For One Night Only

Series

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

20070923

Paul Gambaccini recalls the first public appearance of the Three Tenors.

Judy And Liza At The Palladium

20050111

20220610/11 (BBC7)
20220612 (BBC7)
20220613 (BBC7)

On 8th November 1964, the incomparable Judy Garland proudly introduced her 17-year-old daughter, Liza Minnelli, to more than 2,000 rapturous fans at a favourite venue. Judy had already given 60 performances at the London Palladium.

Mother and daughter had appeared on TV together before, but this was their first joint stage concert, and it was a sensation.

Paul Gambaccini listens to the album and goes backstage at the Palladium to relive the night it was recorded with fans, musicians and crew.

Producer: Marya Burgess

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2005.

Paul Gambaccini recalls the first joint stage concert by Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

When John Met John

20080801

20080803 (R4)

At Madison Square Garden on Thanksgiving Night 1974, Elton John was joined by John Lennon.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

At The Drop Of A Hat

20080822

20080824 (R4)

Michael Flanders and Donald Swann's satirical revue closed on 2 May 1959.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

Elvis Comes Back

20070825

20210125/26 (BBC7)
20080912 (R4)
20080914 (R4)

In 1968 Elvis's star was somewhat tarnished; overtaken by the likes of the Beatles and Bob Dylan, he hadn't topped the charts for six years. He'd not played live since 1961 and he'd only been seen in movies that were increasingly awful. But it all changed in December 1968 when his electrifying performance on NBC TV convinced America that he was still 'The King'.

Paul Gambaccini re-lives the event.

Producer: Marya Burgess

An electrifying performance on NBC TV in December 1968 restored Elvis's reputation.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

Bernstein In Berlin

20060819

20220404/05 (BBC7)
20080829 (R4)
20080831 (R4)

On 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall came down. Six weeks later, Leonard Bernstein conducted musicians from both sides of the Wall in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. This celebration of the reunification of Germany was an unforgettable event for all who took part.

Paul Gambaccini meets some of them and relives a concert that became a crossover hit in the classical and pop charts.

Producer: Marya Burgess

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006.

On Christmas Day 1989, Leonard Bernstein conducted Beethoven's Choral Symphony.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

Miles Davis And Quincy Jones Live At Montreux

20080905

20080907 (R4)

Series in which Paul Gambaccini recalls classic concerts.

For the 25th anniversary of the renowned international jazz festival, Jones coaxed Davis into reprising his collaborations with Gil Evans from the 50s and 60s. A spellbound audience heard such masterpieces as Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain played in public for the first time in decades.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

Fifty Years Of Bing

20060909

In the sweltering summer of 1976, Bing Crosby chose to celebrate 50 years in show business with a concert for his fans in London. On stage again for the first time in 40 years, he appeared with special guest Rosemary Clooney, with and his wife and children. For the medley of 33 of his greatest hits, he was alone. Even in his 70s, Bing was still magic; the pioneer of the microphone had lost none of his skill.

Paul Gambaccini remembers.

Producer: Marya Burgess

How, in 1976, Bing Crosby chose to celebrate 50 years in showbiz with a special concert.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

The Prom Of Peace

20070901

Series in which Paul Gambaccini recalls classic concerts.

On August 21, 1968, Russian tanks entered Czechoslovakia to put an end to Alexander Dubcek's Prague Spring. An extraordinary irony saw the Soviet State Symphony Orchestra making its debut at the Proms on the same day in a programme featuring Czech composer Antonin Dvorak's Cello Concerto. The performance by soloist Mstislav Rostropovich remains one of the greatest ever live recordings of the piece.

Rostropovich plays Dvorak's Cello Concerto at the Proms in 1968 as Russia invades Prague.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

The Prom Of Peace

20080815

Series in which Paul Gambaccini recalls classic concerts.

Rostropovich plays Dvorak's Cello Concerto at the Proms in 1968 as Russia invades Prague.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

The Prom Of Peace

20080817

Series in which Paul Gambaccini recalls classic concerts.

