Melanie’s New Live Album
Melanie by Barry Plummer
Melanie lives on! Although she died last year at 76, the hippie icon, who flower-powered her way to stardom at the Woodstock fest in 1969, is the subject of the new live album, From The Banks of the River Effra: Crystal Palace 1972 from Cleopatra Records. The singer—from Long Branch in Monmouth County—had played, after Woodstock, the Isle Of Wight Festival in 1970, plus Glastonbury and Montreux in 1971. On June 3, 1972, she again graced the stage with her regal presence at London’s Crystal Palace Concert Bowl. The Beach Boys, Roxy Music, Joe Cocker, Richie Havens and Sha Na Na also performed that day for 16,000+ in a pouring rain that made the sound rather problematical and forced delays throughout the show. (The Beach Boys took an hour and a half to get on stage.) But from the time Keith Moon of The Who introduced her, to the end of her set, she was, as usual, transcendent. The whole fest was filmed and broadcast on American television the following month (the footage has since been lost).
The (partial) set that was saved includes the following…
1. Someday I’ll Be A Farmer
2. Beautiful People
3. Ring The Living Bell
4. What Have They Done To My Song Ma
5. Bitter Bad
6. Peace Will Come (According To Plan)
7. Together Alone
8. Psychotherapy