#49 BOB DYLAN - A Nightly Ritual (Live 1966) (Flac)

Bob Dylan & the Hawks
A Nightly Ritual - Live 1966

Disc One - Odeon Theatre, Liverpool, England - 14 May 1966
01  Tell Me, Momma 4:07
02  I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) 5:11
03  Baby Let Me Follow You Down 3:38
04  Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues 5:34
05  Crowd 1:55
06  Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat 3:19
07  One Too Many Mornings 4:03
08  Ballad Of A Thin Man 7:00
09  Like A Rolling Stone 7:29
10  God Save the Queen 0:46

The Hotel Room recordings track 11-12 have been removed from this post as they will be released shortly on the Bootleg Series Vol. 12

Disc Two - Gaumont Theatre, Sheffield, England - 16 May 1966
01  She Belongs To Me  4:02
02  Fourth Time Around  4:42
03  Visions Of Johanna  8:27
04  It's All Over Now, Baby Blue 5:51
05  Desolation Row  11:25
06  Just Like A Woman  7:51
07  Mr. Tambourine Man 10:30
08  Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat  4:26
09  One Too Many Mornings  3:27

10  Ballad Of A Thin Man  7:14           
track 10 from Odeon Theatre, Birmingham, England - 12 May 1966

 

Lineage: Silvers > FLAC (ripped with XLD v20110611, using FLAC 1.2.1 - level 8)
from Bob Dylan  - Genuine Live 1966 (Scorpio CD Box Set GBS66-1/10)

The superb review below is from:

DEEP BENEATH THE WAVES vol 84 Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000

 “Hats off to Messrs. Hudson, Jones, Manuel & Danko also. Individually stunning, collectively sublime”.

Liverpool:          
The '66 shows were frenetic, chaotic, rhythmic, melodic, sharp, cutting, primal rock and roll with heart, the likes of which had never been heard before. It was old and new and ahead of it's time, it was rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, soul, beat, garage, it was psychedelic before psychedelic even existed.
The '66 electric sets were all that this Liverpool has it all in spades. Previously uncirculating in its entirety prior to GL66, the first three cuts blow the roof off the place slightly harsh in sound yet still terrific, dominated by Dylan's bold vocals and the razor edge guitar fills of Robbie (check out the leads and fills on "I Don't Believe You" and "Follow You Down," for example), this is stunning stuff. Better than others?  Who cares, it's all subjective anyway, so just enjoy them all as singular performances.
A different source kicks in for the legendary "Tom Thumb Blues" and the sound is fleshed out with a bit more natural bottom a magnificent version - Bob & Robbie supposedly considered it the best also, as it became a b-side, eh! For the first time, we hear rumblings of dissatisfaction from the crowd, with folks yelling at the stage and Dylan taking a long break between "JLTTB" and a marvelous, rockabilly-like rave-up version of "Pillbox Hat" that finds Robbie at the top of his game and Richard's rollicking piano fills a treat to hear. Robbie lifts off again at 2:43 until the song closes half a minute later and into a "One Too Many Mornings" which further evidences how divinely the Hawks played for Dylan, whether loud and raucous or pulling back the reins a bit, as they do here once again, Robbie's guitar is front and center and he seems to step out and stretch it more on this show than on any others in my opinion, his greatest performance from beginning to end.

Similarly, when you focus in on, say, Garth or Danko or any of the Hawks individually, well, they all are over the top. A unique sound, for sure, and never duplicated since. Hats off to Messrs. Hudson, Jones, Manuel & Danko also. Individually stunning, collectively sublime.

More bliss ensues with the psych-freakout of "Thin Man," so full of tension and apparent doom thanks to the incredible dual sound of the organ and bass and Dylan's funhouse screaming vocals such a dark and forbidding sound and feel to the performance that it leaves you feeling spooked and thinking something terrible is about to happen.  It's like watching the classic 30's movie "Freaks," of which "Thin Man" could be the theme song. "Like A Rolling Stone" ends it all to thunderous, pulsating applause as Dylan thanks the crowd (not a boo or stray comment to be heard), then "God Save the Queen" closes the curtain on this most wondrous of shows.

“a brilliant performance in astounding sound quality”

Sheffield:      
The voice from on high. Absolutely gorgeous recording, so full and richly toned it will leave you stunned. Easily the smoothest, unflawed gem from a boxful of 'em. And, in a stroke of good fortune for us listeners, Dylan's performance goes from ridiculously phenomenal to sublime. Each and every tune holds you rapt as if a mystical figure is delivering the gospel through a shroud of fog but the sound is so clear when it hits you ethereal & mysterious describes it well, heavenly perhaps a little less so.

Dylan nails every tune and his harp playing is brilliant.  I can't help thinking that Dylan's wild, wooly and wonderful harp excursions are just as exciting as some of the improvisational gems of Miles and Coltrane. The most telling example is "Mr. Tambourine Man," a wonderfully rich version that ends with almost two minutes of Dylan playing himself into a harp maze from which there appears to be no escape you can hear him searching and ultimately extricating himself at 9:57 with one sustained note. Then, as if to say "hah, you thought I'd never get out of that, eh?"he wraps it all up less than 15 seconds later. The crowd sure appreciated it, judging by the applause and cheering.

To sum up, a brilliant performance in astounding sound quality. As if that was not enough, filling out the disk are improved versions of Sheffield electric "Pillbox Hat" and "One Too Many Mornings," and the Birmingham "Thin Man." A fantastic listen.

If the above review by "Deep Beneath The Waves" doesn't encourage you to download this one, then there is nothing I can say that would.

The official Bootleg Series Vol. 11 was originally planned to be the Blood On The Tracks sessions, hence their omission from this blog. The alternate Blood On The Tracks and it's companion would have made a worthy number one but it seemed pointless to put in all the work, only for it to be hit with a takedown notice.

This live '66 set, especially the acoustic Sheffield performance is a superb audio document and together with the official Manchester release you have some of the greatest live recorded music ever put to tape. As for that official Bootleg series by Sony/Columbia, all 12 volumes are featured and reviewed in a 52 page booklet, given away with the new issue of the music magazine "Mojo"

#48 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Passaic Night (1978) (Flac)

Capitol Theatre, 
Passaic, New Jersey
September 19, 1978

Passaic Night (Crystal Cat CC 476-78)
Lineage: Silver CDs -> EAC -> WAV -> FLAC -> YOU
Artwork included.

 

It’s highly likely that the ‘Live Bruce Springsteen Archive Series’ will release this. If I had any input to record company releases I would accord it the deluxe treatment, and include the discs inside a hardback book package telling the story of the Darkness On The Edge Of Town tour.

