Reprinted from 'Smilin' Ears Magazine', July 1996
Okay, the story so far is that the Summer is not being unmercifully cruel to the folks here on the East coast of the U.S. There have been some nice warm days, and not too many scorchers. I will say that it hasn't exactly been the weather for staying inside and making tapes, though. Some company out there needs to make a portable dubbing deck that's actually good quality! Then you can get a tan and dub a show at the same time.
The talent out here this Summer is not the strongest that I've seen (aside from a few listed below), although everyone is awaiting the "Quadrophenia" shows here in New York. The funniest thing is trying to figure out what year it is by looking at a list of recent tours. Here's a brief sample: Kiss - the original line-up in their make-up, The Sex Pistols, The Who, Patty Smith, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Styx - the original line-up, Kansas, Peter Frampton ... and the list goes on. By the way, here in the U.S. platform shoes are coming back into style. We'll never learn!
Anyway, the column for this month focuses on some shows from May and June of this year. Many tapes seem to be circulating of all of the sets discussed, especially since a few were broadcast. So, here goes ...
1) Patty Smith - Irving Plaza, New York; June 22, 1996 - 120 min. Aud.
Well, as someone else in the audience yelled to the stage that night ... "I've been waiting twenty years for this". I was not quite of concert-going age, at least not old enough to get into any bars, when the first lady of punk stopped touring at the beginning of the last decade. I had been spoon-fed the album "Horses" when it was first release, and was hooked on her album "Wave" when suddenly ... she was gone. No more albums, no tours ... nothing. She was going to stay at home with her husband and raise a family; and she truly seemed happy to be doing so. I went and purchased her other two albums and was now really anxious to see her. Oh well.
She put an album out in 1988, "Dream of Life" which reflected a more mature, mellowed Patty Smith. It was still poetic and had some strong moments, but it wasn't quite as passionate as before. Well, it's under bittersweet circumstances that her latest album "Gone Again" has been released. She lost her beloved husband Fred Smith a few years ago and her brother within the past two years. Richard Sohl, a member of her original band, also passed away in the past year. So with her children old enough to not need constant maternal attention, Patty Smith decided to return to her first passion - her music and her poetry. Evidently, it would be a means to work out her feelings towards all that had happened.
The new album is a fine piece of work, and she featured eight songs from the album during this very powerful and emotional show. New York City was the town that had embraced her work with open arms nearly twenty years ago, and this evening was a homecoming. With her mother in the crowd, her son playing guitar on one number, and her sister onstage for a solo number and to back up her sister it was a family affair. The band included Lenny Kaye of the original Patty Smith Group and was augmented wonderfully by Tom Verlaine (of Television) and a bass player whose name could not be identified on the tape. The intense mutual respect and admiration between artist and audience was evident throughout the show. Patty's occasional snide comments were more self-deprecating and humble than nasty, and she ended each of her little "punk moments" with a wide smile and a chuckle. When she addressed the crowd as "her people" and announced to us that she's "come home", she was more than a little choked up. And the music ... well, the music had energy ... kinetic, swirling, Patty Smith-type energy.
Okay, now for the tape. The most interesting musical surprise is a version of Prince's "When Doves Cry". The gut wrenching ending of this version completely forgives the fact that our hero, quite humorously, forgot the words to the verses midway through the song. Her poetry, read at a number of points during the evening, wonderfully frames the set. Patty's son Jason makes a guest appearance on guitar for an unusual version of Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water" - complete with Patty herself screaming " ... fire in the f**king sky ...". She then explains ... to the extreme amusement of a crowd who knows when someone is trying to put one over on them ... that she doesn't condone that kind of language. Kimberly Smith, backed by Patty's band, offers an interesting original entitled "I Don't Need" - an ode to the record companies of the world. Her take on Bob Dylan's "Wicked Messenger" is a classic. This leads into Lenny Kaye, obviously ecstatic to be back sharing a New York stage with Patty, offering an original song called "Chosen One" nearly halfway through the night. The crowd eats up every minute of this as Patty plays the gracious M.C. for her guests and then proceeds to kick everyone's as**s with some great rock and roll for her portion of the show. The dynamics are great with songs taking some slow builds to intense climaxes. "Redondo Beach", early in the night, is dedicated to the members of the upcoming "Lesbopalooza"(??). We'll see in the future exactly what she meant by that comment.
