Mellotronists

Greetings all.

I received my DVD copy of the "Moody Blues - The Lost Performance-Live in 
Paris '70" earlier today.  Thought I would go home after work, sit down and enjoy 
a pleasant musical and visual experience, take a few notes, and share my 
thoughts and observations in posting a review.  I did not expect to have to write 
the following, especially being such a huge, Classic-7 Moodies' fan:

For all you bottom-line people, in short, save your money.  Live, my ass.  If 
anyone was expecting a warts-and-all, bona fide live performance, you will be 
TERRIBLY disappointed.  All backing tracks are the studio tracks.  Hayward's 
tunes appear to feature live vocals, but John's and (thankfully) Ray's tunes 
are also the studio tracks, incuding vocals.  And all in 5.1 Surround Sound!

THERE'S NOT A MARK II IN SIGHT!!!  Mike is seated behind a Hammond C3, 
unattached to a Leslie or any other amplification.  What's funny is that you can see 
him adjusting drawbars during and between songs, as if that's making a 
difference (?!).  What's also funny (and pathetic) is Ray, the incomparable master 
of intonation, playing flute in unison with the prerecorded track in "Are You 
Sitting Comfortably".  Either be prepared to split your sides laughing or have 
a barf bag handy.

I can't believe that Mike could sanction such a piece of garbage such as 
this, such a rip-off.  You would be much better off finding a copy of the bootleg 
live performance from Dutch TV.  Not high-quality video, but DEFINITELY live.  
Or hearing the live Tokyo concert from '72-'73, which is so much better than 
the "Caught Live + 5" CD.

Cancel your Amazon pre-orders if you can.

The only thing good was the note Mike wrote, "Take care of Bertha 134".

Frank Samagaio
San Diego CA
MkII #134 / M400 #908
author, The Mellotron Book

F**k!  That s**ks.  I was pretty godd*mn psyched for this!  Told everyone
and their mother to get it.  Now I got to figure out who they were and hope
they don't blow their cash!
 
Oh well, there is always Briana Banks porn, I guess....
 
Jimmy P.

-----Original Message-----
From: MAinPsych@... [mailto:MAinPsych@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2004 12:16 AM
To: Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Mellotronists] Moody Blues Lost Performance - A Review (??)


Greetings all.
 
I received my DVD copy of the "Moody Blues - The Lost Performance-Live in
Paris '70" earlier today.  Thought I would go home after work, sit down and
enjoy a pleasant musical and visual experience, take a few notes, and share
my thoughts and observations in posting a review.  I did not expect to have
to write the following, especially being such a huge, Classic-7 Moodies'
fan:
 
For all you bottom-line people, in short, save your money.  Live, my ass.
If anyone was expecting a warts-and-all, bona fide live performance, you
will be TERRIBLY disappointed.  All backing tracks are the studio tracks.
Hayward's tunes appear to feature live vocals, but John's and (thankfully)
Ray's tunes are also the studio tracks, incuding vocals.  And all in 5.1
Surround Sound!
 
THERE'S NOT A MARK II IN SIGHT!!!  Mike is seated behind a Hammond C3,
unattached to a Leslie or any other amplification.  What's funny is that you
can see him adjusting drawbars during and between songs, as if that's making
a difference (?!).  What's also funny (and pathetic) is Ray, the
incomparable master of intonation, playing flute in unison with the
prerecorded track in "Are You Sitting Comfortably".  Either be prepared to
split your sides laughing or have a barf bag handy.
 
I can't believe that Mike could sanction such a piece of garbage such as
this, such a rip-off.  You would be much better off finding a copy of the
bootleg live performance from Dutch TV.  Not high-quality video, but
DEFINITELY live.  Or hearing the live Tokyo concert from '72-'73, which is
so much better than the "Caught Live + 5" CD.
 
Cancel your Amazon pre-orders if you can.
 
The only thing good was the note Mike wrote, "Take care of Bertha 134".
 