Any of the big five ’78 recordings (seven if you include the more recent Passaic JEMS releases) could have appeared here. Tracks from the Roxy appear on the official live ’75-’85 box set released in the eighties, so that one was ruled out. The Fox is a great show but doesn’t have the sufficient gravitas of the other ’78 recordings. The Agora has been released as part of the above-mentioned Live Bruce series, which leaves a straight shoot out between Winterland & Passaic. Years ago, before I had any interest or knowledge of bootlegs I remember reading Dave Marsh’s book Born To Run, His enthusiasm for live recordings and unreleased songs was infectious and a tape copy of Passaic became a prized possession. This just nudges ahead of Winterland as my favourite ’78 Darkness tour recording. An astute reader of the blog previously remarked how many legendary tours there were in the seventies, this is another example to add to your collection. Those coming to this recording from the official releases will note how prominent in the mix the guitars are.

I’ve included a near 4,300-word review of this bootleg release in the notes, see disc three of your download. It gives you a comprehensive history of this recording and it’s importance. Worth reading before you listen. I've used some edited comments for the tracklist. The more compact notes that accompany this Crystal Cat bootleg follow on from the tracklist notes:

The first of a three-night stand at the 3,200-seat Capitol Theatre, and one of five Darkness Tour concerts to be broadcast on FM radio

First Set:

1-02. Badlands (5:00)
 The show begins with an astonishingly furious rendition of the new album’s opener. 
1-03. Streets Of Fire (4:47)
 Slows the pace and is characterized by Springsteen’s impassioned vocal performance and what Guterman refers to as his “loud, nasty guitar.”  
1-04. Spirit In The Night (6:50)
 An exuberant performance follows with this track from Springsteen’s debut album. Danny Federici’s organ and Clarence Clemons saxophone create an atmosphere that is both frivolous and utterly sordid.  In keeping with the gritty tone established by the Darkness songs, it concerns drunken sex in the dirt rather than romance.  
1-05. Darkness On The Edge Of Town (4:14)
 Is a passionate performance that perfectly conveys, as Christopher Sandford puts it in Springsteen: Point Blank, “a raw, harrowing awareness that we can never escape our fate.” The Chicago Tribune reviewer called, “the music almost frighteningly brutal,” particularly “the sheer feral snarl of the vocals.”
1-06. Independence Day (5:29)
 A Darkness outtake that came close to making the album. Springsteen had narrowed the album down to thirteen songs. Independence Day, along with The Promise and Don’t Look Back, failed to make the cut. The version played here, is tremendously poignant and superior to the studio take on the follow up album ‘The River’  
1-07. The Promised Land (5:23)
 Follows with a vigorous rendition continuing the Darkness theme and regarded by Schumer, as a definitive live version.
1-08. Prove It All Night (9:30)
 Is played, as Guterman writes, in “an elongated [version]…which built from a soft piano intro through a screaming guitar solo into an unruly version of the song as it appeared on the album, followed by another wicked guitar solo.”  Roy Bittan, who regards the song as, “the most exciting song of the show,” is again impressive here, and this is a fine version.
1-09. Racing In The Street (8:09)
1-10. Thunder Road (5:28)
 Roy  Bittan is arguably the star of the rest of the first set.  He contributes some beautiful playing to this exquisite and moving song on which, Springsteen sings the defining lyrics of the whole album. Bittan also plays, as Guterman says, “a crowning coda,” which Springsteen overlaid with a spoken introduction to Thunder Road. Schumer calls these the finest live versions of both Racing In The Street and Thunder Road, and the piano coda and the spoken introduction contribute immeasurably to the brilliance of these performances.  Despite the optimistic ending, there is a streak of realism here which chimes with the Darkness songs. Springsteen and the band receive a tremendous and well-deserved ovation at the end of Thunder Road.
1-11. Meeting Across The River (3:17)
 Is a beautifully measured performance, which effectively conveys the song’s melancholy mood. 
1-12. Jungleland (9:39)
 An excellent version of this epic Born To Run track follows, featuring a powerful sax solo from Clarence Clemons and a fine guitar solo from Steve Van Zandt. Again, despite the overtly romantic qualities of the song, it ends in grubby street violence as the Magic Rat is gunned down.

Second Set:

2-01. Kitty’s Back (12:49)
 Opens the second set with, a superb, thirteen-minute version. The song comes across a a little harder-edged than earlier versions, in keeping with the heavier sound of the Darkness Tour, but Federici and Bittan keep the song swinging nicely and Clemons contributes effective rasping sax.
2-02. Fire (2:54)
 Is splendidly sultry
2-03. Candy’s Room (3:03)
 Follows performed at breakneck pace.
2-04. Because The Night (6:39)
 Like Prove It All Night, begins with a scintillating interplay between Bittan’s piano and Springsteen’s guitar, and features a searing solo from Springsteen later in the song.  Despite its qualities, the Winterland rendition is even more exciting.
2-05. Point Blank (6:36)
 Is another true highlight of this set, and it is an even more intense performance than the Winterland version.  The lyrics differed slightly at different concerts, and here, in keeping with Springsteen’s explanation before the song’s debut at the Roxy in July that (in part, at least) it concerned a couple he knew who had to work two jobs a day to avoid having their house repossessed, he sings the lines, “Day shift turns to night shift/And the night shift turns to day/ And all of your hopes and your promises/Somehow they just fade away.”
2-06. Not Fade Away (4:59)
2-07. She’s The One (6:32)
 Not Fade Away rather than Mona, serves as the introduction to She’s The One but we still get the rhythmic drumming and animal calls at the start.  It segues even more smoothly than Mona manages to do into She’s The One, which receives a hugely energetic performance.
2-08. Backstreets (11:32)
 Follows, complete with the spoken “Sad Eyes” interlude, which includes the reference to driving all night to buy shoes, which of course later grew into a whole new song.  Although this is a terrific performance of the song, the spoken interlude on the Winterland version is more structured and possessed of a more coherent narrative structure.
2-09. Rosalita (11:05)
 Concludes the second set with a barnstorming version, complete with band introductions.

Encore:

2-10. 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) (6:44)
 Unfortunately, unlike Great Dane, Crystal Cat concludes the second disc with the first song of the encore, a warm, wistful rendition.  Presumably this was done to create as much room as possible for bonus tracks on the third CD, but it would have been preferable to have a more natural disc break.
3-01. Born To Run (4:29)
 After the gentle start to the encore, Springsteen and the band bring the house down with the uproarious mayhem of this thunderous version
3-02. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (3:56)
 Follows with an effervescent performance
3-03. Devil With The Blue Dress Medley (7:22)
 Is a barnstorming medley
3-04. Raise Your Hand (4:25)
 A spirited version ends the concert with some spoken interaction between Springsteen and the audience.

