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Live at Knebworth 1980 |
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| Styles: |
Adult Contemporary - Oldies - Live Albums - Pop - Rock - Classic Rock - Classic American Rock |
| Media: |
Audio CD |
| Release Date: |
14 October 2002 |
| Label: |
Eagle |
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| Amazon Sales Ranking: |
8249 |
| Number of Discs: |
1 |
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Description |
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Remarkably, in a career spanning three decades, the Beach Boys only ever released two official live albums. Live at Knebworth, recorded on June 20, 1980, is the third. Uniquely, and with apologies to David Marks, it features all six principle Beach Boys: Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnstone, Mike Love and, yes, even Brian Wilson. Even better--and in contrast to the prejudices of those who believe the band of that era to be bloated old-timers existing solely to function as a suncream nostalgia act for the picnic-in-the-park brigade--it's excellent, with even "Surfin' USA" crashing around the listeners' ears on the crest of a rock & roll tsunami. The contrast between the band's lacklustre 1980s studio output and the ongoing musical dynamism, perfect harmony and celebratory joyousness of the live shows couldn't be more profound. Digging beyond the wall-to-wall hits, there are pleasures for aficionados, such as the medley of sepia-tinted Americana on "Cottonfields / Heroes And Villains", Al Jardine's "Lady Lynda" (arguably the Beach Boys' last non-novelty contribution to the British singles charts) and--presaging the darker days to come--Dennis Wilson croaking "You Are So Beautiful" in a manner which is both sincere and pathetic. A few bones begin to creak when they get to "Fun Fun Fun" but none of us are getting any younger. The Beach Boys music, however, will stay youthful forever. --Kevin Maidment |
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Tracks |
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| 1 |
Good Timin' |
| 2 |
California Girls |
| 3 |
Sloop John B |
| 4 |
Darlin' |
| 5 |
School Days |
| 6 |
God Only Knows |
| 7 |
Be True To Your School |
| 8 |
Do It Again |
| 9 |
Little Deuce Coupe |
| 10 |
Cotton Fields |
| 11 |
Heroes And Villains |
| 12 |
Keepin' The Summer Alive |
| 13 |
Lady Lynda |
| 14 |
Surfer Girl |
| 15 |
Help Me Rhonda |
| 16 |
Rock And Roll Music |
| 17 |
I Get Around |
| 18 |
Surfin' USA |
| 19 |
You Are So Beautiful |
| 20 |
Good Vibrations |
| 21 |
Barbara Ann |
| 22 |
Fun, Fun, Fun |
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Customer Reviews |
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Beach Boys Live at Knebworth |
Rating: 4.0 |
Overall a very well presented collection of tracks from the Beach Boys at a time where there were many inconsistencies in both the line - up and the quality of new material from the band.
The fact that all six key members of the band performed was a major bonus.
A sound presentation was interrupted by Mike Love's desire to be be noticed by interrupting fellow band members inappropriately.
An enjoyable set with excellent notes by Michael Grant and a poignant rendition of "You are so Beautiful" by Dennis Wilson.
Well worth buying. |
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Beach Boys Swansong |
Rating: 3.0 |
I was keen to listen to this CD because I was at one of the Wembley Arena concerts a week before this performance at Knebworth. At the time, I remember thinking the performance was outstanding, but then I was a very excited 18 year-old, seeing The Beach Boys for the first time. Now, when I listen to this CD, I do so with a degree of sadness. Partly because I now know just how much tension there was between band members at the time; partly knowing just how ill Brian was, and finally, knowing Dennis's death was only a few years off. Having said all of that, if you were to approach this CD with an open mind, there is much to enjoy. It goes along at a frenetic pace - a real 1980s rock concert, with fuzz guitars and savage drumming (not the sophistication of a 'Pet Sounds Live'). The vocals are excellent - Lady Lynda and Good Vibrations in particular. The choice of songs is predictable, but enjoyable nonetheless. One nice surprise is 'Keepin' The Summer Alive', with a characterful Carl vocal. It is difficult to detect what if anything Brian was contributing to the performance, besides a couple of solo vocal snippets, but I suppose the other band members had had many years to make do 'on the road' without him. All in all, a solid performance of golden oldies, but sad that so much of the wonderful material from the late 60s and early 70s doesn't feature. I guess it was all too easy for a band that had become so fragmented to rely on safe material that they could perform with their eye shut. Buy it if you were there, or if you want to hear 'rocked-up' versions of Beach Boys favourites. |
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Knebworth '80 - at last! |
Rating: 3.0 |
