Sam Lightnin' Hopkins
Tramp's
New York, NY

December 1, 1981

Late Show

The Last Concert Ever !!!

The BR series Vol 33

Transfer: Sony TC-WE 475 > gold tipped cables > JVC XL-R2010 CD-RW (44.1 Hz)

Editing: Soundforge (editing & tracking) > Wav > TLH (SB's aligned) Flac Level 8

Traders Den 9/20/15

Transferred, channels balanced and tracked by kingrue Upload 603

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Do I have a treat for you guys.. Check this one out.

Sam Hopkins passed away on Jan 30, 1982 at the age of 69. A mere 61 days after his last performance.

If you're a blues fan I don't think I need to mention how important this recording is.

I had to do some research on this show and spend some time with this tape, trying to identify what I have here.

There are 3 different pieces on this tape. I know some of this has been available in the past. Tracks 1 thru 9 haven't been flac'd as far as I can tell. It appears that tracks 10 and 11 have been available from a previous version, but those weren't properly identified as being from the late show. It appears I have the complete late show here. The tape flip was between tracks 9 and 10, but there was a repeated section, so I was able to seamlessly piece it back together. There are no tape cuts during the late show.

Tracks 12 thru 16 were filmed by Channel 5 for a later news broadcast. I have never seen this footage, but we have the audio portion here. This portion has circulated in the past (in similar quality). Those 2 songs included, 'Baby Please Don't Go' and 'Rock Me Baby'.

At the beginning of track 12, the stage announcer speaks these words. "Channel 5 is filming this for news cast at 10, were gonna bring Lightnin' on and do 2 numbers, then he's gonna go down for a while and you'll be entertained by Doug and the boys and then Lightnin' will come back for the full show." Then you hear Lightnin' say "everything will be alright in a while". Then the tape stops/cuts @ 0:43 mark and then resumes with crowd applause leading into the next song. That tape cut also exists on the previous version I found.

At the very end of Track 16, Lightnin' says "ladies and gentleman, please don't leave, cause the party is just now to get underway".

Then the tape cuts and continues onto track 17, which is a long 22 minute jam with no vocals, I'm not sure how it fits into the sequence of the show. It does not have Lightnin' Hopkins during this portion. I'm assuming it's his backing band playing on their own. But the mix of the recording is completely different. To me it doesn't sound like the same show. It could be something unrelated or it's his band playing after Lightin' walks off stage. This long jam appears to be complete, just as the tape runs out.

This tape was lot of work to figure out, getting the tracks titled was not easy, since Hopkins has a tendency to change and mix lyrics from various songs. I'm not even sure the 3 seperate pieces are in the correct order. I presented them in the order found on the tape.

Hopkins vocals are stronger in the right channel. This is definitely a stereo recording.

oh and did i mention this is the Last Concert from Hopkins. I think you'll appreciate the importance of this.

Blues fans are NOT to miss this one.

Thanks goes out to BR for the tape.

Samples Provided.


Late Show = 54:21 min

01 Intro > Instrumental
02 I Was Dreaming
03 Katie Mae
04 Instrumental
05 Instrumental
06 My Babe
07 Black and Evil
08 talking
09 Mr. Charlie
10 Instrumental
11 Instrumental

News Channel 5 portion = 14:48 min
12 Intro > Instrumental
13 talking
14 Baby Please Don't Go
15 talking
16 Rock Me Baby

unknown ending portion = 22:15 min
17 Untitled Jam

Total Time = 91:26 min

Enjoy

George

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