Merl Saunders And The Rainforest Band
Manny's Carwash
New York, NY
10/22/1996

Original master recordings:
Set 1: Neumann KM-140 -> Sonosax -> Sony D8 (1st gen digital dub @ 16/48)
Set 2: Neumann TLM-170 (cardoid) -> Stuart BPS-1 -> Teac DAP20 (digital patch) -> Denon DTR-80p (@16/48)

DAT playback: Sony R-500 -> Sound Devices 722 digital input (@24/48)

Mastered: Soundforge Pro 10.0d - *All file manipulation in Soundforge done at 24 bits*. Sample rate conversion 48khz to 44.1khz using iZotope 64-Bit SRC set higher than "Highest Quality" setting w/anti-alias filter. 24 bit file then processed with SOX 14.4.0 (as recommended, keeping the file at 24 bits during the processing) to remove pre-emphasis (for set 2 only) which was applied by the Teac A>D converter. Then back to Soundforge for volume normalization and dithering to 16 bits using using iZotope MBIT+ with Ultra noise shaping, with high dither settings; MAJOR clap scrubbing -- near constant in some songs + targeted feedback EQ filtering. Tracked in CDWav. IDv3 tagging in AudioShell v1.3.6.

Set 1
1. tuning / intro - Merl is not here yet
2. Sister Sadie
3. Fire On The Mountain +
4. banter - Merl was in Phish land, inviting Odetta
5. Stranger Blues / Black Woman Blues *
6. After Midnight
7. Fire
8. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You
10. banter - inviting up Oteil
11. High Heeled Sneakers %^
12. Cissy Strut ^%
13. banter - thanks to Larry & Oteil, setbreak announce

Set 2
1. crowd / tuning / banter - Buddy Miles in the house
2. I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water #
3. banter - inviting back Odetta
4. CC Rider -> #*
5. It's Your Thing -> #*
6. CC Rider -> #*
7. Hi-Heeled Sneakers -> #
8. Sing A Simple Song / If You Want Me To Stay #
9. banter - Phish / Jimi / Odetta
10. Hey Joe #*
11. banter - Buddy's gonna play some tubs / tuning
12. Mustang Sally @^*
13. drum solo -> @
14. Who Do You Love jam -> @^*
15. Mustang Sally -> @^*
16. Get Out Of My Life Woman (tease) -> @^*
17. Mustang Sally @^*
18. Built For Comfort @^
19. encore break / tuning
20. Born Under A Bad Sign @^
21. banter - Merl has to catch a train to Philly
22. I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town #*&
23. thanks / crowd

Total time: 3:29:17

Merl Saunders - keyboards, organ (not on track 2 or the first 10:04 in Track 3)
Michael Warren - bass
Michael Hinton - guitar
Vince Littleton - drums

+ = Merl enters at 10:04 in song
* = w/Odetta on vocals
^ = w/Oteil Burbridge on bass and vocals
% = w/Larry Hunter on guitar, replacing Michael Hinton
# = w/Buddy Miles on guitar / vocals
@ = w/Buddy Miles on drums / vocals
& = w/? on drums

DAT -> Wav Transfer: 11/5/2011
Mastering / clap removal: 12/16/2012-2/23/2013

Set 1 recorded by Jason Greenberg
Set 2 recorded by Scott Bernstein & Boris Lvovsky

Transfer, mastering, tracking, tagging by Scott Bernstein

Taper notes:
It's been ages since I last brought a BARN series recording to you all (well, 4 months!), and it's not due to lack of trying. Yes, I've been busy with a TON of other shows I've been recording and posting, but mostly it's because I have been working on THIS particular recording for 2 months, the most I've spent on any recording yet. What took so long? Well, it was mostly due to the fact that there were CONSTANT and annoying claps on just about every song in this concert that were screaming to be scrubbed of these horribly annoying claps. Picture the touching, quiet rendition of "Gee, Baby Ain't I Good To You?" from this show with loud claps throughout. Ugh.

