Various Artists - The Thrill Is Gone - A Tribute to B.B. King, Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY, 2-16-2020

The great blues legend B.B. King died in 2015, at the age of 89. I'm not sure what took so long, but five years later, there was this tribute concert celebrating his music. This is unusually long compared to most tribute concerts, at nearly four hours long. The vast majority of it was professionally recorded for a webcast, so the sound quality is mostly excellent. 

Note that I said "the vast majority" of this was professionally recorded, not all. That's because it seems a couple of performers didn't allow their songs to be included in the webcast. For those, I tried to find the songs elsewhere. I found a couple of the missing songs on YouTube, but the sound quality on those isn't as good as the rest. I couldn't find "You Shook Me" performed by Ann Wilson and Robert Randolph, as well as "Night Life" and "Take It Home" by Jamey Johnston. If anyone has those, please let me know and I'll add them in.

There was an impressive list of musicians who performed for this concert, including Buddy Guy, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, John Scofield, Ann Wilson (of Heart), David Hidalgo (of Los Lobos), Ivan Neville (of the Neville Brothers), Jimmie Vaughan (of the Fabulous Thunderbirds), Little Steven, Robert Cray, Robert Randolph, Shemekia Copeland, William Bell, and more.

Actually, this concert was performed two nights in a row, but only one night was broadcast. I don't know how different the other night might have been. 

The music here remains unreleased. The sound quality is excellent, except for the few I took from other sources. Most of those are near the end, for instance "When Love Comes to Town" by Ann Wilson.

This album is three hours and 47 minutes long. 

01 talk (Wavy Gravy)
02 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
03 BB's Theme [Instrumental] (Tony C.C. Coleman)
04 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
05 You Upset Me Baby (Tony C.C. Coleman)
06 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
07 I Got a Mind to Give Up Living (Bob Margolin)
08 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
09 Let Me In (Bobby Rush)
10 talk (Bobby Rush)
11 Garbage Man (Bobby Rush)
12 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
13 Hummingbird (Val B. King & Frank Bacombe)
14 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
15 Let the Good Times Roll (Little Steven)
16 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
17 Beautician Blues (Southside Johnny)
18 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
19 Never Make a Move Too Soon (John Scofield & Ivan Neville)
20 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
21 Why I Sing the Blues (Kingfish)
22 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
23 Powerhouse [Instrumental] (David Hidalgo)
24 talk (David Hidalgo)
25 Need Your Love So Bad (David Hidalgo)
26 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
27 Please Love Me (Jimmy Vaughan)
28 talk (Jimmy Vaughan)
29 Woke Up This Morning (Jimmy Vaughan)
30 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
31 Blue Shadows (William Bell)
32 talk (William Bell)
33 Ain't Nobody Home (William Bell)
34 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
35 Paying the Cost to Be the Boss (Shemekia Copeland)
36 talk (Shemekia Copeland)
37 Call It Stormy Monday (Shemekia Copeland & John Scofield)
38 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
39 Three O'Clock Blues (Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi)
40 talk (Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi)
41 You Don't Know (Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi)
42 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
43 So Excited (Warren Haynes)
44 How Blue Can You Get (Warren Haynes)
45 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
46 Ghetto Woman (Robert Randolph with Ivan Neville)
47 talk (Robert Randolph & Ivan Neville)
48 Don't Cry No More (Robert Randolph & Ivan Neville)
49 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
50 I Like to Live the Love (Robert Cray)
51 Troubles, Troubles, Troubles (Robert Cray)
52 When Love Comes to Town (Ann Wilson)
53 Sweet Little Angel - It's My Fault (Buddy Guy)
54 talk (Buddy Guy)
55 The Thrill Is Gone (Buddy Guy, Derek Trucks, Ann Wilson, Robert Cray & Shemekia Copeland)
56 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
57 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
58 Everyday I Have the Blues (Everybody)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/YVLheabH

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/90vA8uFEYrvrlzM/file

The cover photo shows an encore from this exact concert. In the front row, from right to left: Robert Cray, Warren Haynes, William Bell, Susan Tedeschi, Shemekia Copeland, and (probably) Robert Rudolph.

US Festival '83, Glen Helen Regional Park, San Bernardino, CA, 5-30-1983 - Day 3, Part 1: Little Steven (Steven Van Zandt)

The first act of Day Three (Rock Day) of the 1983 US Festival was Little Steven, a.k.a., Steven Van Zandt. Technically, the act's name was "Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul," but I'm using the shorter name here.