Rostropovich plays Dvorak's Cello Concerto at the Proms in 1968 as Russia invades Prague.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

The Prom Of Peace

20180814

Series in which Paul Gambaccini recalls classic concerts.

Rostropovich plays Dvorak's Cello Concerto at the Proms in 1968 as Russia invades Prague.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

The Prom Of Peace

20180815

Series in which Paul Gambaccini recalls classic concerts.

Rostropovich plays Dvorak's Cello Concerto at the Proms in 1968 as Russia invades Prague.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

Hot August Night

20070825

20210131 (BBC7)
20210201 (BBC7)
20080808 (R4)
20080810 (R4)

Paul Gambaccini presents the award-winning series that re-visits the occasion where a classic live album was recorded.

In August 1972, Neil Diamond returned to The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles for a series of sell-out concerts. For those in the audience who'd seen him there the previous year, the change was extraordinary. The once subdued star now burst onto the stage in a blaze of smoke and light, sporting his new mane of shaggy hair and dressed to kill by Bill Whitten.

This was going to be an event: the first time a concert by a singer-songwriter was 'staged' and the first time surround-sound was used to envelop the audience in the luscious sound of strings supplementing Neil's rhythm section. Those who were there, backstage, on stage and in the audience, remember the thrill.

Producer: Marya Burgess

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2007.

Paul Gambaccini recalls a series of classic 1972 concerts given by Neil Diamond.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

The Reunion In Central Park

20070908

20211012/13 (BBC7)

Central park, New York, was the scene of a momentous reunion on 19 September 1981.

In front of 400,000 people, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel sang together again for the first time in 11 years.

The duo who had brought folk music into the mainstream showed that their estrangement had not tarnished the magic.

Out of what had begun as another Paul Simon gig, grew a night that fans had never imagined possible, and an album to remember it by.

Paul Gambaccini discovers the stories behind the concert that almost didn't happen.

Producer: Marya Burgess

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2007.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

Bb King Live At The Regal

20110326

20111227 (R4)

Paul Gambaccini is back with the award-winning series that re-visits the occasions on which a classic live album was recorded. He hears from those who were there, on-stage, backstage and in the audience, to re-create the event for all of us who, each time we play the album, think: 'If only I could have been there'.

On 21 November 1964 what's been hailed as one of the greatest blues albums of all time was recorded at Chicago's premier black theatre, The Regal. It's claimed, that musicians from Eric Clapton to John Mayer still play it for inspiration before they go on stage.

If BB's studio sessions were electric, it was on stage that he really came into his own. Yet, at a time when live albums were becoming the thing, BB had yet to record one. Enter Johnny Pate, A&R man for ABC Paramount, the label that had recently signed Riley B King.

On the night, Chicago DJs Pervis Spann and E Rodney Jones introduced the sets and the enthusiastic audience erupted as BB and his band treated them to a classic performance.

Paul Gambaccini listens to memories of that never-to-be-forgotten night from BB King himself and from the sole surviving member of his band, Duke Jethro. Jethro's usual instrument, the HammondB3 Organ, was in the repair shop so he had to play, for the first time in his life, a piano. Yet his tinkling riffs are one of the album's major charms.

Paul also hears from the album's producer, Johnny Pate, from WVON DJ Pervis Spann, and from Arthur Gathings, who was in the audience.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

Paul Gambaccini tells the story behind BB King's classic 1964 album Live at the Regal.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

Berlioz's Les Troyens

20110402

20111228 (R4)

Paul Gambaccini presents the award-winning series that re-visits the occasions on which a classic live album was recorded. He hears from those who were there, on-stage, backstage and in the audience, to re-create the event for all of us who, each time we play the album, think: 'If only I could have been there'.

In December 2000 at The Barbican, Sir Colin Davis conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in the epic Berlioz opera, Les Troyens. Featuring a fine line-up of soloists, including Ben Heppner, Michelle de Young and Petra Lang, Sir Colin's championing of the unfashionable composer brought Berlioz's unwieldy account of the fall of Troy and the founding of Rome to exhilarating life.

