Acoustic and Pure: Live

Acoustic and Pure: Live
Live album by Steve Harley (with Jim Cregan and guests)
Released	2002
Genre	Pop rock
Length	77:08
Label	Comeuppance Discs
Producer	Steve Harley, Matt Butler
Steve Harley (with Jim Cregan and guests) chronology
Stripped to the Bare Bones (1999) Acoustic and Pure: Live (2002) Anytime! (A Live Set) (2004)

Acoustic and Pure: Live is a 2002 live acoustic album by English songwriter and musician Steve Harley.^[1][2]

Background

The album consists of thirteen live unplugged tracks, which were recorded live in Autumn 2002, along with guitarist Jim Cregan and other guests. The tour featured Harley playing with Cregan for the first time since 1976, when Cregan left the second line-up of Cockney Rebel to join Rod Stewart's band.^[3] The tracks on the CD were selected from various concerts played during the autumn of 2002 in the UK. These consisted of Reading, Chelsea, Felixstowe, Cheltenham, Pocklington, Bolton, Oswaldtwistle, Beverley, Wolverhampton, Croydon, Letchworth, Southampton, Pontardawe, Buxton, Sheffield, Blackheath, Folkestone, Newcastle, Milton Keynes, Worthing, Weston-Super-Mare, Manchester, Birkenhead, Aylesbury, Oxford, Colchester and Hayes.

The album was produced, compiled and edited by Harley and Matt Butler at The Stone House in Herefordshire. The live recording equipment used were from FX Rentals, London and Sony MD. It was mastered by Clive at Audio Edit Productions. The final track on the album "The Last Feast" is an un-retouched mini-disc recording.^[4][5] The song itself was the only track on the album to have not been released as a studio recording at the time. In 2005, it was included on the Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel album The Quality of Mercy.^[6] Originally Harley considered removing "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" from the CD as he admitted "I was so fed up with it being absolutely everywhere on everything that's released by me." He eventually reconsidered.^[7]

The album was released on CD in the UK only, through Harley's own Comeuppance Discs, whilst Colin Cotter for 3BC handled the album's manufacturing within the UK. The album was initially available on Harley's official website only, and not in shops. The album was also pre-sold on the tour. In an article for the online music magazine Perfect Sound Forever, circa 2002, Harley revealed that he was hoping to organise a release of the album on a conventional label. This never materialised.^[8] Today the album remains out-of-print and available second-hand only.^[9][10]

Track listing

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Marshwood Magazine	favourable[4]
24.000 Dischi (Italian Dalai editore book)	[11]

As printed on the album's front cover, Marshwood Magazine had stated "Compelling. An authentic voice in a synthetic age."^[4]

Personnel

• Steve Harley – Lead Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Producer, Compiler, Editor
• Jim Cregan – Lead Guitar
• Barry Wickens – Violin, Guitar (tracks 3, 4, 10, 11, 13)
• James Lascelles – Percussion, Melodica (tracks 3, 4, 11, 13)
• Robbie Gladwell – Guitar (track 5)
• Stuart Elliott – Drums (track 13)
• Lincoln Anderson – Bass (track 13)
• Matt Butler – Producer, Compiler, Editor, Studio Mixing Engineer
• Clive – Mastering
• Sally Arnold for Comeuppance Ltd. – Co-ordination
• Steve Pittis for Enconahead – Sleeve Design
• Kees Gerritse, Russ Naylor, Phil Case – Thanks for Live pix
• Colin Cotter for 3BC – Manufacture

References