The very first free download offered on SteveForbert.com was added to the site in

late December 2004.  We put up the live "Romeo's Tune" from More Young, Guitar

Days (it's still there -- I've lost count how many thousands of times it has

been downloaded) and Thinkin' from Cambria, CA October 13, 2002.  It's honestly

hard to believe that it was five years ago that we started offering these tracks.  The

goal at the beginning was to simply put out tracks that probably would have been

left unheard...and I knew we were on to something when I received a 7 track disc

from Steve in the mail in early 2005 with some great songs: "Wild As the Wind"

and "If You Gotta Ask You'll Never Know" from NYC 1/1/2005 -- I still think

that version of "Wild" is the best that I've heard -- and also "What It Is Is A

Dream" which featured Al Kooper and was recorded in March 2004.  We

ended up using all 7 songs from that disc on the site and many of them ended up on

the Best of the Downloads CD.  When you consider all of the free tracks that

we've offered and the great "pay" downloads that have been readied and released

(my favorite was Loose Change...finally a studio version of "Lookin' At the River

in the Rain") it's a pretty impressive volume of music that would keep anyone

interested in the music busy for a good length of time.

What must a new (obsessive) music lover think if they came to the site and realized

that they've missed out on 100+ soundboard recordings?

So...my five favorite Live & Rare downloads from the past five years:

• Andalucia
  (Offered February 2008/Hamburg, Germany 6/21/1992)
  
  I like to think of this as the download that almost wasn't.  Steve sent me a
  disc with a recording of "Who'll Stop the Rain" from Hamburg Germany
  with Clay Barnes in 1992 -- the intent was to pull that track for inclusion
  as an exclusive track for the Best of the Downloads CD.  As I listened to the
  full session, this amazing song written by John Cale, which I didn't know,
  came on and just knocked me out.  Andalucia.  This is probably my
  favorite Forbert vocal ever.  So I called Steve to tell him that I received the
  disc that he sent and asked him about this mystery song...and we had it
  on the web site the next day.  I still love it.
   
• Good Planets Are Hard To Find (w/ The Soundbenders)
  (Offered April 2008/Albany, NY 06/30/2007)
  
  One of three songs that we offered from the Albany 2007 recording with
  The Soundbenders (the others being "The Baghdad Dream" and "Baby,
  Don't").  When I saw this song showing up in the encores of The
  Soundbenders shows I found it curious to say the least -- this track never
  struck me as THE BIG SHOW CLOSER, but then I heard it and it ROCKS. 
  An obvious show closer no doubt.  I imagine that folks left the show after
  this song thinking to themselves, "Jesus!  Good planets are hard to find. 
  I should get out and do SOMETHING!"
  
  Unfortunately, this song came into the picture a little too late to be included
  on the first Best of the Downloads release, but if more volumes see the light
  of day you can bet I'll be lobbying to put this one on there.
   
• Wild As The Wind
  (Offered February 2005/NYC, NY 1/1/05)
  
  Personally, I love the recordings that feature Mark Stuart on lead guitar.  I
  was lucky enough to catch one show in person featuring Steve and Mark and
  it's still my opinion that Good Soul Food is the best of the live releases
  offered from SteveForbert.com -- Live at the Ark -- you can't beat it.  Either
  Mark knows the material very well or he might simply be a fantastic "feel"
  player, but he always does an amazing job of finding his place to shine in
  each song.  I'm still hoping that we can some day find a way to make
  their version of "Goin' Down To Laurel" available in some fashion -- I don't
  know that it'll beat the version that I hear in my head, but I'm sure it'll
  come close.  This version of "Wild As The Wind" features Mark and,
  as I mentioned earlier, it gets my vote for the best version of the song that
  I've heard.  To my ears it seems like Steve slowed it down and there's a
  hint of melancholy to this recording that is missing from the studio version. 
  And I've always liked the slight bit of laughter at the beginning of the
  track -- it's as much a part of this recording as the guitars or vocals. 
   
• The Baghdad Dream
  (Offered May 2006/Studio Recording)
  
  This is, by far, the most popular download that we have ever offered.  Due to
  its subject matter, it was linked to from various web sites and streamed off of
  Neil Young's web site as well.  I haven't kept up with the count, but it has
  been streamed well over a hundred thousand times.  The collectors out in
  our audience might be surprised to know that there were four distinct
  mixes offered of the song while it was offered on the site.  There was quite
  a unique mix (maybe version #3?) that featured some pretty funky
  keyboard licks.  I think it was only on the site for a day or so before it
  was decided to revert back to an older version.  Someone out there has
  this version and probably doesn't even know it but I feel pretty confident
  in saying that it's pretty rare.  Steve continued to work on the song until
  its release on the 2007 album STRANGE NAMES & NEW SENSATIONS
  and I have to give him credit -- the best version of this song most definitely
  is the album version. 
  
  It's a testament to the new world that we live in that a song can be
  recorded, mixed, and mastered and distributed (for free) to anyone that wants
  to hear it within days.  It was an exciting time to see this song sent out to
  the masses so quickly and I still wonder if the few people that swore off
  Forbert after hearing this track ever decided to forgive and forget.  I would hate
  to think that they are missing Down In Flames over one song!
   
• Frankie and Johnny
  (Offered September 2007/Austin, TX 3/4/1993)
  
  How many of you out there remember the Forbert newsletter that used to
  be mailed, yes mailed, out with all of the latest news and tour dates? 
  Terry recently sent me a batch of the old newsletters and as time permits I'd
  like to get them on the web site for all to see.  If you kept your old copies you'll
  see mention of a release that was intended to be a follow-up to BE HERE
  NOW that was to feature tracks recorded for radio stations as Steve made
  the usual rounds promoting which ever album was current at the time
  (probably Rocking Horse Head).  "Frankie and Johnny" was slated to be part
  of this long, lost compilation.  Via the magic of the internet, I was able to
  track down a copy of the full radio broadcast that featured this track and
  always considered it one of my favorite Forbert covers.  I always wanted to
  find a way to do what I could to get this song featured in our Live & Rare
  section and I decided to suggest it to Steve and sent him an MP3 of the track. 
  Mr. Forbert has an uncanny memory for when and where a song was recorded
  and will even remember if a certain performance as *good* (or not) so I doubt
  he even had to listen to the track.  This recording is all the better for having
  an audience present and reacting to the performance and, as you know, it
  was released on the Best of the Downloads set in early 2008.

-- Mike Anderson 12/15/2009