Monday, 18 January 2021

#150 THE WATERBOYS - Glastonbury Festival 1986 (Flac)

The Waterboys are often mistaken for an Irish group but none of their original members were Irish. Lead singer and main driving force Mike Scott was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. The other original members included Anthony Thistlethwaite, born in Lutterworth England, Karl Wallinger, Prestatyn Wales and Kevin Wilkinson, Stoke-on-Trent, England.

Mike Scott went to Ireland in January 1986 to visit Steve Wickham for a week long trip that turned into a six-year stay. Karl Wallinger had left the band and started his own, World Party. This left the way for a change in direction amid the influence of Steve Wickham and Ireland. Mike Scott has said of this time, "Between April and July 1986, the fellow who fiddles, the human saxophone, Trevor Hutchison, Dave Ruffian and myself were the greatest band in the world." Make up your own mind while listening to this storming performance.

Mike Scott and the other members of the Waterboys have never received royalties or any money from the pre-FM source of this Glastonbury 1986 show and he has excluded it from their official discography, and regards it as nothing more than a bootleg. Which is good news for us meaning it can be posted here as one of the greatest bootlegs. 

Three of the tracks missing from that release have been broadcast on FM and all are included here. Only the opening track, a cover of “The Wayward Wind” (and also covered by Neil Young on 'Old Ways' in 1985), “Fisherman’s Blues and “Meet Me At The Station” are missing. 

Those familiar with the album 'An Appointment with Mr Yeats' (2011) will notice the early influence of WB Yeats in the music of Mike Scott. The 1986 live performances of ‘This is The Sea’ and ‘Spirit’ incorporated the lyric of ‘The Four Ages Of  Man’ and 'Savage Earth Heart' includes quotations from "Dirt" by Iggy Pop and 'Jerusalem' by William Blake.

The Waterboys
Pyramid Stage, Glastonbury Festival, England
20 June, 1986


01. Medicine Bow                         
02. Be My Enemy                    
03. Maggie's Farm (Bob Dylan cover)                 
04. Old England                    
05. The Thrill Is Gone / And the Healing Has Begun    
06. The Pan Within (incl. Because the Night)        
07. The Whole of the Moon                
08. Spirit / The 4 Ages of Man / Endless Store        
09. Savage Earth Heart / Dirt / Jerusalem        
10. This Is the Sea                             
      encore:
11. Saints and Angels                 

tracks 1 & 3 from FM 1 source, tracks 2, 4-9 & 13 from pre-FM, track 10 is from the second FM source


 The complete set was:

01. The Wayward Wind (Gogi Grant cover) x
02. Medicine Bow                         
03. Be My Enemy                    
04. Fisherman's Blues x
05. Maggie's Farm (Dylan cover)                
06. Old England                    
07. The Thrill Is Gone / And the Healing Has Begun    
08. Meet Me at the Station x
09. The Pan Within (incl. Because the Night)        
10. The Whole of the Moon                
11. Spirit / The 4 Ages of Man / Endless Store        
12. Savage Earth Heart / Dirt / Jerusalem        
13. This Is the Sea                             
      encore:
14. Saints and Angels                 

Tracks marked x are those missing, there is an audience recording of the whole show in circulation

 LINK

 

Lineages:

Pre-FM: CDr rip > WAV > TLH > Flac 8

FM 1: BBC Radio 1 FM -> Roof Aerial -> Marantz ST151L Tuner -> Aiwa ADF770 3-Head Cassette Deck -> TDK-SA (Type II) cassette tape (Master FM recording from the original 1986 BBC In Concert broadcast, by Chris Poor)

FM 2: FM - Cassette (master) - Audacity - xACT

The Band:
Mike Scott: vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric piano
Anthony Thistlethwaite: sax, mandolin, electric mandolin, piano, backing vocals
Steve Wickham: fiddle, backing vocals
Trevor Hutchinson: bass
Dave Ruffy: drums, backing vocals (ex The Ruts)

Additional work:
Fade, edits plus volume boost on FM tracks to match the louder pre-FM source
WAV > TLH > Flac 8

tb67 - January 2021

 -----------------------------------------------------

 BLOG UPDATE:

Looking at the stats , most blog users are based in the US, with the UK and France in 2nd and 3rd place. Since January 2012 there have been 2.88 million views of the blog with over a thousand comments! The blog hit a monthly high with 55,459 views in April 2016 and declined rapidly, after the links were lost that month due to the enforced closure of hosting sites. Exactly 3 years later the monthly views had shrunk to just over 10,000, Google’s new algorithm didn’t help much either. Since then we have climbed back upwards and are now hitting 32,000 per month. The all-time most popular posts are listed below:

1. PRINCE - Small Club 1988  #51

2. RADIOHEAD - In Rainbows: Live from the Basement 2008  #52

3. BLACK SABBATH - Asbury Park, NJ. 1975  #87

4. Bootlegs of the Year 2015-2020

5. NEW ORDER - Reading Festival 1993  #93

6. JIMI HENDRIX - Berkeley 1st show, May 30, 1970  #96

7. JIMI HENDRIX - The LA Forum 1970  #136

8. DAVID BOWIE – Toy  #27

9. BROADCAST - BBC Radio & TV Sessions 1996-2000  #102

10. TOM WAITS - Postaula, Bremen, Germany 1977  #98

11. LED ZEPPELIN - Earl's Court, London 1975  #91

12. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Max's Kansas City Night 1973  #134

Thanks to all who have supported the blog, a surprise to see the number 4 position. Usually the most popular posts are those by legendary artists, so it’s amazing to see how highly regarded UK band, Broadcast have become.

As promised an extra 50 posts have now been added. What now? The ongoing pandemic has answered that question for me and we continue onwards with a selection of special posts with guest links (these will be available for a short time). 

Further posts include some of my FM recordings, celebrating some of the greatest disc jockeys that the UK has produced. Expect to see some shows and sessions from radio programmes by John Peel, Bob Harris, Andy Kershaw and David Rodigan. 

I also have some recordings from artists involved in the Americana scene, these include sessions and interviews and will be exclusive to this site.

6 comments:

  1. Thanks do much for all you do for all of us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are very welcome, it's always good to hear that other people enjoy my taste in music.

      Delete

  2. Love your work. Great range of music, new and old, one of my favourite places to visit!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi what does "an extra 50 posts have now been added" mean?
    I haven't visited for a while if you explained previously.
    Does it mean some old posts were reactivated with new links such as Jimi @ Berkeley and Tom Waits 1977 Bremen?
    If so how can I find the full list or is it only in the annual guide?
    Thank you for sharing such great music :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. The original 100 Greatest Bootlegs listing is included with the 2015-19 document. The site was re-structured, prompted by the loss of links caused by the closure of some of the hosting sites that I used and also the official release of bootlegs that I had posted. It became difficult to offer some bootlegs by bands such as Pink Floyd & New Order because the link-hosters were pressured to remove them.

    The posts following the 100, date from 2017 onwards and included a further 50 bootlegs. It was basically an attempt to keep the blog going and relevant, avoiding another re-structure as more bootlegs see an official release. Yes some of the older posts lost were re-instated amongst the additional 50 added. If you would like a list of the original 100 and what was dropped send me an email to the address on the top right-hand box

    ReplyDelete