording is now out on at least 5 different CDs. I quote from
an Undercover review: "...I have every FtW 6/24/72 2nd board CD ever issued,
and this one is *quite clearly the best*. The VGP 'Fort Worth Express' was
the incremental leader, IMO, but AETYK is leaps better still, and doesn't have
the phony Happy that VGP inserted. The hiss reduction is finally complete,
yet the sonic details are still there through the headphones. Compare LIV and
the astounding, clean excellence of this remastering is immediately evident.
Congratulations to the chef for this major upgrade, this quantum leap. All
previous FtW releases are hissy messes compared to AETYK." Another Undercover
review added: "Everything else released from this show is now pretty
useless... Whoever [did] the remastering on this title [did] a spectacular
job... I really can't think of anything I'd like different with this release,
bar the obvious one of being a complete show (so the audience tape is still
worth hanging on to). The single CD is bursting with exciting listening; the
pace of the performance, combined with shit-hot '72 playing, and the pristine
sound quality of this particular title are ingredients which simply can't be
beat. Very nice job indeed." Note: Includes Don't Lie to Me. (This show is
also available on the "Mick Taylor We Miss You" CD, from a totally different
audience tape, which is not as good. This is not to be confused with the old
LP of the same name, which is the Philadelphia/ Fort Worth soundboard
recordings).
"Ladies & Gentlemen" sndtrk; 80 min; 8.5 s; "Dragon Slayers"
This is the 1972 tour movie recorded in Fort Worth and Houston 6/24-25. This
Japanese CD is quite good quality but not as good as what can be heard in
"25x5." Earlier LPs, including "Dragon Slayers," are not as good as this CD.
Mobile, AL 6/27/72; 70 min; 6.0 m; "Mobile 1972"
Decent audience recording; available slightly better on tape than on this CD.
There are some similarities to the Fort Worth shows but no rare songs.
Washington, DC 7/4/72; 75 min; 6.5 s; "Jack Daniels on Tour"/ others
This is an above average audience recording, and this CD is better than all
previous releases of this show, so this might be worth tracking down. Note
that this title was previously used for an old LP of the Fort Worth/Philly
soundboard material.
Norfolk, VA 7/5/72; 75 min; 6.0 m; "Drive Me Crackers"/others
Decent audience recording. Frustratingly, the old, incomplete LP "Going Back
to the Roots" is better sounding (7.0 m). I am told there is an improved CD
with the same title as the old LP, but haven't heard it yet. (The GBttR CD
also includes Indianapolis 7/12/72).
Charlotte, NC 7/6/72; 62 min; 7.0 s; "Back to the Roots"/ others
Best audience recording of the '72 tour. Missing the first 2 songs. A rare
Japanese CD includes the incomplete second song. Available on LPs since not
long after the concert, but the CDs are better and more complete. However,
even the CDs are not as good as some tapes.
Akron, OH 7/11/72; 72 min; 5.5 s; "Akron Rubber Bowl"
Not great, but this audience recording prominently features Nicky Hopkins.
For hardcore fans only, or Nicky fans.
Indianapolis 7/12/72; __ min; ___ _; "Goin' Back to the Roots"
Said to be okay quality, recorded far from the stage. Haven't heard the CD,
but that sounds like my tape. (This CD also includes Norfolk 7/5/72).
Toronto 7/15/72 2nd? show; "Street Fighting Men in
Toronto"
Said to be a "very good" audience recording. Also available on a nicely
packaged 2LP set, "Standing at the Kitchen Door," which is only 6.0 m quality
Boston 7/18/72; 75 min; 6.5 m; "They're Really Rockin' in
Boston"
This concert started very late after Mick and Keith were arrested earlier in
the day. Decent recording. This CD omits the mostly unintelligible speeches
explaining the delay.
Philadelphia + Fort Worth; 170 min; 8.5 s; "Philadelphia Special"/others
Some of the unreleased '72 Lost Live Album has come out on boots. Legend has
it these versions of the recordings were first broadcast on either Radio
Luxembourg or WMMS Cleveland, but a more believable story is that 2 cassettes
were sold backstage during the 1975 tour by a Stones associate. (Apparently
the cassettes were then played over the radio in Cleveland.) These are fine
raw recordings that have not been properly mixed in the studio, and do not
have any overdubs AFAIK. Best sources are the "Philadelphia Special" LPs and
CDs. For part 1 best sources are: the pre-Swingin' Pig "Philadelphia
Special" 2 LP set (b&w cover, 'RSGL 72' written in dead wax)(runs fast) or the
"pitch corrected" single CD dub (no company name, matrix # 94101). TSP's
2LP/2CD "Philadelphia Special 1" is overly NoNoised, but does have a few more
tracks than the original release. For part 2, get TSP's "Philadelphia Special
2" which also runs fast. All other LPs and CDs, and there are plenty, are
inferior. Incidentally "PS2" includes two songs from the "Ladies and
Gentlemen" soundtrack to make up for a shortage of Lost Live Album tracks.
Various live '72-'73; 75 min; 8.5 s; "Very Ancient, Thank You
Kindly, American Tour 1972"
This is an interesting release. Half of it is close-to-finished mixes of the
Lost Live Album, the other half is rarely performed '72-73 songs, all
available on other unauthorized releases. Sound on the Lost Live Album tracks
is noticeably better than on "Philadelphia Special" 1 or 2 though the sound is
a little thin or tinny. There are noticeable vocal overdubs in places. Main
problem is these tracks run substantially fast, about 6%. Some of these
tracks were previously released on the "Keep Your Motor Runnin'" LP, but there
are more here, and in stereo instead of mono. That LP is still the only way
to get "You Can't..." from the LLA, missing for some reason here. All tracks
recorded in Fort Worth/Philly/Houston except: Rocks Off--Charlotte (audience
recording); Dead Flowers--Ladies and Gents soundtrack; Ventilator Blues, Torn
and Frayed, and Loving Cup--Vancouver; band intros--Pittsburgh; Don't Lie to
Me--Fort Worth (unmixed soundboard recording ala "Philadelphia Special"); It's
All Over Now--Hawaii '73. (Note that similar good quality '72 tracks are on
"Wingless Angels;" see Exile outtakes above.)
Pittsburgh 7/22/72; 70 min; "The Royal Dragon"/others
The second 1972 soundboard recording to surface; this one didn't turn up until
the summer of 1996, though it was long rumored in tape trading circles. The
listed CD, which I haven't heard, is said to be "slightly better" than two
previous, similar CDs, which I rate 7.0 s. They were made from a high
generation tape. On all releases Sweet Virginia is from Fort Worth 6/24/72
2nd show, not Pittsburgh.
MSG, NYC 7/24/72; 80 min; 4.5 m; "MSG '72"
This is listed so you can all avoid it. This show is available in average,
listenable quality on tape. However, this CD runs much too fast and is made
from a poor generation, hissy tape. Both tape and CD are garbled at the end.
MSG, NYC 7/26/72; 45 min; 8.5 s; "Welcome to New York"
Mick Jagger's 29th birthday was also the last concert of the '72 tour. Legend
has it this stereo soundboard recording was stolen from the mixing desk by 2
fans. Some LPs ("Tour '72," some versions of "Madison") are in mono and only
have the "Mick Taylor" channel so Keith can barely be heard. Swingin' Pig
releases are dubbed from old vinyl and drastically over NoNoised. Best source
is old vinyl with 'RS 546 REI' written in the dead wax. Good luck finding a
copy! Next best is probably the later pressing with the '2815' matrix; these
are considerably easier to find. For more detailed information on the many
releases of this show see http://members.aol.com/shareco/wtny.html.
MSG, NYC 7/26/72 (audience); 30 min; 6.0 m; "The Loveliest Night of Seattle
72"
This recording was completely unknown in trading circles until it was
discovered through the Internet, of all places, in 1993. The Japanese of
course put it out on CD. It's a decent recording, and captures the first part
of the concert which is missing from "Welcome to New York." (Most of this CD
is Seattle 6/4/72, 2nd show).
The next tour was to Australia with a few stops along the way. The
first stop was Los Angeles, where the Stones played a benefit concert
for victims of the Nicaraguan earthquake. Musically, this tour was
similar to the '72 US tour, except the LA and Hawaii shows feature
attempts at older songs such as Route 66 which don't work that well and
are dropped for the Australian tour.
