Nicely in Tune!
Kenny A | Perth, Western Australia | 11/04/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Wae'eye man! Newcastle City Hall 1971 and Lindisarne were home for Christmas.........and what a party it was!
With a band like Lindisfarne, there is no way to listen to them but live. The architypical 'good time pub band" developed an amazing cult following firstly in the north east of England then across the country before, as quickly, breaking up and disappearing from the live music scene. Thankfully their legacy remains and Lindisfarne Live is as good a sampler as you can get of their best known tunes with the atmosphere to go with it. You feel you are at the party with this one.
Hard to believe this was recorded 38 years ago as it still sounds fresh today. Rod Clements comments on the disk that "the only disappointment today is that Newcastle didn't win". I've got to say, the other disappointment is that when I first bought this on vinyl back in '73 only seven of the 14 tracks made it to disk.
It's been a long long wait for Lindisfarne Live to finally come out on CD containing the concert in all its entirity. From the opening intro through classics like "No Time to Lose, "Meet me on the Corner" and "Fog on the Tyne" to the epic 17 plus minute "We Can Swing Together", with its prolonged harmonica solo and audience singalong with "cheers" for old standards and "boos" for the Z Cars Theme (anyone remember Z Cars?, all the classics of the vinyl edition are here in glorious remastered splendour.
Added to these are other classics of the time that didn't make the LP, "Lady Eleanor", their biggest hit single to the quirky instrumental "Scotch Mist", written on the road, to complete a great concert and a great Christmas party which you can still enjoy whether you were there at the time or not.
Lindisfarne Live is hard to find but for an introduction to the real Lindisfarne, seek out this disk and you'll get a much greater appreciation of the Lindisfarne phenomenon that you would if you buy one of their Best of CDs"
Lindisfarne Live at Home in 'Tyne - An Intimate Folk Rockin'
Peter Walenta | Long Island, New York | 07/04/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Live in concert records are often hit or miss affairs. Quality of recording issues have been largely resolved in the digital age as long as the master tapes are still available and have been relatively well preserved. No, the more vexing issue with concert records is that frequently the live versions of the songs are not as good as the studio versions. Occasionally, a concert recording comes along that not only does justice to the studio recordings, but actually redefines the songs in some fresh exciting way either by capturing different live arrangements or having caught the band on a really good (read inspired) night. (Eg. Allman Brothers' "Live at the Fillmore East"; The Who's "Live at Leeds", The Grateful Dead's "Reckoning", Rhino double CD re-issue of course, and The Rolling Stones' "Stripped"). So I was quite pleasantly surprised when I gave "Lindisfarne Live: The Definitive Edition" (Caroline/Virgin, c. 2005, total playing time 77:10 minutes) a spin. I got that exhilarating `What a concert and I truly wish I had been there, dude' feeling! Well, being 14 years old and living in upstate New York at the time prevented me from being at New Castle City Hall on Saturday, December 4, 1971 to hear Lindisfarne's New Castle homecoming concert after a world wind year of going from obscure pub rockers scrapping for gigs to nationally acclaimed (in England anyway) folk rock superstars. Nevertheless, this record documents Lindisfarne at their prime. Filmed by Tyne Tees Television, some of the multitrack recordings of this show were originally issued on a 1973 LP called Lindisfarne Live (The Famous Charisma Label CHC 7-8). Unfortunately, the original band had broken up by then and the album faded into vinyl obscurity. With the CD re-issue, we get the whole show, stage banter, audience noise, extended harmonica jam and two encores to boot!
The 14 songs on Live are culled from Lindisfarne's breakthrough album, 1971's "Fog On the Tyne" and from their first (in England) album 1970's, "Nicely Out of Tune". Every song cooks when performed live and highlights are "Lady Eleanor", "We Can Swing Together (with that long harmonica medley/jam), a rocking "No Time to Lose", a very bluesy "Train in G Major", and the show topper, the gorgeous Hollies-like harmony drenched "Clear White Light" replete with a Bo Diddley/Not Fade Away extended jam. The lads were clearly having fun with the hits and even their more reflective songs like "January Song" and "Alright on the Night" sound relaxed and fresh. Lindisfarne fans will appreciate the late singer/guitarist Alan Hull's clear, inspired vocals and witty stage banter about losing a bet on an football (that's English football) game. The rest of the band including guitarist Simon Cowe, mandolin player Ray Jackson, bassist/violinist Rod Clements, and drummer Ray Laidlaw are all in fine form as well as friends, Kenny Craddock (keyboards) and Charlie Harcourt (guitar). Their rollicking version of Woody Guthrie's "Jack Hammer Blues" best captures what Lindisfarne must have sounded like in their element; that being the local pubs of New Castle and Northern England. I highly recommend this record to Lindisfarne fans, anyone interested in early 1970's English folk rock, and proto-pub rock and any pop music fan who likes a good live record.
How an upstate New York lad like me ever discovered this now long forgotten and even at the time virtually unknown (in the United States, anyway) 70's British folk rock band? Well, I'll save that yarn for my review of "Nicely Out of Tune"! Stay 'tuned' mates!
"
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1