Before I talk about the artist, I want to mention the theme of Day Three, which the promoters billed as "Rock Day." In my opinion, that name was a bit off, because Day One was "New Wave Day," and this day contained some new wave acts, like Berlin and Missing Persons. Most of the acts from the day were played on new wave radio stations at the time, like U2, the Pretenders, and David Bowie. Only a couple, like Joe Walsh, were clearly "rock" acts. So this almost could have been "New Wave Day, Part 2."

Anyway, Little Steven is best known today for being a member of Bruce Springsteen's back-up band, the E-Street Band. He first joined Southside Johnny and the Ashbury Dukes, and wrote most of their songs in the 1970s. But in 1975 he also joined Springsteen's E-Street Band, and slowly phased out his involvement with the Ashbury Dukes. In 1982, he released his first solo album, "Men without Women." At the time of this festival, he was mainly promoting that album. All three songs here are from it. But he also still was a member of the E-Street Band.

In 1984, he put out a second solo album and quit the E-Street Band to focus fully on his solo career. But that career petered out by the start of the 1990s, when he was unable to get a new record contract. He rejoined the E-Street Band when it reformed in 1995, and he's been a member of it ever since.

Here's his Wikipedia entry if you want to know more:

Steven Van Zandt - Wikipedia

Unfortunately, I only have three songs from this set. I'm sure there was more, since it seems all the sets in the festival were at least half an hour long, but I couldn't find a complete set list. The reason I have these songs is because they were included as part of a Westwood One radio network special that played some selected songs from the festival.

This album is 14 minutes long.

001 Lying in a Bed of Fire (Little Steven)
002 talk (Little Steven)
003 Under the Gun (Little Steven)
004 Angel Eyes (Little Steven)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17205591/VA-1983USFstvlDay0301LttleStven_atse.zip.html

alternate link:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/U6nkJqo1

The cover photo is from this exact concert. 

UPDATE: On October 6, 2024, I upgraded the photo with the use of the Krea AI program because the original was very grainy.

A Conspiracy of Hope, Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ, 6-15-1986, Part 2 - Little Steven, Bob Geldof, Stanley Jordan, Joan Armatrading & Jackson Browne

This is Part 2 of the final show of the 1986 "A Conspiracy of Hope" tour. If you want more information on the concert in general, read the write-up for Part 1. Here are just some basic facts about the songs and artists in this part.

Little Steven (Steven van Zandt), was a guitarist in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band from the early 1970s. However, he left that band to pursue a solo career in 1984, right before Springsteen became a superstar with his "Born in the U.S.A." album. He didn't have much commercial success as a solo artist, and later rejoined the E Street Band. But he did gain a lot of prominence in 1985 with his anti-Apartheid song "Sun City." I believe John Waite and Darlene Love joined him for his set here, but they only sang backing vocals.

Bob Geldof was the lead singer for the Irish band the Boomtown Rats. But he became more famous in the 1980s for his activism. He helped form the group Band Aid, and co-write their song "We Are the World." Then he organized the 1985 Live Aid concert. I believe he was backed up by Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul for his set here.

Stanley Jordan, a jazz guitarist, was an unusual addition to this concert. He released his debut album was released the year before this concert. It was a sensation, setting records on the jazz charts, due to his unique guitar playing style. He performed all the songs here alone on stage.

I've posted albums by Joan Armatrading and Jackson Browne at this blog before. They're famous enough that I hopefully don't need to describe them. Browne was arguably the most famous of the artists in this album, so it makes sense that his set was the longest of the four here, at 30 minutes. Note that the last song he performed, "I Am a Patriot," was actually written by Little Steven.

This album is an hour and 18 minutes long.

021 Los Desaparecidos (Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul)
022 Sanctuary (Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul)
023 Native American (Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul)
024 talk (Bob Geldof)
025 In the Pouring Rain (Bob Geldof)
026 talk (Bob Geldof)
027 Redemption Song (Bob Geldof)
028 talk (Stanley Jordan)
029 All the Children [Instrumental] (Stanley Jordan)
030 The Sound of Silence [Instrumental] (Stanley Jordan)
031 Eleanor Rigby [Instrumental] (Stanley Jordan)
032 Steppin' Out (Joan Armatrading)
033 Turn Out the Light (Joan Armatrading)
034 I Can't Lie to Myself (Joan Armatrading)
035 Love and Affection (Joan Armatrading)
036 For Everyman (Jackson Browne)
037 Soldiers of Plenty (Jackson Browne)
038 talk (Jackson Browne)
039 Lives in the Balance (Jackson Browne)
040 Till I Go Down (Jackson Browne)
041 For America (Jackson Browne)
042 talk (Jackson Browne)
043 I Am a Patriot (Jackson Browne)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/uJpsNCe2 

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/NdmmuokuuDu0D0o/file

The cover photo of Jackson Browne comes from this exact concert.