If you’re interested, over at Wolfgang’s Vault (http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/dt/mother-earth-concert/325-4895.html) there are glimpses of an earlier (pre-Living With The Animals) line-up of Mother Earth, performing between The Flamin' Groovies and Jefferson Airplane on 29/30 September 1967, about a year before the album’s release, Most of the tracks were never officially recorded, but the blues, rock and gospel elements in the group's sound show Mother Earth as one of the most diverse sounding Bay Area bands in 1967 with a tinge of psychedelia, but an earthier, more bluesy sound than many of their contemporaries.
The Winterland 29 September 1967 set begins with a harp and organ groove that transmutes into a keyboard/drums jam and meanders through ten and a half minutes of ensemble playing. Mobile Lill has a nice groove, harp from Powell and a throaty Nelson vocal. No Use Crying is a step back vocally, as Tracy relinquishes the microphone (Wayne Talbert vocal? Doesn’t sound like Living With The Animals Powell - maybe it’s the earmuffs). Ensemble vocals on Turn Your Truck Around kick into a nice groove, then Tracy’s back for Without Love (There Is Nothing) which Mother Earth recorded for the Revolution soundtrack. Nice. Rockin' Pneumonia And the Boogie Woogie Flu hits another nice groove but fades prematurely, and there’s an early two-bloke vocal version of Living With The Animals, which starts in progress after the Rockin' Pneumonia fade out. The closer, Help Me Jesus, gets into a gospel groove, Tracy’s vocals over driving drums on the verses with the rest of the band kicking in on the chorus. Nice set. Wish I’d been there to witness it.
The following night’s set opens with funky rocker Turn Your Truck Around’s ensemble vocals, before Wayne Talbert takes the mike for a keyboard-driven take on Mose Allison’s I’m Not Talkin’. Tracy’s vocal showpiece is Cry On, not far removed from the album version up to the instrumental break, though the Earthettes backing vocals are, predictably, missing. She’s in fine voice again on Got To Be A Good Man, with driving drums and surging keyboards pushing the song along. Nice harp in there too.
Powell takes over for Marvel Group, the harp, intro giving it an almost left-bank Parisian feel. Obviously a fairly early stage in the song’s evolution. He maintains the mike for Stranger In My Own Home Town, another song featured on the Revolution soundtrack, a fairly straight-ahead blues that deals with Powell’s alienation from his hometown in Texas, but steps back to harp duties behind Wayne Talbert’s vocals for Dues To Pay, a more or less standard slow blues, tastefully played but indistinguishable from a thousand and one other expressions of the same genre. The short set finishes once again with Help Me Jesus, which may or may not be better than the previous night’s rendition but underlines the fact that in Nelson's voice Mother Earth had an asset close to unique among the Bay Area bands.
Line-up both nights: Tracy Nelson - vocals, piano; Wayne Talbert - vocals, keyboards; Powell St. John - vocals, harmonica; Ira Main - organ; Jance Garfat - bass; Herbert Tjpas - guitar; George Rains - drums