The bonus tracks have been excluded because the Passaic tracks were upgraded and circulated by the JEMS team..

This release features what many consider a peak of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s incredible 1978 Darkness On The Edge Of Town tour; a three show stand in an intimate theatre on home ground in New Jersey.

The first stage of the tour was coming to a close in September 1978 (though Bruce and the band would regroup to play for another two months at the end of the year) and the popularity that Bruce now enjoyed, especially in the north eastern strongholds where his music had first been appreciated en masse meant he generally was playing huge sports arenas like Madison Square Gardens and the Philadelphia Spectrum, but the real climax of the summer tour was planned to take place in consumer friendly theatre venues in both New York and New Jersey (Though there were a few more make up shows, mainly in the south east, that followed at the end of the month).

Three nights at the Palladium in Manhattan saw some major changes in the set lists prior to the shows in August and September, so that when Bruce and the band hit the stage at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey on September 19, 1978, they were presenting not only the lucky people in the auditorium with a few surprises, but also a large amount of radio listeners, as the show was being broadcast live on the New York station WNEW, which is the excellent source recording for the main body of this release.

The performance throughout this show was exceptional, as Bruce and the E Street Band always managed to raise their game when it really mattered, and in addition to some powerful readings of most of the Darkness On The Edge Of Town material there were quite a few performances of note. Such as a full band arrangement of Independence Day (which had only reappeared in the set during the Palladium shows after it’s one solo performance at the Roxy in LA back in July; an atmospheric rendition of Meeting Across the River, making one of it’s very fleeting 1978 showings; Kitty’s Back opened the second set, another song that would make it’s only 1978 appearances at the Palladium/Capitol Theatre shows, while Point Blank was another then unreleased song reintroduced into the set list after it’s solitary airing earlier in the tour at the Roxy. The encores at these shows were also restructured from earlier in the summer; with Tenth Avenue Freeze Out and the ever-popular Devil With The Blue Dress medley both back in favour.

Reviewers comments:

“To this day I have yet to hear any Darkness performance that can hold a candle to this Capitol Theatre show, song for song, note for note.  It’s perfect.  It’s Bruce’s de facto live album. At least five songs stand out as definitive live versions, not only from the Darkness tour, but from Bruce’s career: ‘Promised Land,’ ‘Prove It All Night,’the extended ‘Backstreets’ with the ‘Sad Eyes’ interlude, ‘Because The Night,’ and ‘She’s The One’ with the ‘Not Fade away’ prelude.” 
Arlen Schumer (Art Director of the first Springsteen magazine, Thunder Road (1978-82))

“There is little chance the performance here will ever be topped,”
Lynn Elder (Author of the bootleg guide Bruce Springsteen: You Better Not Touch)

“This is one of the best shows Springsteen ever did in his life and stands as one of the monumental nights of his career.”  “Dynamic…a classic three-hour show,”
Clinton Heylin (author of Bootleg: The Secret History of the Other Recording Industry, 1996)

 “Probably one of the best all-time concert recordings. Great versions of ‘Because The Night’ and ‘Fire,’ and also includes what many consider to be the best examples of ‘Racing In The Street’ and ‘Thunder Road’ ever! – Essential.” Brucebase (website)

“In my opinion, this wonderful show contains the best live versions of Racing In The Street, Thunder Road and Point Blank, reason enough to own this set.” 
Dave Marsh (author of  Born To Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story, 1979)

This show is now officially released and can be found at the official store on the Bruce Springsteen website:

LINK HERE 

#47 MOGWAI - Opposition Commissions: BBC Sessions 1996-2003 (Flac)

“Bear in mind that if you’ve not heard or seen Mogwai before, some of their stuff is very quiet and then goes suddenly terrifically loud.”                                                             John Peel, February 1998

“This is a John Peel band, Mogwai.” 
          Steve Lamacq, March 1999

 

Earlier this year in June, Mogwai celebrated their 20^th anniversary together as a band; they scheduled gigs in Glasgow and London to mark the important event. 

I made the long drive to Glasgow, to see the second show on Sunday night at the famous Barrowlands. I had always wanted to see Mogwai in front of their home crowd and this was an opportunity too good to miss. As well as dedicating this post to the memory of John Peel on whose show I first heard Mogwai back in 1996. I would also like to dedicate it to the young woman that was standing next to me with her boyfriend. She started dancing frantically while everyone else near the front stood stock-still. I’m not sure whether it was my look of disbelief or the fact that she banged into me at one point, that caused her to stop. I can’t say I ever thought I would see anyone dancing to Mogwai’s music live, so respect to her. As for the show; an epic two hour incredible performance that pummelled my eardrums into submission.

On August 27, 2007, ‘Einzack’ announced on the Mogwai discussion forum "ithica45.proboards" that he’d posted to the Dimeadozen tracker, a torrent entitled ‘Opposition Commissions’, collecting the Mogwai BBC sessions that were left off the official release CD: ‘Government Commissions.’ His compilation is comprised of tracks from nine different BBC sessions, recorded between 1996 and 2003. Five sessions were recorded for the John Peel show, the last two live from Maida Vale. The remainder were split between Mary Ann Hobbs ‘Breezeblock’ show and the ‘Evening Session’ hosted by Steve Lamacq. Excluding the ten tracks released on the official release and the Mary Ann Hobbs session track ‘R U Still In 2 It?’ that was released on the deluxe edition of the debut album, the remaining 28 session tracks broadcast between 1997 and 2003 are compiled here over three discs. The only minor downside is that this set could do with some editing and fades for a more professional finish.

Over the years, the BBC engineers and studio hands have recorded and produced many excellent sessions. This is a perfect example and amongst the absolute best. You won’t find a better Mogwai bootleg; it doesn’t get better than this. Fully deserving of an official release with the complete four-disc box set treatment. If you've never heard Mogwai, you can start here and then go see them live, an experience you will never forget. Trust me!