Oh, and the greatest thing about this evening (and this tape) was that you knew when it was over that she would be back ... and soon. Patty Smith is here to stay.
The set list: Saint In Any Form / Piss Factory / Ravens / I Don't Need / Smoke On The Water / Dancing Barefoot / Redondo Beach / Wicked Messenger / Chosen One / Beneath The Southern Cross / Walkin' Alone / Summer Cannibals / When Doves Cry / About a Boy (for Kurt Cobain) / Free Money / Wing / People Have The Power (reading) / Gone Again / Because The Night / Farewell Reel / Land (of a Thousand Dances) / Rock and Roll Nigger
2) Elvis Costello - Supper Club, New York; May 22, 1996 (early) - 145 min. Broadcast
Now this tape is a nice treat. Elvis Costello fans have been treated to Mr. MacManus performing his unusual, brilliant songs in a number of different settings. There have been the Attractions, the Confederates, the Rude Five and the solo tours ... but this sparse yet powerful combination of guitar, keyboard and voice is a first. Steve Nieve is a very talented player, and his piano work is fantastic throughout. The songs from Elvis' latest album, "All This Useless Beauty" hold up extremely nicely in this setting. A number of fans I've spoken to actually enjoy the interpretations from this tape even more than the released versions. Anyone in possession of a tape of the Attractions from their brief pre-album tour will have a great time using the CD, the Supper Club tape and your Attractions show to compile a personal "best of". The truly exciting thing about the set is that Elvis offers up two completely unreleased songs. Costello and Nieve, after nineteen years, have penned their first song together. The result, "Passionate Fight" fits very nicely into the Elvis catalog, perhaps somewhere between his work with the Brodsky Quartet and the "Mighty Like A Rose" album. The second unreleased track is actually a song co-written by Burt Bacharach for a film soundtrack. "God Give Me Strength" has a fairly typical Bacharach feel, but Elvis' vocal delivery and musical turns spice it up to make it a very fine song.
There are quite a few highlights in the early show. The show opens with a mind-boggling reworking of "Just About Glad" from "Brutal Youth". The song is taken slowly and thoughtfully, sending the meaning of the lyrics home quite effectively. As always, Elvis tosses in some great anecdotes to accent the evening. "Little Atoms" opens with a funny story about performing in Germany. "Oliver's Army", a great early Elvis cut, is enhanced by this unique setting. "God's Comic" has been performed acoustically on a number of tours, and each time Elvis alters or adds to the story; this tour is no different. The end of "Alison", the show closer, drifts into a melange which begins, oddly enough, with the line " ... oh no, not with that clown ..." from "I Want You". He takes that song no further, but he does weave into "Tracks of My Tears", "Tears Of A Clown" and "Clowntime Is Over". Though its a song that Elvis fans hear all the time, this version is a treat.
Fortunately the atmosphere within the walls of the theater does not come through on the tape. Apparently the V.I.P. tables, which are rumored to have been comprised of mostly record company executives, could not keep their mouths shut throughout the performance. Elvis refers to the noise in the room on a few occasions, but obviously none of it can be heard on the soundboard feed. He was obviously not happy with this scenario, and an announcement was made over the PA by the club on Elvis' behalf before the second show requesting that audience members "refrain from conversation" during the show. I personally find it horrendous that there was even the most remote need for such a request. More on the rest of that story in the review of the late show.
