Be Bop Deluxe - Live! In The Air Age 3 x CDs (expanded)
SKU
23-PECLEC 32761
“This legendary live album was released in July 1977 and would prove to be the band’s most successful album, peaking at number 10 in the UK charts. The album was issued at a time of growing commercial success for the band and followed on the heels of two highly acclaimed studio albums in thirteen months, Sunburst Finish and Modern Music, both of which reached the top twenty of the UK album charts.
Live! In the Air Age would be the band’s only live record and was recorded on a series of dates in the UK in February and March 1977 on the Rolling Stones mobile unit with John Leckie, who had engineered co-produced the band’s previous two albums, supervising the location recordings. The band’s UK tour began in late January and was an audio-visual extravaganza that featured the use of projection screens and excerpts from the 1927 German silent film Metropolis, director Fritz Lang’s striking science fiction masterpiece.
Continuing into February, fate would intervene to cause a postponement to the remainder of the tour. Travelling to a concert in Bristol on 15th February 1977, Bill Nelson and John Leckie were involved in a car accident which resulted in them being hospitalised at Huddersfield Infirmary. Thankfully, all involved recovered quickly from their injuries, but as a result of the accident, the remaining concerts were postponed until the end of March.
The tour began again with two concerts at Hammersmith Odeon in London on March 25th and 26th 1977 which revealed the band to be on top form, feeding off the tremendous warmth of the audience. Further shows in Bristol and Bournemouth on the 27th and 28th March respectively also contained many fine moments.
Bill Nelson and John Leckie selected the best performances for mixing at Abbey Road and Advision studios in London and LIVE! IN THE AIR AGE was released in July 1977.
This set features the original album, newly remastered from the original master tapes, and restores the correct running order of the original LP release and has three bonus tracks drawn from a BBC Radio One JOHN PEEL SHOW session from January 1977.
Importantly, this 3 CD edition includes the entire concert recorded at Hammersmith Odeon in London on 26th March 1977, one of the stand-out concerts from that memorable tour, which has been newly mixed by Stephen W. Tayler and is presented here for the very first time. The recording reveals the improvisational side of Be Bop Deluxe, particularly on pieces such as Shine and Blazing Apostles which made each Be Bop Deluxe concert unique. This release includes an illustrated booklet with many photographs and an essay of recollections by Bill Nelson.”
- LabelEsoteric
- UPC5013929476189