The Rolling Stones – Live At The El Mocambo – 4LP – Vinyl

A legendary event in the incredible 60-year history of theRolling Stonesis being released in full for the first time on Friday, April 29th.Live At The El Mocambomarks the first official appearance of the group’s two famous secret concerts at the 300-capacity Toronto club in March 1977. It features the Stones’ full set from the March 5 show, plus three bonus tracks from the March 4 gig, newly mixed byBob Clearmountain. Only four of the performances found their way onto theLove You Livealbum that followed in September 1977, which was dominated by tracks captured on the band’s 1975 and ’76 tours, with the full set having never been heard before.

As the Stones took to the stage of the El Mo, a fixture of the Toronto music scene since the 1940s, punk and disco were both rearing into full view, supposedly ready to see off a band who had already been at the top of their game for 15 years. Over two nights, in an intimate space in one of their favourite cities, they were about to make that prognosis look foolish indeed. The gigs became reality after the El Mocambo was identified as the potential home for a secret booking. A radio contest was organised in which the prize was tickets to see Canadian rock heroesApril Wine, supported by an unknown band calledthe Cockroaches. Guess who they turned out to be… On the nights, naturally, April Wine were themselves the opening act, and so it was that the Stones rolled back the years to the exhilarating club incarnation of their early years. Against all the odds, the band produced two nights of exhilarating music that they still talk about in Toronto, and in Rolling Stones legend, to this day. It was a setlist for all seasons, fromMuddy Waters‘ ‘Mannish Boy‘ andBo Diddley‘s ‘Crackin’ Up‘ to staples such as ‘Let’s Spend The Night Together‘ and ‘Tumbling Dice,’ and back to the blues withBig Maceo‘s ‘Worried Life Blues‘ andWillie Dixon‘s ‘Little Red Rooster.’ There was the live debut of ‘Worried About You,‘ not heard in studio form until 1981’sTattoo You, and more highlights from ‘Honky Tonk Woman‘ to ‘Hot Stuff.’ Forty-five years on, this is a trip back to the intensity of the Crawdaddy Club in the Stones’ earliest days, as revisited by the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world.

Tracklist:

LP1 Side A
1. Honky Tonk Woman (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
2. All Down The Line (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
3. Hand Of Fate (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
4. Route 66 (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)

LP1 Side B
1. Fool To Cry (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
2. Crazy Mama (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
3. Mannish Boy (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)

LP2 Side A
1. Crackin Up (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
2. Dance Little Sister (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
3. Around And Around (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)

LP2 Side B
1. Tumbling Dice (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
2. Hot Stuff (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
3. Star Star (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)

LP3 Side A
3. Lets Spend The Night Together (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
4. Worried Life Blues (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
5. Little Red Rooster (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)

LP3 Side B
1. Its Only Rock N Roll (But I Like It) (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
2. Rip This Joint (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
3. Brown Sugar (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
4. Jumpin Jack Flash (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)

LP4 Side A
1. Melody (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
2. Luxury (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)
3. Worried About You (Live At The El Mocambo 1977)