When I Get Off of this Mountain, You Know Where I Want to Go?

This is a bootleg I've been just dying to come across. Usenet floods of the shittiest bands happen on a seemingly hourly basis and the good stuff is well, very rare. Does anyone really need 17,000 bootlegs of Uriah Heep concerts from 30 years ago? The answer, of course, is no. But every so often, gems like this are uploaded and then the wheels really hit the pavement. The Last Moving Shadows is 2-disc CD-R Band bootleg from Massive Attack Discs, probably named after Ron Horning's 1988 article "The Moving Shadow of Richard Manuel" from Village Voice, about The Band's former lead singer. Disc 1 contains live recordings from various venues 1984-1986, disc 2 is from a good quality soundboard tape recorded at The Band's concert at New York's Lone Star Cafe, February 8, 1986, less than a month before Richard died. This is the first time I've seen a bootleg from The Band in one of these usenet groups and I hope this is the start of a series I can post. Of the boots I do have from the Stones and Springsteen among others, the sound on this one is the absolute best, I mean just fucking marvelous. As I write this, I've got "It Makes No Difference" on a top volume. I know it's a horrible cliche, but music like this is few and far between in the year 2008. They don't make 'em like this anymore. Actually, they never really belonged in their time either. Nobody ever really made music quite like this.



Tracks
Disc 1 - Various venues 1984-1986

You Don't Know Me: Tokyo Japan 09/01/83 (3:20)
King Harvest: Tokyo Japan 09/01/83 (3:42)
Bring It On Home: Capital Theatre Passaic NJ 06/09/84 (5:45)
It Makes No Difference: Atlanta GA 09/08/84 (6:24)
She Knows: Indianapolis IN 05/07/85 (2:48)
That's How I Love You: Indianapolis IN 05/07/85 (2:59)
Unfaithful Servant: Evansville IN 05/16/85 (2:52)
Across The Great Divide: Lone Star Cafe NYC 02/07/86 early show (3:46)
Caldonia: Lone Star Cafe NYC 02/07/86 early show (7:15)
The Shape I'm In: Lone Star Cafe NYC 02/07/86 early show (3:46)
Don't Want To Hang Up My R&R Shoes: Osaka Japan 08/29/83 (3:11)
Blaze Of Glory: Osaka Japan 08/29/83 (3:16)

Disc 2 - Lone Star Cafe NYC 02/08/86 late show
Organ Improv (1:40)
Chest Fever (4:48)
Long Black Veil (6:01)
Milk Cow Blues (4:17)
You Don't Know Me (2:51)
Stage Fright (5:11)
Ain't Got No Home (4:01)
I Wish You Were Here Tonight (4:58)
Ill Wind Blowin (3:25)
Mystery Train (5:21)
Up On Cripple Creek (5:16)
I Shall Be Released (3:29)
The Weight (5:34)
Willie And The Hand Jive (6:55)

The Band - The Last Moving Shadows - 1999 - Massive Attack Discs MA 990144/45

"Wait? Wait for Fucking What? It's Been Two and Half Fucking Years!"

So begins Nobody Said It was Easy by the Four Horsemen.

So I've always thought of myself as Joe Music, Jack Rock and Roll, Ferdinand Von Fuck among other personas. I'm probably a very sick individual but that's beside the point. What is the point, is that The Four Horsemen are just great, great, great rock and roll and I had no idea they existed until 2005. My brother-in-law was over for a drunkening in the awful city of Saskatoon. We were tossing back beers and listening to AC/DC or something and he asks me if I have any Four Horsemen.





To which I ask "Who the fuck are the Four Horsemen?" I must admit, I thought it might be some vaguely awful metal band, like The Bulletboys or Trixter but you know, angrier. And how does someone who doesn't really listen to music on the same level as I do stump me right off the bat? It was humbling. I considered killing him on the spot, but if I even thought about that, he'd probably would have sensed it and killed me first. Fortunately the good folks on the Obner board helped out and scored me Nobody Said It Was Easy, which was pretty cool and made a good drinking day even better. In my personal bible of Good and Evil, this is pretty much exemplary rock and roll. It's the Cult circa Electric, but with a southern flair. I love the first couple of Cult albums, but Electric was my favourite and it always seems to be a polarizing record. They both have the very obvious touch of Rick Rubin, who released The Four Horsemen's debut on Def American label, which boded well because I pretty much liked anything his was putting out on there, even The Day The Laughter Died. Basically, if Skynyrd and AC/DC got together in the early 70s and jammed it would probably sound like this. You know who you are if you like this kind thing. So crack a beer and turn this motherfucker up LOUD.

An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down

I'm not going to wax philosophic about a band as great as Faces. I will leave that to others more informed. I will say this is a fairly rockin' set from 1971 in Sacremento, with a rough sound but it's not unlistenable at all. It's unmistakably a bootleg, and after playing it at work today I'm nearly certain I was scaring people with it as they walked by the lab. Like who the fuck listens to this awful sounding stuff? I will take this time to highly recommend Ronnie: The Autobiography, easily one of the more enjoyable books I've read in awhile. Actually if would have been nice to have a bit more Faces, but the stories are still great. Same with this set. I played 'Love in Vain' more than a few times today already, and now that I've had a few, I'm sure I'll play it a few more times tonight. Drinking and the Faces just seem so right.