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JEFF BECK & THE JAN HAMMER GROUP
Boston 1976 [no label, 2CD]
Live at the Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA; October 10, 1976. Very good to excellent audience recording.
Jeff Beck’s October 10, 1976 show has been regarded among fans as a keeper. It’s likely this is the source used for Watch Tower’s 2004 update of the show, Live At Boston 1976. [In 2001, Watch Tower had released a version of this show as Wired Up 1976, without the opening intro.]
gsparaco, collectorsmusicreviews.com:
Jeff Beck and Jam Hammer played Boston twice in the same week in October 1976. October 10 was in the smaller and intimate Music Hall and a week later on October 19th at the massive Boston Gardens… It is fantastic to listen to since it rivals the fidelity of many officially-recorded shows.
The structure of the Jan Hammer/Jeff Beck shows in the fall were similar to those earlier in the summer. Jan Hammer and his group would start the show by playing several songs and Jeff Beck would join in and play his set.
“Darkness/Earth In Search Of A Sun” is Jeff Beck’s cue and he walks onstage in the middle of the piece to play the solo and he stays on stage for the rest of the evening. “You Know What I Mean” and a cute version of “Freeway Jam” follow.
“Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” according to Beck, is an attempt to “retrace our steps a bit to an era when I played the blues” he says before his cover of the Charles Mingus tune. There are hints of blues but the song is firmly committed to the jazz genre from whence it came. “Scatterbrain” sees Beck playing wildly, getting his licks out on the guitar. Fernand Saunders plays a lengthy bass solo which is, in the words of Beck, completely opposite to “Scatterbrain.” Saunders injects the heaviest voice of funk and dance during the entire evening and the piece sounds brilliant.
Afterwards Beck, after introducing the song, says, “it’s really nice to be back in Boston. I started my American career in this town and I still feel a really great affection for you people” before trying to remember the name of the album “She’s A Woman” is one. He stumbles before saying Blow By Blow. The Beatles cover sounds very relaxed as Beck recites some of the lyrics through the voice box as they play the song in a reggae beat, “for all you reggae lovers out there.”
“Full Moon Boogie” with Hammer singing along is the set closer. Before they get into the encore Beck speaks to someone in the audience and sounds very apologetic. It’s impossible to hear the context of the context since whatever was said isn’t audible. Be defending himself, Beck says, “there’s no use in getting away from it. I’m a rock and roll guitar player. I ain’t trying to kid anyone. I used to play for enjoyment once upon a time.” The brilliant “Blue Wind” has a reference to “Train Kept A Rollin’” in the same arrangement as played by the Yardbirds.
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Thanks to Steve Hopkins (shopkin527) who recorded the show and shared it at Lossless Legs.
Lineage:
Audience Stereo Sony ECM-99A > Sony TC-152SD
FOB, microphone hand-held
Nakamichi MR-1 > Tascam DA-20 MKII > Tascam CD-RW900
Master Cassette > DAT > CD > EAC > FLAC
Dolby B decoded, no processing or EQ
Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (224 kbps). As far as we can ascertain, these tracks have never been officially released on CD.
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Disc 1
Track 101. intro and tuning 4:47 (8.0MB)
Track 102. Magical Dog 10:13 (17.2MB)
Track 103. Evolove 8:05 (13.6MB)
Track 104. One To One 4:23 (7.4MB)
Track 105. Stepping Tones/Drums/Awakening 9:56 (16.7MB)
Track 106. Darkness/Earth In Search Of A Sun (Jeff Beck enters) 8:23 (14.1MB)
Track 107. You Know What I Mean 4:37 (7.8MB)
Track 108. Freeway Jam 8:17 (13.9MB)
Track 109. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat 5:53 (9.9MB)
65 mins
Disc 2
Track 201. Earth (Still Our Only Home) 7:03 (11.8MB)
Track 202. Scatterbrain 7:47 (13.1MB)
Track 203. Come Dancing 12:01 (20.2MB)
Track 204. She’s A Woman 5:55 (9.9MB)
Track 205. Diamond Dust 7:31 (12.6MB)
Track 206. Full Moon Boogie 6:56 (11.7MB)
Track 207. ovation 2:55 (4.9MB)
Track 208. Blue Wind/Train Kept A-Rollin’/Blue Wind 8:03 (13.5MB)
Track 209. ovation/We Want Beck 4:29 (7.5MB)
63 mins
Lineup:
Jeff Beck - guitar, vocals
Jan Hammer - keyboards, vocals
Steve Kindler - violin
Fernando Saunders - bass
Tony Smith - drums, vocals
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