The first of a 13 disc set documenting 4 nights of
Holy Modal Rounders/Clamtones shows in December of 1977.
The only info that I have is date and Venue. Setlists would be appreciated.
Lineage ; CDR>WAV>flac level 7
The first of a 13 disc set documenting 4 nights of
Holy Modal Rounders/Clamtones shows in December of 1977.
The only info that I have is date and Venue. Setlists would be appreciated.
Lineage ; CDR>WAV>flac level 7
NOTE FROM THE TAPER (grner1)
I did the masters for these 4 shows (1 night at Shady Grove and then
3 nights in Los Gatos at Mountain Charley's). The masters are 1 channel
soundboard and 1 channel audience recorded with Dolby B on a
Tandberg 9241 XD reel recorder at 3.75 ips speed. At the time I did
not own a portable cassette deck, so I arrived early at the first show,
brought my reel recorder along, asked permission to run a tape, and
was pleasantly suprised when they said that it was OK as long as I
sent them a copy later.
I transferred the masters to CD's around 1998 or 1999 [master reels
played back on Tandberg 9241XD to Macintosh and then time-aligned and
remixed with Pro Tools NOTE FROM THE TAPER (grner1)
© Donald Clarke, 1989,
HOLY MODAL ROUNDERS, The
Folk/country band formed early '60s in NYC by vocalists Peter Stampfel (b 29 Oct. '38, Wauwautosa WI) on banjo and fiddle, guitarist Steve Weber (b 22 June '44, Philadelphia). Weber was the better musician, but famously reluctant to rehearse (or even, allegedly, to get out of bed), while Stampfel knew an uncountable number of songs: their 'progressive oldtimey' or 'acid folk' found an audience that never goes away. ('Rounder' was USA slang for an idler, probably dissolute, but perhaps of considerable experience.)
First LPs were The Holy Modal Rounders I and II '64 on Prestige (now two-disc Stampfel And Weber); they collaborated with the Fugs on ESP LPs, made their own Indian War Hoop '67 on that label, with budding playwright/actor Sam Shepard on drums; went further in acid direction with The Moray Eels Eat The Holy Modal Rounders '68 on Elektra, adding Dave Levy on eletric guitar, Richard Tyler on bass and keyboards (Stampfel had run a band called the Moray Eels in which he played bass), floundered on with Good Taste Is Timeless '71 on Metromedia, with Michael McCarty and John Wesley Annis replacing Shepard and Levy, adding Robin Remaily on guitar, mandolin, fiddle and vocals. ('Living Off The Land'/'Boobs A Lot' on Metromedia was probably their only single.)
Meanwhile they recorded original cast LP of Sam Shepard play Operation Sidewinder for Columbia c'68 but the play flopped and LP was not issued; more Elektra material remains unreleased. Stampfel's girlfriend Antonia's 'Bird Song' was the song from soundtrack of film Easy Rider '69 that nobody remembers: despite a loyal following, the unevenness of these albums and the impossibility of categorizing their music kept them in left field; the '72 band incl. saxophonist Ted Deane was said to be the best ever, but did not record. Found a home on new Rounder label (named after them) with Alleged In Their Own Time '75 incl. Stampfel, Weber, Remaily, Tyler, the excellent Karen Dalton on vocals, plus Luke Faust (from Insect Trust) on vocals, guitar and banjo, Hunt Middleton on guitar, Dave Reisch on bass: this was succeeded (and exceeded) by the cult songwriter Michael Hurley's joyful Have Moicy! '75, with the Unholy Modal Rounders (without Weber) and the Clamtones, incl. Stampfel, Paul Presty on guitar and vocals, Remaily, Jeff and Jill Frederick, Antonia, Dick Nickson (aka Frog) on drums: rated a record of the year by Village Voice and Rolling Stone (see also Spiders In The Moonlight by Jeff Frederick and the Clamtones). Reunions of post-'71 HMR incl. Last Round '78 on Adelphi, Going Nowhere Fast '81 on Rounder; a live '81 Stampfel/Weber reunion was to be released as two-disc Cruel And Unusual, The Punishment Brothers; an album on Adelphi was predicted late '90s and they were to play together again in July '96 at the Bottom Line. Meanwhile Stampfel teamed unsuccessfully with Mark Bingham (guitarist who contributed to Kurt Weill tribute Lost In The Stars on A&M) and singer/songwriter John Parrot. He formed the Bottle Caps '81 (referring to his bottle-cap collection, featured on earlier album sleeves): Peter Stampfel And The Bottle Caps '86 on Rounder won NY Music Award for best independent record, with John Scherman, lead guitar; W. T. (Tom) Overgard, rhythm guitar; Jonathan (Jabe) Best, keyboards; all vocalists except Peter Moser on drums, Allan Greller on bass. This was followed by The People's Republic Of Rock And Roll '89 on Homestead. Stampfel's You Must Remember This '95 on Gert Town is a collection of ditties from 'Indian Summer' to 'Goldfinger' (the Bond film theme), his voice here aggressive, there unexpectedly gentle. The Unholy Modal Rounders (without Weber) made a privately released album of 'songs' by Buckminster Fuller ('Roam Home To The Dome' to the tune of 'Home On The Range', etc). Stampfel also made cassette Not In Our Wildest Dreams with the Chicago-based Dysfunctionells and a children's album by the Du-Tels (Stampfel and ex-Beefheart guitarist Gary Lucas). Weber contributed to The East Village Other on ESP, also to Hurley's LPs. Hurley also drew distinctive LP covers; his best-known song 'The Werewolf' was widely covered. His albums apart from Have Moicy! incl. Long Journey and Snockgrass on Rounder in the late '70s, also First Songs '65 on Folkways, Armchair Boogie and Hi Fi Snock Uptown '71--2 on WB's Raccoon label, Blue Navigator '84 on Rooster, the excellent Watertower '88 on Fundamental (incl. 'Ma's Dream Blues', an imaginary meeting between Ma Rainey and Blind Willie McTell), compilation Wolfways on a Koch CD. Dalton made It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best '69 on Capitol, In My Own Time '71 on Just Sunshine/Paramount. Incredibly, there were no Holy Modal Rounders reissues or compilations listed in Schwann early '97.
from http://www.musicweb-international.com/encyclopaedia/h/H134.HTM