Lindisfarne - Live - Definitive Edition (1973)

 (U.K - 1968–1976, 1978–2004, 2013–present)

Live is a live album by English folk rock band Lindisfarne. It was recorded at the City Hall In Newcastle, England on December 4, 1971 and was released in 1973. Lindisfarne built up a tradition of playing terrific concerts in their home city of Newcastle around Christmas time.

Lindisfarne's pop folk rock was popular in England during the early seventies, peaking in 1972 with their Top Ten U.K album 'Fog on the Tyne' which went to #1.

The band actually goes back to the mid-Sixties, when various members were playing in local Newcastle groups, including Rod Clements and Ray Laidlaw in the Downtown Faction Blues Band. All the future Lindisfarne members, except Hull, worked together as Brethren in the summer of 1969. With the departure of guitarist Jeff Sandler in late 1969, the group switched to quieter folk pop' especially after taking on folksinger/songwriter Alan Hull' who became co-lead writer with Clements in the spring of 1970. The band was briefly known as Alan Hull and Brethren before choosing Lindisfarne (after a small island off the Northumberland coast).

Though their debut album, 'Nicely Out of Tune', was released in the U.S., most interest was in Europe, generated by their many college and festival shows. The big British breakthrough was 'Fog on the Tyne', which was produced by Bob Johnston (who'd previously worked with Bob Dylan) and yielded the lushly melodic #5 hit "Meet Me on the Corner" (1972). Around this time,

Jackson played mandolin on Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story. Another single, "Lady Eleanor," hit #3 in England but only #82in the U,S., and soon the band was having trouble in the U.K. as well. Dingly Dell was a critical and commercial disappointment, and in 1973 Clements, Cowe and Laidlaw left to form Jack the Lad. (Clements left Jack shortly after their mid-1974 debut.)

Hull and Jackson kept the band name, and the group became a sextet with the inclusion of Kenny Craddock (who in 1968 played with Yes drummer Alan White in Happy Magazine, and later Ginger Baker's Air Force and Mark-Almond) and Charlie Harcourt (formerly with Cat Mother and the All Night News Boys). Both Roll On, Ruby and Happy Daze were flops. Hull had released his first solo record, Pipedream; Squire came out around the time the band broke up in 1975.

Lindisfarne switched labels to Mercury and debuted with a double live album, Magic in the Air, with songs drawn from the group's first three albums. The band remained intact and on Mercury for two more long-players, released to little lasting commercial avail. They resurfaced in October 1978 on Atlantic with the album Back and Fourth (they had first reunited with all the original members at Christmas time in 1977). At this late date, they had their first relatively successful U.S. hit, "Run for Home" (#33 U.S., #10 U.K.)

They remained a reasonably popular concert attraction — especially in Newcastle and the surrounding area — into the early '80s, and have continued to record and reunite for concerts periodically in the years since. During the early '80s, they organized Lindisfarne Musical Productions and began releasing their work on the LMP label, including a live album cut in 1983. Their live recordings, featuring new renditions of their classic early-'70s material, seem to draw the greatest enthusiasm. Alan Hull has also maintained a separate solo career, and fans of the group should definitely own his Back to Basics CD, on which he does live acoustic versions of his best songs from 1970 onward.

During the second half of the 1980s they played annual Christmas tours and released Dance Your Life Away (1986) and C'mon Everybody (1987) – the latter made up of covers of old rock and roll standards and reworkings of some of the band's most popular songs.

In 1990, Lindisfarne introduced themselves to a younger generation with the duet "Fog on the Tyne Revisited", accompanied by footballer Paul Gascoigne, which reached No. 2 in the UK singles chart. Around this time Jackson left the band and Craggs took over his lead vocals, adding piano accordion and tin whistle, as the band gradually rediscovered its acoustic roots. Clements started to play slide guitar and mandolin, his former role as bassist being filled by Steve Cunningham and, later, Ian Thomson. Hull's son-in-law Dave Hull-Denholm joined in 1994 to replace Cowe, who left shortly after the recording of the album Elvis Lives on the Moon and emigrated to Toronto, Canada, where he ran a brewery. He rejoined them briefly on stage for occasional dates on a subsequent American tour. He died in September 2015 from oesophageal cancer.

