Search - Hot Tuna :: Live in Japan

Tuna On The Stove

PHILIP S WOLF | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA | 09/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This one was first released as " Hot Tuna Live at Stove's " a few years back. This is the expanded ( 4 extra tracks ) and remastered edition and it's one of the very best CD's of live Tuna available right now.



It was recorded in Yokahama, Japan at a tiny club called Stove's that on a normal night has a about 2 dozen people soaking up it's funky hippie chic ( Back in the nineties when I was stationed in Japan, I stopped by this cool watering hole more than once ). It must have blown more than a few minds to see Tuna in this this little place !



Tuna was on tour in Japan in January of 1997 and when they got to Stove's the band found the venue was packed and they had to climb throught a window behind the stage to get their gear and bodies into this place. With no room to set up the amps & drums Electric Hot Tuna quickly became Acoustic Hot Tuna for this very special night.



Things begin here with " Walkin' Blues" and the band is having a good time with Pete Sears playing funky piano lines like nobody's business. Second up " Parchman Farm " is a welcome addition to this CD and it's just as good as the one on the " Live at Sweetwater " release, "Been so Long " is a rarity in the acoustic format and the band sounds very relaxed on this one ( very cool ).



You get very good readings of " Uncle Sam " and " Vampire Woman " then comes the highlight of the night as the band erupts into " Follow The Drinking Gourd " this rarity is done real jazzy and Jorma gives it his all... Fantastic playing here, this one is really special. "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning " is next and sounds so different as an acoustic piece without the fuzzy electric guitars it's like a brand new number...great and really different from earlier versions.



This version of " Let Us Get Together " gets a "Bayou" treatment with wonderful Accordian from Pete, and the J. Airplane song " 3rd Week In The Chelsea " is a stunner, best version that I have heard of this classic by far. To finish things up you get "San Francisco Bay Blues", "Folsom Prison" (yep, THAT Folsom Prison!) and "Mann's Fate" the great instrumental that has closed many a Tuna and Jorma Concert.



If you like Tuna, you should own this one and if you are new to the band this would be a fine place to start. Sound quality is 5 Star and the band's performance is as Spinal Tap would say an 11.



This a GREAT Disk, and at 74 minutes a great value.. BUY IT !!!





"

Acoustic TUNA

Douglas Bowman | Bel Air, Maryland United States | 05/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Culled from a 1997 concert, the acoustic format is intimate yet versatile, featuring Jorma in good voice and the band providing tight backing and some musically satisfying highlights. Typical of Hot Tuna, there is an eclectic mix of traditional blues, Tuna originals, and Rev. Gary Davis covers. The inclusion of the Jefferson Airplane song "Third Week in the Chelsea", the rarely recorded "Been So Long", and the instrumental "Mann's Fate" (which appeared on Hot Tuna's first recording) are pleasant surprises and make this an essential example of later period Hot Tuna."