Jack Bruce & Friends
1983 to 1986 w. Clem Clempson, Ronnie Leahy, and Bruce Gary
Between 1983 and 1986, one of the BEST Jack Bruce bands toured a number of territories - this is a collection of as
many of those shows as I can find. JB played with a few other combinations in the same time period, but this line-up
is my personal favourite.
Jack Bruce - Bass, Vocals, Keyboards, Harmonica
Clem Clempson - Guitars, Bass
Ronnie Leahy - Keyboards
Bruce Gary - Drums
In the line-up was Bruce Gary on drums; best known perhaps for his work with the multi-million dollar selling band
The Knack, on their number one "My Sharona". Bruce, who passed away on 22 Aug 2006, also recorded with George Harrison,
Bob Dylan, Stephen Stills, Rod Stewart, Sheryl Crow, just to name a few.
This torrent collection is dedicated to the memory of Bruce Gary. On the four occasions I saw this band, he turned in a
storming performance every time. Such was his dedication to Jack Bruce that, when presented with a impromptu booking for
one show in Edinburgh in 1985, he promptly jumped on a plane or two from Los Angeles to Edinburgh, just to play that one
gig..... and it was a classic.
This info.text file is evolving, and will be completed on an ongoing basis as I torrent each year of these shows.
The torrents will be separated by year (1983/4/5/6) to keep them to a manageable size each.
Bonar Hall, Dundee, Scotland 14 May 1983
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01 First Time I Met the Blues
02 White Room
03 Postwar
04 Theme & Intro to Morning Story
05 Morning Story
The Plough Inn, Perth, Scotland 28 July 1983
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01 White Room
02 Postwar
03 Born Under a Bad Sign
04 Life on Earth
05 Out Into the Fields (fades)
06 Morning Story (very distant - recorder left running whilst operator wanders around venue,
also with fade in/out to cover recorder switch-off mid-tune)
07 Sitting on Top of the World
08 Rollin' & Tumblin'
09 One Word
10 Politician
The Venue, Aberdeen, Scotland 29 July 1983
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01 White Room (long fade up while operator organises himself)
02 Postwar
03 Born Under a Bad Sign
04 Life on Earth
05 Out into the Fields
06 Theme for an Imaginery Western
07 Morning Story (with fade-in/out to cover tape flip) (Working Class Boys was played after this, but is
incomplete on the tape - operator apparently switched on/off mid-tune, and also
when JB started his bass solo)
08 One Word (Politician was played after this, but operator switched off at the intro)
09 Bird Alone
10 Sunshine of Your Love / Rollin' & Tumblin'
Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, Scotland 30 July 1983
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Disc 1
01 Intro & audience
02 White Room
03 Postwar
04 Born Under a Bad Sign
05 Out Into the Fields
06 Working Class Boys
07 Theme for an Imaginery Western
08 Morning Story (cuts/fades at tape flip)
Disc 2
01 Waiting for the Call
02 One Word
03 Politician
04 Bird Alone
05 Sunshine of Your Love/Spoonful with snippets of I'm So Glad, My Sharona, Burning of the Midnight Lamp
('First Time I Met the Blues' might have been the first song, but either wasn't recorded fully, or wasn't transferred to my copy)
The Tam Dhui, Blairgowrie, Scotland 3 August 1983
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01 Postwar
02 Born Under a Bad Sign
03 Out Into the Fields
04 Life on Earth
05 Sitting on Top of the World
06 One Word
07 Politician (very distant, as operator wanders around venue, and cut/fades at tape flip)
08 Theme for an Imaginery Western
09 Morning Story
10 Sunshine of Your Love / I Feel Free
to follow;
Pavilion Theatre, Ayr, Scotland 24 Aug 1984
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Mayfair Club, Glasgow, Scotland 26 Aug 1984 (Version 1 - Aud)
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Mayfair Club, Glasgow, Scotland 26 Aug 1984 (Version 2 - FM)
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Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland 27 Aug 1984 (M)
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Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland 28 Aug 1984 (M)
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The Venue, Aberdeen, Scotland 29 Aug 1984
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Whitehall Theatre, Dundee, Scotland 1 Sep 1984
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Zeche, Bochum, Germany 1 Nov 1984 (D)
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Berlin 14 Nov 1984 (D)
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Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland 25 Aug 1985 (M) CLASSIC
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Stadthalle' Offenbach, Germany 21 Jan 1986 (D)
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Philipshalle' Dusseldorf, Germany 24 Jan 1986 (D)
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Metropol, Berlin, Germany 29 Jan 1986 (D)
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Grosse Freiheit 36, Hamburg, Germany 30 Jan 1986 (A/FM)
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Steinbruch-Theatre' Nieder-Ramstadt, Germany 3 Feb 1986 (D)
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Most of these are audience tapes of varying generations. Generally speaking, the quality gets better the later the tapes.