I must admit this release caught me by surprise. After all these years recognition of such an important concert for us British Beach Boys fans. ALL OF THE BEACH BOYS ON STAGE. I felt so priviledged to be there.I have bought this purely for nostalgia, adding to my discography of the band. As the sleeve notes mention it was a wet and chilly June day, the concert finishing after 11pm. So,is it worth buying? If your a BB's feak = yes. There are hits that have been "beefed-up" and make a nice change to other live recordings I have of the band. If you're curious and do not have a live album of their music - perhaps Brian Wilson's "Live at the Roxy" would be preferable. To its credit "Knebworth '80 is a good recording of the event. Sound quality was better than I expected and the feel of the moment is there. So, 3 out of 5 for me (but a good 3!). . |
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Knebworth - 22 Years But Well Worth The Wait |
Rating: 5.0 |
Well it took twenty two years to be released but finally it's here. I never thought I'd be reviewing a new Beach Boys record that wasn't another greatest hits collection but courtesy of Eagle records we get an official Beach Boys release at last!Well is it any good? Well first of all the packaging. It's very impressive. A nice slip case, a miniature replica poster from the concert and a very interesting CD booklet, but for heaven sake don't record companies know that you can't read pink writing on a purple background. I can only imagine that the person who selected yellow and orange for the "Pet Sounds Live" cover was given a second chance here! The concert? Well, it really is an historic occasion for us Brits as it was the very last time that the Brian, Carl, Mike, Dennis, Bruce and Al played our shores together and this is a great record of that momentous occasion! The CD itself is good value for money at 70 minutes long, with 22 tracks spanning the band's complete career. I am sure that none of us would expect the boys to have sounded like they did in the studio and therefore this is no disappointment. The band are very loose and raunchy though the vocals are not always harmonious. There is a great start as the band kicks into the standard opener "California Girls". A great beginning to any concert and Mike's vocals come through well and in general the backing vocals are good."Sloop John B" follows and good old Mike has to scream out to let us know that it's "Brian Wilson" singing (as if we didn't know!). The sound is pretty good though Brian's vocals are pretty average. The band then speed up and the whole thing sounds somewhat disconnected with some screaming background vocals."Darlin'" comes to the rescue, though again the band play it a liitle too fast in my opinion. "School Days" starts off with the usual Beach Boys accapella and then descends into a caucophony of noise where the music and voices just fail to gel.Then we have "God Only Knows" with Carls' lead which I'm sure most people will have heard on the Endless Harmony soundtrack.One of the highlights of the album! Much of the middle of the concert is what you would expect from at a typical Beach Boys concert, great songs but....could be better. Highlights are definitely the Stones sounding "Do It Again" the "Cottonfields/Heroes & Villains"medley. The oldies "Little Deuce Coupe", "Surfer Girl" and "Help Me Rhonda" are poor imitations of the originals which is a little disappointing. We also have to suffer the indignity of hearing Brian being sung happy birthday to. Before long we are heading to the closing straight where "I Get Around", "Surfin USA" and "Good Vibrations" are broken up by Dennis's "You Are So Beautiful". Then we get the usual finishing tracks of "Barbara Ann" and "Fun, Fun, Fun" to bring the proceedings to a conclusion. In my view, these classic tracks are not served best by the band trying to make them raunchy 70's rock'n'roll numbers with driving beats and unnecessary feedback. The band seem to think that they are the "Stones", which they clearly weren't.These tunes did not need to be beefed up as they were already great songs! So is it worth buying? Absolutely! Though I have been a bit critical here, the sound quality is excellent for an outdoor event and the concert is representative of where the band were at that point in their career, and the crowd clearly enjoyed it. I only wish I could have been there to personally witness it at first hand. It's really a shame that they didn't include "Wouldn't It Be Nice", but I think I would prefer to remember other great recordings of it!
I'm looking forward to the DVD of this concert which is undergoing it's finishing touches and planned for released early next year. |
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Surfin' UK |
Rating: 4.0 |
It's the final visit of the Beach Boys in the original line-up: Mike, Brian, Carl, Dennis, Bruce and Al.It's a great show, almost every hit is played. The early 60s songs are played faster and heavier. I love it. It's a shame however that the band always chosed for the popular songs, instead for the better songs. Imagine the Beach Boys playing songs from albums like "Surf's Up", "Sunflower", "20/20", "Carl and The Passions" or "Pet Sounds". But hey, that's what the audience demand from millionseller": just keep playing the hits. Taking that for granted, this CD gives you a great show with the Beach Boys on their performing best. |
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