Disc One: 50:46 
Peel Session, The Hippodrome, Golders Green, London (broadcast 11 January 1997) Lineage: FM > DAT 
xx. Superheroes Of BMX (officially released on ‘Government Commissions’)

1-01. Summer (priority version) (4:10)
1-02. Waltz For Jo (2:54)
xx. R U Still In 2 It? (officially released on ‘Government Commissions’) recorded 22/12/96
listed as ‘Mogwai Salute The Brilliance of Steve Lamacq’ in the Peel Sessions book 

Mary-Anne Hobbs / Breezeblock Session, Maida Vale Studios, London (broadcast 28 October 1997) Lineage: FM > DAT
1-03. Like Herod (12:13)
xx. R U Still In 2 It? (officially released on 'Mogwai Young Team' deluxe edition, 2008)
1-04. Helicon 1 (8:33) 

Peel Session, Maida Vale Studios, London (broadcast 17 February 1998) Lineage: FM > DAT
1-05. Procedure Four (better known as Xmas Steps) (7:06)
1-06. Ex-Cowboy (10:03)
1-07. Don't Cry (Guns n' Roses cover) (5:43)
xx. Helicon 2 (officially released on ‘Government Commissions’) 

Disc Two: 71:38 
Mary-Anne Hobbs / Breezeblock Session, Maida Vale Studios, London (broadcast 18 June 1998) Lineage: FM > cassette
2-01. Xmas Steps (11:17)
2-02. Small Children In The Background (5:19)
2-03. Kappa (5:24) 

Peel Session, Maida Vale Studios, London (broadcast 1 September 1998) Lineage: FM > DAT
2-04. Rollerball (4:27)
xx. Kappa (officially released on ‘Government Commissions’)

2-05. Spoon Test (5:57)
04. Cody (officially released on ‘Government Commissions’)
listed as ‘Country’ in the Peel Sessions book 

Steve Lamacq / Evening Session, Maida Vale Studios, London (broadcast 29 March 1999) Lineage: FM > DAT
xx. Helicon 1 (officially released on ‘Government Commissions’) 
2-06. May Nothing But Happiness Come Through Your Door (8:55)
xx. Like Herod (officially released on ‘Government Commissions’)
2-07. Chocky (6:27) 

Steve Lamacq / Evening Session, Maida Vale Studios, London (broadcast 16 April 2001) Lineage: FM > MD
2-08. Stanley Kubrick (3:56)
2-09. 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong (6:58)
2-10. You Don't Know Jesus (12:55)
xx. Secret Pint (officially released on ‘Government Commissions’) 

Disc Three: 69:44 
Peel Session, Maida Vale Studio 3, London (broadcast live 17 October 2001) Lineage: FM > MD

3-01. John Peel Intro (0:12)
3-02. Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home > Nick Drake (7:29)
3-03. You Don't Know Jesus (6:36)
3-04. Radarmaker > My Father My King (21:18)
3-05. John Peel outro (0:33) 

Peel Session, Maida Vale Studio 4, London (broadcast live 21 May 2003) Lineage: FM > CD-r
xx. John Peel Intro (officially released on ‘Government Commissions’) 
xx. Hunted By A Freak (officially released on ‘Government Commissions’) 
3-06. Kids Will Be Skeletons (3:27)
3-07. Killing All The Flies (4:01)
xx. Stop Coming To My House (officially released on ‘Government Commissions’) 
3-08. Golden Porsche (2:54)
3-09. Ratts Of The Capital (8:07)
3-10. I Know You Are But What Am I? (4:29)
3-11. Helicon 1 > John Peel outro (10:33)

 

Session recording dates:
t1-01 & t1-02, recorded on 22 December 1996
t1-05, t1-06 & t1-07, recorded on 20 January 1998
t2-04 & t2-05, recorded on 23 August 1998
t2-08, t2-09 & t2-10,  recorded on 10 April 2001
t3-01 to t3-05, recorded on 17 October 2001
t3-06 to t3-11, recorded on 21 May 2003 
no information is available for the recording dates of the ‘Breezeblock’ sessions 

Original notes by einzack 
Note 1: This is a compilation of all the BBC session tracks not included on the official 'Government Commissions: BBC Sessions 1996-2003' cd. I have removed all of the tracks included on the official release. 

Note 2: All but one of the sessions is taken from seeds originally uploaded to dime and etree.org by rappard. I have audio cd copies of the same generation and lineage as martin but kept his flac filesets so we did not end up with duplicate filesets in circulation. The one show he did not have was 1998-06-18, so included is a rip from my cd's. 
Note 3: I have left all of the original seeds as originally uploaded, except with the official tracks removed and md5 files added to the two 2001 sessions as per dime regs. So therefore, the removed tracks are still included in the info and md5 files. 
Note 4: The lineages included in this info file are just short abbreviations, but complete lineages are included in the respective info files for each session

#46 THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE - Royal Albert Hall, London (Flac)

Jimi Hendrix - An Evening with the Jimi Hendrix Experience
Live at the Royal Albert Hall
London
24 February 1969

 This recording of the Jimi Hendrix Experience performing in London for the last time, at the Albert Hall on February 24, 1969 was the subject of a legal battle in 2006, lasting through to 2008, when it was finally resolved. The English newspaper ‘The Times’ issued part of the performance on a cover mounted CD with its paper on 10 September 2006. They claimed licensing rights and permission from Charly Records, who had previously issued the show (against claims by Experience Hendrix, disputing their right to do so). Experience Hendrix LLC, the Seattle based company which owns and administers the Jimi Hendrix legacy recordings, obtained summary judgement against the ‘Times’ newspaper

The Albert Hall concert was actually filmed and recorded on behalf of a joint venture between Jimi Hendrix, his manager Michael Jeffery, and filmmakers Steve Gold and Jerry Goldstein. Experience Hendrix is the successor to the Hendrix and Jeffery interests and The Last Experience Inc. is the successor to the Gold and Goldstein interests.

Bernard Solomon, who served as the accountant for Gold & Goldstein and their companies, obtained a copy of the Albert Hall audio recording in the 1970’s. He then began to license the audio material through various companies he owned or controlled, all without license or approval from Hendrix, Gold or Goldstein. These unauthorized Albert Hall concert releases have continued over the past decades, most recently through Charly Records and its licensees. The most prominent of these bootlegs during the past few years have been the “His Greatest Hits” (Volumes 1 and 2) CDs released on the Legacy International label. Experience Hendrix has caused many major record distributors to remove these recordings from their bins and websites, but these releases continue to reappear at various retail venues.

As a consequence of its cover mount release and the resulting lawsuit by Experience Hendrix, the London Times attempted to validate the Charly Records claim, but the UK court rejected it. In its judgment dated February 19, the London court granted summary judgment in favour of Experience Hendrix and The Last Experience Inc., and awarded Experience Hendrix recoupment of its legal costs while rejecting the legal arguments and related factual contentions advanced by the London Times.
Janie Hendrix, CEO of Experience Hendrix, commented on the verdict, “Our primary focus has long been to safeguard the legacy of Jimi Hendrix; this verdict validates our efforts and we shall continue our vigilance in challenging any and all bogus claims to his work.” Jerry Goldstein of The Last Experience noted, “We, too, are pleased with the court’s decision and looking forward to working with Experience Hendrix in offering the definitive presentation of this legendary performance in the future.”

