Marshall Crenshaw - Philadelphia, PA 1990 (sbd)

Chestnut Cabaret

Philadelphia, PA

Jan. 30, 1990 

   

soundboard recording (quality: Ex-; this sounds great!)

 

01 Valerie (Richard Thompson cover)

02 You Should've Been There

03 Mary Anne

04 Steel Strings (Peter Case cover)

05 band intros

06 Like a Vague Memory

07 Someplace Where Love Can't Find Me 

      (John Hiatt cover)

08 There She Goes Again

09 On the Run

10 Love's Made a Fool of You

      (Bobby Fuller cover)

11 This Is Easy

12 Calling Out for Love (at Crying Time)*

13 Let Her Dance

14 She Hates to Go Home

15 Whenever You're On My Mind

16 Twine Time - instrumental

      (Alvin Cash & The Crawlers cover)

17 (You're My) Favorite Waste of Time

18 Cynical Girl

19 Rockin' Around In NYC

20 Heartbreak Time

      (G. Burtnik lead vocal)

MC's new archival release

21 Someday, Someway

22 I Can See for Miles (The Who cover)

23 Somebody Crying

  

*track 12: middle cut — fades out, then back in 

Musicians:

Marshall Crenshaw: guitar, vocals

Glen Burtnik: guitar, keyboards

Graham Maby: bass, backing vocals

Kenny Aronoff: drums

ROB SEZ: I can't think of a better way to wrap up this run of Marshall Crenshaw offerings fron the 1980s than with this rocking, fab-sounding live set from the first month of the new decade. I have a sentimental preference for MC's original rhythm section, including brother Robert on drums, but I can't find any fault here: Kenny Aronoff on drums and Graham Maby on bass. I've got plenty of other MC recordings in my archive from the '90s onward, but they'll have to wait. I want to get on with sharing a pair of newly-unearthed dB's shows plus lesser-known artists that you need to hear. Keep an eye out for re-releases of more classic MC recordings, now that he's reclaimed rights to his earlier catalog. His stellar debut was just re-released on Yep Roc in a remastered & expanded edition. HUGE THANKS to julsay for sharing the original lossless files, which had a few issues related to track splitting and too much variability in volume. I didn't mess with the basic sound, just re-split the tracks, added fade-ins and -outs where needed, and adjusted the levels to make it a smoother listening experience. Please enjoy.  

FLAC

MP3@320

Marshall Crenshaw - Ritz NYC 1987 (FM)

The Ritz
New York, N.Y.
Aug. 1, 1987

WNEW-FM broadcast

FM capture (sound quality: VG+; a solid FM capture, one generation removed from the master; it was a little "clattery" sounding for my taste, so I adjusted the EQ a bit)

01 A Hundred Dollars

02 Steel Strings (Peter Case cover)

03 Love's Made a Fool of You

     (Buddy Holly cover)

04 Try

05 This Is Easy

06 band intros > Someday, Someway 

07 Wild Abandon

08 Calling Out for Love at Crying Time

09 Crying, Waiting, Hoping

     (Buddy Holly cover)

10 Rockin' Around In NYC

11 I'll Do Anything

12 On the Run (live debut)

13 Whenever You're On My Mind

14 Tonight (MC5 cover)

15 There She Goes Again

16 Talk to Your Daughter (J.B. Lenoir cover)

17 Cynical Girl

In 1987, MC was touring behind this album,
the Don Dixon produced Mary Jean & 9 Others

18 Somebody Crying

19 Mary Jean

20 This Street

21 Go Boy Go

22 Mary Anne

23 Annie Had a Baby

24 (You're My) Favorite Waste of Time 

Musicians:

Marshall Crenshaw - guitar, lead vocals

Graham Maby - bass

Robert Crenshaw - drums, backing vocals

ROB SEZ:  By the mid 1980s, Marshall Crenshaw's commercial fortunes began to take a downturn. His 1987 album Mary Jean & 9 Others was the first not to trouble the top 200 U.S. album charts after its predecessor had peaked at #113. MC fans like me could feel Warner Brothers, his label, getting cold feet. In fact, they dropped him after the next album he recorded, 1989's Good Evening. Meanwhile, MC and his brother Robert kept touring, now with the great Graham Maby replacing (the equally great) Chris Donato on bass. As he says on this recording, MC loved playing The Ritz, and you can hear it in this energized performance, with plenty of great cover songs. HUGE THANKS to whomever shared this originally. Another bonus mystery share from 1987 lurks in the shadows...

