Electric Light Orchestra
Michigan Palace
Detroit, MI
November 1, 1974

Recording Gear: Lloyd's 8-Track Cartridge Recorder > Lloyd's mics

JEMS Transfer: Master cartridge > Panasonic 8-track player > McIntosh C32 Preamp > Wavelab @ 96/24 .wav capture and mastering > iZotope RX and Ozone > MBIT+ convert to 16/44.1 > Peak Pro 6 (post production) > xACT 2.39 > FLAC

01 Daybreaker
02 Showdown
03 Cello solo (Flight of the Bumblebee)
04 Daytripper
05 Eldorado Overture
06 Can�t Get It Out Of My Head
07 Violin Solo > Orange Blossom Special
08 Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
10 In the Hall of The Mountain King
11 Great Balls of Fire
12 Roll Over Beethoven

Known Faults:
-None

Hello and welcome to the sixth volume in JEMS� Secret Origins series, presenting for the first time some of our earliest recordings, captured on and transferred from the original master 8-track cartridges. It also doubles as a remembrance of the passing of our late, great friend, partner and taper of this concert, Jared Houser, who died on October 29, 2016, finally succumbing after a six-year battle with cancer.

Before he died, Jared wrote this about his earliest 8-track recordings:

Let me shine a little light on the early days of JEMS, the secret origins so to speak.

Before the hard drive recorders, before the DATs, before the many generations of Sony cassette decks, there was a guy in Tacoma recording on a Tandberg mono reel to reel, and, in the alternate universe that is Detroit, there was me and the opposite of a Tandberg--a Lloyd's 8-track cartridge recorder.

I started using the 8-track cartridge recorder because it had external mics and, most importantly, had adjustable recording levels (though oddly, no VU meters, which made things a little difficult). It took some trial and error to figure out how to set the input volume to record without distortion. Sadly, Pink Floyd at Cobo Arena in March of 1973 was the first test and I failed. But after that, I had a pretty good sense of where to set the recording level for concerts, even flying blind without meters. I only recorded about a dozen shows on this system before Sony put out the TC-152SD cassette recorder, which took its place for me and triggered the permanent retirement of the Lloyd's 8-track.

***

This torrent presents Jared�s 8-track mono master recording of Electric Light Orchestra touring behind their new album, Eldorado. In fact, based on internet research, it appears to be the first show of the entire tour. We also believe this recording was never circulated for some reason.

For years Jared wanted to transfer all his original cartridges but it is a very difficult medium to work with. The tape itself is problematic and vintage cartridges rarely play without being rebuilt. Finding a high-quality working playback deck is also not easy, and to get the most out of the transfer, head adjustment is key. Sometime circa 2015-16 Jared was finally able to restore and transfer what was left of his 8-track masters.

There are relatively few recordings of Electric Light Orchestra from this period and while the quality of this show isn�t stellar, it is quite listenable and comparable to the best of the other 8-track masters in our series. Samples provided. Please note that like most 8-tracks, there is slight bleed through of the other tracks/channels. It isn�t significant, but you will hear it in quieter passages. You might here a glitch or two as well down to playback issues with the master tape.

The Detroit setlist includes some of the band�s familiar covers, including the Beatles� �Daytripper,� Jerry Lee Lewis� �Great Balls of Fire� and Chuck Berry�s �Roll Over Beethoven,� along with ELO�s new single �Can�t Get It Out of My Head,� which would become their first U.S. hit.

We post these recordings to celebrate the memory of Jared and his legendary work as a taper. He was the cornerstone of JEMS and he is dearly missed. If you haven�t had the chance yet, I encourage you to watch the 13-minute interview we shot with Jared just a few weeks before his death, in which he shares some of his taping history.

https://vimeo.com/190021070/14a4b5b7ca

Thanks as well to mjk5510 for his invaluable role in getting our tapes to your ears.

Sample and artwork included....

BK for JEMS

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

Images for this show: