James Gang
1971-05-15 New York City, New York Carnegie Hall (M1-AUD)

*UNRELEASED* material from same show as "Live In Concert"
--------ALL commercially released songs omitted--------
===========Should UPGRADE circulating copies===========

Electric :::
01. Funk #49
02. Ashtonpark/ (cuts sharply at end due to omitted song segue)
03. White Man - Black Man

Acoustic :::
04. Thanks
05. Garden Gate
06. Again

Electric :::
07. Woman

First Encore :::
08. Johnny B. Goode

Second Encore :::
09. The Bomber

Total Time ::: 45:04

::: Somewhat distant but enjoyable wide stereo AUD recording with high-end still intact, lovingly remastered without EQ. Check samples for set-your-teeth on edge factor or chomping-at-the-bit potential.
::: Warts: Slightly distant with a bit of distortion at times due to insane amplification (I suspect). Many dropouts & dull spots repaired or lessened in impact but I surely missed others. "Thanks" & "Again" have some AUD clapping. Quick tape flip in "Ashes, The Rain & I".
::: Plum Nelly was the opening act & was not recorded by this taper.
::: Complete concert setlist noted below. This upload gives you the "other half" of the show.
::: Should UPGRADE circulating copies. From taper's early 70s 1st gen safety reel & carefully remastered removing many of blemishes, without EQ.
::: Turn the bass up, the treble down a bit & the volume up a LOT for a more fulfilling listening experience.
::: Quick splice here at end of "Ashtonpark" as it immediately segues into the released song "Stop" (omitted for this upload).

Recording Information ::: unknown Sony(?) stereo cassette recorder with unknown microphones -> master stereo AUD 100 minute cassette tape, no noise reduction.

Playback early 1970's by taper (equipment type unknown) ::: master stereo AUD cassette tape, no noise reduction, azimuth adjusted -> 1st generation reel-to-reel tape.
Playback circa 2005 (equipment type unknown) ::: 1st generation reel-to-reel tape, azimuth adjusted -> to DVD audio @48KHz (wavs).

Remastered 2013-01/02 ::: de-flac'd 48KHz wavs of 1st gen tape remastered in Audacity as follows: NO equalisation! Normalised to remove DC offset. Fixed left channel offset/phase alignement on both sides of master tape. Speed correction -.27 to match album (which matched pitch pipe). Most dropouts & dull spots fixed but surely missed some & a number were only partially repairable. Did fades, clapping reduction & manual one-at-a-time bump-pop-click-glitch repair, volume adjustments to compensate for both taper adjustments & microphone direction, downsampled from 48KHz to 44.1KHz. -> CD Wave (track splits) -> Trader's Little Helper -> yer ears. Completely insane amount of work. Seeing blue lines 24 hours a day, the whole world is turning into a wave form. First uploaded week of 2013-01-09.

Line-up ::: Joe Walsh � electric guitar // Hammond B3 organ // 12-string acoustic guitar, vocals // Dale Peters � electric bass guitar, percussion, vocals // Jim Fox � drums, acoustic guitar, percussion, vocals.

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

CoolSonics 216 ::: Thanks to the original taper & trader, the one & only Florida Kid! May his own watches always run on time. ::: Corrections welcome :::

WARNING: The following contains babble, drivel, gibberish, balderdash, hogwash, blather, hooey, bunk, jabber, poppycock, tripe & twaddle for those so inclined. If you have fear of such, please proceed directly to flacs. I have waited in vain for years for seriously expanded versions of the James Gang studio albums with lots of bonus tracks. And, ever since its release, for well over FORTY(!) years I have been waiting for the expanded version of James Gang "Live In Concert" album. It was clear from the moment we first heard it we were only getting part of the show. Purchased thru my Record Club Of America mail order membership, it was one of my most played albums at the end of 1971 on thru '72, having emeshed myself the previous couple of years in "Yer' Album", "Rides Again" & "Thirds".

While I could later find some interest in the Barnstorm band, in general I felt it a real shame that the James Gang was so massively overshadowed by Joe's solo career & subsequent superstar fame in one of my least favorite bands in rock history. Weird, as it seemed to me that the James Gang produced the most serious & powerful of all the music he has made. While the JG reunions were welcome & are fun to listen to (especially given that only a few early live recordings have surfaced), it is sometimes pretty damn hard to take Joe seriously (but maybe I just don't chew enough gum). But these are just my opinions & it's clear many disagree.

At least in the 80s I was lucky enough to score this audience recording. While not exactly hi-fi, it does the trick. There was clearly overdubbing done in various places on what was issued (or outright re-recording, like MUCH of "Ashes, The Rain & I" - in fact, hard to tell what the two versions have in common!), and there are a few duff moments in the unreleased material which someone might wish were also overdubbed... but overall, musically, it sounds fairly delightful. So, where the hell is the rest of Carnegie Hall - "Live In Concert Expanded" (brickwalled CD tho' it would probably be)? Tired of waiting for that, I was pleased to get a lower generation of the audience recording - as good as it is going to get, from the taper, and have been able to go to work on its audio problems, removing many of the distracting dropouts & dull spots, and I feel it is most surely the best copy around.

