MELISSA ETHERIDGE : THE CONCERT FOR WALDEN WOODS

1. ain't it heavy
2. must be crazy for me
3. I'm the only one
4. chrome plated heart
5. bring me some water
6. let's get it on
7. like the way I do

Label : no label

Venue : Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts, USA

Recording Date : September 6, 1993

Length : 42:26

Quality : FM Recording (A+)

Review (Albums That Should Exist) : Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, and philosopher. His 1854 book "Walden," about living a simple life in natural surroundings near Walden Pond, close to Concord, Massachusetts, has been highly influential. By the 1980s, a part of the forest around Walden Pond was protected as parkland, but a part of it was not, and housing developments were encroaching into the area. Don Henley, the main leader singer for the Eagles, had been influenced by Thoreau's writings in college. He made it his cause to protect the Walden Pond area. In 1990, he founded the Walden Woods Project. Through a series of benefit concerts, this project was able to raise millions of dollars, which went to buying more of the land around the pond and converting it into more protected parkland. This is part of one of those series of concerts. I don't know much about the other ones, because I haven't found any quality recordings of them. But for whatever reason, an excellent bootleg exists of nearly this entire concert, which consisted of sets by Elton John, Melissa Etheridge, Sting, Aerosmith, and Don Henley. Probably, the concert was broadcast on a local radio station at the time. Concord is not far from Boston, so this concert took place in Foxboro Stadium near Boston, a huge stadium where football and baseball games are played. I'm guessing there probably were 50 to 60,000 people at the concert. In 1993, Etheridge was probably at the peak of her popularity. In late September 1993, she released the studio album "Yes I Am." It went on to sell six million copies in the US, the best selling album of her career. This concert took place two weeks before the release of that album. So that's probably why it's light on songs from that album. The only song from it was "I'm the Only One," which was released as the first single, one day after this concert. Otherwise, she played songs from her previous albums. However, "Let's Get It On" is a cover of the classic Marvin Gaye song.