Overall, the Supper Club shows were an event that this Elvis fan w ill not be forgetting anytime soon. These songs hold up to the most intense scrutiny, and hearing them "naked", as they are here, treats the listener to a fine work of art.
The early show: Just About Glad / Starting To Come To Me / Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes / Little Atoms / Temptation / You Bowed Down / Why Can't A Man Stand Alone? / The Long Honeymoon / Poor Fractured Atlas / Just A Memory / God Give Me Strength / God's Comic / Complicated Shadows / Other End Of The Telescope / Oliver's Army / Black Sails In The Sunset / All This Useless Beauty / It's Time / Passionate Fight / My Funny Valentine / Distorted Angel / You'll Never Be A Man/ Alison - interpolating Tracks Of My Tears and Clowntime Is Over / Shallow Grave / Watching The Detectives / I Want To Vanish
3) Elvis Costello - Supper Club, New York; May 22, 1996 (late) - 145 min. Aud.
Okay, so Elvis goes offstage and breaks for a while. Bob Mould, the opening act does his set, and then Mr. MacManus is back with his batteries recharged. Within a song's length of time he's launching into an attack on the "self-important a**holes" who were sitting up in the balcony earlier. He also explains to the crowd that one of them had decided to pick a fight with his wife Cait. "If you're still here, let's really entertain this crowd", he says, and then challenges this creep to a man-to-man physical exchange. Needless to say, he doesn't accept, but it leads to Elvis' next hysterical comment which sets the tone for the evening. "But of course, I couldn't do that, because as you all know ... I love everybody." The crowd is thoroughly amused, and interestingly enough, the comment lets Elvis sufficiently air his frustrations because his mood for the remainder of the show is quite high-spirited.
Musically, this is a very special show. Elvis hearkens back to "Get Happy!" twice within the first half hour; first with a reworked, slowed-down version of "King Horse" and later with a well-read "Man Called Uncle". Two songs from the new album are given lovely workouts. The version of "Shot With His Own Gun" performed solo with Steve Nieve was developed during the 1994 Attractions tour, and it's a nice addition to the set. Other oldies includes "New Amsterdam, which segues beautifully into "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away". "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" and "Almost Blue" are true surprises, and sound just beautiful in this setting. Yet another unreleased song makes an appearance during this set. The newly written "Unwanted Number", a song that confronts the topic of the millions of unwanted children being born, is a challenging piece of work, as are many of Costello's compositions. Repeated playbacks of this one prove it similar to some of his work of the "Spike" era - simple (well, simple for Elvis) yet dramatic lines push his point home. As he did in the first set, E.C. plays with "Alison", and he weaves in a couple of classic country-western songs, which he puts his heart and soul into. As he did in the first set, he brings this show to a close with the moody "I Want To Vanish". Before he leaves the stage, he tosses out the line "I'll see you in the summer with the Attractions". And with that, the crowd then filed out smiling, more than satisfied, and looking forward to the next show.
The late show list: King Horse / You Bowed Down / Poor Fractured Atlas / Shot With His Own Gun / Talking In The Dark / Man Called Uncle / Why Can't A Man Stand Alone / Just About Glad / Starting To Come To Me / New Amsterdam /You've Got To Hide Your Love Away / Little Atoms / Accidents Will Happen / God Give Me Strength / I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself / The Other End Of The Telescope / God's Comic / All This Useless Beauty / It's Time / Unwanted Number / Passionate Fight / Dirty Rotten Shame / Deep Dark Truthful Mirror / Almost Blue / Distorted Angel / Favorite Hour / Alison - interpolating You Win Again, Still In Love With You and He'll Have To Go / Watch Your Step / Shallow Grave / Watching the Detectives / I Want To Vanish
4) Billy Joel - "An Evening of Questions and Answers ... and a Little Music - Town Hall, New York; May 16, 1996 - 165 min. Broadcast
I still enjoy Billy Joel's albums, and I thought that his most recent tour with Elton John was a great venture. I can say, however, that if his music should fail him tomorrow Mr. Joel has a healthy second career ahead of him as a lecturer, a teacher or a stand up comic.
