Be Bop Deluxe MegaPost

I've cleared up the old individual Be Bop Deluxe live recording links and plopped them all here for your convenience. You really should grab them all, 'cos Bill Nelson is ace. I've removed a couple of recordings which are now available as part of the "Be Bop Deluxe at the BBC 1974-1978"  set, but I have included their mega rare first Top gear session.





Top Gear Session: 09 73
(Decent quality recording of the first Be-Bop Peel session with two unreleased tunes - essential)

John Peel intro
Axe Victim
John Peel intro
Bluesy Ruby
John Peel intro
Tomorrow the World
John Peel intro
___________________________________________
14 06 75 London Hippodrome
(Fantastic quality BBC recording that's not on the official compilation - shame)

Stage whispers
Third floor heaven
Adventures in a Yorkshire landscape
Sister seagull
Piece of mine
Maid in Heaven
Axe victim
___________________________________________

09 03 76 Detroit Ford Auditorium
(Reasonable audience recording, notable for the inclusion of the rare "No trains to Heaven").

Fair exchange
Stage whispers
Life in the air age
Sister seagull
Maid in Heaven
Ships in the night
Blazing apostles
Band introduction
No trains to Heaven
___________________________________________

21 04 76 Chicago Riviera Theater
(Rather "thin" sounding recording possibly soundboard?)

Fair exchange
Stage whispers
Life in the air age
Sister seagull
Adventures in a Yorkshire landscape
Maid in Heaven
Ships in the night
Blues improvisation
Blazing apostles
___________________________________________

06 07 76 London,
(Recorded for "Rock around the world" - decent version)

Intro
Life In The Air Age
Sleep That Burns 
Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape
Sister Seagull
Blazing Apostles
___________________________________________

02 10 76 London  Hammersmith Odeon
(Broadcast by K-HOUR - a more complete version of show that appears on the "At the BBC" collection)

Life in the air age
Orphans of Babylon
Sister seagull
Made in Heaven
Bring back the spark
Kiss of light
Fair exchange
Twilight capers
Modern music
dancing in the moonlight (all alone)
Honeymoon on mars
Lost in the neon world
Dance of the Uncle Sam humanoids
Modern music (reprise)
Forbidden lovers
Terminal street
Blazing apostles
___________________________________________

03 12 76 Philadelphia The Cathedral
(FM recording - slightly murky, but still listenable)

Radio intro
Fair exchange
Stage whispers
Life in the air age
Cryng to the sky
Ships in the night
Sister seagull
Maid in Heaven
Blazing apostles
No trains to Heaven
___________________________________________

06 12 76 New York Calderone Hall
(WLIR-FM Broadcast -  good quality - recommended)

Life in the air age
Fair exchange
Sister seagull
Ships in the night
Adventures in a Yorkshire landscape
Forbidden lovers
Terminal Street
Blazing Apostles
___________________________________________

19 03 78 Oxford New Theatre
(FM broadcast - runs a little slow)

New precision
Dangerous stranger
Superenigmatix
Lovers are mortal
New mysteries
Panic in the world
Forbidden lovers
Love in flames
___________________________________________

04 09 78 Pawtucket
(A rather "distant" audience recording of their opening slot for the Tubes - a few rare gems in the set tho')

New precision
Possession
Superenigmatix
Shine
Ships in the night
Speed of the wind
Dangerous stranger
Panic in the world
Forbidden lovers
Love in flames
____________________________________________

Bill Nelson Live: Some Pictures from the 'Legends' DVD filming 26 03 11

Here's a little slideshow of the 'Legends' gig from March. The pictures come courtesy of The Metropolis Group. Lots of gorgeous guitars and some nice close-ups of Bill's jacket (Armani, donchaknow...)

It seems that the experience was less than satisfying for Mr Nelson as his diary entry of April 24th will testify. He is an absolute perfectionist and his 'OK' is everyone else's 'YAAAYYY!!!'. From where I was standing (stage right, fact fans) it was a fantastic show. The DVD is still due out at the end of May. Watch this space...

Bill Nelson Live: Some Pictures from the 'Legends' DVD filming 26 03 11

Bill Nelson Live: 'Legends' DVD filming 26 03 11



Read 'em and weep....

Bill Nelson has always been an unlikely looking Guitar hero. In the days of Page and Blackmore, both of whom wore heavily customised silk kimonos, hand tooled cowboy boots and in Blackmore’s case, Oliver Cromwell’s hat, Nelson chose to dress like he was going to a wedding reception. Radiant in formal, 100% polyester attire, he would play melodic and expressive solos whilst his similarly dressed band played his ambitious music beautifully behind him. Nowadays, Mr. Nelson has the kindly demeanour of an eccentric geography lecturer or a landscape gardener, but he can still make that Guitar sound stellar. He also sports a unique combination of Pork Pie hat, woollen winter coat and leather trousers. He makes it look good tho’. 

Bill had assembled his current band - The Gentleman Rocketeers - for a very special gig last Saturday. As part of the ‘Legends’ series of DVDs, he was having his moment in the sun, although, the gig was considerably hotter. 125 people were squeezed into a TV studio which would have comfortably held 50, surrounded by cameras, lights and force fed alcohol. It was great fun. I have to stress how small the room was- the room and stage had the same footprint as Carl Palmers drum riser and every facial tic and bead of sweat was visible by everyone. The back of the room was also the front of the room.



Many thanks to Martin Bostock of the Bill Nelson
Forum for this fantastic live pic. More are available
on the site - the address is below



Bill came on to rapturous applause from a partisan crowd. It would have been oh so easy to sleepwalk through the hits and walk off, but he chose a fascinating selection of material, from the obvious to the obscure. And it was all bloody great. After four songs where he was backed by his trusty Revox (or 21st century equivalent), he was joined by Dave Sturt , Dave Standeven, Gavin Griffiths, Steve Cook, John Spence and Jon Wallinger and Memory Lane was strolled down big time. ‘The October Man’ led nicely into ‘Night Creatures’ – the glam-obsessed lyrics sounding positively quant in 2011. From there, we had a trolley dash through four decades of Nelson. You want ProgBill? Here’s ‘Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape’…PopBill? – ‘Do You Dream In Colour?’… GuitarHeroBill? Here’s ‘Sister Seagull’…NooWaveBill? – ‘Furniture Music’. You get the picture. All played with just the right amount of reverence. Of course he played ‘Ships In The Night’ and ‘Maid In Heaven’ – the latter twice as there were shenanigans in the vocal and guitar departments. All topped off with the depressingly au courant ‘Panic In The World’ – earlier that day, just a few miles from the stage, bits of London were under siege. 90 minutes passed like 10. He thanked us and we thanked him back. 

After the gig he was happy to answer monumentally trainspottery questions from the devoted (mine was so tragic, that even here – amongst fellow ubergeeks, I cannot bring myself to repeat it…) He seems to be a genuinely straight up bloke, which is refreshing. Often it’s a BIG MISTAKE to meet your heroes….

It was an unforgettable night. There'll be a drum-roll when my credit card bill hits the mat, but I don’t care. The DVD is out on May 23rd according to Amazon and it’s a must have for Nelsonites…and everyone else, for that matter. Attendees get a free one, so if it comes in advance, I’ll whizz a sample up here.

Bill Nelson – I salute you.

 The Bill Nelson Website: DREAMSVILLE