Customer Reviews

Live at Cbgb's

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although none of the best-known NY bands are heard here (oh, the record contracts flying around CBGB's in 1976...) cult favorites Tuff Darts (Robert Gordon), Mink DeVille, and the Shirts sound like they're having a great time. This collection, recorded over three nights in July, 1976, shows the New York rock scene going in all different directions, while that same weekend the Heartbreakers and the Ramones were staging their own first British blitz of London. It's surprising how "radio-friendly" most of this music seems now. In the days of multi-platinum Peter Frampton and Fleetwood Mac, though, Manster's sped-up cover of the Yardbirds' "Over Under Sideways Down" was absolutely radical. Imagine that. And though it's true there's no real missed opportunities here, its a terrific snapshot of a time, a place, and an energy that's likely not to happen again.

Actually, Dale, some of the performers did go further than this album. Mink DeVille may never have become a household name, but the band and its leader, Willy DeVille, released a slew of terrific albums. DeVille still records a new album every couple of years with exceptional quality stuff on every outing. Tuff Darts had a pretty decent first release that got loads of airplay in NYC, but the band's lead singer on Live at CBGBs was none other than Robert Gordon who spawned the rebirth of 50s rock and roll revival bands like the Stray Cats, the second coming of Link Wray, and many others. Gordon released several very strong albums and was a real critical favorite at the time. The quality of recording here is fair at best, but the youthful energy pours out of every song. This is a document of late 70s NYC New Wave which, at its best, was every bit as good as the British counterparts of Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, et al. Would've been nice to get a couple of other CBGB bands who did make it bigger on this disk --Blondie, Ramones to name a couple. Work the money, though.

This gem of an album captured CB's at a point in history where it was still an outside place to go to hear music in NYC. In order to listen to this music you had to run the gauntlet of Bums. I don't actually think there was a cover charge: The Shirts classic closer POE and the amazing Tuff Darts :All for the Love of Rock n Roll, thirty three and a third years later these tracks can stand toe to toe with the any rock n roll ever made.Its gritty its raw it's real:

Bit of Trivia : the fuzzy image on the cover ARE the Talking Heads but they don't appear on album. Why? Because at the last moment SIRE had signed them to a contract.

...this is a piece of history...a time that, sadly, i believe, we will never see again...

bands like tuff darts, the shirts, the laughing dogs, mink deville...all great...

and the atmosphere comes thru the vinyl...i mean, disc...

and dale...sorry to hit you with a second shot, but to further disprove your theory of these acts not going anywhere after this, yes, robert gordon was singing for tuff darts, mink deville is actually playing b.b.king's club this month in manhattan (thirty years after the fact), and the shirts have not only released another great album this year, but their lead singer of the day, annie golden, went on to be seen on the big screen in movies like "hair", "12 monkeys" and "it runs in the family"...

but, that's neither here nor there, because what was important was THERE, the place where every musician was a musican...not some joker trying to land a big recording contract...we played because we loved the music...and we loved being around each other...

no, there will never be another cbgb's, despite their attempt to bring it to vegas...

somehow, i just can't picture wayne newton as the newest 'ramone'...

This CD is an attempt at the collection of the CBGB's scene of the late 70's emerging punk/new wave music. Unfortunately, none of the bands represented made it beyond this album. You get great hits like "We Deliver" and "Slash", but overall the musicianship leaves something to be desired, though the emotion is there.