Foghat
The Forum
Inglewood, CA
March 5, 1975
Mike Millard Master Tapes via JEMS
The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 218

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 > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity 3.1 capture > iZotope RX > iZotope RX9 Advanced and Ozone 9 > FLAC

01 Wild Cherry
02 Home In My Hand
03 My Babe
04 Honey Hush
05 Leavin' Again (Again!)
06 I Just Want to Make Love to You
07 Chateau Lafitte '59 Boogie

Known Faults: "Wild Cherry" joined in progress, tape flip in "I Just Want To Make Love To You"

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

Foghat, The Forum, Inglewood, CA, March 5, 1975

This week brings a welcome surprise for all of us to the Lost and Found series and one its most historically significant recordings.

Foghat's opening set for Rod Stewart and Faces at the Fabulous Forum is THE first live concert recording Mike "The Mike" Millard ever made with what was then his brand-new Nakamichi 550 cassette deck and AKG 451e microphones. While he had recorded concerts before, starting with The Who in November 1973, Millard's early work was done on what we believe to be Shure microphones and a Sony cassette deck.

As Jim notes below, with Led Zeppelin's first concerts since 1973 imminent, and a growing sense that upgrading his rig could yield better results, Mike took a leap and purchased a brand new, state of the art Nakamichi 550 portable cassette deck. In today's dollars, Mike spent nearly $4000 on the deck and well over $1000 on the microphones, in the hopes that he'd hear the difference his sizable investment yielded in sound quality.

Did. He. Ever.

Before Zeppelin's SoCal run began in San Diego, Mike wanted to give his new gear a test run. It just so happened that the first concert of interest after purchasing the gear was Rod and Faces, a concert we released way back on Vol. 13. But because they were the opening act on the night, technically Foghat was the first band Mike captured on his new rig.

We've known about the Foghat capture since the first time we saw Millard's original tape list, but we believed it to be one of the MIA tapes we are still hoping to recover in our effort to find every one of the 300+ recordings we know Millard made between 1973 and 1994.

The count of MIA tapes currently stands in the 40-50 range, but just a week ago I mentioned the Foghat show to Rob S in passing and he said, "I have a DAT of that." And so he did. One day later I had his master cassette to DAT transfer and we fast-tracked it for release this week.

Having written about so many Millard tapes over the years, I'm well aware that I have repeated many of the same adjectives to describe their quality. This week I get to debut a new and entirely fitting one.

In a word, Millard's Foghat recording cooks. Some combination of the band, Mike's recording location and the new Nak-AKG rig combines to yield a striking capture of excellent quality. So much so that I can only imagine how gobsmacked Mike and Jim must have been to hear how much of a difference the new equipment made. Samples provided.

Mike joins the set in progress during "Wild Cherry," undoubtedly taking a long time to get his new rig set up and hidden. There's a tough tape flip as well in "I Just Want To Make Love To You," but for a first-time effort? Well done, sir, well done.

Also, while I have long considered Foghat a third-tier player in '70s rock, I have to admit their performance cooks as well, with the vocal harmonies particularly impressive.

Here's what Jim R recalled about seeing Foghat on the night Mike Millard used his legendary rig for the first time:

I went with Mike Millard to the Foghat and Faces concert at The Forum on March 5, 1975. This was a significant concert in that it was the first Mike Millard recording using a Nakamichi 550 with AKG mics. It would become the Gold Standard for tapers during that era.

Let me take you back. Keep in mind this is over 49 years ago...

It was early March and So Cal was buzzing with anticipation for several Led Zeppelin shows in the area starting with San Diego on March 10, followed by Long Beach March 11 and 12, and the Forum shows later the same month.

A little over a week before the first Zep show, I got a phone call from Mike saying, "You have got to come over and check this thing out. It's a monster.� I asked, �What is it?� Mike said to trust him and just come over. I jumped in my car and drove to his house (we lived about 15 minutes apart at the time). I went into his room and on a table was his brand new Nakamichi 550. Next to it was his previous Sony deck; the new Nak was 2-3 times bigger. I looked at Mike and asked, "How are we going to get this in?� The next thing he said was, �We have got to try it out.�

Mike not only purchased the Nak 550 but also AKG 451-E microphones to go with it. Studio quality microphones.

As luck would have it, Foghat along with Rod Stewart and Faces were playing The Forum in a few days. This would be a perfect dress rehearsal for the upcoming Zep shows. We scored a couple last-minute tickets in Loge 11, Row K, about 15-20 rows back and 11 rows off the floor. They were not our usual primo seats in the first five rows in the middle, but they would do just fine.

So as it happened, Foghat became the first group that Mike recorded with the Nak 550. Second was Faces.

Mike upgraded to the Nak that March because of the upcoming Zeppelin shows. He wanted the best quality he could get. Nakamichi had an excellent reputation of building "near reel-to-reel quality" cassette decks. At the time, Nakamichi�s home decks were the Nak 700, which retailed for $700, and the Nak 1000, which ran a grand. That was a ton of money back in 1975. The Nak 550 was their brand new field recording deck, effectively a portable version of the Nak 500 home deck.

Mike's Nak 550 cost him $500-600, plus the AKGs were a few hundred as well. Throw in the power supplies and cabling, and the new set-up was a sizable investment. This was all made possible because Mike was bringing in serious coin. He was driving a truck for a furniture company and was paid cash, plus he was collecting unemployment at the same time. And living at home. His parents, Lia and Jack, were pretty cool, by the way.

Mike heard about the Nakamichi 550 from family friend Doc Kohler, an audiophile who was in tight with high-end store Henry Radio. They carried the entire Nak product line and carried the AKG mics. Mike made sure to get the directional capsules for obvious reasons.

With Foghat and Faces 1975, a new era of recording was born, and the quality that built the legend of Mike "The Mike" Millard began. But the Nak 550 also brought with it the huge (no pun intended) issue of how to get a deck that large into a building. It took a lot of brainstorming and constant innovation to get the equipment past security, not get caught and get the precious tapes back home afterwards.

By the way, Mike and I were blown away with the sound quality of the initial Nak recordings. But Mike wanted more and that's when we got the idea of "The Hat," more than likely just in time for the Zep shows.

Since Mike decided to record Foghat, I followed suit and shot a handful of pictures myself.

Please enjoy the sights and sounds. Cheers to my buddy Mike. RIP.

###

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

We're thrilled to feature Jim R's photos of Foghat from the night as well as his memories, which paint a vivid picture of these events. Thanks to him as well as Rob S for finding the DAT of his original transfer of Mike's Foghat recording, pitch consultant to the stars Professor Goody and mjk5510 who designed the artwork with Jim's photos and handled post production.

Finally, cheers to the late, great Mike the MICrophone. His work never ceases to impress. May he rest in peace.

BK for JEMS

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