essen 1970

• Packaging: Jewel case with clear tray and 32-page booklet
• Booklet: Includes a detailed band history in German and English, photographs, discography, cover and label reproductions, and recollections by guitarist and singer James Black
• Recording source: Semi-professional live recording made by the festival promoters and subsequently mastered for release
• Special significance: First legitimate release of a May Blitz live recording

Essen 1970 captures British-Canadian power trio May Blitz performing at the Grugahalle during the third Essen Pop & Blues Festival on 22 October 1970. Recorded only months after the release of their self-titled debut album, the concert documents the group at the height of its brief but highly creative career.

The classic line-up consisted of James Black on guitar and vocals, Reid Hudson on bass and Tony Newman on drums. Working without keyboards or a second guitarist, the trio created an exceptionally full and forceful sound through Black's heavily amplified guitar, Hudson's prominent bass and Newman's powerful, highly inventive drumming.

“Tomorrow May Come” opens the recording with a concise mixture of melody, psychedelic guitar and rapidly shifting rhythms. The performance then moves into a nearly twenty-minute version of “Fire Queen,” expanding the original studio composition through extended improvisation, drum passages and increasingly heavy guitar work.

“Squeet” develops the band's blues and psychedelic influences into a loose instrumental workout, with each musician given considerable freedom. The concert also includes “8 Mad Grim Nits,” a composition later released on the group's second album, The 2nd of May, presented here in a significantly extended early live arrangement.

The closing “I Don't Know” returns to material from the debut album, combining James Black's intense vocal delivery with weighty guitar riffs and fluid interplay between bass and drums. The performance demonstrates why May Blitz have frequently been associated with the emergence of heavy progressive rock, proto-metal and the early underground power-trio sound.

The original recording was made semi-professionally by the festival promoters rather than through a conventional multitrack concert setup. Although the sound retains an archival character, careful studio mastering has preserved the impact and atmosphere of this rare complete performance.

May Blitz released only two studio albums before separating in 1971, leaving very little surviving live material. Essen 1970 therefore provides an important document of the group onstage, accompanied by an extensive 32-page booklet containing historical information and a personal retrospective by James Black.

Track listing:

1. Tomorrow May Come – 5:13
2. Fire Queen – 19:56
3. Squeet – 8:56
4. 8 Mad Grim Nits – 9:15
5. I Don't Know – 6:16