Mink De Ville

Mink De Ville - Live USA - 1982 - Imtrat (Germany)

Info on this album would be most welcome. It seems to be a concert recorded in the Pavillon, New York, on December 13, 1982. This concert is released on the German Imtrat label, although it is hard to locate in any record catalogues. Variations of this recording with different titles are circulating "unofficially" with different track listings. Sound quality is not bad. A similar CD is advertised on the German Amazon website, but details are minimal. It's a good concert from Willy De Ville and his band. A self-taught guitarist, Willy found his early inspiration in bluesmen like John Hammond Jr., Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker, and these influences pervade this album. It's a great mixture of "Spanish Soul", blues, RB, and Cajun music. Buy his 1987 debut solo album, "Miracle." Willy Deville has never fully received the accolades he deserves for his contribution to music, so check out his albums, and also albums by Mink DeVille. They're all good. There is info on Willy DeVille's "Crow Jane Alley" album @ WDEV/CJA

TRACKS

1 Harlem Nocturne
2 Slow Train
3 Savoir faire
4 Cadillac Walk
5. Love Me Like You Do
6 Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl
7 Love And Emotion
8 She's Tough
9 You Better Move On
10 Teardrps Must Fall
11 Desperate Days
12 Maybe Tomorrow
13 This Must Be The Night
14 Lipstick And Traces
15 Spanish Stroll
16 Bad Boy
17 So Long

MUSICIANS

Willy DeVille – guitar, vocals
Eve Moon - background vocals
Ricky Borgia – guitar
Kenny Margolis – piano, accordion, vibraphone
Louis Cortelezzi – baritone saxophone
Joey Vesta – bass
Thommy Price – drums
The Exhilarations - background vocals, Ray Goodwin, Alan Morgan, Andy Deweese, Joe Mendez, Al "Butch" Floyd

BIO

Although a product of the New York punk scene, at heart Mink DeVille was a soul band with roots in R&B, the blues and even Cajun music. The group was a showcase for frontman Willy DeVille (born William Boray in 1953), a native New Yorker who in 1971 travelled to London to form a band; unable to find compatible musicians, he worked as a solo performer before returning to the U.S. and settling in San Francisco, where he founded the first incarnation of Mink DeVille in 1974 with bassist Ruben Siguenza and drummer Tom "Manfred" Allen. After playing in Bay Area leather bars and lounges under a variety of names including Billy DeSade & the Marquis and the Lazy Eights, the trio read a music magazine feature spotlighting the Ramones; duly inspired, Mink DeVille relocated to New York, where they recruited guitarist Louie X. Erlanger. After debuting with three tracks on the Live at CBGB's compilation, the band entered the studio with legendary producer Jack Nitzsche and surfaced in 1977 with Cabretta, an energetic, soulful outing highlighted by "Spanish Stroll," a Top 20 hit in the U.K. After recording 1978's Return to Magenta, Willy DeVille dismissed his bandmates (save for Erlanger) and moved to Paris to record Le Chat Bleu, a record steeped in traditional French-Cajun romantic ballads — complete with accordion backing — and recorded with session luminaries including bassist Jerry Scheff, saxophonist Teenage Steve Douglas and drummer Ron Tutt. Dismayed with the results, the group's label, Capitol, delayed its American release for over a year, prompting Mink DeVille to jump to Atlantic for 1981's Coup de Grace. By 1983's Where Angels Fear to Tread, Willy DeVille was the sole remaining founding member; after the release of 1985's Sportin' Life, he finally jettisoned the Mink DeVille name to continue working as a solo performer. Among his later recordings, the most successful was 1986's Mark Knopfler-produced Miracle; the single "Storybook Love" was later nominated for an Academy Award after it appeared in the film The Princess Bride. © Jason Ankeny, allmusic.com