Typical set for winter 1973 tour: Brown Sugar, Bitch, Rocks Off, Gimme
Shelter, Happy, Tumbling Dice, Love in Vain, Sweet Virginia, You Can't
Always Get What You Want, Honky Tonk Woman, All Down the Line, Midnight
Rambler, Little Queenie, Rip This Joint, Jumping Jack Flash, Street
Fighting Man. Played infrequently: Route 66, It's All Over Now, No
Expectations, Live with Me.
There are several audience recordings from this tour not made into LPs
or CDs. None are that exciting quality wise.
LA Forum 1/18/73; 80 min; 6.5 m; "Winter Tour 1973"
Mediocre audience recording with a couple rare songs. The LPs have been
copied onto a Japanese CD which has the treble considerably boosted. The
scratches sure are loud (!) but the music does sound better this way.
Honolulu 1/21/73; 77 min; 7.5 s; "In Exotic Honolulu"/others
Another above average recording which first surfaced in 1992. There are
several CDs in roughly the same quality though the listed title is said to be
the best; some CDs miss "Street Fighting Man" due to the length of the show.
Note: Dates have been corrected as a result of new research. There were
three Hawaii shows and all are now available.
Honolulu 1/22/73 1st show; 71 min; 7.5 s; "In Exotic Honolulu"/others
Above average audience recording which has been available since the mid '70s.
Good performance. Available incomplete on LP, CD is complete, similar
quality. This listed CD title is the same as the original LP, and it includes
the first two Hawaii shows on two CDs in what has to be about the best
possible quality.
Honolulu 1/22/73 2nd show; 68 min; 7.0 s; "Mick Taylor's Last US
Performance"
A new recording turned up in early 1998 and now it's out on CD. I quote from
an Undercover review: "...It is a previously unreleased complete audience
[recording] of the third and final Honolulu '73 show, the Monday, January 22,
second (10 PM) gig. Sound quality is comparable to (just a shade below) the
other two very good Hawaii shows long in circulation..."
Auckland, NZ 2/11/73; 75 min; 7.0 m; "Winter Tour-Auckland 1973"/
others
The first show of the Australia/New Zealand tour, this recording did not
circulate until the CD was released in 1994. It's a good, clear recording of
a subpar performance. The Stones are pretty sloppy here. For those who have
to have everything.
Melbourne 2/17/73; 73 min; 7.0 m; "Melbourne All You Can Eat"/
others
Good up front audience recording with some speed fluctuations, which did not
circulate before the "Temperature Rising" CD was released. Good performance.
The listed CD runs at the correct speed throughout, unlike "TR," and its copy
"125 Degrees in the Shade," which are too fast for the most part. (Listed CD
also includes Melbourne 2/18/73).
Melbourne 2/18/73; 77 min; 6.0 m; "Advantage Melbourne"
Average audience recording of a typical good performance, presented on a rare
and expensive CD. You make the call. Note: Also on the VGP CD "Melbourne
All You Can Eat," which is from a different, muffled recording.
Perth, Australia 2/24/73; 50 min; 9.0 s; "Rocks Off"
A classic. This stereo soundboard recording first turned up in 1987 on a
German LP and is now on several CDs. Great recording and performance. I
think this Swingin' Pig release is the best; it's a combination of the 2/24
show with parts of the 2/26 show; there is no 2/24 2nd show as some boots
claim. It sounds a little better than disc 1 of "Happy Birthday Nicky" below.
(Note: Total time of Rocks Off is longer; 50 min is the length of the 2/24
portion).
Sydney 2/26/73; 65 min; 8.5 s; "Happy Birthday Nicky"/others
The CD may claim disc 2 is 2/24 2nd show, but there was no 2nd show that day;
it's actually Sydney 2/26. This is another stereo soundboard recording though
not quite as good as 2/24; the tape has been copied a few more times. Avoid
the Japanese "Winter Tour 1973" 2CD set if you ever see it; it's the audience
recording of the show. At least it has the last 2 songs missing from the
soundboard recording. VGP's "Rock 'n Roll Stew" is the soundboard recording
with the last two songs tacked on from the audience recording, and the missing
beginning of Brown Sugar added in from Perth; said to be similar quality.
Sydney 2/27/73; 65 min; 8.0 s; "Welcome to Australia"/ others
This recording did not surface until 1993. It's another stereo soundboard but
not as good as the 2 above. The last show of the tour; Mick babbles at times,
but it's another good performance as usual. This release is the first and
only one so far with the entire concert, plus it's the best quality yet, so
it's worth tracking down. (This is the first complete Taylor era soundboard
recording to turn up, and it's taken 23 years).
To promote "Goats Head Soup" the Stones recorded 4 songs for Don
Kirshner's TV show.
Don Kirshner TV 7/17/73; 20 min; 8.5 m; "Beast of Eden"/others
I haven't heard this CD; they are also on the old "Angie" LP and of course
video too. Unexciting to hear but kinda neat to watch.
For the fall of 1973 there was a European tour in support of "Goats Head
Soup." Billy Preston replaced Nicky Hopkins as the keyboard player.
This would be the last tour with Mick Taylor.
Typical set for 1973 European tour: Brown Sugar, Gimme Shelter, Happy,
Tumbling Dice, Star Star (deleted from KBFH broadcast), Angie, You Can't
Always Get What You Want, Dancing with Mr. D, Heartbreaker (first half
of tour only), Midnight Rambler, Honky Tonk Woman, All Down the Line,
Rip This Joint, Jumping Jack Flash, Street Fighting Man. Played
infrequently: Bitch, 100 Years Ago, Silver Train, Sweet Virginia.
Most of these shows are available as audience recordings. Quality
varies but most are mediocre.
Rotterdam reh. 8/73; 75 min; 7.0 m; "Can You Hear the Music?"
First available on an LP and now on a CD with the same title, in slightly
better quality and with more music. This is the best sounding part of about
180 min of tour rehearsals. It's mostly uninspired workouts, but there are
songs never performed live, such as the title track. Now available in more
complete for on "Can You Hear the Mobile?," for which I quote from an
unpublished review: "I've listened to once all the way through. Two CDs--a
little over 70 minutes each... There are several songs that sound good most
all the way through, some partial, and some aborted rehearsal takes--these are
monaurally recorded rehearsal playbacks, and monaurally recorded live
rehearsals. Approximately a third of the recordings are muffled, (or have
talk/auto noise) because of the outdoor location in Rotterdam, creating
disturbances/interfering with the taper. These CDs seem to be made from close
to master cassette tapes, in my opinion."
Vienna 9/1/73; 90 min; 8.0 m; "Goodnight Vienna"/ others
Very good audience recording for the time. First show of the tour and there
are some mistakes but also some rare songs. Taylor burns on the rarely
performed "100 Years Ago." Available on several LPs and CDs; this recent CD
is the best release ever. VGP has done a nice job of splicing together
several different tapes to get the complete show.
Mannheim 9/3/73; 95 min; 5.0 m; "Mannheim on Ice"
Very ordinary audience recording. This rare Japanese CD is its first release.
Probably the only reason for its release is that several infrequently
performed songs are performed for the last time.
London 9/9/73 & 9/8/73 2nd show; 70 min; 6.0 m; "Come Back London '73"
This CD is a combination of 2 London shows though only 1 is listed. It's a
fairly hissy audience recording of great performances, among my favorites from
'73.
Manchester 9/12/73; 75 min; 6.5 m; "Manchester 1973"
Decent audience recording. Might not be worth paying the high Japanese price.
Newcastle 9/13/73 1st show; 75 min; 5.5 m; "Newcastle 1973"
Not the well-known soundboard excerpt, this is the complete audience
recording. It's average at best. Good performance as usual but this is for
completists only.
Various, Radio Luxembourg; 30 min; 10.0 m; "A Shot of Salvation"/ others
This is a combination of Newcastle 9/13 and London 9/9. Great mono recording
and performance. The rare Japanese CD "CS Blues" has the songs in the correct
order and with longer edits than "A Shot..." but sounds the same. Two
versions of this broadcast exist. The alternate version is "only" 8.5 m
quality but includes a great Midnight Rambler. That song can be heard on
OBR's rare "Down in the Graveyard" LP or "Back to the Graveyard" CD, a rare
Japanese CD, and the "Gather No Moss" CD (mislabeled as "Brussels").
