Customer Reviews

Reunion: Live At Madison Square Garden 1972

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

 

 

Quite apart from the performance, this must be rated alongside some of the classic "live" albums of all time.There are three main ingredients, the crowd who are so clearly up for enjoying themselves, and of course know all the tunes off by heart. Then there's the recording engineer/producer who hasn't attempted to edit out the "liveness' of the occasion.The group sound is terrific. There are false starts, with Dion shouting "let me start this one" at one point, with all the performers coming in at wrong times. All this adds to the atmosphere. Finally, of course, there's Dion and the Belmonts who gave everything. It must have been electrifying to have been there.The real bonus of the CD of course is that unlike the vinyl version it doesn't end on one side in the middle of a song, and you don't have to turn it over! By any standards this is a great album, and if you've never heard it,,, go get!!

I first played "Dion & The Belmonts Live" as a college radio disc jockey in 1972. It blew me away then. Nothing's changed in 30+ years. If I was marooned on an island with ten CDs - this would be one of them.

It's a recording of one of those magic nights when artist and audience become one. On "That's My Desire" and "Where Or When" the group is nothing short of breathtaking, with the Madison Square Garden crowd hanging on Dion's every note.

The Belmonts are supported by a savvy R&B band featuring none other than the great Billy Vera.

At a time when underground radio was belching forth megawatt bands like Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Bloodrock - the '50s vocal group sound of Dion DiMucci and his Belmont Avenue buddies would seem blatantly out of place on a disc jockey's turntable. And yet, for myself, and many other DJs - there was something almost revolutionary about playing this album.

It was an attitude of, "You hippies think you've heard it all? Well, dig THIS!" Strangely enough - they did.

Vocal harmony. No sound is more liberating or exciting than the sound of the human voice, and when several people join to intertwine their voices there is the potential for greatness. Dion and the Belmonts were one of the great doo-wop harmony groups of the 1950's. For a variety of reasons they went their separate ways in the 1960's and beyond, and it was not a harmonious parting. When they finally agreed to get together for a one-concert (and one prior rehearsal) appearance after over a decade of not speaking to each other, some rust was to be expected. The first song, "I Wonder Why", makes it obvious that the guys hadn't sung together for a very long time. Dion is tenative and has a very limited range, and the Belmonts seem to be feeling their way around the song.

From that song, the album is a study in the power of music over history. After the first song, the group becomes increasingly comfortable with each other and they find their vocal range quickly. It is an exciting album not only because of the songs and the singers, but because the listener becomes a part of a metamorphasis from four nervous individuals to a group of brilliant singers overwhelmed by the power and beauty of what they can achieve together. You get a sense that, as they explore their past music further, they are taking it beyond what they ever achieved at their prime. Dion's vocal range explodes, and the Belmonts vie with him in pushing harmony to the limits. The NY crowd is with them throughout, and the bond is audible.

This is the one concert that I would give anything to have attended. The CD is the next best thing. If you love Dion & The Belmonts, or doo-wop music, or vocal harmony, or music in any form, I would recommend this CD strongly. I have bought over a dozen copies as gifts for friends, and most have been wowed by it.

I originally paid $18 for the record album (it was before CD's). That was cheap compared to the joy this music brought me. You'll probably pay less than $18... wouldn't you pay as much for the chance to be dazzled? (Hey gang.. trivia question: On the Winter Tour in Iowa 1958, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper toured with a fourth act. The "Night The Music Died", that fourth act was on a bus with the Crickets and the rest of the musicians. Who was that fourth rock & roll group? No hints, other than their faces are on the front of this CD).

Best of the best Dion & the Belmonts CD, and I have most of them.

Love "That's My Desire" & "Where or When" back to back!

This classic band or should I say these legends do a outstanding live performance in Madison Square Garden 1972. This record is worth a listen only for the harmonies and lead vocal but there is these amazing set of songs of the early rock and roll era that are a joy to hear.
So if you want to listen one of the best lead performers in rock history , Dion, and one of the best vocal doo wop groups ever , the Belmonts, give a try to this record.
You won't repent.

I was one of those "hippies" Balcony Bunny is writing about who was listening to Deep Purple's 'Machine Head' back in 1972. Nothing wrong with that, but in retrospect I was overlooking some of the more noteworthy music of previous era's. It wasn't until later in the 1970's that I started appreciating jazz, classical, and other genres on their own merits, rather than dismissing them in deference to all-rock, all-the-time. And although I possessed a peripheral awareness of Dion & the Belmonts, they existed under the freshly overturned topsoil of Do-Wop, buried under wah-pedal guitars and Hammond B-3 organs.

You couldn't be living in America in 1972 without having some awareness of Dion and the Belmonts. Their sound epitomized an era only recently eclipsed, yet Dion's own relevance had continued through 1968 with his #4 homage to JFK, RFK, and others, 'Abraham, Martin & John'. Dion and the Belmonts, along with Roy Orbison, scored most of their success in an era that reached out from the success of rock's pioneers such as Elvis and Chuck Berry, but dimmed in the shadow of The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, and a "new" generation. Symbolically, Dion had sidestepped the ruin of the plane crash that claimed Buddy Holly and his band, having not boarded the flight to save a few bucks on transportation costs.

There is a bit of hypocrisy in the marketing of this material, as a majority of the songs offered didn't feature the Belmonts in their original incarnation. Five of the songs ('The Wanderer', #2 in 1961, 'Runaround Sue', Dion's only #1 hit, also from 1961, 'Little Diane', #8 in 1962, and 'Ruby Baby' and 'Drip Drop', #2 and #6 respectively from 1963) were solo hits for Dion after the band split up in early 1960. The Belmonts remained a group that scored two Top-20 hits in the early 1960's, but nothing to rival the four Top-40 hits the band enjoyed with Dion in the late 1950's ('Where Or When', their biggest hit at #3, 'Teenager In Love' #5, 'No One Knows' #19, and 'I Wonder Why', their first hit and the opening number on this disc, at #22). All of these numbers appear on the disc, along with a track from their 'Presenting Dion & the Belmonts' LP, 'That's My Desire'. Someone will have to explain to me that last choice, since Dion also scored other great hits in the 60's like 'Donna the Prima Donna' (#6 in 1963) and 'Lovers Who Wander' (#3 in 1962) to draw from. Unlike other live collections, however, this live album was drawn from one lone concert, not a tour. Perhaps the performances of those other Dion hits were flawed. The fact that the band only rehearsed once before taking the stage renders that a definite possibility.

The editing of the album comes off a bit raw. There are abrupt starts and stops that would be more aurally pleasing had someone bothered to fade the sound in and out. Although it's clear that everyone involved is "into this", from the emcee's introduction to Dion and the band to the enthusiastic audience, the emotionally-charged performance is less than sharp at times. Do-wop may also be one of the more challenging musical forms to duplicate on-stage what is achieved in the studio. And the song selection could have been improved slightly. You would have to assume that more than ten quality tracks were recorded this evening, so where are the bonus tracks? Although the audio quality is superb, especially for 1972, one has to wonder what a modern remastering might produce. Minus one star for the above deficiencies, but four solid stars for the spirit and musical excellence, an impressive blend of composition and execution. This kind of stuff exists in rare quantities in our universe.