Tesla – Five Man Acoustical Jam
I first heard a snippet of Tesla performing “Signs” on a taped episode
of Raw Power in around 1990/1 – or was it the Kerrang TV show, you know
the one presented by Mosher or Thrasher or whatever his name was. I thought it sounded great and so their “Five Man Acoustical Jam” became one of my
must have albums, I think it was also album of the month in Metal Hammer. I
never did buy it, I’m not sure why, it might just be that the local record
shops never stocked it. I’d always had it in my mind that “Signs” was the
best song I didn’t own.
A few months ago I found a second hand copy in CD Warehouse, I bought
it straight away. It was rubbish, I was disappointed, I barely listened to
it once before I left it at the bottom of the pile of CDs on my bedroom
floor. I decided to give it another go this week, and I have to report that is
one of the finest live albums ever recorded. I fully suspect that Tesla
truly believe that they are cowboys, this is always a fine starting point for
a rock band. It’s all boozy smoking boogie-woogie 12 bar blues,
“Thank-you Philadelphia!!!!” “alright!” “hell yeah” “let’s kick some ass”,
harmonica noodling, rasping vocals, and breaking out the electric guitar for some
solo’s toward the end. They even cover the Beatles (We Can Work It Out)
and the Stones (Mothers Little Helper), and er, The Grateful Dead
(Truckin’).Oh, and they finish the show with the Warner Brother’s “That’s All
Folks” jingle, I will love them forever for this.