Knebworth Festival, Knebworth House, Knebworth, Britain, 6-30-1990, Part 8: Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd was the eighth and final musical act to perform at the 1980 Knebworth Festival.

At this point, Pink Floyd was essentially David Gilmour plus backing musicians. The band's former leader Roger Waters left the band in 1983. But I think it says quite a lot that the Gilmour-led version of Pink Floyd was still so popular in 1990 that it was the closing act of this festival, over such big names as Phil Collins and Paul McCartney, and even the trio of Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, and Elton John playing together.

As I mentioned back in my write-up for Part 1 of this festival, most all of the music from this festival remains officially unreleased, aside from a highlights album and video. But the exception to this is this Pink Floyd set. It was first released in full as part of "The Later Years" box set. Then it later got a stand alone release. Even so, I'm including it here so the entire festival can appear in one place.

Pink Floyd toured all over the world from 1987 to 1989, in the wake of their "Momentary Lapse of Reason" album. However, they wouldn't do another big tour until 1994, after the release of their "Division Bell" album that year. In between, the only full concert they played was this one. 

On the band's classic 1973 album "Dark Side of the Moon," the wordless vocals for the song "The Great Gig in the Sky" were sung by Clare Torry. So it was a special treat when she assisted the band by singing that part in this concert. Beautiful and talented Candy Dulfer also played saxophone.

This album is an hour and one minute long.

01 talk by Tommy Vance (Pink Floyd)
02 Shine On You Crazy Diamond [Parts 1-5] (Pink Floyd)
03 The Great Gig in the Sky (Pink Floyd with Clare Torry)
04 talk (Pink Floyd)
05 Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd)
06 Sorrow (Pink Floyd)
07 Money (Pink Floyd)
08 Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd)
09 talk (Pink Floyd)
10 Run like Hell (Pink Floyd)
11 talk (Pink Floyd)

alternate:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/zDzX4AZ7

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/NWoJW1HfISeoTcK/file

The cover photo of lead singer David Gilmour is from this exact concert.

Knebworth Festival, Knebworth House, Knebworth, Britain, 6-30-1990, Part 7: Paul McCartney

The seventh performance at the 1990 Knebworth Festival was by Paul McCartney.

McCartney didn't do any tours for all of the 1980s until the last few months. Then he went on a big world tour that lasted until the end of July 1990. So this was much like another stop on that tour, though playing to an even bigger crowd, of 120,000 people. 

The set list was composed of songs typical from his tour that year, though cut down to fit within the allotted time slot. That included two songs written by fellow ex-Beatle John Lennon, "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Give Peace a Chance." Technically, he was promoting his 1989 album "Flowers in the Dirt," but he only played one song from it, "We Got Married." This concert was also the first time he played the Beatles song "Birthday" in concert.

This album is 50 minutes long.

01 talk by Cathy McGowan & Timothy Dalton (Paul McCartney)
02 Coming Up (Paul McCartney)
03 Back in the U.S.S.R. (Paul McCartney)
04 I Saw Her Standing There (Paul McCartney)
05 talk (Paul McCartney)
06 We Got Married (Paul McCartney)
07 talk (Paul McCartney)
08 Birthday (Paul McCartney)
09 talk (Paul McCartney)
10 Let It Be (Paul McCartney)
11 talk (Paul McCartney)
12 Live and Let Die (Paul McCartney)
13 talk (Paul McCartney)
14 Someone Else I'd Like to Be (Paul McCartney)
15 talk (Paul McCartney)
16 Hey Jude (Paul McCartney)
17 talk (Paul McCartney)
18 Strawberry Fields Forever (Paul McCartney)
19 Give Peace a Chance (Paul McCartney)
20 talk (Paul McCartney)
21 Yesterday (Paul McCartney)
22 talk (Paul McCartney)
23 Can't Buy Me Love (Paul McCartney)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/GS2fFQHm

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/dIowcvXP5mBOUcI/file

The cover photo is from this exact concert.

Knebworth Festival, Knebworth House, Knebworth, Britain, 6-30-1990, Part 6: Eric Clapton, Dire Straits & Elton John

The sixth performance at the 1990 Knebworth Festival was a rather unusual collaboration between Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, and Elton John.