Frank Samagaio
San Diego CA
MkII #134 / M400 #908
author, The Mellotron Book
 
 

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In a message dated 6/24/2004 12:16:51 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
MAinPsych@... writes:

> For all you bottom-line people, in short, save your money.  Live, my ass.  
> If anyone was expecting a warts-and-all, bona fide live performance, you will 
> be TERRIBLY disappointed.  All backing tracks are the studio tracks.  
> Hayward's tunes appear to feature live vocals, but John's and (thankfully) Ray's 
> tunes are also the studio tracks, incuding vocals.  And all in 5.1 Surround 
> Sound!
>   
> THERE'S NOT A MARK II IN SIGHT!!!  Mike is seated behind a Hammond C3, 
> unattached to a Leslie or any other amplification.  What's funny is that you can 
> see him adjusting drawbars during and between songs, as if that's making a 
> difference (?!).  What's also funny (and pathetic) is Ray, the incomparable 
> master of intonation, playing flute in unison with the prerecorded track in "Are 
> You Sitting Comfortably".  Either be prepared to split your sides laughing or 
> have a barf bag handy.
> 

Very disappointing, but I will probably keep mine for the entertainment value 
(funny is entertaining, right ;-).

So let me get this straight.  No mellotron on stage at all, just a C3?  So 
they must have lip synched the whole thing while on stage, and not just 
overdubbed parts in the studio later for the DVD, is that correct?  Is there any 
mellotron in the audio?  That would be a dead giveaway.  I wonder how this 
happenned?  Did all of their mellotrons break down before the show, so they stuck poor 
Mike out there with a Hammond C3 and proceeded to play their pre-recorded 
tunes over the PA?  And then, 30+ years later, sell this footage as a concert 
DVD?    Damn, I was looking forward to this, I wanted to get some MKII tips from 
the master.  I guess I'll have to settle for your version of "Peak Hour" on 
Sharayah ;-).

BTW, how did you get your copy so  much sooner than the rest of us?  I 
thought June 29 was the official release date.

Ken M.
MKII #247
M400 #1217
All live

In a message dated 6/24/2004 3:07:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time, kenmerb writes:

> So let me get this straight.  No mellotron on stage at all, just a C3?  So they must have lip synched the whole thing while on stage, and not just overdubbed parts in the studio later for the DVD, is that correct?  Is there any mellotron in the audio?  That would be a dead giveaway.  I wonder how this happenned?  Did all of their mellotrons break down before the show, so they stuck poor Mike out there with a Hammond C3 and proceeded to play their pre-recorded tunes over the PA?  And then, 30+ years later, sell this footage as a concert DVD?    Damn, I was looking forward to this, I wanted to get some MKII tips from the master.  I guess I'll have to settle for your version of "Peak Hour" on Sharayah ;-).
> 
> BTW, how did you get your copy so  much sooner than the 
> rest of us?  I thought June 29 was the official release date.

The only live part were vocals on Hayward's tunes (and Ray's flute on the one track).  The prerecorded stuff is what appears/sounds to be the actual album tracks, complete with Mellotron.  This 'gig' seems to have been preplanned.  Perhaps it was a last minute thing and they didn't think it was worth it to lug a MkII to Paris for the brave, trustworthy, and loyal French.  Hammonds were (and are) a lot more common than Mellotrons, and visually somewhat of a reasonable facsimile (at least in someone's mind) when not playing live.  You can see this same thing on the German Beat Club segment of Nights In White Satin on the "Legend of a Band" DVD with Mike again faking it behind a C3.

I had preordered this via Amazon, then cancelled the order when I found out that signed copies were available through Mike's website.  As of today, Amazon is still posting a 6/29 release date.  I posted a similar review on the Amazon site.  Caveat Emptor!

PS. - I played Peak Hour flawlessly for Jerry when he was in San Diego last month; much better than what you captured in Vermont.

Frank Samagaio

Frank,
Sorry&disappointed to hear about this but thank you for the heads 
up-just cancelled mine with amazon.
Pete