Birmingham 9/19/73 1st? show; 70 min; 8.0 s; "Birmingham Odeon 1973"/ others
Very well done audience recording and good performance. The Oh Boy CD is the
best of at least 2. This is probably the best audience recording of the tour
and the listed CD is made from a low generation recording.
Bern 9/26/73 1st show; 70 min; 6.0 m; "Swiss Made"
Nowhere near as good a recording as the second show, this is a very ordinary
audience recording.
Bern 9/26/73 2nd show; 70 min; 7.5 s; "Swiss Made"
Very clear audience recording reveals some sloppiness by the band. This CD is
made from a better generation source tape than "Bern-1973." This CD lists the
date as 9/25/73 which is probably wrong.
Munich 9/28/73 2nd show; 75 min; 6.0 m; "Olympia Hall 1973"
Average audience recording. Note that this is the true Munich recording; this
date is sometimes given for the King Biscuit broadcast (see below).
Frankfurt 9/30/73 1st show; 75 min; 6.5 m; "Frankfurt Tapes 1973"
Frankfurt 9/30/73 2nd show; 75 min; 6.5 m; "Frankfurt Tapes 1973"
Both shows are available in a 2CD box. Each is a pretty good audience
recording. Mick Taylor is quite loud here, especially in the 2nd show.
Hamburg 10/2 1st, Essen 10/10/73, misc; "The Stars in the Sky..."/
others
Very good up front audience recording of both shows. This first appeared as
"The Jean Clarke Mammorial Sonic Barbecue" LP (7.0 s quality), which was
copied onto "The Stars in the Sky..." LP, and single and double CDs of the
same name. The 2CD has both complete shows but is not as good as the original
LP, as the low generation tapes are long gone. The single Midnight Beat CD
includes the original LP, probably dubbed and said to be well done, plus
filler tracks, mostly 10/17/73 2nd, to simulate a complete concert.
Copenhagen 10/7/73 1st show; 70 min; 5.5 m; "Greatest Dane"/others
Unspectacular audience recording. For fanatics only.
Copenhagen 10/7/73 2nd show; 70 min; 6.5 m; "Wonderful Wonderful
Copenhagen"
Decent audience recording. Uses cover art from a rare German LP but this is
the entire concert, plus it runs at the right speed, unlike the LP. It is
believed this is actually the 2nd show, not the 1st as claimed.
Essen 10/9/73; 55 min; 6.0 m; "Brown Sugar & White Snow"
Decent audience recording, somewhat tinny. The LP repeats part of the tape by
accident. Not available on CD as far as I know.
Essen 10/11/73; 72 min; 6.5 m; "Essen 1973"
Another pretty ordinary recording put out on CD. The last two songs are from
10/10/73.
Rotterdam 10/13/73; 75 min; 5.0 m; "The Rotterdam Tapes 1973"
Rotterdam 10/14/73 1st show; 75 min; 5.0 m; "The Rotterdam Tapes 1973"
This is a very nicely packaged 2CD set in a box. Quite expensive, and the
recordings are below average. For those with yen burning a hole in their
pocket.
Antwerp 10/15/73; 77 min; 4.5 m; "How Come You Taste So Good"
Some Japanese labels apparently will release any old tape they can get. This
is not a good recording; it's distant and very hissy.
Brussels 10/17 1st + London 9/9/73; 75 min; 9.5 s; "Europe '73"/many others
This is a very common show on many bootlegs from the time of its first
broadcast on the King Biscuit Flower Hour in Sep. 1974 until now. All songs
are from Brussels except Happy, Gimme Shelter, Heartbreaker, and Street
Fighting Man are from London. Old 2LP sets such as "Nasty Music" combined
this broadcast with 4 songs from the NYC 7/26/72 concert. For detailed
information on the many releases of this show, beyond the scope of this FAQL,
see http://members.aol.com/Bdsprngsym/brussels.htm. Bottom line is, the best
sounding release is the rare German LP "Europe '73," also used as the source
for most early CDs. Second best, and more easily available these days, is
VGP's 5th(!) edition gold CD "Europe '73," which uses some of the LP's artwork
in the VGP tradition. As a bonus the CD includes the first note of All Down
the Line, missing from many releases including the LP. (Note: The CD may be
dubbed, at least in part, from another CD, "Headin' for an Overload," which is
2 CDs of the earliest, less complete broadcasts.) All LPs and CDs other than
"Europe '73" are inferior and/or have unnecessary duplicate or missing songs.
Another web site which favors the CD over the LP, contrary to my ears, is
http://www.gironet.nl/home/mulderha/Mathijs.html
FM '73 1987/88 remixes/alt. vers.; 70 min; 10.0 s&m; "Nasty Remixes"
This material was first available on rare German LPs but it sounds much better
and is more easily available on this CD. It's both 1987-88 remixes and edits
of the familiar Brussels and London songs, plus two new ones which were not
broadcast until 1987-88: Brown Sugar from Rotterdam 10/14/73 2nd? show and
Street Fighting Man from London 9/9/73, and Star Star from Radio Luxembourg
Newcastle 9/13/73. Note the first 3 songs here are identical to "Brussels
Affair." Personally I prefer the original mixes but think this Japanese CD is
worth tracking down. Note: This CD is also available in a 20 bit remastered
version which is said to have a slight improvement in sound quality.
Brussels 10/17/73 2nd show; 25 min; 6.5 s; "Back to the Graveyard"
For a long time this tape was traded as Antwerp 10/15/73 2nd show. It's
apparently the 2nd Brussels show. This is a soundboard recording, but
incomplete and hissy. This is a rare Japanese CD; this show is also available
slightly incomplete on "Reflections of a Stone Alone." Note: The "Gather No
Moss" CD claims to be partly from this show; it's not. See 9/13/73. (The
listed CD/LP also includes other 1973 material. The LP is missing one song
from Brussels due to space considerations.) (The listed title also includes
other 1973 material from radio and TV broadcasts).
Berlin 10/19/73; 75 min; "Tour Over Europe 1973"
I quote from an Undercover review: "...A very good audience recording, but a
bit bass heavy. A quick adjustment of the tone controls easily solves this
problem. A tight sounding set as one might expect after touring for the past
two years." This tape was in trading circles for a few months before VGP put
it out.
Alternate mixes and outtakes from "Goat's Head Soup" and "It's Only Rock
and Roll" surfaced in 1996:
'73-'74 alt mixes/outtakes; 64 min; 9.5 s; "Acetates"
Once again interesting material which was never circulating has turned up on
CD. Really good quality with only slight distortion on a few songs, no
typical acetate crackles. I prefer most of the alternate mixes to the
released versions, and the outtakes are pleasant enough. The last few songs
are unimportant "mono mixes" which don't sound any different to my ears.
To promote "It's Only Rock and Roll," the band again appeared on Don
Kirshner's TV show.
Don Kirshner TV 7/74; 13 min; 8.0 m; "Beast of Eden"
I believe this CD is the first unauthorized release of these songs; they are
fairly easily available on video. The widely seen "It's Only R&R" video is
from this show, as are the less well known ultra camp "Till the Next Goodbye"
and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg."
Part 3: The Ron Wood era:
Just before the Stones were to go into the studio to record "Black and
Blue," in December 1974, Mick Taylor quit. Three different guest
guitarists ended up on the album, and the band also jammed with Jeff
Beck.
Outtakes '73-'79; 45 min; 9.5 s; "Lonely at the Top"
A classic LP of great quality, interesting studio outtakes. Most songs have
Ron Wood but a few are with Mick Taylor. The LP was copied onto CD long ago.
Now on CD by TSP, re-released by Dandelion, and VGP, both with extra tracks.
Haven't heard the CDs so can't say how their quality compares to the LP, but
they are probably quite good.
Studio reh. 1-4/75; 70 min; 7.5 s; "Black and Blue Sessions"
Not so great quality CD of outtakes. The source tape is fairly hissy.
Moderately interesting with some extended songs; some songs are without final
overdubs. This is a fairly rare Japanese CD; similar material is on the more
easily available "Outtakes '74-'75" CD and the "Reggae and Roll" LPs.
For the summer of 1975 US tour, Ronnie Wood was the "guest" lead
guitarist. Although Black and Blue was mostly recorded before the tour,
it was not released until after the tour was over. The 1975 and 1976
tours featured much longer sets than had been played in the past. Billy
Preston also performed two songs at each show.
