u/raynicolette

I've inserted a couple of "not quite bootlegs" in this series, but this will be the least bootleg-ish of the bunch. I'm including it because this is the only top notch recording for several years, so otherwise there would be a substantial gap. And since I'm going through shows in order, telling the story of E.C.'s solo career, these particularly chaotic years are a bad place for a substantial gap...

THE BOOT

Just One Night

This is an official release on RSO Records.

Despite the name, it is not from just one night. It is mostly 12/4/79 Tokyo, but Tulsa Time, Early In The Morning, and After Midnight were taken from the other show that was recorded, 12/3/79 Tokyo.

And it is not a complete show. Albert Lee's showcase number, Country Boy, should come after Worried Life Blues. Knockin' On Heaven's Door belongs between Double Trouble and Setting Me Up. And Layla was the main set closer, after Cocaine. (Apparently E.C. himself didn't want Layla released.)

Knockin' On Heaven's Door was released on Time Pieces 2, so you can patch one of those 3 gaps by inserting that in the disc break!

The setlist is mostly in order. The two changes are that Blues Power was moved from after All Our Past Times to after Setting Me Up, and After Midnight wasn't played on Dec 4 at all, so it had to be inserted into the setlist, but on Dec 3 it was performed before Cocaine.

BACKGROUND

E.C.'s run with a 4 piece band lasted all of a few weeks (Nov 5 through Dec 7 of 1978) before Albert Lee got hired as a second guitarist for the first shows of 1979. There aren't any great bootlegs of the Lee / Radle / Oldaker / Sims lineup in early '79, before E.C. fired his long-time bandmates by telegram after the U.S. tour ended in June.

(Bandmate digression: Sims had a long career backing up other artists, before putting out his one solo album "Within Arms Reach" in 2001. He died of cancer on December 8, 2011 at the age of 60. Clapton dedicated his show in Tokyo on the 10th to Sims. Radle died at 37 of a kidney infection caused by alcohol and drug abuse on May 30, 1980. Clapton was heartbroken and blamed himself for the death, which was probably a factor him rehiring Oldaker in 1983.)

In September of 1979, he was back on the road with new all-English band: Albert Lee on guitar, Chris Stainton on keyboards, Dave Markee on bass, and Henry Spinetti on drums.

This album was released after E.C.'s album Turn Up Down was rejected by RSO Records. The label chose to release the Tokyo recordings as a live album instead.

On the personal front, E.C. married Pattie Boyd on March 27, 1979. He's on the road as a newlywed at this point.

SOUND

This is a nearly flawless official release. There's a tiny bit of feedback at 2:19 of Early In The Morning, but that's nitpicking.

The mix is fantastic, with every instrument nice and clear (finally we can hear the piano!) and good balance between lead and backup vocals.

Soundman Jon Astley is on record saying there is one overdub on the entire release, one wrong note from bass player during Ramblin' On My Mind after E.C. called for a key change.

PERFORMANCE

The setlist is pretty similar to the previous year. We get Tulsa Time, Early In The Morning, and If I Don't Be There By Morning from Backless; I'll Make Love To You Anytime has been dropped. Wonderful Tonight and Cocaine from Slowhand have stuck in the lineup, and Lay Down Sally has joined them. Those three will be staples of the show for a long, long time.

Ramblin' On My Mind > Have You Ever Loved A Woman has E.C. doing the key change trick again. Between that, Early In The Morning, Worried Life Blues, and Double Trouble, this show is very heavy on slow blues numbers. With no Badge tonight, Cocaine is the only uptempo jam number.

The organ coming out of left field on Worried Life Blues is Albert Lee, moonlighting on keyboards.

Albert Lee also sings on Setting Me Up, the Dire Straits song that would have been a new release in 1979. (Ironically, E.C. never performed it in the late 80's when Mark Knopfler was touring with him. Though there are a lot of great performances of Solid Rock and Money For Nothing from that era.)

E.C. introduces his new band before Further On Up The Road. Any other chatter has probably been edited out for the official release.

So I realize that I'm late to the party, by about 8 years. But I finally came across a used copy of the deluxe 6-disc More Blood More Tracks at a price I couldn't pass up, and have now spent a week and a half submerged in it. My half-dozen random thoughts...

I don't think the acetate was even the best possible album of NY versions. The pedal steel on You're A Big Girl Now (take 2 remake) is pretty cheesy. That version of Tangled Up In Blue (take 3 remake 2) is one of the worst for button clacking noises. The version of Meet Me In The Morning with the full band (take 1) is a lot more generic than the acoustic takes. I made a playlist of the acetate, and a playlist of the single-disc release of Bootleg Series 14, and I think the archive team picked their way to a better album than Dylan and the original producer?
I'm fascinated by the question of Dylan's intent for the album. The fact that he hired a full band suggests he wanted fuller arrangements than what made it to the acetate? But then the fact that he slipped in a day earlier and laid down solid solo takes of most of the album suggests he wanted some acoustic stuff in there too? It's possible he had no idea what he wanted, and was taking a shotgun approach. But if he wanted a blend from the outset, then no wonder he wasn't happy with the acetate?
Man, that NY band session was a train wreck. The 3 band takes of Simple Twist Of Fate (1a, 2a, 3a) sound like lounge music. Meet Me In The Morning made it onto BOTT, but I think it's the weakest NY performance on the album. Call Letter Blues was fine, but I can't see the album including both simple blues songs. The band gets sidelined for some stabs at Idiot Wind, and then we get 9 aggressively mediocre takes of You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome, only one of which gets across the finish line. And then the band colletively gets the hook. What the hell happened? These were professionals. It seems like they couldn't hear each other, so maybe this was a studio setup problem??
I suspect that the reason the acetate included the pedal steel take of You're A Big Girl Now, the organ overdub on Idiot Wind, and the band version of Meet Me In The Morning, was that those were the only usable tracks that would give a blend of sounds?
The remixes on More Blood are better than the 1975 album. Everything just sparkles? It feels like they are in the room with you right now, instead of listening to a record from 5 decades in the past.
I do think the album we got is generally better than the acetate? There are multiple great acoustic versions of Tangled Up In Blue (the country-fied take 1, the amphetamine take 2 remake, take 3 remake from Bootleg Series 1-3, and possibly my favorite, take 3 remake 3) but the MN version soars in a way that none of the NY versions do. The acetate version of Lily, Rosemary & JH is a bit of a dirge; the MN version feels like a western tall tale should? The organ on the MN take If You See Her Say Hello makes it feel like a hymn, which I love. The MN band version of You're A Big Girl Now is just OK, but it's better than the NY take 2 remake with steel guitar. I think Idiot Wind is the only one where I feel they made a misttep with the MN version? Being angry and shouting about it for 8 minutes is just less interesting to me than being angry and it coming out as weary disdain?

Looking forward to you folks telling me exactly how wrong I am. :)

Bootleg Of The Week #8: Just One Night (?!?)