Post by Beatle Bob on Aug 19, 2009 17:11:20 GMT
REVIEW: GEORGE HARRISON – LOS ANGELES EXPRESS (MCCD – 103/104) 2 CDs
www.giginjapan.com/scan185/george-harrison-los.htm
By Beatle Bob
After years of suffering through audience tapes of George Harrison’s 1974 tour, finally a soundboard surfaced (thanks to Wolfgang’s Vault) and now has been issued by the prolific Misterclaudel label. This tape was recorded at the Los Angeles Forum, Los Angeles, CA, November 12, 1974 (matinee show) though it must be noted it’s an incomplete soundboard. As expected, a nice two CD set from Misterclaudel has appeared for collectors of factory pressed bootlegs.
The set opens up on disc #1 with Harrison’s first set along with Billy Preston’s “Going Round In Circles” then Ravi Shankar’s (skipped through it—sorry folks!) The vocals aren't mixed up front quite like I'd like it to be, and the arrangements generally are weak and very dated musically (it sounds very 70’s with that horn section!) His voice is generally horrible as he blew it out early on. One wonders why he didn't cancel part of the tour for his voice to recover? His reworking of many lyrics are preachy and hard to swallow. Listen to this, then spin Live In Japan album, and it’s night and day in terms of enjoyability. You have what he should have done in 1974, stylistically and lyrically. There are some early fades and edits but at least there is clarity and detail we now get to enjoy. On disc #2 we have Harrison’s 2nd set that includes another Preston song. The tape seems to end in the song “Tom Cat” but Misterclaudel edits in a very good audience tape of the November 4th Center Coliseum performance (also used to fill out the soundboard’s missing songs).
This set also includes two bonus tracks taken from the Songs of George Harrison “Hari’s On Tour (Express)” and “For You Blue” that are the only other soundboard recordings to surface from this tour.
The set comes nicely packaged and the insert lists his U.S. Tour venues.
If you’re a fan of Harrison’s solo and limited live solo career -- and this being a rare soundboard from the ’74 tour, you’ll need to add this to your Harrison bootleg collection!
Regards,
Beatle Bob
www.giginjapan.com/scan185/george-harrison-los.htm
By Beatle Bob
After years of suffering through audience tapes of George Harrison’s 1974 tour, finally a soundboard surfaced (thanks to Wolfgang’s Vault) and now has been issued by the prolific Misterclaudel label. This tape was recorded at the Los Angeles Forum, Los Angeles, CA, November 12, 1974 (matinee show) though it must be noted it’s an incomplete soundboard. As expected, a nice two CD set from Misterclaudel has appeared for collectors of factory pressed bootlegs.
The set opens up on disc #1 with Harrison’s first set along with Billy Preston’s “Going Round In Circles” then Ravi Shankar’s (skipped through it—sorry folks!) The vocals aren't mixed up front quite like I'd like it to be, and the arrangements generally are weak and very dated musically (it sounds very 70’s with that horn section!) His voice is generally horrible as he blew it out early on. One wonders why he didn't cancel part of the tour for his voice to recover? His reworking of many lyrics are preachy and hard to swallow. Listen to this, then spin Live In Japan album, and it’s night and day in terms of enjoyability. You have what he should have done in 1974, stylistically and lyrically. There are some early fades and edits but at least there is clarity and detail we now get to enjoy. On disc #2 we have Harrison’s 2nd set that includes another Preston song. The tape seems to end in the song “Tom Cat” but Misterclaudel edits in a very good audience tape of the November 4th Center Coliseum performance (also used to fill out the soundboard’s missing songs).
This set also includes two bonus tracks taken from the Songs of George Harrison “Hari’s On Tour (Express)” and “For You Blue” that are the only other soundboard recordings to surface from this tour.
The set comes nicely packaged and the insert lists his U.S. Tour venues.
If you’re a fan of Harrison’s solo and limited live solo career -- and this being a rare soundboard from the ’74 tour, you’ll need to add this to your Harrison bootleg collection!
Regards,
Beatle Bob