Dave's Picks Volume 8: Sunday, November 30, 1980 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA

Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks Volume 8

11/30/80 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA

First Set:

Feel Like A Stranger

Loser

Cassidy

Ramble On Rose->

Little Red Rooster

Bird Song

Me And My Uncle->

Big River

It Must Have Been The Roses

Lost Sailor->

Saint Of Circumstance->

Deal

Second Set:

Scarlet Begonias->

Fire On The Mountain

Samson And Delilah

Ship Of Fools

Playing In The Band->

Drums->

Space->

The Wheel->

China Doll->

Around And Around->

Johnny B. Goode

encore:

Uncle John's Band

Grateful Dead: Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, Brent Mydland

This volume in the series is very unique  in that it mixes a soundboard tape with an high quality audience tape recorded by Robert Wagner to create a matrix mix. Matrix mixes have been around a while but this is the first official Grateful Dead archive release to do this.

The Grateful Dead had a strong year in 1980. They introduced several new songs at the beginning of the year, celebrated their 15th Anniversary while  playing acoustic sets in September and October. These acoustic sets also saw the return of songs that had been put away for a while. The band was also recording shows that would make two live two l.p. set releases the next year.

This show marks the fourth show since the Radio City Music Hall show. The band's mini November tour started on the 26 and by the time the 30th rolled around, the band was on a roll.

The first set starts with Feel Like A Stranger and it takes a few adjustments to get everything dialed in just exactly right. That doesn't stop the band from building this to a high octane jam. Loser starts with a nice tempo and builds to a cool finish. Cassidy is short and well played but the jams are only hinted at during this era. Ramble On Rose is stretched out nicely with Jerry firing it up during the solos. Little Red Rooster gives Bob a chance to show off his blues chops. It's also nice to hear Brent's electric piano up in the mix which doesn't always happen. Next up, a real treat in the first electric Bird Song since September 1973. Bird Song had been brought back in the acoustic sets but this was it in it's new arrangement for the first time in an electric set. The Me And My Uncle->Big River moves along at a nice clip while It Must Have Been The Roses is sweetly played. It's another song that was brought back during the acoustic sets. The first set ends with hot versions of Lost Sailor->Saint Of Circumstance->Deal.

The second set begins with a hot Scarlet->Fire that, while not a super long version, is still a standout. Samson rocks hard and the ballad Ship Of Fools is very well done. The long second set jam starts with a 15 minute plus Playing In The Band that goes to some cool places before drifting into the Drums->Space segment. I guess that there are some out there that don't like Drums->Space segments but I do. Out of Space, we get a mellow The Wheel and a pretty China Doll. Bob rocks the set to a close with a Chuck Berry medley while Uncle John's Band is a great encore. All in all, everybody is on and it was a very good night for everyone.

King Crimson Earthbound

King Crimson

Earthbound

released June 9, 1972

Earthbound is King Crimson's first official live release and is known for it's poor sound quality. The line up that recorded Islands had already broken up around New Year's 1972. The American leg of their management company had convinced the band that they still owed one more tour of the States. The band reformed to due a tour in February and March. After the tour was finished, Atlantic Records (their U.S. label) asked for a live album that they claimed was owed to them.  The band had only recorded the tour on an early cassette tape recorder connected to the mixing board. Atlantic Records deemed the quality bad enough that they didn't release it in the U.S. and was only available as an import for many years. It didn't see a cd release until 2002, thirty years after it's original release.

Songs:

21st Century Schizoid Man (including Mirrors)

Peoria

Sailor's Tale

Earthbound

Groon

Recording dates and locations:

21st Century Schizoid Man and Groon - February 11, 1972 The Armoury, Wilmington, DE

Sailor's Tale - February 26, 1972 Baseball Park, Jacksonville, FL

Earthbound - February 27, 1972 Kemp Coliseum, Orlando, FL

Peoria - March 10, 1972 The Barn, Peoria, IL

Yes, it is an official bootleg recording and the sound suffers mostly due to the fact that this was recorded on cassettes straight from the mixing board. I disagree however with the opinion that this sounded worse on record. The original Japan import of this I had years ago on record actually sounded better. Thank you Tower records. I think that this is probably due to the fact since cds have a higher resolution rate they tend to make albums that were sub-par recordings sound even more so. The remastering team of Fripp and company did the best they could. If you want a better sounding live album check out King Crimson's official web site and purchase one of the collector's club releases from this time. However, keep in mind that the performances on here are actually pretty good to great. Schizoid Man rocks real hard. Sailor's Tale has some great guitar work by Fripp.Groon show that King Crimson is the "prog rock" British equal to the Grateful Dead.

