Controversial Negro (Live In Tucson) [Import, Live]

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 16, 2000)
• Original Release Date: 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Live
• Label: Import [Generic]
• ASIN: B000007VBT
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #484,863 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Get With It

2. Can't Stop

3. Son Of Sam

4. Cool Vee

5. Blues X Man

6. Hot Shot

7. The Vacuum Of Lonliness

8. Sticky

9. The Feeling Of Love

10. Down Low

11. Dynamite Lover

12. Afro

13. R.L. Got Soul

14. Watermain

15. Love All Of Me

16. Skunk

17. Fuck Shit Up

18. Flavor

19. Full Grown

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Blues Is STILL #1, September 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Controversial Negro (Live In Tucson) (Audio CD)

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is one of the few bands in rock 'n' roll that can inspire me enough to leave my home, wait in line to purchase a ticket and then wait in another line to see the show. They are also one of the few bands for whom I'd ask for seconds. Truth be known, they are one of the few bands worth a damn these days. "Controversial Negro" documents the indefatigable trio at the Hotel Congress in Tuscon, Arizona. After listening to the record, there is no question in my mind that the Tuscon crowd got more than their money's worth and so did I. To see the Blues Explosion live is to see pure televangilism delivered in the stylings of a young James Brown, accompanied by his band mates who have one foot firmly planted in Church and the other hanging recklessly over the edge. Particularly compelling are the tunes, "Vacuum of Lonliness" and "Sticky" The use of the theremin threads the needle like no other sound produced by machine and Russell Simmons proves himself to be one of the (most unlikely) funkiest drummers performing today. Taking their cues form their leader, Bauer and Simmons are always able to put it right in the pocket once spencer has lit the fuse. This is a must-have for any die-hard Blues Explosionist.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Controversial Caucasians, July 4, 2010

By 

Paul Rayson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Controversial Negro (Audio CD)

The official Controversial Negro used to be available only in Japan. It was out in 1997 and recorded the year before in Tuscan, Arizona, although the nine songs at the end of this reissue are from 1994. Promo versions had a cool Mick Jagger cover, but they had to replace that when Mick Jagger said so. They replaced him with an ape. The cover of the reissue, which preserves the Japan design, is still pretty cool.

A record of the Blues Explosion in concert is vital. The outtakes and alternate versions of songs, say, on Mo' Width or the Now I Got Worry reissue testify that the band are in an ongoing conversation with rock & roll. A conventional studio album catches only part of the conversation. Collaborations such as those with R.L. Burnside get another side of it, of course. A live version of a song, though, expands more on what they're talking about, and sometimes it's dirtier.

The "hits" are in the set ("Afro", "Bellbottoms", "Flavor"). The show-stopper "Blues X Man" is in the set. The liner notes are, as with those for the Dirty Shirt Rock 'N' Roll compilation and Now I Got Worry reissue, filled with insight and diverse detail (hardware info: they used vintage Music Mann and Sunn amplifiers!). The theremin is in full effect. Enjoy the show.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These guys are monsters in concert, February 14, 2010

By 

C. Rocklein - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Controversial Negro (Live In Tucson) (Audio CD)

It gets 5 stars just for the pure energy involved. This is some explosive stuff, and I don't know who or how it was recorded (the liner notes being in Japanese only), but the sound quality almost sounds like a bootleg - whatever it was, it captured something worth putting out irregardless. Imagine yourself hanging onto a firing machine gun, and you're somewhere in the vicinity of the experience. The rawness of the recording is only outdone by the raw brilliance of the band.