I’m Coming On (Tarantura TCDTYA-1-1, 2)
Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan – May 7th, 1972
Disc 1 (47:09): Introduction, One Of These Days, Once There Was A Time, Standing At The Station, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, The Hobbit/ Star Of Express, Drum Solo, The Hobbit, Slow Blues In C
Disc 2 (48:31): Guitar Solo, Skoobly-Oobly-Doobob, I Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes, I’m Going Home, Sweet Little Sixteen, Baby Won’t You Let Me Rock & Roll You, SE, I’m Coming On
Ten Years After reached perhaps the pinnacle of their sucess in late 1971 when A Space In Time was released featuring their biggest hit “I’d Love To Change The World.” They played ninety gigs in 1972 including two tour of the UK, the Reading Festival in June, and three nights in Japan on May 4th at the Budokan in Tokyo, May 6th and May 7th at the Festival Hall in Osaka.
These are the first Ten Years After shows in Japan and they were co-billed with Procol Harum, each playing for about an hour and a half.
I’m Coming Out documents the third and final night of the tour utilizing a new Mr. Peach recording. This is an early effort by the prolific taper. While it’s not as good as his tapes from the late seventies, is good for such an early date. He was distant from the stage and there is an abundance of echo in the recording. It does, however, capture the atmosphere very well.
The show begins with “One Of These Days,” the perfect start with great harmonica by Alvin in addition to his insane guitar licks with bassist Leo Lyons follows him throughout the course of the performance. It’s a true statement of intent by the band.
They continue with “Once There Was A Time,” a relatively new song when this concert was recorded. But “Standing At The Station” is one of the definite highlights of the tape. A rare live recording of the track, Chick Churchill dominates on keyboards in his interactions in the middle improvisations of the piece.
After a great version of “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl,” the show reaches an alarming state of stagnation with “The Hobbit” and Ric Lee’s monotonous drum solo. While only a couple minutes long, it still sounds very long and tests the patience of the audience.
Another highlight follows with the massive sounding “Slow Blues In C.” It begins at a slower tempo than expected which gives it a more melancholy feeling of loss and desperation. Churchill again is vital in the song’s improvisation before Lee’s passionate guitar solo at the very end. The concert ends with a performance of “I Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes” very similar to the performance at the Isle Of Wight.
The first encore is “I’m Going Home,” the song which excelerated their popularity after the release of the film Woodstock in 1970. The improv contains bits of 1950’s songs like John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom,” etc. The show closes with “Sweet Little Sixteen” and “Baby Won’t You Let Me Rock And Roll.”
Ten Years After silvers are extremely hard to find. The only others in common circulation are Joint Concert 1972 (Heart Breakers HB-916-1/2), a two disc set with both TYA’s and Procol Harum’s sets from the May 4th show at the Budokan, Tokyo, Japan and Choo Choo Lee (GE067), a show on Gypsy Eye with a show from 1988. Tarantura package this in a beautiful gatefold sleeve.
