What other band could share a bill with X on one night and Carl Perkins and Willie Dixon on another? It might happen these days at one of those festivals with wildly varied bills, but in 1982? You pea greens might not see what the fuss was about, and the video below, good as it is, doesn't do the Blasters justice. I saw the Blasters often back then and I'm here to tell you that they were one of the best live bands I've seen, before or since, big venue or small. They fucking brought it.
I remember one show in particular, like it happened last week. I'd been up front for the first part of the set, and decided to move to the rear of the hall, a small club, to drink it all in. I turned around. The communal joy in the room just hit me smack dab in the face. I was literally almost breathless, getting chills and all of that. I was lucky enough to have that moment, and straight enough to recognize how special it was. It was all rock 'n' roll. One hundred percent good old fashioned rock 'n' roll.
Here's what I could find floating around online. Very few mp3s out there, damn shame that is. I highly recommend you check the video above, and the post at Beware of the Blog, Songs We Taught the Blasters [sic], a collection of original versions of songs the Blasters have covered.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:The Blasters - Marie Marie mp3 at Full Songs (?)
The Blasters - Red Rose mp3 at AM Then FM
The Blasters - Dark Night mp3 at OST For Me
The Blasters - Marie, Marie (streaming) at YouTube Original Rollin' Rock version
Covered by the Blasters
The whole collection:
Songs We Taught the Blasters [sic] at Beware of the Blog
1 comment:
I can't believe no one else has posted a comment - that Blasters show was great. I sadly never got to see them back in the day, but I still have their first Slash album on vinyl. What a great band!
--Marc
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