Trying To Get To You

Friday, June 15, 2007

Bootleg Friday: Stevie Wonder, 1974

On today’s installment of Bootleg Friday, we have selections from Stevie Wonder’s incredible January 31, 1974 Innervisions tour performance at the Rainbow Theater in London. This performance is rumored to have been recorded for use as a live album, but as the story goes, the recording wasn’t of a high enough quality to use. You’ll never know that listening to these tracks. What you will hear is an artist at his peak, in full enough command of his material that he can break past the limits set by the recorded versions. You’ll hear extended versions of “Living For The City,” “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” and “Superstition.” While the jams aren’t always spot on, what you get is a sense of the energy of the performance and the idea that every person playing has a sense that they’re in the middle of making history.

Download: "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing" 1/31/74, London
Download: "Higher Ground" 1/31/74, London
Download: "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" 1/31/74, London
Download: "Living For The City" 1/31/74, London
Download: "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" 1/31/74, London
Download: "Superstition" 1/31/74, London

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post, Ben. Glad I found your site!

Go Nicole Yourself said...

I have a gigantic rendering of Stevie on the wall in my bedroom. He is the king.

Did you read my post where he came out on stage with Stephen Marley at the HOB and I just about peed my pants?

Bootleg Fridays Rule.

Anonymous said...

Where did you get these tracks from? Is there any chance that you could post the rest of them?

Ben Lazar said...

I got these tracks on a bit torrent site. I'm choosing to not post the rest of them; with a little digging, you'll have no problem finding them.