First Dose In Paris (Exile EXCD-31/32)
Pavilion de Paris, Paris, France – June 4th, 1976
Disc 1 (54:46): Introduction, Honky Tonk Women, If You Can’t Rock Me/Get Off My Cloud, Hand Of Fate, Hey Negrita, Ain’t Too Proud To Beg, Fool To Cry, Hot Stuff, Star Star, You Gotta Move, Angie, You Can’t Always Get What You Want
Disc 2 (41:44): introductions, Happy, Tumbling Dice, Nothing From Nothing, Outta Space, Midnight Rambler, It’s Only Rock And Roll, Brown Sugar, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Street Fighting Man
The Rolling Stones’ four shows at the Abattoir in Paris in June 1976 are the most well known and best documented from that time. All were taped and filmed and used for official releases and are the standard for this tour. First Dose In Paris contains the complete opening night of the Paris run of shows utilizing a good to very good but muddy audience tape. Prior releases include Allright Charlie Watts (Dirty Work Productions DWP-001) and Pavillon de Paris (Dog N Cat DAC-046) which came out after Exile.
Like all the Paris concerts this was professionally recorded and videotaped. Unlike the June 6th and 7th shows the soundboard has never surfaced. And since nothing from this show was used for Love You Live either this recording is all that circulates. The footage of “Angie” was used for “Les Rolling Stones Aux Abattoirs.”
What makes these shows enjoyable, and this one in particular, is the slickness the band bring to the performance. Since these are being recorded for posterity they wanted the songs to sound just right. Mick Jagger can be heard acting as conductor during the songs, telling Ron Wood to “let’s take it home” in “Get Off Of My Cloud” and telling the band “two more” (measures) in “Fool To Cry” before the end.
The very beginning of the tape captures the jungle beats leading into “Honky Tonk Women.” The “If You Can’t Rock Me / Get Off Of My Cloud” segue is both seamless and exciting. But the newer songs, starting with “Hand Of Fate” sound most memorable. The audience are a bit impatient with “Fool To Cry” and start chanting while the band start playing the song.
“Angie” is added for filming purposes and makes its debut on the 1976 tour. It would remain in the set for the rest of the French shows and in Barcelona before being dropped again. The Stones probably felt that with “Fool To Cry” and “You Gotta Move” already in the set the show shouldn’t be slowed down again.
In the latter stage of the show Billy Preston comes close to stealing the show again with his two songs. But the French audience get into the latter, upbeat songs “It’s Only Rock And Roll,” “Brown Sugar.” Jagger does a strange Indian style chant right before they start “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and an effective “Street Fighting Man” closes the event. The packaging is basic with very common photographs from the era. First Dose In Paris is a good release of a show that hasn’t been booted often and enables one to obtain it easily.