FLAC

MP3@320

Marshall Crenshaw - Utica, N.Y. 1985 (sbd)

Mohawk Valley Country Club

Utica, N.Y.

March 2, 1985

soundboard recording (quality: Ex-; sounds great!)

MC: musical man of mystery

01  For Her Love (fades in)

02  Our Town

03  Little Sister

04  There She Goes Again

05  (We're Gonna) Shake Up Their Minds 

06  Soldier of Love

07  One More Reason

08  I'm Alive

09  Reet Petite

10  Mary Anne

11  Monday Morning Rock

12  Whenever You're On My Mind

13  Big Hunk of Love

14  Little Wild One*

15  Cynical Girl

16  She Can't Dance

17  Someday Someway (cuts out)

18  Girls

19  Endless Sleep

20  Brown-Eyed Handsome Man

   

*the brief cut in track 14 was also on the master recording

ROB SEZ: Once I started posting MC shows starting with 1982, I decided to just keep going forward chronologically. Most self-respecting MC fans probably have this already because it circulated pretty widely over the years. I think I first acquired it from the late, great Quality Bootz site. The sound quality on this one can't be beat, and is most likely from a master tape or, at most, 1st-generation copy. The early part of the performance is a bit lackluster compared to the rest of what I've posted, but that's probably because it's one of the band's first shows of 1985, and there are players new to the touring lineup, like the great Graham Maby. Fortunately, the show picks up steam about a third of the way through, so it's worth staying with it — or just skipping straight to track 8. (The bonus mystery share won't be hard to find.)

  

REPERCUSSION: 

Chris Stamey mixed this LP

Marshall Crenshaw & The dB's go way back to the earliest days of their music. They shared a record label for about a minute: Alan Betrock's Shake Records, which released the first bonafide dB's single in 1980 (after the "Chris Stamey and The dB's" self-released CAR single) and MC's first single in 1980, just before he signed to Warner Brothers. With both MC and The dB's based in the NYC area in the 1980s, they no doubt crossed paths with each other more than a few times. Fast forward to 2016, when Crenshaw uncovered multi-track tapes of a live show he decided to release on vinyl. He asked none other than his "great friend" Chris Stamey to mix the tracks, which became the 2017 vinyl release Thank You, Rock Fans. Here's what MC said about Chris when it was released: "He was one of the mainstays of the scene that we were part of, felt whatever energy we were able to put into a live room back then, understood where we were coming from, etc. I'm glad that this new live album has his fingerprints on it." One more dB's-related connection: Mitch Easter and Don Dixon have both produced music for MC over the years.

FLAC

MP3@320

   

Marshall Crenshaw - Ritz, NYC 1984 (sbd)

The Ritz

New York, N.Y.

Dec. 19, 1984

  

soundboard recording (quality: VG++; probably deserves a higher rating, but I can't ignore the faint sound of a short in one channel — don't listen with headphones!)

Marshall Crenshaw: 1984 or '85

01 For Her Love

02 Our Town

03 Little Sister (Elvis Presley cover) [cuts out]

04 There She Goes Again (cuts in)

05 (We're Gonna) Shake Up Their Minds 

06 Soldier of Love (Arthur Alexander cover)

07 One More Reason

08 I'm Alive (The Hollies cover)

09 Reet Petite (Jackie Wilson cover)

10 Mary Anne

11 Monday Morning Rock

12 Whenever You're on My Mind

13 A Big Hunk o' Love (Elvis Presley cover)

14 Lesson Number One

15 She Can't Dance

16 Someday, Someway

17 Feliz Navidad (José Feliciano cover)

18 Brand New Lover

19 Someday We're Gonna Love Again 

     (The Searchers cover)

New archival live release! INFO

ROB SEZ:  A rare 1984 performance, in lovely soundboard splendor. (Although 2 generations removed from the master tape, this recording still sounds pretty amazing to me.) As far as I can tell, Crenshaw only performed 4 times in 1984 (heard here, MC's explanation for his lengthy absence is typically sardonic). As usual, MC, his brother Robert on drums, and Chris Donato are in very fine form, and fully a third of the songs here are covers, including a couple I have not heard elsewhere. Trainspotters will want to know this is not the complete performance, because the recording as I received it lacked a few of the songs listed here. This recording has a faint short in one channel that you probably won't hear unless you use heaphones or earbuds — so don't do that! 

