Peter Frampton
The Forum
Inglewood, CA
December 9, 1976
Mike Millard Master Tapes via JEMS
The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 111

Recording Gear: AKG 451E microphones (CK-1 cardioid capsules) > Nakamichi 550 cassette recorder

Transfer: Mike Millard Master Cassette > Yamaha KX-W592 Cassette Deck > Sony R-500 DAT > Analog Master DAT Clone > Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 > Sound Forge Audio Studio 13.0 capture > Adobe Audition > iZotope RX8 > iZotope Ozone 8 > Audacity > TLH > FLAC


01 One More Time
02 Baby I Love Your Way
03 Sail Away
04 Fanfare
05 Alright
06 I Wanna Go To The Sun
07 Something's Happening
08 Doobie Wah
09 Lines On My Face
10 Show Me The Way
11 (I'll Give You) Money
12 (I'm A) Roadrunner >
13 Signed Sealed Delivered >
14 It's A Plain Shame
15 Do You Feel Like We Do
16 Shine On
17 White Sugar
18 Jumpin' Jack Flash
19 I'm In You

Known Faults:
-Something's Happening: start cut
-Do You Feel Like We Do: splice


Introduction to the Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Series

Welcome to JEMS’ Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone series presenting recordings made by legendary taper Mike Millard, AKA Mike The Mike, best known for his masters of Led Zeppelin done in and around Los Angeles circa 1975-77. For the complete details on how tapes in this series came to be lost and found again, as well as JEMS' long history with Mike Millard, please refer to the notes in Vol. One: http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=500680.

Until 2020, the Lost and Found series presented fresh transfers of previously unavailable first-generation copies made by Mike himself for friends like Stan Gutoski of JEMS, Jim R, Bill C. and Barry G. These sources were upgrades to circulating copies and in most instances marked the only time verified first generation Millard sources had been directly digitized in the torrent era.

That all changed with the discovery of many of Mike Millard’s original master tapes.

Yes, you read that correctly, Mike Millard’s master cassettes, long rumored to be destroyed or lost, have been found. Not all of them but many, and with them a much more complete picture has emerged of what Millard recorded between his first show in late 1973 and his last in early 1993.

The reason the rediscovery of his master tapes is such a revelation is that we’ve been told for decades they were gone. Internet myths suggest Millard destroyed his master tapes before taking his own life, an imprudent detail likely concocted based on the assumption that because his master tapes never surfaced and Mike’s mental state was troubled he would do something rash WITH HIS LIFE’S WORK. There’s also a version of the story where Mike’s family dumps the tapes after he dies. Why would they do that?

The truth is Mike’s masters remained in his bedroom for many years after his death in 1994. We know at least a few of Millard’s friends and acquaintances contacted his mother Lia inquiring about the tapes at the time to no avail. But in the early 2000s, longtime Millard friend Rob S was the one she knew and trusted enough to preserve Mike’s work.

The full back story on how Mike’s master tapes were saved can be found in the notes for Vol. 18 Pink Floyd, which was the first release in our series transferred from Millard’s original master tapes:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=667745&hit=1
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=667750&hit=1

Peter Frampton, The Forum, Inglewood, CA, December 9, 1976

We keep the bicentennial spirit going with one of the biggest rock stars of the 1970s, Peter Frampton, touring in support of his massive live album, Frampton Comes Alive!

A tour in support of a live album seems a bit odd, but Frampton Comes Alive! is the live album to end all live albums. Not only is it one of the best-selling live records of all time, it spawned an unheard of three Top 15 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, unprecedented for a concert recording. I can think of only one other live album (Cheap Trick Live At Budokan) that served as an artist's breakthrough commercial success.

Frampton Comes Alive! dropped in January 1976, and Frampton already had 70+ shows under his belt before this LA date. He was also playing the same basic set he had played the year before, which was the basis of Alive!, so needless to say this material had been honed to a sharp edge.

I had the same reaction listening to Mike's recording as the last Frampton show I worked on several years ago: it is difficult to dislike him and there's no denying his playing and performance go down easy. He is a very charming performer and the crowd eats up the show.

The Forum set includes a number of songs not featured on Alive! and seems to vary markedly from other shows on the '76 tour, perhaps because it is the final show, at least Peter says it is. Among them are "One More Time," "Sail Away," "Fanfare" "Alright" and a show-closing early appearance by future hit "I'm in You" which would be released in 1977. We also get a semi-rare outing for the Motown medley of "(I'm A) Roadrunner" and "Signed Sealed Delivered," along with a guest appearance by Stephen Stills for the Stones' cover 'Jumpin' Jack Flash."

As Jim notes below, he and Mike were seated behind their preferred sweet spot, so the Frampton recording isn't as up close as the very best Mike The Mike efforts, but it is still an excellent recording even given the younger crowd Jim writes about. Samples provided.

Here's what Jim R recalled about Peter Frampton in December 1976:

I went with Mike Millard to the Peter Frampton concert at The Forum on Dec 9, 1976.

Mike and I used the Frampton ticket sale to help make back some of the money we had spent on concert tickets, audio and photo equipment, tapes, film, etc. Hey, it all adds up! We put together a mini crew to buy as many tickets at the box office as we could, exploiting Frampton's popularity due to the Frampton Comes Alive! album. We ended up with over 100 tickets and made a handsome profit.

Mike and I were pretty burned out on Frampton by the time the concert rolled around. His live album got constant FM play. You could not escape it. We decided to go anyway, along with a few thousand teeny boppers who screamed throughout the show.

We sat in the 17th row on the floor in Section A on the inside aisle. So definitely a PA tape, with more crowd noise than in our preferred sweet spot.

I took only one roll of 36 slides. One cannot expect much in the way of quality pictures from the 17th row, but they look good considering.

Enjoy. RIP my buddy Mike.

###

JEMS is proud to partner with Rob, Jim R, Ed F, Barry G and many others to release Millard's historic recordings and to help set the record straight about the man himself.

We can’t thank Rob enough for reconnecting with Jim and putting his trust in our Millard reissue campaign. He kept Mike’s precious tapes under wraps for two decades, but once Rob learned of our methods and stewardship, he agreed to contribute the Millard DATs and cassettes to the program. Our releases would not be nearly as compelling without Jim’s memories, photos and other background contributions. As many of you have noted, the stories offer an entertaining complement to Mike’s incredible audio documents.

On this week's honor roll are Professor Goody, pitching in on pitch adjustment, and series lead mjk5510 doing his usual excellent work on post production and artwork.

Finally, cheers to the late, great Mike the MICrophone. His work never ceases to impress. May he rest in peace.

BK for JEMS

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