Robert Wyatt, Hugh Hopper, Andy Summers, Zoot Money
1968-12-28 ::: Borough of Camden, North London, England
Middle Earth at the Roundhouse ::: Chalk Farm Road
"Super Star Jam Session" ::: M?-AUD (48kHz/24bit files)

~*~ Mk3 version, carefully remastered fixing various issues, with lite differential EQ & lite NR ~*~

"They're completely out of their heads on champagne!" (Jeff Dexter intro)

01-[00:38]. ==band member intros (Jeff Dexter MC)==
02-[13:39]. Dear Mr Fantasy
03-[00:31]. ==applause//talk==
04-[14:03]. "Your Guess Is As Good As Ours" (untitled instrumental)
05-[01:09]. ...Why Don't We Do It In The Road ->
06-[11:05]. We Did It Again (with "Reprise")
07-[01:35]. ==applause//MC talk==

Total Time ::: 42:40

::: VG "what it is"(but cool!) mono AUD (slightly clearer in "VG"Mk3 version). Check samples to shove off, to think about it, to praise all things Softs related!.
::: Warts: Both Mk2+Mk2 somewhat hissy. Repaired MANY (500++) dullspots & dropouts but 100s more low level dullspots still exist (mostly audible on headphones). #01 intro 1st 6secs alternate tapy copy (merged/quality changes). #02 1st 20secs distorted (taper levels too high, so bass reduced some here EQ'd in Mk3) but still quite distorted & even after the majorly distorted part, "Mr Fantasy"remains somewhat distorted&isn't as good quality as #03-07. #04 small splice both copies (only missing 1-2secs?_not totally seamless/improved). #06 some clapping in reprise.
::: COMPARISON CLAUSE: "Mk1" is the original rough transfer from propylean, never DIMED.
::: CONTRAST CLAUSE: This is the brighter sounding Mk3 EQ+lite NR version. The Mk2 NO EQ*or NR (more muffled) remaster version is available elsewhere.
::: Thumbnail ad scan: www.terrascope.co.uk/MyBackPages/Images/UrielPoster2.gif
::: Maybe 1of2 sets as ad says 10:30-Dawn & only 4 other bands listed aside from jam session.
::: THIS Saturday night show: "Super Star Jam Session"w/The Soft Machine/Zoot Money/Andy Summers(misspelled "Sommers")(& maybe says "plus..." but scan is blurry) + John Mayall's Bluesbreakers/Uriel("Arzachel" w/Steve Hillage&3pre-Egg members)/Writing On The Wall/Arcadium.
::: A joke &/or MC (Jeff Dexter?) is "trippin' balls" (likely both!), but Wyatt intro'd as "Robert Plant"!
::: UNKNOWN if taper captured other acts, but hopefully, someday, maybe, dreamin'...(We NEED live Arzachel!).
::: NOT a "Soft Machine" reunion gig, tho' they'd started rehearsals the week before (Wyatt/Hopper/Summers/Ratledge). MORE info below.
::: Friday night show (night before): Eire Apparent/Canto/Edgar Broughton Blues Band +"Super Star Jam Session"w/The Soft Machine/Noel Redding/Steve Howe/Mitch Mitchell/Carl Wayne/Trev Burton".
::: 1st S/T "The Soft Machine"LP recorded April'68 but JUST issued prior to this gig (hence reunion efforts by record co.)
::: "Volume 2"LP by The Soft Machine recorded Feb-Mar'69 & released Sept'69.
::: Zoot's solo LP "Welcome To My Head" was not yet recorded & appeared in 1969.

Recording Information ::: unknown mono tape recorder/microphone -> master mono audience tape -> ? -> unknown generation flacs.

Remastering 2021-08-xx ::: unknown generation flacs -> Audacity [normalisation to remove DC offset (NOT to normalize volume), channel/phase alignment, fades, manual one-at-a-time glitch, bump, clap, pop, click, dropout & dullspot repairs, volume adjustments, 1-14min OK & 14-19min +1.4% & 19-29min (master tape flip?) +1.1% & 29-36min +1.22% & 36-end +1% averaged pitch (speed) fixes with single pass per segment after frequency analysis, lite differential equalisation #01+02 1st 1:40 to reduce match muffled part to rest of tape (reduce 20secs start of #02 distorted overload), lite noise reduction to reduce hiss] -> CD Wave (track splits) -> flacs (Trader's Little Helper) -> yr ears. (NOTE: MONO tape&Lchan slightly higher frequencies but hissier, so after lining up channels, they were combined, as it seemed the best way to proceed, but hence small file sizes). Took too LONG to improve this one - 3-4 hours at a stretch&then worn out from dullspots, sometimes fixing dozens per minute of tape&they needed touching up - then had to stop for a day or two before going at it again. #02 had 5secs where it lost most of the signal&was mostly hiss but right at start of 16"beat"repeated"guitar"measure. The spot was exactly 8"beats", so cut/pasted/merge-not original bit there but sounds just like it&much better than before). Freed 2021-08-xx.

Line-up ::: The most remarkable Robert Wyatt-Ellidge (now 76/retired since 2014) - drums, percussion, vocals // Hugh Colin Hopper (†R.I.P.2009†) - electric bass // George Bruno "Zoot" Money - keyboards, vocals // Andrew James Somers aka "Andy Summers" - electric guitar..

Nothing here ever commercially released to my knowledge. If I'm wrong, please advise & I'll take the offending trax offline.

