|
|
ROIO of the Week [Recordings
of Indeterminate Origin]
Those
Were The Daze
Click on the panels to download artwork
Mary
Hopkin
The Complete
Osaka Expo 1970 [Franny
FR110 1CD]
Live at
Bankokuhaku Hall, Osaka Expo, Japan 1970. Released in 2005.
"Basically, I'm
not a performer. I've never been comfortable onstage, really. I am a singer
and now, hopefully, a songwriter. I love that. I feel as if I'm finally
expressing myself in the way I want to. So the Apple days were like being
in kindergarten, really, just falling over a lot and the whole world witnessing
all my spelling mistakes."
-
talking to Goldmine, in 1992.
Manipulation is the
name of the game in pop music, just like in politics. So when a 17-year-old
fresh out of school signs to Apple Records, the Beatles label, expectations
touched the heavens. Mary Hopkin made hit after hit for the Beatles label.
But as the years peeled away, the awkward teen has revealed she was not
unaware of her ridiculous school girl image that made it difficult for
her to tackle different types of songs.
For instance, Hopkin
claims she was shanghaied into doing the Eurovision Song Contest and was
appalled that she had to sing Knock Knock Who's There?
When she left Apple,
Hopkin joined Mickie Most and was ultra-sensitive to uncool songs to the
extent that she rejected two great songs.
"I'll always regret
turning down 'You've Got A Friend'. Peter [Asher] sent me a tape, giving
me the first opportunity of recording it, and I turned it down. I could
have kicked myself. And I also turned down Elton John's 'Your Song'. I
had a demo of that but turned it down because I thought one line was too
corny.
'How wonderful
life is when you're in the world'. After what I'd been doing with Mickie
Most I just couldn't face lyrics like that. Of course, when Elton did
it, it sounded marvellous, not corny at all. That's how much I'd lost
confidence in my own capabilities by the time of Mickie Most: I'd turn
down anything remotely 'sweet'."
- talking
to Record Collector, Aug 1988.
Hopkin since then
has only recorded songs when in the mood. She sang an anti-war song released
during England's war in the Falklands. In 2006, Hopkin recorded a Christmas
song that was distributed through her website.
Currently, she lives
in the south of France. She never tours anymore, doesn't give interviews
or pose for publicity pictures. Which makes every live recording of hers
a treasure. Here is a rare recording of a concert in Japan. Recorded at
the Osaka Expo in 1970, it was at the height of her popularity and many
of her hits are performed. A couple of awkward interviews are included
with a Japanese musician and a female journalist who asks her how she
keeps her hair so beautiful.
Perhaps if Mary Hopkin
had success with her Earth Song/Ocean Song second album, she would have
been the folk singer/songwriter she wanted to be. Just listen to her take
of Paul McCartney's Yesterday followed by John's In My Life both dripping
with bittersweet regret.
As it stands she
will be remembered as the little girl who sang sweet and bubbly pop tunes
with singalong choruses.
This recording is
pretty good from such a long time ago. It sounds like a radio broadcast.
Thankfully the Japanese were never afraid of Western pop culture and invited
every important and not-so-important act to their shores, unlike the little
chickens who continue to rule $heep City.
- The Little Chicken 
+ + + + +
Latest
The Franny bootleg is actually the TV Special that was broadcast on Japanese
networks on July 12, 1970. Altogether, Hopkin played seven shows in Osaka
from July 4-7. You can view pictures taken of her visit to Japan at this
site.
The automatic English translation is computer-derived.
+ + + + +
Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (these are high quality,
stereo MP3s - sample rate of 192 kibit/s). As far as we can ascertain,
this recording has never been officially released.
These tracks are no longer available for download. Kindly email us at
mybigo@bigozine.com if you want
to download these tracks at a later time.
| |
|
| Track
01 |
Intro
(1.0MB) |
| Track
02 |
Both
Sides Now (4.8MB) |
| Track
03 |
Knock,
Knock Who's There? (3.5MB) |
| Track
04 |
You're
Everything To Me (3.0MB) |
| Track
05 |
The
Puppy Song (3.3MB) |
| Track
06 |
Donna Donna (3.2MB)
|
| Track
07 |
With
a Little Help from My Friends (2.4MB) |
| Track
08 |
The House of the Rising
Sun
(3.5MB)
|
| Track
09 |
Interview
(5.0MB) |
|
Let It Be (the Beatles)
[Not offered as it is The Beatles studio recording]
|
| Track
11
|
Yesterday
(2.0MB) |
| Track
12 |
In
My Life (2.7MB) |
| Track
13 |
Light
in the City (2.9MB) |
| Track
14 |
Interview
(1.9MB) |
| Track
15 |
Plaisir
d'Amour
(2.2MB)
|
| Track
16 |
Temma
Harbour (3.0MB) |
| Track
17 |
Goodbye
(3.5MB) |
| Track
18 |
Those
Were the Days (7.8MB) |
| Track
19 |
Outro
(1.1MB) |
Mary Hopkin has gone indie with her latest release in May 2007, Valentine,
on Mary Hopkin Music. The songs she sings come from fellow singer-songwriters
Bruce Cockburn, Emmitt Rhodes, and even John Kongos. There are also three
Hopkin originals. These songs were found in her personal archives and
have never been released before. They were originally recorded between
1972 and 1980.
