Continental Drifters - Two N.J. Soundboards 1999 + 2001

*featuring Peter Holsapple, of course*

Maxwell's
Hoboken, N.J.
Dec. 6, 1999

soundboard recording (sound quality: Ex-) ACOUSTIC SHOW

01 house music
02 A Song for You (Gram Parsons)

cover art included in the download (date is in error)

03 Christopher Columbus 

     Transcontinental Highway

04 You're Gonna Need Somebody

05 Wipeout
06 Snow
07 Na Na
08 Meet Me In the Middle
09 Some of Shelly's Blues (Nesmith)
10 To Sir, with Love 

     (Don Black, Mark London)
11 Never Ending Song of Love 

     (Delaney Bramlett)
12 Anything
13 Matty Groves (trad.)
14 I'm a Dreamer (Sandy Denny)
15 Bang Bang (My Baby Shot 

     Me Down) (Sonny Bono)
16 Mixed Messages
17 Falling' Apart at the Dreams
18 'composite sketch'
19 Bus Stop (G. Gouldman)
20 Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb)
21 Darlin Darlin
22 Meet On the Ledge

     (Richard Thompson)
23 'Kate worship'
24 Honeybees (Kate Jacobs, Charlie 

     Shaw, James MacMillan)

Peter devoted many years of his life to the Drifters

25 Shallow
26 You're from Indiana
27 Don't Do What I Did 
28 Heart, Home
29 Farmer’s Daughter (M. Love, 

     B. Wilson)

30 Umppah!

31 Watermark
32 Tell Me When Its Over (S. Wynn)
33 Tuesday (S. Wynn)
34 Now I Ride Alone (S. Wynn)
35 Carolyn (S. Wynn)
36 Kerosene Man (S. Wynn)
37 I Want to Learn to Waltz with You
38 'tolerate the diva'
39 Way of the World
40 Drifters
41 Tighter, Tighter (Alive 'n' Kickin')

ROB SEZ: Oh, man! It was early Christmas for me when these two shows appeared in mid-December. And they're studies in musical contrasts: the '99 acoustic show at Maxwell's is a sprawling, no-holds-barred, guest-packed, glorious juggernaut; while the '01 electric show is tight & focused. Both of them are marvels of sound quality, from master soundboard tapes. HUGE THANKS to the Anonymous taper, to Ted M. for supplying the tapes, to Joe N. for digitizing & editing, and to photoleon for sharing. Please post a comment to thank the band and the ROIO heroes who brought these recordings to you. Read this great interview with Peter and other Drifters reminiscing about the band.

    

Where it went down in New Brunswick, N.J.

The Court Tavern, 

New Brunswick, N.J.

July 8, 2001

   

soundboard recording (sound quality: Ex-)

01 stage greeting, tuning

02 Someday

03 Christopher Columbus 

     Transcontinental Highway

04 Live on Love

05 Christopher Columbus 

     Transcontinental Highway (reprise) 

06 Snow

07 Mixed Messages

08 Don't Do What I Did

09 Cousin

10 Meet Me In the Middle

11 'contact high'

12 Long Journey Home

13 Tomorrow's Gonna Be

14 Watermark

15 I Want to See the Bright Lights

     Tonight (R. & L. Thompson)

16 Too Little, Too Late

17 Peaceful Waking

18 Na Na

19 Way of the World

20 Who We Are, Where We Live 

21 encore break

22 Dedicated to the One I Love

     (Lowman Pauling, Ralph Bass)

Continental Drifters:
Peter Holsapple; guitar, accordion, vocals
Vicki Peterson; guitars, vocals
Robert Maché; guitars, mandolin, vocals
Russ Broussard; drums
Mark Walton; bass, acoustic guitar, vocals 
Susan Cowsill; guitars, vocals
Dan McGough; organ, piano

FLAC

  

MP3@320

            

Continental Drifters - WFUV-FM 2001

LOSSLESS REPOST

Idiot’s Delight live session

WFUV-FM (Bronx, N.Y.)

July 5, 2001

FM recording (sound quality: VG++)

VICKI PETERSON

&

PETER HOLSAPPLE 
  
heart & soul

of

Continental

Drifters
 

  

SIGNIFICANT THANKS to the taper and to TheBynumite for sharing

ROB SEZ: This isn't one of those live sessions in which the talking bits and the music bits are easily separated. To enjoy this one, it helps to settle in for the chat, because Vin Scelsa was one of the pioneers of free-form FM radio. The man has the gift of gab (as illustrated here as he tells the Drifters about his cousin Judy from Jersey City). Got mystery bonus material? Yes, and you won't have to look too hard to find it.