The resulting recording was released on the LSO Live label and met with international approval, assuring the new label's success. The album was the unanimous critics' choice at the Classical Brits awards - chaired that year by our presenter, Paul Gambaccini. It also won two Grammy Awards - for best opera recording and classical recording.

Now he hears from Sir Colin Davis himself about his memories of the exceptional recording. Members of the cast, including Ben Heppner, Petra Lang and Toby Spence recall their experience of the opera, as do members of the orchestra and the audience.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

Paul Gambaccini re-visits Sir Colin Davis's triumph with the LSO and Berlioz's Les Troyens

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

Keith Jarrett: The Cologne Concert

20110409

20111229 (R4)

Keith Jarrett had made his name as a jazz pianist working with Art Blakey, Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. But in the 1970s he began to give solo performances, frequently improvised. On 24 January 1975, at the Opera House in Cologne, Germany, he played an entirely improvised concert to a packed house. Lasting over an hour, it was released on ECM, the new jazz label founded by Manfred Eicher. Keith Jarrett: The Cologne Concert was to become not only the best-selling solo album in jazz history, but also the best-selling piano recording ever.

The concert promoter was an amateur jazz enthusiast: Vera Brandes, who was only 17 at the time. For this programme she returns to the Cologne Opera House, sharing her memories of an extraordinary evening with others who were there, including sound engineers Martin Wieland and Eva Bauer-Oppelland, and members of the audience. She recalls how she begged and borrowed to set up the concert, revealing the drama of her discovery that the wrong grand piano had been placed on the stage and her futile efforts to find a replacement. It turns out that for this record-breaking album, Jarrett improvised on an out-of-tune piano with a smattering of mute keys!

Recapturing the magical intensity of Jarrett's epic performance, Paul Gambaccini hears those who were there recall a night of emotion and euphoria which they've never forgotten, and conveys through Jarrett's masterly performance a sense of history being made.

Paul Gambaccini tells the story of Keith Jarrett's 1975 live album The Cologne Concert.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

The Button-down Mind Of Bob Newhart

20110319

20111226 (R4)

Paul Gambaccini returns with the award-winning series to look back at four more occasions on which a classic live album was recorded. He hears from those who were there, on-stage, backstage and in the audience, to re-create the event for all of us who, each time we play the album, think: 'If only I could have been there'.

When 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' appeared in 1960 it became the first comedy album ever to top the charts. From 'The Driving Instructor' to 'Abe Lincoln vs Madison Avenue', the sketches that earned Newhart Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Comedy Performance were as popular in Britain as in the US. And they still raise a laugh more than fifty years on.

In this first edition of the new series, Paul Gambaccini talks to the now 81-year-old comedy star himself who, before the legendary album, was an accountant who leavened the office monotony by working up 'phone' routines with a colleague. When Chicago DJ Dan Sorkin heard a tape of the pair, he thought Bob's end of the act was good enough to record and managed to interest George Avakian of Warner Brothers Records. Avakian wanted Bob in front of a live audience and found a club in Houston - The Tidelands - where the manager, Dick Maegle, agreed to let the novice perform. Sorkin, Avakian and Maegle have all been interviewed for the programme.

So on 12 February 1960 a nervous Bob went out on stage. The result is as fresh today as it was then. Paul Gambaccini hears the story of the making of this classic album

Also in this series of For One Night Only: BB King's classic, Live at the Regal, the LSO's hit live performance of Berlioz's The Trojans and Keith Jarrett's unsurpassed jazz improvisation, the Cologne Concert.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

Paul Gambaccini recalls the 1960 classic album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

Clapton Unplugged

20121006

20130122 (R4)

Paul Gambaccini is back with the award-winning series to re-visit two occasions on which a classic live album was recorded. He hears from those who were there, on-stage, backstage and in the audience, to re-create the event for all of us who, each time we play the album, think: 'If only I could have been there'.

In the series opener, Paul looks back at the 1992 recording of 'Eric Clapton Unplugged', in the company of Eric Clapton himself and others who were there.

