23 August 2011

THE MUSIC AND PRESTON BLACK, THE BEATLES, Empire Stadium, Vancouver, August 22, 1964


From THE DEVIL AND PRESTON BLACK:

     Katy got a cheeseburger and a strawberry milkshake. I got a double with extra pickles and a Coke. We split an order of fries. They were cut real big and came in a red plastic basket lined with paper, like French fries used to be when you were little. Drenched in Heinz, the taste reminded me of when there used to be lunch counters at the drug stores on High. I ate like I'd never eaten before.
     A couple of old guys kept playing Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline songs. Katy sang in a really deep voice, "Crazy..." I laughed. The lights came on in the parking lot, and Katy asked if I was ready to head back. I wasn't, but I knew she had things to do and felt guilty for keeping her all day.
     When she went to the bathroom to freshen up my phone buzzed. I read Lennon's text and smiled.


Download the book on Amazon.com.

Download the show on Sugarmegs.

From SUGARMEGS:

I didn't see this show on Dimeadozen, either in active or dead torrents, so I thought I'd share.

This is the Beatles playing at the Empire Stadium in Vancouver, BC, Canada, on August 22, 1964, during their first full-length North American tour.

The recording comes from a radio broadcast at the time. The tape eventually found its way into collectors' circles, and now it comes to you.

This is from the Purple Chick release of "Seattle Down Now". I didn't share that full disc because there's some officially-released stuff on it, and the rest (particularly the Seattle show) is of unlistenable sound quality.

The presumed lineage would be:
FM broadcast >> 1st Gen tape >> Silver Disc >> FLAC.

But I don't know Purple Chick's lineage--there may be more generations between the tape and their disc (and I don't know if the tape was reel-to-reel or cassette or what). Either way, it sounds as good as it ever will. I'd give it about an 8.5 out of 10 on sound quality.

The show itself is probably my favorite Beatles concert from 1964. The crowd gets really rowdy, and the emcee has to come on stage to scold them to stand back, otherwise, "kids are gonna get crushed". The Beatles' press officer Derek Taylor joins in at one point as well, pleading with the crowd to stand back. And then the Beatles have to go right back to their set! (And even encourage them to "clap your hands and stomp your feet"!)

None of this has ever been released officially in any form--PM me if you have questions. Enjoy! Here's the tracklist:

01 - Intro
02 - Twist and Shout
03 - You Can't Do That
04 - All My Loving
05 - She Loves You
06 - Things We Said Today
07 - Roll Over Beethoven
08 - Can't Buy Me Love
09 - If I Fell
10 - Boys
11 - A Hard Day's Night
12 - Long Tall Sally

21 August 2011

THE MUSIC AND PRESTON BLACK Pink Floyd, Deutschlandhalle, West Berlin, West Germany, January 29, 1977


From THE DEVIL AND PRESTON BLACK:

     Jesse came in, singing something else to himself, and helped Ernie at the stove. Jamie and I went back and forth, playing songs I hadn't thought about in years. Jamie was happier than a tick on a fat dog and he laughed easily. "The Rain Song." "Goodbye Blue Sky" and "Dogs." Israel Kamakawiwi Ole's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" medley. Old Jimmy Buffett. Some Beatles B stuff, whatever that means. "Mother Nature's Son" and some other White Album stuff. I didn't know as much Dylan as Jamie thought I should. I told him I'd work on it if he listened to more Wilco and Black Keys. Whenever either of us forgot chords or words we helped each other out.


Buy the book on Amazon.

Download the show at Sugarmegs.

Pink Floyd
"Desk Pigs In Berlin"
January 29, 1977
Deutschlandhalle, West Berlin, West Germany
Discs: 2
Recording: soundboard + audience
Release: Happy Pig
Roio Rating:[B-/1]

Disc 1:
1. Sheep
2. Pigs On The Wing Pt. 1
3. Dogs
4. Pigs On The Wing Pt. 2
5. Pigs (Three Different Kinds)

Disc 2:
1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (1-5)
2. Welcome To The Machine
3. Have A Cigar
4. Wish You Were Here
5. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (6-9)
6. Money

Roger shouts '5' during Pigs (Three Different Ones) -3rd verse

Comments: soundboard + Audience sheep and dogs are from "darkside of the pig". potwpt1&2 and pigs are from "desktape". potw pt1 had to have the left chanel removed and was replaced with the right channel. this created less hiss and better clarity."berlin day 1" was used to fill the gap in the beginning of Pigs. Disc2 is completely from "berlin day 1" except the little repeating part in shine on was fixed. both discs were normalized. UPDATED: sheep,dogs,potwpt1&2,and pigs all ran too slow. they were speed corrected. Enjoy. --Do Not Encode To mp3-- --A Happy Pig Production-- ////// Sound quality is VG+, the animals set sounds ok let's say.... and the audience source is very hissy...