Collaboration between these three famous musical forces was rare, but not unprecedented. In particular, Mark Knopfler, leader of Dire Straits, and Eric Clapton became good friends in the late 1980s and toured together a lot in 1987 to 1989. Elton John joined them for at least one full concert, in Tokyo, Japan, in 1988. 

Meanwhile, Dire Straits broke up in 1986, at the conclusion of the tour to promote their 1985 album "Brothers in Arms." They got back together for about five shows in 1988 and 1989, mostly benefit concerts, and usually with Clapton included. Then they did this festival, their only performance of 1990. A full reunion followed, leading to the band's final album, "On Every Street," in 1991. This concert didn't actually include all of Dire Straits. Mark Knopfler, John Illsey, and Alan Clark took part, but Guy Fletcher was missing. Instead, the band was rounded out by Clapton, Ray Cooper, and Phil Palmer. But still, it was considered a Dire Straits reunion.

The first four songs were sung by Clapton. Then Dire Straits joined in. One song played, "Think I Love You Too Much," was an original that never made it onto a Dire Straits (or Mark Knopfler) album, despite being a good song that got played a lot on the Dire Straits world tour in 1991 and 1992. This was the first time it was performed in concert. Elton John joined in for the last four songs, three of which were sung by him.

I don't recall any wind noise trouble with this performance. Also note that it's the longest set of the festival, because it was basically three big acts put together.

This album is an hour and 16 minutes long.

01 talk by Dave Dee (Eric Clapton)
02 Pretending (Eric Clapton)
03 Before You Accuse Me (Eric Clapton)
04 Old Love (Eric Clapton)
05 Tearing Us Apart (Eric Clapton)
06 Solid Rock (Eric Clapton & Dire Straits)
07 talk (Eric Clapton & Dire Straits)
08 I Think I Love You Too Much (Eric Clapton & Dire Straits)
09 Money for Nothing (Eric Clapton & Dire Straits)
10 talk (Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler & Elton John)
11 Sacrifice (Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler & Elton John)
12 Sad Songs [Say So Much] (Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler & Elton John)
13 Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler & Elton John)
14 Sunshine of Your Love (Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler & Elton John)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/HoBf13LZ

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/4oHFJrfaG2Kgn1R/file

For the cover, I wanted a photo of Clapton, Knopfler, and John together at this concert. I couldn't find any, since they were spread out on stage. However, I did find one of Clapton and John.

Knebworth Festival, Knebworth House, Knebworth, Britain, 6-30-1990, Part 5: Phil Collins & Genesis

The fifth performance at the 1990 Knebworth Festival was both Phil Collins and Genesis. Phil Collins did the first half as a solo artist and then the second half as part of Genesis.

By 1990, Phil Collins was massively popular. His album "...But Seriously," released late in 1989, was the best selling album in Britain in 1990, staying Number One in the charts for a stunning 15 weeks. It hit the top of the charts in the U.S. and most elsewhere too. Yet at the same time, he was continuing to be very successful as part of Genesis. At the time of this concert, their last album was "Invisible Touch," released in 1986 and another massive seller. The next Genesis album would come out in 1991. In between tours to support those albums, Genesis did almost no live performances. But they made an exception for their festival, since it was such a high profile gig.

By this point in the festival, it seems the wind died down. I don't remember any rustling noises in this set.

This album is an hour and one minute long.

01 talk by Rob Lowe (Phil Collins)
02 In the Air Tonight (Phil Collins)
03 Colours - Drum Duet (Phil Collins)
04 talk (Phil Collins)
05 Another Day in Paradise (Phil Collins)
06 Sussudio (Phil Collins)
07 Mama (Genesis)
08 That's All (Genesis)
09 Throwing It All Away (Genesis)
10 talk (Genesis)
11 Turn It On Again - Somebody to Love - [I Can't Get No] Satisfaction - Twist and Shout (Genesis)
12 Reach Out, I'll Be There - Lovin' Feelin' - Pinball Wizard - Midnight Hour - Turn It On Again [Reprise] (Genesis) 

https://pixeldrain.com/u/XAEy2mka

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/OnuN85P8jJcMiRb/file

The cover photo comes from this exact concert.