Anyway back to this show -- BARN144 I bring to you as one that I've been thinking about ever since I started my archive series. This is, even 16 years later, an extremely memorable night to me -- in fact it still stands out as a highlight of my concertgoing experiences.

So what is it about this show? Well, first off, it's Merl Saunders. This guy who has sadly passed on, was always a joy to see. The positive energy and smiles this guy brought to the stage was unparalled. I managed to see him over 15 times (including being the impetus for my very first trip to The Wetlands in 1990) and each time was a pleasure. Yes, I've already posted my recording of that historic 1990 show....but why this one? Setting the stage even more, let's talk about the venue -- Manny's Carwash was a TINY TINY place (it held maybe 150 people?) on the Upper East Side which is also now just a memory. For a while, each time Merl would come to NYC to play Wetlands, a larger venue (800?), he would play a "secret" show at Manny's the following night. And no matter how good the show at Wetlands was, the more intimate show at Manny's was always more special.

And what about this night? Well, setting the stage even more, this was the night that Merl (and also Buddy Miles) sat in with Phish at MSG earlier on this night, for a performance of "All Along The Watchtower". Boris Lvovsky, my taping partner in crime at this point, and I were of course at the Phish MSG show taping with a rented pair of Neumann TLM-170s (prior to my purchase of them in 1997). We had NOT planned to go to this Merl show -- I mean this was a Tuesday night, the 2nd night of a (not particularly memorable) 2 night run of Phish -- BOTH of which were weeknight shows during which I had to go to work the next morning. Of course, any SANE/"responsible" person would have headed home to bed after the Phish show, which probably ended about 11:30pm.

But an early bedtime was not to be had on this night. Boris and I decided that after Merl & Buddy Miles had sat in with Phish that night, we HAD to drop by Manny's to see what would go down there, and most importantly, what GUESTS would also drop into Manny's -- of course, the hope was that Trey or any of the Phish guys would stop in at the intimate venue. So, by the time we packed up our gear and arrived uptown, there was already quite a line outside of the venue. If I recall it was quite chilly on this night, and we waited and waited in line outside the packed venue until we finally made our way in. The show was well underway, but we were relived to find fellow taper Jason Greenberg already in place in the PACKED venue and running his gear taping the first set. To even try and set up our gear in the packed space would have been a near impossible undertaking. Luckily the setbreak came soon enough Boris and I got our gear up and running before the 2nd set started.

To start off with, we got some sit-ins by (at the time well known to me, but not well known to the world at large) Oteil Burbridge, bassist from the Aquarium Rescue Unit -- who within just a few months would be hired as the bassist for the Allman Brothers Band -- and apparently, Odetta, who sang a few songs before I was admitted into the venue. And due to the timing of Merl's sit-in with Phish (it was during the encore), he was, as you'll hear in this recording, quite late to his own show! The Rainforest Band, who'd been together a good long time by now, was tight enough to carry the first couple of tunes on their own -- including a nice long version of the Grateful Dead's "Fire On The Mountain".

What REALLY made this show for me was seeing the LEGENDARY Buddy Miles literally TAKE OVER the show during the 2nd set. For anyone who isn't familiar, Buddy was the drummer for Jimi Hendrix's post-Experience project, The Band Of Gypsys. (For anyone who is not familiar with this material -- RUN don't walk to your local music store and grab the Band Of Gypsys album ASAP -- it will, at a minimum change your opinion of what Jimi could do, and at maximum, it will change your life!). This was a very different sort of project for Jimi, who was trying to put together a project that absorbed the influence of James Brown and Sly And The Family Stone -- and Band Of Gypsys was the result. Buddy wasn't just a soulful, funky drummer, but he had an amazing voice and wrote some classic songs -- in particular you probably have heard of his composition and his vocals on "Them Changes", probably his most well-known (and oft-covered) song. He also went on to tour and release an album with Carlos Santana, and in a strange footnote, achieved his biggest success as the voice of the California Raisins.

