The Who
Sports Arena
San Diego, CA
October 7, 1976
Mike Millard Master Tapes via JEMS
The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 60

Recording Gear: AKG 451E Microphones (CK-1 cardioid capsules) > Nakamichi 550 Cassette Recorder

Transfer: Mike Millard Master Cassettes > 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 I Can't Explain (alternate recording)
02 Substitute (alternate recording)
03 My Wife
04 Baba O'Riley
05 Squeeze Box
06 Behind Blue Eyes
07 Dreaming From The Waist
08 Magic Bus
09 Amazing Journey
10 Sparks
11 The Acid Queen
12 Fiddle About
13 Pinball Wizard
14 I'm Free
15 Tommy's Holiday Camp
16 We're Not Gonna Take It
17 See Me, Feel Me
18 Summertime Blues
19 My Generation > Join Together > My Generation Blues
20 Won't Get Fooled Again

Known Issues:
- I Can't Explain: alternate recording source
- Substitute: alternate recording source
- My Wife: 18 seconds patched at the start from alternate recording source
- Won't Get Fooled Again: 1:26 patched at start from alternate recording source
(Patches taken from alternate master tape recorded by Michael Cariola and posted to
TTD. Used by permission of the original poster, kingrue.)

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 MICrophone, 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 1992.

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

The Who, Sports Arena, San Diego, CA, October 7, 1976

This week's release from the Mike Millard archive was chosen specifically to honor the memory of the late, great Jared Houser, the J in JEMS, who passed away four years ago. A truer friend you will never know.

The Who was Jared's favorite band and he taped them well over 100 times, taking his passion for their live recordings so far as to establish what he called The Who Tape Information Center, the mailing address for which was listed in Ed Hanel's book The Who: An Illustrated Discography.

I bought that book from Tower Records when I was in high school in the early '80s and seriously getting into bootlegs. The listing for the Who Tape Information Center and Jared's name were something I pondered often. What did he know and what recordings did he have?

Jared was also one of the principals (along with Marc Cohen) behind the excellent Who fanzine Who's News and he wrote extensively about the band's live shows in those pages. He also had a personal relationship with Pete Townshend, not only meeting him on several occasions but corresponding with him by letter in the '70s and early '80s. We�ve included a great photo of Jared and Pete taken on a visit to London in the �70s.

There's a much longer version of this story to tell someday, but miraculously, less than a year after I got Hanel's book I became friends with a woman (known in JEMS notes as AMorg) who worked at the other cool record store in town. It turned out AMorg was close friends with Jared having met him at the Who shows at Madison Square Garden in 1979. I met Jared in person in 1984, and four years later he moved to my town where JEMS was born. The rest is history until Jared was diagnosed with cancer early this decade. He fought it long and hard before passing away in 2016.

I've written before that the first JEMS connection to Millard runs through our other late, great member, Stan Gutoski, who died earlier this year. Stan and Mike traded tapes in the '80s and met up on at least two occasions.

Jared never met Millard but he was well aware of and greatly admired Mike's work and his methods. At two Springsteen shows in 1988, we co-opted the Millard playbook, renting a wheelchair to push Jared and a hidden video recorder into the venue so he could film from the relatively unobstructed handicapped section. As I was pushing Jared into the show the first night we talked about Millard's famous use of the wheelchair and how funny it was that we were doing the same.

The Who was also one of Millard's favorite bands and he taped them on several occasions starting in 1973 (his very first recording) and through the band's 1989 Tommy tour. That body of work includes this recording of the band's performance in San Diego, the second stop on a nine-show final leg of the 1976 tour that would prove to be Keith Moon's last.

Who setlists in 1976 were heavy on Tommy material thanks to the success of the Tommy film, rounded out by several greatest hits selections and a couple of songs ("Squeeze Box" and "Dreaming From The Waist") from the band's current album, The Who By Numbers. The result was a satisfying if predictable show and that's a good description of the San Diego performance. Virtually any Who show with Keith Moon has merit and while the band moved rather quickly through the set, the versions of the songs themselves are strong throughout.

Millard arrived late to the show and missed the first two songs ("I Can't Explain" and "Substitute"), plus the top of Entwistle's showcase, "My Wife." As luck would have it, another master tape of the San Diego show recently surfaced on TTD and we've included the two missing songs and a patch from the third to complete the performance.

Mike himself rated his Who '76 recording "Poor," and like other tapes given similar grades the reason is that he was too close to the stage (Row B) and wasn't picking up the Who's extremely loud PA. The result is an unbalanced sound that gets a lot of Entwistle's bass amp and/or monitor and other on-stage sounds like Daltrey's tambourine, but not a lot of Townshend's guitar, Roger's vocals and Moon's drums.

Through mastering I've been able to restore more of those elements to the mix, though not as fully as desired. That being said, Millard's pull is far from a poor recording and better than many '76 tapes I've heard including the alternate source we've borrowed from. Because Millard is capturing sound straight from the stage, you'll hear a lot of interesting details lost on other recordings. And if you're the kind of person who frequently utters the phrase, "Entwistle's really good, man," you're in luck because Mike's tape documents The Ox's virtuosic playing brilliantly. Samples provided.

Here's what Jim R recalled about The Who in San Diego 1976:

Mike and I attended The Who concert on October 7, 1976. Unfortunately, it was at the San Diego Sports Arena known for its crappy sound. As usual, Mike drove us from Orange County down to San Diego.

This was a highly anticipated concert. It was our first time to "see them right," namely with the Nak 550 and good seats. Their previous local arena show was on the Quadrophenia Tour in November 1973. We both attended that night but did not know each other yet. We did see them several months prior to San Diego at Anaheim Stadium in March 1976. Mike didn't record because the show was general admission and he couldn't guaranty his taping location.

The San Diego date was the only local arena show on the '76 tour, the last to feature the "Classic Lineup" with Keith Moon.

I can�t recall why the first couple songs were missed, more than likely we had trouble getting the equipment in. The band was in fine form and Keith Moon was quite talkative throughout. He is a maniac on drums and John Entwistle is a lead guitarist who happened to be holding a bass.

I hope you enjoy the show, included are some of my pictures.


###

JEMS is proud to partner with Rob, Jim R, Barry G and 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.

Special thanks to several folks this week, starting with TTD poster kingrue, who allowed us to use three songs here from the master tape he posted there. Professor Goody chipped in his pitch guidance, especially important when matching two different sources. Finally, mjk5510 who got this one ready for you despite a shortened holiday week.

Without Jared Houser there would be no JEMS, no Millard Lost and Found series, none of it. He is a first-ballot inductee into the Tapers Hall of Fame. And for all the amazing tapes Jared made and collected, he was an incredible, loving and kind person who I was lucky to call my friend for over 30 years. He loved JEMS and loved reading comments on DIME of our posts. This Thanksgiving weekend, I encourage you to pay your respects.

Before Jared died, we took the time to interview him and turned some of that footage into a tribute video. If you are interested in the man behind the tapes and have yet to see this short film, I encourage you to do so.

https://vimeo.com/190021070/14a4b5b7ca

Finally, cheers to the late, great Mike the MICrophone. His work never ceases to impress. May he, too, rest in peace. Sunday, November 29 marks 26 years since his untimely passing.

BK for JEMS

Images for all shows as well as full size images for this show.

Images for this show:

Who1976-10-07SanDiegoSportsArenaCA (1).jpg
Who1976-10-07SanDiegoSportsArenaCA (2).jpg
Who1976-10-07SanDiegoSportsArenaCA (3).jpg