Typical set for 1975 US tour: Honky Tonk Woman, All Down the Line, If
You Can't Rock Me/ Get Off of My Cloud, Star Star, Gimme Shelter, Ain't
Too Proud to Beg, You Gotta Move, You Can't Always Get What You Want,
Happy, Tumbling Dice, It's Only Rock and Roll, Heartbreaker, Fingerprint
File, Angie, Wild Horses, That's Life, Outta Space (both sung by Billy
Preston), Brown Sugar, Midnight Rambler, Rip This Joint, Street Fighting
Man, Jumping Jack Flash. Played infrequently: Rocks Off, Sure the One
You Need, Star Star, Gimme Shelter, Luxury, Dance Little Sister, Cherry
Oh Baby, Lady Jane (a capella by Mick), Sympathy for the Devil (encore
at about half the shows).
Most 1975 shows are available as audience recordings. In general these
are superior to earlier tour recordings; the drums sound better in
particular.
Baton Rouge, LA 6/1/75 1st show; 135 min; 7.0 s; "Cajun Queen's Afternoon..."
Baton Rouge, LA 6/1/75 2nd show; 135 min; 7.0 s; "Whores in the Night"
The first 2 shows of the 1975 Tour of the Americas. First available on LP
incomplete and in mediocre quality, these are both 3LP sets of the entire
concerts, made from good clear audience recordings. The first show is
available on the Japanese CD "Baton Rouge '75." The second show is available
on the "Whores and Heroin" CD-R, for which I quote from an Undercover review:
"...It is without a doubt on the upper tier of audience recordings I've heard.
The show is fantastic and sound is [clear]. The performance is better than
the one earlier in the day. The band is loose and Woody is grooving..." To
me, both shows seem a little tentative but not bad.
Kansas City 6/6/75; 135 min; 5.5 m; "Sure the One You Need"
Not a good recording, especially compared to some of the well-known ones from
this tour. The attraction here is the rarely performed title track. I quote
from an Undercover review: "...It's a complete audience recording with quite
a bit of hiss (worse in some places than others). The last few songs are very
distorted and muffled; not listenable. I'll keep it, if for no other reason
than the rarities played here: Sure the One You Need, Luxury and Dance Little
Sister (fortunately these appear during the better portion of audio--less hiss
and better clarity)."
Various '75-'76 soundboards; "We Hope Ya Like Dis One"
From Toronto 6/17/75 (2 songs, various mixes), DC 7/2/72 (2 songs), Earl's
Court 5/26/76 (6 songs), and Paris 6/7/76 (2 songs). These are apparently not
great quality soundboards. I have heard the 2 DC songs on tape and can
confirm that MJ is wasted; very sloppy performance. This may be more for
completists; maybe VGP is running out of material. Title is lifted from an
old TMOQ LP sleeve.
Buffalo 6/15/75; "Heartbreakers in Buffalo
1975"/ others
I quote from the following unpublished review: "An incomplete soundboard
recording... It contains 13 tracks in good quality, but with quite some hiss.
The last 2 tracks are in average audience quality. Main attraction is the
incomplete soundboard version of Luxury (where is the complete soundboard
Luxury from Toronto??) Good, fast paced show, but the recording has a lack of
atmosphere. This recording is also available on a Shaved Disc Release
'Hottest in Hell,' with Luxury faded out and missing Heartbreaker and
Fingerprint File."
Toronto 6/17/75; "Toronto"
I quote from an Internet review: "The sound quality is good to very good
audience mono. Good guitar mix and vocals; drums and bass (bottom-end
frequency response) are a missing dynamic in the sound." This is available on
both extremely limited edition vinyl and limited edition CD. Note that at
least one song from this show is on "Love You Live."
NYC 6/22/75; "MSG 75"
I quote from an Undercover review: "A not so great audience recording. The
2nd half of the concert only with special guest Eric (is God) Clapton on SFTD.
The sound is quite cluttered throughout and not very clear. If Clapton is
playing, it is quite hard to distinguish it. Even Phil Spector would have a
hard time liking this wall of sound. Too bad really..."
NYC 6/27/75; 7.5 s; "Preserve for Future/Discover
New York/100% Odd Lots"/others
Nice audience recording. First available on LP back in the '70s ("Stereo
Baby"), this has been on several LPs and CDs, but these Japanese CDs are the
best so far.
LA Forum 7/11/75; 160 min; 7.5 m; "LA Connection"/ others
Taken from the slightly famous "Hot As Hell" video except this is the complete
show. Soundboard recording with excellent drum sound but the guitars are too
low. This CD is said to be the best release yet of this show. Mediocre
performance IMHO. Apparently this show, on a Friday, was reviewed positively
in Rolling Stone magazine, leading to the misleading "LA Friday" title given
to some 7/13 releases.
LA Forum 7/13/75; 152 min; 9.0 s; "LA Friday"/ others
An extremely good audience recording, even by modern standards. This was
recorded by the people who released it on vinyl as the classic "1975 Tour of
the Americas" 3LP set. Now out on CD in even better quality than the old LPs.
This title is the definitive release, as it includes both Billy Preston songs!
Plus, it sounds a little better than the other CDs too. However, it was not
recorded on a Friday; it was a Sunday, but the title is taken from one of the
old LPs. It was later re-released as "Who Went to Church This Sunday," also
an old LP title. Maybe it's just the recording, but IMHO these are mostly
better performances than sides 1, 2, and 4 of "Love You Live."
Cow Palace, SF 7/15/75; 123 min; 8.5 s; "It's Only Rock & Roll"
Very nice audience recording, almost as good as the above recording but not
quite. This Japanese CD uses the cover artwork from a rare German 3 LP box
set but sounds noticeably better. The 7/16 Cow Palace show is available on CD
and LP in similar quality.
Fort Collins, CO 7/19/75; 130 min; "I'm Working So Hard"
I quote from the following unpublished review: "'We should have kicked him
off the stage, but we didn't. It's because we're both English,' said Mick
about Elton John, who wanted to join on Honky Tonk Women [but]... stayed
during the whole show. Mick later introduced him as 'Reg from Watford.'
[This CD] features the complete show in excellent audience quality. Really
too bad most of Mick's in between comments are edited out. Excellent show,
one of the best Wood era Midnight Ramblers IMHO. Also nice are the bonus
tracks from Milwaukee 6/8/75 (Sure the one you need, Heartbreaker, Luxury), in
rather bad quality. This is a must for all fans of the '75 tour."
Chicago 7/23/75; VG ; "American Compendium"
Audience recording. Incomplete; only the 2nd half of the show. The CD title
is taken from an old LP.
Detroit 7/28/75; 90 min; 7.5 m; "Rock and Roll Goes on the Road
Again"/others
Soundboard recording though not the greatest. There is now another release
called "Don't Forget the Motor City," possibly a CD-R. I quote from an
Internet review of it: "Not the complete show... Great sound, though it
seems to my ears the master was running a bit fast..." 83 min. long. Also
available as "Detroit Rock City," which is probably similar quality.
Jacksonville 8/2/75; 104 min; 7.0 m; "A Tour De Force"
A very ordinary audience recording, with some hiss. There are some song cuts
and the Billy Preston songs are missing. Overall ok, but you can do better.
Note that this title was first used for a repackaged LP of the '73 King
Biscuit broadcast.
Buffalo 8/8/75; "Sad Songs Is All I Know"
I quote from an Undercover review: "A very good audience recording with
little crowd interference. Only drawback is a thin layer of hiss throughout
the show from the tape source used. If not for that, this one could rank with
the best from this tour. Still very listenable..." Note that this title is
lifted from an LP of a different '75 show.
The 1976 European tour was musically similar to the 1975 US tour, except
that songs from "Black and Blue" were played.
Typical set for 1976 European tour: Honky Tonk Woman, If You Can't Rock
Me/ Get Off of My Cloud, Hand of Fate, Hey Negrita, Ain't Too Proud to
Beg, Fool to Cry, Hot Stuff, Star Star, Angie, You Gotta Move, You Can't
Always Get What You Want, Happy, Tumbling Dice, Nothing from Nothing,
Outta Space (both sung by Billy Preston), Midnight Rambler, It's Only
Rock and Roll, Brown Sugar, Midnight Rambler, Street Fighting Man,
Jumping Jack Flash. Played infrequently: All Down the Line (twice),
Rip This Joint, Angie, Cherry Oh Baby (once), Sympathy for the Devil.
