The Perlich Post: The Blasters' Over There 2LP Live in London 1982 due for Black Friday

Thursday, October 3, 2024

The Blasters' Over There 2LP Live in London 1982 due for Black Friday

An expanded deluxe 2LP edition of The Blasters' live 'Over There' EP cut in London in 1982 is out on November 29.

Here's the scoop from co-producer Chris Morris...

BIG FAT NEWS! I am freaking proud to be the co-producer (with Antone DeSantis and the Blasters) and annotator of this thrilling RSD Black Friday release, out Nov. 29. Limited to 1,500 copies, Over There: Live at the Venue, London 1982 — The Complete Concert is a smokin’ hot two-LP, 23-track (!) rendering of the original Slash/Warner Bros. EP, recorded at their UK debut as a headliner. This show has never been heard in its entirety, and 13 of the performances have never been issued in any form.

The 73-minute show is WILD, and the blow-out power and full-tilt velocity of the seven-piece Blasters in their prime are on full display, in definitive form. The package features a jazzy gatefold jacket containing my detailed essay with new interviews from the band, plus never-before-seen photos and memorabilia. The album will also land on Dec. 6 as a single CD in a sweet-looking digipak; a digital version will also be available that day. I’ve been involved with Liberation Hall Records’ reissue campaign devoted to the Pride of Downey’s work for a year, and this set is to date the true revelation of that program. LET’S ROCK! – Chris Morris

THE BLASTERS

Over There: Live at the Venue, London - The Complete Concert

Liberation Hall, LP: LIB-5193 / CD & download: LIB-5192

Over There: Live at the Venue, London - The Complete Concert now stands as the definitive document of the Blasters’ debut performance as a UK concert headliner on May 21, 1982. Drawing its title from a flag-waving George M. Cohan song celebrating American doughboys in England, the original Over There was first issued in October 1982 as a six-song Slash/Warner Bros. EP. It comprised the Dave Alvin original “I Don’t Want To” and covers of Jerry Lee Lewis’ “High School Confidential,” Edwin Bruce’s “Rock Boppin’ Baby,” Little Richard’s “Keep A Knockin’,” Roy Orbison’s “Go, Go, Go,” and Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson’s “Roll ‘Em Pete.” The contemporaneous cassette version of the set included an additional track, a rendition of Frankie Lee Sims’ “What Will Lucy Do?”

When the Blasters’ complete Slash/Warner recordings were compiled on the two-CD set Testament in 2002, three more numbers from the Venue in London — versions of the Rockin’ R’s’ “Crazy Baby,” Slim Harpo’s “Got Love If You Want It,” and Blasters sax man Lee Allen’s 1958 instrumental “Walkin’ with Mr. Lee” — made their bow.

A gale-force definition of the Blasters’ full power on stage, Over There is now available for the first time at its full length, adding 13 unreleased tracks to join the previously available ten. The band’s lineup comprises Phil Alvin (vocals, guitar), Dave Alvin (lead guitar), John Bazz (bass), Bill Bateman (drums), Gene Taylor (piano), Steve Berlin (baritone saxophone) and Lee Allen (tenor saxophone). The original recordings were produced by the Blasters with associate producer Art Fein, and engineered by Pat Burnette. This expanded edition reissue is produced by the Blasters with Chris Morris and Antone DeSantis. Morris also contributes a new essay, which complements the original sleeve notes by Slash Magazine editor Claude Bessy.

All configurations of Over There: Live at the Venue, London - The Complete Concert will feature the full 23-song show. CD and digital are released December 6; pre-order at Bandcamp right here. Digital single “Marie Marie” is available now right here.

Last year, Liberation Hall commenced its ongoing reissue campaign of the Blasters’ catalog with the newly curated Mandatory: The Best of the Blasters compilation and a re-pressing of Un “Sung Stories,” the debut solo album from the group’s frontman, Phil Alvin. In September 2024, Alvin’s second solo album, County Fair 2000, was also reissued.

* Previously unreleased.

All tracks recorded May 21, 1982, at The Venue in London.

Check out a lo-fi transfer of the original release of The Blasters' Over There below.