Running around, crumbling and digging the endless fields of the Hunting Grounds, one might get exposed to some new awesome music gems. Over the years an achievement of the music programmes in the foreign tv schedules could have been a blessing in therms of showing up the performers, who - in 21st century ended with the significant lack of the dvd release with archieve footages that could show the next generation what their live act was in their heyday.
I got to find two items that quite have blown my mind superlatively speaking.
Bad Co is the first live act. I have a post on Paul Rodgers in the working right now, but the way it has developed got insistively separate to this issue.
Anyway, there was in the mid 70's the institution of Don Kirshner In Concert programme that has managed to get three amazing acts to play and thus got preserved a very valuable live materials. 1975 seson saw classic Black Sabbath line-up promoting 'Sabotage' album in the show and it nicely fills at least a bit of the gap between the recorded 1974 California Jam appearance and the London 1978 show from the last tour to feature Ozzy Osbourne on the Sabbath mike stand in the 70's.
The other very neat appearance is coming from Uriah Heep, who have a very little of live material preserved form the 2nd half of 70's. The line-up with the magnificent John Wetton playing bass and singing bass vocals is consequently receiving rough comments from Ken Hensley, but the existing bits prove the man wrong. The Heep could have been shattered by the personal differences, with the late David Byron and Hensley already being deep in the murky waters, still the remaining evidences show their musicanship at the top pf their game way across 1975 and 1976. "Shady Lady" footage itself is a killer, with a frenetic ending, displaying a wild solo on slide guitar from Hensley - and - more interestingly - Byron stepping in to his Hammond stack to provide backing sound layer with wild organ sound.
Nevertheless the axis of my post was to be Bad Company. They performed at Kirschner's show in 1974, while promoting their wildly succesful, self-titled debut. And what a show they give. If there should be any examples of the "full flow" tilted live show given, then it is one of these. Rodgers was at his peak then, with his all-over-the-stage shaman-like appeal: thunder of long black hair, mike stand flying around, wild, roaring voice, soaring with rock power but still extraordinarily rooted in blues. In couple of track he has the plugged Fender guitar round his neck, assisting Mick Ralphs nicely in the double layered, harmonic solo for the song "Can't Get Enough". While the song is played everywhere almost to death, here anyway this reendition is highly enjoyable. When Paul doesn't play the guitar - the instrument swings around his hips - and the overall effect is incredibly seductive! It feels almost impossible to sit still and watch while they thunder through the solid portion of the "Bad Company" album enriched by the stunning take of Free classic song "The Stealer", with the nicely re-shifted key tone to expose soaring vocals from Rodgers. Amazing stuff, enormously enjoyable and recomendable for everyone who likes rock and blues and would like to get sweeped by the swaying wave. Your feet won't stand still while seeing this one - it will instantly make you wanna groove. Extremely precious sort of influence these days!
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