John Martyn - Live At Leeds Deluxe

Posted by: Nick Lees on 10 September 2010

Wonderful release, with the whole of the concert (including three tracks with Paul Kossoff on lead guitar) plus the songs (several not on the live set list) from the afternoon's rehearsal.

But here comes the weirdness. It turns out that on the original album, only Bless The Weather and Only Make No Mistake are from the Leeds Concert. The Man In The Station is from the afternoon's rehearsal (with a vocal overdub) and the rest is from another concert in London!

So if you have the original version, you need this as well as this is truly "Live From Leeds".

You get all of the between-song chatter, which is both a blessing and a curse - the former because it adds to the atmosphere (they were clearly having a lot of drunken fun) the latter because after one listen it tends to get in the way of the song (they do go on a bit and only John's comments are that audible). Oh, and the language is very strong, so take heed before playing befor the children or mother-in-law.

It's pretty well recorded though obviously comparing sound quality between the two is flawed as most of the music isn't on the original release, but there less hiss present than on the "original" and his voice is richer and growlier.
Posted on: 10 September 2010 by lutyens
Hi Gary
Spin sent this to me yesterday and I will listen properly this weekend. One of the reviews I read recently was very rude about the fact that it is not the same as the lp. I will listen and make my own mind up. I have a great deal of faith in John Hillarby to do right. The extra tracks he has included on other reissues have always been of interest and generally wonderful.

I agree about the between track rants. They are irritating and I'm not convinced they add to atmosphere. On the recent Jackson Browne live in spain , the between song banter was on a seperate cd track and when loading on to the ipod I could omit it which was very nice! In the old days of buttons and tapes you could also do that!
atb
james