Heart – Ramsa-Enoshima Rock and Roll (Tarantura TCDH-1,2)

Ramsa-Enoshima Rock and Roll (Tarantura TCDH-1,2)

August 4, 1979, Enoshima Kanagawa Japan

Disc 1: 01. Opening, 02. Intro; 03. Cook With Fire; 04. High Time; 05. Heartless; 06. Devil Delight; 07. Straight On; 08. Even It Up; 09. Magic Man; 10. Love Alive; 11. Magazine; 12. Mistral Wind; 13. Dog & Butterfly; 14. Silver Wheels; 15. Crazy On You; 16. Barracuda

Disc 2: 01. Rock And Roll; 02. Without You (bonus tracks, FM Broadcast, air-checked by Mr. Peach) 03. Intro; 04. Magic Man; 05. Magazine; 06. Mistral Wind; 07. Dog & Butterfly; 08. Barracuda; 09. Rock And Roll; 10. Interviews

Heart’s first concert in Japan was at the Japan Jam on the island of Enoshima. The Japan Jam was one of the biggest outdoor music festivals of the time and this concert took place at a picturesque site on Enoshima specially constructed by the sea. The Japan Jam occurred over three days in 1979 in Enoshima and Kyoto, and the headline act was the Beach Boys. Other artists included Firefall, TKO and Southern All Stars, as shown in the tasteful reproduction of the Japan Jam poster on the inside of Tarantura’s gorgeous paper sleeve for this release. Mr. Peach apparently recorded the Beach Boys concert as well, which can be seen on the copy of the master cassette inserts inside the sleeve.

This concert recording was from August 4, 1979, which was ironically the same day of Led Zeppelin’s first show at the Knebworth Festival. Zep’s influence on Heart’s music was always unmistakable. Their rousing live performance of “Rock and Roll” found on their greatest hits release was amazing to first hear not only because of Ann Wilson’s powerhouse, original rendition of Plant’s vocals, but also because of how Michael Derosier played Bonzo’s part. Derosier was a John Bonham fan and his drum set-up and style reflected that directly. Heart songs like “Devil Delight,” which feels a lot like “When the Levee Breaks,” and their concert’s acoustic section, also evinced their love for Zep. It’s all present in this full concert recording, which is an entertaining and captivating listen from start to finish.

The opening track is interesting because it was possibly from a different source, but captured Ann Wilson coming upon something and expressing happiness with a sexy little “wooo.” This set the tone for her upbeat and engaging performance throughout the entire concert. About thirty seconds into the track the Peach recording fades-in with greater volume and separation, and then we’re off to another time and place thanks to Mr. Peach.

After Heart was introduced they ripped into a smoking version of “Cook With Fire,” and Ann Wilson was going full throttle from the get-go. Indeed, all members of the band were playing great in this afternoon show. They rocked through a group of classic Heart songs, including “Heartless,” “Even It Up,” and “Magic Man,” which had a different rock finish to it than the studio version that worked perfectly. Then Ann played a magical flute solo as they moved into the beautiful acoustic section of the show. After “Magazine” was “Mistral Wind,” another immensely powerful song that reached almost seven and-a-half minutes in length and was probably great to witness with the ocean behind the band and stage. Nancy Wilson’s “Silver Wheels” was beautiful and touching after being introduced by her sister Ann. “Crazy on You” followed and blistered into a heavy version of “Barracuda” to end disc one.

Disc two is cool because it’s divided between the end of this Peach concert recording and the FM broadcast of a portion of the same show. The closing two songs in Peach’s recording are Zep’s “Rock and Roll” and Badfinger’s “Without You.” Contrasting the incredible quality of Mr. Peach’s recording was the FM broadcast, which comes across a bit thinner and less illuminating. This was a great way to fill the remainder of disc two and to remind us just how special these concert recordings are from Mr. Peach.

Also of special interest is the reference to “Ramsa” in this release’s title. Ramsa was the made in Japan audio equipment that provided the wonderful sound in this recording taken from an outdoor show by the ocean! Anyone familiar with how sound changes when subjected to the elements can appreciate the superb quality of Ramsa’s performance that day, which justifies its placement in the title of this great Tarantura release. This is easily recommended to any music fan.