T.Rex Flame On, 1971
Marc Bolan & Co. jam Elemental Child on TV, blow minds. Watch the vintage clip.
Bolan At The BBC, Universal’s tasty new six-disc box, is coming soon and will delight all those who rejoice in keeping Marc in their heart. It’s packed with evocative stuff (hear, within, a 1967 Top Gear chat with perfumed John Peel where a starry Marc introduces the beatific Scenescof: “He was a prophet cat… (who) went through lots of hangups and just got zapped”) and among the treasures is a live 1970 Tyrannosaurus Rex show at the Paris theatre.
Looking for live footage in a similar vein, some online searching duly turned up this ’71 live performance of Beard Of Stars track Elemental Child.
Commencing in jaunty, glam guitars style, at 1.22 Marc, bongo man Mickey Finn and bassist Steve Currie start to unleash its live potential. With guitar-mode Bolan riffing, exploring and lost in the electric moment, Finn and Currie keep it minimal and trance – imagine Bo Diddley playing Baby Please Don’t Go with added elfin vibrations, like some parallel universe Endless Boogie with the smoke-break truckers hotfooting shaved off.
Bolan even gives his Fender Strat a bang on the ground at the end! Anyone know where it’s from?
