King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents in Concert

AMG Review of King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents in Concert

Greg Prato
All Music Guide

The Todd Rundgren edition of the never-ending King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Live in Concert series is split into three different sections -- three tracks recorded from 1985 in Chicago, three more from a '77 show in N.Y.C., and another six tracks from a different N.Y.C. show in '78. The songs from '85 were recorded during Rundgren's a cappella phase, featuring such highlights as a moving medley of "Lost Horizon/What's Going On/Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You," as well as a gospel-esque reading of Rundgren's own "Real Man." The other two shows feature him playing alongside Utopia, rocking through such highlights as "Love of the Common Man" and another medley, this one consisting of "I'm So Proud/Ooh Baby Baby/La La Means I Love You/I Saw the Light." Surprisingly, these late-70's shows are heavy on Something/Anything material (the artist usually separated that era of his career while playing with Utopia), running through renditions of "Couldn't I Just Tell You," "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference," "Black Maria," and his biggest solo hit, "Hello It's Me" (as well as "I Saw the Light" as part of the aforementioned "I'm So Proud" medley). With a solid cross selection of material included, the Rundgren/King Biscuit Flower Hour set is pretty consistent listen from beginning to end (both sonically and performance wise).