Sunday, March 7, 2010

Pete Townshend & Raphael Rudd: The Oceanic Concerts (Live 1969/1970)


For once, I can't come up with anything especially original to say. So here's the great 2001 release of selections from two 1969/1970* 1979/1980 Christmastime concerts by Pete Townshend with Rafael Rudd at Eel Pie in London, benefits for the Meher Baba Oceanic group. It's a beautiful document of Pete's softer side. Rudd plays solo on 7 of the 18 tracks here; I've included them to keep or discard at your discretion. Of the others, 8 are duets, and the remaining 3 are Pete solo. The disc is no longer available new, copies are changing hands for dozens of dollars, so here it is on The Rare Stuff, complete with (a TRS first!) full cover scans @600dpi, including Rudd's liner notes wherein he explains his relationship with Pete and the story behind these concerts.

Comments appreciated, as are Paypal gifts (?) and/or investigations of the commercial messages featured in the right column...


Tracks:
Raga Raphael Rudd
Drowned Pete Townshend
The Seeker Pete Townshend
Magic Grace Raphael Rudd
Who Is Meher Baba? Raphael Rudd
The Ferryman Pete Townshend & Raphael Rudd
Kitty's Theme Raphael Rudd
A Little Is Enough Pete Townshend & Raphael Rudd
Contact In Solitude Raphael Rudd
Sleeping Dog Pete Townshend & Raphael Rudd
Sound Barrier Raphael Rudd
Bargain Pete Townshend
Longing For The Beloved Raphael Rudd
Tattoo Pete Townshend & Raphael Rudd
Let My Love Open The Door Pete Townshend & Raphael Rudd
Awakening Pete Townshend & Raphael Rudd
Western (American) Arti Pete Townshend & Raphael Rudd
O' Parvardigar Pete Townshend & Raphael Rudd

*Thanks to commenter Tangled Up in Blue for pointing out the date error - and sharing his own memory of these concerts!

5 comments:

  1. Hi my friend, you have the dates wrong. It was actually December 1979 and 1980. I was in the audience during the December 1979 concert, from which this material is taken. Don't think there were more than about 50 people there; when Pete wasn't performing he sat in the seat in front of me, and passed around the tea during a break. Needless to say, it was unforgetable. All the best, Nigel (www.nigelbaird.com)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sorry -- of course you're right about the dates! No way he'd have been singing "Let My Love Open the Door" in '69! In fact, I will correct the post. Thanks for the personal reminiscence. That sounds like a wonderful memory. Too bad there isn't film of the concerts (at least, not that we know of so far!).

    ReplyDelete
  3. any chance of getting this back up?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Found it!

    http://avaxhome.ws/music/rock/townshend_oceanic_concerts.html

    ReplyDelete

If you get a link, let us know what you think!