King Crimson In The Court Of The Crimson King Box Set

In the Court of the Crimson King: An Observation by King Crimson

released October 10, 1969

King Crimson:

Robert Fripp - Guitar

Michael Giles - Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals

Greg Lake - Bass, Lead Vocals

Ian McDonald - Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Saxophone, Vibraphone, Keyboards, Backing Vocals

Peter Sinfield - Lyrics, Illumination

Songs:

21st Century Schizoid Man (including Mirrors)

I Talk to the Wind

Epitaph

Moonchild

The Court of the Crimson King

Bonus song on the box set released October 9, 2009:

2009 Stereo Remix by Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp

Moonchild (Remix Edit)

I Talk to the Wind (Duo Version)

I Talk to the Wind (Alternate Mix)

Epitaph (Backing Track)

Wind Session

21st Century Schizoid Man (Instrumental)

I Talk to the Wind (BBC Session)

21st Century Schizoid Man (BBC Session)

The Court of the Crimson King Parts 1 & 2 (Mono Single Version)

Alternate versions of the album using alternate takes, de-clicked original vinyl release, U.S. Promo and D.J copies.

The band's concert at Hyde Park, London July 5, 1969 opening for the Rolling Stones.

A DVD in 24 bit featuring the original release and bonus songs. 

This is one of the best debut albums any band or performer has ever released. There's not a bad song among the collection. From the rocking and relevant 21st Century Schizoid Man to mellow songs like I Talk To The Wind and Moonchild. The mournful Epitaph and the commanding The Court Of The Crimson King. This is such a moving album which bring up so many moods. While some groups paint pictures of places with music, King Crimson takes you there. This album is something that belongs in EVERYONE'S collection. This IS a must have. The sound has never been better thanks to the new remasters from the original tapes.

Grateful Dead Europe '72

The Dead had played a couple of one off performances in Europe in 1970 and 1971 but the Europe '72 tour would be their first massive tour overseas. The band had decided that they wanted to make it a working vacation by taking friends and family along. They also decided that it would be cool to record all the shows on the tour for a live album. To help pay for some of the costs, the band had a week long run at the Academy of Music in New York where Donna joined as an official full time member following her husband Keith who had joined the previous Fall. The band was riding high on the success of albums like Workingman's Dead, American Beauty and Skull & Roses as well as Jerry's first solo album. They had just finished work on Bob's Ace as well as having a bunch of new unrecorded songs in their set lists. The ALL MUSIC VERSION is STILL available for $450.00 at the Dead's site for those who missed out on the deluxe version. Only 7,200 of the deluxe versions were made and the first 3,000 were personalized.

The band's sojourn began on April 1st with the first shows taking place on April 7 and 8 at the Wembley Empire Pool, London, England. While the first night gets off to a good start and includes a few standout performances, it is eclipsed by some of the shows that followed. The second show finds the band on from the get go and comes to a massive conclusion with an epic Dark Star->Sugar Magnolia->Caution sandwich. The Truckin' jam from the first night and the Dark Star jam from the second have already been released on Steppin' Out.

April 11th found the band performing at the Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne, England and while Bob referred to the crowd as being one of their coldest audiences, the performance is pretty stellar. Cooking versions of Greatest Story Ever Told, Black-Throated Wind, China->Rider and Looks Like Rain fill the first set while an absolutely and unbelievably great Truckin'->Drums->The Other One (which blows away the one on the 7th), Sugar Magnolia and Brokedown Palace end the show on a high note. Looks Like Rain from this show was released on the Expanded Europe '72 and Brokedown appears on Steppin' Out.