Let me shed some background on this type of event to start things off. In the early eighties Billy Joel made a handful of live appearances at music colleges on Long Island and in New Jersey. He basically talked about his experiences in the music industry, fielded questions and played a little bit of music to accent some of his points, break the "monotony" (which never set in) and, at times, upon request. These appearances were the talk of Billy Joel fans around the country, who had heard what an entertaining evening was had by those in attendance. After the "Stormfront" tour, Billy made the rounds once again, virtually unannounced, to some colleges and small halls in the Northeast. This time the "lecture" was covered by the press, and it garnished rave reviews. A three CD set was issued in Australia which contained a large portion of the show from Princeton, New Jersey. This is a collectible worth seeking out by any Billy fan. Well, after the exhausting "Face To Face" tour, news circulated that Billy was considering that to be his last major tour. Perhaps the decision to begin this small scale, unpublicized lecture tour is a sign of Billy "testing the waters" to see what could bring him pleasure and successes in the future. That would be fine with me.
As a stand up comic, he's got excellent comic timing. As a story teller, he's cohesive and dynamic; he strays onto tangents just often enough to keep long passages thoroughly amusing. This time around Billy intended for people who were interested in a musical career to know about the show before a general audience, so most of the colleges chosen were ones with good music programs. On this particular evening, the Town Hall audience also includes fans who won tickets through a New York radio station. Unfortunately, their distracting "Billy can I sing with you?", "Billy can I kiss you?" and "Billy can I have your baby?" questions take a large piece of time out of the evening. Those moments can, however, always be edited out of a tape of the full show.
With regard to the contents, Billy is at his funniest and most animated when he is talking about growing up and learning to play and when he discusses the process of songwriting. His description of what Beethoven must have been like while composing his 6th Symphony is one of the most enjoyable, and lengthy, segments of the evening. As usual, Billy also has his phenomenal ability to do impressions in his bag of tricks. Frankie Valli and Joe Cocker are given the Billy Joel treatment, as is Elton John's piano work on "Bennie and Jets". One wonderful surprise is a phone call from Ray Charles which lights up Billy's night in a very personal way. Musically, it's a special treat to hear "Vienna" and "Summer Highland Falls" in such an intimate atmosphere. Billy takes us through the work process which changed "Only The Good Die Young" from a reggae number into the version which appears on "The Stranger". He treats us to a taste of the new music which he is working on, which has a very classical or "soundtrack"-type feel to it. He openly discusses the boredom that sets in at times when playing the same songs night after night, and how to recognize and get around it. During this evening, however, when Billy taps out segments of his big hits solo on keyboard, they take on a fresh feel. Even "Piano Man", the evenings closer, is actually more than welcomed; and the crowd, of course, sings along in full voice.
Hear are the contents, both the questions (or comments) and the music excerpts: Opening / Songwriting techniques / Only The Good Die Young / How do I get backstage? / What do you for writers block? / Pressure / Big Man On Mulberry Street / Was it a struggle? / When do you know you have enough material for an album? / Sherry - Rag Doll - Uptown Girl - Walk Like A Man Medley / Summer Highland Falls (complete) / First spark of interest in music? / Saw Her Standing There / What of the new song with Elton John? / Benny and the Jets / Mixing business with pleasure / Real name? / Kurt Weil / Vienna (complete) / Ray Charles / baby Grand / Equipment? / Classical snippets / What happened to "Elvis Presley Blvd"? / Hits or more obscure songs your favorites / Remember lyrics / Just the Way You Are / What would you have done differently? / The Entertainer / New album? / Untitled new song / Root Beer Rag / First hearing himself on radio / Innocent Man / Longest Time / Leningrad / Why pop, not classical? / Beethoven segment / Piano man
------------------------------------------
Well, that's all for now. It's getting awfully warm sitting by the computer keyboard here, so I think it's time to head out and enjoy the weather. But wait ... what's this about a hurricane coming up the coast? Okay, so maybe I'll start working on my articles for next issue. Until then, folks, take care and happy taping!