Knebworth Festival, Knebworth House, Knebworth, Britain, 6-30-1990, Part 4: Robert Plant with Jimmy Page

The fourth performance at the 1990 Knebworth Festival was given by Robert Plant. He was joined by his former Led Zeppelin Jimmy Page on the last three songs.

Robert Plant's solo career was going very well in 1990. In fact, he was the winner of the British music industry's Silver Clef award that year, which was one of the purposes of the concert. His fifth studio album, "Manic Nirvana," had been released three months prior to this concert.

Later in the 1990s, Plant and Page would collaborate quite a lot. They would get together for a live album ("Unledded") and a studio album ("Walking to Clarksdale"), and tour together from 1994 to 1998. However, in 1990, having Plant and Page appear on stage together was very rare, and was considered a big deal. They have taken part in limited Led Zeppelin reunions in 1985 (as part of Live Aid) and 1988 (at an Atlantic Records anniversary concert), and there had been some studio collaborations between them. I could be wrong, but I think this is the first time Page appeared on stage at a Plant solo concert. At least it was the first high profile one. They played three Led Zeppelin songs together to end the set.

This album is 51 minutes long.

01 talk by Gary Davis (Robert Plant)
02 Hurting Kind [I've Got My Eyes on You] (Robert Plant)
03 Immigrant Song (Robert Plant)
04 Tie Dye on the Highway (Robert Plant)
05 talk (Robert Plant)
06 Liar's Dance (Robert Plant)
07 Going to California (Robert Plant)
08 talk (Robert Plant)
09 Nirvana (Robert Plant)
10 Tall Cool One (Robert Plant)
11 talk (Robert Plant)
12 Misty Mountain Hop (Robert Plant with Jimmy Page)
13 Wearing and Tearing (Robert Plant with Jimmy Page)
14 talk (Robert Plant with Jimmy Page)
15 Rock and Roll (Robert Plant with Jimmy Page)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/sQg12KoA

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/pDI0g7HuYVcS4c4/file

alternate:

https://www.imagenetz.de/exoqZ

The cover photo is from this exact concert.

Knebworth Festival, Knebworth House, Knebworth, Britain, 6-30-1990, Part 3: Cliff Richard & the Shadows

The third act at the 1990 Knebworth Festival was Cliff Richard and the Shadows. I doubt Richard would have been invited to such a major festival in the U.S., where he was only a minor star, but he was one of the biggest stars in Britain.

Richard has an an on again and off again relationship with the Shadows. They were his backing band when he first found fame in the late 1950s. The Shadows were no ordinary backing band, because they went on to have many hits of their own, all instrumentals, including five Number One songs in Britain. The Shadows first broke up in the late 1960s. But they reunited with Richard in 1978, 1984, and again in 1989 and 1990, which included this concert. They would reunite with him a few times after this as well, with the final reunion in 2010.

There's some wind rustling noise in this set, especially during the applause and banter. But it's pretty minor stuff and hardly affects the actual songs.

 

This album is 44 minutes long.

01 talk by Mike Read (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
02 Move It (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
03 talk (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
04 Summer Holiday (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
05 The Young Ones (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
06 On the Beach (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
07 talk (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
08 Living Doll (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
09 Good Golly, Miss Molly (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
10 talk (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
11 Bachelor Boy (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
12 Fall in Love with You (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
13 Do You Wanna Dance (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
14 talk (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
15 In the Country (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
16 talk (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
17 It'll Be Me (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
18 talk (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
19 Shake, Rattle and Roll (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)
20 We Don't Talk Anymore (Cliff Richard & the Shadows)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/WTyFwriM

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/d6LJSOAf27y2IHV/file

The cover image is from this exact concert. For most of the other covers from this festival I was able to use clear photos. But in this case, I took a screenshot from a video of this concert, so it's a bit low-res.

Knebworth Festival, Knebworth House, Knebworth, Britain, 6-30-1990, Part 2: Status Quo

Status Quo isn't a well known band in the United States, but they were consistently big hit makers in Britain from the 1960s to the 2000s. They were the second act at the 1990 Knebworth Festival.