Unless stated otherwise, the recording lineage is ;
Unknown Audience Recorder -> Cassette(M) -> Unknown transfer(s) -> Cassette(n)
Exceptions;
(M) - My own master tapes - Audience recording on Sony or ITT recorders with built-in mics -> Cassette(M)
(A/FM) - Unknown Audience Recorder and FM broadcast tracks -> unknown transfer -> Cassette(n)
(FM) - FM Broadcast, unknown recorder -> unknown transfer -> Cassette(n)
(D) - Unknown recorder, unknown transfer from master tape -> DAT(1)
Playback / Encoding Lineage
Analogue; Cassette(M) or Cassette(n) on Technics Cassette Deck -> Alesis Masterlink @ 44.1k, 16-bit (track & disc splits, level adjustment, fades) -> CDR -> EAC to .wav -> TLH to .flac
Digital: DAT(1) on TASCAM DA-20, digital transfer -> Alesis Masterlink, remainder as above.
Mastered by GRC - Oct 2007 to June 2008
Mastering Notes; No EQ, just level adjustment. Where appropriate, tracks were split, joined, faded to cover imperfections in the source tape. Some of these recordings are of a good 'audience' standard for the early 1980s, some less so. All perfectly listenable.
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Here's the full list of the gigs that this band played; those included in these torrents are marked '+' - if anyone has any
sources for those marked '-', please get in touch.
05/14/83 + 'Bonar Hall' Dundee, Scotland
07/27/83 - 'Tamdhu' Bannockburn, Scotland
07/28/83 + 'Plough Inn' Perth, Scotland
07/29/83 + 'The Venue' Aberdeen, Scotland
07/30/83 + 'Eden Court Theatre' Inverness, Scotland
08/01/83 - 'Cabarfeidh' Stornaway, Scotland
08/03/83 + 'Tam Dhui' Blairgowrie, Scotland
08/04/83 - 'Abbotts Hall' Kirkcaldy, Scotland
08/05/83 - 'Rock at the Park' Bathgate, Scotland
08/06/83 - 'Heathery Bar' Wishaw, Scotland
08/07/83 - 'Mayfair' Glasgow, Scotland
08/08/83 - 'Micks Club' Carlisle, England
08/09/83 - 'Pavilion' Ayr, Scotland
08/10/83 - 'Chequers' Falkirk, Scotland
08/11/83 - 'Queens Hall' Edinburgh, Scotland
07/10/84 - 'Johnathan Swifts' Cambridge, Massachusetts (2 shows)
07/12/84 - 'The Living Room' 'Lupos Heartbreak Hotel' Providence, Rhode Island
07/13/84 - 'Pier 84' New York, New York
07/14/84 - 'The Joyous Lake' Woodstock, New York (2 shows)
07/17/84 - 'The Bayou' Washington, DC (2 shows)
07/20/84 - 'My Fathers Place' Roslyn, New York (2 shows) (1st show sbd)
07/24/84 - 'Bottom Line' NYC (2 shows)
07/25/84 - 'Bottom Line' NYC (2 shows)
07/28/84 - 'Golden Bear' Huntington Beach, California (cancelled)
08/24/84 + 'Pavilion' Ayr, Scotland
08/25/84 - 'Star Club' Glasgow, Scotland
08/26/84 + 'Mayfair Club' Glasgow, Scotland (Radio Clyde broadcast)
08/27/84 + 'Queens Hall' Edinburgh, Scotland
08/28/84 + 'Queens Hall' Edinburgh, Scotland
08/29/84 + 'The Venue' Aberdeen, Scotland
08/31/84 - 'Albert Hall' Stirling, Scotland
09/01/84 + 'Whitehall Theatre' Dundee, Scotland
11/01/84 + 'Zeche' Bochum, Germany
11/05/84 - 'Stadthalle' Koln, Germany
11/14/84 + 'Metropol' Berlin, Germany
11/16/84 - 'Alexandra' Copenhagen, Denmark
11/19/84 - 'Batschkapp' Frankfurt, Germany
08/25/85 + 'Queens Hall' Edinburgh, Scotland
01/20/86 - 'Stadthalle' Kassel, Germany
01/21/86 + 'Stadthalle' Offenbach, Germany
01/22/86 - 'Jazzgalerie' Bonn, Germany
01/23/86 - 'Stadthalle' Erlangen, Germany
01/24/86 + 'Philipshalle' Dusseldorf, Germany
01/26/86 - 'Schutzenhaus Albisguetki' Zurich, Switzerland
01/27/86 - 'Kongresshalle' Saarbrucken, Germany
01/28/86 - 'Metropol' Aachen, Germany
01/29/86 + 'Metropol' Berlin, Germany
01/30/86 + 'Grosse Freiheit 36' Hamburg, Germany
01/31/86 - 'Jovel Cinema' Munich, Germany
02/01/86 - 'Kulturzentrum' Mainz, Germany
02/02/86 - 'Maxim' Stuttgart, Germany
02/03/86 + 'Steinbruch-Theatre' Nieder-Ramstadt, Germany