John Cale

Mudd Club, NYC
October 3, 1981

John Cale - voc, guitar, keyboard
Robert Medici - drums
Jim Goodwin - bass
Sturgis Nikides - lead guitar, e-bow

1. [?] 5:23
2. [Tuning] 0:54
3. Evidence/Streets Of Laredo/Dr. Mudd 14:00
4. [?] 6:09
5. Guts 4:36
6. [False Start] 0:17
7. Dirty Ass Rock'n'Roll 7:22
8. Fighter Pilot 4:23
9. Wilson Joliet 4:34
10. [Tuning] 0:52
11. Russian Roulette/Honi Soit/Pablo Picasso 17:50
12. Dead Or Alive 5:16

ABOUT THE RECORDING:
This was recorded-in the pre-ProWalkman era-on my trusty Panasonic Slimline cassette recorder. It only weighed a few pounds, measured about six by nine inches, and was a mere two inches thick! This monstrosity-by today's standards-accompanied my skinny white self to many beautiful New York shows. All I had to do was inhale deeply while passing the bouncer and the Panasonic disappeared right into my chest under the denim jacket. Rock and roll.
The Mudd Club was a tiny box and the sound is tight as the tape attests.

After unearthing this field recording from my archive a couple of years ago this ROIO received some tender, loving post-production, going through a Behringer Denoiser for the godawful hiss (not much high end to lose!), a Bellari Tube Exciter to beef up the bottom, and a Behringer Edison for subtle mono-to-stereo imaging before being burnt to CD. The lineage is this:

AUD > Panasonic Slimline Mono Condenser Mic > C-90 Cassette > Sony D6 ProWalkman (for playback) > Behringer Denoiser > Bellari BP 562 Tube Exciter > Behringer Edison > Tascam CDRW-700 > AIFF > FLAC (Level 8)

ABOUT THE SHOW:
At the time I didn't know squat about Cale or the Velvets and what to expect. He had an avant-garde reputation and I was pleasantly surprised when he put on a really good, sloppy-yet-tight, New York rock'n'roll show. I recall that Cale switched back and forth between playing an electric piano and a white Les Paul. The vibe was cool though everyone had been waiting for hours. This was in the day when the fans were made to stand around clubs until about midnight before the headliner even plugged in! The openers were Malaria! (from Berlin), playing their first-ever US show. I recorded about three of their songs, too, and will post this sometime soon. Cale came on around midnight, if I remember correctly, and played many of the songs as part of extended grooves. I set the track marks during true breaks, rather than in mid-groove. All in all, I am amazed how much of the sweaty, rocking vibe comes across on this recording. I am pretty sure this is the complete show.
After the gig I had to catch a train back to the Jersey suburbs but I missed the last one out of Newark. I remember sitting alone on the platform in the wee hours, waiting for the 5:00 am train to come in and listening back to this recording and smiling. So, if anyone should dare bitch about the lack of high end on this ROIO, I say to them, "think of all that a skinny, white, sleep-deprived art student and his friend Panasonic Slim went through to share his field recording with you!"

Don't sell. Enjoy!
(Any help with the missing song titles is greatly appreciated.)