DESCRIPTION:
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.