The band's fourth show takes place on April 14th at the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark. The band comes racing out of the gate with a rousing Bertha and the first set includes classic versions of many of the Europe '72 standards such as Me And My Uncle, Mr. Charlie (played at every show on this tour), Black-Throated Wind, Chinatown Shuffle and Playing In The Band. The second set includes Truckin' and a cool Dark Star-Sugar Magnolia. For me, The show actually peaks in the first half as I've never thought that the following Caution jam was all that but I'm usually in the minority on that. The Caution jam was released on the Expanded Europe '72 set.

On April 16th, the band hit the Aarhus University in Aarhus, Denmark and includes great versions of China->Rider, Playing In The Band and one of the best Good Lovin's of the tour as well as seeing a couple of fairly rare at the time songs like Dire Wolf. The second set rocks with a kicking Truckin' jam->The Other One->Me and My Uncle->The Other One->Not Fade Away->Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad->Not Fade Away.

April 17 finds the band back at the Tivoli on their way back out of Denmark and was also broadcast on tv. The show opens with the first Cold, Rain and Snow of the tour and is very well done as well as including the first performance of He's Gone. Once again, songs like China->Rider, Big Railroad Blues and Truckin' are standouts before giving way to a massive jam of Dark Star->Sugar Magnolia-Caution->Johnny B. Goode and ending with a rip roaring One More Saturday Night.

The band then film an appearance for the Beat Club in Bremen, West Germany on April 21st and, while short, did include hot versions of Bertha, Playing In The Band and Truckin'->The Other One.

The entire performance of the April 24th show at the Rheinhalle in Düsseldorf, West Germany has already been released in it's entirety as Rockin' The Rhein but restored to it's correct running order here. It includes a hot Dark Star->Me And My Uncle->Dark Star->Wharf Rat->Sugar Magnolia.

Most of the April 26th show at the Jahrhundert Halle, Frankfurt, West Germany was released as Hundred Year Hall back in 1995. Here we get a new mix as well as the entire show for the first time. The show includes great versions of Bertha, Me And My Uncle, Next Time You See Me, Jack Straw, Playing In The Band, Good Lovin', Dire Wolf as well as the massively hot jam of Truckin'->Drums->The Other One->Comes A Time->Sugar Magnolia and Turn On Your Lovelight->Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad->One More Saturday Night. The Stranger (Two Souls In Communion) was released on the Expanded Europe '72 release.

April 29th finds the band performing at the Musikhalle in Hamburg, West Germany. The show opens with hot versions of Playing In The Band, Sugaree, Mr. Charlie, Black-Throated Wind, China-Rider and Loser. The second set features cool versions of Greatest Story Ever Told and a fun He's Gone before giving way to a MASSIVE jam of Dark Star->Sugar Magnolia->Caution and ends with a rockin One More Saturday Night and a sweet Uncle John's Band.

The band's shows at The Olympia in Paris, France on May 3rd and 4th will feature versions that are familiar to most Heads as quite a few tunes from this run appeared on the original Europe '72 with some adding in the studio after the fact. This would be a good time to point out that, where possible, the overdubs were removed but in some cases, some still remain. The 16 track tapes were originally cut from the master reel to make the master for Europe '72 which is when the overdubs were added. Two track tapes that were made from the tour do circulate without the overdubs. This run features great versions of Jack Straw, Brown-Eyed Women, Hurts Me Too, Greatest Story Ever Told, another great Truckin' jam and Dark Star->Sugar Magnolia.

May 7th, which was also Billy's 26th birthday, finds the band playing the Bickershaw Festival in Wigan, England. The show features good playing all around with standouts being Truckin', Playing In The Band as well as the Dark Star->The Other One->Sing Me Back Home despite Bob having to tune his guitar during The Other One. If I remember right, this is the show that Elvis Costello attended. Playing In The Band and Lovelight->Goin' Down The Road were released on Steppin' Out.

