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Shawn Phillips — Outrageous
(Think Like a Key TLAK1175, 1976/2024, 2CD / LP / DL)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2025-02-03

Outrageous Cover art

The Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, TX was one of the most iconic and famed venues in the world from when it opened its doors in 1970 until it closed a decade later. A wide range of musicians and bands graced the stage, from Willie Nelson to Frank Zappa, from Nektar to Renaissance, from Count Basie to Ted Nugent, and from Gentle Giant to Shawn Phillips. Native Texan Phillips had played the Armadillo a couple of times in the early 70s, and then on January 26 and 27, 1976 he and his keyboardist J. Peter Robinson played a two-night stand. While researching material for a documentary about Shawn Phillips, filmmaker Alex Wroten’s dad Steve Wixon discovered a poster from the Armadillo World Headquarters for the two nights in 1976, which proudly declared “Live Recording!” That sent Steve on a fact-finding mission through contracts, etc. for over six years to obtain the original multi-track tapes in late 2022. Fortunately the sound quality is excellent and deserves the reputation it has earned over the years. The set list was slightly different each night, in addition to the musicians’ improvisations. The music presented on this double CD Outrageous, the title Shawn originally wanted for his seventh studio album in 1975 (which was released as Do You Wonder), is a mixture of bits from both nights along with minor edits to enhance the flow from song to song, as well as to correct issues caused by switching tapes mid-song! Most of the music is from the January 27 show, with only four songs from January 26. We are so blessed that these excellent recordings still exist and the music is now available to fans worldwide. In full force those two evenings nearly 50 years ago are Shawn’s four octave vocals, his beautiful twelve string guitar, his unusual lyrics and haunting melodies, and Peter’s excellent keyboards. The audience is particularly appreciative and reverent even during Shawn’s subdued passages such as “L’Ballade.” He performed his best-known songs those nights — “We,” “Manhole Covered Wagon,” “L’Ballade,” “Ballad of Casey Deiss,” and the contender for the world’s longest song title “She Was Waitin' for Her Mother at the Station in Torino and You Know I Love You Baby But It's Getting Too Heavy to Laugh” AKA “Woman” — along with a number of other songs from his then-new album Rumplestiltskin’s Resolve. Outrageous stands up there along with Shawn’s studio albums and other live releases. This is definitely one of the best new releases on Think Like a Key.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases, 1976 recordings

Related artist(s): Shawn Phillips

More info
http://www.thinklikeakey.com/release/466371-shawn-phillips-outrageous

 

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