The Temptations
"Reunion" tour
Painters Mill Music Fair
Owings Mills, MD (USA)
July 10, 1982

Excellent soundboard recording (from cassette master)

Another stellar recording from "The RS Arvhives"
(a Mexminute/TheCommish production)


** mp3 samples provided (as always) in the Comments section **


Setlist:
01. I Wish I Would Rain (fades in)
02. You're My Everything
03. Psychedelic Shack
04. Runaway Child, Running Wild
05. Ol' Man River
06. (I Know) I'm Losing You
07. Try To Remember
08. For Once In My Life
09. The Impossible Dream
10. My Whole World Ended
11. Walk Away From Love
12. Ball Of Confusion
13. Cloud Nine
14. A Song For You
15. Power
16. Band intro (Super Freak plays in background)
17. Don't Look Back
18. My Girl
19. I Can't Get Next To You
20. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) (incomplete--fades out)

(Tracks 07-09 are a medley dedicated to founding and long-time member Paul Williams, who died under mysterious circumstances in August 1973. See more below.)


The Temptations "Reunion" line-up:
Dennis Edwards
Melvin Franklin
Eddie Kendricks
Glenn Carl Leonard
David Ruffin
Richard Street
Otis Williams


Notes:
* The "Reunion" tour marked the long-anticipated return of former members David Ruffin (who left the group in 1968) and Eddie Kendricks (who left in 1971)
* According to Wikipedia: "The Reunion tour, which began in April 1982 was only partially successful. Ruffin, a cocaine addict, missed several shows, causing the group to be fined thousands of dollars for each performance he missed, and Eddie Kendricks' falsetto voice had weakened due to constant smoking. Group leader Otis Williams decided that the reunion would not be a permanent thing, and fired Ruffin and Kendricks shortly after Christmas 1982."
* Melvin Franklin's nephew is Rick James, who is well-known for his recording of "Super Freak"...and The Temptations were backup vocalists on that 1981 hit.
* Regarding Paul Williams' death (according to Wikipedia): "The mysterious circumstances surrounding Williams' death caused many people, including the Williams family, to suspect that some form of foul play was the actual cause of Williams' death. According to the coroner, Williams had used his right hand to shoot himself in the left side of his head. In addition, a bottle of alcohol was found near Williams' left side, as if he had dropped it while being shot. The gun used in the shooting was found to have fired two shots, only one of which had killed Williams. Despite the evidence, Williams had previously expressed suicidal thoughts, and his death was officially ruled as being self-inflicted." Paul Williams was part of the group's "Classic 5" line-up from their 1960s heyday.



Lineage:
Cassette master > Nakamichi CR-7A (playback) > HHB CDR-850 (burning) > CDR, then
CDR > EAC > WAV > Editing (see below) > FLAC Frontend > FLAC

Editing notes:
* Re-tracked show (combined WAV files in Nero, then re-split with CD Wave)
* Deleted a 7-second "glitch" that existed between Tracks 10-11 (tape flip?)
* Fixed a small volume dip in Track 17: Increased the volume +4dB from the 0:50-0:54 mark and +3dB from the 0:54-0:56 mark. Track 17's volume now plays much more evenly.


About "The RS Archives":
The RS Archive consists of a selection of live recordings made by a great individual who passed away in 2005.

RS worked in the music industry in many capacities….a music fan….a musician….a sound engineer. He was considered one of the best behind the mixing board. I was honored to have known him for practically 35 years. There was no one like him….he was a wonderful human being. Everybody loved him. He was a level-headed guy who knew what sounded good and what didn't. He could conceive and design sound systems from scratch in his head to meet the artist’s needs. Whatever they wanted, he could do.


For years, he mixed music at the annual Grammy Awards and the American Music Awards television show. RS worked closely for years with Daryl Hall and John Oates, Juice Newton, Anita Baker, Mariah Carey, Tears for Fears, Crack the Sky, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Aretha Franklin, Pink Floyd, Whitney Houston, Bette Midler, Ann Murray, Michael Bolton, Kenny G, Tony Bennett, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, John Fogerty, Bonnie Raitt, Frank Sinatra, John Hiatt, Little Feat, Little Village, and Waylon Jennings…..to name a few.

He had a huge reputation in the business, and that's why he was chosen to work with such budding clients as Mariah Carey. With the major stars, he was one of the preferred engineers they choose to work with. A particular client of RS who had a reputation for firing sound engineers with great regularity was Anita Baker, whom he won over not only with his technical abilities and personality, but with his refusal to put up with her criticism. He quit a few times but always came back because she loved the way he mixed her music. He could coddle difficult and temperamental celebrities, and they respected his work. He was able to kick back and get along with them. Even though he knew these people, he was a very modest man.

So now, it is time to honor him by sharing some of the many recordings he made while on the road. All are perfect (or near perfect) soundboard recordings made from the master cassettes or master dat tapes. Unfortunately, I am not able to identify the original equipment these tapes were made on, however I can say that for the transferring process, the cassette tapes were played back on a Nakamichi CR-7A, and the dat tapes on a Sony PCM-R500. They were all burnt onto cdr using a HHB CDR-850.

Please enjoy these tasty gems!
Mexminute (fellow DIME member).



If you decide to download this show, won't you please consider posting a comment on the show's board? It only takes a moment, and believe me, it takes A LOT longer to prepare/upload a show for others to enjoy than it does to download and run.

And won't you please consider thanking Mexminute for sharing this mighty fine show with us?


Generously shared by Mexminute
and uploaded on DIME by TheCommish
November 2008