DimeTravel 851 ::: Thanks to the original taper & traders! MANY thanks to DIMER propylean & to his source (appreciated very much). Sincere thanks to whomever uploads this for me. ::: Corrections welcome ::: While digging up long lost recordings on screwed up DATs, came across this gem, but the diginoise made it pretty dismal. Wrote DIMER propylean who didn't have it, but kindly made inquiries & returned with another version within about 2 hours(!). In the old days, it would have been more like 2 months! The DAT had a few more seconds of MC intro at the start (pasted in here), but otherwise, nothing could be gained from it. Then the real question was, could there be a listenable form of the recording created? It was pretty dire, with dropouts & incessant dullspots annoying beyond belief, plus cuts, muffling, and.... After about 4 differential EQ attempts, one reared its head that seemed passable (Mk3) - some brightening & clarity along with a little NR to return the hiss to more like the muddy original (Mk2), then it was something I could work with. I did 3 work passes on the headphones & the stereo speaker listen thru at the end seemed quite rewarding - some distortion & distance, but clear enought to BLOW some minds & ears (even if they only operate at something less than optimal, 53 years after the fact). Many of you, like me, were a tad young in '68, and not so many had the fortune to live in one of the music hotspots in the era even if of age to imbibe. Jeff Dexter's Middle Earth vision is but a dream for most of us, but now another glimpse is available - VERY cool. They should've billed this as a jam with members of Dantalian's Chariot & The Soft Machine, tho' the Chariot had broken up the previous spring. Ferocious bass playing from Hopper in places. Zoot Money (and presumably his song choices to sing lead vocals) is the odd man out here in more ways than one. While I can groove on some of his Big Band era material & love the Chariot, I can't say he is the guiding light for me in this picture. At one point in "We Did It Again", in the vocals you can hear Robert & Zoot laughing at themselves & their vocal trade-offs/harmonies - a very nice touch. At one point Zoot (presumably) tries a little whistling (but luckily stops quickly) & his next mistake is in the best part (rippin', with some of Summers best guitar weirdness) of the "Reprise" jam he goes into some cheezoid improv lyrics about the "New Year" that is reminscent of Joey Covington (enough said), but also luckily only a couple of lines. The musicians pull off a semi-respectable "Dear Mr Fantasy" that has its moments, but "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" seems arbitrary&out of place. The instrumental ain't bad at all. Undoubtably Wyatt is on form in "We Did It Again", however, the drums don't come thru all that well in many places in the recording. Maybe someone else will have better luck understanding Wyatt talking after "Fantasy" (does he credit extra band members for that song? "Keith on drums"?//"Steve..."?). Summers is quite interesting in sorta short jolts here&there, but overly repetitive at others, but in summation, the set is rather fascinating, even with the mix of material&presentation.

Andy&Zoot were in Zoot Money's Big Roll Band before forming the EXC UK psych (super)group Dantalian's Chariot ('67-April'68 w/Colin Allen&Pat Donaldson). Dantalian's Chariot broke up April'68. Summers joined The Soft Machine & Money joined Eric Burdon&The Animals, tho' Summers ALSO played w/The Animals, appearing on the "Love Is" album (issued Dec'68). From what I can see in the Softs gig timelines, essentially between June 15-July 29 possibly Summers was recording&gigging(?) w/The Animals along w/Zoot, tho' their studio sessions may have only been in Nov/Dec. "Love Is"2LP set has another Traffic cover, "Colored Rain"(9:38) w/Summers guitar solo 4:15 long! Entire"Love Is"4th side is a Dantalian's Chariot medley! Summers listed as an Animals bandmember July-Dec'68 (then The Animals broke up 'til'75), but Summers ALSO toured w/The Soft Machine for 2 months in the middle of that time. The Soft Machine had toured the USA in Feb/Mar'68, mostly opening for Hendrix. At least one night was w/Eric Burdon&The Animals. By mid-April, after returning to the UK, Andy Summers joined The Soft Machine & rehearsals began. The new Softs debut gig (Ayers/Ratledge/Summers/Wyatt) was 1968-06-12 Cambridge,UK, then they flew to the USA&2 days later headlined Detroit's Grande Ballroom, then started another tour at end of July (mostly opening for Hendix). The tour ended sometime in October & Softs split up, Ayers off to Spain&Ratledge to London. Wyatt&Summers stayed in the USA for recording sessions with Eric Burdon&The Animals (including Zoot) & other groups. Then the record company convinced Wyatt to reform Soft Machine. The band reformed a week before this gig&started rehearsals. Unable to contact Kevin Ayers in Spain, Hugh Hopper was recruited as his replacement on bass. With Ayers gone, Wyatt could re-invite Summers to play with him again (Ayers apparently no longer wanted Summers in the group, tho' I think Summers reappeared in one of Kevin Ayers bands after this point). The Soft Machine at that point was Wyatt//Ratledge//Summers//Hopper. However, Summers,Money&Burdon returned to CA by Jan'69 & The Soft Machine became a trio (or something like that). A Softs page says "billed as a jam between members of The Animals & The Soft Machine but almost no members of The Animals showed up". However, the newspaper ad doesn't seem to directly mention The Animals. But technically, Money&Summers had just finished a stint with The Animals & were back in London, so it is 2 Softs&2 Animals or 3 Softs&2 Animals, if you count Summers as having been in both groups & then, as stated, Wyatt was also on "Love Is"... So many Softs authorities out there, I'll sure have got something wrong here, but you get the gist. The complex, incestuous world of R&R! Listen, enjoy, show appreciation, share, give, spread peace. Yrs truly, Knees

Support the artists and/or thie families! http://www.zootmoney.org -- http://www.andysummers.com -- http://www.hugh-hopper.com -- www.softmachine.org -- www.strongcomet.com/wyatt (fan site)

Do whatever you want with it except sell it, 'cause that ain't cool!