Wolfgang’s Vault, which has amassed a huge collection of vintage live shows in its Concert Vault section by a wide assortment of artists, will start digging into its archives and post more concerts by the solo Beatles, the Vault’s CEO Bill Sagan told us in a face-to-face interview. A spokesman said Friday a 1974 George Harrison concert would be the first new solo Beatles show featured and would be posted in a few weeks.
The spokesman said the Concert Vault now has in its archives two shows by John Lennon, four by Paul McCartney and/or McCartney and Wings, six by Ringo Starr and two by George Harrison (all from his 1974 tour).
Sagan said the Vault owns over 10,000 concerts, many with unreleased music, by such artists as the Grateful Dead, Aretha Franklin, the Who, Muddy Waters, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Buddy Rich, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Beach Boys, the Bee Gees, Bruce Springsteen, Randy Newman, Rodney Dangerfield, Tiny Tim, the Rolling Stones, Prince, Chicago, Hot Tuna and the Jefferson Airplane, plus a huge collection of live videos.
On the site now are John Lennon’s Aug. 30, 1972 concert at Madison Square Garden and interviews with Lennon from Sept. 24, 1980 and John and Yoko on May 26, 1969; Paul McCartney’s July 4, 1990 show at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. and an Aug. 24, 1989 New York press conference; Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band at Rosemont Theatre on Aug. 22, 2001, plus a guest spot by Ringo on drums with Bill Wyman’s Willie and the Poor Boys in 1982 in London, the 1976 “Last Waltz” show by the Band where Ringo guested on “I Shall Be Released” and a Ringo interview from 1977; and an interview with George Harrison from Aug. 24, 1975. The site has no Beatles concerts. It also has a 1986 solo show by Yoko Ono, and numerous member playlists with many live covers of Beatles songs.
The sources of the concerts, Sagan said, include the archives of concerts promoted by Bill Graham, the vintage weekly “King Biscuit Flower Hour” and “Silver Eagle” radio shows of both rock and country concerts and shows taped at the Record Plant. Sagan said all concerts were taped with the knowledge of the artists.
Concert Vault members can stream all concerts for free. Many of them can also be downloaded for $5. The Vault also recently upgraded its weekly free selected downloads that members receive from one to two a week. Recent free downloads have included live shows by Randy Newman, Joan Baez, Lou Reed, Mountain, Herbie Hancock, J. Geils Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cheap Trick, Neil Young and the Bluenotes, John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Buddy Guy.
There are many treats to be found looking through the Vault downloads. Among them are the three nights of full sets in 1971 by Aretha Franklin that were released in edited form as “Aretha Live at Fillmore West,” the full Hot Tuna set from the group’s performance during the closing of the Fillmore and numerous Grateful Dead shows dating from 1966 to 1991.
The Vault’s store also sells memorabilia, including tickets, posters and prints of the artists in its archive.
A separate collection of shows of more modern music is found at Daytrotter.com.
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