Played at Knebworth only: Satisfaction, Around and Around, Little Red
Rooster, Stray Cat Blues, Let's Spend the Night Together, Dead Flowers,
Route 66, Wild Horses, Honky Tonk Woman, Country Honk theme.
Most shows are available as audience recordings. For some reason there
are also a fair number of soundboard recordings available.
Frankfurt 4/29/76; 45 min; 7.5 s; "Frankfurt 1976"
The listed CD is a soundboard recording. Now it plus more of the concert from
a "very good" audience recording is out on "More than Welcome to Frankfurt,"
which was originally the title of LPs from the '82 tour.
Kiel 5/2/76; "European Tour Kiel 1976"
Said to be good audience quality.
Berlin 5/3/76; VG ; "Low Tide and Fair Hits"
I quote from an Undercover review: "...above average audience recording. For
fans of the 75/76 Tours (like me) it is a good buy, but not essential." Title
is lifted from an old, lousy Knebworth LP.
London, UK 5/22/76; 7.5 s; "Order in the Court"/ several
others
This soundboard recording first turned up on the limited "Liver Than You'll
Ever Be II," one of the last vinyl boots. The listed CD is EQ'ed to boost the
bass and remove hiss and sounds pretty good. It is not complete as claimed,
and not even the complete board tape, which includes YCAGWYW. All board tapes
miss the beginning and end of the concert AFAIK. An Internet review said:
"...This show can be found in best quality and most complete on 'Out Of The
Court...' 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' exists on tape, but not on CD
in this soundboard quality..."
London, UK 5/25/76; 60 min; "Another Earl's Court"
I quote from the following unpublished review: "A near perfect stage monitor
recording, although Jagger is in the background. The guitar sound is
excellent, especially Ronnie's solos are great, IMHO. Great performance.
This title is completed with an audience recording of Sympathy for the Devil,
probably from the 5/23/76 show..."
The Hague 5/29/76; "Any Port in a Storm"
I quote from an Internet review: "...Taken from a very scratchy LP, the show
is available complete and in better quality on vinyl and (without crackles) on
tape. VGP did a bad job releasing this. CD title is lifted from an '80s
European LP. Very nice and original photo of Keith on the cover! Truly
amazing is the sheer excitement of the Dutch crowd, which makes it a nice show
to listen to. Too bad the quality is below par."
Dortmund, Germany 6/1/76; "Happy Birthday Ronnie"
I quote from an Undercover review: "Another of many above average audience
recordings from 1976. Again the quality is good enough to please completists
of this tour, but not for more discriminating tastes."
Paris 6/4/76; "Allright Charlie Watts"
I quote from an Internet review: "...A new, high quality label has shown
up!... Dirty Work Productions just released a tape of the never released
Paris June 4, 1976 show (as we know the date on 'Paris Aux Printemps' and
other titles is wrong, the video is from June 6)... in truly excellent
quality... All instruments are there, all dynamics are there, [with] hardly
any hiss; especially nice since a big part of 'Love You Live' is from this
show..." Another Internet review added: "...It is a stunningly lovely
recording. It is perfect!... It is the best concert on an album from the
'75-'76 period. Sounds like a soundboard but it is not."
Paris 6/6/76; 100 min; 8.5 es; "Paris Aux Printemps"/others
Soundboard recording, made from a pro-shot video. Parts of this show are on
"Love You Live." Good performance, arguably better than the next night; worth
getting. (The Swingin' Pig release is better than the Speeder Ball release;
TSP release has the wrong date).
Paris 6/7/76; 125 min; EX- ; "Paris Par Exc."/others
I quote from an Internet review: "...'Paris Par Excellence' [CD] is a bit
disappointing to me. VGP had already released [this] some time ago on 'Europe
76' [which] was the entire show but unfortunately only an audience recording.
[This is a] soundboard recording, but it's incomplete! 3 tracks are missing:
'Angie' and the two Billy Preston tracks (and also the band introduction).
The missing of the Preston tracks [is inexcusable]: They are available in the
same soundboard quality on the old bootleg LP 'Paris Par Excellence'... The
first part of the show (disc 1) appears for the first time ever as soundboard
recording and is of slightly worse quality (hiss) [than] the second part which
was available before on some bootleg LPs." Whew. Not much to add but I'll
note that the old LP is 8.5 s; haven't heard the CD. The audience recordings
are 7.0 m. Good performance; parts of this show are on "Love You Live."
Lyon 6/9/76; "Backstage Unlimited"/ others
This is an improved release of the rare "Backstage Limited," which was 71 min,
8.0 s. I quote an Undercover review: "Complete show... The beginning of
Honky Tonk Women, the end of Jumping Jack Flash, and the complete Street
Fighting Man are in very good audience quality, the rest in very good
soundboard quality. Very good upgrade... finally the complete show available
on one title. [This] sounds noticeably better then the Lyon portion of
Terrapin's 'French Made' (should be 'Backstage Unlimited' I think) and it runs
at the correct speed. This release also sounds a lot better than 'Les
Inrockuptibles' which has the guitars squeezed into one channel. [VGP] did a
good job on mastering the tape. Very good show."
Barcelona 6/11/76 "Barcelona Y'Ole"
I quote from an Undercover review: "...A solid audience recording, but with
many available from this tour, probably for completists only or those that
attended. Very acceptable quality though..."
Knebworth 8/21/76; 148 min; 8.0/6.5 s; "Hot August Night"/many others
One of the Stones longest concerts, definitely the longest of the '60s and
'70s, before a large crowd. The Stones worked up a special expanded set list
for this show only. Interesting performance, if only to hear the unusual
songs. Many audience tape recorders were running, so was one at the
soundboard, plus there's a pro-shot video! There are many boots from various
sources. The listed VGP CD is the definitive edition, using the soundboard
source for the first 90 min except for Stray Cat Blues, then splicing together
a top notch video source and a so-so audience recording to include every song
on two lengthy CDs. The "Best of Knebworth Fair" CD is worthwhile for those
on a budget and a nice package: 64 min; 7.5 m; it's made from the videos
though not as good a source as VGP's. VGP's title and graphics are lifted
from a beautiful German LP from the mid '80s made from the soundboard
recording, which runs very fast. Thankfully the CD is correct.
The Stones came to Toronto in early 1977 to record live at the El
Mocambo Club. Keith was arrested there for heroin possession, but
recording took place and became side 3 of "Love You Live."
Toronto 3/4 & 3/5/77; 40 min; 8.5 s; "Small Club Gig"
I don't have this CD, but have a rare German LP. That is a combination of a
soundboard recording and 3 songs from an acetate, which were released on a fan
club disc. Good performance.
The next studio album was "Some Girls." Outtakes are available.
Outtakes late '77; 100 min; 9.0 s; "Paris Outtakes" I & II
This material is available on several LPs and possibly several CDs, but the
Vigatone set of 2 CDs is superior to anything else I've heard. Very good
recording and some interesting alternate and outtakes.
Outtakes late '77; 65 min; ___ s; "Some Girls Sessions"
I haven't heard this exact release but am told quality is an 8. I quote from
an Internet review: "...My copy is damn good quality with no clicking or
obvious problems which detract from listening. The ripping versions of Hang
Fire and Black Limo are worth the price alone IMHO... This is the same as
Place Pigalle Vol. 3, with a slight difference in track listing, but the same
running order..."
S.G./E.R. outs + SNL '78; 74 min; EX ; "Twilight Zone"
I quote from an Undercover review: "Quality is very good, but there is some
background hiss... [It] doesn't detract from the music much (more noticeable
between tracks, rather than during the songs) and it's well worth getting.
For the 1978 US tour, the band played most of "Some Girls" and dropped
many older songs. The sets were considerably shorter than the '75-'76
sets. Billy Preston was sacked; keyboardists Ian Stewart and Ian
McLagan were featured prominently. After the tour, the Stones appeared
on Saturday Night Live; they are the only band to appear and play a
three song set without interruption.
