The Modern Lovers - "Live at Stonehenge Club", Ipswich, MA, 1970/1971
Specially dedicated to Joselito & Steve...
SET 1:
1. Introduction (0:00)
2. Modern World (0:23)
3. Ride On Down The Highway (8:40)
4. Girlfriend (12:06)
5. She Cracked (16:42)
6. Womanhood (23:34)
7. Old World (27:02)
SET 2:
1. Fly Into The Mystery (37:36)
2. Dignified and Old (43:26)
3. Pablo Picasso (48:36)
4. Cambridge Clown (56:20)
5. Astral Plane (61:29)
6. Song of Remembrance For Old Girlfriends (66:09)
7. Such Loneliness (74:25)
8. I Grew Up In The Suburbs (76:40)
9. A Plea For Tenderness (79:36)
10. Roadrunner (81:00)
This recording surfaced just a few years back, and documents Jonathan Richman (19 years old!), Jerry Harrison, David Robinson and Ernie Brooks playing two full sets at the Stonehenge Club in Ipswich, MA, sometime in 1970 or '71, providing an essential glimpse into the early days of this classic band. Early it may be, but the Lovers sound more or less fully formed - the main difference between the arrangements here and the ones that would be recorded is the sometimes extended (and extremely awesome) guitar/organ duels that Harrison and Richman engage in on a few tunes. They sound like their ears may still have been ringing from seeing the Velvets blast the house down at the Boston Tea Party. Also of interest are the otherwise unknown songs (at least to me), "Cambridge Clown" and "I Grew Up In The Suburbs." Both are pretty classic early Richman numbers, and it's fab to hear them here. This is an an 40-year-old audience recording, so the sound ain't perfect, but it is for the most part pretty excellent.
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As someone previously commented... This is so good it makes me want to go enroll at B.U. just so I can drop out.
I understand The Modern Lovers, That's something I understand.
You fucking rock for posting this almost as much as they did for playing the show. This is like finding a lost Van Gogh. In a nutshell, thank you.
@Slig1977
8 жыл бұрын
lost Pablo Picasso
@Slig1977
8 жыл бұрын
but hold on I just now discovered that Jonathan also wrote a song about Vincent Van...
@williammitchell1952
Жыл бұрын
I agree.
I saw them in Scituate in 1970 -71. I was so confused... I had never heard anything like them/it. Blew my mind and changed so much. Jonathan Richman was a fucking genius. Later got to hang out w Jerry Harrison and the TH when they were playing the Orpheum in 82 maybe. I was working at the Parker House where they were staying, and served them at the cafe. They were sweet and gave me tickets and bs passes for their shows. This is a fabulous video... wow. Thank you.
I'm not usually a fan of live recorded shows, but I would totally buy this as an album. What a great show. Thanks for posting. The Pixies even make more sense now.
Boston radio in the 70s and 80s was great! The Boston sound, and WBCN will live forever in the ether...
I used to go to Stonehenge when I was a kid. I saw J. Geils Band, Boz Skaggs, John Hammond and others. Great times!
It blows my mind to think about the fact that not only does this band have a genius like Jonathan Richman in it, but it also contains future members of the Talking heads and the Cars. So much talent in a small package. I'm not sure if Ernie Brooks went on to do anything as big as the others, but he was a kick-ass bass player no matter what.
@JimmyBarnesTPA
4 жыл бұрын
Band was started by John Felice who left to form The Real Kids...still playing.
@matthewjoseph7679
4 жыл бұрын
He served as the historian of modern lovers.
@kelechi_77
Жыл бұрын
and Ernie Brooks later worked with Arthur Russell
Wikipedia may have it wrong. I first heard Roadrunner on the radio in winter 1968. It was either WBCN or the Dick Summer subway show Sunday nights on WBZ AM. I can date it with certainty because I was lying in a hospital bed in Winchester, MA recovering from a broken leg that had become infected, which required injections of antibiotics every four hours for two days so it wouldn't have to be amputated. I ended up laying there for 3 weeks. After they wouldn't give me demerol anymore the radio was my only succor. I heard the song only once but was so original, so captivating it transported me to a place of peace imagining riding on route 128 at night with my spirit soaring free, only a mile or two from where I lay. It wasn't until ten years later when I lived in Berkeley I learned The Modern Lovers had made a record and it was available from Bezerkley records. I ran into a lot of the famous rockers here at one time or another but if I met Jonathan I didn't know it because I never saw him live. But I can tell you with absolute certainty that song was on the radio in Massachusetts in 1968 from either Jonathan Richman or Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers.
