Midnight Special
- Thread starter Steven J. Gross
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Captain Bacardi
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Steven J. Gross
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mikeargo
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I made a cassette tape recording off the TV at the time, a tape I still have. The sound quality ain't grand, but it's all there (except for Captain & T, which I opted not to record at the time--and am still glad I didn't), including Billy Preston and Phoebe Snow. Funny, I don't remember Supertramp being part of that show at all; they're certainly not on the tape. I don't recall the date of the show but it was not long after I bought the Coney Island LP in late spring/early summer 1975. (Somebody on another thread here characterized this record as the best TJB record of them all, and I agree!)
Does anybody know the name of that last tune the group played on the show, the high-energy, fast-moving piece with lots of brass that doesn't appear on any TJB records? After 27+ years, I'm still dying to know.
Mike A
Does anybody know the name of that last tune the group played on the show, the high-energy, fast-moving piece with lots of brass that doesn't appear on any TJB records? After 27+ years, I'm still dying to know.
Mike A
mikeargo said:
Without hearing it, I'd guess it was the song "Desert Dance". I know that that song appeared on the Midnight Special, though I never saw the show and didn't even know about it until a few years ago. Someone made me a copy of the tune taped from the braodcast, and your description fits.
Harry
NP: Desert Dance, Herb Alpert & The TJB
mikeargo
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Harry said:
I'd like to hear what you have and compare it with what I have. But what puzzles me more about this particular TJB TV special is that I don't think we're talking about the same show. I know there's a Midnight Special show that has more of a live concert feel, but the Coney Island special I saw and taped in summer '75 was a regular prime-time TV special. Supertramp was definitely not on the bill. I've seen video of the TJB medley segment from the Midnight Special, but it's definitely not the same segment as they did on the Coney Island special, although it's the same medley, same arrangments. And what I saw was not the 1974 show with the Muppets.
Can anyone shed light on this conundrum?
Mike A
Steven J. Gross
Well-Known Member
I can tell you with certainty that there are at least 2 shows- one I have a copy of is a BBC/TJB Special with guests The Muppets and featured the Coney Island and You Smile the Song Begins albums, plus lots of classics.
The Midnight Special definatly featured Coney Island tracks, Supertramp and Pheobe Snow, etc.
There may be other video of that time period (guest spots, etc.)
The Midnight Special definatly featured Coney Island tracks, Supertramp and Pheobe Snow, etc.
There may be other video of that time period (guest spots, etc.)
DAN BOLTON
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There were two shows, one a special that followed a Frank Sinatra special, on NBC, I think, that aired in the fall of 1974, and it featured the Muppets...there was a later edition of The Midnight Special that aired in 1975, I think in April or May...those are the only two that I know of. Both featured music from the CONEY ISLAND album...
Dan
Dan
For those who are musically inclined, I actually preferred the version they played on TV, vs. the one that ended up on the LP. (If I recall, I saw the TJB peform this in concert and it may have been the same as the TV version.) Difference? The version on TV was played in the key of C, and at a slightly slower tempo. On LP, it's faster (almost sounds rushed in comparison), and is in E-flat. I remember being slightly disappointed the same version wasn't on the LP...but being almost 30 years later, well, I've learned to live with it. 
DAN BOLTON
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Rudy said:For those who are musically inclined, I actually preferred the version they played on TV, vs. the one that ended up on the LP. (If I recall, I saw the TJB peform this in concert and it may have been the same as the TV version.) Difference? The version on TV was played in the key of C, and at a slightly slower tempo. On LP, it's faster (almost sounds rushed in comparison), and is in E-flat. I remember being slightly disappointed the same version wasn't on the LP...but being almost 30 years later, well, I've learned to live with it.
It would be a lot easier on the high notes in C...and I always thought it was a little fast on the album. As I remember, it's even faster on the BMB album NATURALLY.
Dan
Captain Bacardi
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The show with the Muppets was broadcast in September '74, and the Midnight Special was June '75, and it was the Midnight Special that had the enlarged Coney Island LP in the background.
I prefer the LP version of "Coney Island" myself. The TV version just seemed to drag too much for my taste. But Bob Findley played a great solo on both versions.
Capt. Bacardi
I prefer the LP version of "Coney Island" myself. The TV version just seemed to drag too much for my taste. But Bob Findley played a great solo on both versions.
Capt. Bacardi
Captain Bacardi
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mikeargo said:
There was no Coney Island special, at least not in the U.S. The medley and "Desert Dance" did reappear on one of the Best Of The Midnight Special episodes, which aired a few times between '76 and '79. The TJB did appear on some variety shows in '75 (like Dinah Shore), but there absolutely was no prime-time TV special in '75.
Capt. Bacardi
mikeargo
Well-Known Member
Well, I've now gone back and listened to my old tape, and I have to concede that the show I remember as "the Coney Island special" is in fact the Midnight Special that aired June 10, 1975. Early in the show, Herb even says something like "welcome to the Midnight Special," so that's a clincher--as is the voice of Wolfman Jack at the end, over the applause, telling us who's coming up next week.
Funny what tricks the mind can play with selective memory. I still have no recollection at all of Supertramp being a part of the show I saw.
But it was a great show and the tape is still a lot of fun to listen to--the live version of "Carmine" is especially tight. Herb plays piano, with Bob Findley carrying the main solo, but as I recall (and this I'm sure about!) there was a film superimposition of Herb playing intro solo trumpet at the beginning of the song, which mimics the way the album track was recorded.
Mike A
Funny what tricks the mind can play with selective memory. I still have no recollection at all of Supertramp being a part of the show I saw.
But it was a great show and the tape is still a lot of fun to listen to--the live version of "Carmine" is especially tight. Herb plays piano, with Bob Findley carrying the main solo, but as I recall (and this I'm sure about!) there was a film superimposition of Herb playing intro solo trumpet at the beginning of the song, which mimics the way the album track was recorded.
Mike A
This topic has jogged my memory somewhat.
The Midnight Special show definitely featured Supertramp. They played the song "Hide in your Shell," which was on the Crime of the Century album.
The tune played by the T.J.B. at the end of the show was indeed "Desert Dance." I was severely disappointed that the tune never showed up on an LP. (Hey, Randy Badazz, maybe you could ask Mr. Alpert if this song was ever committed to tape!) I knew the song title because it was listed in the TV Guide, which had a complete list of all the songs played in the show.
I always wondered what Phoebe Snow was doing in there. Surely they could have come up with one more A&M artist to fill the bill!
The Midnight Special show definitely featured Supertramp. They played the song "Hide in your Shell," which was on the Crime of the Century album.
The tune played by the T.J.B. at the end of the show was indeed "Desert Dance." I was severely disappointed that the tune never showed up on an LP. (Hey, Randy Badazz, maybe you could ask Mr. Alpert if this song was ever committed to tape!) I knew the song title because it was listed in the TV Guide, which had a complete list of all the songs played in the show.
I always wondered what Phoebe Snow was doing in there. Surely they could have come up with one more A&M artist to fill the bill!
Captain Bacardi
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mikeargo
Well-Known Member
Even though I don't remember Supertramp being part of that show, I do remember Capt. & Tenille's appearance, because I purposely stopped rolling tape when they came on to sing "Love Will Keep Us Together," a song I detested then and now. Turned the machine back on for Billy Preston and Phoebe Snow. (But I still don't remember Supertramp's slot at all. Must have turned the machine off for them as well.)
All I really wanted to see & hear was the TJB anyway...and they were superb. That was an exciting time for TJB fans, with Herb having just reformed the group and released two fine albums, You Smile and Coney Island, in a row. "Desert Dance" has stuck in my head all these years, a classic, archetypal TJB number, and I'm glad to finally know the title at last. Now if only a video would surface...at something less than the $90 or so that somebody just paid on eBay for a Brass Are Comin'/Muppets Special video.
