Dr. John's was first put on the musical map in 1968 with the release of his first solo album, after having a minor role for many years prior to that. But he didn't really hit it big until 1973, when he had his two and only hit singles, "Right Place, Wrong Time" and "Such a Night." Unfortunately, he got addicted to heroin and went into a musical decline for much of the rest of the 1970s. He eventually kicked his addiction and became a long-standing New Orleans musical institution.
Luckily, this album captures him at his peak, near the end of the year he had his most commercial success. Furthermore, it's an excellent sounding recording. The New York radio station WLIR had weekly live concerts in the early 1970s, and this is a part of that. It was recorded in a studio, but it's in front of a small audience. So as far as ideal recording circumstances for a live album, it doesn't get much better than that.
This has never been released, and in fact there isn't any live recordings I know of from Dr. John's peak years in the late 1960s and early 1970s. (There is a album from 1975, not much later, but he already was a mess by then, and it shows.) This performance has been available as a grey market release for a long time. But for some reason that version doesn't include the last two songs, and has other issues, such as getting some of the song titles wrong.
The song list is very good as well, with Dr. John doing a mix of the songs he's known best for as well as some choice rarities, such as the sappy Jackie DeShannon hit "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" done New Orleans style. All in all, it's nearly an hour and a half of music.
01 Loop Garoo (Dr. John)
02 Walk On Gilded Splinters (Dr. John)
03 Danse Kalinda da Boom (Dr. John)
04 Stag-O-Lee (Dr. John)
05 Travelin' Mood (Dr. John)
06 Junco Partner (Dr. John)
07 Life (Dr. John)
08 Put a Little Love in Your Heart (Dr. John)
09 Tipitina (Dr. John)
10 Mess Around (Dr. John)
11 I've Been Hoodooed (Dr. John)
12 Such a Night (Dr. John)
13 Right Place, Wrong Time (Dr. John)
14 Let the Good Times Roll (Dr. John)
15 Wang Dang Doodle (Dr. John)
16 Mama Roux (Dr. John)
17 Qualified (Dr. John)
18 Little Liza Jane (Dr. John)
19 Mama Don't Allow No Dr John in Here (Dr. John)
https://www.upload.ee/files/15280984/DrJohn_1973_WLIRTuesdyNightUltrsonicRecordingStudiosHempsteadNY__11-6-1973_atse.zip.html
For the cover, I found a photo of Dr. John performing in Montreux, Switzerland, in July 1973, a few months before this concert. I think Elton John would be envious of his outfit! ;)
It's Hempstead!!! And it is available on CD
ReplyDeleteCrap! Thanks for point that out. But I'm bummed, cos I had to fix it there, and for Jonathan Edwards and Fleetwood Mac albums too. But they're all fixed now.
ReplyDelete