 On May 10th, the band played at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands and includes smokin' versions of Bertha, Black-Throated Wind, Loser, Next Time You See Me, El Paso, The Europe '72 version of He's Gone which unfortunately have the overdubbed vocals. The booklet says they don't but the notes had to be submitted well in advance of the final mastering and when they went to use the original tracks, Jerry's voice was completely erased from the 16 track master tape which caused a notice on a torrent site or two. So here we get the coda and bridge that didn't even get played live until July. As I said before, the two track unedited version does exist. The second set includes a great Truckin' jam.

 May 11th features the band's second and last show in the Netherlands on this tour at the Rotterdam Civic Hall in Rotterdam. Opening with a great version of Playing In The Band and giving way to crispy versions of Sugaree, Mr. Charlie, Black-Throated Wind, Chinatown Shuffle, Good Lovin', and Morning Dew. Tonight's major jam is given to an inspired Dark Star jam that includes Sugar Magnolia, Caution, Who Do You Love before falling into Truckin' and ending with an inspired Uncle John's Band.

May 13th finds the band playing a rescheduled concert due to an equipment truck not arriving and the band having to escape the upset audience by climbing out the fire escape on a moonless night. The first set is good with a nice Bertha, Black-Throated Wind, Chinatown Shuffle, China->Rider and Playing In The Band to end the first set. The second set features a great Truckin'->Drums->The Other One->Big River and Not Fade Away->Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad->Not Fade Away.

On May 16th, the band did a radio broadcast, Radio Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg and the show is rather short for the period. The show does have cool versions of Mr. Charlie, Sugaree, Black-Throated Wind, Tennessee Jed, Playing In the Band as well as a nice Truckin'->Drums->The Other One->Sing Me Back Home.

May 18th, finds the band at Kongresshalle, Deutsches Museum in Munich, West Germany. Standout versions of Truckin', Sugaree, Jack Straw, Tennessee Jed, El Paso, Hurts Me Too, You Win Again, Good Lovin' and Casey Jones. Set two features features a hot Sitting On Top Of The World->Me And My Uncle with Phil dropping the bomb on Bob when he starts Uncle wwhich doesn't stop Bob at all. Dark Star->Morning Dew->Drums->Sugar Magnolia is outstanding, as is the closing Sing Me Back Home and One More Saturday Night.

May 23, 24, 25, and 26 finds the band wrapping up the tour at The Strand Lyceum in London, England, These shows are probably the most known of the tour as a large chuck of Europe '72 as well as Steppin' Out comes from these shows. These shows include standout versions of Promised Land, Sugaree, Mr. Charlie, Tennessee Jed, Ramble On Rose, Jack Straw, Cold, Rain and Snow, Playing In the Band, Dire Wolf, Rockin Pneumonia as well as wonderful versions of Dark Star, Truckin', The Other One and Sing Me Back Home.

Grateful Dead Fillmore West 1969 Complete Box Set: Thursday, February 27 through Sunday March 2, 1969 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA

                                          This was released as a 10,000 limited edition set.

By late '68, the Dead had become in debt to their then record company Warner Brothers. The band had begun recording their third album for the label and were experimenting with the then new 16 track recorder. It was during this period that an idea arose, "why not use the 16 track tape recorder to record live shows and make a live album?". This also meant that, since making an live album was relatively inexpensive, they could pay off some of the debt. The band originally tried recording the New Year's Eve show but as is the case with new recording gear, it didn't go well. The band give it another try, recording several runs starting in January and running into March (1-24, 25, 26-69 Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, 2-11, 12-69 Fillmore East in New York City and 2-27, 28/3-1, 2-69 at the Fillmore West.

2-27-69 (Thursday):

The first set opens but the band seems a bit distracted and, while there are moments, the first set is only so so. The band comes out for the second set and whatever the problems were in the first set have been worked out by now. The band starts with a nice Dupree's Diamond Blues before leading into an even better jam of Mountains Of The Moon->Dark Star->Saint Stephen->The Eleven->Turn On Your Lovelight for the ages. The Cosmic Charlie encore is the icing on the cake.

