Jefferson Airplane
Pacific Amphitheatre
Costa Mesa, CA
September 16, 1989
Mike Millard Master Tape via JEMS
The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 168
1644 Edition

Recording Gear: AKG 451E Microphones (CK-1 cardioid capsules) > Nakamichi 550 Cassette Recorder

JEMS 2022 Transfer: Mike Millard Master Cassettes > Nakamichi Cassette Deck 1 azimuth-adjusted playback > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity 3.1 capture > iZotope RX > iZotope Ozone > MBIT+ resample to 16/44.1 > Audacity > xACT 2.50 > FLAC

01 She Has Funny Cars
02 Somebody To Love
03 Plastic Fantastic Lover
04 Won't You Try / Saturday Afternoon
05 Today
06 Good Shepherd
07 Lather
08 Solidarity
09 Wooden Ships
10 America
11 Freedom
12 Panda
13 Miracles
14 The Wheel
15 Ice Age
16 Summer Of Love
17 True Love
18 Planes
19 Volunteers
20 It's No Secret
21 3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds
22 Crown Of Creation

Known Faults: Hot Tuna's intermission set removed per DIME rules

Introduction to the Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Series

Welcome to JEMS� Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone series presenting recordings made by legendary taper Mike Millard, AKA Mike The Mike, best known for his masters of Led Zeppelin done in and around Los Angeles circa 1975-77. For the complete details on how tapes in this series came to be lost and found again, as well as JEMS' long history with Mike Millard, please refer to the notes in Vol. One: http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=500680.

Until 2020, the Lost and Found series presented fresh transfers of previously unavailable first-generation copies made by Mike himself for friends like Stan Gutoski of JEMS, Jim R, Bill C. and Barry G. These sources were upgrades to circulating copies and in most instances marked the only time verified first generation Millard sources had been directly digitized in the torrent era.

That all changed with the discovery of many of Mike Millard�s original master tapes.

Yes, you read that correctly, Mike Millard�s master cassettes, long rumored to be destroyed or lost, have been found. Not all of them but many, and with them a much more complete picture has emerged of what Millard recorded between his first show in late 1973 and his last in early 1993.

The reason the rediscovery of his master tapes is such a revelation is that we�ve been told for decades they were gone. Internet myths suggest Millard destroyed his master tapes before taking his own life, an imprudent detail likely concocted based on the assumption that because his master tapes never surfaced and Mike�s mental state was troubled he would do something rash WITH HIS LIFE�S WORK. There�s also a version of the story where Mike�s family dumps the tapes after he dies. Why would they do that?

The truth is Mike�s masters remained in his bedroom for many years after his death in 1994. We know at least a few of Millard�s friends and acquaintances contacted his mother Lia inquiring about the tapes at the time to no avail. But in the early 2000s, longtime Millard friend Rob S was the one she knew and trusted enough to preserve Mike�s work.

The full back story on how Mike�s master tapes were saved can be found in the notes for Vol. 18 Pink Floyd, which was the first release in our series transferred from Millard�s original master tapes:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=667745&hit=1
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=667750&hit=1

Jefferson Airplane, Pacific Auditorium, Costa Mesa, CA, September 16, 1989

Technically we add yet another new artist name to the roll call of the Lost and Found series with this first appearance by Jefferson Airplane, reunited and sounding remarkably good. Mike Millard did record Jefferson Starship when they were riding high with their best-selling album Red Octopus in 1975 (released not coincidentally as Vol. 75 in the series), hence the technicality, but it still feeds good to be covering new ground in the thin air of Volume 168.

The Airplane had reunited and released a self-titled album in August which would prove to be their last. The tour saw Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Martin Balin, Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen joined notably by drummer Kenny Aronoff (from Mellencamp's band) and keyboard player Tim Gorman (who toured with The Who in 1982), plus Zebra's Randy Jackson on and Jorma's brother Peter playing additional guitars.

While the new material was meh, the band sounded potent and polished, and the expanded line-up gave the arrangements some modern punch. Perhaps not your purists' Airplane, but one that could sell tickets in the late '80s. Just a few weeks later, Jefferson Airplane would play their final proper show ever, so this is one of their last recorded performances.

It all seems to work for the Costa Mesa crowd, who are well into it, meaning there's a fair amount of hooting and hollering, though not so close up as to be distracting for most of the show. Mike's in his usual optimal position at this familiar venue and his master tape sounds rich and full. Samples provided.


###

JEMS is proud to partner with Rob, Jim R, Ed F, Barry G and many others to release Millard's historic recordings and to help set the record straight about the man himself.

We can't thank Rob enough for reconnecting with Jim and putting his trust in our Millard reissue campaign. He kept Mike's precious tapes under wraps for two decades, but once Rob learned of our methods and stewardship, he agreed to contribute the Millard DATs and cassettes to the program. Our releases would not be nearly as compelling without Jim's memories, photos and other background contributions. As many of you have noted, the stories offer an entertaining complement to Mike's incredible audio documents.

It's always more challenging to find time to work on the series during the holidays, so extra special thanks to RobS for the transfer, Professor Goody for the pitch work and mjk5510 for his post-production services and artwork.

Finally, here's to the late, great Mike the MICrophone. His work never ceases to impress. May he rest in peace.

BK for JEMS

Images for all shows as well as full size images for this show.

Images for this show: