This artist may have never shone a superstar he deserved to be, but Shawn Phillips‘ glorious run in the ’70s remains unforgettable to such an extent that the veteran’s song was chosen to accompany figure skating performances and was heard at the 2022 Winter Olympics – and that’s without recalling the American musician’s collaborators whose line-up included Steve Winwood, Rick Wakeman and Paul Buckmaster, which is mark of quality in itself. So there’s little surprise in the alluring of a 51-track collection titled “Live In The Seventies” and scheduled to hit the shelves on June 10th.
The three-disc set spans the period from 1973 to 1978 and features material from eight concerts, where Phillips’ repertoire allows the listener to enjoy the on-stage versions of most of the “Second Contribution” album and the “Bright White” and “Furthermore…” LPs, and a nice portion of “Collaboration” as well as half of “Faces” and more than a half of “Transcendence” alongside other numbers, so it’s a fantastic journey through Shawn’s catalogue wherein there’s been no live entry. Until now. Indispensable. Read the review.
CD 1
Dallas, TX, April 4th, 1973:
1. Lovely Lady
2. We
3. Lady Of The Blue Rose
4. Landscape
5. Hey, Miss Lonely
6. Springwind
7. Coming Down Soft & Easy
8. Planned “O”
9. Never Did Get Down To Baltimore
10. Dream Queen
Rochester, NY, April 10th, 1972:
11. Screamer For Phlyses
12. Steel Eyes
13. Song For Sagittarians
14. Whaz’ Zat
15. Schmaltz Waltz
Texas 1973:
16. Spaceman
17. Song For Northern Ireland
18. Capé Barras
CD 2
San Antonio, October 28th, 1973:
1. Starbright
2. Breakthrough
3. Technotronic Lad
4. All The Kings And Castles
5. Victoria Emmanuele
Austin, October 31st, 1973:
6. Not Quite Nonsense
7. Troof
8. Talking In The Garden
9. Anello (Where Are You)
10. I Took A Walk
11. Woman
12. Keep On
13. Sleepwalker
14. Song For Mr. C
Inglewood, CA, January 30, 1974:
15. Furthermore
16. January First
17. Bright White
CD 3
Chicago, IL, March 31st, 1977:
1. Moonshine
2. Ballad Of Casey Deiss
3. Serendipity Peace
4. What’s Happenin’ Jim
5. Today
6. Early Morning Hours
7. Memories For JH (Improvisation)
Houston, TX, December 11, 1978:
8. Lookin’ Up Lookin’ Down
9. Good Evening Madam
10. Take It Easy
11. Lady In Violet
12. Implications
13. Motes Of Dust
14. Julia’s Letters
15. Maestoso
16. Ease Your Mind