Don't Go Near The Water / Live In London

[TonyW]

I was driving along today listening to the recent Live In London boot (His Master's Choice label) and turned up the volume on the intro track to the December 8th '68 show at The Astoria, Finsbury Park (the official "Live In London" recording) and just before the MC announces the band in the background you can hear somebody singing "Don't Go Near The Water", the first line is pretty clear and the second line is a bit garbled but the word "bad" or "sad" is audible as per the "don't you think its sad" line. It's track 13 at the 23 second mark.

DGNTW wasn't recorded until 3rd April 1971. Two and a bit years in gestation ...  I can't work out who's singing it but its a Love/Jardine composition so I'm guessing its one or the other.

[Bicyclerider]

Yeah, I pointed this out in my review of the CD  here - it sounds like it could be Al, does not sound like Mike at all.  The second line is garbled and doesn't sound like the second line of the song to me.  Don't go near the water was a common phrase (from don't go near the water if you don't know how to swim) and was also a novel and 1957 movie about US Navy public relations.  So it may have been used in some context of the London trip that we don't know and have nothing to do with the subsequent song and it's environmental theme.  Then again, maybe the phrase was in Al's head as a good song title even back then.