Also at her website,
you can order her first official live album Live at the Royal Festival
Hall 1972. Order both here.
For more... email mybigo@bigozine.com
with the message, "Put me on your mailing list."
|
January
16, 2008
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Arcade
Fire
First Avenue
click here
Derek Bailey & Ruins
London 1997
click here
Jill Sobule
Nashville
click here
Peter Gabriel
Passion Outtakes
click here
Joni Mitchell and James Taylor
Royal Albert Hall 1970
click here
Laura Nyro
Fillmore East 1970
click here
Wilco
Montreal 2005
click here
John Lennon
You Should'a
Been There
click here
Anthony Braxton Standards Quartet
click here
Charlie Haden
Liberation
Music Orchestra
click here
Black Sabbath
Asbury Park 1975
click here
The White Stripes
Glastonbury
click here
Iron And Wine with Calexico
click here
The Magic Numbers
Hultsfred Festival 2005
click here
Robert Fripp & Brian Eno
John Peel's Top Gear
click here
Pink Floyd
BBC Archives
click here
V Fest 2005
(The Magic Numbers, Doves, Zutons)
click here
Laura Veirs
Railway Inn
Winchester, UK
click here
Devendra Banhart
Live @ France's Inter White Session
click here
Bruce Springsteen
Singin' Our Birthday Song
click here
Pink Pumpkins/Smashing Floyd
A Comfortable Hum
click here
Sufjan Stevens
Live At The Triple Door
click here
Douglas Ewart, Wadada Leo Smith, Jeff Parker, Hamid Drake
12th Guelph Jazz Festival, Canada
Sept 10, 2005
click here
The New
Pornographers
Live At The Triple Door
click here
The Band
Tombstone: The Lost Album
click here
The Bee Gees
A Kick In The Head Is Worth Eight In The Pants
click here
Steely Dan
The Lost Gaucho
click here
Grateful Dead
At Soldier's Field
(July 9, 1995, Chicago)
click here
Elvis Presley
A Stranger In My Own Home Town: The Other Side Of Elvis
click here
Led Zeppelin
Pb
click here
Pink Floyd
Time In London
click here
Coca-Cola Commercials
click here
Secret Machines
Chicago 2005
click here
Mirror/Dash
Tolbooth, Stirling, Scotland 2005
click here
Coldplay - Koko Camden, London 2005
click here
Lambchop - Tanz-und Folkfest Rudolstadt, Germany 2004
click here
M.I.A. - Radio Show
click here
Various - Hippocamp Ruins Pet Sounds
click here
Jimmy Page's Lucifer Rising
click here
Brian Eno's Music For Glitterbug
click here
Jon Anderson's Lord Of The Rings: The Unreleased Yes Songs
click here
Mal Waldron's The Cool World Soundtrack
click here
The Fearless Freaks, feauring the Flaming Lips
click here
Vangelis - The Complete Blade Runner Soundtrack (selected tracks)
click here
Sonic Youth - Plays Stan Brakhage
click here
R.E.M.'s Ahoy Rotterdam 2005
click here
Bright Eyes - 9.30 Club Washington DC (Jan 29, 2005)
click here
Led Zeppelin And The Bombay Orchestra's Led Zeppelin In India: The
Lost Sessions Vol 2 - Bombay Magic
click here
Neil Young's Chrome Dreams (Rust Edition)
click here
The Who - Orchestral Tommy; The Who - Tommy At The Metropolitan
Opera House; Calexico - Lee's Place; Prince - Fillmore; Ian Dury
- Rare Boots & Panties; Eric Clapton - Philadelphia 2004
click here
Patti Smith's E-Werk, Cologne, Germany, July 17, 2004
click here
Elvis Presley's Finding The Way Home
click here
The Carpenters' More Offerings
click here
Dave Douglas' Speaking Truth To Power Modern Music Protest
click here
Neil Young's Last Album
click here
Elvis Presley's Desert Storm
click here
Frank Sinatra's Historic Oakland Concert
click here
Radiohead's Black Tuesday
click here
Neil Young's I'm Happy That Y'All Came Down
click here
Beck, Bogert & Appice's Good Bye Lady
click here
Wilco's The YHF Demos
click here
David Bowie's The Rise And Rise Of Ziggy Stardust
click here
Miles Davis' The Complete Live At The Cellar Door
click here
Pink Floyd's Brain Damaged Empire
click here
|
|
