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PRRP032- CAMEL
ROXY ROAD
February 15, 1979, Roxy Theatre, Late Show - West Hollywood (Los Angeles), California USA
Disc 1
1.1 Earthrise 2:04
1.2 First Light 0:47
1.3 Unevensong 5:47
1.4 Song Within A Song 7:06
1.5 The Sleeper 6:07
1.6 Supertwister 4:05
1.7 The White Rider 8:38
1.8 Tell Me 5:20
1.9 Rhayader 3:53
1.10 Rhayader Goes To Town 6:44
Disc 2
2.1 La Princesse Purdue 6:12
2.2 Rainbows End 3:26
2.3 Echoes 8:56
2.4 Never Let Go 13:21
2.5 One Of These Days I'll Get An Early Night 9:48
CAMEL
Andrew Latimer : Lead Guitars, Flute and Vocals
Richard Sinclair : Bass Guitars and Lead Vocals
David Sinclair : Keyboards
Jan Schelhass : Keyboards
Andy Ward : Drums, Percussion
Mel Collins : Flute, Saxes
Along the Road
Camel had enjoyed significant success through the 1970's. Their Albums Mirage and Snow Goose were hailed as ground breaking and the band
was developing a loyal fan base. Sadly, as with so many other successful bands, friction began to develop between the members. By 1978, it was clear
that collaboration between Camel's keyboardist Peter Bardens and their guitarist Andrew Latimer was coming to an end. Breathless would be their last
album together. The liner notes for that album quote Latimer on the issue:
"Peter and I always get on well when creating, but the problems started when we came to the actual execution of the ideas. In the studio, Peter
and I were just stifling each other. I wouldn't let him get any of his ideas out and he wouldn't let me get any of mine out, so it became pretty heavy
going. We mutually agreed to part company on the creative level. Richard and Andy wanted to stay with me, so Peter went. I think it was a very good
move for both of us."
Peter Bardens finished writing and recording Breathless but had no intention of touring with the band. To replace him, the band recruited Jan
Schelhass from Caravan and a cousin of current bassist Richard Sinclair, named David. The tour began in England with 28 shows in October and
November of 1978. Eight shows were then played in Europe before the holiday break. The new year saw the band in Japan for 5 shows before heading
for the west coast of the United States. At this point the band had a good feel for the new music and the new members were performing the old Camel
quite easily.
The Setlist for the California shows contained both old and new material. Since the release of Snow Goose, Camel had been slowly adjusting their
musical style to make it more "accessible". By the time Breathless was released, the long intricate instrumental pieces were gone, replaced by more
traditional sounding light-rock creations. Still, Breathless was not devoid of surprises. Richard Sinclair included a song called "Down on the Farm" which
has sparked many an opinion. For better or worse, it was not included in the live set for the US shows. The setlist performed during this tour contained 3
songs from the new album Breathless, 3 songs from the previous album Rain Dances, and 9 songs from the earlier albums. Though Camel usually plays
their songs at a tempo very similar to the studio versions, a number of the songs performed here are lengthened by extra improvisation. “Tell Me”,
“Rhayader”, and “Rhayader Goes To Town” in particular are extended by saxophone segments not found on the commercial release. These segments
give us a chance to appreciate once more the amazing talent of saxophonist Mel Collins.
The recording of this show is outstanding. The equipment used at the time consisted of a Teac PC-10 and Sennheiser MKH404's. The provider of the
first generation cassette used for this project was a friend of the taper and was at this show. He told us that the equipment was brought in by the taper's
girlfriend who taped the recorder to the inside of her leg so it would not be discovered. All who enjoy this remastered recording owe a debt of gratitude
to this unknown woman. Thanks to her devotion to music we can all re-live this wonderful Camel performance. * (see note below)
Notes from the Re-Master
This show came to us as a 1st generation cassette tape from a friend of the taper. As noted in the liner text, Teac and Sennheiser equipment was
used to record the show so we started the remaster with an outstanding quality recording. The Roxy is quite small as a venue so the size of the room did
not interfere too much with the overall sound of the show. Fortunately, the taper was able to record the whole performance.
We began by digitizing the tape using 32-bit precision. A progressive asymmetry in the channel strength was noted immediately and fixed. The
tonality was quite good but still needed a bit of a boost in the bass range. The adjustment gave the recording a bit more of a punch. Hiss was generally
low, but did become annoying in certain sections so a selective hiss reduction technique was used. Other peculiar noises were found intermittently in the
Left channel and were subtracted out. The microphones were occasionally bumped and so this artifact was minimized whenever found. Selective tone
and dynamic adjustments were used to enhance the recording, depending on the instrument leads at the time. The whole show was tracked and split
into the final two discs.
Thanks PRRP STAFF
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* An added note many years after this was originally seeded
I was one of the tapers.
If you read the story above, the girls name is Susan or just Sue to us.
It was becoming more and more difficult to get this equipment into the venues.
Sue helped get the tape deck into quite a few shows at the Roxy and elsewhere.
A real sweetheart and I still talk to her.
This tape deck was not small and we called these "Suzie Sneaks" recordings in honor of her putting up with some embarrassing moments.
John was her hubby and owned the recording equipment.
Mark (the B-Man) and Mike (the Flying M) held the microphones.
The technical information is accurate.
I included a couple photos of the equipment and of Sue.
I'll get my hands on these masters some day and share them around.
But for now this great PRRP production is what I can do.
enjoy
-M- (March 2014)
Not a
FLYING M PRODUCTION but a PRRP PRODUCTION!
FAN RECORDINGS FOR COLLECTORS
TRADE FREELY BUT PLEASE DO NOT SELL
2014 SHN > FLAC Logfiles
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