Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Your Tuesday Moment of Words Fail Me: Special Can Blue Men Sing the Whites? Edition

From approximately 2011, and the praise Jeebus just renewed for another season cable music show Live at Daryl's House, please enjoy Daryl Hall and the incomparable Smokey Robinson and a mind-blowing live version of Smokey's classic "Tears of a Clown."




You know, I've made a lot of Hall and Oates jokes over the years, but the fact is I love most of their hits, and one of the greatest videos ever -- now sadly out of print, last time I looked -- was of the live show they did at the Apollo with Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin. In any case, the performances on Hall's tv show have been almost without exception spectacularly wonderful, and the one above is particularly goose-bump inducing. Seeing Smokey in a relaxed, intimate setting like that is my idea of heaven; I can only imagine what it must have felt like for Hall and the guys in the band.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great song. Check out this version. Kinda cool. Love the drummer.

https://youtu.be/3_2fCekF0-4

steve simels said...

Jeebus == that's terrific. No wonder the Who had them as an opening act.

Is there a studio version?

Anonymous said...

I haven't been able to find one. And believe me, I've looked. Of course, with the video ya get to see him do the drumstick thing. By the way, I go to your blog daily. Good stuff.

steve simels said...

I thank you!
:-)

Anonymous said...

More of the Adventures of Smokey Robinson and Daryl Hall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRxCy44zg5M

And something else from a small but mighty girl who I once saw break an acoustic guitar over her guitarist's head before firing him live on stage. Now that's rock 'n' roll!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDzCP-5Prbs

VR - I've called her El Kabong ever since.

P.S. Was at that Who /Inward Eye show at Nokia. Smokin' opening set. That drummer does it all on a relatively small kit. Really good. Half-The-Who wasn't bad either.

Anonymous said...

I bought the Inward Eye studio album and wasn't that impressed. But man, that live version of Tears just rocks. Can't watch that drummer without thinking of Keith Moon.

Anonymous said...

It fucking rocks Simels!!!!

Capt. Al

porcupine said...

that's such a great song it's hard to screw up. To date it, looks like Tom T-Bone Wolk who passed away in early 2010.

Veering into Vicky territory: a local guitar maker made Hall a guitar and when he delivered it Daryl was completely naked and stayed that way the entire time the guy presented/demonstrated the axe.

cthulhu said...

Love Live From Daryl's House; good live music is a gift from the gods.

I saw Hall & Oates many years ago (lessee...1981, so that makes it 34 years ago). They opened for ELO (a curious pairing; don't know how that came together). I didn't really care for the H&O set though. ELO was very good (did a nice cover of "Across the Universe" with Jeff Lynne on piano), and Bev Bevan turned in his usual powerhouse performance. But they were not as good as they had been three years earlier, in retrospect their peak (touring in support of the Out of the Blue double LP).

Speaking of ELO, I caught "Jeff Lynne's ELO" on cable the other night, a live recording from this summer I guess. Color me unimpressed. Impeccable musicianship, but zero passion - what's the point?

Anonymous said...

Daryl's got nothing to be ashamed of. At least that's what a girlfriend of mine from Napa Valley sez. She used to be his regular stop when he was in the Bay Area during the 1990's. She gave him great reviews. Her husband let her have some fun and do a rock star on occasion. Hall satisfied his wife more than he ever could. Obviously, she wasn't the only girl Daryl was tapping on the road. Who cared. Practice makes perfect, so why be silly.

VR - See you on Pleasure Beach

danny1959 said...

Hall and Oates are brilliant musicians, however you might feel about their records. "Romeo Is Bleeding" is a fantastic later record by them. See them live if you get the chance.

Anonymous said...

cthulhu: Just saw Jeff Lynne's ELO in late November. They were absolutely fantastic at the Fonda. It was fucking electric. Jeff Lynne may be real low key and aloof. But the live versions of the songs were great. I had no problem with that show and I'm not that big of a fan. Sandy and I had a ball goofing and dancing and flirting with the sound guy. We were there for the soundcheck too. The hits just kept on coming and Steppin' Out was stellar. We were told that they were gonna do Handle With Care, but it didn't happen, despite Petty being in attendance.

Dunno about the video you saw, but Jeff Lynne & ELO brought their A-Game to Hollywood. It was a joyous event. Believe me. Ringo, Tom Petty, Joe Walsh, Jackson Browne and others in the crowd were just a bonus.

There is not a proper quality video of that show circulating on youtube yet, just amateur phone shit. After New Years we'll post something far better and professional.

VR