I'm almost finished reading Tim Lawerance's excellent Arthur Russell biography Hold On To Your Dreams and it's safe to say that I've learned a lot of insight into the music and life of this incredible artist. One of my favorite sections of the book is the sub-chapter that discusses the recording sessions for Arthur's Dinosaur L album, 24→24 Music. The 1981 record consists of funky left-field classics like "#5 (Go Bang!)", "#1 (You're Gonna Be Clean On Your Bean)", and "#3 (In The Corn Belt)". That being said, the song that has always intrigued me is the album's only live recorded track "#7". This funky live track was recording during the group's 1979 live performance at the avant-garde venue, The Kitchen. The show was slated as a live performance of a disco orchestra, which was a bit controversial at the time, due to the idea of disco being performed at a dedicated avant-garde venue. Never the less, the show went off with mixed results from the people attending the show and "#7" is the only track to have been released from the performance. The funky track is a solid cut that has a lot of energy similar to the other songs that appear on 24→24 Music. My only real complaint about the live track is that it's a bit too short, registering in just over two minutes in length. After listening to this track, I would love to hear the entire recording of that Kitchen performance. I suppose that unless the entire live recording surfaces, "#7" will have to serve as our only artifact to that unique event. Enjoy! Dinosaur L - #7