All I really wanted to see & hear was the TJB anyway...and they were superb. That was an exciting time for TJB fans, with Herb having just reformed the group and released two fine albums, You Smile and Coney Island, in a row. "Desert Dance" has stuck in my head all these years, a classic, archetypal TJB number, and I'm glad to finally know the title at last. Now if only a video would surface...at something less than the $90 or so that somebody just paid on eBay for a Brass Are Comin'/Muppets Special video.
Mike, drop an e-mail to this guy: [email protected] . I won a "Brass Are Comin'" video from him on eBay for $26, and he said he had a couple of others. If anything, he might sell direct, or list it on eBay.
I really don't like buying anything on VHS, but this is the only way to find it.
I really don't like buying anything on VHS, but this is the only way to find it.
mikeargo
Well-Known Member
mikeargo said:
Having just pursued this lead, I'm told by the seller that it's the Beat of the Brass video he has (which I've already got), not Brass Are Comin'. (And to anyone interested in that video, the correct e-mail address is [email protected]) So the hunt continues...thanks again, Rudy!
Mike
Aw, shoot...I got my Brasses mixed up!! 
Yep, that's the one I bought, not "Brass Are Comin'". Things have been weird around here today.
If nobody has mentioned it here yet, take a look at Kinevideo: http://www.kinevideo.net . They don't have this special either, but they do have some interesting compilations of other TJB performances. Tempted to get a couple of those myself.
Yep, that's the one I bought, not "Brass Are Comin'". Things have been weird around here today. If nobody has mentioned it here yet, take a look at Kinevideo: http://www.kinevideo.net . They don't have this special either, but they do have some interesting compilations of other TJB performances. Tempted to get a couple of those myself.
mikeargo
Well-Known Member
Rudy said:
Yep, Bruce Simon is very easy to deal with. He currently offers three volumes of Herb shows/appearances, all good vintage material, though video quality varies from okay to mediocre on this old stuff. However, it's as close as you're likely to come to finding any of it, so I recommend checking out his wares.
I think I can clear up a BIT of the confusion on this...
The TV special from 1974 featured mostly old TJB tunes, Selections from YOU SMILE... and three songs from the not-yet-released CONEY ISLAND ("Vento Bravo" was the opener, "Coney Island" was introduced by Herb And Julius -- "What part of New York are you from again?"..."Chicago." -- and ended with "I Belong") It was on ABC after the Sinatra special and was part of the Sentry Collection. Where the confusion is coming from: The special was later packaged for syndication as part of a total entertainment special package. It was re-edited (or was the European version) for this package and had certain segments replaced from what we saw originally in the US. SOme where I have both taped on cassette. One version has a whole thig with Pisano as well as the "schtick" with Julius.
Hope this clears it up...
And then there's the MIDNIGHT SPECIAL with songs from Coney, old Brass medley and songs from the yet to be released third TJB LP....
--Mr Bill
The TV special from 1974 featured mostly old TJB tunes, Selections from YOU SMILE... and three songs from the not-yet-released CONEY ISLAND ("Vento Bravo" was the opener, "Coney Island" was introduced by Herb And Julius -- "What part of New York are you from again?"..."Chicago." -- and ended with "I Belong") It was on ABC after the Sinatra special and was part of the Sentry Collection. Where the confusion is coming from: The special was later packaged for syndication as part of a total entertainment special package. It was re-edited (or was the European version) for this package and had certain segments replaced from what we saw originally in the US. SOme where I have both taped on cassette. One version has a whole thig with Pisano as well as the "schtick" with Julius.
Hope this clears it up...
And then there's the MIDNIGHT SPECIAL with songs from Coney, old Brass medley and songs from the yet to be released third TJB LP....
--Mr Bill
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