The Lone Rhinoceros (live 1983)

the lone rhinoceros (live 1983)
volume 2 number 7
here is where things get a little harried.
1980, 81, 82, were such bumper crop years for me.
I made a nice long run of records.*
in 1980 following lodger with david bowie
I joined brian eno and the talking heads to make
remain in light. in 1981 I joined king crimson.
I made my first solo record lone rhino in 1981
at the same time releasing my first king crimson
record discipline, having just finished touring
the world with the talking heads and recording the tom tom club album
(featuring the hit song genius of love) in the bahamas.
no wonder I couldn't fit in a solo tour for the lone rhino album!

in 1982 king crimson released the second of our trilogy beat,
in 1983 I released my second solo record twang bar king.
it was at this point I was able to do my first proper solo tour.
the twang bar band consisted of christy and bill
with rich denhart now moving to front of house engineer.
powerhouse nashville session drummer Larrie Londin**
joined in on the skins with Michael Scharfe as the bassist.
it was a precision 5-piece band with multiple singers and two hot soloists.
our stage setting was made of large scrims with twang bar artwork from mike getz.

on october 6, 1983 we played at bogart's (where else) in cincinnati.
outside in the full sail mobile recording truck was gary platt,
engineer extraordinaire for the first two solo records.

listening to this now, what strikes me is how powerful the band sounds
and how loud! the audience response is at the end.
I remember the place was oversold and overrun with people.
I couldn't draw a crowd like that now if I advertised FREE MONEY on the marquee.

*other records: david byrne, jerry harrison, joe cocker, garland jeffries, herbie hancock, robert palmer, and ryuichi sakamoto.

**larrie was already legendary having played with elvis, having made some of the great motown hits, and having been the numero uno studio drummer for all nashville sessions for many years. he had played with all the important country stars but wanted to stretch out. everyone loved larrie, he was a beautiful person. a few years later while trying to shed some of his 300 pounds, he somehow took conflicting medication, went into a coma, and died.

piano and back-up vocals: christy bley
back-up vocals: bill janssen
bass guitar and back-up vocals: mike sharfe
drums: larrie londin
guitar and vocal: adrian
recorded live at bogart's in cincinnati, ohio using the full sail mobile truck
live mix: rich denhart
recording engineer: gary platt
length: 5:09