Typical set for 1978 US tour: Let It Rock, All Down the Line, Honky
Tonk Woman, Star Star, When the Whip Comes Down, Lies, Miss You, Beast
of Burden, Just My Imagination, Shattered, Respectable, Far Away Eyes,
Love in Vain, Tumbling Dice, Happy, Sweet Little Sixteen, Brown Sugar,
Jumping Jack Flash. Played infrequently: Hound Dog, Satisfaction,
Street Fighting Man.
Most if not all shows are available as audience recordings. This tour
was heavily bootlegged; about 75% of the tour dates are available on
vinyl. Most have decent but not great quality. The listing below is
rather short since the LPs are all long out of print and I don't collect
them all.
Woodstock 5/78 reh.; 290 min; 8.5 s; "The Complete Woodstock Tapes"/
others
Very nice soundboard quality. I quote from an Undercover review: "Overall,
the set has noticeably less hiss than the other Woodstock CD releases I have
[lists 3]. I have yet to hear any LP crackles either." Another Undercover
review: "4 CDs of very different/cool versions of songs old and new. Some
tracks are tedious, others abruptly end in the middle of a song, but the sound
throughout is excellent. The definitive set." This recent release may be
more than you want to hear (45 tracks), but there are lots of old classics,
including CS Blues (!) and other songs never played live. Previous releases
only have half of this material, or less.
Passaic, NJ 6/14/78; 90 min; 9.0 s; "Garden State 78"/others
Excellent stereo soundboard recording; probably the most well known boot of
the tour. Legend has it the tape was stolen from the soundboard before the
show ended which explains why the end is missing. Good performance except the
incomplete encore "Street Fighting Man" sounds completely unrehearsed; it's
terrible. Original LPs sound better than any CD release; in fact The Swingin'
Pig "Out on Bail" and Scorpio's "Capital Connection" both appear to be dubbed
from vinyl.
Washington, DC 6/15/78; "Far Away Washington"
The last of the small gigs which opened this tour; the Warner Theater only
holds a few thousand people. I quote from an Undercover review: "...Another
keeper. Above average sounding with a typically short set-list..."
Chicago 7/8/78; "Tight Dresses and Tampax"/ 1 other
I quote from an Undercover review: "A very good audience recording which [is
one of]... the two best audience recordings I've heard from this high octane
tour. Very pleased with this one." CD title is taken from an '80s European
LP which wasn't that great; sounds like this CD is better. Also available on
"Speed Freaks" which I also haven't heard.
Tucson, AZ 7/21/78 "Let the Juice Pumping"
I quote from an Undercover review: "A good but not great audience recording.
Very listenable but at lower volume levels. A bit too much distortion
interferes with what would have been a very good sounding show. Especially
compelling because Linda Ronstadt guests on Tumbling Dice, but the damn
recording volume was too high thus making the distortion. A keeper, but sort
of disappointing with what might have been."
Fort Worth 7/18/78; 90 min; 10.0 s; "Handsome Girls"
Part of this show was already available on the (rare) CD "Somewhere in
Dallas," but this is the entire show in best possible quality. I am told
this CD was made from tapes liberated from the King Biscuit archives, which
explains its outstanding quality. (This CD also includes '78 radio
broadcasts).
US radio '78 (various); 140 min; 10.0 s; "Handsome Girls"/many others
These songs have been widely available since they were first broadcast in
1979, but this is their best quality ever. CDs 3 and 4 of this set compile
almost every song ever broadcast (TSP's 1st edition misses 4 songs,
Dandelion's 2nd edition has them), plus a few that never were (Star Star).
Since the source tapes were liberated from the King Biscuit archives, they are
not bleeped or censored as they were for broadcast. Dandelion's release also
adds a few more rarities from lesser quality audience recordings. It is said
to sound even "brighter," not a bad thing. However, Dandelion did not use the
best source for the previously missing 4 songs; for that you need the obscure
and very mis-titled LP "Live from England 1974," which is all '78 radio
broadcasts!
LA 8/78 outtakes; 93 min; EX- s; "One Night with Tallahassee Lassie"
This is a copy of a rare Japanese CD "The Harder They Come," with extra
material added. The LA material was never before available.
Keith's sentence for heroin possession in Toronto was light: Perform a
benefit concert for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. At
the start of the New Barbarians tour in Toronto, the Stones made a
surprise appearance.
Toronto 4/22/79 2nd show w/New Barbs; 100 min; 9.0 s; "Blind Date Revisited"
This used to be only available as an audience recording but a soundboard
recording turned up in 1995 and was put out by The Swingin' Pig. John Belushi
introduces the band. The performance can charitably (pun intended) be
described as "ragged;" the singing is mostly atrocious. In some respects the
audience recording is better; it has a better guitar sound for example.
"Emotional Rescue" outtakes are available.
"Emotional Rescue" outtakes; 67 min; EX- s; "Emotional Rescue Demos"
I don't have this CD, but these songs can be heard in quite good quality on
LP; the CD should be similar.
Outtakes 12/74, 1-3/78, 1-2/79; 73 min; 9.5 s; "Static in the Attic"
Great quality outtakes, mostly from "Emotional Rescue" though some are
earlier. Some are previously unheard and the others are probably in best ever
quality. Leadoff track is an undated interview with Mick, which I happen to
know is from Europe 1970. Asked about bootlegs, Mick says he likes bootleg
records! Of course, back in those days, being bootlegged was almost an honor;
it meant the band had serious fans.
As mentioned previously, the Stones broke from previous trends by not
touring Europe in 1979. The New Barbarians, with Keith and Ronnie,
toured instead. The next Stones tour was in the US, 1981, for "Tattoo
You." There was an official live album, "Still Life," and movie, "Let's
Spend the Night Together."
Typical set for 1981 US tour: Under My Thumb, When the Whip Comes Down,
Let's Spend the Night Together, Shattered, Neighbors, Black Limousine,
Just My Imagination, 20 Flight Rock, Going to a Go Go, Let Me Go, Time
is on My Side, Beast of Burden, Waiting on a Friend, Let It Bleed, You
Can't Always Get What You Want, Little T&A, Tumbling Dice, She's So
Cold, All Down the Line, Hang Fire, Star Star, Miss You, Start Me Up,
Honky Tonk Woman, Brown Sugar, Jumping Jack Flash, Street Fighting Man
(a few shows), and/or Satisfaction (most shows). Played infrequently:
Tops, Down the Road Apiece, Mona, Star Star.
Most if not all shows are available as audience recordings. About two
thirds of the tour dates are available on vinyl. The listing below is
rather short since the LPs are all long out of print and I don't collect
them all.
USA '81 (various, FM); 90 min; 9.5 s; "Time is on Our Side"/many others
The various FM broadcasts are on many different LPs and CDs. As with the '78
broadcasts, different versions of some songs are available. The official live
album "Still Life" overlaps with these broadcasts. Excellent quality on
almost all releases; some CDs are copied from old LPs.
Philadelphia 9/25/81; "Ain't It Good to be Alive"/ others
Tour opener. I quote from an Undercover review: "Clearest of all recordings
[of this show]. Complete show. Slight hiss throughout which reveals
intermittent tape flaws (static sounding). Strong bass, vocals, piano and
drums, but weak guitar. Charlie's cymbals are very crisp." Goes on to say
it's better than "Philadelphia '81," for which I quote from an Undercover
review: "...'Tops' was performed here... As [usual with early shows], the
band is a bit less polished than later in the tour, but they played this show
with an edge that was clearly lacking as the tour progressed..."
Philadelphia 9/26/81; "Waiting on 50 Million Friends"
Originally available on LP; also available on CD, for which I quote an
Internet review: "...as is the case with most new Stones tours, [this
performance] contains rarely played songs like Mona and Down the Road
Apiece... [The CD] also has bonus songs from the New Jersey Meadowlands...
Though it is an audience recording, IMO it ranks right up there with the
better known soundboards from this tour in terms of performance and indeed
sound quality... After the very first song though the recording remains
perfect throughout... The guitars are very strong throughout, but the major
reason I love this title so much is the piano playing which you hardly hear on
any other titles..." As is frequently the case, an upgraded CD has now
appeared, for which I quote an Undercover review: "Richer, fuller sound but
nothing groundbreaking here. Unfortunately, VGP decided to lop off the two
bonus tracks that appeared at the end of the first edition. Too bad, but I do
like the sound better here."
