In episode 21 of Hooked on Creek, I review Max Creek’s performance on March 12, 1988, at the West Hartford Music Hall in West Hartford, Connecticut.
A live recording of this entire Max Creek performance is available to stream or download here.
Episode 21 transcription
You’re listening to Hooked on Creek, a podcast celebrating the music, history and fans of the legendary jam band Max Creek. I am your host, Korre Johnson, and you are listening to episode 21.
Thank you for joining me on episode 21 of Hooked on Creek. In this episode, I am going to discuss Max Creek’s performance on March 12, 1988, at the West Hartford Music Hall in West Hartford, Connecticut. This show has a lot to offer, including a great setlist that includes several song debuts and rarities that should pique the interest of any casual, curious or committed Creek fan. Now in this episode, I am going to walk through the setlist and give you my impressions of each of the songs performed that night, and then stick around because this episode concludes with full performances of some standout tunes from this incredible March 12, 1988 show.
You can find a direct link to stream or download the entire Max Creek show I am reviewing in the episode show notes, or simply head over to hookedoncreek.com. And while you are there, click the contact link and let me know what you think. I am always looking for recommendations on topics to cover or Max Creek shows to feature in this podcast. Alright, now let’s get started.
The show at the West Hartford Music Hall back on March 12, 1988, kicks off with a gorgeous 13-minute-long version of Gypsy Blue which the band lifts to incredible heights. As the show opener, the song serves as a tool to disentangle your sense of reality — replacing it with a proverbial sandbox, thick and wet to the touch, enticing you with an irresistible urge to build, enjoy and ultimately destroy the fleeting creations of your mind. The perfect way to kick off this perfect show.
After the immersion of Gypsy Blue, the tides pull back to reveal a stunning I Know You Rider that highlights every corner of the band’s mastery of this tune. This version, like so many others thoughout the years, seems to indicate Max Creek’s perfection of the song might be born not from a mere appreciation of the Grateful Dead’s style of music, but rather from a deeper, perhaps genetic, predisposition to understanding why, not just how, to play this song. And on this night, the band certainly delivered.
After I Know You Rider, Mark slows the pace down and delivers a stunning performance of It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry which is a song written by Bob Dylan that was released on Dylan’s 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited.
Then, Max Creek treats the West Hartford crowd with the debut of their song Orange Sunshine, which I played earlier during the introduction to this episode. For me, it’s always fun to hear the first time the band plays a now familiar song like this. And cuddling this new song, like a newborn baby, is certainly delightful. And the significance of that alone is probably enough to entice any Creek fan to take a trip back to hear this incredible show.
But then after debuting Orange Sunshine, the band goes ahead and debuts another song, Stand By Me. So clearly Max Creek was in the mood to explore new territory on this cool Saturday evening back in 1988. Now, listeners of this podcast know I’m a sucker for John’s vocals, so hearing John’s interpretation of Stand By Me on this recording just about brought me to knees. All in all, the band offers a very tasteful arrangement to this classic tune, which I think you will really enjoy hearing. From what I can tell on archive.org, there is only one other recording of Max Creek performing this song — which occurred four days later on March 16, 1988. Of course, Stand by Me is a very well known song that was originally recorded and released in 1961 by singer-songwriter Ben E. King that he wrote with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. And two years prior to this Max Creek show, in 1986, the movie Stand By Me was released, which also added to the popularity of the song in the mid-80s. And then 2015, King’s original version of Stand by Me was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress and designated as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
OK, so After Stand by Me, Mark leads the band through a rocking’ cover of You Can’t Always Get What You Want, a Rolling Stones song that first appeared on their 1969 album Let It Bleed. Max Creek builds an impressive jam through this 11-minute-version of You Can’t Always Get What You Want that ultimately transitions into a thick and sticky version of Windows to close the first set. And this version of Windows is good. I mean so good. The band is completely locked in. Scott’s guitar playing is expressive and the crowd seems to be eating it all up. Amazing.
Emerging from the set break, presumably feeling good and looking to maintain their momentum, Max Creek opens their second set with yet another debut, playing a resplendent version of Willie And The Hand Jive that extends over 10 minutes in length and is highlighted by some glistening guitar work by Scott. Willie And The Hand Jive is a song written by Johnny Otis released in 1958 that reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song has been covered by numerous artists, including Eric Clapton, George Thorogood and the Grateful Dead. And while Willie And The Hand Jive has been accused of glorifying masturbation, Johnny Otis put that theory to rest when he confirmed the lyrics are in fact about a man who became famous for doing a dance with his hands. According to Johnny Otis, the idea of the song originated when he was told that some British audiences at rock music concerts at that time were forbidden from getting up to dance during shows. As a result, audience members would do coordinated hand gestures while remaining in their seats, known as hand jives.
