BILLY THORPE and THE AZTECS Aztecs Live HAVOC 1971 RARE

	A$		57
	$		38

BILLY THORPE AND THE AZTECS

LIVE

HAVOC HST 4001 (NEW ZEALAND) 1971

rarest of the Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs albums, I guess due to the total lack of promotion at the time and New Zealand-only release (although Havoc Records were distributed in Australia by Southern Records of Melbourne)

storming, deafening, bruising, blistering hard rock live set recorded at Melbourne Town Hall on Sunday June 13 1971 with a spartan 4-piece (Lobby had departed) Aztecs fronted by Billy, with support from Warren Morgan (keyboards, including the monstrous Town Hall organ), Paul Wheeler (bass) and Gil Matthews (drums)

in the words of Billy himself:

". . .to the capacity crowd of 5,000 and the band, it felt like we were standing on a pair of Boeing 747 engines. It cracked the foundations and broke windows in neighbouring buildings. . ."

(thanks to MILESAGO and Ice Productions © 1999 for the quote)

indeed, when the epic Somebody Left Me Crying eventually gets underway, the towering and sonerous organ exploration by Warren 'Pig' Morgan lends the performance an almost religious atmosphere, which is appropriate enough, for a Sunday. . .

Billy's vocals on this one are brilliant (as they are throughout) and really soulful, with more passion than you will hear from pretty well any other rock singer of the time - it's a pity his guitar break, welling up near the end from the waves of church organ is so atrociously off key

he soon gets it right though, and throws in some truly blistering solos as the set progresses. . .

there's a nice b-i-g rendition of the Gene Vincent classic Be Bop A Lula too - again featuring a desperate guitar break from Billy

even a tight and surprisingly listenable drum solo from Gil 'Rathead' Matthews midway through side two followed by some truly mad guitar frenzy by Billy on Part 2 of Momma

this is the real heavy sh*t alright. . .

now this is one hell of a rare LP and although the sides have numerous superficial surface scuffy marks, there's nothing to spoil this awesome and unique perfomance and the relentless simple power of the band - remember, this historic vinyl document of those distant times is now more than 36 years old. . .

I'd describe the record as vg+ but it plays without problems all the way through - just some light background noise and a few clicks here and there

labels perfect with no wear - each side has just the faintest single spindle trace

fantastic gatefold fully laminated (front and back) cover displays gleaming glass-like shine with near perfect seams, spine and edges - just a few light bumps to the corners

strangely, the disc loads from the inside and the inner pocket opening is in immaculate shape - so too, is the entire interior layout with its eerie black and white shot of packed Melbourne Town Hall on that June evening. . .

unquestionably raw but important and so-rare album capturing this once-in-a-lifetime experience and performance by one of Australia's iconic figures

RECORDS ALWAYS CAREFULLY PACKED WITH DISC AND COVER SEPARATED

tracks

Somedody Left Me Crying    Time To Live    Be Bop A Lula

Momma Part 1    Drum Solo    Momma Part 2

postage & packing (in AU$) for BASIC or STRONGER packing

regular mail within Australia: $7.50 (1 LP) / $14.50 (1-3 LPs)

(for express post and/or other services or additional items please enquire)

postage & packing by overseas air mail (in AU$) for BASIC or STRONGER packing for 1 LP

New Zealand: $12.50 / $16.00

Japan: $14.50 / $19.00

USA/Canada: $16.50 / $22.00

UK/Europe: $19.50 / $26.00

(for basic insurance/signed-for add $8.00 for all overseas items and for express courier and/or other services or additional items please enquire)

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thanks