Grousing The Aisles: Another Mixed Bag

The Meters 01/01/1976 SBD [FLAC, MP3]

The Meters from New Orleans are one of the best funk bands in the history of the world, hands down. The Meters had the most successful year of their career in 1975 with the release of the still epic Fire on the Bayou. What better way to kick off 1976 than with a show in Louisiana? Check out the lineage of this sickysicky recording we found: “George’s Master Cassette > CDR.” You know a show must be amazing if it is getting circulated by a member of the band, in this case Meters’ ace bass player George Porter Jr.

And this show is bad-fucking-ass, from the Honky Tonk Woman opener to the Africa closer. The Meters were absolutely hitting their peak, as shown by a 19-minute version of Ain’t No Use that is all killer and no filler. It’s a shame these guys didn’t keep it together throughout the ’80s and ’90s. All of The Meters off-shoots that followed never approached the heights of the band featured on this boot.

Prince 09/21/2007 DAUD [FLAC, MP3]

Prince not only just finished playing 21 shows at London’s O2 Arena, he also played post-show parties on most of those nights. The final post-show party took place this past Friday night, and a decent sounding recording has made its way onto the ‘nets. During Prince’s regular gigs at the arena he would play most of his big hits and most popular tunes. At the after hour shows Prince would play more obscure originals and a bevy of funky covers. Friday’s show was no exception.

Amy Winehouse gets the party started both right and quickly when she comes out to join the purple one for her own Love is a Losing Game. The set gains momentum with each song Prince plays, climaxing in a nice run of funk covers towards the end of the show. Prince and his band also showed off their cohesiveness on Alphabet Street, What Have You Done For Me Lately? and the show-closing It’s Alright. Prince is clearly having fun throughout the night, and he really lets in rip on guitar. The man clearly is still at the top of his game, so hopefully all his talk about retirement is truly just talk.

Traffic 09/05/1967 SBD [FLAC, MP3]

After years of looking, I finally stumbled upon a tasty recording of Traffic from the early days of their career. Traffic from ’67 is a completely different animal from the band that would go on to record John Barleycorn Must Die and Shootout at the Fantasy Factory. Steve Winwood and Dave Mason take turns leading the quartet through a bunch of trippy tunes that have much more of a pop sound than anything Traffic released afterwards. Mason left the band shortly after this gig, only to rejoin and then leave quickly twice over the next six years. It’s too bad Mason and Winwood couldn’t get along…

Two things standout from this recording: Winwood’s voice and the quality of the improvisation. Winwood is on top of his game vocally, adding powerful vocals to classics such as Dear Mr. Fantasy and Paper Sun. Dear Mr. Fantasy also has a rippin’ jam that features off-the-charts solos from both Mason and Winwood. Other highlights include Mason’s sitar playing on Hole In My Shoe and the high energy guitar-driven Feelin’ Good (not to be confused with Feelin’ Alright). If you are into Traffic, be sure to check out this time capsule of their early days.

Have you downloaded any interesting live music lately? Share with the rest of the class by leaving a comment below…

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6 Responses

  1. Can’t wait to hit up that Traffic show when I get home…I’m already a big fan, but I get more and more into these guys with each listen. Feel free to stream this show from NYC in 1970 that stands out as one of my favorite bootlegs of all time — gets more play on my iPod than just about any full show of any band:

    http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/traffic1970-11-18fillmore_east.asx

    In association with Her Majesty the Queen, we bring you Traffic.

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