Buffalo 9/27/81; ___ min; "Buffalo '81"
I quote an Undercover review: "This is a GREAT audience recording... There is
little crowd noise and it's nice and clear. Also this neat gem contains the
rare '81 tour track TOPS." Also includes Down the Road Apiece.
Los Angeles 10/11/81; "Never Too Old to Rock and Roll"
Said to be "an above average audience recording." This CD title is lifted
from an LP title of the same show, but I don't know if the recording is the
same.
Seattle 10/14/81; 125 min; "What's Wrong with My Guitar"/ 1 other
I quote from the following unpublished review: "The first ever audio release
of [this] show, and not a good one. [It's] basically the same (good) video
soundboard as the 10/15/81 Seattle show but right from the start the sound is
distorted. It makes the show very hard to listen to. The real attraction in
the setlist on the back cover is Starf*cker, but beware: Starf*cker is not
played here. The show is also available together with the 10/15 Seattle show
as a box set 'Stoned Screwed & Tattooed in Seattle,' [which] includes the two
videos from the shows."
Seattle 10/15/81; 125 min; 8.5 m; "Now We Need You More Than
Ever"/ 3 others
Raw recording from a pro-shot video, but I like it. Good sound mix with lots
of guitar. First available on the hard-to-get Terappin (sic) label, a
similarly titled CD is now out from VGP. I haven't heard it, but Internet
reviews says it is the definitive release. "Bloody Night in Seattle" isn't
quite as good, and runs a bit slow. "Stoned Screwed & Tattooed" is said to be
either not quite as good or better than the VGP release, depending on which
review you believe; I haven't heard either for comparison.
San Francisco 10/18/81; "Candlestick Park '81"
I quote an Undercover review: "...You've got to hear how crisp it sounds to
believe it. It's an audience [recording] that sounds BETTER than a lot of
soundboards! Has the rarely played Star Star too..."
Houston 10/28/81; "Houston Can You Sing"
I quote an Internet review: "...It's a video soundboard in much the same
quality as Seattle 81 minus the ever present 'hum'... The sound improves
nicely after the first couple of tracks leaving this 'raw' soundboard
intact... The mix is steady once the sound levels out with the vocals quite
clear and the guitars right up front..."
Chicago 11/22/81 w/M. Waters; 35 min; EX _; "Sweet Home Chicago"
The Stones pay tribute to one of their heroes by playing with him and other
Chicago blues stars in a small club. Semi-professionally recorded and filmed
(the film has the wrong date). Worth seeing, or settle for the audio.
Tempe, AZ 12/13/81; EX _; "Satisfaction Guaranteed"
This show was professionally recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio
show, and filmed for the "Let's Spend the Night Together" movie. Now an
almost complete soundboard recording has turned up. I quote an Undercover
review: "Excellent soundboard, which many have heard in the movie...
However, here the music isn't edited to death like the movie was. You get the
full blown concert without the requisite studio overdubs. A definite keeper!"
Another Internet review said, "...superb soundboard quality, better than
Hampton!"
Kansas City 12/14/81; 140 min; 8.0 s; "Didn't We Meet Somewhere
Before"/ others
Previously available on other CDs from an inferior source, this show features
special guest Mick Taylor. Rumor has it he was to play at the upcoming pay
per view in Hampton, but he was too loud on stage, pissed Keith off, and there
weren't any guests in Hampton. Regardless of his volume on stage, it's hard
to pick out his guitar from the other two on this fine audience recording.
This recording is very clear with moderate audience noise but nothing
objectionable; the cheering adds to the atmosphere.
Hampton, VA 12/18/81; 140 min; 10.0 s; "20 Flight Rock"/many others
Pay-per-view cable special available on many different LPs and CDs. Of course
videos also circulate. Excellent recording, unsurprisingly. I think a few
songs are on the official live album "Still Life." The listed CD is said to
be better than the well known Swingin' Pig title, which is said to be overly
NoNoised. The latest release is on Dandelion, a re-release of TSP's version,
but I haven't heard it.
The next tour was the 1982 European tour, which was musically similar to
the 1981 tour.
Typical set for 1982 European tour: Under My Thumb, When the Whip Comes
Down, Let's Spend the Night Together, Shattered, Neighbors, Black
Limousine, Just My Imagination, 20 Flight Rock, Going to a Go Go,
Chantilly Lace (first part of tour), Let Me Go, Time is on My Side,
Beast of Burden, Let It Bleed (first part of tour), You Can't Always Get
What You Want, Little T&A, Tumbling Dice, She's So Cold, Hang Fire, Miss
You, Honky Tonk Woman, Brown Sugar, Start Me Up, Jumping Jack Flash,
Satisfaction. Played infrequently: Angie.
About two thirds of the tour dates are available on vinyl.
Rotterdam 6/2/82; "Hot Hot Hotterdam"
This is a CD-R from a new "label." I quote from an Undercover review:
"Overall the sound is somewhat bassy especially Charlie's bass drum but the
bass level improves during the course of the recording only to pick back up
during the last 1/3 of the show. Keith is way upfront at the start of the
show and mixes in at a more level range as Ron at the end... However, Woody's
solos' are turned up just at the right time. Mick remains at a constant level
and is quite clear. Some 'waviness' as I call it occurs throughout the
recording as if someone is moving with the recorder or there is wind... but
[it] is subtle enough to not be too distracting. The nearby audience...
remains polite during the show [but] their clapping and singing become more
evident at MY onward. One obvious distraction to the recording is some guy
who calls out the next number that he thinks will be played. He obviously
followed the '81 tour as he is right on except when Mick throws out Chantilly
Lace...! Sound quality rates well overall and makes this [mono] recording...
very comparable to other '81/'82 audience recordings. This basically opening
night of the '82 tour recording is rare and can be appreciated by most hard
core collectors... The performance is very loose and upbeat and would be hard
pressed to be considered a typical opening night show. Woody flat out WAILS.
Keith is tight and Charlie is managing the pace of the songs like a master.
The few minutes of rare interviews with Mick by Dutch radio only adds to the
completeness of these discs..."
Rotterdam 6/4/82; VG+ ; "Rotter' Beast of Bourbon"
First available on LP; now out on CD using the same title. I quote from an
Internet review: "Although it's a nice show, this is really for the people
who were there as the sound is not very good. It's a decent audience
recording for the time, but it could have been better. All the audience
participation (me included!) doesn't make it better although the atmosphere is
great. Complete show with intro 'Take The A Train' and 3 minutes of fireworks
at the end." "Chantilly Lace" is said to be only G+ quality.
Berlin 6/8/82; "Beast of Bourbon"
I quote an Undercover review: "No question the best audience recording from
the '82 tour... All instruments are here, especially the guitar (the acoustic
on Waiting on A Friend is the best I've heard). It's the complete show... A
must have for 81/82 tour enthusiasts." Previously available on a European LP
with the same title, which I have, and it's nowhere near as good as this CD
must be.
Munich 6/10/82; "Willkommen in Munchen"
I quote from an Undercover review: "A very good audience recording with radio
broadcast reports interspersed throughout... Sound is upfront, only a shade
less in quality than 'Beast of Bourbon' and 'Demain le Soleil.'"
Paris 6/13/82; VG ; "Demain le Soleil"
I quote from an Undercover review: "A very good audience recording, but the
sound is a bit condensed. Doesn't sound as good as 'Beast of Bourbon,' but a
keeper nonetheless." Entire show.
Gothenburg, Sweden 6/19/82; 130 min; 8.0 m; "One More Time"
Quite good audience recording. Rare LP, copied as "Never Stop" which is now
out on CD. I quote from an Undercover review of the CD: "...IMO it's an
excellent audience recording and a keeper. Sure the audience is present, but
to me it enhances the show. This one and 'Beast of Bourbon' are two of my
favorite '82 tour releases."
Wembley, London 6/26/82; 45 min; 9.0 m; "One Day in June"
Rare German LP made from a BBC video (never broadcast?). Also on a Japanese
CD with the same title. This is apparently the show where Keith punches
Ronnie for spacing out on stage. That's not on the video, but the start of
"She's So Cold" is incredibly bad and the entire concert is pretty lame.
Naturally this is a really good recording.
Turin 7/11/82; "Mundialito 1982"
Available on a nicely packaged LP and a CD. The LP does not sound too good.
For the CD, I quote an Undercover review: "Average at best audience recording
with quite a bit of hiss throughout. Not an essential title, except for
completists. Angie was played here..."
