For those not in the know, available on September 9th, 2022, restored live recordings from 1970ʼs classic prog rock group Flash, featuring ex-Yes guitarist Peter Banks will be released under the banner of In The USA: Live Recordings 1972-73 [3CD] via Think Like A Key.

It features 22 tracks from seven shows across three discs, a majority of them previously unavailable, along with a 32-page booklet with exclusive band interviews, unpublished photos and tour itinerary. A true time capsule back to the golden age of US rock concerts.

After Peter Banks found himself replaced in Yes by Steve Howe, he set his sights on creating a new band. That band was Flash. The group formed in 1971 when Banks recruited longtime associate Ray Bennett (Gun) along with Colin Carter (Pete Bardensʼ Camel) and Mike Hough. Original Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye rounded out the group.

Flash had a sound that felt a lot like that of Yes on its first two albums, but perhaps with a more pop-oriented texture. The group also had a more free-form approach to its virtuosic jamming, seeming to prefer improvisation to well-charted music.

Flashʼs first album, a self-titled one, was released the following year. Kaye did not stay around very long past that release. Rather than replace him, the group carried on as a four-piece. They released two more albums, In the Can and Out of Our Hands in 1973. The group broke up shortly later, but a live recording, Psychosync (originally a bootleg), was released by Voice Print Records in 1997.

Best known thanks to their Yes connections, the band nevertheless held their own across three Billboard charting albums, and the top 30 single hit Small Beginnings.

Ultimately, the purpose here on this new live collection was to gather whatever was still viably available from original source material from these aforementioned American tours undertaken from 1972 to 1973, clean them up and deliver them to their fans accordingly.

So, of course, what we get from these, for the most part Iʼm going to politely say fan recordings, is interspersed between the great music come bouts of audience chatter combined with legit, yet rough soundboard work, which all adds up to be recordings of a bootleg feel.

Given the length of them, it is also clearly evident that Flash were the opening support acts at these captured times, which is neither here nor there, save for the set duration, of course.

Regardless, the band are all on top of their collective games and these live shows showcase an incredibly impressive set of performances. Complete with complex, and yet at all times, lovingly orchestrated musicianship, this is the most perfect addition to any and all Flash-headʼs collection, trust me.

Flash bassist Ray Bennett comments: “What Think Like A Key Music set out to do here, on this multi-disc set, is to gather together whatever was left out there of live Flash stuff, regardless of quality, and present it in the best possible way. Whatever improvements could be made to the audio were done. Quite a bit of it is rough sounding, but I found that even with the poor sound issues, there was something coming across from the live experience. Some surprisingly good moments.”

“A fair bit of this material was fan-recorded, probably on cassettes, some possibly from rough mixing board recordings; some is much better studio type quality, and some has been online for years on obscure websites, but in the worst possible form – awful sound, complete with extraneous noise and talking in the recordings.”

“So all that has been cleaned up and the sound mastered as well as possible. Overall, I think this is a worthy project for the historical record at the very least. Other than the In Public CD which is already available, this new set is it as far as we know. Pretty much all that there is of live Flash performance.”

CD 1: Roslyn, NY, August 1st, 1972:
1. Black And White
2. There No More
3. Monday Morning Eyes
4. Small Beginnings
5. Children Of The Universe
6. Lifetime

CD 2 Hempstead, NY, July 18th, 1972:
1. Small Beginnings
2. There No More
3. Children Of The Universe
4. Dreams Of Heaven

Passaic, NJ, December 16th, 1972:
1. Small Beginnings
2. Black And White
3. Children Of The Universe

CD 3 Indianapolis, IN, December 27th, 1972:
1. Small Beginnings
2. Black And White
3. Children Of The Universe

Burbank, CA, October 9, 1973:
1. Dead Ahead
2. Psychosync

Miami, FL, October 26th, 1973:
1. Children Of The Universe
2. Black And White

Cape Cod, MA, August 24th, 1973:
1. The Bishop
2. Manhattan Morning (Christmas ’72)

Amazon 3CD Purchase Link

Flash - In The USA: Live Recordings 1972-73 (Official Promo Trailer)