So what of the recording, it’s the excellent, unofficial and now deleted version by Purple Haze Records "An Evening With The Jimi Hendrix Experience" that takes the #4 place in our countdown. The tone from Jimi’s guitar is superb as is the sound quality. The band were fragmenting and some have complained that it’s not a band performance but Hendrix with backing musicians.
No matter, it remains one of my favourite Hendrix performances. It also features three superb rehearsal outtakes, at the beginning of disc one. Followed by the complete live show by the Experience at the Royal Albert Hall. With never ending contractual disputes delaying its official release, it was reportedly due for release in 2008. Seven years later we still wait and wait. Download this and savour King Jimi live in London, the city where his career first took off in late 1966.

 

 

 Disc 1:
1. Hear My Train A Comin' (Afternoon Sound Check)
2. Room Full Of Mirrors (Afternoon Sound Check)
3. Bleeding Heart (Afternoon Sound Check)
4. Concert Intro
5. Lover Man
6. Stone Free
7. Hear My Train A Comin'
8. I Don't Live Today
9. Red House
10.Foxy Lady

Disc 2:
1. Sunshine Of Your Love
2. Bleeding Heart
3. Fire
4. Little Wing
5. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)
6. Room Full of Mirrors
7. Purple Haze
8. Wild Thing
9. Star Spangled Banner

Purple Haze Records - HAZE007
Source: Silver Cds > EAC > FLAC > YOU
Uploaded to Traders Den on 1st July 2008

Original notes:
This set had been previously posted without two tracks from Disc 2: 4. Little Wing and 5. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return). Different mixes of these tracks were released on the Jimi Hendrix Experience Boxset. The first disc of this torrent, is exactly the same as the first torrent I uploaded (Brad Haupt)

#45 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Main Point, Bryn Mawr 1975 (Flac)

Bruce Springsteen & the E. Street Band
The Main Point,
Bryn Mawr, PA.
Wednesday 5th February 1975

There are many classic live performances by Bruce and the E Street Band circulating, this is one of the greatest, recorded over five months before the beginning of the ‘Born To Run’ tour. The liner notes by Crystal Cat succinctly describe a writer’s reaction to it as “Fuckin’ great!”

The show was held as a benefit for the 270-seat coffeehouse, Main Point. It was presented by DJ Ed Sciaky and broadcast complete with a two hour time delay by WMMR-FM on the night of February 5th, 1975

The 18-song set list is comprised of the complete ‘The Wild, The Innocent’ album live, bar Wild Billy’s Circus, four tracks apiece from the debut ‘Greetings’ and the forthcoming ‘Born To Run’ album. A Love So Fine is an unreleased Springsteen song and the other three tracks are covers; Dylan’s I Want You is superb with exquisite violin by Suki Lahav, Mountain Love was a hit single in 1960 by Harold Dorman and the set closer is Chuck Berry’s Back in the USA.

Many boots appeared originally incomplete but in 1990 the Italian bootleg label Great Dane released ‘The Saint, The Incident & The Main Point Shuffle’ on CD. This was quickly superseded by a pre-FM upgrade of the first ninety-minutes and issued with the same title but for the addition of ‘Masters Plus'. Since then there have been numerous releases.

The first part of this post, the pre-FM source is taken from the Crystal Cat release Main Point Night (CC 729-30). For some considerable time, the last hour of the show, part way through Kitty’s Back onwards, was only available from an FM broadcast in vastly inferior quality. In the summer of 2011 an upgrade emerged via a recording of the concert on reel at 3-3/4 IPS by a Philadelphian fan. The quality while not matching the pre-FM is still a significant upgrade and it was released online by the highly regarded JEMS team, responsible for some of the finest unreleased Springsteen recordings in circulation.

Queuing at the Main Point

Disc 1
01. Intro  
02. Incident On 57th Street  
03. Mountain Of Love  
04. Born To Run  
05. The E Street Shuffle  
06. Wings For Wheels  
07. I Want You  
08. Spirit In The Night  
09. She's The One  
10. Growin' Up  
11. It´s Hard To Be A Saint In The City  
12. Jungleland  

Disc 2
01. Kitty's Back*  
02. New York City Serenade  
03. Rosalita  
04. 4th Of July, Asbury Park  
05. A Love So Fine  
06. For You  
07. Back In The U.S.A.

sources
Disc One Main Point Night (CC 729-30) Crystal Cat bootleg silver
Disc Two FM recording to reel at 3-3/4 IPS (via JEMS)
* see notes above

#44 THE CLASH - Jaap Edenhal, Amsterdam, 1981 (Flac)

The Clash  - Jaap Edenhal, Amsterdam, Holland
Sunday, 10th May 1981
FM re-broadcast

The ‘Sandinista’ album released on 12 December 1980, had met with little critical acclaim apart from the weekly UK based music paper ‘Sounds’ and the influential US publication ‘Rolling Stone.’ A tour to promote the album was scrapped because the record label CBS refused to provide the essential financial support. At this time the band were a half million pounds in debt to their record company. Eventually after the return of Bernie Rhodes (their original manager) a tour of the major European cities was finally set up. The Impossible Mission tour began on Monday 27th April 1981 in Barcelona. It was their first gig in ten months, the longest gap in their history. As the tour progressed the ‘Sandinista’ songs took on a different form, and longer more improvisational sets followed. This show mid-way through the tour was recorded and broadcast on Dutch radio. This is the rebroadcast (2008) that has been cleaned (remastered?) by ‘Sonny Burnit’. The following 9 tracks are still unavailable from a soundboard source: Safe European Home, Complete Control, Corner Soul, Wrong Em Boyo, Brand New Cadillac, The Street Parade, Washington Bullets, Armagideon Time and London’s Burning.
This is a show that deserves an official release, the complete set in best ever quality would be a fitting live legacy. The Clash are firing on all cylinders here, it's an explosive performance and justifies their legendary live reputation.
For those too young to have seen the Clash, their live volume was like a nuclear blast, pummelling the ears. The closest a modern band has got to it, is perhaps Mogwai, different musically but they employ a similar wall of sound.
A review by ‘Rat Patrol’ on the 'black market clash' site declared that this show has the best One More Time, Lightning Strikes and This Is Radio Clash performances. It also has the following tracks in their best available quality, Somebody Got Murdered, Career Opportunities, Charlie Don’t Surf and The Leader. He also declared that London Calling was the weakest track because Joe sounded half asleep. I can’t say I agree with that last comment.
I tried to compile the whole show using the circulating audience recording but because of the varying sound quality it didn’t work out, except for the intro which included Sixty Seconds with the opening track London Calling, it sounds much better hearing the beginning of the show in it’s true context. I have added a link for this track for those who wish to burn it to cdr, in place of the original London Calling.

