2 Loudon Wainwright III

A Live One

ROUNDER 1979, FROM £2.50 You Say: “Live albums as they should be done – one man and his guitar telling it straight. And it’s an until-then greatest hits collection, too.” Geoff Prowse, via e-mail Abandoned by his manager, dropped by three record labels, written off by critics, and, thanks to an accidental Number 16 Billboard pop hit in 1973 with Dead Skunk, regarded as little more than a novelty act by his stoner college audience, in 1978 a bitter, unhappy Wainwright played the UK (and Los Angeles)with a setlist largely stripped of his trademark comedy songs. Following a cry of “Ah shut up!” to a crowd shouting for Dead Skunk, Wainwright delivers 13 of his finest, darkest numbers with a reined-in wit and rage that is palpable in all its coiled power.