While the King Biscuit Flower Hour's decision to market live recordings from its radio series was a welcome one, the company's tendency to license that material out to other companies that then repackage it without alerting customers to potential duplication is deplorable. Dutch reissue label Disky's
Steve Forbert title
School Girl is an abridged, re-sequenced version of the earlier
Forbert release
King Biscuit Flower Hour: New York 1982, not that you'd know that from the album cover. The performances are drawn from a show
Forbert performed at the night club My Father's Place in Roslyn, New York, on August 14, 1982 (more information not revealed in the packaging). The original album, released in 1996, contained 19 tracks. This one cuts that to 14 by trimming two covers, of
the Searchers' "When You Walk in the Room" and
the Troggs' "Love Is All Around," and three
Forbert originals, among them, unfortunately, two of his best songs, "Goin' Down to Laurel" and "It Isn't Gonna Be That Way." What's left still makes for a stirring performance, as
Forbert and his backup band turn in frisky renditions of originals from his first four albums and throw in two
Chuck Berry covers ("Too Much Monkey Business" and "Little Queenie," the latter stuck in the middle of "You Cannot Win [If You Do Not Play]"). But the full-length version is far superior, and there is the added danger that a
Forbert fan might spring for this import under the impression that it contains otherwise unavailable material. (By the way, Silverline's
Forbert release
From the Front Row Live is yet another collection of the same recordings.)