Elton John
The Forum
Inglewood, CA
November 7, 1980
Mike Millard Master Tapes via JEMS
The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 204
16/44 Edition

Recording Gear: AKG 451E Microphones (CK-1 cardioid capsules) > Nakamichi 550 Cassette Recorder

JEMS 2023 Transfer: Mike Millard Master Cassettes > Nakamichi Cassette Deck 1 azimuth-adjusted playback > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity 3.1 capture > iZotope RX > iZotope RX8 Advanced and Ozone 10 > MBIT+ resample to 16/44.1 > Audacity > xACT 2.50 > FLAC

01 Funeral For A Friend >
02 Love Lies Bleeding
03 Tiny Dancer
04 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
05 All The Girls Love Alice
06 Rocket Man
07 Philadelphia Freedom
08 Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
09 Band Introduction
10 Saturday Night
11 All I Want Is You
12 Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting
13 Harmony
14 Little Jeannie
15 Bennie And The Jets
16 Imagine (JohnL Lennon cover)
17 Ego
18 Have Mercy On The Criminal
19 Someone Saved My Life Tonight
20 Your Song
21 Bite Your Lip (Get Up And Dance!)

Known Faults: Encore not recorded and not confirmed but likely covers of "Great Balls Of Fire,' "Good Golly, Miss Molly" and "I Saw Her Standing There"

Introduction to the Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Series

Welcome back to JEMS� Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone series presenting recordings made by legendary taper Mike Millard, AKA Mike The Mike, best known for his masters of Led Zeppelin done in and around Los Angeles circa 1975-77. For the complete details on how tapes in this series came to be lost and found again, as well as JEMS' long history with Mike Millard, please refer to the notes in Vol. One: http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=500680.

Until 2020, the Lost and Found series presented fresh transfers of previously unavailable first-generation copies made by Mike himself for friends like Stan Gutoski of JEMS, Jim R, Bill C and Barry G. These sources were upgrades to circulating copies and in most instances marked the only time verified first generation Millard sources had been directly digitized in the torrent era.

That all changed with the discovery of many of Mike Millard�s original master tapes.

Yes, you read that correctly, Mike Millard�s master cassettes, long rumored to be destroyed or lost, have been found. Not all of them but many, and with them a much more complete picture has emerged of what Millard recorded between his first show in late 1973 and his last in early 1993.

The reason the rediscovery of his master tapes is such a revelation is that we�ve been told for decades they were gone. Internet myths suggest Millard destroyed his master tapes before taking his own life, an imprudent detail likely concocted based on the assumption that because his master tapes never surfaced and Mike�s mental state was troubled he would do something rash WITH HIS LIFE�S WORK. There�s also a version of the story where Mike�s family dumps the tapes after he dies. Why would they do that?

The truth is Mike�s masters remained in his bedroom for many years after his death in 1994. We know at least a few of Millard�s friends and acquaintances contacted his mother Lia inquiring about the tapes at the time to no avail. But in the early 2000s, longtime Millard friend Rob S was the one she knew and trusted enough to preserve Mike�s work.

The full back story on how Mike�s master tapes were saved can be found in the notes for Vol. 18 Pink Floyd, which was the first release in our series transferred from Millard�s original master tapes:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=667745&hit=1
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=667750&hit=1

Elton John, The Forum, Inglewood, CA, November 7, 1980

This week we arrive at the sixth and final Elton John concert recorded by Mike "The Mike" Millard.

Mike was a true Elton fan, first taping him at The Forum, October 5, 1974 on the Caribou tour, released as Vol. 53 of our series. He followed up in 1975 recording opening night of the Rock of the Westies Tour in San Diego, September 29, 1975 (Vol. 28); two nights on The Single Man Tour at the Universal Amphitheatre September 29 (Vol. 153) and October 6, 1979 (Vol. 179); and Anaheim Convention Center, November 2, 1980 (Vol. 119). The Anaheim show was the second of two nights there and seven SoCal shows overall. In addition to single show in San Diego, Elton did a four-night stand at The Forum, where Mike would see and record John for the last time on November 7, the second of the quartet of Inglewood shows.

We should get it out of the way right up front that this is weakest of Mike's six Elton recordings. We've written at length that Mike would rather miss a show entirely (e.g. Pink Floyd The Wall 1980) than record from an inferior seat. But for whatever reason, on this night Millard's seats were partially behind the stage. As a result of his position in proximity to the PA, his recording sounds quite distant for a Millard master.

We did a lot of work in mastering to try to pull his recording forward and increase the fidelity from what was a fairly flat tape. It helped, but suffice it to say this is not up to normal Millard levels of excellence. That being said his capture is still quite listenable. Samples provided.

Another thing that jumped out at me compared to other the other Elton tour recordings is the elevated role of synthesizers on the 1980 tour which are quite prominent in the mix and definitely deviate from John's "classic" sound.

Those gripes aside its still worth a listen as the setlist includes a nice dose of classics and a few lesser played tracks like "Bite Your Lip," "Harmony," "Ego" and a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" performed exactly one month and one day before his tragic death. Notes tell us that Mike was unable to record the encore as noted above, so the recording ends with "Bite Your Lip."

After The Forum shows, Elton did a three-show layover in Hawaii on his way to New Zealand and Australia for a 16-show, year-ending tour.

###

JEMS is immensely proud to partner with Rob, Jim R, Ed F, Barry G, Jim Ri and many others to release Millard's historic recordings and to help set the record straight about the man himself.

We can�t thank Rob enough for reconnecting with Jim and putting his trust in our Millard reissue campaign. He kept Mike�s precious tapes under wraps for two decades, but once Rob learned of our methods and stewardship, he agreed to contribute the Millard DATs and cassettes to the program. Our releases would not be nearly as compelling without Jim�s memories, photos and other background contributions. As many of you have noted, the stories offer an entertaining complement to Mike�s incredible audio documents.

Thanks to everyone who has kept the Lost and Found series going, including Barry G for supplying his first-generation cassettes, Jim R, Rob S, Professor Goody for stepping up each week with pitch adjustments and mjk5510 for keeping the assembly line humming.

Finally, cheers to the late, great Mike the MICrophone. His work never ceases to impress. May he rest in peace.

BK for JEMS

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

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