Note that the FM source has gaps between the tracks. Thanks to those who have provided the links for the FM and Audience sources. I have not included the details of their origins, so as to deflect any unwelcome attention from their site by the copyright police!

In a 'Rolling Stone' magazine interview from 2013, shortly after the release of 'Sound System', Mick Jones was asked. So there’s no plan to release any concerts now?  He replied,

“I'm not even thinking about any more Clash releases.
This is it for me, and I say that with an exclamation mark."

Hopefully he will have second thoughts and change his mind. The upcoming release of a new Jam box set containing no less than six concerts may concentrate further thoughts on the subject:

Disc 1:  Live at the 100 Club – 11th September 1977,
Disc 2:  Live at the Music Machine - 2nd March 1978
Disc 3:  Live at Reading University – 16th February 1979
Disc 4:  Live at Newcastle City Hall – 28th October 1980
Disc 5:  Live at Hammersmith Palais – 14th December 1981
Disc 6:  Live at Wembley Arena – 2nd December 1982

It would be a shame if the last officially sanctioned live release by the Clash was as a support band. Surely the best live band of my generation deserves a better legacy. So c'mon Mick, none of us are getting any younger!

Tracklist (FM)
1.  London Calling        
2. The Leader
3. Somebody Got Murdered
4. White Man In Hammersmith Palais
5. Guns of Brixton
6. Lightning Strikes        
7. Ivan Meets GI Joe
8. This is Radio Clash
9. Charlie Don’t Surf
10. Magnificent Seven
11. Bankrobber        
12. Train in Vain
13. Career Opportunities
14. Clampdown
15. One More Time       
16. I Fought the Law

FM LINK

AUDIENCE LINK

Impossible Mission 1981 tour dates:
Apr 27  Barcelona, Spain
Apr 28  Madrid, Real Madrid basketball stadium
Apr 30  Cascais, Portugal
 May 1  Lisbon?
May 2  Velodromo de Anoeta, San Sebastian, Spain
May 4  Bordeaux, France
May 5  Palais des Sports, Lyon, France
May 6  Palais de Beaulieu, Lausanne, Switzerland
May 7  Zurich (venue?)
May 8  Hippodrome de Pantin, Paris, France Aud
May 9  Palais St. Sauveur, Lille, France SBD *
May 10  Jaap Edenhal, Amsterdam, Holland  FM *
May 11  Forest National, Brussels.
May 12   Musikhalle, Hamburg, West Germany
May 14 Idrottshuset, Copenhagen, Denmark Aud
May 15 The Scandinavium, Gothenburgh, Sweden Aud
May 16  Isstadion, Stockholm, Sweden Aud
May 18  Eissporthalle, (West) Berlin Aud
May 19   Circus Krone, Munich, West Germany
May 21  Velodromo Vigorelli, Milan, Italy  Aud *
May 22  San Remo
May 23  Stadio Comunale, Florence, Italy Aud

A recording exists for all the shows not in grey, those with an asterisk have the best sound quality

#43 BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS - Boarding House, San Francisco 1975 (Flac)

Bob Marley and the Wailers
Boarding House,
San Francisco, CA.
July 7, 1975

KSAN reel #354 1/2 track @ 7.5 ips
 
After a warm up show in Miami, the Natty Dread tour began with a trip over the border to Toronto in Canada on June 8th; these early dates in June then covered the North Eastern states of the USA. After a seven day consecutive run at Paul's Mall in Boston, the tour broke for a few days with some much neeeded rest and the inevitable travelling time for the remaining dates on the West coast. Ten dates in California followed, beginning on July 4th with a four night stand at the Boarding House in San Francisco. One night at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland followed before finishing this North American leg with a five night run at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. Four days later the group were in London for two dates at the Lyceum Ballroom, a show in Birmingham followed, before this short visit to England concluded in Manchester on July 20th.

This tour is notable for the significant change in group members, only Bob Marley (guitar and vocals), Aston 'Familyman' Barrett (bass) and Carlton Barrett (drums) appeared on the 1973 tour. Drafted in to take the places of Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer (Joe Higgs) and Earl Lindo were the I Threes consisting of Bob's wife Rita and Judy Mowatt formerly of the Gaylets (renowned Studio One singer Marcia Griffiths missed this tour because of pregnancy. Al Anderson took over on lead guitar, Alvin 'Seeco' Pattterson added percussion with Tyrone Downie on keyboard duties.

The only official release to date from this tour is the 'Live' album recorded at the Lyceum in London, this being it's 40th anniversary, yet another opportunity is being squandered by the record company in not releasing a deluxe edition of such a classic album.
Fortunately there are a further ten unreleased live recordings circulating from the tour. One of these is in quite desperate sound quality; the Roxy in LA, but the other nine recordings split between five audience and four sbd/fm sources are all worth collecting if you are a keen Marley fan.

This is the best sounding of those unreleased shows, from the last night of the four dates performed at the Boarding House in San Francisco. This is the latest upgrade, it has the best PreFM lineage and is the most complete. - thebasement67

----------------------
the original notes - edited: (with thanks to musigny23 for his work and upload)

In September 1989 I had the opportunity to copy a bunch of KSAN reels over a weekend. I had just bought my first DAT portable so I was able to do it digitally. In the 90s I traded a few DAT clones, circa 2000 CDr versions were mastered (the 48k resampled to 44.1k), and eventually, others circulated flac files via bit torrent. Over the years, as one would expect and I intended, this spread far and wide.
While digital formats make essentially perfect copies, as items pass through various hands, alterations of various sorts accumulate. Some can improve but most degrade the original data. Now that HD and dvd archiving have supplanted CD as have music servers and flac players for listening I can circulate the most direct possible version of this recording in its original sample rate.
In 2009 Sidewindersf circulated a pitch corrected version derived from a CDr source. If you have that version you could feel set and pass on this. However I noticed that version had each track normalized to 100%. It plays with maximum gain but it also reduces the dynamic range the analog master had. No Woman No Cry and Get Up Stand Up are the same volume that way, but NWNC is actually a much lower volume song live. This version preserves the original dynamic differences. It also wasn't normalized up to 100& because I think doing so can add an element of harshness to the sound. So, it won't play as loud as other versions, which some perceive as lesser quality. Also I reduced a slight hum at two frequencies, eliminating that particular coloration.