01 Vin Scelsa intro

Offbeat, yes. But usually not downbeat...

02 chat 1 + song intro

03 Highway of the Saints*

     (initial false start)

04 chat 2 + song intro

05 Cousin

06 chat 3

07 chat 4

08 Live On Love

09 chat 5 + song intro

10 Tear My Stillhouse Down+

11 chat 6 + song intro

12 Too Little, Too Late

13 chat 7 + song intro

14 That Much a Fool

15 chat 8 + song intro

16 Crescent City^

17 chat 9

*Pat McLaughlin cover

+Gillian Welch cover
^Lucinda Williams cover 

FLAC

MP3@320

CONTINENTAL DRIFTERS:  
Russ Broussard
Susan Cowsill 
Peter Holsapple
Robert Maché
Vicki Peterson
Mark Walton

Read the history of Continental Drifters.
Learn more about their music @ AllMusic

Continental Drifters - Goppingen, GR 1998 (sbd)

LOSSLESS RE-POST

Odeon im alten E-Werk

Göppingen, Germany

June 27, 1998

soundboard recording (excellent sound quality; transfer from DAT master)

REPERCUSSION: Peter joined the Continental Drifters in the early 1990s after The dB's were kaput, and he stayed with the group until it disbanded circa 2003. While they were active, the Drifters recorded several of Peter's songs, so if you enjoy his singing and songwriting, those discs are definitely worth seeking out.

PH lead or shared vocals: 1-03, 1-06, 1-08, 1-10, 2-03, 2-06, 2-07

Peter Holsapple plays his heart out with the Drifters

photo by Bernhard Rosa

BIG THANKS & ALL PRAISE to Leo the Lonetaper for his very generous share and permission to re-post here! 

NOTE: Peter's compositions bear his initials in < >.
Cover tunes also have the name of the composer in < >.
I love that the show begins & ends with Richard Thompson tunes.

CD 1

1-01 tuning / intro

1-02 You're Going to Need Somebody <Richard Thompson>

1-03 A Song for You <Gram Parsons>

1-04 Invisible Boyfriend <PH>

1-05 Get Over It

1-06 Darlin' Darlin' <PH>

1-07 Spring Day In Ohio

1-08 Don't Do What I Did <PH>

1-09 Mixed Messages

1-10 Meet Me In the Middle <PH>

1-11 Look at All the Things <Danny Whitten>

1-12 Watermark

CD 2

2-01 The Rain Song

2-02 Way of the World

2-03 Daddy Just Wants It to Rain <PH>

2-04 Who We Are, Where We Live

encore 1:                                    

2-05 Baby Elephant Walk <Henry Mancini>

2-06 Drifters

2-07 Soul Deep <Wayne Thompson>

encore 2: 

2-08 Meet On the Ledge <Richard Thompson>

CD 1 TT: 50:34

CD 2 TT: 46:14
  
FLAC
  

Disc 1 (MP3@320)

Disc 2 (MP3@320)

CD artwork - front
included in download

CD artwork - back

Continental Drifters:

Peter Holsapple - keyboards,accordion, mandolin, 6 & 12 string acoustic guitar, vocals

Susan Cowsill - acoustic & electric guitar, mandolin, shaker, vocals

Robert Maché - mandolin, acoustic & electric guitar, vocals

Vicki Peterson - acoustic & electric guitar, vocals

Mark Walton - electric bass

Russ Broussard - drums, vocals

Want to know more about Peter and his stint in Continental Drifters?  Check out these websites:  

http://www.continentaldrifters.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Drifters

Lonetaper’s notes: BIG thanks to my dear brother-in-crime Real-O-Mind for sharing his incredible collection. This recording here comes directly from the "Men With Microphones" archive. This concert was recorded during their second European tour, Summer 1998. They performed, with an incredible joy of playing, a wide selection of their own songs, and also the cover songs showed their fine taste: starting and ending with a Richard Thompson tune, Gram Parsons, Crazy Horse, Henry Mancini, and a composition by Wayne Carson Thompson, a former hit song for Memphis pop music group of the late 1960s, the Box Tops...

