Electric Light Orchestra
Massey Hall
Toronto, ON
November 10, 1974
The SF Tapes Volume Two

(Likely) Recording Gear: Sony TC-110 and Unknown Microphone

JEMS Transfer: JEMS Transfer: Master Cassette > Nakamichi RX-505 azimuth-adjusted playback > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity 3.1 capture > iZotope RX10 Advanced and Ozone 9 > FLAC

01 Daybreaker
02 Showdown
03 Ocean Breakup / King Of The Universe
04 Bluebird Is Dead >
05 Oh No Not Susan >
06 New world Rising > Ocean Breakup Reprise
07 Cello Solo
08 Day Tripper
09 Eldorado Overture >
10 Can't Get It Out Of My Head
11 Poorboy (The Greenwood)
12 Eldorado > Eldorado Finale
13 Violin Solo
14 In the Hall of the Mountain King
15 Great Balls Of Fire
16 Roll Over Beethoven

Known Faults: Roll Over Beethoven - end cut

Welcome to The SF Tapes, a series of master recordings made by a friend of longtime JEMS pal ML.

SF hailed from Canada, and after his passing in 2022, ML rescued his tapes from near destruction � salvaged after sitting neglected in a garage for a couple of years. We can�t thank ML enough for recovering SF�s cassettes and bringing them to the JEMS Archive for evaluation, conservation, and transfer.

And what a haul it is. SF made hundreds of recordings in clubs, concert halls, festivals, and arenas � not just around Toronto, but also in Western New York (Buffalo, Rochester), Montreal, Ottawa, and beyond. From Howlin� Wolf and Billy Joel to Weather Report and Suicide, he captured an impressive breadth of artists and genres.

ML and SF first crossed paths in 1974 at Albert�s Hall, a club above the Brunswick Tavern in Toronto. �I thought, �There he is again � this guy�s been to all three nights!�� ML recalled. They bonded quickly over music, with SF recounting his adventures at editions of both the Ann Arbor Blues Festival and the Mariposa Folk Festival in the early �70s.

That friendship spanned decades and miles, as ML and SF followed The Who in 1979, 1980, and 1982; Springsteen in 1978, 1980, 1984, 1985, and 1988; and even made trips to Europe � first in 1985 to see John Cale and Pete Townshend�s Deep End, and again in 2019 to catch Cale in Paris. (ML notes that Cale played three straight nights � each with a unique setlist.)

Like JEMS patriarchs Jared and Stan, ML and SF were kindred spirits. SF began recording in 1973 (ML in �71), starting with a Sony TC-110 before upgrading to a series of Sony D6 Professional Walkman recorders and the ever-reliable Aiwa CM-30 microphone.

Their concert nights didn�t always end when the headliners left the stage. Sometimes they�d catch a show at Massey Hall or Maple Leaf Gardens early in the evening, then head to a jazz or blues club for a final set � hence, some of SF�s club recordings are incomplete, having been caught mid-show or near the end.

As the �80s wore on, SF got married and became a family man. He still made it to the occasional show with ML, often letting him handle the taping.

SF had a bit of a mad professor air about him � his newspaper collecting was legendary, and he wasn�t always meticulous about labeling his clippings or his tapes. Recordings could be scattered: unlabeled ones, a part one here, a part two there, or missing entirely. ML often stepped in to label, organize, and preserve what he could.

We�re incredibly glad he did. His generosity of spirit � like that of his great friend Jared � brings us this remarkable SF series.

Electric Light Orchestra, Massey Hall, Toronto, ON, November 10, 1974

The second edition of the SF Tapes showcases the variety of artists he captured. We move from last week's Bauhaus series debut to a 1974 performance by Electric Light Orchestra on tour in support of the band's fourth album, Eldorado.

ELO's 1974 tour has some documentation on audio including JEMS' own recording of the November 1 show in Detroit, but new recordings are still special finds. The Toronto set is perhaps the most expansive of the extant US tour recordings and includes three covers: Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven," "The Beatles' "Daytripper" and Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire." The rest of the show matches other '74 setlists.

ELO played with real spirit in 1974 and this performance is no exception. SF's recording is a clear, low-fi document that's quite listenable, especially for the era. Samples provided.

Part of the appeal of the SF series is the wide range of artists he recorded as noted above, which means there's lots to look forward to in the future. We say R.I.P. and express our gratitude to SF for taping these concerts in the first place and special thanks to ML for making this collection available to JEMS for preservation and distribution. Slipkid68 has been on point coordinating the series. He also handled some of the tape transfers and wrote the introduction to the series above. We'd also like to thank Professor Goody for checking tape pitch and to mjk5510 for his help in post production and set list identification.

BK for JEMS