As I looked deeper into the history of Johnny Otis, I learned he was a very fascinating guy. His real name was Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes and he was born in Vallejo, California, to Greek immigrant parents. He would become a very prominent West Coast bandleader, who made significant contributions to R&B and rock music during his life, earning the title “Godfather of Rhythm and Blues”. He is credited with discovering such great talents as Etta James and Big Mama Thornton, and through his career Johnny Otis also became a prominent DJ, record producer and the host of a television show called The Johnny Otis Show from 1956-1961.
Alright, so after opening the second set with Willie And The Hand Jive, Max Creek transitions seamlessly into an absolutely stellar version of Ready To Burn. Now, from what I can tell on archive.org, it appears Max Creek played Ready To Burn pretty regularly through the late 1980’s after debuting the song in 1985, but over time, the song gradually began appearing less frequently in their setlists, with Ready To Burn only appearing in 8 recorded shows between 2010 and 2020. Not sure why the song fell out of rotation, because I absolutely love it. Especially this version, with Scott’s hyper-fueled vocals and impeccably tight guitar playing. What a treat!
After Ready to Burn, the band takes a moment to reset, and then delivers a Max Creek classic, Dark Water. Now, there are no shortage of tremendous versions of Dark Water in Max Creek’s long history, but I really think this version of Dark Water will stop any Creek fan right in their tracks, prompting them to take a deeper listen. There is just so much to enjoy in the version of the song.
And then, Scott leads the band through a crowd-pleasing cover of The Harder They Come, a song by the Jamaican singer Jimmy Cliff, that was first recorded for the soundtrack of a 1972 movie of the same name.
At then at this point in the show, the band delivers a string of songs covering about 40 minutes that is just mind boggling to close out the second set. First, they light the place up with a top-shelf version of Just A Rose. Scott’s guitar work in this song is simply savage as he indiscriminately attacks the song from every conceivable angle.
After about 10 minutes, this stirring version of Just A Rose descends into a 8-minute-long drums segment showcasing the masterfully coordinated rhythms of Greg DeGuglielmo and Rob Fried which deserves your undivided attention. I dare say, if Albert Einstein would have been listening to Max Creek playing this drums sequence back in 1915, he might have second-guessed his theory of general relativity given the time-and-space warping qualities of this stretch of music.
And from this, the music blossoms into a bone-chilling version of Thought I Heard My Baby Calling sung by Mark. There are so many reasons to love this March 12, 1988, Max Creek show, and without question this performance by Mark is one of them. For me, at this point in the show, the concert loses its facade of being a musical performance and reveals itself as a journey of self exploration. And what makes this extra special is Thought I Heard My Baby Calling is a rare song to hear the band perform. From what I can tell on archive.org, there appears to be only 9 recorded versions of this song since 1977, and at that time, it was sung by Amy Fazzano. Now at first, I was unable to track down the origin of this song. I knew it was a cover. But who originally wrote it and when? So after asking for help on the Hooked on Creek Facebook group, I was delighted to have Mark Mercier himself come to the rescue to solve this mystery. What I learned from Mark is Thought I Heard My Baby Calling is a song written by Mike Settle, and after digging a little deeper I learned the song was recorded on Mike Settle’s 1963 album Pastures Of Plenty. Mark, if you are listening, thank you for helping me track that down.
And then through the magic that only Max Creek can conjure, the music of Thought I Heard My Baby Calling transitions into a massive version of Not Fade Away to close the second set. And as Not Fade Away unfolds, and the realization that this night of music, like so many others must come to an end, I reach a new level of self awareness. The music is my vehicle, and I am filling the passenger’s seat and the driver’s seat at the exact same time.
And for the encore, Max Creek comes back on stage to play a fun and lively version of Trippin’, putting an exclamation point on a tremendous, and in my view, historic night of music.
Now looking back over this entire show, Max Creek played Gypsy Blue and Trippin’ from their 1982 album Drink the Stars. They played Windows, the title track from their 1986 album. They played Orange Sunshine and Dark Water from their 1990 album MCMXC, and of course Dark Water also appears on their 2020 album Live at the Stafford Palace Theater. And the band played Just A Rose from their 1998 album Spring Water. Max Creek also played Ready to Burn, an original song that has never appeared on a Max Creek album.
Alright now lets hear a few songs from this beautiful Max Creek show. Up next, you are going to hear Ready to Burn after that you’ll hear Just a Rose into Drums into Thought I Heard my Baby Calling.
This is Max Creek performing live on March 12, 1988, at the West Hartford Music Hall in West Hartford, Connecticut.
And now, this is Just a Rose into Drums into Thought I Heard My Baby Calling.
And that concludes my review of Max Creek’s performance on March 12, 1988, at the West Hartford Music Hall in West Hartford, Connecticut. There is a lot to love about this show, so I really hope you check it out. You can stream or download this Max Creek show on archive.org, take a look in the episode show notes for a direct link. And if you have feedback about this episode or recommendations for future episodes, visit hookedoncreek.com and click the contact link to send me a message. Thanks for tuning in.