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| The new Mose Allison Live at the Lion's Share CD/2LP finds our man playing at his peak with his preferred sidemen in 1970. |
Here's the scoop from Real Gone Music:
About ten years ago we contacted the Mose Allison estate because we had stumbled on a very good recording of a 1966 gig at Club 47 in Boston, and we wanted to release it with the estate’s blessing. But, as these things often do, the discussions never came to fruition, and we moved on, but we remained convinced that Mose was definitely an artist best experienced live (as his widow Audre quipped to us at the time, “He always thought that going to a recording studio to record was like having a business card printed”).
Well, earlier this year we were contacted by Mose’s daughter Amy and the co-producer of this set, Pat Thomas, with a new tape that had surfaced, a 17-track, 70-minute recording of a July 12, 1970 show at the Marin County club The Lion’s Share that absolutely BLEW AWAY our earlier, 1966 candidate for release, both with respect to fidelity and performance. In fact, this just might be the definite live Mose Allison document.
First of all, the set captures Mose with his preferred Bay Area rhythm section of Clyde Flowers on bass and Lee Charlton (who recorded the show along with Hal Singer) on drums, the same team that appeared on 1972’s live classic Mose in Your Ear.
But what sets this record apart is that Mose never thought this date would be released as a live recording. As a result, you’re getting Mose at his freest, spryest, and slyest, displaying that impossibly effortless combination of wildly inventive piano riffing, brilliantly sophisticated songwriting (featuring such favorites as “Wild Man on the Loose” and “You Can Count on Me to Do My Part”), and offhand, nonchalant swagger that only he could pull off. As Skip Heller (who saw Mose play about 75 times) puts it in his liner notes, “This is Mose Allison, exactly the way most of us remember.”
For this very special release, we’ve commissioned three sets of liner notes, one a fond remembrance from Amy Allison (complete with pictures from the family archives), and one by Pat Thomas offering a rock and roller’s perspective on the Allison legacy to go along with Skip’s notes. The entire set’s been remastered by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision, and the album art is drawn from a period concert poster. Available on a double-LP inside a gatefold jacket, or on CD. Don’t miss this Real Gone release!
Get a copy of Mose Allison Live at The Lion's Share directly from Real Gone Music right here. Watch a couple of other vintage Mose Allison performances following the track listing below.
Mose Allison Live at The Lion's Share
July 12, 1970
Side One
1. You Won’t Let Me Go
2. War Horse
Side Two
1. Lost Mind
2. Wild Man on the Loose
3. Now You See It
4. Fool’s Paradise
5. Seventh Son
Side Three
1. Do Nothin’ Til You Hear from Me
2. 3. 5. You Can Count on Me to Do My Part
I Love the Life I Live
4. Powerhouse
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
Side Four
1. City Home
2. If You’re Going to the City
3. Ain’t Got Nothin’ but the Blues
4. Swingin’ Machine
5. Everybody’s Cryin’ Mercy
