Al Stewart
1973-04-xx _ Uppsala, Uppsala County, Sweden _ Musikforum _ (M-SBD*)
~*~ Carefully remastered fixing various issues, without EQ ~*~
Set One :::
01. Songs Out Of Clay
02. --talk & song intro--
03. In Brooklyn
04. --talk & song intro--
05. Clifton In The Rain
06. --talk & song intro--
07. Post World War Two Blues
08. --talk & song intro--
09. Room Of Roots
10. --talk & song intro--
11. Warren Harding
12. --lengthy song intro--
13. Nostradamus
Set Two :::
14. Electric Los Angeles Sunset
15. --song intro--
16. Amsterdam
17. --song intro--
18. I'm Falling
19. --talk & song intro--
20. Black Hill
21. --song intro--
22. A Small Fruit Song
23. --talk & song intro--
24. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
25. --song intro--
26. My Enemies Have Sweet Voices
27. --talk & song intro--
28. Blessed -> recitation of last verse due to broken string
Total Time ::: 1:24:01
::: EXCELLENT SBD* (direct stage mikes) tape. Check samples to allay fears or to enter the zone while bytes accumulate.
::: Warts: Almost none! Repaired dullspots & dropouts but surely missed a few & a couple could only be minimised. Slight residue remains from a couple of mike bumps. #26 has a hint of bass overload but in general increase yr bass for more pleasure.
::: Purist warning: #24 last 20secs was faded @ end. Fade fixed (volume raised) & 6secs of applause spliced in to make it sound more natural.
::: "Orange" recorded Sept 1971 & released Jan 1972. "Past, Present & Future" wasn't issued 'til Oct 1973, so this is a kind of missing link.
::: Tracked so you can decide to listen primarily just to the music & leave out the talk - if that's yr bag.
::: You've dreamt of a new Laggashoebox tape for well over a decade but you'll hear it was well worth the wait!
::: Sincere thanks to DIMER Lagga for sharing his recording & reminiscences.
Lagga's notes (the taper) ::: "I first went to London in 1966 & one of the first persons I stumbled into was Al at Dobells Folkrecordstore. Over the years I saw Al many times in Cousins, Bunjies & other places. In 1972 Al played at Stockholm Student Union - a catastrophe - with a drunk & noisy audience. I suggested to Al that the next time he toured Scandinavia he should come to Uppsala Musikforum, my club in Uppsala. Early in the spring 1973, Al's manager contacted me & said that Al wanted to come & play for just the travel expenses from Copenhagen. This, my best recording in the Shoebox, is a memory from a really inspired performance by Al in Uppsala! Enjoy!"
Recording Information ::: Sony stereo reel-to-reel & unknown mikes -> master stereo reel-to-reel tape. (Mikes ran directly to the recorder but were taped together with the guitar & vocal mikes that ran to the board, so it's more a stage mikes recording as they differed from the type that went into the room).
Playback ::: master stereo reel-to-reel tape -> unknown digital transfer method -> mixed to mono -> aiff files.
Remastering 2017-06-xx ::: aiff files -> Audacity [fades, manual one-at-a-time glitch, bump, pop, click, dropout & dullspot repairs, volume adjustments, +1.7% pitch (speed) fix with single pass after frequency analysis & with pitchpipe verification, NO equalisation or noise reduction] -> CD Wave (track splits) -> flacs (Trader's Little Helper) -> yr ears. First uploaded 2017-06-xx.
Line-up ::: Al Stewart - acoustic guitar, vocals.
Nothing here ever commercially released to my knowledge. If I'm wrong, please advise & I'll take the offending trax offline.
DimeTravel 366 // Lagga shoebox archive tape #10 (first time circulated) ::: Thanks to the original taper, DIMER Lagga! ::: Corrections welcome ::: While I've never heard the Heath Folk Club 1973 recording which circulates & has a somewhat similar setlist to this one, this is an extraordinary performance (and recording). It include what may be only the 2nd version to surface of Al covering Bob Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", and, I believe, the only version to ever surface of Al performing Simon & Garfunkel's "Blessed" from "Sounds Of Silence". Unfortunately "Blessed" ends early as Al breaks a string before the last verse, but he concludes it nicely nonetheless, reciting the rest of the lyrics. We get only 2 1960s songs, one from his debut (Bedsitter Images) "Clifton In The Rain" & another, "In Brooklyn", from the "Love Chronicles" album. The bulk of the show is a fine cross-section of early 1970s material, with 4 from "Zero She Flies" & 3 from "Orange". There are 3 songs from the then unissued "Past, Present, and Future" album - which was actually recorded at Trident Studios in London the same month as this performance, tho' it wouldn't be released in the UK until Oct 1973 & there was a far longer wait in the USA, where it didn't appear until May 1974 - some 14 months after being recorded. One can imagine that was a source of real frustration for Al. In those days imports were much scarcer & it would have hardly made the same kind of splash as releasing them in both countries at the same time. Two of the new songs, "Warren Harding" & "Post World War Two Blues" are, in my opinion, far superior here - free from all the production & arrangements that went into the album versions. "Nostradamus" is cool to hear solo acoustic - the same vintage as the album, tho' that song on the album really works well, just featuring bass & tablas along with the guitar which has some cool effects. Anyway, along with the recent 60s BBC material that surfaced, we are fortunate to get some more glimpses of the genius of a fine musician in his prime. Listen, enjoy, show appreciation, share, give, spread peace. Yrs truly, Knees
Support the artist! http://www.alstewart.com
Do whatever you want with it except sell it, 'cause that ain't cool!