peterchecksfield wrote:Chris Davies wrote:peterchecksfield wrote:Overall, yes. But (a) I thought the 1980 sessions featured him in worse voice for that year, & (b) I thought the 1987 sessions featured him in the best voice for that year. OK?
He just seemed more "into it" during the 1987 session (& he must've been proud of these himself as he premiered several songs from these during his 1987 European tour).
Not only did he premier them but he had taken the time to really learn the songs by listening to them on a Walkman between shows. I think myself very lucky to have heard "What Am I Living For" at Bridlington and "One of Them Old Things We All Go Through" at Northampton. Both with superb piano and very similar in arrangement to the studio cuts. And I love "Rock'n'roll is Something Special", it is absolutley outstanding !
Even Jerry's band learnt them to some extent: I remember being surprised to see / hear Joel Schumaker playing slide guitar on 'Hang Up My Rock & Roll Shoes' in Cambridge (& I think in Northampton too), & when I asked him why he said it's because he's copying the record! It wasn't until I actually heard the 1987 studio cut years later that I realised what he was talking about.
The slide guitar on the studio recordings is fantastic!
I remember Colin Philips wrote in Lewis Scene that Jerry had let him listen to the recordings on the Walkman. The same edition of LS that included the Northampton show review and after-party review. I was amazed to hear that such things as
meeting JLL were possible. The UK tour of 1987 ratcheted up my interest in JLL considerably! Although it was arguably the last great tour of Europe and the UK with JLL consistently playing long and varied shows. I know there were some amazing tours of Germany post 1987 but we were soon into a new era of JLL.