Green On Red: King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow, 04 09 2006

The story of Green On Red would make a great movie. Can you imagine…Jack Black would play Dan Stuart and Owen Wilson would play Chuck Prophet. Just watch those dollars roll in. It ain’t gonna happen tho’. But it should. For now, GoR is our little secret.

This peerless soundboard is from their brief, mid-noughties reformation, recorded at a gig in Glasgow. It’s a belter. According to legend, the setlist is exactly the one they were using on the 1992 (?) tour where they fell apart for the (almost) final time. From the first notes, it’s clear that time has not dulled their edge – Prophet pulls off some terrifying solos and Stuart is fine form – loads of banter and just about sober enough to pull it off with aplomb. The whole band sounds great tho’ – tight but loose as they used to say in the 70s. They did a handful of shows, honouring the dates they blew out in the 90s (tickets were still valid, apparently…) Nothing else to say but you need this. Really, YOU NEED THIS.

(Rockpalast -  German TV 2006)

The band:

Dan Stuart : vocals, guitar
Chuck Prophet : guitar, b/vs
Chris Cacavas : keyboards
Jack Waterson : bass
and
Daren Hess : drums

Thanks to the original recorded/uploader - Evangeline and respect to Carsten, GoR's sound engineer, for a stunningly good live mix

Someone needs to coax Mr Stuart out of retirement (or out of the bar…)

Live 2006

Green On Red: No Free Lunch (1986)

Green on Red live were a mercurial, tight-sloppy rag-bag of contradictions - the unassuming Guitar maestro rubbing shoulders with the loose cannon singer, backed by a solid (if impermanent) rhythm section. Sparks of brilliance would fly, often followed immediately by astonishing pratfalls. Just like real life. In short, they were a must-see. The studio albums were a different thing...the songs were always great, but they just lacked the 'could go either way' edge that their live performances had in spades. And this is me trying to convince you to download a studio album...what a salesman. IMHO (as the young people say) this is the most consistent and convincing of their studio albums. There isn't a duff track on it. The band were writing fantastic material and this combined with a well chosen Willie Nelson cover add to make a quiet landmark of a record. And some genius has deleted it. If I was a diligent Blogger, I'd check all the 'best ofs' to see if these tunes are available somewhere, but I'm feeling slightly jaded today, so do yer own research...what do you want from me - blood?

For your delectation laydeez and genlemen here is a rip from the original cassette release. Why cassette? Well, someone thought it would be a good idea to include a 13 minute version of 'Smokestack Lightning' as an incentive to buy the album on that format. It ain't an essential addition to the repertoire, but it's entertaining enough.

Somewhere, Dan Stuart is (hopefully) still writing kick-ass tunes, drinking a sensible amount of hard liquor and planning his return. We miss you, man....

Enjoy this.

No Free Lunch

PS...I played 'Keep On Moving' in the first gig of my first band...Hi Darrall!

Green On Red: Live at the Town And Country Club (1989)

'Poor ole Dan...'

Live albums are a bit of a mixed bunch - for every 'Live At Leeds' there's a ...(insert crappy live album title here). But this is a little piece of history.This is a BBC recording of a tour that GoR would rather forget, but it's got a ragged glory that got smoothed out a little on their other records. I'll let Mr Stuart explain...

This LP was recorded at the end of a European Tour that was beset with disasters from start to finish. There were problems with Exploding Vans, Storms in the Channel, Lawyers, Liquidators, Independent Record Companies, Domestic Dramas, Riots in Italy, Traffic Jams in Germany, The Police in Greece, The Mafia in Sardinia, Stolen Equipment and Out Of Tune Guitars.... and then The Drummer Left.

I saw them later on that year and they were still reeling - a clearly 'refreshed' Dan Stuart, deciding that he needed a break mid gig, sat down on his combo amp and fell over backwards. This was when he wasn't saying 'Big dog's cock' over and over. Or berating the audience ('How do you live in a country where it goes dark at four in the afternoon?') Or my favourite - Dan starts a solo version of 'Time ain't nothing' blissfully unaware of tuning or melody. At one stage, Bassist Rene Coleman joins in, only to be admonished by the clearly pissed-off singer - 'Stop it man, yer spoilin' it!' It was like The Faces, but in plaid shirts and with sensible hair.

This is ripped at 256 from my vinyl 10" - limited edition #111 fact fans. Enjoy.

Live At The Town And Country Club