Various Artists - An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson, Radio City Music Hall, New York City, 3-29-2001

Here's something that any fan of the Beach Boys will certainly enjoy. I don't know much about the backstory for this one (maybe someone else can explain?) - I'm guessing it was an anniversary of some sort. But in 2001, a bunch of great musicians got together to celebrate the music of Brian Wilson. That's basically the same thing as celebrating the music of the Beach Boys, since I think all but one of the songs performed here was originally recorded and released by the Beach Boys. (The lone exception, "Love and Mercy," is from Wilson's more hit and miss solo career.) 

In my opinion, most of these kinds of tribute concerts have more dud performances than good ones. But this one is solid pretty much all the way through. It's hard to go wrong with Beach Boys songs, for starters. But also, a lot of big names took part, such as Paul Simon, Elton John, Billy Joel, Heart, David Crosby, Aimee Mann, and many more, and it's hard to go wrong with them as well. Plus, Brian Wilson himself joined in at the end.

Most or all of the performances are unique, meaning these particular artists never did these songs before, and probably not since. They were special versions just for this show.

This concert has never been released in any kind of audio format, as far as I know. But the songs here all come from a DVD that has been released. I edited it down somewhat to remove some speeches praising Wilson. I wanted to keep it more focused on the music. (One section I removed was a talk by Beatles producer George Martin about the song "Good Vibrations.")  However, I did keep all the talking that directly preceded or followed each song that was relevant.

Unfortunately, there was a lot more to this concert that was not included on the DVD, and I can't find it anywhere else. For instance, Wilson sang lead or co-lead on five songs at the end of this album. But in the concert, he sang a few more: "Lay Down Burden," "Do It Again," "Caroline, No," and "Surfin' U.S.A." If anyone has more than I do, please let me know so I can add it in.

This album is an hour and 12 minutes long.

01 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
02 Our Prayer (Boys Choir of Harlem)
03 California Girls - Help Me, Rhonda (Ricky Martin)
04 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
05 Surfer Girl (Paul Simon)
06 Surf City (Go-Go's)
07 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
08 In My Room (David Crosby, Carly Simon & Jimmy Webb)
09 talk (David Crosby)
10 The Warmth of the Sun (Vince Gill)
11 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
12 I Get Around (Evan & Jaron)
13 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
14 God Only Knows (Elton John)
15 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
16 I Just Wasn't Made for These Times (Aimee Mann & Michael Penn)
17 talk (Chazz Palminteri & Billy Joel)
18 Don't Worry Baby (Billy Joel)
19 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
20 Sail On Sailor (Darius Rucker & Matthew Sweet)
21 talk (Chazz Palminteri & Chynna Phillips)
22 You're So Good to Me (Wilson Phillips)
23 talk (George Martin)
24 Good Vibrations (Heart)
25 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
26 Surf's Up (David Crosby, Vince Gill & Jimmy Webb)
27 talk (Chazz Palminteri & Brian Wilson)
28 Heroes and Villains (Brian Wilson)
29 talk (Elton John)
30 Wouldn't It Be Nice (Elton John & Brian Wilson)
31 talk (Brian Wilson)
32 Barbara Ann (Brian Wilson & Everyone)
33 Fun, Fun, Fun (Brian Wilson & Everyone)
34 talk (Brian Wilson)
35 Love and Mercy (Brian Wilson with the Boys Choir of Harlem)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16584567/VA-_2001AllStrTrbtetBrnWlsnRdoCtyMsicHllNwYrkC__3-29-2001_atse.zip.html

I have to admit, the cover is a bit fakey. I found a photo of Elton John, Billy Joel, and Paul Simon sharing the same microphone during a finale at this concert. But since it's a Brian Wilson tribute and he was there, I wanted him on the cover too. So I Photoshopped him in, using a photo that also comes from the finale at this concert. They were on stage together, just not this close. The lighting is pretty accurate. For instance, there's a shadow falling on his body that actually fell on someone else standing there.

Belinda Carlisle - Belinda Live, Tower Theatre, Upper Darby, PA, 5-25-1988

Belinda Carlisle was the main lead singer of the Go-Go's. (And she sometimes still is, with reunions.) She was even more successful with a solo career. I'm not as much of a fan of that, as she went in more of a slick, middle of the road direction that didn't suit her as well, in my opinion. Still, she did have some good solo hits.

I wouldn't be posting this except for the fact that I stumbled across a video while looking for Go-Go's stuff. It's a DVD that was released as part of a 2009 special edition of her 1987 album "Heaven on Earth." I didn't see it existing in audio format anywhere, so I converted it to mp3s and broke it up into song tracks.

This is a good time for a Belinda Carlisle concert, in my opinion. She arguably reached her commercial peak with the "Heaven on Earth" album, and its Number One hit "Heaven Is a Place on Earth." But she still wasn't that far removed from her time with the Go-Go's (they broke up in 1984). So this is a good mix of solo and Go-Go's songs. 

