Max Webster
Toronto, ON
Larry's Hideaway
February 26, 1976


Previously uncirculated !

This is one of the greatest concert tapes I've ever been fortunate enough to stumble upon - a Max Webster soundboard from 1976 clocking in at nearly two hours in length.

They are still a bar band at this point, and this is three full ~40 minute sets (aside from half of Lily being missing). Even before they had their first album out, they were playing songs that would be on most of their subsequent albums. The early arrangement of Beyond The Moon, the disco version of Lip Service. It's all here in excellent sound quality.

This recording also contains numerous songs that didn't make it onto any of their albums. At nearly ten minutes long, Anna Leah is the gem here (it actually has a riff that ended up on Kim's solo album Itch in 1994). This Side Of Red is heard here for the first time. It's a longer piece as well, and has a Doors-like vibe to it.

A bit of a piece called Hoosh Rah even ends up in this version of Mash Moon In Hawaii, straying even further away from the version that would end up on Mutiny Up My Sleeve (simply entitled Hawaii by then). About half way through Kim realizes his guitar is out of tune, and away from the mic he shouts "oh my god!"

Kim's surf music interlude in Research at Beach Resorts is one of a kind.

Kim leads the band into a brief noodle of The Ventures' 1960 classic Walk Don't Run before Paul Kersey's showcase piece Sunday Morning Cereal.

At this point their debut album had been finished for a few months (it was mostly recorded in the spring of 1975). After Lily their frustration with the fact that it hasn't been released yet is starting to show, and they deal with it with humour. Much of the banter between songs (and accompanying musical segments) is hilarious, as is the standard from this band.

If you have skipped out on the uncirculated 1975-76 Max audience tapes, you're not going to want to miss this one. To hear the original versions of Beyond The Moon and Lip Service (the disco version) in this quality should render any avid Max Webster fan speechless.

This tape is 116 minutes of musical bliss. Enjoy this piece of Canadian music history.


SBD Master cassettes (2x Realistic Supertape C-90s) > WAV (GoldWave speed correction, EQ) > FLAC
(transfer: Yamaha KX-260 tape deck > Scarlett Focusrite interface > Pro Tools)


Lineup:

Kim Mitchell - guitar & lead vocals
Mike Tilka - bass & vocals
Paul Kersey - drums
Terry Watkinson - keyboards & vocals


More info:

http://maxwebsterlive.ca/1976-02-26-toronto


1) Anna Leah [slight cut]
2) Research (at Beach Resorts)
3) Only Your Nose Knows
4) Mash Moon In Hawaii / Hoosh Rah
5) Do You Or Don't You Want To Know
6) In Context Of The Moon
7) Coming Off The Moon [slight cut]
8) Marmalade Mama
9) Beyond The Moon
10) This Side Of Red
11) Lady Let Me In
12) Walk Don't Run
13) Sunday Morning Cereal [slight cut]
14) Lily [cut]
15) Let Your Man Fly
16) Lip Service
17) Here Among The Cats
18) Toronto Tontos
19) Hangover


Enjoy, and please keep it lossless (and don't bootleg this - particularly rockinconcerts.com; if you are the person who runs that website, you are pure scum).