The talent out here this Summer is not the strongest that I've seen (aside from a few listed below), although everyone is awaiting the "Quadrophenia" shows here in New York. The funniest thing is trying to figure out what year it is by looking at a list of recent tours. Here's a brief sample: Kiss - the original line-up in their make-up, The Sex Pistols, The Who, Patty Smith, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Styx - the original line-up, Kansas, Peter Frampton ... and the list goes on. By the way, here in the U.S. platform shoes are coming back into style. We'll never learn!
Anyway, the column for this month focuses on some shows from May and June of this year. Many tapes seem to be circulating of all of the sets discussed, especially since a few were broadcast. So, here goes ...
1) Patty Smith - Irving Plaza, New York; June 22, 1996 - 120 min. Aud.
Well, as someone else in the audience yelled to the stage that night ... "I've been waiting twenty years for this". I was not quite of concert-going age, at least not old enough to get into any bars, when the first lady of punk stopped touring at the beginning of the last decade. I had been spoon-fed the album "Horses" when it was first release, and was hooked on her album "Wave" when suddenly ... she was gone. No more albums, no tours ... nothing. She was going to stay at home with her husband and raise a family; and she truly seemed happy to be doing so. I went and purchased her other two albums and was now really anxious to see her. Oh well.
She put an album out in 1988, "Dream of Life" which reflected a more mature, mellowed Patty Smith. It was still poetic and had some strong moments, but it wasn't quite as passionate as before. Well, it's under bittersweet circumstances that her latest album "Gone Again" has been released. She lost her beloved husband Fred Smith a few years ago and her brother within the past two years. Richard Sohl, a member of her original band, also passed away in the past year. So with her children old enough to not need constant maternal attention, Patty Smith decided to return to her first passion - her music and her poetry. Evidently, it would be a means to work out her feelings towards all that had happened.
The new album is a fine piece of work, and she featured eight songs from the album during this very powerful and emotional show. New York City was the town that had embraced her work with open arms nearly twenty years ago, and this evening was a homecoming. With her mother in the crowd, her son playing guitar on one number, and her sister onstage for a solo number and to back up her sister it was a family affair. The band included Lenny Kaye of the original Patty Smith Group and was augmented wonderfully by Tom Verlaine (of Television) and a bass player whose name could not be identified on the tape. The intense mutual respect and admiration between artist and audience was evident throughout the show. Patty's occasional snide comments were more self-deprecating and humble than nasty, and she ended each of her little "punk moments" with a wide smile and a chuckle. When she addressed the crowd as "her people" and announced to us that she's "come home", she was more than a little choked up. And the music ... well, the music had energy ... kinetic, swirling, Patty Smith-type energy.
Okay, now for the tape. The most interesting musical surprise is a version of Prince's "When Doves Cry". The gut wrenching ending of this version completely forgives the fact that our hero, quite humorously, forgot the words to the verses midway through the song. Her poetry, read at a number of points during the evening, wonderfully frames the set. Patty's son Jason makes a guest appearance on guitar for an unusual version of Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water" - complete with Patty herself screaming " ... fire in the f**king sky ...". She then explains ... to the extreme amusement of a crowd who knows when someone is trying to put one over on them ... that she doesn't condone that kind of language. Kimberly Smith, backed by Patty's band, offers an interesting original entitled "I Don't Need" - an ode to the record companies of the world. Her take on Bob Dylan's "Wicked Messenger" is a classic. This leads into Lenny Kaye, obviously ecstatic to be back sharing a New York stage with Patty, offering an original song called "Chosen One" nearly halfway through the night. The crowd eats up every minute of this as Patty plays the gracious M.C. for her guests and then proceeds to kick everyone's as**s with some great rock and roll for her portion of the show. The dynamics are great with songs taking some slow builds to intense climaxes. "Redondo Beach", early in the night, is dedicated to the members of the upcoming "Lesbopalooza"(??). We'll see in the future exactly what she meant by that comment.
