MARC BOLAN - MANCHESTER 1974
May 2, 2014 – 5:01 am
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MARC BOLAN & T REX
Truck Off Tour Rehearsal [no label, 1CD]
Rehearsals at Manchester Free Trade Hall, UK; January 26, 1974. Very good stereo soundboard(?)
With Marc Bolan’s back catalog looking more and more like a well-worn pair of platform heels, with the most insignificant live and studio out-takes having now been packaged and repackaged across a mountain range full of well-meaning official collections, one has difficulty believing that there’s actually a tape out there that we’re not thoroughly sick of hearing… but which actually sounds better, and packs more fun, than 50 per cent of what else is out there.
History records T Rex’s 1974 UK tour as the moment when even Marc had to admit that the madness had moved elsewhere. But the rehearsals for the tour simply refuse to let the statistics bring him down. Born To Boogie opens (and closes) the proceedings with a lengthy, loping funky work-out, all scattered vocals and soulful shrieks, while the Bolanic guitar slashes through the rhythms.
There’s a slinky Get It On, Bolan’s low-key vocals an unexpectedly effective contrast to the fat’n’chunky guitar, and while someone switched the tape recorder off just as a frenetic Metal Guru got going, it’s only to make way for the band to hatch a new arrangement of the song.
It’s not all easy listening. Few songs are complete, and several are present as mere snippets, interspersed by lengthy silences, chatter and tuning - it’s a rehearsal, after all. But when everything comes together, across any one of several powerhouse run-throughs of Chariot Choogle, or a Buick Mackane that drives like a tank battalion, Truck Off Tour Rehearsals stands among the most enjoyable T-Resurrections of at least the last five years. Truck on! - Dave Thompson
Note: Dave Thompson is the British born author of over 100 books, including U2: Stories For Boys (1985), The Psychedelic Furs: Beautiful Chaos (2004) and Black and White and Blue: Erotic Cinema from the Victorian Age to the VCR (2007).
Thanks to the person who shared this on the net in 2006.
Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (224 kbps). As far as we can ascertain, these tracks have never been officially released on CD.
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Track 01. Born To Boogie 3:43 (6.3MB)
Track 02. Get It On 5:52 (9.9MB)
Track 03. Metal Guru 6:15 (10.5MB)
Track 04. I Want To Tell You 10:11 (17.1MB)
Track 05. Chariot Choogle 2:48 (4.7MB)
Track 06. Chariot Choogle 2:53 (4.9MB)
Track 07. Chariot Choogle 3:35 (6.0MB)
Track 08. Buick Mackane 7:09 (12.0MB)
Track 09. Buick Mackane 12:01 (20.2MB)
Track 10. Born To Boogie (fades out) 0:54 (1.5MB)
56 mins
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28 Responses to “MARC BOLAN - MANCHESTER 1974”
Great!!! Thanks BigO!!!
By Benk on May 2, 2014
Two extremes: Kraftwerk in Frankfurt, Marc Bolan in Manchester, The Very Next Stinkin’ Day! and both great - thanks Big O!
Pay attention to hurting young adults and teens - you can save a life too. It feels good.
By Job Hunter on May 2, 2014
well meanwhile…….thanks!
By uncle remus on May 2, 2014
Thanks BigO!!! Superb!!!!!!!!!!!!
By bagwell on May 3, 2014
I’m There…..Oh Yeah….Hell Yeah!!!
By bagwell on May 3, 2014
Anyone know who’s accompanying Marc on those high,screechy background vocals? I know Flo and Eddie sang with him in the studio, but I’ve never heard of them touring with T. Rex. On record, that second really high voice was a kind of cool effect, but when it’s not on key (like on some parts of this rehearsal tape), man does it ever grate.
By telegram sam on May 3, 2014
Beautiful… Thanx!
By Timmy on May 3, 2014
These sound great! Thank you much!
By Formosa Coweater on May 3, 2014
That’s probably Gloria doing the background vocals, Telegram Sam.
By Jeff on May 8, 2014
Gloria Jones, that is.
By Jeff on May 8, 2014
Any new Bolan is welcome to these ears!
By Jeremy Shatan on May 9, 2014
thanks, bigo - nice choice!
I-)
By I-) on May 12, 2014
I love T-REX and still one of my favourites but by 74 the Teenage dream was definitely over and just as Lennon had his ONO so did Bolan have his Jones. I don’t think she did him any favours adding a soul flavour to his work, the 4 to the floor simple Eddie Cochran style guitar doesn’t lend to cheesy 70’s soul vocal work outs although he proceeded even when Visconti begged him to stopi! He still had some Classics to come but they were few and far between.