2-28-69 (Friday):

The first set tonight gets off to a much better start with a great Morning Dew and features A quality versions of songs like Doin' That Rag and I'm A King Bee among others. The second set starts with a great That's It For The Other One->Dark Star->Saint Stephen->The Eleven->Death Don't Have No Mercy which must have had steam coming off the stage. That's It For The Other One is better than yesterday's first set version while the rest isn't quite as good as yesterday's second set but good nonetheless. The show ends with an explosive rendition of Alligator->Caution (Do Not Step On Tracks)->Feedback->We Bid You Goodnight.

3-1-69 (Saturday):

The first set starts off with a jam of That's It For The Other One->New Potato Caboose->Doin' That Rag-> Cosmic Charlie. That's It For the Other One, Doin' That Rag and Cosmic Charlie are hot while the New Potato Caboose was already becoming a bit of a rarity by this point in time as the band is somewhat rusty on it. The second set starts with good versions of Dupree's Diamond Blues->Mountains Of The Moon. Dark Star->Saint Stephen->The Eleven->Turn On Your Lovelight is downright blistering. The encore is a terrible version of Hey Jude.

3-2-69 (Sunday):

The first set stars with a classic fantastic take on Dark Star->Saint Stephen->The Eleven->Turn On Your Lovelight. The second set opens with a nice Doin' That Rag. That's It For The Other One->Death Don't Have No Mercy is a mind blower while a great Morning Dew gives us a chance to recover.The show ends with another blistering run through of Alligator->Caution (Do Not Step On Tracks)->Feedback->We Bid You Goodnight.

Grateful Dead Nightfall Of Diamonds: Monday, October 16, 1989 Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford, NJ

This complete show recorded on 10-16-89 (Bobby's 42nd birthday) marks the end of an era in a way. While there were many great shows still to come, I think 1989 was the last most consistent year from beginning to end. The band was getting ready to celebrate their 25th anniversary and had been bringing back songs not played in years as well as a new studio album in the works. Starting in May, the band began to record their shows multi track for a live album to be put together by Jerry as part of the anniversary. The band was also mixing up the set lists with different song placements as well as the revivals. The idea was to release a 2cd set of "standard" Dead songs for Arista and then another disc to be sold separately from the Dead made up of the songs that were brought back after years of not being played (IE We Bid You Goodnight, Death Don't Have No Mercy, Dark Star and so on). Unfortunately, after the New Year's '89-90 run Jerry pretty much gave up on the idea due to the lackluster response of Built To Last and the project went to Phil and became Without A Net Brent died the following July and by the time of the Europe tour in the Fall of '90, Jerry was back to his bad habits.

This show was the last in a five show run that was pretty strong despite the death of fan Adam Katz on the 14th. The on the band's night off on Friday the 13th, Bob and Jerry even stopped by David Letterman's show with everyone in good spirits. A rough but ready finds birthday boy Bob starting off the show on a good note. Next is a pretty cool Half-Step which was supposed to go straight into Feel Like A Stranger which is why the Across bridge isn't used. However there's a very brief pause which was more than likely done in case the band decided to use the cut on the forthcoming live album. If one listens to the shows that were recorded during this time, you'll notice the band at various times pausing briefly before beginning the next song even in jams. Built To Last is fun and Never Trust A Woman is something of a rarity. Stuck Inside A Mobile finds Bob going off kilter which is why the song was never played too much after this. The Let It Grow->Deal is a classic.

The Second Set began with the audience trying to sing Happy Birthday to Bobby but the cd begins with the band tuning to Dark Star. This Dark Star is a thing of beauty and is "a rainbow full of sound". There is another very brief pause before the band launches full into Playing In the Band. This Playing is also great heading off into deep space. Once again the band sort of slows down instead of just "hitting" Uncle John's Band like was often the case at the time giving us a rather unique sounding transition. Unfortunately, the band gets rather lost and loses it's way at one point which drains the energy. However, the band bounces back with the Playing Jam which is wonderful. The Drums/Space is quite nice. I Will Take You Home is not a favorite but this version is as good as any. Too bad we couldn't have gotten Just A Little Light instead. I Need A Miracle is rockin'. Dark Star starts up where the band left off earlier and is still quite nice. Attics Of My Life which was brought back with Dark Star at Hampton the previous week shows weak vocals again I'm afraid. While great to hear at the time, this is not something you would want to play around non-heads. Playing ends the set as good as it began. The We Bid You Goodnight encore is icing on the cake.

