THE PATTI SMITH GROUP
Sunday, 3 July 1977
My Father's Place
19 Bryant Avenue
Roslyn Village, Long Island, New York 11576
USA
FLAC master, 8 February 2020, by elegymart:
Analog audience recording (mono) {recorded by Gene Poole & Nick P}: unknown mics/recorder > c. 1977 Mexico/US C-60 (Type I Normal) analog audio cassette master (re-shelled onto 1990-91 European TDK SA "SE" cassette), and 1975-78 US/European TDK D-C90 (Type I Normal) first generation analog audio cassette {from the Gene Poole collection} > Sony TC-WE435 (azimuth adjustment) > Roland R05 (24/96) > Cool Edit Pro 2.0 (audio cleanup, convert to 16/44) > SHNtool (fixed SBE) > CD Wave (track splits) > TLH (WAV > FLAC8).
Created this text file.
Total running time [78:52]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-- early show --
01 Radio Ethiopia [7:20] >
02 Rock n Roll Nigger [5:14]
03 Gloria [5:21]
-- late show --
04 America the Beautiful [1:30]
05 We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together [2:39]
06 Privilege (Set Me Free) [4:09]
07 Land [7:53]
08 Time Is on My Side [3:51]
09 Some Kind of Wonderful [3:48]
10 Pale Blue Eyes/Louie Louie [5:36]
11 Ask the Angels [3:14]
12 It's So Hard [3:59]
13 Ain't It Strange [8:51]
14 Radio Ethiopia [6:45] >
15 Rock n Roll Nigger [3:39]
-- encore --
16 My Generation [4:54]
Band line-up:
Patti Smith - vocals, guitar
Lenny Kaye - guitar, bass, vocals
Ivan Kral - bass, vocals
Richard Sohl - keyboards
Jay Dee Daugherty - drums, percussion
Notes:
THE GENE POOLE COLLECTION VOL. 32
Here's the latest installment of the Gene Poole Collection, a random wellspring of recordings which have recently surfaced. To paraphrase Lou: This is gonna go on for a while, so we should get used to each other, settle back, pull up your cushions, whatever else you have with you that makes life bearable to kick off the new decade...
Some of Gene's handiwork has probably been heard by your very ears before, for the most part via the Stonecutter Archives, but this is the first major unearthing of tapes direct from the legend himself. As promising as that may seem, it's best to let the surprises hit as they are shared. The trade-off to the prolific taping on Gene's part is that the expectations for a perfect track record would be unrealistic and unfair. There will be instances of incomplete recordings, caused by late arrivals to gigs, recorder and mic malfunctions, and other assorted foibles as would befall any mortal taper. There will be times where a master from another source exists which could be superior. For the most part, Gene recorded with a variety and mics and recorders, and many shows suffered from wire dropouts, so that only one channel was extant in the capture. Due warning about the past imperfect given and out of the way, credit should be given where due as well -- for many shows thought lost forever, it's exciting to discover that many of these even in incomplete form have now cropped up.
The transfers, the audio fixes, and the research all have required some lead time -- many tapes had scant info (sometimes just the name of the artist/band, with no date listed for the performance). Needless to say, gear documentation is virtually nil -- if we wait around for that precise detail to be forthcoming, nothing from the collection would probably see the light of day.
This time out Gene catches a ride from his friend and wheelman Nick P out to the village of Roslyn in Nassau County, Long Island.
Two cassettes were used for this edition, a beat-up soiled low-grade C-60 cassette which is believed to be a master, that wouldn't advance in a deck, had to be re-shelled, and which appears to comprise the end of the early show. The original cassette shell was simply labeled "My Father's Place - Patti (Roslyn)." The late show was better noted, with a jcard listing the tracks and labeled as the late show. The specific notation of "7/3/77 - 7/4/77" was made so it can be deduced that the late show started late enough on the 3rd that it tipped past midnight into Independence Day. However, there were still mysteries to sort out on what this supposed first gen tape contained. For filler, the jcard listed "Real Good Time" from the early show, but upon further listening and research that is from another show, and after that were a few more live tracks, which appear to be encores from another show as well. And after that, a partial end of a track which was probably a taped-over track onto this scratch tape upon which Gene was doing his first gen redux. You get the idea, the collection is a rabbit hole of mysteries upon mysteries.
Patti prefaces "Land" by commenting: "This is Long Island, right? What's it like, what's Long Island like? I think you're crazier than CBGB's." Between the stopping and starting of the recorder at the show(s), and Gene's post-Frankensteining of the first gen portion, it's difficult to confirm that the content here is all Long Island, but that is one identifier. She also makes a comment about Fourth of July during the encore of "Gloria" so at least we know that one track on the early show is correctly dated.
