Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Lone Justice - BBC In Concert, Town and Country Club, London, Britain, 11-6-1986

I have to start this off with a request. As far as I know, this is the only BBC concert played by Maria McKee's 1980s band Lone Justice. In her later solo career, I believe she did two BBC concerts, one in 1991 and the other in 1993. Later, an official album called "Live at the BBC" was released, which included half of her 1991 show and all of the 1993. I'd like the full 1991 show, which took place at Manchester University, so I can post that here as part of my big BBC project. I know a bootleg of it has existed in the past, but I can't find it anywhere. I even found some cover art for it here:

maria-mckee-none-4-cd.jpg (800×619) (45worlds.com)

But I can't find it anywhere. So if anyone has it and wants to share, please let me know. Thanks.

Moving on to this album, this was a good time for a BBC concert, because Lone Justice only released two studio albums, and this took place shortly after the release of the second one. The band broke up a few months later.  

Given this was recorded by the BBC, I was surprised that the lead vocals were too low. Luckily, that's the one editing trick I've been doing a lot lately: I used the UVR5 audio editing program to boost the lead vocals relative to the instruments. I think it sounds a lot better now.

There are two extra songs at the end. In 1985, Lone Justice played those two songs for the BBC TV show "The Old Grey Whistle Test." Since of them is probably my favorite Lone Justice song, "Ways to Be Wicked," I decided to include them, even though there was no applauding audience. It was a failed A-side. In a better world, that would have been a big hit. (It was also written by Tom Petty.) The other song, "Sweet, Sweet Baby (I’m Falling)," also was a failed A-side. That one appeared in the BBC concert as the second track. But I also really like that song, so I don't mind having two versions.

This album is an hour and five minutes long. The 1986 concert without the last two songs is 58 minutes long.

01 Wait 'til We Get Home (Lone Justice)
02 Sweet, Sweet Baby [I’m Falling] (Lone Justice)
03 This World Is Not My Home (Lone Justice)
04 The Gift (Lone Justice)
05 Wheels (Lone Justice)
06 Shelter (Lone Justice)
07 Belfry (Lone Justice)
08 I Found Love (Lone Justice)
09 Heaven (Lone Justice)
10 Inspiration (Lone Justice)
11 talk (Lone Justice)
12 Sweet Jane (Lone Justice)
13 Ways to Be Wicked (Lone Justice)
14 Sweet, Sweet Baby [I’m Falling] (Lone Justice)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15528011/LoneJus_1986_BBInConcrtTwnanCountryClbLondnBritain__11-6-1986_atse.zip.html

The cover photo of lead singer Maria McKee is from the Farm Aid benefit concert in 1985.

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13 comments:

  1. Breizh63August 2, 2023 at 6:27 AM

    Hi Paul I really love your blog doing a great job, but for lonre justice bbc live that album exists. https://www.discogs.com/release/1913753-Lone-Justice-BBC-Radio-1-Live-In-Concert minus the 2old whitsle songs that add mothing as the sound is very bad....

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    1. PaulAugust 2, 2023 at 12:36 PM

      That must be out of print because I was looking all over for this one and never came across that one.

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  2. PaulAugust 2, 2023 at 12:26 PM

    The Maria McKee 1991 show was broadcast as part of an 'In Concert' double bill with Banderas. I'm 99.9% sure it wasn't pressed onto Transcription Disc either so it looks like - dodgy audience recordings aside, the BBC's 32 minutes is all there is of that particular show.

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    1. PaulAugust 2, 2023 at 12:34 PM

      First off, the officially released songs only total 25 minutes, at least for my version. Do you have 32 minutes? But on top of that, I have two other songs from that show, "A Real Life Story" and "I've Got a Feeling," for a total of 33 minutes. They come from a fan-made bootleg called "What's Going on With Mss X," and they sound pretty good. So if those two exist, I figure there must be more.

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    2. PaulAugust 2, 2023 at 12:38 PM

      Here's the version of "I've Got a Feeling" from that show, taken from that bootleg:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=290QRALLT28

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  3. PaulAugust 2, 2023 at 1:32 PM

    This is what I have from the 1991 show (Duration: 31.38):

    I've Forgotten What It Was In You (That Put The Need In Me)
    Am I The Only One (Who's Ever Felt This Way)?
    Shelter
    Wheels
    Show Me Heaven
    I Found Love
    A Good Heart
    Drinkin' In My Sunday Dress

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    1. PaulAugust 2, 2023 at 3:11 PM

      Hmm. The Live at the BBC album doesn't include "Wheels":

      https://www.discogs.com/release/3297228-Maria-McKee-Live-At-The-BBC

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    2. PaulAugust 2, 2023 at 3:47 PM

      Could you please send me Wheels if you've got it? My email is thompson22 @ runbox.com (remove the spaces). Thanks

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    3. PaulAugust 2, 2023 at 3:57 PM

      It might be publishing issues, copyright issues, who knows! This is why I never mess around or bother with 'Fan Made' stuff as usually artistic licence is taken and some people patch in songs from different concerts which invariably leads to incorrect dates and venues and ultimately confusion.

