Description

A legendary event in the incredible 60year history of the Rolling Stones is being released in full for the first time on Friday, April 29th. Live At The El Mocambo marks the first official appearance of the groups two famous secret concerts at the 300capacity 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 by Bob Clearmountain. Only four of the performances found their way onto the Love You Live album that followed in September 1977, which was dominated by tracks captured on the bands 1975 and 76 tours, with the full set having never been heard before.As the Stones took to the stage of the ldquoEl Mo,rdquo 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 heroes April Wine, supported by an unknown band called the 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, from Muddy Waters Mannish Boy and Bo Diddleys Crackin Up to staples such as Lets Spend The Night Together and Tumbling Dice, and back to the blues with Big Maceos Worried Life Blues and Willie Dixons Little Red Rooster. There was the live debut of Worried About You, not heard in studio form until 1981s Tattoo You, and more highlights from Honky Tonk Woman to Hot Stuff. Fortyfive 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. The Rolling Stones 2CD is available for home delivery from Vinyl Records London, only £115