This was no mere sit-in by Buddy Miles -- he was a LARGE man, and when he stepped onstage, he truly took over the show -- playing guitar and singing for about half of the second set, and playing drums and singing for the other half. Merl was playing sideman in his own band -- give a listen towards the end -- more than once Merl says "We've gotta get out of here, thanks and goodnight!", only to have Buddy counter him and tell everyone that they weren't done yet!

Of course, in addition to Buddy, we get more Odetta and Oteil sit-ins in the 2nd set, plus Larry Hunter (who I'm not otherwise familiar with, but seems to have had his own somewhat successful career), and another drummer whose name I can't seem to make out.

One look at the track listing for the 2nd set will reveal that the territory covered is mostly (except for a repeat of "Hi Heeled Sneakers" from the first set) not a part of Merl and the bands' repertoire -- we're talking about blues covers, a Sly & The Family Stone medley, and one Hendrix tune.

If you're not familiar with Odetta, she was an American folk and blues treasure, who had started singing in her church and in stage musicals in the 1940s, but went on to have a long and well-decorated career as a folk singer starting in the 1960s.

Getting Merl, Buddy, and Odetta on the same stage at the same time -- now that's a feat I'm not sure had ever happened before or after. And, sadly, all 3 are now gone -- and in an eerie coincidence -- all in the year 2008. :( In the end, this would be the only time (other than the Phish sit-in earlier this night) I'd ever see Buddy Miles or Odetta perform.

So to sum it up, this was a historic night where 3 musical legends who have now passed on played onstage together at a very very intimiate venue.

I hope you all appreciate the excruciating work that I put into bringing this recording up to my very high standards, and hope that I have done this music justice.

Enjoy!


