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- Cert:
- Cat.no: SVE 3083
- Running time: 103 minutes
- Year: 2004
- Pressing: 2004
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Sound: DTS Digital Surround Sound / Dolby Surround 5.1
- Languages: English
- Widescreen: 1.78:1
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £14.99
- Rating: 10/10
- Extras:Interview with Paul Carrack and Before and After Show featurette.
Great song writing is in short supply: no such fears with Paul Carrack.
With the voice of Marvin Gaye and keyboard skills of Elton John, his work has been featured inthree successful acts Ace, Squeeze and Mike and The Mechanics. In my opinion hes up thereamongst the top ten greatest popular composers of all time.
By his own admission, hes never been an innovative writer but has always managed to writeclassy songs, with a strong emphasis on melody, verse and chorus. Hes been part of the music scenesince he penned the world wide hit How Long for Ace in 1974. His unique brand of blueeyedsoul pop easily transferred over to Squeezes lush hits as he featured as lead vocalist on their1981 hit Tempted.
Hes written numerous hits for the likes of The Eagles, Tom Jones, Diana Ross, and played keyboardswith Roxy Music, Eric Clapton, BB King and Simply Red to name but a few. It was only a matter oftime before super-group Mike and The Mechanics (including exGenesis guitarist Mike Rutherford andexSad Café singer Paul Young) would eventually recruit his dual skills as he made his biggest impactwith hits Another Cup of Coffee, an underrated, and strangely upbeat-sounding, song about domestic violence,Silent Running and the anthemic Living Years.
All these songs inevitably turn up here, as do snippets of solo material and a couple of covers.Watching and listening to this live set, it makes you wonder how hes never managed to reach thedizzy heights of Elton John but thats not his scene. Supported by an excellent band, he switchesfrom guitarist to pianist and looks equally comfortable with both instruments.
He is without doubt a musicians musician with the rare quality of singing from the heart which isbest found on tracks such as the gorgeous Eyes Of Blue and My Kind. Carrack can whip it up as well:Every Time You Walk In The Room, Harvest For the World (Isley Bros) and Sly and the Family StonesDance To The Music consolidate his love of soul music.
This DVD, recorded at the magnificent Opera House in Buxton is relatively low key show by show-bizstandards, as we catch him on the final leg of his It Aint Over Tour in January this year. Thisis my kind of music a truly great talent.
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Never Too Late
2. Just A Little Lie
3. Another Cup Of Coffee
4. Nothing More Than A Memory
5. Silent Running
6. Satisfy My Soul
7. My Kind
8. Any Day Now
9. One Small Step
10. Eyes Of Blue11. Sunny
12. It Aint Over
13. Where Did I Go Wrong
14. The Living Years
15. Every Time You Walk In The Room
16. Happy To See You Again
17. Harvest For The World
18. How Long
19. Over my Shoulder
20. Dance To The Music
More info atCarrack-UK.comand sample more of his work with the album collections below.
Rewired & The Hits
21 Good Reasons
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.