(Buffalo Springfield - 1967 - Back by popular demand - the whole set)
One of my first Backstage Weekend posts for Newstalgia was a Hollywood Bowl performance by The Buffalo Springfield from April 29, 1967. Significant in that it was the first public performance of "Mister Soul" (recorded a few days earlier) and one of the few recordings surviving from the period of the band during their prime. At the time I did the post all we had was You Tube and I was restricted to a 10 minute lump of that concert. And so only Mister Soul made it. But a few months later, when C&L got the new snappy embed player, I promised everyone who asked that I would make available the whole set, unedited.
Response to the first playing of the set was so overwhelming, even Neil Young included that recording of Mister Soul on his latest boxset. Needless to say, I was really happy to oblige.
Just be aware, if you haven't heard this yet - there are some bad technical glitches, which explains why it has never been issued. Not only is the Hollywood Bowl sound system crude by todays standards with lots of distortion, there's a nice high-pitched squeal which goes through the whole show, which I found out later was an ungrounded radio mike.
But with all the technical problems, one thing stands out - and that's a historic performance by a legendary band during a pivotal time in our music culture.
And that, I think is worth putting up with some distortion, squeals and bad mixes - don't you?
Enjoy and Happy New Year everyone!
