Perhaps the most interesting era of BB the Band captured on a great quality recording.

Title / Location:
Black Session, France
1998-10-05

Tracks:
01. July (3.59)
02. Back Together (4.31)
03. Bad Old Man (4.27)
04. You Will Always Love Me (4.24)
05. If You’ll Be Mine (4.32)
06. 45 & Fat (4.39)
07. All Man Are Evil (3.16)
08. Take Me Back (6.15)
09. Dead Bird Sings (5.35)
10. I Was Never Here (5.02)
11. You’re Gorgeous (3.39)

Length:
50.25 mins.

Source:
Soundboard
FM

Note:
Live in the studio in front of a relatively small audience and a great selection of songs from the TSGO period – perfect conditions for a great live experience from perhaps the most interesting era of BB the Band. Also, this is the only circulating soundboard recording from the 1998 tours. Take me Back is simply heartbreaking played live. So is Back Together, and you hear perfect, acoustic versions of You’re Gorgeous and If You’ll be Mine.

In general, this is as close to a calm and dark Sunday night as the band ever got, and very far from the hysteria of 1996/97. The very reason for loving this band. Needless to say, this is one of the best live recordings available. After searching for years, I finally managed to get hold of the complete session in almost perfect quality. I think there’s some volume adjustments in the first track, and someone might have cut out some speak. But this it nothing to complain about at all.

The incomplete, but widely circulated version
Originally, I wasn’t really happy with my original copy, which was not only incomplete but also transfered to CD from a somewhat hissy 3rd (or lower) generation tape with some brutal cuts between the tracks. So beware of the widely circulated 8 track version which has this tracklist:

Tracks:
01. July (4.15)
02. Back Together (4.05)
03. You Will Always Love Me (4.10)
04. If You’ll Be Mine (3.37)
05. 45 & Fat (4.15)
06. All Men Are Evil (3.09)
07. Take Me Back (5.57)
08. You’re Gorgeous (3.28)