Here's a rundown of all of my previous BARN archival releases (all can be found on archive.org except as noted):
BARN1 - Col Bruce Hampton and the Code Talkers at Bret & Joyce's wedding 9/17/2005
BARN2 - Col Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit (w/guest Warren Haynes for all of set 2) Wetlands 11/20/1993
BARN3 - moe. Wetlands 7/8/1995
BARN4 - Dan Bern Bottom Line 7/31/1998 (late show)
BARN5 - moe. Birch Hill 10/31/1996
BARN6 - moe. Maxwells 1/20/1996
BARN7 - Dan Bern Central Park Summerstage 9/19/1997
BARN8 - Dan Bern, Bottom Line 8/1/1998
BARN9 - moe. Bayou 4/5/1997
BARN10 - moe. Irving Plaza 4/4/1997
BARN11 - moe. AKA 9/7/1995
BARN12 - Yolk AKA 9/7/1995
BARN13 - Robert Walter/Johnny Vidacovich/James Singleton/Donald Harrison Preservation Hall 4/30/08
BARN14 - Phish Las Vegas, NV 10/31/1998 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN15 - Phish Great Went @ Loring AFB, Limestone, ME 8/16/1997 (on bt.etree.org) - by request
BARN16 - Phish Great Went @ Loring AFB, Limestone, ME 8/17/1997 (on bt.etree.org), includes orchestra set - by request
BARN17 - Phish Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison, CO, 8/4/1996 (on bt.etree.org) - by request
BARN18 - Phish Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison, CO, 8/6/1996 (on bt.etree.org) - by request
BARN19 - Phish Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison, CO, 8/7/1996 (on bt.etree.org) - by request
BARN20 - Phish Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison, CO, 8/5/1996 (on bt.etree.org) - by request
BARN21 - God Street Wine, Irving Plaza, NYC 6/24/1993
BARN22 - Leftover Salmon, Wetlands, NYC 10/1/1994
BARN23 - Anders Osborne, Manny's Carwash, NYC 11/5/1997
BARN24 - Anders Osborne, Manny's Carwash, NYC 11/6/1997
BARN25 - moe. Pool Party, Morganville, NJ 6/2/1996
BARN26 - Widespread Panic, Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ 11/7/1992 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN27 - Stew ["Passing Strange"], The Turning Point, Piermont, NY 4/6/2003 (on bt.etree.org. dimeadozen.org)
BARN28 - Stew ["Passing Strange"], Joe's Pub, New York, NY 5/22/2003 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN29 - Percy Hill, Lion's Den, NYC 3/16/1996
BARN30 - Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Irving Plaza, 8/3/1995
BARN31 - Percy Hill, Wetlands, NYC 6/8/1996
BARN32 - Bad Livers, Mercury Lounge, NYC, 11/15/1999 (opening for Leftover Salmon)
BARN33 - Bad Livers, Mercury Lounge, NYC, 11/16/1999 (opening for Leftover Salmon)
BARN34 - G. Love And Special Sauce, Central Park Summerstage, NYC 6/18/1995
BARN35 - The Band, The Great Lawn, Central Park, NYC 5/16/1993 (on dimeadozen.org)
BARN36 - The Band, Mountain Stage Radio broadcast, Charleston, WV, recorded 4/4/1996 (on dimeadozen.org)
*** Start of New Orleans Jazzfest Appreciation mini-series (note that BARN13 technically belongs in this series) ***
BARN37 - Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, Tipitina's, New Orleans, LA, 5/5/2008
BARN38 - Steve Kimock Band, Tipitina's, New Orleans, LA, 5/6/2001 (2AM show)
BARN39 - The Funky Meters, Tipitina's, New Orleans, LA, 5/6/2001 (11PM show) (on bt.etree.org)
BARN40 - Anders Osborne, Tower Records instore, New Orleans, LA, 5/7/2001 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN41 - Joe Krown Trio w/Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Russell Batiste + special guest Mike Gordon, Tipitina's, New Orleans, 5/5/2008
BARN42 - Russell Batiste and Friends, The Howlin' Wolf, New Orleans, 5/1/2008 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN43 - Global Noize, The Howlin' Wolf, New Orleans, 5/1/2008 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN44 - Deep Banana Blackout, The Howlin' Wolf, New Orleans, LA 5/6/2000
BARN45 - Bela Fleck And The Flecktones, The Saenger Theater, New Orleans, LA 5/5/2000
BARN46 - Medeski Martin And Wood, The Saenger Theater, New Orleans, LA 5/6/2000 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN47 - String Cheese Incident, The Saenger Theater, New Orleans, LA 5/5/2000
