I GOT NOTHING
The next three songs on Open Up and Bleed! – “Rich Bitch”, “Wet My Bed” and “I Got Nothing” – were recorded at the Latin Casino in Baltimore in November 1973. “Heavy Liquid” / “New Orleans” is another live performance that was made at the Whisky a-Go-Go in Los Angeles in September 1973.
There is also an LP release of Open Up and Bleed!, but it has fewer songs, with “I Got Nothing”, “Heavy Liquid” / “New Orleans”, and the second version of “Rubber Legs” being omitted.
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One tape that was found in the James Williamson box is from the only known show by the Stooges in San Francisco (at Bimbo’s in January 1974). The liner notes by Frank Meyer say that there are only four songs on the tape, with “Open up and Bleed” being incomplete, so the other three songs – “Wet My Bed”, “I Got Nothing” and “Head On” – are included here, with the versions of the last two songs never being previously released. The California Bleeding album closes with three songs from the September 15th show at the Whisky, “She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills” and “Heavy Liquid” / “New Orleans” (the Gary U.S. Bonds classic) – the first concert performances of these songs ever.
The vinyl release of California Bleeding has the same music except that “I Got Nothing” and “Head On” are omitted.
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Double Danger includes two other full-length concert tapes by the Stooges. Disc One is the November 1973 performance at the Latin Casino in Baltimore; three of the songs from Open Up and Bleed! – “Rich Bitch”, “Wet My Bed” and “I Got Nothing” (and in the same order) – are taken from this concert. The liner notes call this “perhaps the best Stooges live show captured on tape so far”.
Disc Two is a concert on New Years Eve 1973 at the Academy of Music in New York City. Also on the bill that night, according to the liner notes, are “KISS (supposedly their first gig), Teenage Lust, and Blue Öyster Cult.” While the concert was professionally recorded by Columbia Records, this tape was made by someone in the audience, though the liner notes say: “Although in the world of Stooges live tapes, this is certainly among the best.” The concert is notable for including several comparatively rare post-Raw Power songs – “Rich Bitch”, “Wet My Bed”, “I Got Nothing”, and “Cock in My Pocket”. It should be noted that all of the songs on Disc Two of Double Danger also appear on Disc One.
(December 2017)
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Items: I Got Nothing