Doctor Who Pilot / An Unearthly Child (100,000 BC) Story #001

AN UNEARTHLY CHILD

An Unearthly Child

The Cave of Skulls

The Forest of Fear

The Firemaker 

original air date:
November 23, 1963 to December 14, 1963

 

An Unearthly Child is the first story or serial in the British science fiction show Doctor Who. It was written by Anthony Coburn although C.E. Weber actually wrote the first episode for the most part. The pilot
was recorded at Lime Grove Studios on September 27, 1963. Series creator Sidney Newman wasn't happy with the original pilot. Producer Verity Lambert and director Waris Hussein quickly shot a new version on October 18, 1963.

Coal Hill schoolteachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright are concerned about their student Susan Foreman. She's very smart but seems to have gaps in her understanding of 1960's London. Babara has checked with the administration office about Susan, She has no phone and the address given is the I.M. Foreman junkyard. She is listed as living with her grandfather who is some sort of  doctor. The schoolteachers offer Susan a ride home on this foggy night. She declines. Ian and Barbara decide to follow Susan and watch her disappear into the junkyard and follow her in.

Once inside, they come across a blue police box that seems to be "humming". They quickly hide when they hear someone coming. An older gentleman appears and heads towards the police box. As he's about to open the door, he hears a noise and stops. He calls out and the schoolteachers present themselves. They ask about a student that they have been following. The older gentleman says that he has no idea of what they are talking about. Ian gets annoyed says he's going to get a policeman to investigate. Susan starts to open to door while calling out "Grandfather?" The two schoolteachers force their way inside with the older gentleman following. Inside they find a spaceship which, which both schoolteachers believe to be some sort of "illusion" created by The Doctor. When they are told that they are on the TARDIS, both schoolteachers think that the Doctor and Susan might be ill. They begin to argue and the Doctor quickly materializes the ship.

The rest of the story involves the travelers arriving during the Stone Age and becoming caught in a struggle with a tribe. The tribes "fire maker" has passed on while several tribe members wish to become the new leader. The Doctor and his companions are captured but eventually get free and race back to the TARDIS. Once inside, they quickly take off.

The Moody Blues On The Threshold Of A Dream

The Moody Blues

 On the Threshold of a Dream

produced by Tony Clarke

released April 25, 1969

The Moodies:

Justin Hayward

John Lodge

Ray Thomas

Mike Pinder

Graeme Edge

 songs:

In the Beginning

Lovely to See You

Dear Diary

Send Me No Wine

To Share Our Love

So Deep Within You

Never Comes the Day

Lazy Day

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

The Dream

Have You Heard (Part One)

The Voyage

Have You Heard (Part Two)

bonus songs 2006:

 In  the Beginning (Full Version)

So Deep Within You (Extended version)

 Dear Diary (Alternate vocal mix)

Have You Heard (Original take)

The Voyage (Original take)

 BBC Top Gear Session February 18, 1969

Lovely to See You

Send Me No Wine

So Deep Within You

BBC Live In Concert 17 December 1969

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

This is a fantastic album from the Moodies and the sound is excellent. This is one of the band's most dreamlike albums and can give you a contact buzz just listening to it. The album's loose concept explores individuality in a conformist society. The band members play a wide variety of instruments on this album and in 2006, it was released as an SACD with bonus songs. This really is an album meant for surround sound.

In 2008, it was remastered on cd with the same bonus songs and restored artwork. I love the fact that they've restored the album's original booklet and pictures as well as adding some cool bonus songs.From the trippy In the Beginning, this album REALLY DOES take you on a voyage and every song is a must have. Everyone in the band contributes to this release and it's wonderful to hear the group mind at one of it's peaks. Truly one of the Moodies best.

