Phil Collins – Live From The Board: Official Bootleg – review

A live EP was produced as part of the European leg of the Both Sides Tour, but was initially only part of the box set Far Side … Of The World, which in turn was only released in Australia in 1995.

Only four tracks were selected for this live EP and all were recorded during the Both Sides Tour. The recording locations are probably Birmingham and Sheffield, but there is no clear evidence of either.

Sussudio
Easy Lover
Separate Lives
My Girl

The only really interesting piece is probably My Girl, a cover version of the Temptation classic written by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White. Collins occasionally played the song as an encore on the tour. The other three tracks had also previously been part of concert releases, not least on Serious Hits … Live. The versions included here are also less spectacular in terms of arrangement and realisation. Phil sang Separate Lives with Bridgette Bryant in 1990, in the 94 version he is accompanied by Amy Keys and Arnold McCuller.

What is also striking about this EP is that Sussudio is the only track written by Collins. Easy Lover was written by Collins together with Nathan East and Philip Bailey and Separate Lives was penned by Stephen Bishop.

Live From The Board was also released on CD in Argentina, Japan and Europe. There is even a version on cassette in Thailand. The various releases are listed on Discogs. Further live recordings from the tour were released as a bonus on the remastered version of Both Sides in 2016.

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New edition 2024

Somewhat surprisingly, a new 10″ vinyl edition of the EP was announced for the end of 2024. The known four tracks will remain, but this new edition will only be released on vinyl and in digital form in February 2025. The vinyl version will be released on the occasion of Record Store Day.