Maynard Ferguson
Starlight Ballroom
Hershey, PA
Armed Forces Radio

1964 (exact date unknown)

01 Blue Birdland
02 Take the A Train
03 At the Sound of the Trumpet
04 Savings Bond Commercial
05 Danny Boy
06 Maine Bone
07 Watermelon Man
08 Blue Birdand Outro

1964 (exact date unknown)

09 Blue Birdland
10 Almost Like Being in Love
11 Morgan's Organ
12 Savings Bond Commercial
13 Danny Boy
14 Watermelon Man
15 Maria

Circa 1964-65

16 Blue Birdland
17 Groove
18 Soft Winds
19 Savings Bond Commercial
20 People
21 Cherokee
22 Blue Birdland Outro

Total time 78:52

I spent quite awhile trying to figure out the dates on these three shows,
and the best I can do is say that the first two are from 1964. The first one
came on a tape labeled May 25, 1963, but I'm sure that's wrong based on
personnel and the fact that the album 'The New Sound of Maynard Ferguson'
is mentioned. That album was recorded and released in 1964. The second
set of tunes was labeled August 31, 1963, and again I'm sure that's wrong
based on personnel and the fact that 'New Sound' is mentioned as being one
of the 'more recent' albums. The third set mentions Don Rader on trumpet,
who did not appear on 'New Sound' nor the album which followed, but he did
appear on the '64 album and others just prior to that, and then states
himself in the 'MF Horn' book that he rejoined in late 1964. My tape copy
is dated 1964, while a CD-R copy from another collector says 1965. The band
lasted for some months into 1965, when MF broke it up to form a sextet. Some of
the tunes on that set were recorded in late '64, and Without any other helpful
personnel announcements, the best I can do is put it in the 1964-65 timespan.

Just to show you what a pain in the ass it is trying to nail down dates, here's
one example: At one point the announcer mentions the album 'Maynard '64', but
I've found conflicting recording dates for that one. The Roulette CD says
it was recorded in late 1962 (same session as the 'Si Si' album); the MF Horn
book says it was recorded in early 1964; and the Mosaic box set says it was
recorded circa March 1962. I have a feeling that the book (which gets a lot of
things wrong) was guessing on the recording date based on the title and release
date, and so 1962 is probably right. And then I realized that the announcer
was probably referring to the fact that the album had just been released, which
dated that show to early 1964 and so the recording date didn't matter.

The important things is, MF and the band sound great.

The savings bond commercial has been tracked separately so you can skip over it
as desired, but it was broadcast live from the stage, and so it's actually part
of the performance and should not be deleted if copies are burned, traded, etc.