On 16 January 1992, in front of a small audience at Bray Studios near Maidenhead, Berkshire, Eric Clapton and a small group of musicians made history. For the first time in a public performance, the legendary guitarist 'unplugged' his amp and picked up an acoustic guitar to record a selection of old blues favourites and brand new material, including the poignantly personal 'Tears in Heaven', about the tragic los of his son, Conor, the previous year. And then there was the radically surprising take on the classic 'Layla'.

Paul Gambaccini hears the story of the making of this classic album, which went on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide and won 6 Grammies, from Eric Clapton himself. He also hears the memories of members of the band: Andy Fairweather Low, Steve Ferrone, Chuck Leavell and Nathan East; Alex Coletti, who produced the show for MTV; sound recordist Buford Jones, and members of the audience.

Additional material from Paul Gambaccini's extensive interview with Eric Clapton will be streamed online.

Also in this series of For One Night Only: Pete Seeger and others on The Weavers At Carnegie Hall (1955)

Producer: Marya Burgess.

Eric Clapton tells Paul Gambaccini about the 1992 recording of his ground-breaking album.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

Get Yer Ya-yas Out!

20121020

20130319 (R4)

Paul Gambaccini re-lives Thanksgiving 1969 when The Rolling Stones played Madison Square Garden and recorded an album later reviewed as 'the best rock concert ever put on record'.

In the company of many who were there on the night, including the tour promoter Ronnie Schneider, sound engineer Glyn Johns, Mick Jagger's assistant at the time Jo Bergman, Chip Monck who looked after the lighting, tour manager Sam Cutler, photographer Ethan Russell, and rock journalist Michael Jahn, Paul Gambaccini re-creates the occasion.

Producer: Marya Burgess

(Repeat).

Paul Gambaccini looks back to the Rolling Stones' Madison Square Garden concert in 1969.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

The Weavers At Carnegie Hall

20121013

20130129 (R4)

Paul Gambaccini is back with the award-winning series to re-visit two occasions when a classic live album was recorded. He hears from those who were there, on-stage, backstage and in the audience, to re-create the event for all of us who, each time we play the album, think: 'If only I could have been there'.

Paul Gambaccini re-lives Christmas Eve 1955 and The Weavers reunion concert at New York's prestigious Carnegie Hall. Three years after Pete Seeger's blacklisting for communist sympathies had forced the highly successful folk group to break up because no one was playing their records and no venues would book them, their manager Harold Leventhal took a risk and booked the only venue that would take them: There were queues round the block and the concert was a sell-out.

In the company of Pete Seeger himself and the other two surviving Weavers, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman, Paul hears about the birth of The Weavers in the radical home of folk music and left-wing politics that was 1940s Greenwich Village. With their early number 1 hits: 'Goodnight Irene' and 'Tzena, Tzena', The Weavers reached beyond the 'purist' folk movement into the mainstream. Gino Francesconi, Carnegie Hall's Archivist, finds the programme and poster from the 1955 concert, which became a best-selling album after it was released two years later, by Vanguard. Previously an exclusively classical label, this was the album which would make Vanguard the leading folk label of the 1960s.

Also in this series of For One Night Only: 'Clapton Unplugged' (1992)

Producer: Marya Burgess.

Paul Gambaccini looks back to Carnegie Hall 1955 with Pete Seeger and two other Weavers.

Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.

