Comments:
To complement the release of the first Guitar Speak album, IRS records organized a week-long
"Night Of The Guitar"
British tour with many of its featured artists.
Naturally, the final show was recorded for release; a
two-part video set (which I don't have) presents the
show in its entirety, with the album release presenting
various highlights.
This tour was obviously the fulfilled dream of many guitar
craftsmen, particularly those with an affinity for the
psychedelic/early progressive period. For some of the
artists, as well, it must have appeared as a step in the
right direction after a period of decline; Howe's
subsequent recovery after the Asia/GTR years now seems
obvious enough, for instance, and Krieger's appearance
may have helped prepare the world for the Doors revival
a few years later. The show was not without it lulls and
fiascos, of course, but it seems to have been based in
an artistically credible idea. For 1988, this wasn't an
everyday occurrence.
Pete Haycock and Steve Hunter serve as the
"resident sidemen" for most of the night,
making it somewhat appropriate that they'd receive the
opening positions on this release (after Miles
Copeland's introduction, of course ... he sounds exactly
like his brother). Haycock (formerly with the Climax
Blues Band) starts the show with "Dr. Brown I
Presume", a fusion-based track with, appropriately
enough, features a fairly good (if slap-heavy) bass solo
by Livingstone Brown; Haycock puts in a good performance
as well, though the keyboard backing sounds more than a
bit dated. Not a bad track to whet the appetites of the
audience, I suppose.
Steve Hunter (formerly of Lou Reed, Alice Cooper and
Peter Gabriel) comes out next, with "The Idler".
This track has a rather troubling introductory section
-- a smooth, urban jazz feel that seems a bit too
laid-back for the occasion (it's never a good sign when
live drums sound sequenced, I suppose ...). Thankfully,
the sheer level of space granted to the track (a common
Guitar Speak feature) allows it to develop into something more
interesting; by the song's end, it actually comes out as
a decent piece of music.
Haycock comes into the foreground again with
"Lucienne", though he probably shouldn't have
-- this apparent tribute to an earlier period of guitar stylings comes off rather flat. The melodrama seems
forced, the band accompaniment is weak, and not much
really happens in the foreground. From a historical
standpoint, Haycock's technique is somewhat interesting;
as a song, though, this doesn't rate too highly.
Copeland then introduces ex-Spirit guitarist Randy
California, who performs "Groove Thing" for
the assembly. All things considered, a different track
might have been in order -- the guitar
introduction is a work of raw beauty (from California,
at least ... the band seems much tamer), but the vocal
sections aren't really that notable by any standard.
California's solos reveal quite a bit of talent; he may
have been almost completely derivative of Jimi, but
there's no denying that he was good.
After thing middling success, California then manages
to come up with something really notable in his version
of "Hey Joe". I'm not even that much of a fan
of Hendrix's version of this track (which, obviously,
California's is thoroughly based on ... even as far as
the vocals), but will acknowledge that RC managed to
come up with a powerful tribute, in this instance. Some
might differ with the reggae additions on bass and drums
near the end, but these don't distract from the point of
the song.
Miles Copeland then goes overboard in his
introductory hyperbole, signaling the appearance of
former Doors guitarist Rob Krieger, the biggest name on
the tour. Krieger begins this set with an (over)long
free-form introduction which doesn't really have
anything to do with "Love Me Two Times", and
not terribly much to do with music; I suppose that one
can get away which such moments once one reaches the
status of a legend, though. The actual song is a bit
better, though not necessarily by much -- this was never
the most shining moment in the Doorsian catalogue, and
the vocals here are out-and-out bad. It's only
when the mid-song guitar solo comes in that this performance justifies itself;
with Hunter acting as a moderating influence, Krieger
seems able to focus more clearly. This is obviously a
mixed bag performance, but some points of merit can be
drawn from the well.
The double-guitar
driving forces of Wishbone Ash, Ted Turner and Andy
Powell, make their appearance next, and perform the
best-composed track of the night (thus far). "The King Will Come", from their
progressive Argus album,
seems a shining jewel in the ragged terrain of Wishbone
Ash's career, developing the story of the Book of
Revelations in a fairly non-sophomoric manner. The vocal
harmonies are actually fairly good in this performance (apparently
sung by the guitarists themselves), and the guitar interplay goes over quite well. Neither guitarist seems
to be a real virtuoso, and the soloing is a bit limited
in comparison to some of other tracks here; the value of
the song makes up for this problem, however. The edges
may be a bit rough on occasion, but this one's worth
seeking out.
Ex-Mountain guitarist Leslie West's "Theme From
An Imaginary Western" was a noble idea, but it
didn't go over that well in practice. Dedicated to
"my partner Felix, who's up in heaven" this
number was apparently written primarily by Jack Bruce;
despite having some decent vocals (not from West) and a
few interesting blues-rock sections, however, this never
really amounts to that much of a track. Arguably, West's
sentiments were getting the better of him here; the
soloing at the end, in any event, is far from the
album's high point.
West then introduces ex-Yes/Asia guitarist Steve Howe.
On the video, Howe performs "Clap" as his
opening piece; this album, however, features
"Sketches Of The Sun" in its place. Why this
track was chosen over the more well-known "Clap"
for the shorter version isn't quite clear --
nevertheless, this is a good performance of the track (featuring
Howe's usual subtle variations), despite a few sound
problems that seem to plague the performance. Howe then
performs "Wurm" with assistance from Pete
Haycock; I've already discussed this track in my review of "Yesoteric Volume Eleven", but suffice it
to say for this commentary that this version features
the penultimate live guitar performance of the track, generally unhindered by a duel
with the keyboards (which imitate Tony Kaye's
performance on the studio version). Another high point
of the show, even if its separation from the rest of
"Starship Trooper" is a bit jarring at times.
"The Governor" Howe then introduces Alvin
Lee (ex-Ten Years After), who quickly adds another high
point to the concert with his performance of "No
Limit" (possibly the best track on the Guitar Speak album). As far as this style of playing
goes (straightfoward rock, with strong melodic presence),
Lee may well be one of it's masters; this version of the
track, after a somewhat silly intro, is faithful to the
album version. After muttering something incoherent, Lee
then goes into a performance of "Ain't Nothin'
Shakin'", which is much better than anything by
that title should be. The extended (and extensive)
soloing may be a bit indulgent at times (and does anyone
need another "Sunshine Of Your Love" reference
point?), but this is still Lee working within his best
idiom.
The entire ensemble then comes out for "All
Along The Watchtower", an appropriate a choice as
any for the final song of the night.
Stewart Copeland seemingly makes a guest appearance on
drums here, and possibly on some of the vocal parts as
well. After a subtle lead-in, the song begins in earnest
-- the first two verses are handled fairly well, but the
focal point of this track is obviously the mid-song
solos, of which there are four: Krieger's is good,
Powell's creates a sustained ambience without quite
getting the "highs", Howe's is almost
completely out of left field, Haycock's is fairly smooth.
The third verse is marred by a silly reference to the
"two horses" traveling through the Night
Of The Guitar touring list (with accompanying guitar
scales), but this isn't unforgiveably bad. It drags on a
little bit, of course, but this is still a decent
performance.
Those listeners who liked the Guitar Speak album should like this as well.
Recommended for those interested.
The Christopher Currie
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