BARN48 - Soulive, House Of Blues Parish, New Orleans, LA 5/5/2001
BARN49 - String Cheese Incident, Cajun Queen Riverboat, New Orleans, LA 5/3/2000
BARN50 - New Mastersounds, House Of Blues Parish, New Orleans, LA 5/2/2008
BARN51 - Funky Meters, Bonnaroo, Manchester, TN 6/13/2003 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN52 - George Porter And The Runnin' Pardners, Village Underground, NYC, 5/19/2001
BARN53 - Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Tramps, NYC 10/29/1993 late show
BARN54 - The Meters, Tramps, NYC 5/15/93 late show (on dimeadozen)
BARN55 - The Meters, Tramps, NYC 10/29/93 late show (on dimeadozen)
BARN56 - Wild Magnolias, Wetlands, NYC 2/10/2000 (on bt.etree.org)
*** end of New Orleans Jazzfest Appreciation mini-series ***
BARN57 - Blues Traveler, Livingston Gym @ Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 4/17/1993
BARN58 - Phish, Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, 10/29/1998 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN59 - Jazz Is Dead, Bottom Line, NYC 2/7/1998 (late show only) (on bt.etree.org)
BARN60 - Grateful Dead, Cal Expo Amphitheatre, Sacramento, CA 5/27/1993
BARN61 - The Dude Of Life (w/Trey Anastasio and Jon Fishman for entire show, plus Page McConnell for a bunch), Wetlands, NYC 2/5/1994 - on bt.etree.org
BARN62 - ALO, High Sierra Music Festival Main Stage, Quincy, CA 7/3/2005
BARN63 - Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon, High Sierra Music Festival Main Stage, Quincy, CA 7/3/2005 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN64 - Dan Bern, The Bottom Line, NYC 11/11/1998
BARN65 - Galactic, Knitting Factory, NYC 10/18/1997 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN66 - Bruce Hornsby, Paramount Theater, NYC 12/7/1993 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN67 - God Street Wine, Irving Plaza, NYC 8/26/1993
BARN68 - Warren Haynes Midnight Southern Jam - Wetlands, NYC 8/5/1993 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN69 - Dave Matthews And Friends (Trey Anastasio, Tim Reynolds, Tony Hall, Brady Blade, Ray Paczkowski) Bonnaroo 6/11/2004 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN70 - Rana at Bret & Joyce's wedding, Whitehall, NY 9/17/2005
BARN71 - Soulive - Baby Jupiter, NYC 6/11/1999
BARN72 - Chris Barron, Nightingale Bar, NYC 7/14/1997
BARN73 - Chris Barron, Nightingale Bar, NYC 11/17/1997
BARN74 - George Porter's 60th Birthday w/PBS and friends, Blender Theater, NYC 12/29/2007
BARN75 - Jennifer Hartswick Band with special guest Trey Anastasio, Lion's Den, NYC 11/7/2003 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN76 - moe., Gathering Of The Vibes, Seaside Park, Bridgeport, CT 6/20/1999
BARN77 - Project Logic, Gathering Of The Vibes, Seaside Park, Bridgeport, CT 6/20/1999
BARN78 - Phish - Beacon Theater, NYC 4/13/1994 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN79 - Phish - Beacon Theater, NYC 4/14/1994 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN80 - Phish - Beacon Theater, NYC 4/15/1994 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN81 - The Recipe, Wetlands, NYC 11/12/1999
BARN82 - Ominous Seapods, Wetlands, NYC 6/4/1999
BARN83 - Coby Brown Group, Wetlands, NYC 11/12/1999 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN84 - The Big Wu, Wetlands, NYC 11/12/1999
BARN85 - Moon Boot Lover, Wetlands, NYC 6/5/1999
BARN86 - Percy Hill, Wetlands, NYC 6/5/1999
BARN87 - Miracle Orchestra, Wetlands Lounge, NYC 6/5/1999
BARN88 - Jiggle The Handle, Wetlands, NYC 6/5/1999
BARN89 - Jiggle The Handle, Wetlands, NYC 10/2/1998
BARN90 - Lake Trout, Wetlands Lounge, NYC 6/5/1999
BARN91 - Olu Dara, Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival, South Street Seaport Atrium, NYC 6/6/1999 (on bt.etree.org / www.dimeadozen.org)
BARN92 - Donna The Buffalo, Wetlands, NYC 11/12/1999
BARN93 - Radiators (w/Merl Saunders sit-in), Irving Plaza 10/8/1998
BARN94 - Tiny Lights, Wetlands, NYC 8/18/1993
