Nils Lofgren - Back it Up!!, Live (Great Album US 1975)

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Source: Japan SHM-CD Remaster

Back It Up!! is a promotional "live" album from Nils Lofgren initially released 1975. The title of the original vinyl LP was Back It Up!! – Nils Lofgren Live – An Authorized Bootleg. Although the recording was officially released by A&M Records, the artwork was designed to give the appearance of a live bootleg recording, similar to Decca Records' original vinyl release of the Who's Live at Leeds in 1970, which was a legitimate live album designed to look like a bootleg. Back It Up!! was not officially available to the public until it was issued on CD in 2007, 32 years after its original release.

The songs were recorded at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California, on October 31, 1975, and primarily features material from Lofgren's first solo album which had been released earlier in the year. At the time of the recording, Lofgren had recently signed with A&M and had just begun a solo career following the dissolution of his previous group, Grin. Despite its limited release, songs from Back It Up!! were featured on FM radio broadcasts during the 1970s and had been generally praised by the musical press as worthy of a proper release.

Before backing Bruce Springsteen, Nils Lofgren’s 1975 “authorized” bootleg guaranteed more than a Grin.

Nils Lofgren was already a Rock & Roll Renaissance Man by the time he turned twenty. He worked with Neil Young on After The Gold Rush, with Neil’s band Crazy Horse, appeared on Stephen Stills 2 and even had his own band – the aptly named Grin. And, that was just the beginning. After a few albums with Grin, Nils went solo in 1975 and released a brilliant, self-titled album featuring the soon-to-be-classic track, “Back It Up.” 

Label on side 1

Even though the critics and the audiences for his live shows knew the magic was there, the record-buying public was still largely unaware of Lofgren. The question became how to get everyone else on board. The answer was to take a radio concert, press it up, disguise it as an “authorized bootleg” and do a then unheard of commando run on the masses. 1,000 records with hand-pasted, photocopied cover art found their way to rock radio, and the legend of Nils Lofgren became a reality.

Featuring the iconic Al Kooper on keyboards (who just happened to be producing Nils’ follow-up studio release at the time), former Grin-mate (and brother) Tommy on guitar and the rhythm section of Mike Zack and Scott Ball, Back It Up!! Live…An Authorized Bootleg showcased tracks from Nils’ current release and four Grin classics. This band was truly on top of their game, and while the listener may not have been able to see Nils do his back-flips, they felt them in blistering versions of tracks like “Keith Don’t Go”, “I Don’t Want To Know” and the Goffin/King penned “Goin’ Back.”

Most who’ve heard this record place it near, if not at the top of Nils’ recorded achievements. In fact, were it not for Nils not wanting to potentially divert attention from his upcoming, second solo release, it might have seen the light as an “official” album. 

Personnel:
♦ Nils Lofgren – guitars, piano, vocals
♦ Tom Lofgren – guitar, backing vocals
♦ Scotty Ball – bass
♦ Michael Zak – drums
♦ Al Kooper – electric piano (special guest)

01. "Take You To The Movies Tonight/Back It Up" – 6:59
02. "Keith Don't Go (Ode to the Glimmer Twin)" – 6:26
03. "I Don't Want to Know" – 3:48
04. "The Sun Hasn't Set on This Boy Yet" – 3:41
05. "Goin' Back" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) – 6:04
06. "Like Rain" – 6:21
07. "Beggar's Day/Soft Fun" – 10:53

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Nils Lofgren and GRIN