THIS TORRENT IS DEDICATED TO ALL THE CONTINENTAL DRIFTERS... TO ROSARIA AND FRIEDER FROM "ODEON" & "Ratsche", HAPE, EDGAR & BERNIE and all involved... Big thanks to my wife, Mrs. Leo, for supporting and taking an active part in all my craziness... No animals were harmed in the making of this recording or during the mastering and transfer. This is "MWM 0109"
  

Continental Drifters - 1994 + 2000

Mountain Stage 1994 + 2000

& ‘Songs of the Century’ Dec. 2000

FM recordings (quality range Ex- to VG; ‘Songs of the Century’ segment was not the best-sounding capture, but I eq’d the version I received to remove excess sibilance and it’s much more listenable now)

SAMPLE: "Desperate Love"


Mountain Stage

Charleston, WV

Oct. 30, 1994

01 Get Over It

02 Desperate Love       

03 Mezzanine

04 Mixed Messages      

05 Daddy Just Wants It
     to Rain

06 A Little More Time

07 Who We Are, 
     Where We Live^ 

Mountain Stage

Charleston, WV

Oct. 29, 2000

08 Don't Do What I Did

09 Watermark

10 I'm a Dreamer  

     (Sandy Denny cover)

11 Daddy Just Wants It 
     to Rain

12 You're Going to 
     Need Somebody 
     (R. Thompson cover)

‘Songs of the Century’

Fresh Air w/Terry Gross

WHYY-FM

Philadelphia, PA

December 2000

01 Be My Baby (Ronettes cover)

02 chat 1

03 Dedicated to the One I Love

artwork incl., but it doesn't match all trax

      (Mamas & the Papas cover)

04 chat 2

05 Watermark

06 chat 3

07 chat 4

08 End of the World
     (Skeeter Davis cover)

09 chat 5

   

10 chat 6*

11 Brother Can You 
     Spare a Dime?*

12 chat 7*

13 Town Without Pity
     (Gene Pitney cover)
14 chat 8*

^In the original 1994 broadcast, "Turn Back the Hands of Time" was the last song played. But it appears on the newly-released archival compilation (see below), so is not included here.

*Tracks 10-14 = Marshall Crenshaw live in-studio performances and interview with Terry Gross

REPERCUSSION: Peter Holsapple joined the Continental Drifters in the early 1990s after The dB's were kaput, and he stayed with the group until it disbanded circa 2003. While they were active, the Drifters recorded several of Peter's songs, so if you enjoy his singing and songwriting, these albums are definitely worth seeking out. Peter told the LA Times recently, “I believe that this was a band who were the very illustration of a shattering live experience, the embodiment of a force majeure, a family-style drinking society of impavid* proportions, and purveyors of some of the sweetest harmony songs of its decade.” *(“impavid” = fearless, adventurous, daring -- say, Peter, did you get out your thesaurus for that one?!?)

MP3@320

SPECIAL THANKS to Dierk, Jefft and all the tapers & sharers

Time to enjoy the new 
Continental Drifters retrospective

2-disc compilation set from Omnivore Recordings

It's chock-full of rare & previously unreleased stuff

YOU NEED THIS - go get it!  

Continental Drifters - Bremen 1996

Bremen, Germany

Jan. 24, 1996

DSR satellite radio

   radio broadcast (sound quality Ex-)

BIG THANKS to the recorder and sharer (wish I could be more specific than that)

BY REQUEST
 

photo by Jutta Brandt Knust

REPERCUSSION: Peter joined the Continental Drifters in the early 1990s after The dB's were kaput, and he stayed with the group until it disbanded circa 2003. While they were active, the Drifters recorded several of Peter's songs, so if you enjoy his singing and songwriting, those discs are definitely worth seeking out. Their music is excellent! (Here’s another Drifters show I posted a while back.) 

