Van Duren & Good Question Announce 'Cartwheeling: Live In Memphis'

Omnivore Recordings has announced Van Duren & Good Question’s Cartwheeling: Live In Memphis, a previously unissued live recording from 1992, will be released on December 1.

“It was such a memorable, electric night,” states Van Duren in the liner notes. “And when the room emptied and we dispersed into the cold Memphis night, no one dreamed it would be 30+ years later before that performance would finally be available to hear.”

From his early days playing with Big Star’s Chris Bell and Jody Stephens, his discovery by Andrew Loog Oldham (The Rolling Stones), to a storied solo career—which inspired the acclaimed documentary Waiting: The Van Duren Story—Van Duren has earned his spot as a Memphis music legend.

Van also fronted Good Question, a band whose only release in 1986 was only marred by the classic problem of falling through the cracks. In 1991, the band began work on a follow-up, and invited a group of Memphis friends to a performance to showcase the new album material.

The set simultaneously acted as a retrospective of Van’s career as a solo act, featuring material from his albums Are You Serious? and Idiot Optimism, plus a last-minute addition of a Beatles cover, worked up during rehearsals. The second album never materialized, and this performance has sat patiently in the vaults—waiting to be heard.

Cartwheeling: Live In Memphis is that show, presenting that 1992 set from Van, James Lott, Ray Sanders, Joel Williams, with special guest Rick Steff (Lucero). Newly restored and mastered by Grammy® winner Michael Graves, Van contributes new liners outlining the show and its significance.