The Live Adventures of the Waterboys
Encyclopedia
The Live Adventures of the Waterboys is a concert recording, released by The Waterboys
in 1998. Mike Scott
refers to this album
as an "unofficial release" or bootleg recording
, but praises the recording period as a "classic" period for the Waterboys. Most of the live songs on The Live Adventures... indeed already appeared on the bootlegs A Golden Day (1991) and Born To Be Together (1992). It is the only Waterboys album on which member Guy Chambers
appears.
According to Scott, the album was put out by New Millennium Communications (NMC) (although Amazon.com
credits it to "Msi", and Allmusic credits it to "Pilot" and "Griffin"). Scott claims that New Millennium stopped paying royalties to the band but continued to sell the album. The album is not listed on the band's own discography.
The Waterboys released another, entirely official, live album, Karma to Burn, through Scott's own record label, Puck records, in 2005.
"A Girl Called Johnny" was the first Waterboys single and was originally released on The Waterboys
(1983), as was "Savage Earth Heart." "The Thrill Is Gone" was originally released on A Pagan Place
(1984). "Medicine Bow", "This Is the Sea", "Be My Enemy", "Old England", "The Pan Within", "The Whole of the Moon" and "Spirit" were originally released on This Is the Sea
(1985). "Fisherman's Blues" and "We Will Not Be Lovers" were originally released on the album, Fisherman's Blues
(1988), over two years after these live performances. A studio version of "The Earth Only Endures" was released on The Secret Life of the Waterboys 81-85 compilation of outtakes, live tracks and demos in 1994.
"Death Is Not the End", "Meet Me at the Station", "Wayward Wind", "Purple Rain" and "Saints & Angels" make their only appearances on a Waterboys album here.
The album features several covers and interpolations of songs by other artists including "Because the Night
" by Patti Smith
which opens The Pan Within.
N.B.
Sources
The Waterboys
The Waterboys are a band formed in 1983 by Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland and England. Edinburgh, London, Dublin, Spiddal, New York, and Findhorn have all served as homes for the group. The band has played in a...
in 1998. Mike Scott
Mike Scott (musician)
Michael 'Mike' Scott is the founding member, lead singer and chief songwriter of rock band The Waterboys. He has also produced two solo albums, Bring 'em All In and Still Burning...
refers to this album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
as an "unofficial release" or bootleg recording
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
, but praises the recording period as a "classic" period for the Waterboys. Most of the live songs on The Live Adventures... indeed already appeared on the bootlegs A Golden Day (1991) and Born To Be Together (1992). It is the only Waterboys album on which member Guy Chambers
Guy Chambers
Guy Chambers is an English songwriter and record producer, perhaps best known for his long partnership with Robbie Williams.- Biography :...
appears.
According to Scott, the album was put out by New Millennium Communications (NMC) (although Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
credits it to "Msi", and Allmusic credits it to "Pilot" and "Griffin"). Scott claims that New Millennium stopped paying royalties to the band but continued to sell the album. The album is not listed on the band's own discography.
The Waterboys released another, entirely official, live album, Karma to Burn, through Scott's own record label, Puck records, in 2005.
"A Girl Called Johnny" was the first Waterboys single and was originally released on The Waterboys
The Waterboys (album)
This eponymously named debut album from The Waterboys was recorded in several studio sessions between December 1981 and November 1982. Allmusic describes the sound of the album as "part Van Morrison, part U2"....
(1983), as was "Savage Earth Heart." "The Thrill Is Gone" was originally released on A Pagan Place
A Pagan Place
A Pagan Place was an album released in June 1984 by The Waterboys. It was the first Waterboys record with Karl Wallinger as part of the band and also includes Roddy Lorimer's first trumpet solo for the band on the track "A Pagan Place"....
(1984). "Medicine Bow", "This Is the Sea", "Be My Enemy", "Old England", "The Pan Within", "The Whole of the Moon" and "Spirit" were originally released on This Is the Sea
This Is the Sea
This Is the Sea is the third and last of The Waterboys' "Big Music" albums. Considered by critics to be the finest album of their early rock-oriented sound, described as "epic" and "a defining moment", it was the first Waterboys album to enter the United Kingdom charts, peaking at number...
(1985). "Fisherman's Blues" and "We Will Not Be Lovers" were originally released on the album, Fisherman's Blues
Fisherman's Blues
Fisherman's Blues is the 1988 album by The Waterboys. The album marked a change in the sound of The Waterboys', abandoning their earlier grandiose rock sound for a mixture of traditional Scottish music, country music and rock and roll. Critics were divided on its release with some disappointed at...
(1988), over two years after these live performances. A studio version of "The Earth Only Endures" was released on The Secret Life of the Waterboys 81-85 compilation of outtakes, live tracks and demos in 1994.
