Hawkwind Live

[Doug Pearson]

On Tue, 3 Aug 1999 02:10:40 +0100, Jonathan Jarrett
<jjarrett at CHIARK.GREENEND.ORG.UK> wrote:
>On Mon, 2 Aug 1999, Ductor, Dan [NEUUS] wrote:
>
>> Is it still the general HW consensus that Space Ritual is the best live
>> Hawkwind?  After many playings, I can still listen to it and hear sounds I
>> haven't heard before. This was more evident on the remastered cd.  Lately
>> though, I've been playing the Love in Space cd again and it too seems to
>> almost get better with age.
>
>        This used to be my opinion, but _LiS_, though it is very good, is
>growing samey for me now. _Space Ritual_ is unbeatable.

Yeah, I think the only recent (90's) release that could potentially rival
'Space Ritual' would be 'The 1999 Party'.  And great as that one is
(especially since it's a very different band with Simon House instead of
Dik Mik), I'd still say that 'Space Ritual' IS still unbeatable.  I really
like the 'Live 1976' CD-R boot that came out last(?) year, too; that's
definitely a tour that needs "official" documentation (that will hopefully
sound better than the boot!) - is it still listed on the "coming soon" list
on the Mission Control page?  The Neu-like version of "Uncle Sam's On Mars"
(nothing like either the version on 'PXR5' or the Hawklords version on the
Weird tape) is definitely worth the price of admission on that one, but
finally getting to hear "Time For Sale" was pretty revelatory too (with all
of Paul Rudolph's funky-bass playing), and hearing the verse of "Back On
The Streets" that's missing from the studio version was also cool.

>That said, I rate
>_California Brainstorm_, _Palace Springs_ and _This Is Hawkwind Do Not
>Panic_ quite highly too.

I definitely have a bias in favor of 'California Brainstorm' ;^) but I wish
that one had Simon House on it (I suppose that's what the 'Live Legends'
video is for!), and I like the other two.  Especially the two 1984 songs on
'This Is Hawkwind Do Not Panic' (even if the credits on "Watching The Grass
Grow" are wrong again, sheesh - one would think Trev Thoms had never
existed); there aren't enough Hawkwind live recordings that have great JAMS
like "Stonehenge Decoded" (the closest recent example I can think of is
"Starfire Mountain Dreaming" from the Bob Lennon/Hawk US SD98 CD-R, and
that one's still missing our favorite guitarist).  The second LP of 'Text
of Festival' and the "Watchfield" jam from the Weird tape that found its
way onto the Anthology/Acid Daze set are probably my favorite live Hawkwind
behind 'Space Ritual'.

>        While I'm here, anyone give me a quality assessment on _Out &
>Intake_? It's been sitting around one of the second-hand shops here and I
>keep feeling I should buy it, but haven't quite plucked up yet. Thoughts
>welcomed.

If you already have a copy of 'Bring Me The Head Of Yuri Gagarin', then go
for it! ;^).

Seriously, it's easily one of the most non-essential Hawkwind albums, but
it still has its moments.  It's mostly studio jams, with a couple remakes
(I do *really* like the version of "Solitary Mind Games" with flute all
over it that was referred to in the recent Nik thread) and one track of Nik
having a saxophone seizure (something I like, but then again, I like
Ornette Coleman, too).  If you like the Huw era a lot, you should probably
go ahead and pick it up.  If you don't, then I won't tell you what to do ...

        -Doug
         ceres at sirius.com