Grin
1971-06-27 ::: Baltimore, Maryland, USA ::: Bluesette (club)
2439 North Charles Street, near East 25th Street in Charles Village ::: M?-AUD

~*~ Mk2 version, carefully remastered fixing various issues, WITH EQ but NO NR ~*~

Set One :::
01. If I Were A Song
02. Like Rain
03. You're Lookin' Fine
04. Share A Little
05. Goin' Back

Set Two :::
06. Slippery Fingers// (fragment)
07. Take Time to Know Her
08. White Lies
09. Moon Tears
10. Smokestack Lightning//
11. ...Celebration(?) ->
12. End Unkind
==========================
13. ==NOT MUSIC- Taper comments from after #10 & after #12==

Total Time ::: 49:03

::: Distorted but historically important! Check samples for disgust&derision or doable delight.
::: Warts (yes!): Distorted throughout. Repaired dullspots & dropouts but surely missed a few. Recorder maybe had ALC- many songs start loud&distorted&when a passage goes quiet volume sometimes went up (fixed when possible). Taper cut off deck between songs&they start&end abruptly (sometimes missing notes-a few clapping fades added but stll rough). #06 23sec fragment of conclusion only. #10 1st 8secs speed issue&cuts ~2mins in. #11 starts quite late (based on other shows the last 2 songs here closed the set or are more likely the encore). 10sec instrumental fragment from same show/unknown song deleted from start of tape.
::: CONTRAST CLAUSE: This is the Mk2 EQ version (lower bass&brightened). The MK1 NO EQorNR version is available elsewhere.
::: Only part of the show with unknown amounts missing from each set.
::: This show has an incredible 6 rarities out of 12 songs - the most rare songs in any circulating live tape.
::: Art&Sharon Peyton’s Bluesette on North Charles Street was a non-alcoholic rock&blues club.
::: Online notes&ads in "Harry"(underground newspaper) say Grin played this venue a number of times.
::: After the "teens" left Bluesette rock shows, an after hours jazz club/jam session called Blues Back Alley ran from 2-5AM.
::: Date (a Sunday) left as labeled on tape. Some hours of research were done with no success.
::: Bluesette gigs mostly Fri&Sat 8-12. In '70-71 usually Sunday gigs were jam sessions&no ad found for this date.
::: If YOU have access to "Harry" issues #38/39 aka V2#13 + #14 (possibly available@Chicago Public&Ohio State Univ. libraries), you could look this show/date in "Nothing Ever Happens In Baltimore" section.
::: Usually I wouldn't spend much time on a recording of this quality, but I love these songs/this music.
::: #11 unissued song played '71-74. Probably"Celebration"but aka"Thunderbird".(Boot CD"Walking The Line"title likely wrong). Anyone know?
::: #13 says, "This was a Chicken Willy production". A joke but maybe it identifies taper&YOU can provide contact info (please).
::: This show has an incredible 6 rarities (out of 12 songs) - the most rare songs of any circulating show.
::: We REALLY need an upgrade of this as it has so many rarities. Someone MUST have a better version.
::: In Grin years, "Like Rain": A) like this version, sometimes had no intro (except Nils solo song beginning) // B) segued from a Nils solo electric rock guitar intro (sometimes VERY heavy) // C) segued from a classical piano piece // D) segued from a solo piano or electric guitar version of the song Nils wrote for his pre-Grin band, Paul Dowell&The Dolphin, "It's Better To Know You"(1969 Sire 45 A-side) // E) in the last year, sometimes segued from "Believe" (or even both C&D as on 1973-04-06).
::: Grin's self-titled 1st LP was recorded 1969-1970 & was to be issued in fall 1970, but didn't come out until 1971.
::: Asst. sites say 1st LP issued June (same month as this gig). SanBernadinoSun reviewed it 1971-05-18 & Billboard indicates 1st week of May release.
::: To (completely) hazard a guess, perhaps the release of Grin's 1st LP (4 songs played here) was a a reason for the Sunday nite appearance.
::: 1970 Cash Box magazine credits both Neil Young&Steve Stills with discovering Grin. Subsequent histories have noted only Neil.
::: 1st LP '71 Cash Box review, "All 11 cuts were written by Nils&they’re guaranteed to make you grin because it’s new music; a formerly untapped vein in new directions."
::: "So long as Grin keeps recording, there will be reason to smile." (source unknown '71 1st LP review).
::: Astonishing/sadly, Grin still doesn't even have their own Wikipedia page, nor gets more than a single paragraph in Nils' entry. WTF?
::: WATCH THIS & GRIN - complete with trampoline flip! www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS26vzLjhrk

Recording Information ::: unknown mono tape recorder&mike -> master mono tape -> unknown analog generations -> unknown generation Maxell XLII-90 cassette, Dolby B on.

Playback 2020-01-xx ::: unknown generation Maxell XLII-90 cassette on Nakamichi 680ZX cassette deck, Dolby B on, azimuth adjusted for individual tape, heads cleaned & demagnetized -> Sony Linear PCM Recorder PCM-M10 (LPCM 44.10kHz/16bit WAV files) -> computer -> Audacity [normalisation to remove DC offset, channel/phase alignment, fades, manual one-at-a-time glitch, bump, pop, click, dropout & dullspot repairs, volume adjustments, #01-07 +2.0, #8 +4.0, #09-13 +2.9 pitch (speed) fixes with single pass per segment after frequency analysis & with pitchpipe verification, mono master so after fixing offset both channels were kept & mixed to mono (to spare a lot of dropout work), WITH equalisation, NO noise reduction] -> CD Wave (track splits) -> flacs (Trader's Little Helper) -> yr ears. Freed 2021-12-xx.

Line-up ::: Nils Hilmer Lofgren - electric guitar, vocals // Bob Gordon - electric bass, vocals // Bob Berberich - drums, vocals.

Nothing here ever commercially released to my knowledge. If I'm wrong, please advise & I'll take the offending trax offline.

DimeTravel 566 ::: Thanks to the original taper & traders! THANKS to DIMERS elegymart, Syrinx, AlexPhoenix, TheBigA for their GRIN input in various ways. Thanks to DIMER gv0000 for his ever-helpful research assistance. ::: Corrections welcome ::: VERY important show regardless of crappy quality! VERY important show regardless of crappy quality! This has the the only known versions of Grin covering Percy Sledge's "Take Time to Know Her" & the Kinks "You're Lookin' Fine" & 1 of only 3 (all unissued) "Smokestack Lightning" versions to surface (verifying Grin played it in 1971). Then there's the first version of Grin playing "Share A Little" - a VERY early version with some different lyrics & it's original, previously unheard arrangement - some 5 yrs(!) before the "Cry Tough" album version & mostly NOT sung by Nils) & the first circulating apearance of Nils covering "Goin' Back" (& only 3 live ones around), plus yet another version of the unissued Grin song, "Celebration" - not to mention some excellent playing. Listen, enjoy, show appreciation, share, give, spread peace. Yrs truly, Knees

Support the artists! http://www.nilslofgren.com -- http://www.facebook.com/nilslofgrenfans -- https://twitter.com/nilslofgren -- www.facebook.com/BerberichHullandDaughter (Bob Berberich's Vinyl Acres record shop site)

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