Taj Mahal - WLIR Ultrasonic Concert Series, Ultrasonic Recording Studios, Hempstead, NY, 10-15-1974

Here's an album from blues musician Taj Mahal, from 1974. It's part of my focus on posting albums from "Ultrasonic" radio show concerts.

I'm a fan of Taj Mahal's music. I've posted a couple of sets from him that were part of rock festivals, as well a concert from when he was with the band the Rising Sons in the 1960s, but this is the first time I've posted an entire concert just starring him. I had been meaning to do that for a long time, so I'm glad the Ultrasonic series gave me a good reason.

One thing I like about his music is that while he is mainly known as a blues musician, he hasn't been afraid to play songs from other genres sometimes.  His Wikipedia entry puts it well: "Mahal has done much to reshape the definition and scope of blues music over the course of his more than 50-year career by fusing it with nontraditional forms, including sounds from the Caribbean, Africa, India, Hawaii, and the South Pacific." 

For instance, in this concert he played a couple of reggae songs, including "Johnny Too Bad," which was included on the classic "The Harder They Come" movie soundtrack in 1972. At the time of this concert, he was promoting his 1974 studio album "Mo Roots," which had a strong reggae influence on it.

Here's his Wikipedia entry: 

Taj Mahal (musician) - Wikipedia 

Note that it was usual in this radio series to have an interview in the middle of the concert. I'm less interested in that, so I moved the interview to the end as a mere bonus track. However, I did keep a bit of that section in the concert itself, where he mentioned the names of his backing band. That's why there are two talking tracks in row in the song list, because they're from either end of the interview track.

If anyone know the name of the instrumental that makes up track 15 here, please let me know so I can give it a proper title. 

The music here is unreleased (although I noticed a "grey market" bootleg that looks like a legit release), and the sound quality is excellent. 

This album is 59 minutes long, not including the interview bonus track. 

01 talk (Taj Mahal)
02 Going Up to the Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue (Taj Mahal)
03 talk (Taj Mahal)
04 Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl (Taj Mahal)
05 talk (Taj Mahal)
06 Black Jack Davey (Taj Mahal)
07 talk (Taj Mahal)
08 Why Did You Have to Desert Me (Taj Mahal)
09 talk (Taj Mahal)
10 talk (Taj Mahal)
11 Further On Down the Road (Taj Mahal)
12 talk (Taj Mahal)
13 Stealin' (Taj Mahal)
14 talk (Taj Mahal)
15 Instrumental (Taj Mahal)
16 talk (Taj Mahal)
17 Johnny Too Bad (Taj Mahal)
18 talk (Taj Mahal)
19 Take a Giant Step (Taj Mahal)

Interview (Taj Mahal) 

https://pixeldrain.com/u/CFf3jVPK

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/jTA3YhLH6MHzqrE/file

The cover photo is from an appearance on an ABC TV show in 1973.