"Thirds" was recorded in 1970 at various times & issued in April 1971, about one month before this recording. Then the "Live In Concert" album, taken from this show, was released in September, six months after the concert & 4 months before Joe Walsh departed the group. Online, some theorise that this Carnegie Hall gig was perhaps the greatest highlight of the James Gang's concert career. It may have been so for them, but musically it's easily disputed. It also seems very likely for many of their early fans, especially those fortunate to have lived in Cleveland in the late 60's, that seeing the band play Quaker Meeting (church) picnics (true!) & the like was probably just as memorable, though the bandmembers were most surely glad to forget those gigs & move on to fame & fortune. Whatever the story, the band is clearly in great form here. For one thing, the album only featured 1 of the 4 acoustic songs they played at the gig. It certainly shows it would be have been cool to have had a complete "unplugged" session from the James Gang of this vintage.

There is also rather inane commentary online about how it is clear from this album that Joe is outpacing the others or somesuch. There is some absolutely fantastic drum & bass playing on this recording, though I entertain no doubts myself that it was in many respects a one man show. Pretty hard to believe they didn't use the version of "Woman" on the record - it's rippin'. Kinda like loadin' yrself up on some blotter & listening to an electric sledgehammer (in a good way!). I mean, each to his or her own. Some folks used to like taking mixing acid & Quaaludes tho' I could never figure that one out. The other thing about the Joe reviews is, what exactly was the great next step they're talking about? Here what shines like a motherfucker is his guitar playing. If I compare this to the Barnstorm albums, or his more simplistic, although quite OK, playing on "So What" or "You Can't Argue with a Sick Mind (Recorded Live)", in all reality there is no real comparison. To give him a fair shake, part of the issues for the mid-70s studio albums (for me!) are simply that the sound isn't timeless enough. When I "return to The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get", for example, I get looks of disbelief from my wife. I mean, I used to really enjoy the record (tho' nowhere near as much as the James Gang LPs), but I can acknowledge that some bad choices were made - cheesy synthy keyboards among them. My ears ask the simple question, "What has Walsh REALLY done afterwards to compare to the dynamic, original, mind obliterating sounds of the James Gang?" The proof is in the pudding, and here's some more pudding for yr bowl. Just be sure to bring along a big enough spoon.

From a time where many were completely distracted by the draft & their country's criminal wars in Southeast Asia & hard rock music was a form of protest (albeit co-oped by the music industry), here is some HEAVY music. Enjoy your memories & new found experiences & remember what it was like when you took this music seriously & dosed yourself to prove it!

P.S. If for some reason you have yet to see the Paris "Pop Deux" TV Show James Gang performance, I urge you to seek it out, put it on a beamer somewhere with a good stereo & immerse yourself in it. MOST excellent.

Kudos to Zongo for life support, Lochner for mikes&more & Fast Freddie for runnin' Video Dick's Record Emporium with the bathroom office full of tape decks. Thanks to Hanwaker (few among us can keep his pace). Mountains of gratitude to Davmar, D.White, Sanchez, Elliot, The Florida Kid, Kloiber, Zingg, JTW, Bershaw, Boston Gold, Dixon, Moore, Gough & SO many more for all that collecting & sharing... Royal thanks to The Man In The Palace, Doc Tinker, Brinkhoffs, Barely Eatin', Reel Master Gaule, Parrish & all the traders who housed me thru my music acquisition & travel years. Hats off to Brother Kent, Uncle Jake, Little Queenie (& her neighbor Frank) & his honor Ptomaine Thomas. Glasses raised to Byron for musical horizon expansion & much obliged to J & Thurston for keepin' my concert fires burnin' since my continental shift. Thanks to the Mods for keepin' DIME alive. Enjoy, share, give, spread peace. Yers truly, Knees

Support the artists! www.joewalsh.com

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

ORIGINAL COMPLETE CONCERT SETLIST :::
Electric :::
01. Funk #49
02. Ashtonpark ->
03. Stop -> (Omitted - commercially released on "Live In Concert")
04. You're Gonna Need Me (Omitted - commercially released on "Live In Concert")
05. Take A Look Around -> (Omitted - commercially released on "Live In Concert")
06. Tend My Garden (Omitted - commercially released on "Live In Concert")
07. White Man / Black Man
Acoustic :::
08. Thanks
09. Garden Gate
10. Again
11. Ashes, The Rain & I (Omitted - commercially released on "Live In Concert")
Electric :::
12. Walk Away (Omitted - commercially released on "Live In Concert")
13. Woman
14. Lost Woman (Omitted - commercially released on "Live In Concert")
First Encore :::
15. Johnny B. Goode
Second Encore :::
16. The Bomber
Total Time ::: 1:32:14 (with approximately 2 minutes of audience noise removed from master)