Oh, and the greatest thing about this evening (and this tape) was that you knew when it was over that she would be back ... and soon. Patty Smith is here to stay.
The set list: Saint In Any Form / Piss Factory / Ravens / I Don't Need / Smoke On The Water / Dancing Barefoot / Redondo Beach / Wicked Messenger / Chosen One / Beneath The Southern Cross / Walkin' Alone / Summer Cannibals / When Doves Cry / About a Boy (for Kurt Cobain) / Free Money / Wing / People Have The Power (reading) / Gone Again / Because The Night / Farewell Reel / Land (of a Thousand Dances) / Rock and Roll Nigger
2) Elvis Costello - Supper Club, New York; May 22, 1996 (early) - 145 min. Broadcast
Now this tape is a nice treat. Elvis Costello fans have been treated to Mr. MacManus performing his unusual, brilliant songs in a number of different settings. There have been the Attractions, the Confederates, the Rude Five and the solo tours ... but this sparse yet powerful combination of guitar, keyboard and voice is a first. Steve Nieve is a very talented player, and his piano work is fantastic throughout. The songs from Elvis' latest album, "All This Useless Beauty" hold up extremely nicely in this setting. A number of fans I've spoken to actually enjoy the interpretations from this tape even more than the released versions. Anyone in possession of a tape of the Attractions from their brief pre-album tour will have a great time using the CD, the Supper Club tape and your Attractions show to compile a personal "best of". The truly exciting thing about the set is that Elvis offers up two completely unreleased songs. Costello and Nieve, after nineteen years, have penned their first song together. The result, "Passionate Fight" fits very nicely into the Elvis catalog, perhaps somewhere between his work with the Brodsky Quartet and the "Mighty Like A Rose" album. The second unreleased track is actually a song co-written by Burt Bacharach for a film soundtrack. "God Give Me Strength" has a fairly typical Bacharach feel, but Elvis' vocal delivery and musical turns spice it up to make it a very fine song.
There are quite a few highlights in the early show. The show opens with a mind-boggling reworking of "Just About Glad" from "Brutal Youth". The song is taken slowly and thoughtfully, sending the meaning of the lyrics home quite effectively. As always, Elvis tosses in some great anecdotes to accent the evening. "Little Atoms" opens with a funny story about performing in Germany. "Oliver's Army", a great early Elvis cut, is enhanced by this unique setting. "God's Comic" has been performed acoustically on a number of tours, and each time Elvis alters or adds to the story; this tour is no different. The end of "Alison", the show closer, drifts into a melange which begins, oddly enough, with the line " ... oh no, not with that clown ..." from "I Want You". He takes that song no further, but he does weave into "Tracks of My Tears", "Tears Of A Clown" and "Clowntime Is Over". Though its a song that Elvis fans hear all the time, this version is a treat.
Fortunately the atmosphere within the walls of the theater does not come through on the tape. Apparently the V.I.P. tables, which are rumored to have been comprised of mostly record company executives, could not keep their mouths shut throughout the performance. Elvis refers to the noise in the room on a few occasions, but obviously none of it can be heard on the soundboard feed. He was obviously not happy with this scenario, and an announcement was made over the PA by the club on Elvis' behalf before the second show requesting that audience members "refrain from conversation" during the show. I personally find it horrendous that there was even the most remote need for such a request. More on the rest of that story in the review of the late show.
Overall, the Supper Club shows were an event that this Elvis fan w ill not be forgetting anytime soon. These songs hold up to the most intense scrutiny, and hearing them "naked", as they are here, treats the listener to a fine work of art.
