ART58Koen's latest screed for your delight and delectation...
For most of you probably the concept of unplugged songs began on TV with MTV in 1989, but for me it started earlier…
In the late 80s living in Thailand, I was desperate for music info and depended on friends/acquaintances to bring me copies of the Dutch music magazine OOR and through those I learned about something new - a radio program called 2 Meter Sessies, as the first CD of those recordings was advertised there. The next time my parents came over to visit, they’d brought Volumes 1 & 2, which quickly became my favorite CDs for quite a while.
The show was conceived in 1987 by Dutch radio presenter Jan Douwe Kroeske when, on his popular national radio show, he persuaded the New Zealand band Crowded House to play a short set of their popular songs. The response of the public was so great, that 2 Meter Sessions quickly became a household name in The Netherlands. Almost a million 2 Meter Sessions CDs were sold in the Netherlands.
In 1993, the show made a successful transition from
radio to television, quickly becoming a nationwide phenomenon. The TV
edition of 2 Meter Sessions aired for over 10 years, with video sessions
of new talent, breakthrough acts, and arrived career artists. The show
made several comebacks on national television, the most recent one in
2020 by filming with Dutch acts to help them reach an audience during
the pandemic.
More background info: https://2metersessions.com/ & https://www.youtube.com/@
Over
the years I managed to collect most of their CDs, by now there are 11
volumes plus various collections, CD singles, samplers, etc. Artists -
both international as well as Dutch - dropping by for a 2 Meter session
incl. Nirvana (1991), Radiohead (1995), Foo Fighters (1999), Counting
Crows (1997 + 1999), Coldplay (2000), James Taylor (1994), Ben Howard
(2011), James Vincent McMorrow (2013). And more recent: DMA’S (2020),
Marlon Williams (2022), and Cate Le Bon (2022).
I must admit that by
now my enthusiasm has declined a bit for the series, but there are some
excellent performances among those sessions.
Answer ART58Koen's question below and win yourself a swell prize!
Answer ART58Koen's question below and win yourself a swell prize!
ART58Koen sez...
ReplyDeleteIn order to get an idea of what this is all about, I’ve found an unusual Best Of collection which was for a CD Club only, otherwise not commercially available… If you’d like to have a freshly ripped & scanned copy of this excellent 2 CD set, please let us know your favorite unplugged recording!
I was never a fan of MTV, so I don’t have a favorite “MTV Unplugged” episode/recording.
ReplyDeleteThat said, in September and October 1980, The Grateful Dead did an acoustic set (the first since 1970) in a series of shows at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco and Radio City Music Hall in New York City. These sets were recorded, and released as ‘Reckoning’, and are my favorite “unplugged” recordings.
That's a valid answer for sure!
DeleteI thought Aerosmith's Unplugged show was great - very bluesy. They're a tight little blues band when they want to be.
ReplyDeleteAh, never saw that one.
DeleteI heard of this series in the 90's, because one of the bands I loved at the time (dEUS) recorded two "sessies". Speaking of the 90's, Alice In Chains' appearance on MTV Unplugged is probably my favorite. Turning down the guitars allowed the vocal harmonies to shine.
ReplyDeletePS - is that Cesar Rosas in the top photo?
DeleteI was racking my brain because I was sure I recognised who's in that photo but couldn't name him. I'm sure you're right.
DeleteDavid Hidalgo
DeleteI had the Los Lobos bandmates confused. David Hidalgo it is (not Cesar Rosas)
DeleteLos Lobos performed several times on the 2 Meter Sessies.
DeleteHave a look at their performance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUzZt_gGZko
DeleteTwo examples come to mind:
ReplyDeleteJonathon Richman and the Modern Lovers at Erics, Liverpool late 1970's, at the height (ish) of punk. In the middle of the set he unplugged his guitar and switched off his Mic and sang one song completely unplugged.You could have heard a pin drop, and you could hear his unplugged electric guitar.
A few times when I've seen Elvis Costello, he has put his guitar down and sung "Couldn't Call it Unexpected No.4" unaccompanied and would move about the stage deliberately coming in and out of range of the Mic until eventually finishing the song totally unaided by amplifiers, like a singer from the Victorian Music Halls. It made it a totally spell binding performance.
Nice! I saw Jonathan much later in the early 80s I guess with only a sax player accompanying him, excellent.
DeleteI don't think I have much 'unplugged', however Rory Gallagher often did an acoustic set during his gigs, captured on many a live recording.
ReplyDeleteHere's a posthumous all acoustic compilation album from Rory. It's excellent!
DeleteInfo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheels_Within_Wheels
Link: https://workupload.com/file/kzvzYwtrTbV
Rory is cool, I remember seeing him performing an acoustic set on Dutch TV, brilliant. Thanks for the link, Steve.
DeleteI'll second Steve’s recommendation for Wheels within Wheels it's my favourite of his closely followed by Taste's On the Boards (not acoustic, but I like the jazzy feel of it)
DeleteIt's probably lame to say, but Nirvana's Unplugged album became a classic for a reason.
ReplyDeleteAnd I second Alice In Chain's Unplugged album, which is also very good.
Afterwards you have tons of artists who are basically always unplugged, so I imagine those don't count.
Also: Marlon Williams mention, very good. His new album is a little too electronic/modern sound in my book, but he's still someone to keep an eye on...
Many to choose from -- John Doe's 'Live at the Lion's Lair' (Denver) 2010, Minutemen's 'Acoustic Blowout', Nirvana's 'MTV Unplugged' (NOT lame to mention it; ferchrissakes, are we too cool to like something that lotsa others like??!!), My Morning Jacket's 'Acoustic Citsuoca', Jesus & Mary Chain's 'Acoustic Peel Session', Pixies' 'Live Newport 2005'....but one of my five favorite live albums of all time is Graham Parker's 'Live! Alone In America', so that'll have to get the nod.
ReplyDeleteI have some bits of 2 Meter Sessies of Darryl-Ann, My Morning Jacket, and 16 Horsepower, and I also like Netherlands' 'In The Fishtank' series, particularly ITF #7, Low with Dirty 3.
C in California
I'm not even familiar with the 'In The Fishtank' series ...
DeleteBuddy Guy & Junior Wells "Alone & Acoustic" both sound in suberb touch.
ReplyDeleteClassic!
DeleteThanks again for sharing, here are the unplugged goodies:
ReplyDeleteDisc 1, 136.7 MB
https://mega.nz/file/mQECUSAS#0sFg9EqrkUpumq-7fh_2vNNa47CD9Qm3-acTrM3ztnY
Disc 2, 165.4 MB
https://mega.nz/file/rAsFxLza#ImX6tDjBv8cG50MOScQqhgYCc6k5AaJJ_LINV44mFcg
Many thanks - these look very interesting!
DeleteHappy listening Steve!
Delete