@garymollica6334
5 жыл бұрын
Hey Nick - just ran into this - I worshiped at the shrine of Dick Summer's Subway'67-'68 - I was 11-13 & remember getting a lifelong love of this strange music he played, which was evidently programmed by a local record store employee. I had one of the earliest Punk Rock radio shows in '77 & made sure I had the Subway time slot - Sundays 7-10pm
@TheVanmanderpootz
4 жыл бұрын
He hadn't written the song by 1968 - he hadn't even made any recordings at that stage and the Modern Lovers weren't even formed until 1970 when Roadrunner was written.The band had their first recording sessions in 1972 - and these tracks weren't released until 1975/76.There was no Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers music in 1968 - let alone being played on the radio.He wasn't making records when he was 16/17.
@kelechi_77
Жыл бұрын
@@TheVanmanderpootz Exactly, the first demo he recorded was from 1970, in 1968 he was going to VU shows and seeing them live, I think the only songs he had written was early versions of Hospital and Girlfriend.
holy shit, so ahead of their time.
Great comments all you true rock fans...its fun being from Massachusetts and digging this...Jon is the best poet of the Bay State since Kerouac... pop poet mod lovers garage rock proto punk gem of history...first alternative rock band....
@raphaelnoz8321
3 ай бұрын
I totally hear Kerouac in Roadrunner- the accent and everything- the tender breakdown even.
@MartinJoyceUFOConspiracy
3 ай бұрын
@@raphaelnoz8321 good comment, thanks...early Jon Rochman is so great, and the band, too, that became part of the Cars and Talking Heads...
Is there anything more classic than The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers? I ask you, but we know the answer. 💙
Long time concert taper here. I think this sounds damn good all things considered. What a great band!
@douglasrice9636
6 ай бұрын
hey long time taoper here too- do you have any other modern lovers?
Early days of the Modern Lovers, Richman says, "Before we all meet up tomorrow for the photoshoot, let's all get our hair cut short, all agreed?" The rest of the band look at each other, then answer, "Yeah surrrrre!"
please never take this down. ever.
For years I'd heard of a song called I Grew Up In The Suburbs, and now I can finally listen to it. My life is now complete. Thank you, yes thank you oh so very much for posting this.
a truly remarkable artifact /relic. It would be inconceivable for this to ever happen in Ipswich these days. A different time
5. Astral Plane (1:01:29) 6. Song of Remembrance For Old Girlfriends (1:06:09) 7. Such Loneliness (1:14:25) 8. I Grew Up In The Suburbs (1:16:40) 9. A Plea For Tenderness (1:19:36) 10. Roadrunner (1:21:00) Jerry was a neighbor in Cambridge, just before those kids from RISD called...
@ameerordimly1449
4 жыл бұрын
Why didnt u do time stamps for the first ten tracks?
@loiszaremba9582
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for set list
@kelechi_77
Жыл бұрын
@@ameerordimly1449 because those are already in the description
@Freakaboogie
7 ай бұрын
thanks!
Thanks for sharing this gem. One the greatest bands ever, riffing on these songs before they came out on what was about to be one of the greatest albums ever So, so ahead of their time and utterly original. Love hearing all this live!
Van Gogh was the singular evolution of a failed Impressionist, as Jonathan Richman and the original Modern Lovers were the unique scion of Velvet Underground.
I remember when FM was really underground, leaving Massachusetts driving across the country in a fifty dollar 65 Chevy Belair with Jonathan and Band blasting the song, "New England", on WBCN. A different world
Many Thanks for putting this up , more Rock n 'Roll in the first few bars of Modern World than the entire recorded output of U2
This is pure gold! More than decent sound. Thanks for posting this and leaving it up for so long.
wow... super thanks for sharing... this is a true document of rock n roll
Sounding ahead of the time.
Wow this is like The Velvet Underground at Max's.
This is just unreal, Thank you so much and thanks to YT for making this stuff possible
There's so many versions of Roadrunner and they are all awesome
This is brilliant....love The Modern Lovers. Both incarnations (music style wise) but the first, this, is my favourite. Superb!
Check out the Real Kids good Boston pre punk type stuff if ya like this...great show thnx for posting it,great quality for era..
I was in 9th grade in 1970. I would have LOVED this!
ok saw them at a videotaped performance at CBS studio ($2 tickets) to celebrate their new recording contract that never happened? they did two songs I still remember... "Here we are in dreamland, look there's your girlfriend" and "cape cod--its cool at night so bring a sweater." richman had a goatee and did this shivering routine where his shirt fell loose and he displayed his tank top--trey risque. these songs never appeared but were hilarious. anyone else remember?
sighs and milkshakes and rock and roll
Epic Modern World performance and the guitar work reminded me a little of early Zappa & Mothers with speakers torn, and I mean that in a good way.
"But I... can see... through the blinding miserable sadness." These guys invented irony in rock and roll. And, as John Cale put it, 'anaemic rock'. Hard to imagine any wimpy, tongue in cheek bands (like the Smiths) without the Modern Lovers
@jessiecruz9290
Жыл бұрын
Trust me the smiths were not influenced by the modern lovers they were employe by the velvet underground
Sound quality isn't the best but I'm gonna love the uploader forever anyway.
thank you so much!!! What a wonderful proof for a true genius!
Rock n roll sympatico!
FANTASTIC! does anyone have any other fan recordings audio film or video? i can transfer them
Rock and fucking roll....
Thanks for making this available!
Brilliant! Thanks a lot
I love this!... but I'm sad that "Plea for Tenderness" is cut off almost completely. :-/
Thankyou so much!
Ride On Down The Highway 8:40 is like a lost Springsteen classic
@ameerordimly1449
4 жыл бұрын
@mark rylander except the first and second album... Greetings and Wild,Innocent..
@johnsilva9139
8 ай бұрын
I've always thought of Jonathan as the real Springsteen. That guy from Jersey is the imposter.
The Modern Lovers were an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s. The original band existed from 1970 to 1974 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks with drummer David Robinson (later of The Cars) and keyboardist Jerry Harrison (later of Talking Heads). The sound of the band owed a great deal to the influence of the Velvet Underground, and is now sometimes classified as "proto-punk".
@pillockmkay6168
2 жыл бұрын
all right mini Wiki, let's just enjoy the music and the genius of the players
Awesome stuff! Thank you ;-)
Interesting that at about the 24:00 mark, Jonathan Richman talks about dancing and about how anyone who has listened to them over the last 4 years could be intimidated... So if the MLs formed in 1970, wouldn't that mean the recording was from 1974?
@milkitalready
3 жыл бұрын
From what I’ve understood in their chronology is that after their trip to Bermuda in ‘73 these early rockers weren’t played again. The band split and Jonathan signed with Berserkly in late ‘74. He could’ve been messing with the crowd too! He would’ve been 15 in 1966!
@BrianDropdead
3 жыл бұрын
@80sadventure even later reply to this but the Stonehenge closed in early 1972, so sayeth the google.
Fabulous...thanks for sharing
Genius performers
got to hang out with j.r. several times in nevada city ca good soul weirdo . doing an interview on my radio show [kvmr-fm] with lou whitney from the skeletons---jr walks into studio grabs a mic and begins chatting to his friend --skeletons [great band] they backed him for a while--i finally had to ask him to leave--my show was over--good times----ric o'shea
Holy shit, this is at my hometown!!
They’re putting the pedal to the metal on “Roadrunner.”
Captured the arrogance of Cambridge/Boston so well. Hilarious swaggering parody.
There is a great rb band in there some where.
@paulsouth1338
8 жыл бұрын
+Ethan Hill Straight up! Jerry Harrison sure could play a rhythm
Exquisite.
That's cool. I didn't realize the band dated back that early.
Wow, I wonder how this recording was found!
What incredible musicians. I absolutely adore Jerry and Jonathan.
Genius.
a sweet middle class kid from Natick, MA.
cute giggle a 7:50 mark
Is John Felice in this? He was in the band, off-and-on, in the early days.
anyone seen a live version of "dance with me"? favourite song atm.
@Rock-iw7ov
4 жыл бұрын
theres a version from "Precise Modern Lovers Oder"
reminds me of earley grace slick
DELICIOUS
Abominable Snowman in the Market deserved to be a big hit .
Really hear the Velvets' drum slap but make it all their own.
One word... Roadrunner
Give it up to Production. The LP is much stronger.
Wow, does this take me back to King Rook days.
Weed cough at the start :D
Library songs.....i knew a girl Pam who used to bark like a dog when we were in the library...i'd tell her to shut up and we'd laugh: 1972 is so long ago...
very good concert by one of the great bands, but definitely not from '70.
@pillockmkay6168
2 жыл бұрын
Why did you think this opinion is worth sharing? Wwat incontrovertible proof of your thesis are you offering?
what would compel someone to record this band ?
@jamesrockford2626
10 жыл бұрын
frick poo lol LIVE IN IPSWITCH!!!! I mean in 1970 what were there 20 people that lived in ipswitch? It sounds like there are that many people at this show but they drunks from Glosta
@thebrazilianatlantis165
9 жыл бұрын
Taste.
@ThawedTroglodyteJury
9 жыл бұрын
Real prophetic brilliance or utter randomness, I'll take it.
@jamesrockford2626
9 жыл бұрын
***** the only reason I ask is because I drive through Ipswich to go to work sometimes and it's this sort of the boondocks, There are farms there still. I just think it's weird there was a club there that notable bands would play. Especially in the 70s where it was a very rural town back then. It was all forest and ocean.
@thebrazilianatlantis165
9 жыл бұрын
James Rockford Bands sometimes have recordings of their own gigs made so they can listen back to them.
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