LDS 039: British progressive jazz-rock band Colosseum live May of 1971 @ Sporthalle am Böllenfalltor, Darmstadt, Germany
Colosseum Live LP 1971 Inside Cover. Photo from coverdude.com
The first chapter in the emergence of rock and jazz in 1969 and 1970 have a lot of origins in the pioneers who came from or were residing in the Western hemisphere. Larry Young, John McLuaghlin and Tony Williams had been cutting teeth in New York with their Lifetime unit, while Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa were reconstructing the meaning of electronics in music with jazz and rock in mind. Britian and most of Europe had innovated itself into the brink of over exhaustion during the psychedelic era but like any culture this strong, innovation was still surmounting and growing in the name of the electric blues, krautrock, and jazz rock. One band that I don’t hear a lot of my colleagues and friends speak about for the progressive jazz and rock movement is British heavy weights Colosseum. With members from Graham Bond’s band of the 60′s and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers of the same era, Colosseum had a penchant for heavy elongated electric blues work outs, classical traditions along with a vast language of musical ideas akin to the 60′s era music of King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, The Soft Machine, Taste and The Mothers of Invention.
With the release of their first album in 1969 and a 4 studio/live records that would follow in the next 2 years, Colosseum reached critical acclaim in the UK charts and helped ignite a world of musical integrity that would consume every region of the world in the 70′s. Once musicians heard what a group like Colosseum was achieving through improvisation, experimentation and high levels of technicality without loosing any soul, the world would never be the same. It would take the landscape of music to birth bands like Colosseum decades to come back and the live documentation of their final year in 1971 before a very long hiatus is looked at by some collectors as the peak of the band. Included today for our Love Devotion Surrender series is an audience recording from Germany in May of 1971 and in support of their “Daughter in Time” record, the 4th studio album to emerge from the band in just 2 years. The band had brought in vocalist Chris Farlowe into the fold to allow the other members on vocal duties to focus on their instruments and for this evening Chris had fell sick, so you hear the band really stretch out and improvise into some beautiful unique territory. The audience tape is definitely rough but the surreal state of the performance is worth it for any serious collector of progressive music at the shift of the 60′s into the 70′s.
Colosseums's 1969 debut LP "Those Who Are About to Die Salute You"
The concert tapes starts with the band getting ready and tuning while many wait in anticipation for the group to jump right into things. Th first piece the group selects is ‘Beware The Ides of March’, a number from the very first Colosseum album Those Who Are About to Die Salute You – Morituri Te Salutant. The band extends the song from the way it was recorded for the album on this 1971 performance from Germany. There is a very epic and classical tone that permeates under the stretched out improvisatory sections, giving it a very heavy and steamed feel run from beginning to end. In one section it sounds as a lot like the interaction McLaughlin and Santana were getting into a few years later during their historic summits on stage. The solo work is high powered and ferocious, displaying a fever pitch that explodes into the mix and really shows you how intense the show must have been right away. I’d imagine this would be the moment 1000′s had their jaws dropped and their minds in complete heaven. The band melodically slips out of this heavy moment and the sax soars over. Even for an audience recording, the drums, bass, organ, guitar, sax and vocals (when present) come through very distinctly. The finishes up to a roaring approval as the group is introduced in full and they apologize for the departure of a very ill Chris Farlowe and accompanied joke is interjected to the crowds pleasure. Colosseum was a very serious band musically but the humor and uncanny way they slide between the songs shows a bands true personality. These little moments are normally cut from official live records so it’s always nice to hear them in this form along with how the people react from the audience tape sourcing itself in that region.
Next song up from this 1971 Germany performance is the jazz and power blues number ‘Downhill and Shadows’. As the first song showcased from their latest studio recording up to that point, this number is stretched from the 6 minutes found on the recording to an astonishing 18 minutes, full of reprises, jam sections, highly interwoven harmonic bridges and marvelous solos from everyone. The electric bass is thick and really crunches outward in the recording, something I love about the entire performance and how it was captured. The drums are always moving, always playing off the steady and constant pulsing bass. If you have heard of Rory Gallaghers Taste, this song reminds me a lot of what that band was getting into. There is a section where the entire band cuts out and guitarist Dave Clempson let’s loose on one of the most passionate blues inspired lightening speed solos I have heard. The solo becomes violently beautiful as he gets into a very free form territory with his wammy bar, effects and virtuoso technique. He runs up and down the neck in a way that is unreal hammering away note after note. The band comes back in sounding a lot like what King Crimson was doing. Even with similarities, Colosseum still has an undeniable edge and unique blend of blues, jazz and classical that really separates them from their contemporaries. The vocal chasing of the guitar is a perfect summation of this piece as the band breaks out once more for the guitar and sax to compliment and mimic one another. This is one of those moments in live music where you know what you are getting will only occur that night and on that tour, the fact that someone recorded in such quality is a gift all hardcore collectors of this movement can be thankful for. The rest of this performance is one that will blow your mind, don’t hesitate on grabbing this one.
-Erik Otis
Love Devotion Surrender 039:
Colosseum live May of 1971
Sporthalle am Böllenfalltor
Darmstadt, Germany
CDR trade> EAC> wav> CoolEdit> wav> FLAC
Disc One
1. Intro
2. Beware The Ides Of March
3. Downhill And Shadows
Disc Two
1. Tanglewood 63
2. The Machine Demands A Sacrifice
3. Lost Angeles
4. Rope Ladder To The Moon
5. Walking In The Park
6. The Valentyne Suite
Dave Clempson, guitar
Dick Heckstall-Smith, saxophones
Jon Hiseman, drums
Dave Greenslade, organ
Mark Clarke, bass
(Chris Farlowe was ill)
As a bonus, we wanted to include the footage that gained Colosseum much needed exposure in the year of 1969. This was recorded for John Peel and the BBC Networks for a special called Supershow that featured some of the worlds best talent together under on roof. The program included a vast array of artists such as Buddy Guy, Led Zeppelin, Roland Kirk, Modern Jazz Quartet and many more. Enjoy!
