Jeff Beck, Santana, Steve Lukather – Sound Market ’86 (Wardour-083)

Sound Market ’86(Wardour-083)

After participating in the 1983 ARMS tour with Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and a multitude of others Jeff Beck went silent in terms of live performance.  He played a handful of shows with Rod Stewart in 1984 and worked on his LP Flash.  His return to the stage included two live appearances in Los Angeles in 1986 and a short seven date tour of Japan that June.  In these shows Beck was joined by Jimmy Hall on vocals, Simon Philips on drums, Doug Wimbish on bass and Jan Hammer on keyboards. 

The first date in Japan was the Sound Market Festival in Karuizawa on June 1st where he shared the bill with Santana and Steve Lukather.  It was both video taped for telecast and broadcast edited over the radio and these sources have provided many excellent quality releases.  Several audience sources also are in circualtion, and one was released last year on Gets Them All In The End (no label).

Sound Market ’86is a new release with a brand new tape source.  It was taped by the some one who recorded the Jeff Beck show in Okaka in 1980.  Unlike last year’s no label release, this one contains the entire show including the whole Santana set which started off the show.  The sound quality is excellent.  The taper was very close to the stage and was able to capture the details of the performance.  Since it is an outdoor venue there is evidence of “breathing” on the tape.  It also sounds like Wardour added a touch too much mastering on the tape.  There are times when the sound is very shrill. 

Sound Market, Prince Hotel, Karuizawa, Japan – June 1st, 1986
Santana

Disc 1 (73:38):  Opening, Primera Invasion, Victim Of Circumstance, Incident At Neshabur, Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen, Oye Como Va, Evil Ways, Jingo, Open Invitation (with Steve Lukather),  Songs Of Freedom (with Steve Lukather), Savor (with Steve Lukather), Percussion Solo, Soul Sacrifice (with Steve Lukather), By The Pool, Europa, Right Now

Santana’s touring band at this time consisted of Chester D. Thompson on keyboards, Orestes Vilat on timbales, Raul Rekow and Armando Peraza on percussion, Alphonso Johnson on bass, Tom Coster on keyboards, Graham Lear on drums, and Buddy Miles on vocals making a comeback to live performance.

The opening of the set is instrumental with Santana’s emphasis upon thunderous latin rhythms underlying the melodic guitar solos.  Carlos shares a trait with Jeff Beck in having the ability to make the guitar seem to sing at times. 

Steve Lukather joins the band halfway through the set, playing along and adding his style to “Songs Of Freedom” and all the others.  There is a long percussion solo leading into “Soul Sacrifice” which contains yet another drum solo in the middle. 

Sound Market, Prince Hotel, Karuizawa, Japan – June 1st, 1986
Jeff Beck

Disc 2 (60:57):  Opening, Star Cycle, Love Will, Ambitious, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, Stop Look And Listen, The Pump, Miami Vice Theme, Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers, Escape, Blue Wind, Gets Us All In The End

Disc 3 (49:29):  Encore, Wild Thing, Freeway Jam (with Steve Lukather), Going Down (with Steve Lukather), Super Boogie, Hong Kong Blues, People Get Ready, Johnny B. Goode

For the first show of the Japanese tour Beck gives a demonic display of his ability as he rips through the setlist beginning with the Hammer-penned tune “Star Cycle.”  The “new song” follows “Love Will” which was never recorded or released.  The radio broadcast remains the best sounding version of this rarity only played in Japan.  Vocalist Jimmy Hall tells the audience “I hope you saw the video” before playing the main single from Flash “Ambitious.”  Beck faithfully recreates the insane solo from the record and is a highlight from the set.  

“Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” serves as an introduction to “Stop, Look And Listen.”  “The Pump,” tragically edited out of the radio broadcast, sounds majestic in the audience recording with the surreal introduction before the guitar-lead fireworks.  Jan Hammer, introduced by Beck as “the finest synthesizer player in the universe,” has his spot playing his theme to “Miami Vice” which was a minor hit.  “Blue Wind” and the cover of “Wild Thing” close the Beck only set. 

Beck introduces Steve Lukather of Toto for “Freeway Jam” where he, Beck, and Hammer take turns dueling in an improvisational battle which is simply tremendous. 

After the obligatory “Going Down” Carlos Santana comes on stage and they play together a fantastic four song set.  “Super Boogie” and “Hong Kong Blues” are two instrumentals where the three guitarists play in unison and solo off of one another in their various styles.  Buddy Miles introduces “People Get Ready” as a “spiritual song” and leads the audience in a large sing-a-long to the song Curtis Mayfield song he covered on Flash. 

The evening ends with a riotous version of “Johnny B Goode” where Beck’s vocalist Jimmy Hall joins in on the fun.  The number of releases for this show is not simply due to the tremendous sound quality of the broadcast but the spirited performance as well.  Beck made so few live appearances in the eighties (after this he wouldn’t tour again for another three years) this release stands as a great document of the era.

DVD (65 minutes):  Santana:  Primerainvasion, Black Magic Woman, Open Invitation (with Steve Lukather).  Jeff Beck:  Opening, Star Cycle, Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers, Wild Thing, Freeway Jam (with Steve Lukather), Going Down (with Steve Lukather).  Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana & Steve Lukather:  Super Boogie, Hong Kong Blues, People Get Ready, Johnny B Goode

A limited number of copies come with the Gets Them All In The End DVD.  This is the exact same DVD contained in the no label release last year, except it’s packaged in a plastic DVD case instead of being stored in the jewel case.  It would have been better if it were just simply included with the title, but Wardour probably didn’t want to duplicate something already in their catalogue. 

The video quality is very good and it presents the highlights of the show.  Very little is shown of the Santana set unfortunately, but there is a lot of Jeff Beck plus the ending jam with the three guitarists.  This is an essential DVD to have in the collection in one for or another.  The close ups of the musicians convey they joy and enthusiasm they had that day and makes it eminently watchable.