Episodes

Series	Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
			20070923		Paul Gambaccini recalls the first public appearance of the Three Tenors.
02	02	Judy And Liza At The Palladium	20050111	20220610/11 (BBC7) 20220612 (BBC7) 20220613 (BBC7)	On 8th November 1964, the incomparable Judy Garland proudly introduced her 17-year-old daughter, Liza Minnelli, to more than 2,000 rapturous fans at a favourite venue. Judy had already given 60 performances at the London Palladium. Mother and daughter had appeared on TV together before, but this was their first joint stage concert, and it was a sensation. Paul Gambaccini listens to the album and goes backstage at the Palladium to relive the night it was recorded with fans, musicians and crew. Producer: Marya Burgess First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2005. Paul Gambaccini recalls the first joint stage concert by Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
03	01	When John Met John	20080801	20080803 (R4)	At Madison Square Garden on Thanksgiving Night 1974, Elton John was joined by John Lennon. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
03	03	At The Drop Of A Hat	20080822	20080824 (R4)	Michael Flanders and Donald Swann's satirical revue closed on 2 May 1959. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
04		Elvis Comes Back	20070825	20210125/26 (BBC7) 20080912 (R4) 20080914 (R4)	In 1968 Elvis's star was somewhat tarnished; overtaken by the likes of the Beatles and Bob Dylan, he hadn't topped the charts for six years. He'd not played live since 1961 and he'd only been seen in movies that were increasingly awful. But it all changed in December 1968 when his electrifying performance on NBC TV convinced America that he was still 'The King'. Paul Gambaccini re-lives the event. Producer: Marya Burgess An electrifying performance on NBC TV in December 1968 restored Elvis's reputation. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
04	01	Bernstein In Berlin	20060819	20220404/05 (BBC7) 20080829 (R4) 20080831 (R4)	On 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall came down. Six weeks later, Leonard Bernstein conducted musicians from both sides of the Wall in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. This celebration of the reunification of Germany was an unforgettable event for all who took part. Paul Gambaccini meets some of them and relives a concert that became a crossover hit in the classical and pop charts. Producer: Marya Burgess First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006. On Christmas Day 1989, Leonard Bernstein conducted Beethoven's Choral Symphony. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
04	03	Miles Davis And Quincy Jones Live At Montreux	20080905	20080907 (R4)	Series in which Paul Gambaccini recalls classic concerts. For the 25th anniversary of the renowned international jazz festival, Jones coaxed Davis into reprising his collaborations with Gil Evans from the 50s and 60s. A spellbound audience heard such masterpieces as Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain played in public for the first time in decades. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
04	04	Fifty Years Of Bing	20060909		In the sweltering summer of 1976, Bing Crosby chose to celebrate 50 years in show business with a concert for his fans in London. On stage again for the first time in 40 years, he appeared with special guest Rosemary Clooney, with and his wife and children. For the medley of 33 of his greatest hits, he was alone. Even in his 70s, Bing was still magic; the pioneer of the microphone had lost none of his skill. Paul Gambaccini remembers. Producer: Marya Burgess How, in 1976, Bing Crosby chose to celebrate 50 years in showbiz with a special concert. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
05		The Prom Of Peace	20070901		Series in which Paul Gambaccini recalls classic concerts. On August 21, 1968, Russian tanks entered Czechoslovakia to put an end to Alexander Dubcek's Prague Spring. An extraordinary irony saw the Soviet State Symphony Orchestra making its debut at the Proms on the same day in a programme featuring Czech composer Antonin Dvorak's Cello Concerto. The performance by soloist Mstislav Rostropovich remains one of the greatest ever live recordings of the piece. Rostropovich plays Dvorak's Cello Concerto at the Proms in 1968 as Russia invades Prague. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
05		The Prom Of Peace	20080815		Series in which Paul Gambaccini recalls classic concerts. On August 21, 1968, Russian tanks entered Czechoslovakia to put an end to Alexander Dubcek's Prague Spring. An extraordinary irony saw the Soviet State Symphony Orchestra making its debut at the Proms on the same day in a programme featuring Czech composer Antonin Dvorak's Cello Concerto. The performance by soloist Mstislav Rostropovich remains one of the greatest ever live recordings of the piece. Rostropovich plays Dvorak's Cello Concerto at the Proms in 1968 as Russia invades Prague. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