SAMPLE: "Soul Deep (Bremen 1996)"

01 A Song for You (Gram Parsons cover)

02 Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway

03 Mezzanine

04 Desperate Love

05 Invisible Boyfriend

06 Mixed Messages

07 [zoo song]

08 The Rain Song

09 Darlin’ Darlin’

10 Some of Shelly’s Blues

11 New York

12 Soul Deep (Box Tops cover)

13 Get Over It

14 Who We Are, Where We Live

15 Highway of the Saints  

        (Pat McLaughlin cover)

16 Tighter and Tighter

17 Dedicated to the One I Love  

         (Mamas & The Papas cover)

18 Anything (bonus, live 1998)

MP3@320 
Alt. Link

Continental Drifters:

Peter Holsapple - keyboards,accordion, mandolin, 6 & 12 string acoustic guitar, vocals

Susan Cowsill - acoustic & electric guitar, mandolin, shaker, vocals

Robert Maché - mandolin, acoustic & electric guitar, vocals

Vicki Peterson - acoustic & electric guitar, vocals

Carlo Nuccio – drums, vocals

Mark Walton - electric bass

Russ Broussard - drums, vocals (on #18, bonus track)

Go listen to & buy music by Continental Drifters!   Here they are at AllMusic 
  

Peter & The Drifters - Sandy Denny Tribute 1998

Listen, Listen: The Music of Sandy Denny
Peter stages a tribute concert (with a little help from his friends)

St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn Heights, NY

November 21, 1998

recording & broadcast by WFUV-FM, NYC

Cover art for Set 1 (art for both sets included in download). Levent Varlik

web stream (quality Ex--; this recording has some of the usual anomalies of a web capture plus a very occasional computer-generated volume adjustment beep tone)

Highlights: Multiple, but I was especially knocked out by the contributions of Susan Cowsill, Susan McKeown, Marti Jones & Don Dixon.

BIG THANKS to the taper and ALL PRAISE to Levent Varlik of the Sandy Denny fan forum at Yahoo for the generous share (sent to me all the way from Turkey)!

CLICK highlighted names below for a link to learn more about the artist’s music.
 

SET 1

01  intro - Meg Griffin (WFUV announcer)

02  Come All Ye - Katell Keineg

03  Listen, Listen - Vicki Peterson
04  Next Time Around – Sloan Wainwright  
05  One Way Donkey Ride* - Deni Bonet 

06  Banks of the Nile  - Michael Steele   
07  Blackwaterside – Darius Rucker

08  Tam Lin - Susan McKeown

09  It Suits Me Well - Mike Mills

10  Autopsy - Dana (and Karen?) Kletter

11  Gold Dust - Don Dixon

12  At the End of the Day* - Susan Cowsill

13  outro

 
*Indicates tracks with very occasional beep tones from the computer’s volume adjustment control. Let this be a lesson to you young, budding tapers out there: mute that sucker before you try to record a webcast or web stream!

The Continental Drifters served as the house band for the show. 

(That’s Peter on the right, sittin’ and strummin’…)

SET 2 

01  intro

02  The Northstar Grassman and the Ravens - Michael Steele

03  John the Gun - John Crooke

04  A Sailor's Life - Amanda Thorpe

05  Take Me Away - Marti Jones

06  Stranger to Himself - Dana Kletter

07  Solo - Susan McKeown

08  I'm a Dreamer - Susan Cowsill

09  Matty Groves - Robyn Hitchcock

10  Who Knows Where the Time Goes? - Katell Keineg

11  Peace In the End* – Don Dixon & Marti Jones

12  Meet On the Ledge – Susan Cowsill & The Continental Drifters, et al

Other versions of this show list two additional tracks, absent here: an encore, “Farewell, Farewell” (sung by Amanda Thorpe), followed by the final outro.

MP3@320

Disc 1

Disc 2  

MF linx

Disc 1 

Disc 2

Musicians (in addition to the vocalists listed above, some of whom also played on some tracks):

Peter Holsapple (musical director for the show)

Russ Broussard

Robert Maché

Mark Walton

For a handful of years in the 1990s, Peter had the enviable job of organizing tributes to some of the great, lesser-known artists of popular music. This one (like the 1997 show at the same venue performed in honor/memory of Nick Drake's music) is a beauty. It was part of a short-lived, but extraordinary, program called Arts at St. Ann’s.

YOU CAN STILL BUY the most excellent album Listen Listen by The Continental Drifters directly from Blue Rose Records in Germany. It features the Drifters’ versions of several Sandy Denny classics as well as Richard Thompson compositions. (AllMusic gave it a 4-star review.) I’ve ordered from Blue Rose and can vouch for their great service — even for non-German speakers.
 

 

GO HERE for a video of John Crooke singing a good chunk of “John the Gun” from this show.   
GO HERE for a video of Darius Rocker singing “Blackwaterside” from this show (and see Peter play the squeezebox for a few exciting seconds).
  
THANKS to kinskilee for the uploads!