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Can: Live In Stuttgart 1975

Tony L

Tony L

Administrator

The bright orange vinyl edition of the Live In Stuttgart 1975 triple LP turned up earlier. I’m really liking this so far, so good it unquestionably deserves its own thread.

It dates from what I always thought was a rather aimless period for them. Reduced to a four-piece long after Damo left, after the UA contract where all their finest work lies, and I suspect before they signed to Virgin, though I’m not sure of the exact dates there. This is an album of long instrumental jams, some hints of existing songs and rhythms very occasionally float in and out, but there is absolutely no concession to commercial pop or rock music here. Literally none. One of the tracks (they are numbered in German, no titles) spans three sides. In many ways it all fits far more closely with what Miles Davis was doing at the time with Agharta, Pangea etc, just wonderfully free improvised grooves and rhythms taking exactly as long as they need.

Anyway this is absolutely not a scrapings off the floor cash-in, it is essential Can, and I’m amazed it has taken so long to come to light. Certainly miles better than anything they ever released on Virgin!

PS The recording & pressing is very good; obviously live and a tad murky, but in a very powerful way. It sounds like an amazing gig!
 
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My copy also arrived today. I've quite enjoyed this on the first listen. It is remarkable what they've managed to do with an audience recording from 1975. I really enjoyed the first listen and will look forward to listening to it again. The download wasn't available and I wonder if the lengthiest track has been left intact on the digital version.
 
I've just checked TIDAL. This is a five track digital effort with Drei lasting 35:58. I'm hoping that there are no fade-outs in the track.
 
Tony L said:
It dates from what I always thought was a rather aimless period for them. Reduced to a four-piece long after Damo left, after the UA contract where all their finest work lies, and I suspect before they signed to Virgin, though I’m not sure of the exact dates there.
Click to expand...

We saw Can at Liverpool Stadium in May 1975 - sans Damo with Schmidt doing vocalising. I seem to remember this coinciding with Soon Over Babaluma - I say that as I remember Dizzy Dizzy being performed. It was a long time ago now and I remember being slightly disappointed at the time - as I was with everything post Future Days - they were certainly missing Damo and his magic influence.
 
I’ve still got the third LP to play here, but no vocal so far. Certainly some Dizzy Dizzy drum groove though! I’d have loved to see them live. Seen most of them solo, but never as a band.
 
Tony L said:
I’ve still got the third LP to play here, but no vocal so far.
Click to expand...

Count that as a blessing - nothing to write home about. From memory it was perhaps only Dizzy Dizzy. Problem is with Liverpool Stadium gigs like this in the 70s (Gong, Tangerine Dream, Van Der Graaf, Isotope) was that you'd end up as high as a kite whether you wanted to be or not, there was so much dope being smoked. Some great gigs though - I think there was a thread about the place several years ago.

Nevertheless I shall stream Stuttgart before investing in vinyl.
 
Picked up the LP today, haven't played it yet. Wondering if the 2CD set might have been a better bet as Drei is included in it's entirety on Disc 1? I'll give it a listen on Qobuz first, just in case I want to swap the LP for the CD!
 
I might go CD. Listening now on Spotify: it's good, but not sure I want to get up every 20mins, for 6 sides.
 
mikechadwick said:
Wondering if the 2CD set might have been a better bet as Drei is included in it's entirety on Disc 1? I'll give it a listen on Qobuz first, just in case I want to swap the LP for the CD!
Click to expand...

Alternatively it may have been cut for the CD! You only need two sides of vinyl to comfortably cut 35 minutes, here the track extends for three sides, which I suspect means it is longer.

PS The vinyl has a download code, though I don’t know what file format it is.
 
Thanks for posting this thread Tony.

Can were peripheral to my musical interests in the 1970s. Streaming via TIDAL* right now and, based on Drei, it seems like I missed out.


* I had to search for the album as there appear to be two Cans on TIDAL and this album is only listed under one of them
 
I listened to it via vinyl and then via TIDAL. I'm strongly of the the opinion that the listening experience is better via digital. Not having to get up to change records and/or have Drei cut into segments is a big bonus. This is not to say that the vinyl sounds worse, just that I could enjoy the flow of the music more via the stream than the LP. I think the download is an MP3 @Tony L but it wasn't available this morning.
 
I need to get a copy of this so thx for the heads up.

The concert appears to be this one from 31 Oct 75.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/can/1975/gustav-siegle-haus-stuttgart-germany-53f273b9.html

That means the concert was after the recording for "Landed" and before "Flow Motion".

Can recorded "Vernal Equinox" for OGWT which seems to have been recorded on 18 Nov 75, about two and a bit weeks later and that performance just motors and far from "aimless". :cool:

 
Seeker_UK said:
I need to get a copy of this so thx for the heads up.

The concert appears to be this one from 31 Oct 75.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/can/1975/gustav-siegle-haus-stuttgart-germany-53f273b9.html

That means the concert was after the recording for "Landed" and before "Flow Motion".

Can recorded "Vernal Equinox" for OGWT which seems to have been recorded on 18 Nov 75, about two and a bit weeks later and that performance just motors and far from "aimless". :cool:

Click to expand...
I’ll give that 11 out of 10
 
Seeker_UK said:
Can recorded "Vernal Equinox" for OGWT which seems to have been recorded on 18 Nov 75, about two and a bit weeks later and that performance just motors and far from "aimless". :cool:

Click to expand...

I did try, but to me it just sort of started, carried on and then ended. It was nice to see some good shots of Jaki being Jaki, and I enjoyed Irmin’s karate fight with the imaginary opponent, but sorry to say Can are still on my ‘everyone else says they are Godlike geniuses so not getting it must be entirely your fault’ list.
 
I got my order with The Rock Box in late, so I'll be waiting until next week for it.
Maybe I'll rewatch the gig in the Can boxset again to tide me over.
 
I got both the double CD and the vinyl yesterday.
My impression was that people were missing live concerts quite strongly by now,
so the well made output from Spoon is perhaps received quite much better now than it would have been without a lockdown..?
I grew up with 'Vitamin C' and that one's really burnt into my harddrive forever,
so I really liked the idea of a timetravel back to my childhood and a concert from my dad's birthplace,
so..I am quite familar with the location, too.

Haven't unpacked the vinyl yet, but Spoon was always good quality, so I'd expect no less.
The CD is great..I really like it.
 
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