This is still an amazing glance into the Elfin Icon’s work process,thank you bigO!!!
By Happy Jap on May 15, 2014
Perhaps Pat Hall too? She and Gloria were on things like Marc’s American “Midnight Special” show…….or was that a “Rock Concert” show?
By Ben on May 16, 2014
That’s right, I forgot about Pat Hall, She had a long unreleased Solo Album Produced by Marc just pop up on one of his fan sites, I can’t imagine it being an easy listen! and I think it was “Midnight Special” but I could be wrong
By Happy Jap on May 18, 2014
I was at the Manchester show. What a crazy blast!!!! Loved it
By Dan Daniels on Oct 11, 2014
26th of January 1974. What a show. It was a crazy audience! Just remember that Bolan played a mean guitar that night. In fact he smashed it up at the end. Whatever happened to that mightily teenage dream?? His last three singles sold under five thousand copies in the UK. Sad really
By Dave Scott on Jan 24, 2015
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Sept 16, 1977, Gloria Jones drove her car into a tree killing her passenger, Marc Bolan. Bolan’s last single Celebrate Summer breaks midway with the line, “Summer is heaven in ‘77.” I thought he was grand right up to the end.
By Randy Metro on Feb 14, 2015
“Whatever happened to that mightily teenage dream??”
Sept 16, 1977, Gloria Jones drove her car into a tree killing her passenger, Marc Bolan. Bolan’s last single Celebrate Summer breaks midway with the line, “Summer is heaven in ‘77.” I thought he was grand right up to the end.
By Randy Metro on Feb 14, 2015
Marc Boland was a shut guitarist. Saw him live in 72. That was enough for me. Rubbish
By Mick Tong on Mar 6, 2015
Somebody just called somebody named “Marc Boland” a “shut guitarist.”
Not sure who Mr. Boland was or what it means for a guitarist to be shut, but that sounds a bit harsh.
By Willis on Mar 6, 2015
Marc Boland!!!! Taking the piss or what! I saw T.Rex in 74,76 and in 77. Marc was not a grate guitarist but he was a good guitar player. For me it was about the writing. He was a genius. Great song writer and performer on stage. Loved him!!!
By Dan on Mar 6, 2015
marc bolans guitar playing was more about riffs and rhythm than flashy solos. thats why the documentary is called “born to boogie”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f8DrE7IsRs
By barth on Mar 6, 2015
Marc BOLAN was in truth “a limited guitarist”. However he wrote some great songs. Anyway, I did see him live in 74. It was indeed a mad gig. So many screaming girls. Hey but fun. Glad to hear some of songs without the screams.
By joe on Mar 8, 2015
I too was at the Manchester Free Trade Hall on Jan 26 1974. My first ever gig and it was brilliant. The band were so loud and so was the audience - my ears were ringing for days.
Marc was a genius performer and songwriter - I know he thought he was as good as Hendrix and Clapton on lead guitar but he wasn’t - however he certainly had his moments (check out Buick Mackane https://youtu.be/s-l0rfNWhOg) and he was pure star quality. The whole band were and are very under-rated, in all its guises, although I could have lived without the Gloria and Pat BV’s. At the time there was no one like Marc Bolan and to be honest we have never had anyone quite so intriguing since.
By Boz on Mar 23, 2015
Marc was not the most technical of guitar players,but he played from the heart,it’s not easy to explain he had a great blues/trash style for want of a better word.
By Steven sawyer on May 9, 2015
I saw T.rex 72 in the USA. Walked out after 3 songs. Then in 74 I was invited to go to a gig in Manchester 26th of January . What a fantastic show. It was a grate band and Bolan played like a rock god. Back in the U.S the same year I just had go and see the god again. I really thought I was at the wrong gig. Was it the same god! Longer hir but so fat and didn’t sound good at all. Hey what the he’ll, he made some grate Albums. Bob
By Andy on Jun 11, 2015
One of the best gigs I went to during the 70s was T.rex Truck Off Tour at Sheffield City Hall January 1974. Bolan did play well that night. In fact it was bloody fantastic . Then in 76 I went to see them again. To be honest it was rubbish!!!!! He had become a “has been”. Some people said he was making a comeback before he was sadly killed. Who knows if he would have got back to his grate times of 70-74? That Celebrate Summer single was released when he was playing out to 3m people on the Marc Show and it sold less then 6000 ccopies . So sadly no I don’t think so.
By Steve watson on Jun 11, 2015