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Bob Weir & Rob Wasserman
Live
First Appeared in The Music Box April 1998, Volume 5, #4
Written by John Metzger

I've been waiting a long time for Bob Weir and
Rob Wasserman to release an album. Tours were
infrequent and more often than not seemed to skip wherever I happened to be living. Tapes are still
difficult to come by, and many are horrendous audience recordings that can really test your patience
in trying to hear the music behind the hiss and crowd noise. Therefore, I was particularly excited
about Live, which more than lived up to my expectations.
Live is as extensive as it can possibly be, filled with 77 minutes of incredible music, most of
which was pulled from performances in the Fall of 1988. It's hard to believe that
this was the first time
that these two talented musicians played together, given how well their sound meshed right from the
start. Weir is a tremendously underrated guitar player whose unique lead
rhythm style comes to life on these duet performances. Wasserman also has a
method of playing that is uniquely his. Together they create
an incredibly rich, dynamic sound.
The Winners, a Rudyard Kipling poem that Weir set to music, rides Wasserman's bass line,
which at times sounds like more than one person is performing. Weir gives Looks Like Rain a
passionate vocal treatment, and his guitar locks with Wasserman's bass to create a subtle
undercurrent to the song. It drifts almost effortlessly into a superb rendition of Little Feat's
Easy to Slip, which contains an extended beautiful jam, fitting of this
classic tune.
Eternity, a song Weir and Wasserman wrote with Willie Dixon, is pulled from a 1992
performance, but fits nicely into Live's composition. Wasserman's bass drives the jazzy central jam, and
Weir's acoustic guitar playing adds a gentle counterpoint during the verses.
There are many other outstanding performances here as well, including tender renditions of
This Time Forever and Shade of Grey. Live was long overdue. Hopefully Ratdog, Weir
and Wasserman's latest venture, won't wait quite as long to record an outing of
its own.    
Live is available from Amazon.
To order, Click Here!
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 1998
The Music Box
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