Acoustic Trio Live in Berlin


Acoustic Trio Live in Berlin is a 2002 album by Willy DeVille. The album consists of concert recordings made in Berlin to celebrate DeVille’s 25 years of performing, and concert recordings made in Stockholm. Buscadero, the Italian music magazine, named Acoustic Trio Live in Berlin one of the top-ten albums of 2002 in its critics' poll; its readers' poll named the album the 21st best album of 2002.
For the Berlin concerts, DeVille brought along a stripped-down version of his band which he named "The Acoustic Trio.” The Trio consisted of Willy DeVille, Seth Farber, and David J. Keyes. For the Stockholm recordings, DeVille played with an expanded band—the Mink DeVille Band—that included guitarist Freddy Koella, double bassist David J. Keyes, percussionist Boris Kinberg, and background vocalists Doreen and Yadonna Wise.
Richard Marcus called the album "…a great example of not just Willy's talents as a songwriter, but as an interpreter of songs." He added, "A combination of his world-weary voice and the genuine emotion he seems to be able to invest in any song he sings are certainly a good part of why he is successful where others fail, but there's more to it than that. The intangible quality of having looked into the darker part of your soul and come out the other side with your spirit intact that can't be taught, only experienced, is always present when he performs.”
Acoustic Trio Live in Berlin presents cover versions of blues, country, R&B, rock, and soul songs, as well as Willy DeVille originals. It is the second live album by Willy DeVille, the previous live album being 1993’s Willy DeVille Live. Many of the songs on this album also appear in the concert film The Berlin Concerts.

Track listing

Disc 1

Recorded March 21, 2002 at Columbia Hall, Berlin.
  1. "St. Peter's Street" – 2:07
  2. "Betty and Dupree" – 5:03
  3. "It's Too Late She's Gone" – 4:00
  4. "Spanish Harlem" – 4:08
  5. "Trouble in Mind" – 3:29
  6. "Storybook Love" – 4:23
  7. "Big Blue Diamonds" – 4:21
  8. "Shake Sugaree" – 4:50
  9. "Let It Be Me" – 4:13
  10. "That Is the Way to Make a Broken Heart" – 4:48
  11. "Hound Dog" – 2:44
  12. "Junker's Blues" – 3:51
  13. "You Better Move On" – 4:05
  14. Night Falls" – 4:46
  15. "Since I Met You Baby" – 3:51
  16. "Heaven Stood Still" – 3:55

    Disc 2

Tracks 1 through 4 recorded at Columbia Hall, Berlin; tracks 5 through 12 recorded March 10, 2002 at Berns, Stockholm with The Mink DeVille Band.
  1. "I'm Blue So Blue" – 4:07
  2. "Keep a Knocking/Sea Cruise" – 4:11
  3. "Shake, Rattle and Roll" – 5:05
  4. "Rambling on My Mind" – 7:21
  5. "One Night of Sin" – 2:52
  6. "Steady Drivin' Man" – 6:03
  7. "Goin' Over the Hill" – 3:26
  8. "Bamboo Road" – 5:45
  9. "Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot" – 5:03
  10. "Carmelita" – 4:41
  11. "All by Myself" – 3:10
  12. "Billy the Kid" – 5:08
Note: The concert in Stockholm cannot have been on June 24, 2002, because Willy DeVille performed at the Metropol in Berlin on that day. The precise date for the Stockholm show at Berns is March 10, 2002.

Personnel

Acoustic Trio (Berlin concert recordings)