Alan Hull died on 17 November 1995, but the surviving members continued to use the name. With former Jack The Lad frontman Billy Mitchell in Hull's place, the band released two more studio albums, Here Comes The Neighbourhood (1997) and Promenade (2002). A number of live albums were also released. Craggs quit in 2000, after which Mitchell took over Jackson's and Craggs' lead vocals and used the harmonica on a harness.

Lindisfarne finally broke up in May 2004, with the full line-up performing a final concert on 1 November 2003 at the Newcastle Opera House. The final line-up as a band consisted of Dave Hull-Denholm, Billy Mitchell, Rod Clements, Ian Thomson and Ray Laidlaw.

Lindisfarne - Live on GTK 1973

Album Review   -  'Last of the 'old' Lindisfarne'

(Melody Maker July 28, 1973)

This is a last offering from Lindisfarne as they were - recorded live at Newcastle City hall in December, 1971 - featuring all the best known numbers from their stage act and capturing the atmosphere of the group playing to a partisan audience of Geordies.

In Newcastle they didn't have to try. All the songs will be familiar to Lindisfarne buffs: they're all from the first two albums as the third hadn't been recorded by this time. In running order they are "No Time To Lose", "Meet Me On The Corner", "Alright On The Night", "Train In G Major", "Fog On The Tyne", "We Can Swing Together" and "Jack Hammer Blues". The last two take up the whole of the second side. From a musical and production point of view, they don't compare too favourably with the studio versions, but in this case they're not meant to. 

This album is obviously a keep sake for fans who enjoyed the group's happy-go-lucky career and sang along with the choruses wherever they went. Standout track is obviously "Swing Together' with the longest harmonica solo Ray Jackson has ever played: it serves to prove conclusively that Jacka is the best harp player in the business. On this version he plays through the usual reels and jigs before taking off - with audience accompaniment - on "Jingle Bells", "Auld Lang Syne", "Coming Around The Mountain" and stacks more. It's an exercise in audience participation that few could equal, even though it descends into relative chaos towards the  end. There's little else to say as it's all been said before, but one good reason for buying this album is that you won't hear it live again. C.C

This post consists of FLAC's ripped from CD and comes with full album artwork for both CD and vinyl.  Although I have the original vinyl release, I decided to share the Definitive Edition as it contains some crucial tracks that were not available on vinyl.   In fact, I would go as far to say that the inclusion of the 18min long "We Can Swing Together" on the original vinyl release was a huge mistake, and tracks like "Lady Eleanor", "Scotch Mist" and the brilliant concert closer "Clear White Light" should have been used instead.  I totally disagree with the reviewer's comments about "Can Swing" being a highlight and found the audience participation and band dialogue to be annoying and boring. Not something that you want to hear over and over again in my opinion. 

Otherwise, the remaining tracks are entertaining and enjoyable to listen to, and I recommend you give this a listen. For the pricey sum of $3.98 this album was a bargain at the time when other albums were nearly double the price.

Set List

01 Intro – 1:16

02 Together Forever – 3:08

03 No Time To Lose – 3:58

04 January Song – 5:06

05 Meet Me On The Corner – 3:43

06 Alright On The Night – 4:33

07 Train In G Major – 3:31

08 Scotch Mist – 2:46

09 Lady Eleanor – 6:03

10 Knacker’s Yard Blues – 4:56

11 Fog On The Tyne – 5:52

12 We Can Swing Together – 17:54

13 Jackhammer Blues – 5:42

14 Clear White Light (feat. Fade Away, Bo Diddley) – 11:08

The band at this stage was:

Alan Hull – vocals, guitar, keyboards

Ray Jackson – vocals, mandolin, harmonica

Rod Clements – bass guitar, violin

Simon Cowe – guitar, mandolin, banjo, keyboards

Ray Laidlaw – drums

Lindisfarne Link (512Mb) New Link 16/08/23