The early show portion starts in with Gene's description of REFM Patti strapping on her guitar, and Nick P calling out to her: "Hey Field Marshal!" To which Patti mock reprimands: "You're outta line, son!" There's probably about as much certainty to the claim that Patti was playing the Fender Duo Sonic here that once belonged to Hendrix as there is to all of Gene's tapes being accurately identified. Gene seems to recall that Nick called out to Patti at a CBGB's show, so there's still a possibility this "RE > RnRN" rendition is not from My Father's Place. Only time will tell if other folks start sharing their recordings of these shows -- that's optimistically assuming other sources exist out there although as of this writing, there hasn't been a documented recording of this show until now.
One thing is for certain: these recordings are as primal and fierce as one would expect from Radio Ethiopia-era PSG. While it's the opinion of two people, both Gene and I consider this period of PSG the high-water mark of her live performances. Also another certain thing: as the band demolishes and steamrolls along through their set, it all comes at a cost of low-quality tape. Although the early show tracks are slightly better quality, both tapes -- and this probably was a fault on the master -- are crippled with tape flutter, dropouts and garbled. That may be why Gene put the late show to another tape in the first place back in the late 70s/early 80s. The worst offenders of these tape faults were removed, but there's still plenty remaining to give an indication of the poor shape of the source material.
There probably aren't too many tapes in the collection with Nick P's voice on tape, so let this one serve in his memory. Nick worked as a corrections office in Rahway and Gene calls him the most moral person he ever met. He passed away sometime in 2004 from a kidney stone that migrated to his pancreas.
RIP also to DMV who passed away in 1990 from a heart attack. His contributions to "My Generation" here are more significant than on other versions from this time, on which his staccato-like keyboard jabs can be audibly heard.
And finally, that bring us to honoring Ivan Kral, who passed away on February 2nd. His name will forever be memorialized on the live takes of "Ask the Angels" during these PSG years. RIP Ivan.
Enjoy,
elegymart
PRIOR EDITIONS OF THE GENE POOLE COLLECTION:
VOL. 1: ROMEO VOID - 1982-10-30 Peppermint Lounge, NYC
VOL. 2: CYNDI LAUPER - 1986-12-19 Madison Square Garden, NYC
VOL. 3: THE GO-GO'S - 1984-06-30 Jones Beach, Wantagh
VOL. 4: PALE FACE OF YOUTH - 1987-03-00 CBGB, NYC
VOL. 5: X - 1987-10-04 The Ritz, NYC
VOL. 6: WARREN ZEVON - 1987-10-04 The Ritz, NYC
VOL. 7: FRIGHTWIG - 1986-11-30 Maxwell's, Hoboken
VOL. 8: LINDA RONSTADT - 1982-11-07 Radio City Music Hall, NYC
VOL. 9: PATTI SMITH GROUP - 1977-07-26 late show, Syncopation, Hartsdale
VOL. 10: SPURS - 1984-01-24 CBGB, NYC
VOL. 11: THE PRETENDERS - 1980-08-23 Mosport Park, Bowmanville
VOL. 12: THE B-52'S - 1980-08-23 Mosport Park, Bowmanville
VOL. 13: TALKING HEADS - 1980-08-23 Mosport Park, Bowmanville
VOL. 14: THE RUMOUR - 1980-08-23 Mosport Park, Bowmanville
VOL. 15: GRAHAM PARKER & THE SHOT - 1985-08-03 Pier 84, NYC
VOL. 16: ROBYN HITCHCOCK & THE EGYPTIANS - 1993-05-19 The Ritz, NYC
VOL. 17: ROBYN HITCHCOCK - 1988-07-22 Pier 84, NYC
VOL. 18: 10,000 MANIACS - 1988-07-22 Pier 84, NYC
VOL. 19: COMATEENS - 1984-12-26 The Ritz, NYC
VOL. 20: VIOLENT FEMMES - 1994-07-21 Roseland, NYC
VOL. 21: LENE LOVICH - 1988-06-16 The Ritz, NYC
VOL. 22: THOMPSON TWINS - 1984-08-14 Jones Beach, Wantagh
VOL. 23: THE PRIMITIVES - 1990-03-13 Beacon Theatre, NYC
VOL. 24: DAVE EDMUNDS - 1987-01-30 The Ritz, NYC
VOL. 25: GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS - 1982-02-20 Madison Square Garden, NYC
VOL. 26: ROBERT GORDON - 1982-05-10 Lone Star Cafe, NYC
VOL. 27: TOM ROBINSON - 1985-01-18 The Ritz, NYC
VOL. 28: BILLY BRAGG - 1985-01-19 The Ritz, NYC
VOL. 29: HOLLY BETH VINCENT - 1988-05-31 The China Club, NYC
VOL. 30: IGGY POP - 1987-01-20 The Spectrum, Philadelphia
VOL. 31: THE PRETENDERS - 1987-01-20 The Spectrum, Philadelphia
Images for all shows as well as full size images for this show.
Images for this show:
