The Complete Fillmore East Concerts

AMG Review of The Complete Fillmore East Concerts

Lindsay Planer
All Music Guide

For a very limited time, the Internet-based audio boutique Hip-O Select -- located online at www.hiposelect.com -- offered Mad Dogs & Englishmen's The Complete Fillmore East Concerts (2006) in two configurations. While this six-volume box boasts all four sets (March 27 and 28, 1970), each individual evening was also available on its own. The contents are quite remarkable either way. Although Joe Cocker is often considered the ringleader, Mad Dogs & Englishmen were a star-studded ensemble that Cocker and Leon Russell assembled for a North American stint, culminating in the gigs gathered here. These five and a half hours -- plus a few tracks from the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium -- are the raw materials from which the venerable Mad Dogs & Englishmen (1970) double-LP set was created. Cocker and Russell cobbled together Mad Dogs & Englishmen after several days of phone calls and marathon 12-hour rehearsals. When the dust cleared, Chris Stainton (keyboards), Don Preston (rhythm guitar), Carl Radle (bass), Jim Gordon (drums), Jim Keltner (drums), Chuck Blackwell (percussion), Sandy Konikoff (percussion), Bobby Torres (congas), Jim Price (trumpet), and Bobby Keys (sax) were chosen to go along for the ride. They were further augmented by a ten-piece backing vocal "choir" with Rita Coolidge, Claudia Lennear, Daniel Moore, and Nicole Barclay (aka Nickey Barclay). What listeners are treated to on The Complete Fillmore East Concerts is what you'd expect: every note captured from Mad Dogs & Englishmen at Bill Graham's Fillmore East. Their set list was as much dictated by their tight rehearsal schedule as it was by audience favorites and other songs worked up specifically for the proceedings. They also added a few recent remakes, including the Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women" -- which Cocker chose to anoint with new lyrics -- the Beatles' "Something," and Traffic's "Feelin' Alright." Russell took the opportunity to trot out a handful of his own compositions. Besides "Hummingbird" and "Dixie Lullaby," he gives Rita Coolidge -- a then relatively unknown backing singer -- "Superstar," and the entire cast gets their respective rocks off on Russell's raucous "Delta Lady." Cocker pays tribute to "Brother" Ray Charles on the funky and soul-searching "Let's Go Get Stoned," the heavy "Sticks and Stones," and the edgy "I'll Drown in My Own Tears." The latter is coupled with the Memphis R&B staples "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long" and served up in an extended "Blue Medley." The fidelity is stunning but not surprising, as the shows were remixed from the original multi-tracks. The CDs come in unique and intricately appointed eight-panel foldout digipacks with brief liner notes and artwork.