A.R.M.S. Concert
The Forum
Inglewood, CA
December 5, 1983
Rick L Master Series Vol. Three via JEMS

Recording Gear: Aiwa Single Point Stereo Clip-On Microphone > Sony Walkman D6

JEMS 2023 Transfer: Rick L Master Cassettes > Nakamichi RX-505 azimuth-adjusted playback > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity 3.1 capture > iZotope RX > iZotope RX9 Advanced and Ozone 9 > MBIT+ resample to 16/44.1 > Audacity > xACT 2.50 > FLAC

Eric Clapton
01 Lay Down Sally
02 Wonderful Tonight
03 Rita Mae
04 Sad, Sad Day >
05 Have You Ever Loved A Woman >
06 Ramblin' On My Mind
07 Cocaine

Joe Cocker
08 Don�t Talk To Me
09 Watching The River Flow
10 Worried Life Blues
11 You Are So Beautiful
12 Seven Days
13 Feelin' Alright

Jeff Beck
14 Star Cycle
15 The Pump
16 Definitely Maybe
17 Blue Wind
18 People Get Ready
19 Going Down

Jimmy Page
20 Prelude
21 Who's To Blame
22 City Sirens
23 Boogie Mama
24 Midnight Moonlight
25 Stairway To Heaven

All Performers and Ronnie Lane
26 Layla
27 With A Little Help From My Friends
28 April Fool
29 Goodnight Irene

Known Faults:
- First song "Everybody Oughta Make a Change" is missing
- "You Are So Beautiful" end cut
- "Seven Days" start cut
- "Layla" end slightly cut

JEMS' latest series presents new transfers of master recordings made by SoCal-based taper Rick L who was active in the early '80s. While he was a fan of bands like Yes and taped them on more than one occasion, his tastes were eclectic and of-the-moment, ranging from new wave artists featured on KROQ-FM to reggae and jazz acts. So while he didn't have Millard-caliber equipment, he did cover many shows not recorded by Millard or others who leaned more towards the classic rock end of the spectrum. We'll be presenting the best of his work and his collection over the course of this year.

Vol. Three presents the first night of the A.R.M.S. Concerts in Los Angeles. These special shows united the three legendary guitarists from the Yardbirds--Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton--plus Joe Cocker and an all-star backing band to benefit Action Into Research for Multiple Sclerosis. Small Faces/Faces bassist Ronnie Lane suffered from MS and was the catalyst for pulling the incredible line-up together. The original benefit gig took place in London, followed by nine US dates spread across Dallas (our very own mjk5510 captured night two - may be time for an updated transfer/refresh), San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.

Beyond the guitar heroes, the US A.R.M.S. shows featured Joe Cocker, Paul Rodgers and a backing band that included the Stones' Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, Andy Fairweather Low, Ray Cooper, Kenny Jones, Jan Hammer, Simon Phillips, Chris Stainton, Ian Stewart and Fernando Saunders.

Clapton, Cocker, Beck and Page did their own mini-sets, Clapton playing familiar classics, Beck mixing in a little fusion and Page drawing from the Death Wish II soundtrack, plus his set-closing instrumental version of "Stairway to Heaven." Page's performance also featured Paul Rodgers, with whom he would go on to form The Firm. The finale was led by Clapton and Cocker, then Lane took over for "April Fool" and "Goodnight Irene."

The A.R.M.S. shows were documented by several tapers. Mike "The Mike" Millard made his own excellent recording of the second show (available as Vol. 65 in the Lost and Found series here http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=696871). Barry Goldstein, subject of another on-going JEMS taper series, also recorded both nights of A.R.M.S. at the Forum and his masters will be forthcoming. Rick L only did the first night, but a few cuts aside, his recording of night one is arguably as good as Millard's second night and maybe even a little closer and clearer. It's the best recording in the Rick L series so far and shows once again how important location is as Rick seems to have his microphone in an ideal position to the PA. Samples provided.

We want to thank Rick for lending us his tapes and allowing us to share his work. Please let him know your appreciation via comments. Also supporting the series are JEMS' frequent collaborators Professor Goody, who helped tune up the pitch, and mjk5510 who took care of post production.

BK for JEMS

Images for all shows as well as full size images for this show.

Images for this show: