I
always felt I was a little different from the majority of Purple
fans, and came out of the closet years ago. You see, I actually
like ‘Last Concert In Japan’. I think it's a great album - always
have done. OK, the fact that it was my first real Japanese import
helped, but here was a chance to listen to the cream of the ‘Come
Taste The Band’ tracks in a live setting. I got to know the album
intimately. I know every ad-lib, whoop and holler, and could match
every scream from both Coverdale and Hughes (although off-key
of course!). I ended up picking up a second vinyl copy, and threw
£20 over the counter in Tower Records for the import CD a few
years back. When I joined the DPAS, my first letter asked if anyone
knew if the rest of the ‘Last Concert’ tapes still existed.
Anyway,
you all know the story by now. The final date in Japan - at
the Budo-Kan in Tokyo on December 15th 1975 - was taped both
officially and unofficially (the bootleg first appearing on
vinyl under
the title 'Get It While It Tastes') and the greatly edited single
LP version of the show was released in Japan in March 1977.
Now the complete show is available, as it was on the night,
with no slight of hand, no dodgy edits and no running order
re-arrangements; as with other such DPAS-related releases, what
you get is the show as it happened, warts and all, as they say.
The
first thing you notice is the preponderance of material aired
from ‘Come Taste The Band’. Seven of the album's nine tracks
were showcased on the night, a brave move considering the relatively
poor sales of the album; by the time the US dates were recorded,
the number of new songs had been considerably pared down. The
second thing is that if you are familiar with 'Last Concert'
you'll see that the bulk of the original album is drawn from
the early part of the band's set. So, things get started with
David Coverdale's screamed intro and THAT version of 'Burn',
before giving way to 'Lady Luck' with its funky little guitar
solo, and 'Love Child' which gives Jon Lord room to show off
his particular skills.
The
first ‘new' track is 'Gettin' Tighter', which at the best part
of sixteen or so minutes not only eclipses the version on 'Foxbat'
but also has more 'structure' than the American recording, and
features more nice
keyboard doodling, as well as the Hughes / Bolin interplay plus
some fine vocals from the bassist.Up next is 'Smoke On The Water'.
On the plus side, Glenn Hughes' 'Georgia..' snippet had been
resurrected and reinstated, having being edited off the original
vinyl release. But on the minus side... I guess I am the ultimate
heretic; I don't really like the song, finding it rather dull.
Live, it has a little more merit, but not the way MK.IV played
it. In addition, Hughes' howling through 'Georgia..' adds absolutely
nothing to 'Smoke..' and I still wonder why anyone actually
let him do it in the first place. Still, it gives way to 'Wild
Dogs', a classic in its own right and a marvellous showcase
of Bolin's talents, both as a singer and a guitarist, as he
wrenches out that final solo before the song crashes to an end.
'I
Need Love' doesn't really work live, and you can see why it
was soon dropped from the live set. Bereft of the classy fretboard
overdubs on the studio version, it just plods along before Coverdale
delivers what was to become in later years his 'Soldier of Fortune'
trademark and Jon Lord embarks on the first of the set's lengthy
solos (including the 'Woman From Tokyo' snippet that along with
'Soldier Of Fortune' was tacked to the end of 'Smoke' on the
LP). As was the norm, Lord's spots are flawless and 'Lazy',
complete with Ian Paice's drum solo; both solo spots are almost
effortless in their execution, although as ever they mean more
if you were actually there on the night.
Hughes
steps up to introduce 'This Time Around / Owed To G', and delivers
a superb vocal performance, before Paice thunders in and Bolin
cuts loose on the instrumental passage. Things falter as his
solo spot takes quite a time to get going, but as he warms up
(or the nerves die down) he pulls off some nice touches
before plunging effortlessly into 'Drifter'. Coverdale's lead
vocals are spot on (Hughes sounds rather off-key in the background!),
and by now Bolin is really firing on all eight. After loss of
momentum arising from the middle set solos, the band is back
in the groove once more. 'You Keep On Moving' was the
highlight of 'Last Concert..' for me, and it still has all of
its appeal. A beautiful piece with some deft flashes from Bolin,
and that terrific solo from Lord, this version never fails to
put a shiver up my spine. 'Stormbringer' closes the set proper,
this version being very similar to the one on 'Foxbat', together
with the extended (and perhaps unnecessary, given the powerful
MK.III versions) ending. After such a set, it's a bit of a surprise
and a disappointment that the sole encore is the no-frills version
of 'Highway Star'.
There
you have it. In summary, it you disliked 'Last Concert..' because
of the ‘liberties' taken with the set, then this will restore
your faith; on the other hand, if you liked the record, then
you're going to love this new version. Coverdale is in fine
form throughout (a much better performance than is in evidence
on 'Foxbat'), Bolin pulls some real magic out of his guitar,
Hughes and Paice are nice and tight and Lord is ever reliable,
almost a hidden hand directing things from stage left. This
to me is vintage Purple.
Niggles?
One of the only other gripes is the lack of encores; hearing
the material for the first time without a track list I expected
more than just the single breakneck rendition of 'Highway Star'.
I was still at school in Torquay in 1976; Liverpool and the
rest of the Mk.IV dates were a long way from my home town, so
I didn't get to see those legendary, shambolic final dates.
It's over twenty years since my mates and I sat and wondered
how it could all have turned so sour so quickly; now, having
played this recording through from start to finish several times
now, and still enjoying the class of material and the strength
of the performances (both individual and as a whole) which at
times crackle with energy, the question remains - how did things
go so badly wrong within just three short months? Talk about
chucking it all away....
John Tucker
This review
appeared in Issue 52 of Darker Than Blue magazine, along with
a detailed report
on TOKYO '75.
under
the title 'Get It While It Tastes') and the greatly edited single
LP version of the show was released in Japan in March 1977.
Now the complete show is available, as it was on the night,
with no slight of hand, no dodgy edits and no running order
re-arrangements; as with other such DPAS-related releases, what
you get is the show as it happened, warts and all, as they say.
nice
keyboard doodling, as well as the Hughes / Bolin interplay plus
some fine vocals from the bassist.Up next is 'Smoke On The Water'.
On the plus side, Glenn Hughes' 'Georgia..' snippet had been
resurrected and reinstated, having being edited off the original
vinyl release. But on the minus side... I guess I am the ultimate
heretic; I don't really like the song, finding it rather dull.
Live, it has a little more merit, but not the way MK.IV played
it. In addition, Hughes' howling through 'Georgia..' adds absolutely
nothing to 'Smoke..' and I still wonder why anyone actually
let him do it in the first place. Still, it gives way to 'Wild
Dogs', a classic in its own right and a marvellous showcase
of Bolin's talents, both as a singer and a guitarist, as he
wrenches out that final solo before the song crashes to an end.
touches
before plunging effortlessly into 'Drifter'. Coverdale's lead
vocals are spot on (Hughes sounds rather off-key in the background!),
and by now Bolin is really firing on all eight. After loss of
momentum arising from the middle set solos, the band is back
in the groove once more. 'You Keep On Moving' was the
highlight of 'Last Concert..' for me, and it still has all of
its appeal. A beautiful piece with some deft flashes from Bolin,
and that terrific solo from Lord, this version never fails to
put a shiver up my spine. 'Stormbringer' closes the set proper,
this version being very similar to the one on 'Foxbat', together
with the extended (and perhaps unnecessary, given the powerful
MK.III versions) ending. After such a set, it's a bit of a surprise
and a disappointment that the sole encore is the no-frills version
of 'Highway Star'.