1988-04-05 (WITH LONG JOHN BALDRY BAND), NYC, Lone Star Cafe

gimmemtguy

1988-04-05 (WITH LONG JOHN BALDRY BAND), NYC, Lone Star Cafe
GimmeMT.com Review by GimmeMTguy

This will not be a review in the normal sense, this show was a one-off guest appearance without the rest of the Mick Taylor Band.

Baldry was a major figure in the English Blues explosion of the early 1960s, along with names like Alexis Koerner, Cyril Davies, John Mayall, etc. He was closely associated with the early years of Rod Stewart and Elton John, and he is worth doing some reading about. Some of his involvements are quite surprising and intertwined with the Rolling Stones and their history.

Angel from Montgomery

Since the days of this show in 1988, Angel from Montgomery has become even more famous as a standard in the American songbook, written by John Prine.

Baldry's lead guitarist, Papa John King, plays a lovely guitar and he and Mick Taylor play a notable interlude where it is hard to tell who is playing what because they are so well-matched.

Vocalist Kathi McDonald, of Exile on Main Street fame, is worth hearing and reading about as well -- she also was an under-the-radar but impactful and deeply respected musician in our favorite circles.

Love in Vain

Kathi lays it on the line as tells Mick that she's expecting a lot from him as they start Love in Vain.

That's probably not what I have would have said in that situation, because MT is not a "play on cue" showman type. Nonetheless, when the time comes, Mick plays a two minute solo that avoids using the slide, which is his most famous aspect of his Love in Vain solos with the Stones.

Instead, he builds and builds, laying groundwork which he then resolves. It's the right approach for this room and for the role of a guest appearance with a legend. Baldry is more of an acoustic presence than an electric one, and this version fits right in with the rest of the show.

Post-Stones Love in Vains are rare, and this one is even more special because of who it is performed with.

How Blue Can You Get

There's unmistakeable Mick Taylor lead on this number, and Papa John King answers with his own solo. Butch Coulter adds some great harmonica throughout.

Don't Try to Lay No Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll

Yes, this is a real song title and one of LJB's most famous tunes. Note that "boogie-woogie" is pronounced here as "boo-gee-woo-gee." Let your hair down a little and enjoy it, as Baldry starts off his vocal with the lyric "why does my instrument sound like a barbed-wire fence?"

It Ain't Easy

Another major tune from the LJB canon. MT breaks out the slide for this and it's a nice duel with King also deploying the slide.

I'm Ready

Three of the "hits" now back to back to back. This song was used famously decades later in a Viagra TV commercial, and it's a spirited boogie and Baldry calls on Mick to do his thing.

Black Girl

A traditional sung as a duet between LJB and Kathi McDonald, made famous by Leadbelly under a different title.

These are some real country Blues.

Let's Burn Down the Cornfield

A Randy Newman song that could have been a Leadbelly tune. Lots of atmospheric slide.

Crying

Yes, the Orbision song.

Let the Good Times Roll

There's some real Mick Taylor soloing here, appropriately in the BB King style, with some back and forth with Papa John King.

Stand by Me

Kathi calls for solos by Papa John then Mick Taylor on the Ben E. King classic. And Man, the lady can sing.

Baby Please Don't Go
Going Down Slow

"I have had my fun, I'm-a never get well no more." Mick will use some of these lyrics in a pastiche he will perform years later. Mick Taylor really shines and plays a major role here.

Long John says he hasn't seen Mick since 1965 -- and MT gently corrects him with 1966. Either way, it was a long time from 1966 to 1988 in terms of what happened and what changed musically in those intervening years.

Backwater Blues

Lots of creepy, bayou Blues atmosphere, via slide playing, on this one.

Mockingbird
Good Morning Blues
As Long as I Feel the Spirit

I am not generally happy with guest appearances by anyone, because they are under-rehearsed and the guest is often not willing to risk upstaging the host act. Kudos to Mick Taylor for contributing throughout this long show as if he were a longtime band member, and to the late Long John Baldry and Kathi McDonald for making sure this historical combination was a success for the audience and for history.

--end--

imager

https://iorr.org/talk/read.php?2,2987888,2987888#msg-2987888

A show recording produced by StonyRoad with covers. Click "Details" below for the textfile.

