GUADALCANAL DIARY
Saturday, 8 November 1986
The Ritz
119 East 11th Street
New York, New York 10003
USA
FLAC master, 1 September 2023, by elegymart:
Analog audience recording (stereo) {recorded by Gene Poole}: unknown mics/recorder > 1985-86 US TDK SA (Type II CrO2) 90-minute analog audio cassette master {from the Gene Poole collection} > Sony TC-WE435 (azimuth adjustment) > Roland R05 (24/96) > Cool Edit Pro 2.0 (audio cleanup, convert to 16/44) > SHNtool (fixed SBE) > CD Wave (track splits) > TLH (WAV > FLAC8).
Created this text file.
Total running time [47:22]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
01 Where Angels Fear to Tread [2:47]
02 Michael Rockefeller [5:41]
03 Spirit Train [3:17] >
04 Pillow Talk [2:47]
05 Please Stop Me [3:02]
06 I See Moe [2:01]
07 Shango [4:47]
08 Gilbert Takes the Wheel [2:33] >
09 Trail of Tears [3:12]
10 T.R.O.U.B.L.E. [3:46]
11 Kumbayah [0:16] >
12 House of the Rising Sun [0:50] >
13 Country Club Gun [2:16]
14 Dead Eyes [3:10]
15 Cattle Prod [2:49]
16 Watusi Rodeo [2:58]
17 spilt hash [1:01]
Band line-up:
Murray Attaway – vocals, guitar
Jeff Walls – guitar
Rhett Crowe – bass, vocals
John Poe – drums
Notes:
THE GENE POOLE COLLECTION VOL. 215
Here's the latest installment of the Gene Poole Collection, a random wellspring of recordings which surfaced during the pandemic. To paraphrase Lou: This is gonna go on for a while, so we should get used to each other, settle back, pull up your cushions, whatever else you have with you that makes life bearable in what has already been the start of trying decade...
Some of Gene's handiwork has probably been heard by your very ears before, for the most part via the Stonecutter Archives, but this is the first major unearthing of tapes direct from the legend himself. As promising as that may seem, it's best to let the surprises hit as they are shared. The trade-off to the prolific taping on Gene's part is that the expectations for a perfect track record would be unrealistic and unfair. There will be instances of incomplete recordings, caused by late arrivals to gigs, recorder and microphone malfunctions, and other assorted foibles as would befall any mortal taper. There will be times where a master from another source exists which could be superior. For the most part, Gene recorded with a variety of mics and recorders, and many shows suffered from wire dropouts, so that only one channel was extant in the capture. Due warning about the past imperfect given and out of the way, credit should be given where due as well -- for many shows thought lost forever, it's exciting to discover that many of these even in incomplete form have now cropped up.
The transfers, the audio fixes, and the research all have required some lead time -- many tapes had scant info (sometimes just the name of the artist/band, with no date listed for the performance). Needless to say, gear documentation is virtually nil -- if we wait around for that precise detail to be forthcoming, nothing from the collection would probably see the light of day.
We're at the Ritz again this time, with Guadalcanal Diary opening for Richard Thompson. Tickets were $14.50 to $15.50.
Gene had to have been recording with a D5 by this point but in spite of the awesome stereo on this, it's marred by a lot of the chatter that meets the fate of most opening acts, and Guadalcanal Diary has lot of quiet passages in their songs.
Gene's not in the balcony this time, but confined to the floor with a friend by the bar. Some of this madness stems from the rearranged setup the Ritz had for tonight, since Richard Thompson was accustomed to doing early and late sets at clubs during this tour. What displeases Gene even more than the occlusion to the balcony are the "noshame pritz" (as he nicknamed them on the tape label) standing beside him. Although Gene gets up the nerve to ask if they are going to talk the entire show, he doesn't get a free pass either, as he and his friend are sharing conversations throughout. Luckily, when Guadalcanal Diary are on blast their music overpowers any chatter. But it does beg the question, who tapes by the bar expecting to control the crowd around them from talking? Fed up, Gene ultimately decides to brazenly stand on a chair and raise his mikes above the chatter, and much to his friend's embarrassment, Gene stoically refuses to get down from the chair.
The band flub their first segue, to which Murray admittedly utters: "Blew it." But other than that, what have on hand is a robust capture of a tight set by GC promoting their second album "Jamboree" -- punctuated with the sidesplitting exchange of Gene and company which ensues, in full-bloomin' stereo no less.
An excerpt from the tail end of "Shango" --
Friend: "Get off the chair there."
Gene: "No, it's much better up here."
Friend: "People are gonna think you're weird."
The recorder may have started up on the second song, but we won't know for sure until another source for this set turns up, if ever. Gene is impressed by the band, "poor man's R.E.M." notwithstanding, and he plans to buy both of their albums after the weekend. Oh but that's not where it ends. Gene's cohort is incensed and ends up crying over spilt hash by the end of the set.
Enjoy,
elegymart
No comments:
Post a Comment