News

Following a pair of DVD releases, Shout! Factory has announced the release of several performances on CD from the famous US Festival in California.

Spearheaded by Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak, the US Festival intended to be a celebration of technology and culture, with a temporary stage and open-air venue paid for by Wozniak himself just for the purposes of the festival. (Initially called the Glen Helen Pavilion, the San Manuel Amphitheater, where the festival was held, remains the largest of its kind in the country.) For two blisteringly hot weekends – Labor Day of 1982 and Memorial Day of 1983, performers including The Ramones, The Police, The Cars, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Grateful Dead, Fleetwood Mac, INXS, The Clash, Van Halen, U2 and David Bowie would take the stage.

Despite the historical value of the performances, which captured many up-and-coming New Wave bands and traditional rock acts toward their peak, the festival was a failure, with at two reported deaths at the 1983 festival and Wozniak and promoters losing some $24 million. Setbacks aside, the performances remain a worthy footnote in rock history, and Shout! Factory aims to memorialize these moments, first through DVD and now on CD.

Performances by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings at the 1983 festival’s “Country Day” – held a week after the festival proper – were both released on DVD last November, and now they’re being released on CD on February 28. Both sets capture two country veterans at their peaks, with solid set lists from each performer (and guest appearances from Jennings on Willie’s set).

A month later, on March 27, the label will release a CD/DVD combo of the set from Australian metal group Quiet Riot, fresh off the success of breakthrough album Metal Health just months before.

Hit the jump to check them out!

Willie Nelson, Live at The US Festival 1983 (Shout! Factory, 2012)

1. Whiskey River
2. Stay All Night (Stay a Little Longer)
3. Funny How Time Slips Away
4. Crazy
5. Night Life
6. If You’ve Got the Money I’ve Got the Time
7. Good Hearted Woman
8. Sweet Memories
9. Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys (with Waylon Jennings)
10. Good Hearted Woman (with Waylon Jennings)
11. Why Do I Have to Choose
12. Help Me Make It Through the Night
13. Bloody Mary Morning
14. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
15. Blue Skies
16. Georgia on My Mind
17. All of Me
18. Stardust
19. My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
20. I Can Get Off on You
21. Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground
22. On the Road Again
23. Always on My Mind

Waylon Jennings, Live at The US Festival 1983 (Shout! Factory, 2012)

1. Don’t You Think This Outlaw Bit’s Done Got Out of Hand
2. Clyde
3. Amanda
4. Just to Satisfy You
5. Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line
6. Lucille (You Won’t Do Your Daddy’s Will)
7. I’ve Always Been Crazy
8. Breakin’ Down
9. Lonesome, On’ry and Mean
10. Jack-A-Diamonds
11. Theme from The Dukes of Hazzard (Good Ol’ Boys)
12. Storms Never Last (with Jessi Colter)
13. Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way
14. Rainy Day Woman
15. Women Do Know How to Carry On
16. I Ain’t Livin’ Long Like This
17. Good Hearted Woman
18. Honky Tonk Heroes
19. Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)
20. Mental Revenge
21. Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys
22. I Can Get Off on You

All tracks on both releases recorded live at the US Festival, San Bernardino, CA on June 4, 1983

Quiet Riot, Live at The US Festival 1983 (Shout! Factory, 2012)

1. Danger Zone
2. Run for Cover
3. Love’s a Bitch
4. Cum On Feel the Noize
5. Slick Black Cadillac
6. Let’s Get Crazy
7. Battle Axe
8. Let’s Get Crazy (Reprise)
9. Metal Health (Bang Your Head)

All tracks on this release recorded live at the US Festival, San Bernardino, CA on May 29, 1983