FLAC

MP3@320

  

Marshall Crenshaw - Live 1983 in CT & PA (FM + preFM)

Agora Ballroom

Hartford, CT

July 18, 1983

  

FM recording (sound quality: VG++; great!) 

01 Monday Morning Rock

02 Brand New Lover

03 I’ll Do Anything

04 Here I Am (Come & Take Me)

05 Whenever You’re On My Mind 

06 I’ve Been Good to You

07 One Day With You

08 Mary Anne

09 Rockin’ Around In NYC

10 Try

11 Move It

12 Cynical Girl

13 Someday Someway

14 The Usual Thing

Ripley's Music Hall

Philadelphia, PA

Dec. 2, 1983

  

preFM recording (sound quality: Ex-; partial set broadcast on "King Biscuit Flower Hour")

  

01 Monday Morning Rock

02 Little Sister

03 Our Town 

04 Try 

05 Whenever You're On My Mind 

06 Cynical Girl

07 There She Goes Again

08 Someday Someway

09 Blues Is King

  

ROB SEZ:  1983 was a good year to be Marshall Crenshaw. His second LP Field Day was released to strong reviews (and some carping about Steve Lillywhite's production), and it rose to no. 52 in the album charts. The classic band lineup of MC on vocals & guitar plus his brother Robert on drums and Chris Donato on bass clearly had their act together, and the songs and choice covers were superlative. Here are the best recordings I have from 1983, in terms of performance and sound quality. Although there's some overlap between the two sets, the Philly recording features 4 songs not performed in Hartford, including the sterling "Our Town." Big-time thanks to the original tapers and sharers. (True MC fans won't want to miss the bonus set that's hidden almost in plain sight.)

FLAC

MP3@320

  

Marshall Crenshaw - Roslyn, N.Y. 1982 (sbd)

My Father's Place 

Roslyn, N.Y.

June 29, 1982

  

soundboard recording (quality: Ex-; 

from a pristine vinyl rip)

  

01 Soldier of Love (A. Alexander cover)
02 Not For Me
03 There She Goes Again
04 Brand New Lover
05 I’ll Do Anything
06 Mary Anne
07 Rockin’ Around In N.Y.C.
08 Something’s Gonna Happen
09 Move It
10 Someday, Someway
11 Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do (Elvis cover)
12 She Can't Dance
13 Cynical Girl
14 Girls

15 The Usual Thing

MC, soundchecking at My Father's Place before this show

ROB SEZ: January is Marshall Crenshaw month at the blog. MC is so underrated, he should win some kind of prize for music career longevity long after his name dropped below the "who's hip today" horizon, some time in the mid 1980s. He's continued to make worthy albums and tour extensively, up to the present. MC's still-amazing debut album was re-released on vinyl (special 40th anniversary edition) on RSD Black Friday in 2022. The expanded CD and digital download versions will appear this February. You may be familiar with this show and an FM recording of it, but you've probably never heard this version: a pristine vinyl rip from an official radio show LP, produced for the BBC College Concert Hour. I've heard a lot of MC shows from the early 1980s, and this one is my hands-down favorite. The guy who shared this with me many years ago obviously knew what he was doing. It's a beautiful digital transfer, with no extraneous noise. Come back for more next week!

FLAC

MP3@320

     

Don Dixon, M. Crenshaw, etc. - Boulder, CO 1992 (sbd)

'In Their Own Words' 
The Fox Theater
Boulder, CO
May 28, 1992

soundboard recording (quality: VG; sounds like a 2nd- or 3rd-generation tape source)

The greatness of Don Dixon extends all the
way down to his Chuck Taylors...

DISC ONE
01  Cheap Chatter (cuts in)
03  Walkin' Around *
04  If She Knew What She Wants + 
05  Your Man of Steel ^
06  [untitled, unfinished song]
08  Someday Someway *
09  Much Too Much +
11  Darlene ^
12  Borrowed Time
14  Your First Love *

DISC TWO
01  If We Never Meet Again +
02  Hometown ^
03  Renaissance Eyes (fades in)
05  (You're My) Favorite Waste of Time *
06  All Through the Night +
07  Rain Just Falls ^
08  Dark End of the Street 
10  Julie *
11  Love Hurts +
12  Didn't He Know? ^

WHO SANG WHICH SONG?

Don Dixon (no symbol)  *Marshall Crenshaw

+Jules Shear   ^David Halley

(James McMurtry also performed, but his performances & comments are not included here. This explains the funky numbering: McMurtry's stuff would've appeared where numbers have been skipped.)