Mick TAYLOR with LONG JOHN BALDRY - The Uncirculating Maidenlane Tapes Vol 05: 05 April 1988 NYC (Lone Star Cafe)
Posted by: StonyRoad, May 13, 2023 10:27

The Maidenlane TAPES:
a Mick Taylor tribute
Long-time Mick Taylor fan Maidenlane taped a number of Mick’s gigs on the East Coast (mainly in New York City) between November 1986 - May 1993 to preserve his own memories. Around the same time Mick Taylor lived in NYC and thus did a lot of concerts there, with his own bands or as a guest artist with other great musicians. Most if not all of Maidenlane’s recordings were never previously circulated among collectors, including a significant number of shows that have never circulated from any source. This will fortunately change now.
Maidenlane said he chose specifically to send these recordings to us to present these gems in the best possible way. Maidenlane will also provide some on-the-scene information and anecdotes from the shows that we will add to these publications. He asked only that we request music lovers to check their closets for recordings, so they can be preserved for study and enjoyment by future generations.

With Maidenlane and nzb we decided to form a team to present these nuggets. At first we propose to publish the shows that had never circulated (later we will study the other recordings).

Of course, we are very grateful to Maidenlane and I also would like to thank nzb for his help (his advice, judgements and expertise have been invaluable to me).

……………………………………….
The UNCIRCULATING Maidenlane Tapes
Volume 05

Mick Taylor with Long John Baldry
5th April 1988
NEW YORK CITY
Lone Star Café

This show was historic with Mick Taylor joining the Long John Baldry Band. Baldry’s female vocalist Kathi McDonald famously sang the backing vocals on All Down The Line from the Stones’ Exile on Main Street. Baldry was a father of British Blues and was closely associated with Alexis Korner, Cyril Davies and Art Wood (Ronnie Wood’s brother). Long John speaks of his history with MT between Goin’ Down Slow and Backwater Blues. Kathi McDonald’s presentation of Mick Taylor’s playing on Love in Vain is an important addition to Stones lore.

Maidenlane’s recollections of the show: It was a crowded small stage at the Lone Star Café, and there was a constant movement of musicians to and from the stage. I did not keep track, but just about everyone was offstage during one tune or another. When he left the stage at one point, Mick Taylor bounded up the stairs directly stage right and sat down at the first empty chair he found – at my table. He was awaiting an uncertain cue to return to the stage and our table was perfectly positioned for that. He quickly spied my recorder spinning but showed no disapproval. Eventually he bounded back down to the stage in his sneakers and suit.

5th April 1988: LONG JOHN BALDRY. New York City, Lone Star Cafe
Line-up: MT (gtr)/Long John Baldry (gtr, voc)/Kathi McDonald (voc)/Papa John King (gtr)/ Butch Coulter (harm)/Ivan Neville (piano)/Bernard Purdie (dr)/Jeff Allison (bass)

CD1:
01 - tuning
02 - Angel From Montgomery
03 - Love In Vain
04 - How Blue Can You Get
05 - Don't Try To Lay No Boogie-Woogie On The King Of Rock & Roll
06 - It Ain't Easy
07 - I'm Ready
08 - Black Girl
09 - Let's Burn Down The Cornfield
10 - Crying

CD2:
01 - Let The Good Times Roll
02 - Stand By Me
03 - Baby Please Don't Go
04 - Goin' Down Slow
05 - Backwater Blues
06 - Mockingbird Song-Hand Jive-Iko Iko
07 - Good Morning Blues
08 - As Long As I Feel The Spirit

It’s a very good quality recording and a fantastic testimony of MT’s talent: a must have for all the Mick Taylor fans out there!
As usual I declicked the recording and I edited the songs.
The only problem here was some micro dropouts in some tracks. It concerned only the left channel so I duplicated the right channel to patch them (slight differences can still be heard but IMHO they’re way better as the previous dropouts).
Here they are:
on ‘Don’t Try…’ at 3’02, 3’28, 3’34 and 3’38,
on ‘Let’s Burn Down The Cornfield’ at 2’43 and 3seconds at 3’00,
on ‘Crying’ a 45 second patch at 0’34,
on ‘Going Down Slow’ a 15 second patch at 2’57 and a 8 second patch at 3’30,
on ‘Mockingbird…’ a 2 second patch at 0’15, a 33 second patch at 1’03 and a 20 second patch at 4’02.
Sometimes there’s little gaps between the tracks but they’re not really annoying and no music is lost for exception on the start of ‘Good Morning Blues’.
I deleted a noise at the end of ‘Love In Vain’ (6’14). Another at 1’54 in ‘Good Morning Blues’ and also at the end of this song several noises were deleted. But the listening pleasure in this segment still isn't that great.

As usual I used a lot the infos taken from [The Mick Taylor Complete Works Database by Nico Zentgraf](https://)www.nzentgraf.de)

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