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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mott A Live, April 22, 2003
Camel were formed in late 1971, when veteran Keyboard Wizard (previously with Rod Stewart in "Steampacket", Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood in " Peter B's Loonies", and Van Morrison in "Them"), Peter Bardens joined forces with power trio "The Brew". It was their third album 'The Snow Goose', which really established the band as a force to be reckoned with. Released in 1975, after the first two albums had been released to great critical acclaim but very weak sales, leaving the band scratching their proverbial heads wondering in which direction to go. Nobody would of put money on a forty minute instrumental covering both sides of the vinyl record based on Paul Gallico's short story 'Snow Goose'. But The `Snow Goose' turned out to be The Golden Goose as it rocketed up the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. By the end of 1975 Camel had been voted brightest hope by Britain's prestigious weekly Rock journal Melody Maker. There followed two equally successful follow-up albums. Only this time both albums had some vocals on them. ('Moonmadness' in 1976 and 'Raindances' in 1977).It was on the 'Raindances' tour that most of this live album was recorded. Five of the first seven songs on this CD are from that album, and were not released at the time because of their similarity to their recently released studio versions. But with this digitally remastered double CD they have been faithfully restored, a wonderful addition they are too. By 1977 Camel had really got into their stride (don't get the hump - no pun intended). Original bass player Doug Ferguson had left the Band acrimoniously before the recording of 'Raindances' and been replaced by the musically superior Richard Sinclair, previously with Canterbury Prog Rockers 'Caravan'. With Sinclair's whimsical voice to go with the Camel songs, it was a match made in Rock 'n' Roll heaven. Legendary wind instrumentalist Mel Collins, who had joined the band in the studio for the recording of the last album, decided to join them on the road, augmenting the sound further with wonderful flourishes from his Saxophones and Flutes. Collins declined an offer to join the band full time as he preferred to keep his options open for his very lucrative session work. However, he satisfied his road dog emotions by touring with Camel right up until 1981.
Although all of the songs on this collection are recorded live, they are not all from the same concert. In fact, they are not even all from the same year or line-up. The songs kick off with nine from the `Raindances' tour with Sinclair and Collins on board. Then we are whisked back to 1974 for two epics (`Lady Fantasy' is nearly fifteen minutes long) recorded at the Marquee in pre Snow Goose days. But the real feather behind this Camel's ear is on disc two, which includes the whole of `Snow Goose' recorded by the Virgin mobile studio at a memorable concert with the London Symphony Orchestra at London's Royal Albert Hall on October 17th 1975, with David Bedford taking up the conductors baton in a version of Camel's Magnum opus that even exceeds the studio version. The music is then brought to a close by two fine numbers from 1976. In all nearly three hours of sumptuous music. You can only marvel at the skill of all these musicians at work. You do not need words to explain the story of `The Snow Goose' as you can literally hear the waves against the side of the little boat as it ploughs back and forth across the English channel, plucking the men from the beaches of Dunkirk as the `Snow Goose' circles overhead
So what happened? I hear you ask. Unfortunately this Camel does not really have a happy ending. Within one year Peter Bardens had left the Band, citing musical differences. (Tragically Peter Bardens died of cancer in January of 2002, following a distinguished solo career. ) After one more tour Richard Sinclair was asked to leave the band, and later Andy Ward would succumb to alcoholism being unable to cope with life on the road. Original bass player Doug Ferguson never re-joined the music industry, such was his disillusionment with the whole business side of things, while Andy Latimer still carries his guitar in the dromedary cause to this day leading his herd down the rocky road of Progressive Rock
Mott the Dog
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Live Progressive Rock Classic Remastered With Bonus Tracks!, February 2, 2003
This newly remastered 2 cd set "A Live Record" provides a great retrospective for the early years of progressive rock greats Camel. The set contains portions of live concerts from the years 1974-1977 with an amazing 7 bonus tracks not on the original lp version. The second disk contains an inspired performance of their entire "Snow Goose" lp with the London Symphony Orchestra. "Snow Goose" was arguably the band's best album. The early period of Camel which appeared on their first four albums featured Andrew Latimer on guitar, flute and vocals, Peter Bardens on keyboards and vocals, Doug Ferguson on bass and vocals and Andy Ward on drums and vocals. After their "Moonmadness" album Doug Ferguson left the band to be replaced by bassit Richard Sinclair from Caravan and Mel Collins from King Crimson was also added on saxophone and flute. This early period of the band tended to focus on instrumental material with a few vocals added. After the "Snow Goose" album Decca increased pressure on the band to include more vocals for commercial appeal. Highlights of the disk are many. The "Snow Goose" material mentioned earlier and favorites like "Another Night", "Lady Fantasy", and "Chord Change" are included. Andy Ward's drumming is solid but jazzy at the same time as heard in the great live version of "Lunar Sea" included here. The sweet "Song Within A Song" illustrates what lyrical writers Andrew Latimer and Peter Bardens were. The disk also contains a version of "Liggin" At Louis'" from Peter Barden's solo career. The band were fond of changing tempo and feel during songs as in "Lady Fantasy" when the song starts out soft and slow and later features some vicious guitar work by Latimer. He is one of a number of unsung guitarists from the seventies. His playing while lyrical and not overly flashy remains interesting. He reminds me at times of Jeff Beck during his quieter moments or Andy Powell or Ted Turner from Wishbone Ash with whom Camel sometimes toured. Camel's first four albums are highly recommended especially "Snow Goose" and "Moonmadness". Each of these albums have been remastered with improved sound and bonus tracks. These 4 albums contain more bonus live material from the same concerts featured on this newly remastered version of "A Live Record" not available here due to time constraints.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Live "Snow Goose" is only half the story, February 12, 2003
Sometimes procrastination pays off. I'd been putting off buying this album for years, and in 2002 Decca released a revised version with 7 additional tracks. Yes! The big selling point on this one is an ENTIRE live rendition of "The Snow Goose". The London Symphony Orchestra provides support, but happily they're only used where needed, and don't smother the production (except some clunker parts of the brass arrangement on "Dunkirk"). It's all very good, but it doesn't match the near perfection of the studio version. "Preparation" and "Epitaph" come off better here than the original, and "Migration" has a good organ solo added in the middle. "Fritha Alone" is sped up and loses its mournfulness.I'm finding I like the rest of the album better, because going in, I knew that I'd like the "Snow Goose" material but I wasn't sold on the rest. It's essentially a "Best of" of Camel's Peter Bardens era. "Never Let Go", "Chord Change", and "Lady Fantasy" are highlights. The new tracks include four tracks from the "Raindances" album and a good rendition of "The White Rider". "A Live Record" lacks a little oomph for a live album, mostly because Doug Ferguson's bass and especially the bottom end of Andy Ward's drums are mixed too low. On "Chord Change", they're mixed in better, a big reason this track is so good. Much of the first CD was recorded after Ferguson left, with Richard Sinclair on bass (ex-Caravan); Sinclair's playing is more propulsive, and is especially good on "Skylines". These later tracks also include Mel Collins on sax, and the band did a good job of working him into the arrangements of older songs like "A Song Within a Song" and "Never Let Go." If you're a Camel fan, you'll want to have this album. For newcomers who want to try a Camel album to see if they like it, it's a question of what you're willing to spend. If you only want to pay for a single CD, go with "The Snow Goose". If you're willing to pay for a double CD to get a broader overview, this album is a good choice. (1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)
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