Tuesday, June 21, 2005

New Music Tuesday - Manhattan Transfer Live (1978)

How great is this album? (And I do use the word album because I had this on vinyl long, long ago.) This is the final Manhattan Transfer album to be reborn on CD - I never thought I would have this one!

I haven't heard this album in a long time, since I no longer have a turntable, but I knew there were several songs that were outstanding on this disc.

Well, I love this concert. Boy, they were something back in the day, the day that featured not only my boys, Wayne Johnson on guitar and Don Roberts on sax, but the days that included Laurel Masse.

I have always been a fan of Snootie Little Cutie, but had forgotten how incredibly great Janis Siegel was on In the Dark and Laurel Masse's amazing Je Voulais (Te Dire Que Je T'Attends) . The brief accapella Sunday is magnificent and the goofy stuff performed by Tim Hauser and Alan Paul as their alter egos are just silly.

Ah, when music was fun...those were the days. Go get this CD. Now.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Captain, for the kind words about my work in the Transfer. Making that live album was an amazing experience in many ways, including singing with cracked ribs resulting from a fall into a monitor speaker on an oddly-shaped stage in Manchester, England.
Janis's performance on "In the Dark" is classic, but the BEST performance I ever heard her give of that tune was in a blocking rehearsal. She was chewing gum, and didn't want to spit it out, so her delivery of the melodic lines was clipped and understated and absolutely terrific. I never forgot it, and it's been...well it's been a while.
"Je Voulais" is still in my repertoire - and yes, I am still performing.
Thanks for the good words.