Bert Jansch & Duck Baker
1985-03-28 Bologna, Italy unknown venue (M?-SBD)

*~* Carefully remastered fixing as much as possible without EQ ~*~

=*=*=*=*= Duck Baker =*=*=*=*=
01 --greetings & song intro - (warble)
02. Maple Leaf Rag
03. A Little Rain A Falling
04. Sheebeg An Sheemor
05. Keep It Under Your Heart
06. Doctor Jazz
07. Waltz For A Sunday
08. San Antonio Rose
09. Allegheny County
10. The Flowers Of Belfast

=*=*=*=*= Bert Jansch =*=*=*=*=
11. --tuning up & song intro--
12. Poor Mouth
13. Curragh Of Kildare
14. Pretty Polly
15. Candyman
16. Let Me Sing
17. Weeping Willow
18. Is It Real?
19. Black Waterside
20. Angie//

=*=*=*=*= Duck Baker & Bert Jansch =*=*=*=*=
21. One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer
22. Kingfisher

=*=*=*=*= Duck Baker & Bert Jansch ~Encores~ =*=*=*=*=
23. Come Back Baby
24. Wild Mountain Thyme

Total Time ::: 1:55:25

::: EXC quality tho' a couple o' cassette gens. Check samples for quaffin' qualities & to taste the acoustic flavours.
::: Warts: Tape warble for 1st 72 seconds of show thru spoken intro but only 30 seconds into actual music. Got a touch of hum & hiss but they ain't a problem a'tall. Erratic recording levels mostly fixed but still vary a bit in spots. Dropouts & dullspots fixed but surely missed a few. #20 cuts at end.
::: Very possibly one of you Italian gents can hook us up with the venue name. Sounds like it might be a theatre.

Recording Information ::: soundboard -> unknown stereo equipment -> master stereo tape (likely a reel) -> unknown analog tape generations (2 or 3?) -> unknown generation Maxell XLII-90 cassettes, Dolby B on.

Playback 2012-12-22 ::: unknown generation Maxell XLII-90 cassettes on Nakamichi BX-300 cassette deck, Dolby B on, azimuth & pitch adjusted, heads cleaned & demagnatized -> Tascam CD-RW900SL pro CD recorder -> CD-RW -> computer, EAC secure -> wavs.

Remastering 2014-08-xx ::: wavs -> Audacity [normalisation to remove DC offset, channel/phase alignment, fades, manual one-at-a-time glitch, bump, pop, click, dropout & dullspot repairs, volume adjustments, further speed fixes with single pass per segment after spectral analysis & with pitchpipe verification - see notes below, NO equalisation] -> CD Wave (track splits) -> flacs (Trader's Little Helper) -> yr ears. First uploaded week of 2014-08-09.

Further remastering notes ::: Mix - Before both guitarists play together there's narrow stereo imaging but it had a lot of volume fluctuations between channels which was mostly fixed. When effects were added by the soundman there is clearer stereo imaging & while playing as a duo there's a wider stereo mix with Bert centered & Duck mostly in left channel.). Likely a reel master or copy, since the speed changes. Presumably due to a slightly defective reel to reel machine, the speed had to be averaged for correction in sections. Each section only had a single speed change & times are approximate (start to 22 +2.9%, 22 to 46 +1.7%, 46 to 68 +3.3%, 68 to 91 +2.9%, 91 to end +1.7%).

Line-up ::: Duck Baker - acoustic guitar, vocals // Bert Jansch - 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 052 ::: Thanks to the original taper & traders! ::: Corrections welcome ::: One thing I really enjoy about this remastering work, aside from listening to tapes I've ignored for years, is the chance to really listen to them note by note, albeit with a lot of interruptions. Nevertheless, it is some very attentive, intensive listening time. Of of the many recordings of Bert I have & thinking about all the times I saw him play, I must say this show stands out. He shows real emotion in many of the songs & seems pretty focused on his craft in terms of what the audience is hearing - or that's my impression. This was perhaps exacerbated by the fact he isn't sure how well the audience understands his English, so you are aware he is speaking very clearly & it's possible it affected his singing as well. The other thing is this is a FAR better listen than before remastering as the volume inconsistencies & off-speed problems were really a drag. Now that those are corrected, it's a pretty steady sail & you can focus on the music without distractions.

Interesting sound effects "Poor Mouth" vocals... also some on "Candyman" & at a lower level in other songs. Bert is really putting some effort into his singing, more than he did for years later on. It is perhaps a bit forced at times, but pretty cool. Check out "Let Me Sing" - extremely emotive vocals. Killer version of "Wild Mountain Thyme" albeit with a bits of distraction. Lots of superb & often subtle guitar playing. I also appreciate that he doesn't sound tired of some of the setlist...

Duck's only been DIMED one time before according to the DIME bot. 3 solo trax & 7 with the Kaiser/Frith/Baker/Schott quartet in 2000. This should give a proper representation of what he did for so many years that hooked up some legions of acoustic guitar players & music lovers to his albums & concerts. It's pretty solid, but by the last 2 or 3 songs of his solo set, he is really warmed up & inventive. It would be swell to hear some more archival material from the 70s & 80s if anyone can provide. I finally met the guy a couple of years back - full of great stories.

Support the artists and/or their familes! http://www.duckbaker.com -- http://www.bertjansch.com

Do whatever you want with it except sell it, 'cause that ain't cool!