While on vacation in the UK last summer Earle played a handful of solo dates, including this one at an intimate, small pub in the northeast of Scotland. Recording-wise, this comes from a very good audience DAT, but know beforehand that a fair amount of audience noise is audible, particularly as the show wears on (it was, uh, a drinking crowd). The taper was probably positioned midway back, given the telltale low-ceiling ambiance, but Earle’s voice and guitar are quite clear overall, just not “crystalline,” if you get the distinction.
It really must have been a special evening, not just for the chance to finally hear some of the Jerusalem material done stripped-down fashion (“Ashes To Ashes” and “John Walker’s Blues” are excellent), or to hear Earle reinvent some older material (“Taneytown,” always a riveting tune, sounds here nothing like it does on record), or even to hear an unusual cover (the first song is a Pogues tune) but also to hear the songwriter sounding very relaxed and in a good mood – sometimes when he’s performing with the Dukes he can seem like he’s on autopilot in terms of his setlists and stage raps. Here, even his political comments take on a more personal tone, less accusatory and more trying to relate to the audience how he feels as a person and not as a symbol.
One fascinating moment happens between “Goodbye” and “You Know the Rest”: a would-be heckler, initially dismissed by Earle as simply being drunk (“Dude, there’s no way you’re gonna win this one – I have the fuckin’ microphone!”), gets progressively louder and more abrasive, apparently complaining about the price of the tickets for the show. Ultimately he gets booted from the venue and Earle picks right up after barely missing a step, but just for a moment or two it sounded like the normally unflappable Earle – who, typically, can shut down a heckler in a hearbeat -- was rattled.
Doberman has included a 4-page booklet with color and B&W photos from the actual who, plus a 1-sided tray panel with another very nice color pic. -- OSWALD
