Shawn Phillips
The Forum
Inglewood, CA
January 30, 1974
Mike Millard Master Tapes via JEMS
The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 113
1644 Edition

Contrast Clause: 2496 Edition located here:


Recording Gear: (Probably) Shure microphone > Sony TC-152SD Cassette Recorder

JEMS 2020 Transfer: Mike Millard Master Cassettes > Nakamichi RX-505 (azimuth adjustment; Dolby On) > Sound Devices USBPre 2 > Audacity 2.0 capture > iZotope RX8 > iZotope Ozone 8 > MBIT+ resample to 1644 > Audacity > TLH > FLAC

01 Announcements, Millard Chatter and Tuning
02 Song For Sagittarians
03 Lookin' Up Lookin' Down
04 Whaz' Zat
05 Spaceman
06 January First
07 Bright White
08 Moonshine
09 She Was Waitin' for Her Mother at the Station in Torino and You Know I Love Baby but It's Getting Too Heavy to Laugh
10 Keep On > Drum Solo >
11 Song For Mr. C

Known Faults:
-None

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

Shawn Phillips, The Forum, Inglewood, CA, January 30, 1974

Vol. 100 of the Lost and Found series presented Mike "The Mike" Millard's first recording ever: The Who at The Forum, November 23, 1973. This week we present Mike's second recording made two months later, Shawn Phillips opening up for the Moody Blues at The Forum. We released the Moodys as Vol. 99 in our series and now we complete the bill with Phillips' opening set.

It seems appropriate to call Phillips an artist somewhat lost to history despite leaving some interesting markers along the way. Per Wikipedia, the Texas-born singer-songwriter collaborated with Donovan in the 1960s and played the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 before signing to A&M.

He was considered a virtuosic musician and perhaps ahead of his time. His A&M catalog starts in 1970, and his commercial peak was a string of three albums beginning with Faces in 1972, Bright White in 1973 and Furthermore in 1974, all of which charted in the middle tiers of Billboard's Top 200 albums but never fully broke through.

His opening set here is career-spanning, with only one song, the title track, from his then most recent album Bright White and a couple of tracks from 1970's Second Contribution.

My first impression of Phillips performance captured here was to see it as somewhat generic mid-'70s blue-influenced rock. But the more I listened, the more ambitious the music turned out to be, albeit with some nods (e.g. a drum solo) to arena rock tropes befitting the era and situation as an opening band. I suspect there aren't many period Phillips recordings out there, so if you are a fan, this is going to be a treat. If you aren't, it might still prove interesting.

Mike catches about five minutes of pre-show announcements, tuning up and, if you listen carefully, some of his own commentary and chatter with a friend. Because this is 1974, Mike is recording on his original rig, but like the Moody Blues recording, this is one of the better pre-Nakamichi 550 Millard masters. There's a bit of hiss but it is otherwise relatively clear and close. Samples provided.

###

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.

Our core contributors worked around the Thanksgiving holiday to prep this one for you. Thanks to Professor Goody for his pitch work and to mjk5510 for post-production, artwork and completing the daunting task of identifying the set list.

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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