Naples 7/17/82 + hotel/backstage; 102 min; 9.0 m/EX s; "Shattered in Europe"
The concert portion of this is 76 min. It's a very nice soundboard, well
balanced with a little too much MJ. Sounds like a pretty good performance;
this is a must for any '82 tour fan. Minor speed variation at the end though.
Keith's (and Ronnie's?) backing vocals are very ragged; kind of amusing. Not
all pressings have the second CD, which I have not heard. I quote from an
Undercover review: "...It is a loose [26] minute jam with Keith and Ron.
There are some very ragged ( fun) versions of 'Hit the Road Jack' and a Hank
Williams song complete with the raspiest, most off-key vocals you can imagine
K and R coming up with. I find it to be enjoyable, but many don't. It's
certainly not essential."
Due to tensions within the band, there was no touring again until 1989.
Outtakes are available for "Dirty Work."
"Dirty Work" outs. 7-11/85; "Crushed Pearl"/others
I quote an Undercover review: "...a truly excellent boot. The sound quality
is very good, although faint hiss can be detected on some tracks. The guitar
playing and interchange on tracks like One Hit and Dirty Work are real razor-
blade stuff. Dynamic. If only these takes had been on the album... The real
goodies on this CD are the Keef tracks, and there are plenty of them. Crushed
Pearl is truly awesome; a 10 min Too Rude that's *sooo* laid back; the CMTV
(but good) treat Me Like a Fool and the Sleep Tonight-esque You're Too Much
are all worth getting the CD for IMHO. There's also an out from the (very)
rough hotel demos, Broken Hearts for Me and You. Definitely one to look out
for."
After much speculation if there would ever be another tour, the Stones
finally toured the US in 1989 in support of "Steel Wheels." For the
first time, most of the live material was not from the new album. Each
concert was a look back on their long career, and they performed songs
that had never been attempted live. The band also used a much larger
cast of supporting musicians than in the past. The Stones "toured" Japan
in February 1990 by playing in Tokyo for about 10 days.
Typical set for 1989 Steel Wheels US tour: Start Me Up, Bitch, Sad Sad
Sad, Undercover of the Night, Harlem Shuffle, Tumbling Dice, Miss You,
Ruby Tuesday, Play with Fire, Rock and a Hard Place, Mixed Emotions,
Honky Tonk Woman, Midnight Rambler, You Can't Always Get What You Want,
Little Red Rooster (not at all shows), Before They Make Me Run or Can't
Be Seen, Happy, Paint It Black, 2000 Light Years from Home, Sympathy for
the Devil, Gimme Shelter, It's Only Rock and Roll, Brown Sugar,
Satisfaction, Jumping Jack Flash. Played infrequently: Shattered, Salt
of the Earth, Dead Flowers, One Hit to the Body, Angie, Almost Hear You
Sigh, Terrifying.
Most shows are available as audience recordings. The sophisticated
sound system plus improvements in tape recorders and microphones means
some audience recordings are very good indeed.
Toad's Place, CT 8/21/89; "One Down 55 to Go!"
I quote from an Internet review: "It's a club gig [before the start of the
tour]... Another damn good AUD recording..."
Toronto 9/3/89; "Sweet Toronto"/1 other
I quote from an Internet review: "The Toronto soundboard (which comes from a
pro shot video) is already well known from the Swingin' Pig release 'Live In
Toronto.' The soundboard is incomplete; it's the show from the beginning to
Mixed Emotions (and a piece of Honky Tonk Women) and from Gimme Shelter to the
end. The middle part (Honky Tonk Women to Sympathy is not available as
soundboard). VGP added the Continental Drift intro and the missing tracks
from a not too good audience tape; the quality decreases drastically within
the track Honky Tonk Women... So if you must have the complete show, this is
the release for you, otherwise stick with the TSP release which contains the
soundboard part only in the same quality."
Toronto 9/4/89; "Wheeler Dealers"
I quote from an Undercover review: "...audience tape of complete show... An
excellent recording... ...very little crowd heard here. The music is strong
w/ some lesser played gems like one hit to the body. A definite keeper."
This was previously available on an LP with the same title.
East Troy, WI 9/9/89; "Wheels Are Rolling"/2 others
I quote from an Internet review: "There were 2 releases of this show
available before: 'Wisconsin Flat' and 'East Troy 1989.' Both were
incomplete (missing Rock And A Hard Place, One Hit To The Body, 2000 Light
Years and--at least partly--Jumping Jack Flash). The quality of the new VGP
release is only slightly better and they added the missing tracks from a very
good audience tape, so it's the complete show now; also the Continental Drift
intro is there now. But: they took Jumping Jack Flash completely from the
audience tape though on Wisconsin Flat we have the first 4:40 as a
soundboard!!!..."
LA 10/19/89; "Live at the LA Memorial
Coliseum"/2 others
Hmmm. I haven't heard this one, but have seen two drastically different
reviews. One said: "...The guitars are right up from where they belong,
Keith's will make your ears bleed (unfortunately, the stage hands dropped the
guitar volume on a couple of songs)... The best release from the 89 tour bar
none and that includes Atlantic City, Wembley, and Tokyo..." The other review
noted that there is another CD of the same recording but with one extra song,
and said neither is that great: "...'Get Back To Los Angeles 1989' is a
mediocre stage soundboard, with Mick Jagger's voice a littler louder than I
like it in the mix. The sound quality is identical [to "Live at...]." Until
I hear this, I'll trust the review that this isn't so hot. "Get Back..." was
later re-released as "At The Max To The End" in similar quality.
Dallas 11/11/89; 145 min; 8.5 m; "Texas Rangers"/1 other
Again, made from a pro-shot video. Later released as "The Boys Are Back In
Dallas" in similar quality.
Atlanta 11/21/89; 120 min; EX ; "Back in Business"
Atlantic City 12/19/89; 150 min; 10.0 s; many CDs + videos
Widely available, since this was on both pay per view and FM. Includes
special guest John Lee Hooker. Relatively recent releases are by Dandelion,
possibly with bonus tracks, and VGP, for which I quote from an Internet
review: "...It's made from a different source tape than TSP's box and sounds
slightly different but I wouldn't say better. The Continental Drift intro
starts a bit earlier and the outro ('Carmen') is also included. It seems to
be taken from the TV while the TSP is probably from the radio (because of the
pre and after show radio documentation on disc 4). [VGP] added 7 live tracks
from Flashpoint singles (but forgot 'Gimme Shelter' from the Food
benefit!),[but] we fans have these singles [already]. So I still really don't
know what this release is good for. And the Swingin' Pig box is so much
nicer!"
Tokyo 2/24/90; "Steel Wheels Alive and Rollin' 1990"
Said to be a soundboard recording with 3 audience tracks from other Tokyo
shows. I quote from an Internet review: "It is a mono soundboard, and good
but not great... almost no crowd noise, a little flat sounding; this sounds
like it came from the video mix..."
Tokyo 2/26/90; 140 min; 10.0 s;"Steel Wheels Tokyo 1990"/ others
Available on several LPs and CDs but this is said to be the only release which
is complete. Japanese CD.
The 1990 Urban Jungle Tour was musically similar to the Steel Wheels
tour. Typical set for Urban Jungle Tour: Start Me Up, Sad Sad Sad,
Harlem Shuffle, Tumbling Dice, Miss You, Almost Hear You Sigh, Ruby
Tuesday, Rock and a Hard Place, Mixed Emotions, Honky Tonk Woman,
Midnight Rambler, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Can't Be Seen (3/4
of shows), or Before They Make Me Run (1/4 of shows), Happy, Paint It
Black, 2000 Light Years from Home, Sympathy for the Devil, Street
Fighting Man, Gimme Shelter, It's Only Rock and Roll, Brown Sugar,
Jumping Jack Flash, Satisfaction. Played infrequently: Bitch, Angie,
Dead Flowers, Factory Girl, Blinded by Love, Terrifying, Little Red
Rooster, I Just Wanna Make Love to You.
Most shows are available as audience recordings.
Frankfurt 5/27/90; "Frankfurt Shuffle"
I quote from an Internet review: "The mix is slightly off... all instruments
except Charlie's drums are a little too low... I would give this a VG+
rating, and it seems to be the complete show."
Cologne 5/30/90; "Remember