Audio CD review:
The New Riders of the Purple Sage - Live: Worcester, MA 4/4/73

The New Riders of the Purple Sage - Live: Worcester, MA 4/4/73

Band: The New Riders of the Purple Sage Title: Live: Worcester, MA 4/4/73 Rating: Release Date: 20 May, 2003 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: I Don't Know You 2: Lochinvar 3: Rainbow 4: It's Alright With Me 5: Sailin' 6: Whatcha Gonna Do 7: California Day 8: Linda 9: Groupie 10: One Too Many Stories 11: Contract 12: Teardrops In My Eyes 13: Long Black Veil 14: You Ain't Woman Enough 15: Wiskey 16: Dirty Business 17: Down In The Boondocks 18: Hello Mary Lou 19: You Should Have Seen Me Runnin 20: Portland Woman 21: Henry 22: Glendale Train 23: Last Lonely Eagle 24: Louisana Lady 25: Willie and the Hand Jive

Customer Reviews ...and truthfully, 3 stars may be stretching it... So in that respect it's nice to see somebody releasing "authorized bootlegs" of early concerts. I really like New Riders, and for years there has been a serious shortage of material from this band available on CD. It's also great that some of the early Columbia releases are starting to show up (as imports, mostly). But this release is really a disappointment. First of all, as "music fan" already noted, these really ARE CD-R's. That really doesn't bother me as such, though it seems pretty odd for a commercially released CD. More disappointing is the truly dreadful sound quality. This same label has released two other early NRPS live shows, including the really terrific "Live at Veneta, OR, 8/27/72", which I highly recommend, and another decent recording from Boston Music Hall (12/5/72). But I'm having a really hard time recommending this one. Like the Dead's "Dick's Picks" series, the box label warns that the sound quality is not superb, and that it comes from 30 year old 1/2-track (probably 1/4") reels recorded at 7 1/2 ips (which is the bare minimum tape speed for anything approaching high fidelity) so you don't expect it to sound great. But by the time you approach the end of the second disc it sounds so awful that it literally could have been recorded on a $20 cassette portable. In addition, the band is really not performing at its peak, either, depite the appearances of Keith & Donna Godchaux. If budget priced, merely for its historic value, this would still be an ok set. But all things considered, at twenty bucks it really is a bit of a rip-off. Rabid NRPS fans and completists will probably want to have this (yeah, I'm keeping mine, too) but for anyone else I'd recommend taking a pass. . CLASSIC RIDERS Though the packaging is bare to the bones this was the first of three releases that are now available and each one gets better. After so many years of just listening to "Home, Home On The Road" it's really nice to see some of these classic shows being released. If your a Riders fan you have to purchase these cd's. Brings me back to a time when all we did was party. I can still smell the weed. Now I'm 48, married with three kids, but the memories of those days live on especially in these recordings. Thanks N. R. P. S. Good Idea - Bad Result It sounds like it's right off of the old tape with no mastering done at all. Sound quality is really poor. I'd agree that the songlist is great and it's great to finally see some live shows, but this is for the collector only. Where's Home, Home on the Road!!. . You can see a complete list of all The New Riders of the Purple Sage discography, or go back to the The New Riders of the Purple Sage tabs