GREASY TRUCKERS PARTY

The Greasy Truckers Party was an important live set for Hawkwind - recorded so that choice extracts could be included on the 2LP set to commemorate the occasion, it captured the band at a crucial point in its development - with Rob Calvert, Lemmy, and Stacia all having come onboard since In Search of Space and the group's live set already attaining an early prototype of the sound and mood later captured in Space Ritual. The live version of Silver Machine from the set would also eventually form the basis of the classic single, once Lemmy's vocals were put on in place of Rob Calvert's (whose vocals are probably the one aspect of the release that isn't especially well-mixed). Even a power cut earlier in the evening can't throw them off their stride, though it does mean that they have a bit of a false start as the synthesisers crap out during the first attempt to play This Is Your Captain Speaking.

Various editions of the material exist and circulate; the original LP is the way to go if you just want a couple of tracks from Hawkwind and a sprinkling from the other bands in attendance, but most fans will want more, hence the existence of the Live at the Roundhouse 1972 bootleg. Luckily, the recent 2007 reissue of the Greasy Truckers compilation provides a much more complete record of the event, including the entire Hawkwind set. If you're only interested in the Hawkwind material and don't care for the likes of Man, Brinsley Schwarz, and Magical Michael, the recent This Is Your Captain Speaking... Your Captain Is Dead boxed set presents a two-CD presentation of just the Hawkwind set, with the original LP mixes of Master of the Universe and Born to Go as handy bonus tracks.