Madrid, Spain (15-Jun-89)

D801 MADRID, 15 JUNE 1989

After a near six-month break (used in part to lay down Oh Mercy), late in May of '89 Bob brought the NET to Europe for the first time, for a quick-fire - 21 dates in 33 days - north to south Summer tour. Two shows in Sweden, one in Finland then two more in Ireland got the campaign underway – but Bob's head seemed to be both figuratively and, while on stage, quite literally in a strange, lonely, freakish place (and if you don't know what I'm talking about, check out D071 or D592.su's screenshots). Then, happily, if unaccountably, as the NET passed its first birthday and the personnel crisis precipitated by bassman Kenny Aaronson's illness resolved, things took a turn for the better, such that by the time Madrid came along, there was every reason for fans to expect a good time. Or, at the very least, a sight of those familiar curls and maybe even a grin or two, which would be a promising start.


Den Haag: Nee b. hood ~ Bully!

Which bodes well for D801? Yes indeed, a DVD with, on the face of it, much in its favour. Off-master, its screenshots (take a peek) look just fine. And though it offers just eight tunes (actually #2-4, #6-8, #14 and #15) of a 15-song set, the first is a Hank Williams cover* debutted here, performed only twice and new to circulation (in other words, quite a prize!) with potential plums Lot To Laugh, Simple Twist and Pontchartrain (among others) to follow. Better yet, Frejus and Barcelona, the shows immediately before and after, are both (see D637 and D167.su reviews) five star specials, reaffirming the suggestion that, by the time he crossed the Channel, D's gremlins were well and truly banished. It's new boy Tony G's fifth gig (did he ever find his niche!) and Apollo smiles. Let's thumb PLAY, then, sit back and see what happens.

The film is a stage-front hand-held which often means head problems, manic pitch and toss or both. But though there is inevitably some degree of waver throughout, camera control overall is excellent with Simple Twist especially well-filmed and much other enjoyable, full-on footage too. Likewise heads, though ever-present, are seldom very troublesome, with only Times notably beleaguered. Image quality on the copy I saw was neither as clean nor brightly tinted as is depicted in the screenshots, though pleasing still. And then there's the audio... Sludgy on the electric cuts and dull and constrained on the acoustics, what we have in D801 is a DVD chock-full of potential that cries out for a make-over - a trip through the Dylan Room or some place like it - where it might acquire a spiffy new soundtrack, a title page and menu (presently none) and functional chapter marks (presently placed at five minute intervals with song-by-song navigation thus precluded).

Performance-wise, there's plenty to savour - Simple Twist, H61, another gorgeous Pontchartrain - and what House Of Gold loses by being a bit rough round the edges it gains in hens' teeth scarcity value. Indeed, its only other outing was in Athens, 28 June, last show of this tour, a remarkable gig most notable for the only known acoustic Grain Of Sand as well as back-to-back Morrison covers Crazy Love (no other live performance) and It Stoned Me (first rendition of two), both duetted with Van - and the mouth surely waters at the thought of the first of that threesome if maybe not the second or third. But none of them circulate on video, of course, so well done to Zimmy21 for being in the right place at the right time with a Sony 8mm in his hand.

RUNNING TIME 41:30, all songs complete.
DANK U Viner Frank, Zim21
STARS As is, three and a half, though, if better audio is available, fingers crossed for another '89 s/u winner sometime soon.

* When D led his wraggle-taggle RTR troupe through a unique Weary Blues From Waitin' at Lakeland, Florida in April 1976, the song broke a career duck by becoming the first Hank Williams cover he'd performed live on stage (though not the first he'd recorded). After another one-off - Your Cheatin' Heart with Helm/Danko at New York's Lone Star Cafe in Feb 1983, this Madrid House Of Gold chalked up #3, with Lonesome Whistle and Hey Good Lookin' (both 1990), Honky Tonk Blues (1999) and You Win Again (2003) since edging his grand total up to seven. For more on Bob 'n' Hank, see D556 review. Now here (from his Tower Of Song) is Leonard Cohen's humble, self-effacing, almost reverential take on the long-gone country legend:

I said to Hank Williams: how lonely does it get?
Hank Williams hasn't answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
A hundred floors above me
In the tower of song

~ Dismayed at the excessive drinking that would eventually see Williams dead before he was 30, Roy Acuff, his mentor, allegedly told him: You've got a million-dollar voice, son, but a ten-cent brain.

~ And finally, Hank's Martin D-28 guitar is now in the possession of Neil Young. During an 18 August 2005 appearance at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium (home for 30 years of the Grand Ole Opry), Young introduced his Prairie Wind tune This Old Guitar with these words:

When Hank Williams was here in 1951 he offended some people and was asked not to come back. About 35 years ago I was lucky enough to buy Hank's guitar from Tuck Taylor. This [pointing] is Hank Williams' guitar. I try to do the right thing [by it] … I lent it to Bob Dylan for a while. He didn't have a tour bus so I lent him mine and I left the guitar on the bed with a note saying Hank's guitar is back there. He used it for a couple of months.

If true, the when and where would be interesting to know. Anyone??