The early show: Just About Glad / Starting To Come To Me / Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes / Little Atoms / Temptation / You Bowed Down / Why Can't A Man Stand Alone? / The Long Honeymoon / Poor Fractured Atlas / Just A Memory / God Give Me Strength / God's Comic / Complicated Shadows / Other End Of The Telescope / Oliver's Army / Black Sails In The Sunset / All This Useless Beauty / It's Time / Passionate Fight / My Funny Valentine / Distorted Angel / You'll Never Be A Man/ Alison - interpolating Tracks Of My Tears and Clowntime Is Over / Shallow Grave / Watching The Detectives / I Want To Vanish
3) Elvis Costello - Supper Club, New York; May 22, 1996 (late) - 145 min. Aud.
Okay, so Elvis goes offstage and breaks for a while. Bob Mould, the opening act does his set, and then Mr. MacManus is back with his batteries recharged. Within a song's length of time he's launching into an attack on the "self-important a**holes" who were sitting up in the balcony earlier. He also explains to the crowd that one of them had decided to pick a fight with his wife Cait. "If you're still here, let's really entertain this crowd", he says, and then challenges this creep to a man-to-man physical exchange. Needless to say, he doesn't accept, but it leads to Elvis' next hysterical comment which sets the tone for the evening. "But of course, I couldn't do that, because as you all know ... I love everybody." The crowd is thoroughly amused, and interestingly enough, the comment lets Elvis sufficiently air his frustrations because his mood for the remainder of the show is quite high-spirited.
Musically, this is a very special show. Elvis hearkens back to "Get Happy!" twice within the first half hour; first with a reworked, slowed-down version of "King Horse" and later with a well-read "Man Called Uncle". Two songs from the new album are given lovely workouts. The version of "Shot With His Own Gun" performed solo with Steve Nieve was developed during the 1994 Attractions tour, and it's a nice addition to the set. Other oldies includes "New Amsterdam, which segues beautifully into "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away". "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" and "Almost Blue" are true surprises, and sound just beautiful in this setting. Yet another unreleased song makes an appearance during this set. The newly written "Unwanted Number", a song that confronts the topic of the millions of unwanted children being born, is a challenging piece of work, as are many of Costello's compositions. Repeated playbacks of this one prove it similar to some of his work of the "Spike" era - simple (well, simple for Elvis) yet dramatic lines push his point home. As he did in the first set, E.C. plays with "Alison", and he weaves in a couple of classic country-western songs, which he puts his heart and soul into. As he did in the first set, he brings this show to a close with the moody "I Want To Vanish". Before he leaves the stage, he tosses out the line "I'll see you in the summer with the Attractions". And with that, the crowd then filed out smiling, more than satisfied, and looking forward to the next show.
The late show list: King Horse / You Bowed Down / Poor Fractured Atlas / Shot With His Own Gun / Talking In The Dark / Man Called Uncle / Why Can't A Man Stand Alone / Just About Glad / Starting To Come To Me / New Amsterdam /You've Got To Hide Your Love Away / Little Atoms / Accidents Will Happen / God Give Me Strength / I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself / The Other End Of The Telescope / God's Comic / All This Useless Beauty / It's Time / Unwanted Number / Passionate Fight / Dirty Rotten Shame / Deep Dark Truthful Mirror / Almost Blue / Distorted Angel / Favorite Hour / Alison - interpolating You Win Again, Still In Love With You and He'll Have To Go / Watch Your Step / Shallow Grave / Watching the Detectives / I Want To Vanish
4) Billy Joel - "An Evening of Questions and Answers ... and a Little Music - Town Hall, New York; May 16, 1996 - 165 min. Broadcast
I still enjoy Billy Joel's albums, and I thought that his most recent tour with Elton John was a great venture. I can say, however, that if his music should fail him tomorrow Mr. Joel has a healthy second career ahead of him as a lecturer, a teacher or a stand up comic.
