Michael Chapman - Pleasures of the Street Live '1975; 2020

Tracks list

Michael Chapman fans are having a field day at the moment as Secret Records
continue with their program of album reissues. Pleasures Of The Street was
recorded and released in 1975 with a band comprising Achim Reichel on lead
guitar, bassist Steffi Stephen and drummer Keef Hartley. Two gigs were played
over the weekend at Onkel Pö’s in Hamburg and the eight tracks from
the original album are bolstered by five bonus cuts including three alternate
versions.

That the gigs were actually played, let alone an album made, seems like a
miracle. Michael’s wife Andru caught measles somewhere on the tour and
had to be quarantined; Reichel didn’t learn the parts Michael wanted and
was pretty much mixed out of the album; Stephen got off with Hartley’s
girlfriend and the two were at musical loggerheads. Michael wasn’t happy
but, hey, this was rock’n’roll.

The album opens with three solo acoustic tracks. ‘Party Pieces’ is
mostly about drinking and booze plays a large part in the record with
‘Firewater Dreams’, ‘Sea Of Wine’ and ‘Hero
Returns’ adding to the narrative. ‘Among The Trees’ and
‘In The Valley’ are as close to pastoral as Michael gets with the
former displaying his ability to play two different parts simultaneously.

The band first appears for ‘Shuffleboat River Farewell’ –
the first take – and there are two of Michael’s biggest hits of
the time: ‘Wrecked Again’ and ‘Deal Gone Down’, the
latter arguably the best track in the set and it benefits from two versions. The
second take is the longer and to my ear Michael sounds happier – perhaps
he’s glad that it’s nearly all over. The same is true of version 2
of ‘Shuffleboat River Farewell’. From what could have been a
complete disaster Michael Chapman and co-producer Max Hole put together a decent
album and Pleasures Of The Street still entertains forty-five years on. You
can’t argue with class.

Tracklist:
1 01. Michael Chapman - Party Pieces (Live) (04:20)
1 02. Michael Chapman - Among the Trees (Live) (03:58)
1 03. Michael Chapman - In the Valley (Live) (05:32)
1 04. Michael Chapman - Shuffleboat River Farewell (Live) (05:08)
1 05. Michael Chapman - Time Enough to Spare (Live) (05:14)
1 06. Michael Chapman - Firewater Dreams (Live) (04:21)
1 07. Michael Chapman - Wrecked Again (Live) (04:23)
1 08. Michael Chapman - Deal Gone Down (Live) (05:05)
1 09. Michael Chapman - Sea of Wine (Bonus Track) [Live] (03:07)
1 10. Michael Chapman - Hero Returns (Bonus Track) [Live] (03:42)
1 11. Michael Chapman - Firewater Dreams (Bonus Track) [Live] (04:28)
1 12. Michael Chapman - Deal Gone Down (Bonus Track) [Live] (05:56)
1 13. Michael Chapman - Shuffleboat River Farewell (Bonus Track) [Live] (04:46)

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