Rockpalast: Blues Rock Legends, Vol. 1

Recorded for Germany's Rockpalast live concert TV series in 1980, might catch the some time past his vinyl peak, but he still packs one helluva punch in concert, and this 18-track trawl through the s lengthy catalog serves up some of the weirdest, wriest rock & country blues-pop you could hope for. The opening sets the stage, ribald and rocking, and blessed with an expletive that American TV would still be bleeping now. The "disgusting old cowboy" is followed by "some songs about disgusting America," kicking off with the kind of song which could put you off fast food for life without even trying to; in fact, the s between-song intros are almost as raucous as the songs themselves, while the band boogie-woogies without any regard for politeness or manners with and a positively demented -- which, apparently, we're going to do "till we roll over dead." It's a brilliant show, and if the CD only splits one of your sides, there's a DVD version as well, so you can catch all the faces that the is pulling. Some of them are worth the price of the disc on their own. ~ Dave Thompson