BARN95 - Tiny Lights, Wetlands, NYC 1/5/1994
BARN96 - Radiators, Irving Plaza, NYC 11/14/1997
BARN97 - Radiators, Manny's Carwash, NYC 5/30/1998
BARN98 - The Wood Brothers (w/Medeski, Wolleson, and special guest Amos Lee), Bowery Ballroom, NYC 5/17/2008 - on bt.etree.org
BARN99 - Pieta Brown, Bowery Ballroom, NYC 5/17/2008 - on bt.etree.org
BARN100 - Jeff Buckley, CBGB's 313 Gallery, NYC 12/18/1993 - on dimeadozen
BARN101 - Tiny Lights, CBGB's 313 Gallery, NYC 12/18/1993
BARN102 - Tiny Lights, The Lion's Den, NYC 2/18/1994
BARN103 - Tiny Lights, Club Sine', NYC 2/3/1994
BARN104 - Ha Ha The Moose (moe. side project), BB Kings, NYC 11/23/2001
BARN105 - Medeski Martin & Wood, Hilton Hotel Ballroom, NYC, 4/29/2005 - on bt.etree.org
BARN106 - Tiny Lights, The Court Tavern, New Brunswick, NJ 11/24/1993
BARN107 - Tiny Lights, Knitting Factory, NYC 10/26/1994
BARN108 - Tiny Lights, Mercury Lounge, NYC 7/13/1994
BARN109 - All God's Children, The Lion's Den, NYC 2/18/1994
BARN110 - Dan Bern, Bottom Line, NYC 1/2/1999 (w/Moxy Fruvous guesting in the late show)
BARN111 - Moxy Fruvous, Bottom Line, NYC 1/2/1999 (w/Dan Bern guesting in encore)
BARN112 - Peter Rownan's Reggaebilly!, High Sierra Music Festival, Quincy, CA 7/6/2002 (on The Trader's Den)
BARN113 - Conehead Buddha, Wetlands, NYC 10/2/1998
BARN114 - Conehead Buddha, Tramps, NYC, 2/12/1998
BARN115 - Conehead Buddha, The Lion's Den, NYC 7/2/1998
BARN116 - Frogwings (w/special guest Warren Haynes), Wetlands, NYC, 2/9/1999 on bt.etree.org
BARN117 - All God's Children, Jack's House Party, Long Valley, NJ 9/4/1994
BARN118 - God Street Wine, Irving Plaza, NYC 10/9/1993
BARN119 - David Bromberg, Tarrytown Music Hall, 10/15/1999 (on bt.etree.org / www.dimeadozen.org)
BARN120 - The Concept w/George Porter, ?uestlove, Ivan Neville, Eric Krasno, Bill Summers, Casey Benjamin, BB King's, NYC 9/26/02 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN121 - Percy Hill, The Lion's Den, NYC 7/13/1996
BARN122 - Spin Doctors, The Wetlands, 9/27/1995
BARN123 - Aquarium Rescue Unit, The Wetlands, NYC, 3/4/1994
BARN124 - Allman Brothers Band, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO 8/3/1996 (not publicly posted due to ABB trading policy)
BARN125 - Spin Doctors, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO 8/3/1996
BARN126 - Col. Bruce Hampton and the Fiji mariners, Wetlands, NYC 9/2/1994
BARN127 - Phil Lesh and Friends, Irving Plaza, New York, NY 5/21/2002
BARN128 - Merl Saunders and Friends, The Wetlands, New York, NY 5/10/1990 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN129 - God Street Wine, Wetlands, NYC 12/31/1993
BARN130 - Bernie Worrell And The Woo Warriors, Wetlands, NYC 12/28/2000
BARN131 - Bernie Worrell And The Woo Warriors, Knitting Factory, NYC 2/16/2002
BARN132 - Spin Doctors, Wetlands, NYC 2/2/1991
BARN133 - Bela Fleck And The Flecktones, Wetlands, NYC 11/10/1992
BARN134 - Indigo Girls, Central Park Summerstage, NYC 10/10/2003 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN135 - John Popper & Chan Kinchela acoustic, Irving Plaza, NYC 5/27/2008
BARN136 - Moonalice, Irving Plaza, NYC 5/27/2008
BARN137 - Spin Doctors, Irving Plaza, NYC 5/27/2008
BARN138 - Cowboy Junkies, Supper Club, NYC 3/2/1994 (early show only)
BARN139 - Wayne Horvitz & Zony Mash, High Sierra Music Hall, High Sierra Music Fest, Quincy, CA 7/5/2002
BARN140 - Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers, High Sierra Music Festival, Quincy, CA 7/5/2002 (on bt.etree.org)
BARN141 - Rickie Lee Jones, Town Hall, NYC 3/29/1994 (on dimeadozen)
BARN142 - Minor Swing (John Patton / John Zorn / Ed Cherry / Kenny Wollesen), CBGB 313 Gallery, NYC 11/22/1995 - "pure jazz" series
BARN143 - Minor Swing (John Patton / John Zorn / Ed Cherry / Kenny Wollesen), CBGB 313 Gallery, NYC 11/23/1995 - "pure jazz" series
BARN144 - Merl Saunders and the Rainforest Band with special guests Buddy Miles, Odetta, Oteil Burbridge, and Larry Hunter, Manny's Carwash, 10/22/1996 (on bt.etree.org)