ROB SEZ: I usually don't go in for a lot of chit-chat between songs, but I'll make an exception for talent like Marshall Crenshaw, Don Dixon & Jules Shear. Each singer takes the lead on 5 of his own songs or a choice cover, and much of the talk about songs & song-writing is a pleasure to hear. MEGA THANKS to lilpanda for another of his extraordinary shares. (Don Dixon & Marti Jones fans take note: be sure to poke around a bit for the bonus share.)

FLAC

MP3@320

  

Marshall Crenshaw - Mountain Stage 1991 & 2009

Mountain Stage

Charleston, WV

1991 & 2009

bonus: Mitch Easter solo set!

Marshall Crenshaw: he's been making great music for decades

FM and pre-FM recordings

sound quality: Ex- (two great-sounding recordings)

BIG THANKS to TN for sharing the 1991 set and to a special friend of the blog for passing it along to me

REPERCUSSION: Mitch Easter produced a track on Crenshaw's third album, Downtown, and played guitar on the Don Dixon-produced follow-up, Mary Jean & 9 Others. As you can hear in the first of these shows, Mitch also played some live dates with MC.

MC plays the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass fest, 2009
photo by Debra Amerson via Flickr

Mountain Stage, Sept. 29, 1991 (aired week of 1992-10-04)
01 intro

02 Monday Morning Rock

03 Don't Disappear Now

04 Fantastic Planet of Love

05 Calling Out for Love at Crying Time

Enjoy a rare, early solo set by Mitch
photo by Paul Cory

06 Chalk Outline (Mitch Easter)

07 Turn Me, Too (Mitch Easter)

08 I Wonder (Mitch Easter)

09 Cynical Girl

10 Valerie (Richard Thompson cover)

11 You Should Have Been There

12 You're My Favorite Waste of Time 

Mountain Stage, Nov. 1, 2009
      (aired week of 2010-09-10)
13 Live and Learn

14 Someday Someway

15 band intros

16 Someone Told Me

17 Eventually

18 Passing Through

19 Never Coming Down

TT: 1:07:04

MP3@256-320kbps

Musicians, 2009 appearance:

Marshall Crenshaw - vocals, guitar

Graham Maby - bass

Tony Leone - drums

David Mansfield - various instruments

Mitch Easter - guitar, vocals (1991 appearance only)

MORE MARSHALL CRENSHAW LIVE SHOWS 

can be found at  BB Chronicles and So Many Roads.

MC's latest release is Red Wine, one in a series of 10-inch EPs.  
Buy it directly from the artist (includes digital download)

Learn more about the music of Marshall Crenshaw at his official site and/or AllMusic

 

Marshall Crenshaw - Roslyn, NY 1982 + bonus

My Father’s Place

Roslyn (Long Island), NY

June 29, 1982
 

A young Marshall Crenshaw and band, early 1980s

WLIR-FM, complete broadcast

 

FM capture (sound quality VG++; full, satisfying sound)

Repercussion: Mitch Easter produced a track on Crenshaw's third album, Downtown, and played guitar on the Don Dixon-produced follow-up, Mary Jean & 9 Others. Marshall joined Mitch, Chris and many others for the "all-star" Big Star Third live performance in NYC on June 30, 2013. THANK YA VERY MUCH to beatbop and lolita for making this show available.

01 - Soldier of Love

02 - Not For Me

03 - There She Goes Again

04 - Brand New Lover

05 - I'll Do Anything

06 - Mary Anne

07 - Rockin' Around In NYC

08 - Something's Gonna Happen

09 - Move It

10 - Someday, Someway

11 - Got a Lotta Livin' to Do (Elvis cover)

12 - She Can't Dance

13 - Cynical Girl

14 - Girls

15 - The Usual Thing

BONUS LIVE TRACKS from 1983

16 – Whenever You’re On My Mind^

17 – Try*

18 – One Day With You*

19 – Monday Morning Rock*

^Ripley Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA 1983-02-02 FM

*The Agora, Hartford, CT 1983-07-18 FM

TT: 62:46 mins.

full artwork included in DL

MP3@320

Lineup:

Marshall Crenshaw - guitar, vocals

Robert Crenshaw - drums

Chris Donato – bass

John Crenshaw - chimes (on #13, "Cynical Girl")

MORE MARSHALL CRENSHAW LIVE SHOWS can be found at  BB Chronicles and So Many Roads.

Learn more about the music of Marshall Crenshaw at his official site and/or AllMusic