Let me shed some background on this type of event to start things off. In the early eighties Billy Joel made a handful of live appearances at music colleges on Long Island and in New Jersey. He basically talked about his experiences in the music industry, fielded questions and played a little bit of music to accent some of his points, break the "monotony" (which never set in) and, at times, upon request. These appearances were the talk of Billy Joel fans around the country, who had heard what an entertaining evening was had by those in attendance. After the "Stormfront" tour, Billy made the rounds once again, virtually unannounced, to some colleges and small halls in the Northeast. This time the "lecture" was covered by the press, and it garnished rave reviews. A three CD set was issued in Australia which contained a large portion of the show from Princeton, New Jersey. This is a collectible worth seeking out by any Billy fan. Well, after the exhausting "Face To Face" tour, news circulated that Billy was considering that to be his last major tour. Perhaps the decision to begin this small scale, unpublicized lecture tour is a sign of Billy "testing the waters" to see what could bring him pleasure and successes in the future. That would be fine with me.
As a stand up comic, he's got excellent comic timing. As a story teller, he's cohesive and dynamic; he strays onto tangents just often enough to keep long passages thoroughly amusing. This time around Billy intended for people who were interested in a musical career to know about the show before a general audience, so most of the colleges chosen were ones with good music programs. On this particular evening, the Town Hall audience also includes fans who won tickets through a New York radio station. Unfortunately, their distracting "Billy can I sing with you?", "Billy can I kiss you?" and "Billy can I have your baby?" questions take a large piece of time out of the evening. Those moments can, however, always be edited out of a tape of the full show.
With regard to the contents, Billy is at his funniest and most animated when he is talking about growing up and learning to play and when he discusses the process of songwriting. His description of what Beethoven must have been like while composing his 6th Symphony is one of the most enjoyable, and lengthy, segments of the evening. As usual, Billy also has his phenomenal ability to do impressions in his bag of tricks. Frankie Valli and Joe Cocker are given the Billy Joel treatment, as is Elton John's piano work on "Bennie and Jets". One wonderful surprise is a phone call from Ray Charles which lights up Billy's night in a very personal way. Musically, it's a special treat to hear "Vienna" and "Summer Highland Falls" in such an intimate atmosphere. Billy takes us through the work process which changed "Only The Good Die Young" from a reggae number into the version which appears on "The Stranger". He treats us to a taste of the new music which he is working on, which has a very classical or "soundtrack"-type feel to it. He openly discusses the boredom that sets in at times when playing the same songs night after night, and how to recognize and get around it. During this evening, however, when Billy taps out segments of his big hits solo on keyboard, they take on a fresh feel. Even "Piano Man", the evenings closer, is actually more than welcomed; and the crowd, of course, sings along in full voice.
Hear are the contents, both the questions (or comments) and the music excerpts: Opening / Songwriting techniques / Only The Good Die Young / How do I get backstage? / What do you for writers block? / Pressure / Big Man On Mulberry Street / Was it a struggle? / When do you know you have enough material for an album? / Sherry - Rag Doll - Uptown Girl - Walk Like A Man Medley / Summer Highland Falls (complete) / First spark of interest in music? / Saw Her Standing There / What of the new song with Elton John? / Benny and the Jets / Mixing business with pleasure / Real name? / Kurt Weil / Vienna (complete) / Ray Charles / baby Grand / Equipment? / Classical snippets / What happened to "Elvis Presley Blvd"? / Hits or more obscure songs your favorites / Remember lyrics / Just the Way You Are / What would you have done differently? / The Entertainer / New album? / Untitled new song / Root Beer Rag / First hearing himself on radio / Innocent Man / Longest Time / Leningrad / Why pop, not classical? / Beethoven segment / Piano man
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Well, that's all for now. It's getting awfully warm sitting by the computer keyboard here, so I think it's time to head out and enjoy the weather. But wait ... what's this about a hurricane coming up the coast? Okay, so maybe I'll start working on my articles for next issue. Until then, folks, take care and happy taping!