There's not much else for me to say here, I think. If you like the band's style of boogie rock, you should enjoy this. 

The wind was a little stronger here than later in the concert, and you can really hear the wind rustling during some quiet parts, but the vast majority of this sounds perfectly fine.

This album is an hour and one minute long.

01 talk by Mark Goodyear (Status Quo)
02 Caroline (Status Quo)
03 talk (Status Quo)
04 Mystery Song - Railroad -  Most of the Time - Wild Side of Life (Status Quo)
05 Rollin' Home -  Again and Again - Slow Train (Status Quo)
06 Hold You Back (Status Quo)
07 talk (Status Quo)
08 Dirty Water (Status Quo)
09 Whatever You Want (Status Quo)
10 In the Army Now (Status Quo)
11 Rockin' All Over the World (Status Quo)
12 Don't Waste My Time (Status Quo)
13 Roadhouse Blues (Status Quo)
14 The Wanderer - Marguerita Time - Living on an Island (Status Quo)
15 Break the Rules - Something 'bout You Baby I Like - The Price of Love - Roadhouse Blues [Reprise] (Status Quo)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16684678/VA-1990KnbwrthFstivlKnbwrthHuseKnbwrthBrtin__6-30-1990_02SttsQuo.zip.html

The cover photo is from this exact concert.

Knebworth Festival, Knebworth House, Knebworth, Britain, 6-30-1990, Part 1: Tears for Fears

The Knebworth Festival has been happening most every year in Knebworth, England, since 1974. The 1990 festival was the first one since 1986, and was a special one, because it was the location for the Silver Clef Award winners concert, the only time that happened at Knebworth. This is a British music industry annual award. In 1990, the Silver Clef winner was Robert Plant.

The musical acts that played in the 1990 festival were bigger names than all festivals there before or since: Tears for Fears, Status Quo, Cliff Richard, Robert Plant with Jimmy Page, Phil Collins and Genesis, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, Elton John, Paul McCartney, and Pink Floyd! Unlike other festivals such as Live Aid, there were a lot fewer musical acts, but each one got to play an average of a little less than an hour, for a total of eight hours of music.

The organizers behind this festival realized it was a big deal, because they later released audio and video versions of the festival. However, these were only about two CDs worth of highlights. The vast majority of the music has remained unreleased. The only exception is the Pink Floyd set, which was later released in full. Luckily for us, though, the entire concert was broadcast by the BBC at the time. So I'm posting the full concert, thanks to people who recorded the broadcast.

One snag about the festival is that the weather was not good. The outdoors crowd got rained on from time to time. Worse, from a listener's point of view is that it was very windy. In these recordings, there are occasional comments by the performers about how windy it was. That meant that sometimes the wind blew against the microphones, causing rustling noises. I tried fixing this, but I barely made a dent. So I've decided to post it, windy noises and all. Luckily, the wind was only noticeable during the banter between songs and especially quiet parts of songs. It also was pretty infrequent. Don't consider it a big problem, more like a minor annoyance here and there.

In 1990, Tears for Fears were arguably at the peak of their popularity. In 1989, they released the album "The Seeds of Love," which went to Number One in Britain. Tears for Fears was a duo made up of Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal. After the 1990 tour supporting the album, Smith would leave, and not rejoin for another ten years.

This album is 53 minutes long.

01 talk by Dave Dee (Tears for Fears)
02 Head Over Heels - Broken (Tears for Fears)
03 Change (Tears for Fears)
04 Pale Shelter (Tears for Fears)
05 talk (Tears for Fears)
06 Sowing the Seeds of Love (Tears for Fears)
07 All You Need Is Love (Tears for Fears)
08 talk (Tears for Fears)
09 Advice for the Young at Heart (Tears for Fears)
10 I've Got to Sing My Song (Tears for Fears with Oleta Adams)
11 talk (Tears for Fears)
12 Badman's Song (Tears for Fears)
13 talk (Tears for Fears)
14 Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears)

NOTE: The download link has been removed due to a copyright issue, sorry. But look for my comment in the comments section.

The cover photo of Tears for Fears is from this exact concert.