05		The Prom Of Peace	20080817		Series in which Paul Gambaccini recalls classic concerts. On August 21, 1968, Russian tanks entered Czechoslovakia to put an end to Alexander Dubcek's Prague Spring. An extraordinary irony saw the Soviet State Symphony Orchestra making its debut at the Proms on the same day in a programme featuring Czech composer Antonin Dvorak's Cello Concerto. The performance by soloist Mstislav Rostropovich remains one of the greatest ever live recordings of the piece. Rostropovich plays Dvorak's Cello Concerto at the Proms in 1968 as Russia invades Prague. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
05		The Prom Of Peace	20180814		Series in which Paul Gambaccini recalls classic concerts. On August 21, 1968, Russian tanks entered Czechoslovakia to put an end to Alexander Dubcek's Prague Spring. An extraordinary irony saw the Soviet State Symphony Orchestra making its debut at the Proms on the same day in a programme featuring Czech composer Antonin Dvorak's Cello Concerto. The performance by soloist Mstislav Rostropovich remains one of the greatest ever live recordings of the piece. Rostropovich plays Dvorak's Cello Concerto at the Proms in 1968 as Russia invades Prague. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
05		The Prom Of Peace	20180815		Series in which Paul Gambaccini recalls classic concerts. On August 21, 1968, Russian tanks entered Czechoslovakia to put an end to Alexander Dubcek's Prague Spring. An extraordinary irony saw the Soviet State Symphony Orchestra making its debut at the Proms on the same day in a programme featuring Czech composer Antonin Dvorak's Cello Concerto. The performance by soloist Mstislav Rostropovich remains one of the greatest ever live recordings of the piece. Rostropovich plays Dvorak's Cello Concerto at the Proms in 1968 as Russia invades Prague. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
05	01	Hot August Night	20070825	20210131 (BBC7) 20210201 (BBC7) 20080808 (R4) 20080810 (R4)	Paul Gambaccini presents the award-winning series that re-visits the occasion where a classic live album was recorded. In August 1972, Neil Diamond returned to The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles for a series of sell-out concerts. For those in the audience who'd seen him there the previous year, the change was extraordinary. The once subdued star now burst onto the stage in a blaze of smoke and light, sporting his new mane of shaggy hair and dressed to kill by Bill Whitten. This was going to be an event: the first time a concert by a singer-songwriter was 'staged' and the first time surround-sound was used to envelop the audience in the luscious sound of strings supplementing Neil's rhythm section. Those who were there, backstage, on stage and in the audience, remember the thrill. Producer: Marya Burgess First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2007. Paul Gambaccini recalls a series of classic 1972 concerts given by Neil Diamond. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
05	03	The Reunion In Central Park	20070908	20211012/13 (BBC7)	Central park, New York, was the scene of a momentous reunion on 19 September 1981. In front of 400,000 people, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel sang together again for the first time in 11 years. The duo who had brought folk music into the mainstream showed that their estrangement had not tarnished the magic. Out of what had begun as another Paul Simon gig, grew a night that fans had never imagined possible, and an album to remember it by. Paul Gambaccini discovers the stories behind the concert that almost didn't happen. Producer: Marya Burgess First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2007. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
06		Bb King Live At The Regal	20110326	20111227 (R4)	Paul Gambaccini is back with the award-winning series that re-visits the occasions on which a classic live album was recorded. He hears from those who were there, on-stage, backstage and in the audience, to re-create the event for all of us who, each time we play the album, think: 'If only I could have been there'. On 21 November 1964 what's been hailed as one of the greatest blues albums of all time was recorded at Chicago's premier black theatre, The Regal. It's claimed, that musicians from Eric Clapton to John Mayer still play it for inspiration before they go on stage. If BB's studio sessions were electric, it was on stage that he really came into his own. Yet, at a time when live albums were becoming the thing, BB had yet to record one. Enter Johnny Pate, A&R man for ABC Paramount, the label that had recently signed Riley B King. On the night, Chicago DJs Pervis Spann and E Rodney Jones introduced the sets and the enthusiastic audience erupted as BB and his band treated them to a classic performance. Paul Gambaccini listens to memories of that never-to-be-forgotten night from BB King himself and from the sole surviving member of his band, Duke Jethro. Jethro's usual instrument, the HammondB3 Organ, was in the repair shop so he had to play, for the first time in his life, a piano. Yet his tinkling riffs are one of the album's major charms. Paul also hears from the album's producer, Johnny Pate, from WVON DJ Pervis Spann, and from Arthur Gathings, who was in the audience. Producer: Marya Burgess. Paul Gambaccini tells the story behind BB King's classic 1964 album Live at the Regal. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
