Eric Burdon (Tovarich Band)
Venue Unknown
Springfield, IL
December 10, 1971
Source: Soundboard > Low Generation Cassette. (1st or 2nd generation copy)
Transfer: Sony Deck TC-WE 475 > rca cable > JVC XL-R2010 CD-RW
Editing: Soundforge 9.0 > Wav > TLH [SB's aligned] Flac Level 6
Traders Den 5/29/15
Transferred, channels balanced and tracked by kingrue Upload 497
==================================================================
Okay folks, this has to be one of the most rare and unique tapes I've had the pleasure to spin and listen to.
There is very little information about this time period of Eric's career.
I've just recently obtained some new tapes of Eric Burdon from a long time collector in France. The story goes that a few tapes were pulled from Burdon's collection and sold by guitarist John Sterling and were distributed by a Hollywood company back in the late 80's. I had never heard anything from this time period before and had to do some research on this. I was only able to find one other show documenting this short lived band.
A little back story on the time frame leading up to this performance. On February 5, 1971 Eric finally left his band in the middle of their European tour, allegedly due to exhaustion. After returning home and taking time off, Eric started working on his next album titled "Guilty" during the summer with Jimmy Witherspoon. Deciding to take this new group of musicians on the road and call themeleves "Tovarich". The word "Tovarich" is Russian and translates into "Comrades". The lineup for this band only existed for a few months, they also provided the soundtrack to the movie "Revenge of the Cheerleaders". I read that Burdon and Witherspoon played seven consecutive Mondays at the Whiskey in 1971 sometime in July; before recording the Guilty! LP (aka Black and White Blues). .
As I was transferring this tape I noticed that side B had extra tracks at the end of the tape. After more research, I found it to be 2 songs from one of the previous Whiskey A Go Go shows. There is a double liberated cd that contains songs from various Whiskey A Go Go shows. I was able to compare the 2 extra tracks I had and they are the same as the liberated release. I don't have the double cd release at this time. My tracks 11 and 12 are the last 2 songs from an unknown Whiskey A Go Go set. Since I have no access to an official tour list, this time period and Whiskey dates are still a mystery to me.
If anyone has anything from The Whiskey A Go Go 1971., Please upload it for us to hear.
This recording should spark interest in a wide variety of collectors, even if you're just a casual fan, this is pretty cool stuff.
While listening to the guitar playing, I swear this guy is heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix.
A big Thank You goes out to TTD resident Philippe for sending his tapes all the way from France.
You guys know I do my homework and I'm hoping that more people will be able to come forward to shed some light on this time period.
Eric actually mentions all these members onstage and it's a very interesting bunch of players.
Vocals: Eric Burdon
Guitar: John Sterling
Bass: Kim Kesterson
Organ: Terry Ryan
Drums: George Suranovich (Drummer from Love)
Percussion: Billy Ray Morris
Side A
01 City Boy
02 Wicked Man
03 All I Do Is Wait For You
04 The Way It Should Be
05 Gotta Get It On Today
06 Be Mine
Side B
07 The Man (ending snippet)
08 Funky Fever
09 House Of The Rising Sun
10 Stop What You're Doing
Total Time = 68:26 min
----------------------------
(*) Whiskey A Go Go Oct.11, 1971
11 (*) Stop What You're Doing (cuts in)
12 (*) Be Mine
Total Time = 12:31 min
Enjoy
George
=======================================