Mason Ruffner- guitar and vocals
Chris Clifton- guitar
Michael Ramos- keyboards
George Reef- bass
Kevin Valentine- drums? (also introduced as keyboard player but no drummer
introduced, I think Mason made a mistake in his introduction)
Paradise Rock Club
Boston, Mass. U.S.A.
August 26, 1987
performance quality: B+ sounded pretty tight and good
recording quality: a solid B, no problems, decent sound
source: master audience tape
lineage:
Realistic mini-mikes >
Sony D-6 cassette deck (dolby off) >
Maxell XLII 90 min. master cassette
(almost never played, this 1st ever digital transfer
may be its first ever full play-through) >
soundforge 4.5 (WAV) . FLAC 6 > torrentially yours.
runtime: about 85 minutes all but encores, (last 2 tracks) will fit on 1 disc.
setlist:
almost any track break here is suitable for a disc break, they stop playing between all
the songs and if you choose to, all but the 2 encores fit on 1 80 min. CD.....
total runtime: 84:19 (this is the complete show, no cuts at all)
1: tuning
2: dancin' on top of the world
3: ain't nothin' but trouble
4: runnin'
5: gamblin' fever
6: red hot lover
7: blues instrumental
8: Lady Moon
9: fightin' back
10: bon temps roulez
11: Serenata
12: under your spell
13: baby, I don't care no more
14: gypsy blood
15: distant thunder > Courage
Encores:
16: gravediggers
17: blues schuffle
comments:
This is my one and only audie master of a band from Ft.Worth and
Austin, Texas area. I haven't heard it in years but I was asked if I had
any Ruffner, and this is it. (also a short KBFH bit somewhere, maybe a half
an hour or so, that is not included in here. I just found it and will post it
with this one since they'll both make a nice 2 disc set.)
Maybe because it had now been been a good 35 years since my last
"lark" ('s tongues in Aspic concert), even though I knew about as
much about Mason Ruffner as I do about Arkansas highway system (zip),
I knew just one person then (in Michigan) who had even heard of him,
I decided to go see another "lark" concert. At this time I was very
into hearing new bands and there were some to see. This guy could have
been about as "new" as Eric Clapton and I'd never know it, but he must not
have been a new artist (just new to me) because he did draw a pretty good
sized crowd and they enjoyed what they heard. I'd call it blues rock,
sortakinda like earlier (not poppy or the hard edged) ZZ Top, some Stevie RV
guitar influence, a touch of early Allman Bros. from the Duane days perhaps,
but not a "copy" style of any band I can think of.
They seem to like it and they sounded good here, it wasn't sold out but a
good healthy sized crowd was on hand to enjoy a good concert. I was asked
by someone in Texas if I had recorded Ruffner opening for the Firm.
Honestly, if he says Ruffner opened for the Firm, I believe him but I
don't even think I saw the opener, if I did I wasn't paying much attention,
or maybe not impressed with music. My memory of Firm Aril 1,86 opening act
is anything but firm. Opening act? I couldn't even say if there was one.
Clearly, when Jimmy Page shows up in Boston Garden for 1st time in 13 years,
ain't NOBODY else anybody wants to hear! Jimmy may very well be Boston's #1
alltime favorite guitar player. I don't know where Ruffner sits there, but
he is a pretty good guitar player (also sings pretty well in the blues rock
style he seems to specialize in.). I don't know if anyone opened this set either,
but the Ruffner set here is complete, from 1st note to last you get it all.
Cuz we all want it all, don't we? That's called human nature. That's not always
possible with ROIO's, but these things can actually help an artist sometimes,
even helping to add to official CD/DVD sales.
Particularly an artist of a specialized style of music, not REAL well known,
but obviously NOT a nobody, who has talent, and some appreciation for it too,
but is nowhere near as familiar as say, Fripp, or even John McLaughlin or the
Dixie Dregs. And has some good original songs. Someone like Mason Ruffner.
One thing Mason Ruffner can say. The Paradise has been rockin' for 30 + years
and he's part of it.
I don't know if Ruffner ever played Gilrein's (famous Worcester blues club)
but I think he would fit in pretty good there. Probably several other places too.
Worcester and Boston have room for more good blues even though not lacking for it.
Alot of us like it, which makes me think maybe this will be another case of posting
this thing expecting maybe 5 to grab it right off, and finding 30 on it (like Pere
Ubu, that surprised me, but that's why I do this stuff). I have a philosophy and a
wishlist in life, and fortunately an almost tolerable (?) number of shows I just
HAVE to find tapes of. I also know there's alot of other people out there who are
in same boat. There are shows and artists they wanna hear bad, and this can be very
frustrating if your craving is for someone like Sweet Smoke... or Gnidrolog...
or RTF at Orpheum 11/14/75... or ZZ Top's summer 74 free concert before 20,000 people
in Boston (NOT the Camb. show that sharontunes posted, nothing at all like that).
and maybe even Pere Ubu. Maybe Ruffner too for all I know. One person who likes his
music alot says live Ruffner is hard to find. I certainly haven't seen any abundance
of Mason Ruffner on the dime. If this is the first one, chalk up one in the unexpected
seed column. I like it when I do that- IF it's a good seed, and I think this one was a
good suggestion, because NOBODY has EVER heard this recording before. I am pretty sure
it hasn't even been heard on cassette by anyone else, nobody ever asked for it, may not
have even known to ask. Hard to believe almost 19 years ago now, but this recording
survived well. Chalk up another save for Maxell. They have served well. It's not a Nak.
quality recording, but this setup does all right in club gigs. Ruffner sounds good in a
club setting, which the Paradise is, even when trying to be Paradise "Theater".
It's about as much of a theater as the McDonald's down the street. But the Paradise
has always been a rock club, the center of attention for up and coming and moderately
big bands who play in Boston. Their gig list is very impressive. From Passport, to
Steve Hackett, Peter Gabriel, Fripp, the Cars, Blondie, U-2, bits and pieces of Aerosmith,
George Thoroughgood, the Police, Bruford band, Novo Combo, Gentle Giant, Magazine........
you name it, they've played the Paradise club. Even the great Mason Ruffner (and it would
not surprise me if a few think he is great musician. Sounds like he knows what he's doing here.)
I know nothing about Mason Ruffner, but this request has sparked some interest. There even
seems maybe a touch of "surf" influence in here? whatever it is, I think many may like it alot,
if they don't already. the emphasis of this show is clearly blues, especially 1st half of concert,
they rock it up a bit more later, my favorite song in here is the track 2 (1st song of show).
Do not sell this recording.
Trade freely and losslessly.
Seeding and reseeding is encouraged.
remastering should not be needed here.