Thought you’d enjoy this latest YouTube find, from a Grin reunion show ca. 2004 in Rockville, MD.
Always my fave Nils Lofgren song and solo, live he takes it to another level, and makes it look like a casual stroll in the park!
Another D.C. Area “Master of the Stratocaster (and/or Telecaster)”, for certain! [cf. Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton, and Tom Principato]
And the sublime 1971 original, from Grin’s great 1 + 1 album:
Too bad Bruce doesn’t let him cut loose like this in E Street, but then The Boss can’t be blamed for Nils never breaking through on his own, and I’m sure it’s been an excellent ride/paycheck!
Enjoy,
– Tom Kipp
P.S. Here are my Nils entries from “1000 Songs”:
Grin: “Moon Tears” [Spindizzy 1971] Urgency and dazzling dynamics send a fascinatingly oblique lyric re: confused sexual identity right through the roof. As rousing in its way as “You’re Gonna Miss Me“, and more moving by half.
Nils Lofgren: “No Mercy” [A&M 1979] Mesmerizingly over-earnest Boxing Epic, with copious sound effects, including one of Nils’ most dazzling guitar solos. But it’s no “Boom Boom Mancini“, Senator!
[Ed. Note – Behold the album version of “No Mercy”. Below that is a (probably much later) acoustic version and also a live version from Germany in 1991.]
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