Edgar Broughton Band: Live in Hamburg – The Fabrik Concert 1973

Hailing from Britain, The Edgar Broughton Band released a string albums between 1969 and 1975. They never really cracked the North American market but had a pretty strong following in Europe, especially as a live act. This concert, unearthed for us to enjoy, was recorded in Hamburg, Germany at the popular Fabrik club.

For me, listening to this album is like looking at an old photograph. Although I did not listen to the band when they were in their prime, one cannot help but be taken in by an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. The music is raw and as unpretentious as it gets. Heavy blues inflected rock with a small dosage of psychedlia that creeps into these tunes every now and again. The recording quality is quite harsh and maybe that's to be expected given the time and circumstance (the band did not even know the concert was being recorded at the time). Sometimes the vocals are much too high in the mix as in the album's first track, the medley "Get Out Of Bed/There's Nobody There/Side By Side/Sister Angela", but it's still a pretty good listen and reminded me of a much rawer version of Uriah Heep. In the second song "I Got Mad/Momma's Reward", a heavy boogie blues rave up, the guitar is good but it's way too low in the mix. In the charming acoustically driven "Poppy", the hippy culture comes through loud and clear as it does in "Freedom", an eighteen minute bluesy slice of British psychedelic rock showcasing the art of jamming. The mix is muddy but this is a song totally of its time.

Although the recording quality is suspect and the vocals are pretty rough around the edges, I think Live in Hamburg is an important statement for the band and one that captures their abundant energy in a live setting. Yes it's far from perfect, but in this day and age of lip synching and computer generated music it's sometimes refreshing to hear the real deal and the Edgar Broughton Band were as real as it got.

Track Listing:
1. Get Out Of Bed/There's Nobody There/Side By Side/Sister Angela (7:16)
2. I Got Mad/Momma's Reward (7:36)
3. Poppy (7:23)
4. Love In The Rain (7:06)
5. Look At The Mayor (8:40)
6. Gone Blue (4:25)
7. Spoken Intro To Freedom (1:22)
8. Freedom (18:25)
9. Out Demons Out (13:34)

Added: June 10th 2013
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Label Official Site
Hits: 1790
Language: english

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