GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS

Saturday, 20 February 1982

Madison Square Garden
4 Pennsylvania Plaza
New York, New York 10001
USA


FLAC master, 22 January 2020, by elegymart:
Analog audience recording (stereo) {recorded by Gene Poole and friends}: unknown mics > Sony WM-D6 Walkman cassette recorder > 1980-82 US Maxell UDXLII C90 (Type II CrO2) analog audio cassette {from the Gene Poole collection} > Sony TC-WE435 (azimuth adjustment) > Roland R05 (24/96) > Cool Edit Pro 2.0 (audio cleanup, convert to 16/44) > SHNtool (fixed SBE) > CD Wave (track splits) > TLH (WAV > FLAC8).
Created this text file.


Total running time [52:12]
------------------------------------------------------------------
01 tutorial [0:26]
02 Who Do You Love? [4:04]
03 Cocaine Blues [4:02]
04 One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer [11:00]
05 It Wasn't Me [7:46]
06 The Sky Is Crying [8:50]
07 Madison Blues [7:09]
08 Reelin' and Rockin' [8:52]


Band line-up:
George Thorogood - guitar, vocals
Billy Blough - bass guitar
Jeff Simon - drums, percussion
Hank "Hurricane" Carter - saxophone, percussion


Notes:

THE GENE POOLE COLLECTION VOL. 25

Here's the latest installment of the Gene Poole Collection, a random wellspring of recordings which have recently surfaced. To paraphrase Lou: This is gonna go on for a while, so we should get used to each other, settle back, pull up your cushions, whatever else you have with you that makes life bearable to kick off the new decade...

Some of Gene's handiwork has probably been heard by your very ears before, for the most part via the Stonecutter Archives, but this is the first major unearthing of tapes direct from the legend himself. As promising as that may seem, it's best to let the surprises hit as they are shared. The trade-off to the prolific taping on Gene's part is that the expectations for a perfect track record would be unrealistic and unfair. There will be instances of incomplete recordings, caused by late arrivals to gigs, recorder and mic malfunctions, and other assorted foibles as would befall any mortal taper. There will be times where a master from another source exists which could be superior. For the most part, Gene recorded with a variety and mics and recorders, and many shows suffered from wire dropouts, so that only one channel was extant in the capture. Due warning about the past imperfect given and out of the way, credit should be given where due as well -- for many shows thought lost forever, it's exciting to discover that many of these even in incomplete form have now cropped up.

The transfers, the audio fixes, and the research all have required some lead time -- many tapes had scant info (sometimes just the name of the artist/band, with no date listed for the performance). Needless to say, gear documentation is virtually nil -- if we wait around for that precise detail to be forthcoming, nothing from the collection would probably see the light of day.

For this edition we head to Madison Square Garden for George Thorogood and the Destroyers, opening up for the J. Geils Band. Gene had a lot of problems with his D6, but I'll let you hear about it directly from him this time. Just let it be known a lengthy amount of time was spent removing the stops and starts of the troublesome deck from the recording here. The tape is running before Gene & co get to their seats so the sound is extremely muffled at the start but once in place, it locks into a nice stereo soundscape, with only some infrequent chatter audible here and there.

Gene dated this show 02/02/82, but the correct date is as listed here -- this one was easy enough to deduce: it was on the occasion of J. Geils' 36th birthday, and he was born on the 20th of February, 1946 (RIP). "Centerfold" was in its third week on the Billboard charts as the #1 hit single at this time.

George Thorogood wasn't having too bad a time himself. The year before this he opened up for the Stones on their tour, which gained the Destroyers wide exposure. The band also embarked on an aggressive tour in 1981 that covered all fifty of the United States within a fifty-day span, ultimately playing a total of 51 shows. It wouldn't be until the fall of 1982 that the Destroyers would appear on "Saturday Night Live" but pairing him with the J. Geils Band for a rockin' good time on this celebratory date certainly didn't hurt to turn some J. Geils Band fans onto his music. The set is played with that early Destroyers vigor and high octane energy. Thorogood tips his hat to J. Geils right before "The Sky Is Crying."

Enjoy,
elegymart


PRIOR EDITIONS OF THE GENE POOLE COLLECTION:
VOL. 1: ROMEO VOID - 1982-10-30 Peppermint Lounge, NYC
VOL. 2: CYNDI LAUPER - 1986-12-19 Madison Square Garden, NYC
VOL. 3: THE GO-GO'S - 1984-06-30 Jones Beach, Wantagh
VOL. 4: PALE FACE OF YOUTH - 1987-03-00 CBGB, NYC
VOL. 5: X - 1987-10-04 The Ritz, NYC
VOL. 6: WARREN ZEVON - 1987-10-04 The Ritz, NYC
VOL. 7: FRIGHTWIG - 1986-11-30 Maxwell's, Hoboken
VOL. 8: LINDA RONSTADT - 1982-11-07 Radio City Music Hall, NYC
VOL. 9: PATTI SMITH GROUP - 1977-07-26 late show, Syncopation, Hartsdale
VOL. 10: SPURS - 1984-01-24 CBGB, NYC
VOL. 11: THE PRETENDERS - 1980-08-23 Mosport Park, Bowmanville
VOL. 12: THE B-52'S - 1980-08-23 Mosport Park, Bowmanville
VOL. 13: TALKING HEADS - 1980-08-23 Mosport Park, Bowmanville
VOL. 14: THE RUMOUR - 1980-08-23 Mosport Park, Bowmanville
VOL. 15: GRAHAM PARKER & THE SHOT - 1985-08-03 Pier 84, NYC
VOL. 16: ROBYN HITCHCOCK & THE EGYPTIANS - 1993-05-19 The Ritz, NYC
VOL. 17: ROBYN HITCHCOCK - 1988-07-22 Pier 84, NYC
VOL. 18: 10,000 MANIACS - 1988-07-22 Pier 84, NYC
VOL. 19: COMATEENS - 1984-12-26 The Ritz, NYC
VOL. 20: VIOLENT FEMMES - 1994-07-21 Roseland, NYC
VOL. 21: LENE LOVICH - 1988-06-16 The Ritz, NYC
VOL. 22: THOMPSON TWINS - 1984-08-14 Jones Beach, Wantagh
VOL. 23: THE PRIMITIVES - 1990-03-13 Beacon Theatre, NYC
VOL. 24: DAVE EDMUNDS - 1987-01-30 The Ritz, NYC