Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Carry That Head, In That Burlap Sack



Clay Allison - First Time Live (Unknown Venue, Possibly 1983)


I first heard Opal (having only read a review of the first Clay Allison vinyl but never finding a copy) driving home from work through a blizzard. "Rocket Machine" came blasting out of the shit speakers of my shit Subaru and I fell in love and I turned the Shitaru around and risked my life driving back into town to get to the nearest record store as fast as possible. They were just closing up due to the storm, but let me in so I could grab their only copy of Happy Nightmare Baby. I don't remember driving home, but I spent the rest of the night listening to this incredible, precious, beautiful THING over and over and over again. The Shitaru is long gone but I still got Opal.

HISTORY: This came to me on tape years back, labelled as Clay Allison's live debut, no date, no venue. We'll take it as given until proven otherwise. More electric than I would've expected it to be if it truly is their first gig but it really doesn't sound like live Opal, either. I'll give you some live Opal soon so you can compare.

There's nothing in print to buy from Clay Allison, Opal, or Kendra Smith. This is very, very, very sad. All you can do now is tipple your absinthe and cry, boys, cry.

* According to one commentor, if this really is the first Clay Allison gig, then it was at Cathay de Grande in Hollywood, CA.

8 comments:

Harold said...

wow, thanks for this. if this is from their first gig, their first public gig anyway, it was at the cathay de grande in hollwood, ca. i was there, so thanks again!

gomonkeygo said...

Cool! I'll post your comment as an addendum to the original post - maybe we can positively ID this sucker yet. Any idea of a date?

Harold said...

no, i'm bad w/ dates, but its being the first clay allison gig and the its being at the cathay are right. my friend also reminds me that echo and the bunnymen were playing next door at the hollywood palladium that night, if that helps.

Rainy Day Sponge said...

You couldn't stay away, could you?
Welcome back!
I see you've posted some great stuff already.

gomonkeygo said...

Nope, couldn't stay away, but had to do something different. Glad you like it! Thanks for the drop by and I like your little picture, too.

Nina said...

Holy Crap!

I never thought I'd find any live recordings from them. Thank you so much for sharing this!

Best,
xNx

gomonkeygo said...

Glad you enjoyed it, Nina. If I have time, I intend to start posting tunes again. Thanks for the encouragement.

Anonymous said...

March 16, 1984, My wife and I went to both shows (Echo and Clay Allison). Bruce