Joe Jackson "Big World" - direct to two tracks

well we people felt we had to be there....just for the thrill of the moment...Joe didnt really seem to want us there at all....

 

Heh.

The liner notes -- or at least something I read somewhere -- say that having the live audience present translated into a more inspired performance.

I really think it's an interesting experiment -- especially since the result is so mixed. (No pun intended.) On one hand, I think probably there was some improvement and urgency to the performance in having the audience there listening, and also in having the performance recorded without any planned post-production (so to speak). OTOH, it sounds like Joe, et al., were frustrated with the process. Still, you have to admire Joe for trying the experiment. I think he probably thought, "Let's try this and see if it pays off." And I guess he probably decided it wasn't worth the trouble!

It would be interesting to hear what he thinks about it today, thinking back on it.

In retrospect, it also seems like it would have been better to record straight to analog two-track, and maybe made a big effort to get as much processing out of the path in between music and tape. I think that would have been better sonically-speaking.

 

Here's the Wikipedia entry.

Big World is a 1986 album by Joe Jackson. The album was recorded live in at the Roundabout Theatre in New York City on January 22-25, 1986. Jackson's intent was to capture the excitement and spontaneity of a live performance, but without any interference from the crowd. The audience remains silent during the recording per Jackson's request, so no applause is heard in the recording. The music was mixed live from microphones on each instrument and then recorded directly into a stereo digital tape recorder. Unlike most live recordings, no post-recording mixing or overdubbing was performed. Therefore the music heard on the album is exactly as it was played live during the concert performances. A Top 40 album, Big World is currently out of print. Among many critics, however, it is highly regarded.

The LP release of this title is a double album, but only has music on three sides. The fourth side label proclaims "there is no music on this side", and the record has a groove that quickly leads to the inner bump track. Also, the song "Wild West" contains a musical reference to the theme from "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly".

Glad I kept my original CD now that the album has been OOP for years.

 

Excellent album! I saw the 1986 tour supporting this album and it was the best Joe-show I've seen. Love all the tunes on this gem and remember that it was one of the very last "new LP's" I bought as I got a CD player the following year. At the time I got it, I thought it was one of the best sounding albums I'd heard and a real "rockin'" Joe album as he hadn't done one close to it musically since about 1980 or so!

Big World is the great "forgotten" Joe Jackson album (he still does Home Town every time I see him live!)

 

By most accounts, Joe Jackson is a pretty prickly guy.

It's a bizarre thing to record an album live and ask for complete silence while doing so. And then to act resentful when there are problems containing enthusiasm. I guess that's why the experiment hasn't ever been repeated. (At least that I know of.)

But maybe I'm just carrying a grudge that Joe refused to shake my hand at The White Horse Tavern back in 1989.

 

Wouldn't it be great to have a "best of" box set featuring multiple takes of each track? It would be nice to hear some of the inspired takes that were "ruined" by audience applause. It'll never happen though.

I had seen Joe at MSG for the Body & Soul tour when I was visiting my sister in NYC. I was there during the summer of the Big World sessions too. My sister and I were in a Mexican restuarant in the village and ran into some friends of hers... they were on their way to see Joe "record his new album." It was news to me, but it was also the last day of my visit and it just wasn't in the budget. Wish I could have been there...

 

Although not a pop recording, and available on vinyl only, http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jxfyxqugldfe was recorded live to two track digital in the studio. I'm not sure how many, but the Charles Mingus Barnaby/Candid recordings are also live to two track.

As for post production, it's possible to edit and add signal processing in the mastering, so I can't speak for what might have happened to 'Big World'.

 

I would guess he wanted the audience there to put more pressure on to deliver a great performance. Playing to an empty theatre or live in the studio you might be more conscious that you could stop and start or do it over and over again.

 

All of Frank Black's albums with the Catholics were recorded live to two track in the studio. They may have edited takes together but there were no overdubs -- if they needed a third guitar, they added a third guitarist.

 

Let's not forget Todd Rundgren's 2nd Wind, which was also recorded live in front of a silent audience.

 

I had a drink with Joe at the Sutton Place Hotel here in the fall of 1997 (he was here on a 2 night stand touring "Heaven & Hell")
He was really nice to us (and was impressed at how much I knew about his stuff)
We knew when enough was enough, however and left him to enjoy his drink and the company of his friend who he was with.
He was really sweet to us that night; a real thrill as Joe is one of my musical heroes!

 

I record live to 2 track and the main advantages are:

1. Purer signal chain. Fewer mics = more clear sound.

2. Capture musician spontaneity. 1+1 sometimes does equal 3.

 

Totally agree. I saw this tour in Berkeley and bought the album when it was released. I've always admired Joe's piano playing and Shanghai Sky is a beautiful example of that imo. Side one of that album is particularly strong. I love the opening of Wild West. I believe he opened his show with that number and listening to him sing that in California was particularly poignant.
Right or Wrong is right for these times. Some things never go out of style.
My relationship was crumbling around that time so We Can't Live Together had a special place in my heart. (She wanted to leave before the encore but I refused).

 

I never liked the last side of the album much back in the day, but I listened to it again recently for the first time in years and enjoyed it, so I don't know what I was thinking.

 

There was no music on the last side!

Side 3's great!

 

Ha. Not that last side.

 

Fans of Big World may want to track down a long out of print VHS Tape that A & M put out years ago called Live In Tokyo. It's the Big World concert as it took place there.
Very cool.

 

Weird as it seemed then, the three-sided album kinda worked. Lots of rock double albums could have used a blank side (or more seriously, would have been better at 60 minutes than 80). Obviously, it was really about the CD making longer albums possible -- but then they allowed albums to be too long as well. Maybe the CD should have been restricted to one hour.

 

It was specially priced too (and the cover was cool)
I (at the time) thought it just may have been Jackson's best album. I don't feel that way now but I still love it and think there's not a weak moment on it.

 

There's also a Big World vhs tape with six songs recorded during those live sessions. All of the songs are alternate takes except for Right and Wrong and Jet Set.

 

I think we might have seen the same Berkeley show -- at the Greek Theater? It was the only time I've seen him. It was one of the best live shows I've seen, and I'm always telling people about how there was no opening act, and he just came out and started the show exactly on time. It made a big quality difference for some reason. (And the rest of the show was excellent, of course.)

 

If you wanna get all academic about it, three sides has a certain dramatic quality -- like the classic three acts of stage and screen. Obviously there is something about that which humans react to on a visceral level. And clearly the song sequence was constructed in these three parts.

 

Exactly. All kinds of 50-60 minute albums would follow once CDs were dominant, but this album actually has a structure that makes the extra length work.

 

That VHS Tape is quite rare now.

 

The cassette version puts most of the good tracks on side one and most of the duds on side two.