"Death Is Not the End", "Meet Me at the Station", "Wayward Wind", "Purple Rain" and "Saints & Angels" make their only appearances on a Waterboys album here.
The album features several covers and interpolations of songs by other artists including "Because the Night
Because the Night
"Because the Night" is a song by the Patti Smith Group, written by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith which was released as a single in 1978, taken from Smith's album Easter. The song was a hit, rising to #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and helping propel sales of Easter to mainstream success –...
" by Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
which opens The Pan Within.
Disc one
- "Death Is Not the End" (Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
) – 4:07 - "The Earth Only Endures" (Trad. arr. Scott) – 1:42
- "Medicine Bow" (Scott, Anthony ThistlethwaiteAnthony ThistlethwaiteAnthony "Anto" Thistlethwaite is a British multi-instrumentalist best known as a founder member of the folk-rock group The Waterboys and later as a long-standing member of Irish rock band The Saw Doctors.After a year busking in Paris, playing tenor saxophone around the streets of the Latin...
) – 2:52 - "Fisherman's Blues" (Scott, Steve WickhamSteve WickhamSteve Wickham is an Irish musician described by Mike Scott as "the world's greatest rock fiddle player" and by New Musical Express as a "fiddling legend." Originally from Marino, Dublin, but calling Sligo home, Wickham has appeared on recordings by Elvis Costello, the Hothouse Flowers, Sinéad...
) – 4:58 - "This Is the Sea" – 7:02
- "Meet Me at the Station" (Trad. arr. Scott) – 3:57
- "We Will Not Be Lovers" – 9:56
- "The Wayward WindThe Wayward Wind"The Wayward Wind" is a country song written by Stanley Lebowsky and Herb Newman.In 1956 versions were recorded by Gogi Grant, Tex Ritter, and Jimmy Young, of which Grant's was the biggest seller in the United States and Ritter's in the United Kingdom...
" (Lebowsky, Newman) – 3:51 - "A Girl Called Johnny" – 4:44
- "Purple RainPurple Rain (song)"Purple Rain" is a power ballad by Prince and The Revolution. It is the title track from the 1984 album of the same name, which in turn is the soundtrack album for the 1984 film of the same name, and was released as the third single from that album. The song is a combination of rock, pop, gospel,...
" (Prince) – 7:22
Disc two
- "Be My Enemy" – 4:10
- "Old England" – 5:41
- "The Thrill Is Gone/And the Healing Has BegunAnd the Healing Has Begun"And the Healing Has Begun" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and recorded on his 1979 album, Into the Music.-Recording and composition:...
" (Scott/Van MorrisonVan MorrisonVan Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
) – 10:11 - "The Pan Within including Because the NightBecause the Night"Because the Night" is a song by the Patti Smith Group, written by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith which was released as a single in 1978, taken from Smith's album Easter. The song was a hit, rising to #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and helping propel sales of Easter to mainstream success –...
" – (Scott/Patti SmithPatti SmithPatricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, Bruce SpringsteenBruce SpringsteenBruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
) - 8:36 - "The Whole of the Moon" – 5:17
- "Spirit" – 7:03
- "Savage Earth Heart" – 9:15
- "Saints and Angels" (Scott, Wickham) – 5:44
N.B.
- "Spirit" includes a quotation from "The Four Ages of Man" by WB Yeats
- "Savage Earth Heart" includes quotations from "Dirt" by Iggy PopIggy PopIggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
and "Jerusalem (hymn)" by William BlakeWilliam BlakeWilliam Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
Sources
- Disc one, track 1 @ RTE Radio, Dublin, 4 Jan 1986
- Disc one, tracks 2-5 @ Greenpeace Benefit, Royal Albert Hall, London, England, 25 Apr 1986
- Disc one, tracks 6, 7 & 9 @ Radio Clyde, Glasgow, Scotland, 27 Apr 1986
- Disc one, tracks 8 & 10 @ Pink Pop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, 19 May 1986
- Disc two, all tracks @ Pyramid Stage, Glastonbury Festival, England, 20 Jun 1986
Musicians
- Mike Scott: vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric piano
- Anthony Thistlethwaite: sax, mandolin, electric mandolin, piano, backing vocals
- Steve Wickham: fiddle, backing vocals
- Trevor HutchinsonTrevor HutchinsonTrevor Hutchinson is the bass player and a founding member of Lúnasa. Born in Cookstown, County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland, he played with numerous bands before Lúnasa, including The Waterboys and Sharon Shannon.-Discography:With Lúnasa* Lúnasa...
: bass - Dave Ruffy: drums, backing vocals
- Guy ChambersGuy ChambersGuy Chambers is an English songwriter and record producer, perhaps best known for his long partnership with Robbie Williams.- Biography :...
: piano ("This Is the Sea" only)
External links
- Lyrics at mikescottwaterboys.com
- Official forum Chord requests are often fulfilled at "Musician's Corner"