HW: Weird #6

[Douglas Pearson]

On Thu, 22 Mar 2001 19:28:45 EST, Joe Loehr <JLoehr4299 at AOL.COM> wrote:
>In a message dated 3/22/01 7:14:29 PM US Eastern Standard Time,
>mel at MVA.U-NET.COM writes:
>>
>> Well..........hardly worth a re-press if you ask me.
>> What a waste of money for a load of stuff that most
>> of us 'die hards' have heard before!
>
>That's kind of what I was thinking. But then, the Weird Tapes came
>out in the early 80's, right? Back before the "load of stuff" had
>been compilated to death.

Exactly.  I always assumed that the Weird tapes were the main source for
much of the Friends&Relations/Anthology/Acid Daze material that came out in
the subsequent 5 years or so.  I posted a lengthy list of
duplications/similarities/differences, at least for volumes 1-5, to the
list several months ago; check the archives.  I believe that vol.4
(Hawklords live) is the ONLY volume with no previously-released-exact-
duplicates on it (but see below...).

>I mean, how many live versions of Master of
>the Universe does one really need?

Me?  At least one version by each one of my favorite (pre-79) lineups, and
at least one by each subsequent *major* lineup change (with Huw vs. without
Huw, Dave vocals vs. Nik vocals vs. Ron vocals, etc.).  Or take "Silver
Machine" as an example - there are different versions sung by Bob, Lemmy,
Dave, Nik AND Ron (did I miss anyone?  Alan, maybe?).  I need 'em all!

>Especially if they're all the same versions!

I'm with you on that (BUT, for instance, I NEED the Weird Tapes version
of "Spirit of the Age" even though I already have the same version
on 'Friends & Relations vol.2' because the Weird version includes the outro
that flows into "Sonic Attack").

>If it's a special version, say, that DikMik sang lead on, well,
>alright. But otherwise, I feel that one live version of a song
>is pretty much the same as another.

No way!  Take "Quark, Strangeness & Charm" and contrast the Weird/Acid Daze
live version with the 'Business Trip' live version.  A *completely*
differently-arranged song.  Or the chugging version of "Urban Guerilla" on
(sorry!) 'Yuri Gagarin' vs. the over-the-top-punked-out version on Weird
vol.4 (even though the *arrangement* of the song done a year later released
as the "Shot Down In The Night" B-side is virtually the same, the outcome
is very different because the vocals are Dave instead of Bob, and Huw's
lead guitar is added).  Or even the differences between the early version
of "Psychedelic Warlords" on 'The 1999 Party' and the final studio version
recorded a few months later for HotMG.  One of the great things about
Hawkwind is that they're *always* willing to re-invent their own songs down
the line, and NOT just turn out carbon copies of the studio version.  The
Astoria version of "Levitation" with its lengthy solos and breakdowns is
(IMO) a brilliant example.

I'll freely admit that multiple live versions of the same song *from the
same tour* usually ARE redundant (which prevents Weird vol.4 'Hawklords
live' from being completely unique, since there are different recordings of
some of the same songs on the Dojo/Griffin 'Hawklords live' CD, but then
again, the "power cut" version of "Death Trap" on that CD is still pretty
unique!).  But even a short amount of time can make a big difference -
witness the versions of "Uncle Sam's On Mars" on 'Atomhenge 76'/'Thrilling
Adventures', Weird vol.5 (or is it 3?) & 'PXR5'; and THOSE lineups are
essentially the same (except for Rudolph being replaced by Ade Shaw).

Perhaps this philosophy is not for everyone (perhaps its' just the
Kollektor/Kompleatist in me), but *I* say, "bring on the multiple live
versions of the same song"!  And while you're at it, how about a double
CD 'live 77/78' with the entire repertoire of the
Calvert/Brock/House/Shaw/King lineup?

    -Doug
     ceres at sirius.com