Revox A77 > Panasonic SV-250 DAT 48/16 (Maxell R120DM) September 1989
Panasonic 3800 > Weiss firewire I/O > OSX Peak 7 (editing, pitch, hum) > xACT

01. Trenchtown Rock
02. Burnin' and Lootin'
03. Midnight Ravers
04. Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)
05. Rebel Music
06. No Woman, No Cry
07. Kinky Reggae
08. Stir It Up
09. Lively Up Yourself
10. Get Up, Stand Up

Notes:
This is direct from the DAT made off the KSAN reel
Original 48k 16 bit
Pitch adjusted -28 cents
Hum reduced @ 60, 180 HZ
15.63 second patch track 1 start
Audible flaw (not diginoise) @ 01:30 of track 2
Slight flaw (tape dropout?) @ 01:25 of track 6

Patch info:
FM Recording & Editing by Jay Abrams (jra-sm)
Teac 4300 Reel to Reel 7" - 3 3/4 IPS > MacBook Pro - Audacity > CDWav > xACT

It isn't !00% certain this was a master reel although it's more likely than not. It is possible this is mixed from a multitrack master which did happen with some KSAN broadcasts, however most were live mixes straight to two track. It appeared that a new leader had been spliced on to the station reel. Possibly at some point some damage occurred and it was repaired in that way. The tape box noted a rebroadcast on 6/10/79.

LINK

Bob Marley & the I-Two's at Massey Hall in Toronto

#42 PINK FLOYD - BBC Sessions 1970-71 (Flac)

Between 1967 and 1969, Pink Floyd recorded five sessions for the BBC. These have been compiled and circulate as "BBC Archives 1967-69" and can also be found on "Have You Got It Yet?" (Vol 1 & 2, version 2.0). For anyone seriously interested in Pink Floyd and bootlegs in general these are a must have for your collection.
After much thought I have chosen the final two sessions, recorded for the BBC in front of a live audience during 1970 and 1971.
Certainly a very constructive argument can be made for any number of live performances by Pink Floyd to be featured on this blog, but a final choice had to be made and if you have never heard these before, you will not be disappointed.
Recently the BBC Archives 1970-71 has been re-seeded and circulated again on some of the most prominent torrent sites. Since that compilation was first made upgrades are now in circulation.
The 1970 session is available from a BBC archive mono master, unlike the previous source which was a fake stereo version.
The 1971 session (most of it) is taken from the BBC Transcription LP, a source that is superior to the CD version.  Not just my opinion but that of the Floyd fans responsible for both versions.
At the time of posting these are the best available sounding versions of the 1970 and 1971 sessions.
Thanks to Ron & MOB, and all involved at THE Pink Floyd site: Yeeshkul
The files for 1971 have been converted from 24 bit to 16 bit and artwork included.

Thursday 16 July, 1970
BBC Paris Cinema, Lower Regent Street, London

Pink Floyd recorded a live audience show for BBC Radio One. The final track ‘Atom Heart Mother’ was named from a newspaper prior to the broadcast, a bit of an improvement on its previous title ‘The Amazing Pudding.’ It was performed with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and the John Aldiss Choir. The band followed this performance with the headlining spot at the Hyde Park Free Concert two days later. This BBC show was broadcast on Sunday 19 July, 1970 at 4:00pm on 'the Peel Sunday Concert' and repeated three days later on the 'Sounds of the Seventies' programme.

1. John Peel intro
2. The Embryo (10:23)
3. John Peel
4. Fat Old Sun (5:29)
5. John Peel
6. Green is the Colour >> Careful with that Axe, Eugene (11:22)
7. John Peel
8. If (4:55)
9. John Peel
10. Atom Heart Mother (26:23)

BBC Mono Master
Source: BBC sound archive mono master
Lineage: Master > DAT > CDR > Soundstudio > Shorten > SHN
(also given as: Master > DAT(?) > CDR(?) > SHN)

Comments by MOB:
Sound quality speaking, this is the best version of the BBC mono masters from 16Jul70! Absolutely unprocessed ("BBC Radio One Master Reels" seems to have been dehissed a bit and suffers from slight metallic noise in the high end, and the HRV version "Mooed Music Rev.A" has some NR artefacts), this is superior sound!
However, a problem is the speed, much too fast (I compared with the live version of CWTAE on Ummagumma CD, with the studio versions of If and AHM from AHM CD, and with the versions available on BBC transcription CDs, all these comparisons lead to the same conclusion: a 102.5% stretch is needed to have correct speed).
Other problem with the SHN files is the existence of micro-gaps near the tracks transitions.
This RoIO would be absolutely perfect at correct speed and with micro-gaps fixed.
-------------------------------
Micro gaps removed with EAC's integrated wav editor, speed corrected with CEP, tracked with CD Wave and re-encoded with sector alignment to flac level 8 with TLH on Sat. April 26, 2008 by Bert13.

------------------------------

Thursday 30 September, 1971
BBC Paris Cinema, Lower Regent Street, London

Pink Floyd recorded their second live audience BBC show on this day between 10:00pm and 11;30pm. The order of songs was as follows, ‘Fat Old Sun, ‘One of These Days’, ‘The Embryo’, ‘Echoes’ and ‘Blues’. It was broadcast on 12 October, 1971 at 10:00pm on the Sound of the Seventies programme. ‘Blues was not broadcast but appeared later on a WNEW radio show in New York. The BBC Transcription discs have also omitted this song as well as ‘Embryo’, as you can see by the sources used for this session.
The Radio Times (magazine) preview of the show was rather disparaging about the previous studio album, stating that “their recent Ron Geesin aided “Atom Heart Mother” emphasised the relative feebleness of the songs on the other side of the album…hopefully a new work will be unveiled tonight.”
The band followed this live show, in early October, with recording and filming sessions for the film ‘Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii.’

1. Fat Old Sun (14:05)              
2. One of These Days (7:12)                
3. Echoes (26:25)
                    
Lineage: BBC Transcription LP > 48kHz/32Bit Wave (digitally captured with ProTools)
This version features a brand new 48kHz/32Bit transfer of the BBC vinyl (BBC Rock Hour) that was done at a professional recording studio and captured with ProTools. All pops, clicks, and imperfections were manually removed one-at-a-time. No EQing or NR was applied. Enjoy listening to what is likely the best quality version of these songs you're likely to hear.  Ron

4. Embryo (10:49) > Blues (5:06)   

WNEW-FM Broadcast
Lineage: TDK SA90 Cassette (1) > *Technics RS-B965-M > Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 > Audacity 1.3 > FLAC (24bit/96kHz)
xACT used to create FFP and MD5
*The Technics RS-B965-M is a modified deck - for details see the Tapeheads.net forum

RonToon sent me his 1st gen tape of the two unique songs from the WNEW-FM broadcast to work on and this is my raw transfer. Adjustments to balance the channels were made in the analogue domain using the FSP14 and I left the settings the same for both songs. RonToon cassette / Neonknight Tape Transfer (August 2012)

Below is a list of the BBC performances:

