Country Joe McDonald, Richie Havens, Arlo Guthrie & Joe Cocker
Antistadio
Bologna, Italy
September 16, 1979
"Woodstock In Europe 1979"
(MRDR Master Series Volume 50)

Contrast Clause: The recording located here is labeled as a SB of Richie Havens' set from this show, this is incorrect and misdated based on this verified master and is not a recording of Richie's set from this night:
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=630400

Recording: Unknown Mic > Unknown Philips Cassette Deck

Transfer: MRDR Master Cassettes > unknown transfer > .wav file > Peak Pro 6 (pre production) > iZotope RX / ozone 5 (mastered) > Peak Pro 6 (post production) > xACT 2.39 > FLAC

COUNTRY JOE McDONALD (Solo)
01 Oh, Jamaica
02 Back To ?69
03 Save The Whales
04 Holy Roller
05 Maybe Baby
06 Crossroads
07 Do Wop Oh
08 Coyote
09 Fish Cheer > I Feel Like I?m Fixin? To Die Rag

RICHIE HAVENS (Solo)
10 Nobody Left To Crown
11 Fire And Rain
12 What About Me?
13 Unknown Song
14 Here Comes The Sun
15 Just Like A Woman
16 Freedom

ARLO GUTHRIE (Solo & Band)
17 Where Have All The Flowers Gone
18 Sailing Down This Golden River
19 Unknown Song
20 Cooper?s Lament
21 City Of New Orleans
22 Victor Jara
23 Percy?s Song
24 St. Louis Tickle
25 Deportees
26 This Land Is Your Land
27 Prologue
28 Which Side Are You On?
29 Wedding Song
30 Coming Into Los Angeles
31 Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream
32 Will That Circle Be Unbroken

JOE COCKER (Band)
33 Cry Me A River
34 I Can?t Say No
35 Put Out The Light
36 Feelin? Alright
37 Whiter Shade Of Pale
38 Delta Lady
39 Fun Time
40 What You Did To Me Last Night
41 Guilty
42 Watching The River Flow
43 With A Little Help From My Friends
44 You Are So Beautiful
45 High Time We Went

Known Faults:
-Which Side Are You On: start cut
-Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream: start slightly cut

Welcome to Volume 50 of the MRDR Master Series, a continuing series of master recordings from the brothers MR & DR documenting the decades of music in Northern Italy.

Our milestone 50th release is an interesting show documenting the short tour "Woodstock In Europe '79" celebrating the 10th anniversary of the epic festival. According to Country Joe McDonald's website the tour did four shows in Italy, one in Germany and a final show in Amsterdam.

18-09-1979 Bologna, Italy (Woodstock in Europe '79)
19-09-1979 Firenze, Italy (Woodstock in Europe '79)
20-09-1979 Casalmaggiore, Italy (Woodstock in Europe '79)
21-09-1979 Torino, Italy (Woodstock in Europe '79)
09-1979 West Germany (Woodstock in Europe '79)
27-09-1979 Amsterdam (Edenhal) (Woodstock in Europe '79)

This appears to be the only recording of a complete night of the tour. There is 45 minutes of video footage available from the Casalmaggiore show from two nights later. The recording did not come without some technical issues. In many places the right channel was almost gone so it's been turned into a mono recording, being outdoors it was essentially already a mono recording so this left to right channel copying improves the overall quality of the show tremendously. The quieter portions of the show were also marred by an intermittent squeal about every half second, this was present during at least two of the sets possibly due to the age of the tapes, fortunately with the assistance of iZotope RX this was entirely removed from the recording and is no longer present without out damaging any of the music frequencies.

There also appeared to have been some technical issues with the performance as well, a portion of Country Joe's set and a portion of Richie's set are met with audience chants "bullshit, bullshit, bullshit" in what appears to be frustration with the PA power. This is most evident during Richie's set when portions almost completely disappear. His set suffers the most from this issue. Based on the recording, I can't imagine any other reason for the chants.

Finally, this was an outdoor performance and as can happen at outdoor venues with 10's of thousands of audience members this is one VERY chatty audience. This is most evident during Richie's set and my theory is possibly due to the assumed PA issues. Other sets are also affected by the chatty audience but it seems most evident during Richie's set. I have spent the last 3 weeks diligently going down the rabbit holes of removing as much of this chatter as possible without impacting the music. There are instances were nothing could be done to the point of satisfaction but it is vastly improved from were we started.

As noted above in the contrast clause there is a circulating SB recording that is identified as being Richie Havens' set from this show. This SB recording is misdated and not from this show based on this recording.

Though I'm not an expert on any of these particular artists, the performances appear to be very very good. Arlo's band performance is particular good with a combination of traditional songs courtesy of his dad, Dylan and Pete Seeger and a few originals. "Coming Into Los Angeles" is a standout for sure.

Joe Cocker's set is excellent with a nice combination of covers, blues and his more commercial pop leanings. Highlight for me is a tremendous version of "Whiter Shade Of Pale".

I cannot thank my old friend MR for continuing to support my efforts to present his excellent work in the best way possible. We owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude for keeping the shows flowing for music fans to enjoy for decades to come. This is one of those short snapshot in time tours that without his (and his brother's) efforts would be lost forever.

Artwork and samples included...

mjk5510


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