David Mar
Group: Members
Posts: 457
Joined: Oct. 2001 |
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Posted: Dec. 21 2005, 11:31 |
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Review: Robert Wyatt at Theatre Royal Drury Lane
I've recently received Robert Wyatt at Theatre Royal Drury Lane,
recorded 8 September 1974.
Mike Oldfield appears on 5 tracks (Alife, Alifib, Signed Curtain,
Little Red Robin Hood Hit the Road, I'm A Believer). Other players
include Pinky Floyd's Nick Mason, Fred Firth, and the show is
introduced by John Peel. Here is a brief review of the tracks he
appears on.
It's interesting to hear Mike's live playing on these tracks (and
also, on Ayre's June 1, 1974 two months earlier). This is from around
the time Mike had just finished Hergest Ridge, and his live playing
style was looser, less folksy, and rockier than the pastorial mood of
that album or any of his singles/b-sides. Accordingly, this recording
will be of some interest to completest fans.
Alife is like some of the madder Kevin Ayres & the Whole World tracks
(such as the last track on side 1 of Shooting at the Moon, some of
Whatevershebringswesing, and also the BBC concert from 1972, with Lol
Coxhill's free-form sax playing - they sure must have had some
bizarre drugs back then! . Not sure I can really hear much of Mike's
guitar on this track.
The next track - Alifib - is a slow, touching little song, and it
features Mike's fluid, chiming lead style he was playing about with
around this time (this style can be heard on other recordings with
other artists from this period).
Mike's guitar playing features most prominently on Signed Curtain
(jangley rhythm/lead style, as also heard on a number of live Kevin
Ayres tracks) and Little Red Robin Hood Hit the Road (the searing
lead style).
I've always liked the very unusual Little Red Robin Hood Hit the Road
from Wyatt's "Rock Bottom" album (1974), and the wild and loose live
version here is a treat - I cant imagine any modern band sounding
quite like this on stage a in the 21 Century. This track will
probably be the highlight for most Oldfield fans.
The concert finishes with Neil Diamond's "I'm A Believer" (which he
wrote for The Monkeys), and it's a big, rollicking, ramshackle cover
of a great song. All the performers appear, and Mike's guitar is in
there somewhere.
Philip Bendall
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