14th May 1967 - BBC-TV Look of the Week
1.    Pow R Toc H
2.    Hans Keller
3.    Astronomy Domine
4.    Syd Barrett & Roger Waters interview with Hans Keller

6th July 1967 - BBC-TV Top of the Pops
1.    See  Emily  Play

25th Sept 1967 - BBC Radio session #1
1.    The Gnome               
2.    Matilda Mother               
3.    The Scarecrow               
4.    Flaming                   
5.    Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun        
6.    Reaction In G               

12th December 1967 - BBC-TV Tomorrow’s World
1.    Green Onions
2.    Instrumental

20th Dec 1967 - BBC Radio session #2
1.    John Peel intro
2.    Vegetable Man               
3.    Bryan Matthew & John Peel link
4.    Scream Thy Last Scream           
5.    Jugband Blues               
6.    Pow R. Toc H.                
7.    John Peel outro
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25th June 1968 - BBC Radio session #3
1.    Top Gear intro
2.    The Murderotic Woman (Eugene)       
3.    The Massed Gadgets of Hercules (Saucerful)    
4.    Let There Be More Light            
5.    Julia Dream                
6.    Top Gear outro

2nd Dec 1968 - BBC Radio session #4
1.    Point Me At The Sky               
2.    Baby Blue Shuffle In D Major            
3.    Embryo                    
4.    Interstellar Overdrive                
5.    Blues
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12th May 1969 - BBC Radio session #5
1.    Daybreak                    
2.    Nightmare                
3.    The Beginning (Green is the Colour) >        
4.    Beset By Creatures of the Deep (Eugene)        
5.    The Narrow Way                

20th July 1969 - BBC-TV Moon Landing broadcast
1.    Moonhead
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16th July 1970 - BBC Radio session #6
1.    Embryo
2.    Fat Old Sun
3.    Green Is The Colour
4.    Careful with That Axe Eugene
5.    If
6.    Atom Heart Mother
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30th September 1971 - BBC Radio session #7
1.    Fat Old Sun
2.    One Of These Days
3.    Embryo
4.    Echoes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16th November 1974 - Live at Empire Pool, Wembley, London
1.    Speak To Me
2.    Breathe
3.    On The Run
4.    Time
5.    The Great Gig In The Sky
6.    Money
7.    Us And Them
8.    Any Colour You Like
9.    Brain Damage
10.  Eclipse
11.  Echoes

#41 LEONARD COHEN - Live at the BBC (1968) (Flac)

Leonard Cohen's song 'Nevermind' from his 2014 album 'Old Ideas' is currently being used as the theme tune for the television series 'True Detective' If you've watched the series you will know what an apt choice the song is. Now in his eighties, still relevant and as popular as ever. For this post we move backwards in time to an earlier younger Cohen, although at 33 he was a good six to seven years older than many of his musical peers.

LEONARD COHEN - BBC Broadcasts 1968 [JWB Remaster]
Live on BBC TV, excellent mono recording.

 

Canadian Leonard Cohen, with his brooding monotone voice, was a talented poet who combined intense songs with truth and humour. These well-preserved sessions at the BBC in 1968 offer a fly-on-the-wall experience to witness a young Cohen singing practically his entire debut album. The voice is fresh and deep, pushing the songs outside the Tin Pan Alley perimeter, and delving into poetry with a richness of words and subject. Today, they still have that raw appeal of a young artist at the peak of his powers.Suzanne, So Long Marianne and Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye are beautiful love songs that catch your attention with the lyrics and emotions contained within them.

Added to this 1968 session is a second disc that includes the five songs from the Top Gear radio show session, hosted by John Peel, four in such quality that only an official release will better (if the Beeb still has the session in their archive). Two tracks follow from the BBC TV show 'Once More With Felix'. The penultimate song Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye is notable with Leonard being joined on a duet with British folk singer Julie Felix. Lastly a short poem and interview close the second disc, recorded from the audience at Dunn's Birdland Progressive Jazz Parlour in Montreal on 8 April, 1958. Is there anymore?

The origin of this BBC session (Disc One) began when bootleg label Yellow Cat released Leonard Cohen - At The Beeb [YC 018] to a wider audience as a silver-disc bootleg. It ran slow and was a few generations from the master. Then Cohen fan “briggY” shared his much improved version on the Dime site. Another music fan, JWB, took a copy and improved on the sound. He said: “I’ve remastered this torrent, removed all the pops and clicks (there were several per song and in between tracks), restored the sound to true mono and improved the EQ which really cleared up the sound. I did not use any compression or noise reduction tricks. I reduced the hiss with some deft EQ moves while still maintaining clarity.”

The original source was from a fan called “Artery”. He says “This is most probably my transfer from Jim D’s cassette. I did it about 6 years ago. Jim wrote to a man at the BBC who sent him the cassette. He’d made a cassette audio copy for his own use I believe and indicated the videotape had been wiped.” So for all who wanted to know, the video of this BBC show has been “destroyed”. Artwork for this comes from “luckburz”. Many thanks to all who had a part in preserving this show and improving upon it. By your actions, many others who were not there in ‘68 can now share the experience. - Professor Re

------------------------------------------------

A new transfer and remaster by Professor Stoned was made available in 2016. After comparison with this I find it surprising that Cohen's vocal seems more distant from the microphone. A link for this alternate source is provided below

------------------------------------------------

Disc One:
01. You Know Who I Am
02. Bird On The Wire
03. The Stranger Song*
04. So Long Marianne*
05. Master Song*
06. There’s No Reason Why You Should Remember Me [improvisation]
07. Sisters Of Mercy*
08. Teachers*
09. Dress Rehearsal Rag
10. Suzanne*
11. Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye*
12. Story Of Isaac
13. One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong*

* Songs that appeared on the 1967 album, Songs Of Leonard Cohen.
tracks 1-13 were recorded at the Paris Theatre in London - Spring 1968

Disc Two:
01. You Know Who I Am
02. Bird On The Wire
03. Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye
04. Dress Rehearsal Rag (John Peel relates the story of how Sandy Denny requested this)
05. So Long Marianne

06. The Stranger Song
07. Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye (duet with Julie Felix)

08. Gift (poem followed by short interview)

tracks 01-05 recorded at BBC Piccadilly 1 studio in London - July 9, 1968, broadcast on John Peel's Top Gear BBC Radio 1 show
tracks 06-07 recorded at BBC TV studios in London - January 27, 1968 broadcast on 'Once More With Felix' Julie Felix's BBC TV show
track 08 recorded from the audience at Dunn's Birdland Progressive Jazz Parlour, Montreal, Quebec on 8 April, 1958.

An alternate version to disc 1 is available.

LINK HERE