Good Timin': Live At Knebworth 1980

[bluesno1fann]

I like this live album. Not one of my favourites but still.
ATM, the last time we'll ever hear Dennis's singing.
Also has the only officially released version of Dennis's "You Are So Beautiful".
I'll give this album a solid 3.5 out of 5.

[Mr. Wilson]

4/5 A rockin good time. ! When you saw the BB live on a good nite it was bliss..

[KDS]

Decent live album. 

I like having Brian, Mike, and Carl all sing a verse of Sloop John B.  That was a nice touch. 

I like hearing Dennis try to murder his drums during the California Girls intro. 

A nice live album, as it does capture a particular era of BB history. 

The only reason I gave it a 4 instead of 5 are these dreadful KTSA songs. 

[pool_of_tears]

How about the title song? Why do you even name an album with a song title that is not on the album?

Well said.

It's a shame the complete show (warts and all), hasn't been released.

[Lonely Summer]

Decent live album. 

I like having Brian, Mike, and Carl all sing a verse of Sloop John B.  That was a nice touch. 

I like hearing Dennis try to murder his drums during the California Girls intro. 

A nice live album, as it does capture a particular era of BB history. 

The only reason I gave it a 4 instead of 5 are these dreadful KTSA songs. 

I've never been wild about their version of School Days, but Keep the Summer Alive rocks, especially on this disc.

[KDS]

Decent live album. 

I like having Brian, Mike, and Carl all sing a verse of Sloop John B.  That was a nice touch. 

I like hearing Dennis try to murder his drums during the California Girls intro. 

A nice live album, as it does capture a particular era of BB history. 

The only reason I gave it a 4 instead of 5 are these dreadful KTSA songs. 

I've never been wild about their version of School Days, but Keep the Summer Alive rocks, especially on this disc.

I will admit it's a lot better live.  But I think the studio version is pretty bad. 

[HeyJude]

Decent live album. 

I like having Brian, Mike, and Carl all sing a verse of Sloop John B.  That was a nice touch. 

I like hearing Dennis try to murder his drums during the California Girls intro. 

A nice live album, as it does capture a particular era of BB history. 

The only reason I gave it a 4 instead of 5 are these dreadful KTSA songs. 

I've never been wild about their version of School Days, but Keep the Summer Alive rocks, especially on this disc.

Check out the live version of "Keepin' the Summer Alive" from the Washington DC July 4, 1980 show (just a couple weeks after Knebworth). It's the best live version I've heard. Knebworth is okay, and any live version sounds better than the rather limp studio version).

I think the DC 1980 show is on YouTube. The versions taken from the Japanese DVD should look and sound pretty good.

[Ian]

By the way-this July 4 1980 performance was "fixed" prior to airing on TV. (as was Knebworth).  I have heard the unsweetened actual live version and the performances are a lot rougher!!

[HeyJude]

By the way-this July 4 1980 performance was "fixed" prior to airing on TV. (as was Knebworth).  I have heard the unsweetened actual live version and the performances are a lot rougher!!

Very true; the radio broadcast of that DC show is more raw and rough. I've probably, partly out of sentimentality/nostalgia, watched and listened to that show (both the original radio broadcast and the completed TV special) more than most any other, and I can say that, to my ear, the actual overdubs for the TV special were not that excessive.

The main overdubs I hear is an extra electric piano/keyboard, and some sweetened backing vocals in spots (the intro to "School Days" most obviously). But all of the lead vocals and main instrumentation are untouched. I think the main thing they did in post-production was to mix in to excise bad bits, and I would imagine the unsalvageable nature of certain performances (Brian's batteries running out mid-vocal on "Wouldn't It Be Nice", Al's momentary frog in his throat during "Lady Lynda", etc.) were what dictated which songs made the hour-long cut.

I wore out my original 1980 videotape of the HBO broadcast for eons, and then got a French Beach Boys fan to buy a Japanese DVD import at the Virgin Megastore (in Paris I believe), and it still blows my mind how good it looks, being that the show was shot on just normal SD videotape that is now 36 years old.

More trivia: I recall Alan Boyd telling me years and years ago that the raw footage from the concert was missing/lost, but I'm thinking in recent years they did find the raw footage, as a quick video-only clip of "California Girls" (not aired on TV) was used in a C50 TV ad.