06		Berlioz's Les Troyens	20110402	20111228 (R4)	Paul Gambaccini presents the award-winning series that re-visits the occasions on which a classic live album was recorded. He hears from those who were there, on-stage, backstage and in the audience, to re-create the event for all of us who, each time we play the album, think: 'If only I could have been there'. In December 2000 at The Barbican, Sir Colin Davis conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in the epic Berlioz opera, Les Troyens. Featuring a fine line-up of soloists, including Ben Heppner, Michelle de Young and Petra Lang, Sir Colin's championing of the unfashionable composer brought Berlioz's unwieldy account of the fall of Troy and the founding of Rome to exhilarating life. The resulting recording was released on the LSO Live label and met with international approval, assuring the new label's success. The album was the unanimous critics' choice at the Classical Brits awards - chaired that year by our presenter, Paul Gambaccini. It also won two Grammy Awards - for best opera recording and classical recording. Now he hears from Sir Colin Davis himself about his memories of the exceptional recording. Members of the cast, including Ben Heppner, Petra Lang and Toby Spence recall their experience of the opera, as do members of the orchestra and the audience. Producer: Marya Burgess. Paul Gambaccini re-visits Sir Colin Davis's triumph with the LSO and Berlioz's Les Troyens Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
06		Keith Jarrett: The Cologne Concert	20110409	20111229 (R4)	Paul Gambaccini presents the award-winning series that re-visits the occasions on which a classic live album was recorded. He hears from those who were there, on-stage, backstage and in the audience, to re-create the event for all of us who, each time we play the album, think: 'If only I could have been there'. Keith Jarrett had made his name as a jazz pianist working with Art Blakey, Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. But in the 1970s he began to give solo performances, frequently improvised. On 24 January 1975, at the Opera House in Cologne, Germany, he played an entirely improvised concert to a packed house. Lasting over an hour, it was released on ECM, the new jazz label founded by Manfred Eicher. Keith Jarrett: The Cologne Concert was to become not only the best-selling solo album in jazz history, but also the best-selling piano recording ever. The concert promoter was an amateur jazz enthusiast: Vera Brandes, who was only 17 at the time. For this programme she returns to the Cologne Opera House, sharing her memories of an extraordinary evening with others who were there, including sound engineers Martin Wieland and Eva Bauer-Oppelland, and members of the audience. She recalls how she begged and borrowed to set up the concert, revealing the drama of her discovery that the wrong grand piano had been placed on the stage and her futile efforts to find a replacement. It turns out that for this record-breaking album, Jarrett improvised on an out-of-tune piano with a smattering of mute keys! Recapturing the magical intensity of Jarrett's epic performance, Paul Gambaccini hears those who were there recall a night of emotion and euphoria which they've never forgotten, and conveys through Jarrett's masterly performance a sense of history being made. Paul Gambaccini tells the story of Keith Jarrett's 1975 live album The Cologne Concert. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
06		The Button-down Mind Of Bob Newhart	20110319	20111226 (R4)	Paul Gambaccini returns with the award-winning series to look back at four more occasions on which a classic live album was recorded. He hears from those who were there, on-stage, backstage and in the audience, to re-create the event for all of us who, each time we play the album, think: 'If only I could have been there'. When 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' appeared in 1960 it became the first comedy album ever to top the charts. From 'The Driving Instructor' to 'Abe Lincoln vs Madison Avenue', the sketches that earned Newhart Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Comedy Performance were as popular in Britain as in the US. And they still raise a laugh more than fifty years on. In this first edition of the new series, Paul Gambaccini talks to the now 81-year-old comedy star himself who, before the legendary album, was an accountant who leavened the office monotony by working up 'phone' routines with a colleague. When Chicago DJ Dan Sorkin heard a tape of the pair, he thought Bob's end of the act was good enough to record and managed to interest George Avakian of Warner Brothers Records. Avakian wanted Bob in front of a live audience and found a club in Houston - The Tidelands - where the manager, Dick Maegle, agreed to let the novice perform. Sorkin, Avakian and Maegle have all been interviewed for the programme. So on 12 February 1960 a nervous Bob went out on stage. The result is as fresh today as it was then. Paul Gambaccini hears the story of the making of this classic album Also in this series of For One Night Only: BB King's classic, Live at the Regal, the LSO's hit live performance of Berlioz's The Trojans and Keith Jarrett's unsurpassed jazz improvisation, the Cologne Concert. Producer: Marya Burgess. Paul Gambaccini recalls the 1960 classic album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