Since making this, I noticed that a live album from her 1988 tour was released for Record Store Day in 2022. However, that one doesn't have a single Go-Go's song on it, probably for contractual reasons. So I prefer this, even though it's shorter overall.

This album is just one second longer than exactly one hour.

01 I Feel Free (Belinda Carlisle)
02 Mad about You (Belinda Carlisle)
03 Lust to Love (Belinda Carlisle)
04 I Get Weak (Belinda Carlisle)
05 Fool for Love (Belinda Carlisle)
06 Circle in the Sand (Belinda Carlisle)
07 World without You (Belinda Carlisle)
08 Nobody Owns Me (Belinda Carlisle)
09 Our Lips Are Sealed (Belinda Carlisle)
10 Vacation (Belinda Carlisle)
11 Heaven Is a Place on Earth (Belinda Carlisle)
12 Love Never Dies (Belinda Carlisle)
13 Head Over Heels (Belinda Carlisle)
14 We Got the Beat (Belinda Carlisle)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15109415/BelindaC_1988_TowrTheatreUpperDarbyPA__5-25-1988_atse.zip.html

The cover photo was taken at the San Remo Festival in Italy in 1988.

The Go-Go's - WMMR-FM, Emerald City, Cherry Hill, NJ, 8-31-1981

I'm particularly happy with how this album turned out. If you're interested in hearing the Go-Go's live at all, you really should listen to this. The Go-Go's put out three albums in the early 1980s, plus a reunion album in 2001. Despite that limited discography, they are celebrated enough to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

They've never released an official live album per se, but a complete 1981 live show was included on the deluxe edition of their debut album "Beauty and the Beat." I had that concert in my music collection for a long time, but I wasn't much of a fan due to the sound quality, which was just okay. But I figured that was as good as it got, since it was the one chosen for the official release. However, it turns out that this concert, which took place just eleven days after the Boston show on the deluxe edition, sounds noticeably better. It was broadcast live by a Philadelphia radio station (Cherry Hill is in New Jersey, but on the outskirts of Philadelphia), so it was professionally recorded.

Furthermore, when I listened to this, I noticed that the lead vocals were rather low in the mix. So I used the X-Minus audio editing program to boost the vocals relative to the instruments for all the songs. After that change, in my opinion, this sounds way better than the Boston concert on the deluxe edition. And since it took place only eleven days later, the set list is the same.

Additionally, three of the songs have "[Edit]" in their names because I made further edits on top of the lead vocals adjustments. For the song "Tonite," as soon as the song ended, a radio DJ spoke over the cheering to briefly promote his radio station. Thanks to the magic of X-Minus, his vocals were removed and I was able to keep the cheering. For the song "Can't Stop the World," the song came to a sudden end right at the last chord. Then when the banter began afterwards, it started in mid-sentence. Clearly, something was missing there. So I used the recording of the Boston show to fill in the gap, allowing that final chord to ring out. Luckily, the banter appeared to be exactly the same for the intro to the next tune, so I was able to patch in the missing words too.

The Go-Go's sound great here. This concert is relatively short, just 51 minutes long. But they played every song on their debut album "Beauty and the Beat" plus some more, such as "London Boys," "Cool Jerk," "Vacation," "Let's Have a Party," and "Surfing and Spying."

01 Skidmarks on My Heart (Go-Go's)
02 How Much More (Go-Go's)
03 Tonite [Edit] (Go-Go's)
04 talk (Go-Go's)
05 Fading Fast (Go-Go's)
06 London Boys (Go-Go's)
07 Cool Jerk (Go-Go's)
08 talk (Go-Go's)
09 Automatic (Go-Go's)
10 Lust to Love (Go-Go's)
11 Can't Stop the World [Edit] (Go-Go's)
12 talk [Edit] (Go-Go's)
13 This Town (Go-Go's)
14 Vacation (Go-Go's)
15 talk (Go-Go's)
16 You Can't Walk in Your Sleep [If You Can't Sleep] (Go-Go's)
17 Our Lips Are Sealed (Go-Go's)
18 Let's Have a Party (Go-Go's)
19 We Got the Beat (Go-Go's)
20 talk (Go-Go's)
21 Surfing and Spying [Instrumental] (Go-Go's)
22 Beatnik Beach (Go-Go's) 

https://www.upload.ee/files/15292921/TGogo_1981_WMMFMEmerldCityChrryHillNJ__8-31-1981_atse.zip.html

I couldn't find any great photos of the band in concert in 1981. But I did find one from 1982, so that's what's here on the cover. It comes from a concert in Sacramento, California, in August 1982. I took the band name at the top from the artwork of one of their singles.