DEEP BENEATH THE WAVES vol 62

Subject:      DEEP BENEATH THE WAVES vol 62
From:         xyx
Date:         1997/09/02

Continuing the fun with another title from our friends in the
Far East, plus the first two of what will probably be many
illegitimate illegitimates, i.e. CD-Rs.......

NORTHERN SONGS  2CD (Dirty 13/D13-010)  20 Feb 97  Sun Plaza Hall,
    Sendai, Japan (15) plus filler (4) Tokyo Intern. Forum  2/9-10-11/97
Tracks: 19   Times: 73/76     Source: Audience        Quality: Very Good

    The second complete Japanese show from February past to make its
 way onto CD, and a good one at that. Nice quality and an excellent
performance w/some rarely played tunes make for good listening in
my book.  The setlist contains a few trax - ManInMe/WhatGoodAmI/
Jokerman/ThinMan/EverythingBroken - that keep things very interesting.
Jokerman is a nice rearrangement, done a bit slower and with a few lyric
changes. Sound quality is very good but by no means great, with the high
ends a bit muffled so you may want to fiddle with the eq a bit to knock up
the highs. Sound is warm and well-rounded with none of that
harsh digital feel, though, and the acoustic set suffers less than the
electrified trax as far as the highs. Bob sounds a bit more inspired and
adventurous than in other shows on this leg, leading the band on some
nice extended jams and  punching out some energetic vocals with his
usual flair. A very uptempo and bouncy DontThinkTwice will get your
toes 'a tappin, for sure. A nice set of good quality bonus trax also.
Track list: Flood/ManInme/Watchtower/WhatGood/LotToLaugh/Silvio/
FriendOfDevil/JBrown/Think 2X/Jokerman/ThinMan/Broken/LARS/
Ain'TMeBabe/RDW12&35/WantYou/BabyTonite/MemphisBlues/RiverFlow.

   A decent set but not essential. Packaging is quite lame.

REFERENCE RECORDING-THE GREATEST SINGLE EVER MADE  (LRS 101)  1CD
  Tracks: 15  Time: 46  Source: HWY 61 Interactive CD-ROM    Quality: VG
   This one actually came out a while back but was tough to get. This could
be due to the fact that it is perhaps the first "commercial" Dylan CD-R.
The 500 issued copies were broken up into 5 sets of 100, the only
difference being the silkscreened cover inserts were issued in 5 different
colors. Anyway, all the trax are taken from the CD-ROM, the sound is good
but a bit thin (like it sounds on cheap computer speakers) and all in all
it's a bit of a drag that won't warrant repeated listens on most playlists.
The title refers to LIKE A ROLLING STONE and the CD includes all the
takes on the CD-ROM, including the false starts, remakes, acetates,
blah blah blah. Nice a few times through but tiresome after that.
The 2 other trax are the electric dub of Rising Sun & IShallBeFree#10
(w/extra verse).  All copies come w/ an individually #'d stamp.

PLUGGED, UNPLUGGED & JAMMING  1CD (No label)   CD-R  Various Duets
  Trax: 16   Time: 73   Source: Studio/TV/Audience/Board   Quality: Exc
I'm not going to make it a habit of reviewing these obvious CD-Rs, as
they no doubt will become more commonplace.  I'll make an exception in
this case, as the gentleman who picked it up for me supposedly found it
in a shop in a major metropolitan area, plus the cover graphics and insert
are plain but nicely done and I'd imagine there are more than a few floating
around. If anyone else comes across it, I'd like to hear about it.
Without going into great detail, there are several tunes on here making their
debut on CD*, and the sound quality throughout is excellent.  The track
rundown:
-November 1971, NYC Columbia Studios w/Happy Traum: complete, unedited*
session with Released, 2 takes of YouAin'tGoin'Nowhere & DownInFlood.
-Peace Sunday, Rose Bowl, Los Angeles 6/6/82 w/Joan Baez: GodOnOurSide*,
  APirateLooksAt40* (Jimmy Buffett), & Blowin'*.  Audience recording.
-Athens 6/89 from BBC TV w/Van:  CrazyLove, ForeignWindow w/intro* by Van
   talking about how it could be about Dylan, & OneIrishRover. This whole set
is
    simply sublime.
-Old Warfield, Frisco  11/22/80 w/McGuinn: MrTMan* & Knockin'*. Audience
-Old Warfield, Frisco  11/15/80 w/Bloomfield:  LARS, Groom's Still
Waiting-SBD
-Lone Star Cafe, NYC 5/29/88 w/Levon Helm:  a very ragged The Weight* &
    Nadine in excellent quality from the board.

  All in all, a very nice collection and well thought out. It does'nt hurt
that very
good quality source tapes were used. It's clear that the cover and insert
graphics
were computer generated, not printed, but they did a nice job sizing the
label
for the CD itself, as it almost looks real (& not a paper glue-on).
  I'd welcome comments on these CD-Rs and if you DEEP readers (if there are
any :-) ) want these included or think I should avoid them entirely. Please
e-
mail me privately if you have any strong feelings on the subject, one way or
another.

xyx

1995 1996 1997 1998 T-list CDs