07		Clapton Unplugged	20121006	20130122 (R4)	Paul Gambaccini is back with the award-winning series to re-visit two occasions on which a classic live album was recorded. He hears from those who were there, on-stage, backstage and in the audience, to re-create the event for all of us who, each time we play the album, think: 'If only I could have been there'. In the series opener, Paul looks back at the 1992 recording of 'Eric Clapton Unplugged', in the company of Eric Clapton himself and others who were there. On 16 January 1992, in front of a small audience at Bray Studios near Maidenhead, Berkshire, Eric Clapton and a small group of musicians made history. For the first time in a public performance, the legendary guitarist 'unplugged' his amp and picked up an acoustic guitar to record a selection of old blues favourites and brand new material, including the poignantly personal 'Tears in Heaven', about the tragic los of his son, Conor, the previous year. And then there was the radically surprising take on the classic 'Layla'. Paul Gambaccini hears the story of the making of this classic album, which went on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide and won 6 Grammies, from Eric Clapton himself. He also hears the memories of members of the band: Andy Fairweather Low, Steve Ferrone, Chuck Leavell and Nathan East; Alex Coletti, who produced the show for MTV; sound recordist Buford Jones, and members of the audience. Additional material from Paul Gambaccini's extensive interview with Eric Clapton will be streamed online. Also in this series of For One Night Only: Pete Seeger and others on The Weavers At Carnegie Hall (1955) Producer: Marya Burgess. Eric Clapton tells Paul Gambaccini about the 1992 recording of his ground-breaking album. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
07		Get Yer Ya-yas Out!	20121020	20130319 (R4)	Paul Gambaccini re-lives Thanksgiving 1969 when The Rolling Stones played Madison Square Garden and recorded an album later reviewed as 'the best rock concert ever put on record'. In the company of many who were there on the night, including the tour promoter Ronnie Schneider, sound engineer Glyn Johns, Mick Jagger's assistant at the time Jo Bergman, Chip Monck who looked after the lighting, tour manager Sam Cutler, photographer Ethan Russell, and rock journalist Michael Jahn, Paul Gambaccini re-creates the occasion. Producer: Marya Burgess (Repeat). Paul Gambaccini looks back to the Rolling Stones' Madison Square Garden concert in 1969. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.
07		The Weavers At Carnegie Hall	20121013	20130129 (R4)	Paul Gambaccini is back with the award-winning series to re-visit two occasions when a classic live album was recorded. He hears from those who were there, on-stage, backstage and in the audience, to re-create the event for all of us who, each time we play the album, think: 'If only I could have been there'. Paul Gambaccini re-lives Christmas Eve 1955 and The Weavers reunion concert at New York's prestigious Carnegie Hall. Three years after Pete Seeger's blacklisting for communist sympathies had forced the highly successful folk group to break up because no one was playing their records and no venues would book them, their manager Harold Leventhal took a risk and booked the only venue that would take them: There were queues round the block and the concert was a sell-out. In the company of Pete Seeger himself and the other two surviving Weavers, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman, Paul hears about the birth of The Weavers in the radical home of folk music and left-wing politics that was 1940s Greenwich Village. With their early number 1 hits: 'Goodnight Irene' and 'Tzena, Tzena', The Weavers reached beyond the 'purist' folk movement into the mainstream. Gino Francesconi, Carnegie Hall's Archivist, finds the programme and poster from the 1955 concert, which became a best-selling album after it was released two years later, by Vanguard. Previously an exclusively classical label, this was the album which would make Vanguard the leading folk label of the 1960s. Also in this series of For One Night Only: 'Clapton Unplugged' (1992) Producer: Marya Burgess. Paul Gambaccini looks back to Carnegie Hall 1955 with Pete Seeger and two other Weavers. Paul Gambaccini revisits life-changing concerts turned into legendary live albums.