Search - Cargoe :: Live in Memphis

Live in Memphis
Cargoe
Live in Memphis
Genres: Pop, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (12) - Disc #1


     
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CD Details

All Artists: Cargoe
Title: Live in Memphis
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Lucky Seven Records
Release Date: 6/22/2004
Genres: Pop, Rock
Style:
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 752977921221
 

CD Reviews

A MUSICIAN'S TOUR DE FORCE: LIVE!!!
fgutch | Oregon | 08/14/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Over thirty years ago, I discovered Cargoe and proceeded to beat people about the head and shoulders to what I thought was no avail. Shortly thereafter, the LP disappeared along with the label (Ardent). The beatings continued anyway, though no product has really been available. Until recently, that is. In what I can only describe as some sort of delayed cosmic reaction, two CDs have replaced the one album--- a Japanese CD release of that excellent 1972 studio LP PLUS a live recording, also from '72, recorded one night for a WMC-FM/Memphis stereo broadcast. I tell you, the gods must love me!!!



I must admit, the thought of a live recording made me nervous. I mean, I love these guys, but the thought of them not living up to their legend (as broadcast through my own lips for those so many years)... I mean, they wouldn't be the first band to collapse on stage.



I am happy to report that they did not. Sure, this is not the studio album, complete with multi-tracking and guitar and vocal overlays and at times an almost spiritual euphoria. But that is a good thing, for Cargoe was comprised of four extremely talented musicians and songwriters and here we hear it spot on.



The music is hard to explain. They played rock, but without the standard chord changes and time patterns and cliches. Sure, "Feel Alright" has the punchy rock which has made critics label the band power-pop (they're not) and "I Love You Anyway" is a floating and ethereal love song, but there is something more here. It's the way there is a beat missing here and an extra chord there and that odd chord progression that at first seems a little strange until you hear it for the tenth time and it becomes a high. Musicians would understand.



Hey, these guys were consummate musicians. Sure, the recording was a little raw. They may have even stumbled a little. But what playing! Tommy Richard's guitar crunched and whanged and screamed (just listen to him wail through the raucous "Tokyo Love", and not just the leads), but always in control and always for an obvious musical reason. Bill Phillips switched from guitar to keyboards at just the right moments and punched everything up a notch just when it was needed. Max Wisley and Tim Benton laid down the rhythms of the moment beautifully, pounding and tearing through one movement and then, turning on a dime, just as easily bouncing off into some light jazz-influenced contra step. And regardless of what style they played, be it light and fluffy or loud and crunchy or somewhere in between, they nailed it!



And I know this. As with the studio LP, it takes multiple hearings to appreciate what these guys had and I have listened to it multiple-ly, and I shall continue to do so until, with luck, the musical gods uncover yet another Cargoe masterpiece.



"
Best Live Band in Memphis at the time
Peter Walker | Hollywood, CA. USA | 09/13/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Knows as the Best Live Band in Memphis at the time, this is a very early Terry Manning venture which sounds even better after being remastered for CD. A unique band for the time with songs that take a bit of listening to fully appreciate. But after hearing the CD a few times, they get stuck in your head and you find yourself wanting to listen to it again. The lyrics are positive, multi-meaning, and mystical at the same time. The "Live In Memphis" CD recently released on the "Lucky 7" lable is probably the only other recording of the band from that time, and worth a listen if just to appreciate the Live "edgy" feel the band was famous for.



Peter Walker

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