      Point in case is the 'What's Going on With Miss X' album you mention. I've always understood that to be a compilation of various live tracks from different venues from 1992 to 1996 which naturally wouldn't include any tracks from March 1991 anyway.

      Some bootleggers make a simple and easy job unecessarily hard!

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    4. PaulAugust 3, 2023 at 12:14 AM

      Those two songs from "Miss X" are actually from the Manchester show. How do I know? Because it was made before the "Live at the BBC" album was released, and it contained another song, "A Good Heart," also said to be from the Manchester show (and was labeled as such at the time), that turned up in the exact same version on the "Live at the BBC" album. That's pretty good evidence.

      By the way, if you could share that version of "Wheels," that would be great.

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    5. PaulAugust 3, 2023 at 1:57 AM

      It makes no difference when it was released! The songs you mention aren't even on the 'Miss X' CD album. How do I know? Check out the cover clue: "1992 - 1996" and then check out the liner notes detailing where each track is from, here: https://musicbrainz.org/release/ca96391f-846b-4ff6-a39c-92a002df505e/cover-art

      As already mentioned, there is nothing on that album from before 1992. The Manchester gig was 1991 and as such it isn't even on the 'Miss X' CD. Simple.

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    6. PaulAugust 3, 2023 at 2:22 AM

      It seems that we're talking about two different things. There appear to be two different bootlegs called "Songs from the Little Diva." I'm referring to the other one. It may also be called "Gang of Angels." You can see the track lists to both here:

      http://incaroads-wvkayaker.blogspot.com/2007/11/maria-mckee-cd-ep-and-single-post-and.html

      The one I'm referring to is from the years 1987 to 1993, and it has three songs from the Manchester concert on it. I used to have it in full, complete with lots of notes about each song, but I think I got rid of it after I put the songs I wanted from it on various stray tracks albums.

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    7. PaulAugust 3, 2023 at 2:31 AM

      In case you're curious, I found more info on the songs on it:

      xx "A Good Heart" by Maria McKee (3:24)(officially released on "Maria McKee_Live at the BBC") REMOVED
      Recorded live at Manchester University, UK March 23, 1991
      2) "Promise You Anything" by Maria McKee (2:29)
      studio demo recording 1990
      3) "Much Too Good at Goodbye" Lone Justice (3:55)
      studio demo recording, New York, NY Aug. 4-5, 1987
      4) "Friends For A While" (4:39) Lone Justice
      studio demo recording, New York, NY Aug. 4-5, 1987
      5) "The Silver Age" (3:53)
      Recorded Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA Sept. 23, 1988 (late)
      6) "He's Right On Time" (2:12)
      Recorded Live At The WHFS Studio, Maryland broadcast Sept. 19, 1989
      7) "Wading In The Water" (2:51)
      Recording Live at The Troubadour, LA, CA May 24, 1993
      8) "Hold Me Master" (2:16)(Trad.)
      Recording Live at Logo, Hamburg, Germany Nov. 11, 1989
      9) "Bring 'Em On In" (3:24) (Van Morrison)
      Recording Live in Glasgow, Scotland March 22, 1991
      10) "A Real Life Story"(4:12)
      Recorded live at Manchester University, UK March 23, 1991
      11) "Little Diva & Sugar Jones" (3:44) Lone Justice
      Studio Demo recording, New York, NY Aug. 4-5, 1987
      12) "Taxi" short cut from "Darktown Strutter’s Ball" (Shelton Brooks)
      Recording Live at Logo, Hamburg, Germany Nov. 11, 1989
      13) "I've Got a Feeling" (Lennon & McCartney) (4:01)
      Recorded live at Manchester University, UK March 23, 1991
      14) "Over Me" (4:11)
      Recorded at The Bayou, Washington, DC Sept. 19, 1989
      15) "Into The Mystic" (Van Morrison) (2:56)
      Recorded at The Bayou, Washington, DC Sept. 19, 1989
      16) "Things I Shouldn't Do" (4:09)
      Recorded Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA Sept. 23, 1988 (late)
      17) "Break It Up" (Patti Smith) (3:26)
      Recording at The Olympia Theater, Dublin, Ireland April 13, 1991
      18) "Bending & Craving" (Etzioni) (2:53)
      Recording Live at The Troubadour, LA, CA May 24, 1993
      19) "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" (Parton/Owens) (2:52)
      CFNY Studio, Toronto, Canada broadcast on Sept. 21, 1993
      20) "Hickory Wind" (Parsons/Buchanan) (3:38)
      Recording Live at Logo, Hamburg, Germany Nov. 11, 1989
      21) "I'll Be Your Shelter" (In the Time of Storm) (4:33) (Banks/Hampton/Jackson)
      Recorded Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA Sept. 23, 1988 (early)
      22) "I Need A Man" (Gutt/Kessler) (3:01)
      Recorded Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA April 13, 1991

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