The Firesign Theatre says EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG!!!

Greetings from Hellmouth, California:

In October 1974, The Firesign Theatre released their eighth album on Columbia Records. While it would be hard for me to pick one album as my favorite by the guys, this is certainly as good as they get. The album spoofs conspiracy theories about things like UFO's as well as getting a funny bit in there about Reebus Cannibis who is a parody of Evel Knievel. I love the bit between him and Pat Hat. Actually, I love the whole thing! I have the strange feeling that Art Bell wouldn't have liked this album. One of the best comedy albums ever released and is available on cd at Laugh.com.

Fleetwood Mac Penguin

                                                                     Fleetwood Mac
                                              Produced by Fleetwood Mac & Martin Birch
                                                                 Released March 1973
Fleetwood Mac:
Bob Welch - guitar, vocal
Bob Weston – lead guitar, slide guitar on track 1, banjo and harmonica on track 5, harmony vocals on track 7
Christine McVie – keyboards, vocal
Dave Walker – vocals on tracks 4 and 5, harmonica on track 4
John McVie – bass guitar
Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion

Additional personnel:
Steve Nye – organ on track 8, steel drums on track 7
Ralph Richardson – percussion
Russell Valdez – percussion
Fred Totesant – percussion
Peter Green– additional lead guitar on track 8 (uncredited)

Songs:
1. Remember Me
2. Bright Fire
3. (You Make Me Feel) Dissatisfied 
4. (I'm A) Road Runner
5. The Derelict
6. Revelation
7. Did You Ever Love Me?
8. Night Watch
9. Caught in the Rain

Penguin has long been one of my all time favorite Fleetwood Mac albums alongside Then Play On and Bare Trees. Penguin would prove to be the only album featuring both Dave Walker and Bob Weston as members of the band. There isn't a weak song on the album from Christine McVie's upbeat Remember Me and Dissatisfied to Bob Welch's haunting Revelation and Night Watch. As well as all the great in between songs like The Derelict, Bob and Christine's moving Did You Ever Love Me? to the closing Caught in the Rain. Not an album to be missed!

Quicksilver Messenger Service Part Two: 1970 to 1975

      Around New Year's Eve of 1969, Quicksilver began rehearsing again with Gary Duncan and Dino Valenti back in the band. Some of these rehearsals would eventually be released as Castles in the Sand. It becomes clear that Dino is now taking charge much to the disagreement of some. The shows are filled with his new songs while the band's past songs are limited in appearance and length. The drawn out jams are now generally replaced with short pop songs.

     Dino also talks the band to go to Hawaii to do recording. The band ended up in a rural area and had to have a studio built that could run on a generator. The band spent two months in adverse conditions. They returned to the States and finished off the troubled recording sessions in California. The band also brought in horns for the sessions.  These sessions would produce two albums: Just for Love (released in August 1970) and What About Me? (December 1970). Just for Love would produce the big hit Fresh Air. Nicky Hopkins, John Cipollina and David Freiberg would leave not long after the release of What About Me? Both albums are good but not as constantly good as what came before.

     Mark Ryan was brought in on bass. Mark Naftalin also arrived on keyboards during this era. The band began recording their next album, Quicksilver in November. The album actually had many good songs on it like I Found Love, Fire Brothers, Out of My Mind, Don't Cry My Lady Love and The Truth. The previous four albums had all reached the Top 30 but this one didn't even crack the Top 100. Mark Naftalin left and Chuck Steaks was brought in.

Capitol Records put together the two record "best of" set, Anthology hoping to generate more interest in the band. The band returned to the studio rather quickly, with a horn section, to begin work on the next album.

     Comin' Thru was released in April 1972 and sold even worse than Quicksilver. The album does have it's moments such as Doin' Time in the U.S.A., Changes and Mojo. The band continued to perform with John Cipollina and David Freiberg showing up to jam with the band at Winterland Arena in San Francisco on December 1, 1973.

