The first 12 minutes and 24 seconds of Edwin Starr Live In Concert

Judging by the quality of the audio and the cover itself, this album is ripped from the concert DVD. About the level of a high-quality bootleg at best, the audio is definitely an improvement over the video. (Headphones help a lot too)

In doing some research, Edwin has a “Live in the UK” album as well as a “Live in Germany” album, which were also combined into one “Live in Concert” album and DVD. The “Live in Germany” seems to have much better quality, but on streaming services, a few of the songs are mislabeled and in the incorrect order. From what I can tell, the first 30 minutes of video are from the live in the UK, and the last half is from Germany, which is also his last concert before his passing in 2003.

In the intro, Edwin Starr is introduced as Agent Double-O-Soul, and I’ve got to hand it to him, he’s worthy of such a James Brown-esque title. Talk about energy and crowd work! The opening medley of hits, incorporating his most well-known song “War!” into everything, is seriously some of the most groovy and fun live music I’ve listened to. I seriously dare y’all to try to not tap a foot or nod your head to this stuff. Edwin exudes an infectious energy that I think you can only find in true entertainers. It looks like this performance is from a festival, and I think it is so cool to watch him win the crowd over and get them fired up.

Mr. Starr comes out to “That’s The Way I Like It” by KC & The Sunshine Band (Death to Disco? Not here, fella.) before transitioning into “War!”, which smoothly turns into one of the greatest songs ever written, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine“. From there, we get a quick rendition of Sam Cooke‘s “Wonderful World,” which then turns back to KC & The Sunshine Band for “Please Don’t Go” and finally ends the medley with “Na Na Hey Hey” by Steam, concluding with the “War!” instrumentals. The rest of the concert is phenomenal, and if you have the time, check out the whole thing. He ends the show with another medley, this time starting it off with his 2nd biggest hit “Twenty-Five Miles” before going into Kool and the Gang‘s “Celebration” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson before circling back to “Celebration” to end the show. The rendition of the MJ song is a ton of fun and the true ending of everything. I always appreciate when the bassman gets some love.

Overall, I am just totally blown away by this performance. I love to stumble across stuff like this, especially from guys like Edwin Starr. Incredible talent, overshadowed by a few big songs. I doubt he was complaining, though! I have certainly gained a new appreciation for Agent Double-O-Soul.

I am linking a Spotify playlist of the 1st medley, but the whole concert is killer. There should be a playlist on YouTube, & I have linked the video to both the UK and Germany concerts below.

Link to playlist – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0zVDffqPGR5i92uKExLYxv

Link to concert, low quality (Starts at 3:10) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xcpz0H3SOA4