     Capitol Records was beginning to have issues with the band and wanted more of the "classic line up". John and David returned, at least somewhat, for Solid Silver released in October 1975. The album featured a number of strong songs like Gypsy Lights, I Heard You Singing (written by David and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter), and Witches Moon. I Heard You Singing had already appeared on Robert Hunter's Tales of the Great Rum Runners solo album. The album also featured guest appearances from people like Nicky Hopkins, Mark Naftalin, Pete Sears and Kathi McDonald. The album sold better than the last two albums but it wasn't enough. John had his other projects while David was busy with the Jefferson Starship. Gary and Dino carried on the band with changing line up until the end of the 1970's.

     Gary reformed Quicksilver in 1986 and they've released a few albums with different line ups. David has recently rejoined the band as well. In the late 2000's Bear/Voiceprint Records released a few archive releases. More recently, Cleopatra/Purple Pyramid Records began releasing archive Quicksilver releases.

Quicksilver Messenger Service Part One: 1965 to 1969

     Quicksilver Messenger Service was formed in 1965 in San Francisco, California. The band played it's first concert as Quicksilver Messenger Service in December 1965. The line up consisted of Gary Duncan (guitars/vocals), John Cipollina (guitars/vocals), David Freiberg (bass/vocal), Greg Elmore (drums) and Jim Murray (guitars/vocals). The band would eventually go on to play the Monterey International Pop Festival in the Summer of 1967. Jim Murray left shortly afterwards.

     In late 1967, the band signed with Capitol Records while recording two songs for the film Revolution. The band also began recording it's first album which would become Quicksilver Messenger Service. The band had asked Nick Gravenites, Harvey Brooks and Pete Welding to produce. Horns were brought in during the recording sessions. The band wasn't happy and Capitol allowed them to re-record the album again.

     Capitol released the band's first album in May 1968 and it made it up to number 63 on the Billboard charts. The album is one of the band's strongest. The album opens with Hamilton Camp's Pride of Man. Gary and David share songwriting credits on Light Your Windows and the trippy The Fool. Gary wrote Gold and Silver along with friend and reed player Steve Schuster. It barrows on the Dave Brubeck song Take 5. Dino's Song was written by founding member Dino Valenti who had been busted on drug charges during the band's formation. Dino had also written the song Get Together which was a big hit for the Youngbloods.

     Outtakes from the album have been released on the out of print Unreleased Quicksilver Messenger Service - Lost Gold and Silver. They have since been re-released on the Beat Rock Records re-issue of the first album. They have also appeared on Anthology 1966 -1973 on Cleopatra/Purple Pyramid Records.

     The band began recording songs for the next album, Bears and Stand By Me. However, the band was also touring heavily during this period sharing the bill with groups like the Grateful Dead. The band ditched the idea of a studio album in favor of a live one. The band second album, Happy Trails, was recorded at Fillmore East and West with additional recording at Golden State Recorders.The album was recorded in 1968 and released in March 1969. The first side is given to a workout on Who Do You Love? with everyone getting a chance to show off their chops. The second half kicks off with Mona and is followed by Maiden of the Cancer Moon, Calvary and finishes with a short rendition of Happy Trails. Gary Duncan does the lead vocals on the album but he had decided to leave the group during it's recording. The best sounding version is the Repertoire cd issue from 2000.

     British studio keyboard player, Nicky Hopkins had relocated to the Bay Area and was busy doing session work with other Bay Area bands. He was working at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco where the remaining band members began work on the third album. Nicky joined the band. The band began sessions at Wally Heider in July and August. The album would be finished at Pacific High Recorders in August and September 1969.

     Shady Grove would be released in December 1969. The album sounds unlike anything that came before but it's just as good. From the opening shredder Shady Grove to the sweet  Flute Song to Edward, The Mad Shirt Grinder. The band had three fantastic albums in a row.

However, the guys found the album a bit of a chore. Around the time of the album's release, Gary Duncan was back in the picture. In fact, Shady Grove would be the only Quicksilver album he didn't play on. Gary would also bring Dino back with him.