MARIANNE FAITHFULL

Monday, 30 November 1987 early show

The Bottom Line
15 West 4th Street
New York, New York 10012
USA


FLAC master, 5 February 2025, by elegymart:
Analog audience recording (stereo) {recorded by Gene Poole}: unknown mics/recorder > 1984 US Maxell Epitaxial XLII (Type II CrO2) 90-minute analog audio cassette master {from the Gene Poole collection} > Sony TC-WE435 (azimuth adjustment) > Roland R05 (24/96) > Cool Edit Pro 2.0 (audio cleanup, convert to 16/44) > SHNtool (fixed SBE) > CD Wave (track splits) > TLH (WAV > FLAC8).
Created this text file.


Total running time [1:26:27]
------------------------------------------------------
01 Trouble in Mind [2:06]
02 Strange Weather [5:13]
03 Guilt [8:08]
04 band introductions [1:31]
05 The Blue Millionaire [9:56]
06 Boulevard of Broken Dreams [3:10]
07 Love, Life and Money [4:04]
08 Blues After Hours [3:37]
09 Sister Morphine [10:47]
10 Working Class Hero [8:23]
11 A Stranger on Earth [4:49]
12 The Ballad of Lucy Jordan [6:26]
13 Times Square [5:03]
-- encore --
14 As Tears Go By [4:26]
15 Broken English [8:43]


Band line-up:
Marianne Faithfull - vocals
Bill Frisell - guitar
Fernando Saunders - bass
Garth Hudson - keyboards, accordion
Mac Rebbenack (aka Dr. John) - piano, guitar
Alan Smallwood - synthesizers
Lew Soloff - trumpet
J.T. Lewis - drums


Notes:

THE GENE POOLE COLLECTION VOL. 229

Here's the latest installment of the Gene Poole Collection, a random wellspring of recordings which surfaced during the pandemic. To paraphrase Lou: This is gonna go on for a while, so we should get used to each other, settle back, pull up your cushions, whatever else you have with you that makes life bearable in what has already been the mid-2020s norm.

Some of Gene's handiwork has probably been heard by your very ears before, for the most part via the Stonecutter Archives, but this was the first major unearthing of tapes direct from the legend himself. As promising as that may seem, it's best to let the surprises hit as they are shared. The trade-off to the prolific taping on Gene's part is that the expectations for a perfect track record would be unrealistic and unfair. There will be instances of incomplete recordings, caused by late arrivals to gigs, recorder and microphone malfunctions, and other assorted foibles as would befall any mortal taper. There will be times where a master from another source exists which could be superior. For the most part, Gene recorded with a variety of mics and recorders, and many shows suffered from wire dropouts, so that only one channel was extant in the capture. Due warning about the past imperfect given and out of the way, credit should be given where due as well -- for many shows thought lost forever, it's exciting to discover that many of these even in incomplete form have now cropped up.

The transfers, the audio fixes, and the research all have required some lead time -- many tapes had scant info (sometimes just the name of the artist/band, with no date listed for the performance). Needless to say, gear documentation is virtually nil -- if we wait around for that precise detail to be forthcoming, nothing from the collection would probably see the light of day.

Due to current sad events, it made sense to move this one up in the queue.

This was during a triumphant return to live performance by Marianne after a four year absence. These Bottom Line shows kicked off the start of her "Strange Weather" comeback tour, and took place over the course of three nights, beginning on the 29th of November. They added December 1st after the first two nights sold out. Jim Carroll opened.

This existed in TGPC as part of the Good Doctor's reels. During the dumpster salvage of 2022, two more cassette copies surfaced. The copy was evident as that dub has shortened beginning and end. It was likewise with the reel. Since Gene re-used an old cassette to master this show, there some sudden interruptions from the prior recorded music during some recorder pauses and stops. In addition, the master suffers some tape chew during the recording process in the trumpet soloing of "The Blue Millionaire" -- this was confirmed by comparing the master to the cassette dub and the reel, where the flaw is equally audible.

Gene arrives customarily late to this show. At the time he was working in Long Island and would head into NYC immediately after work was done at 6:00PM. The recording begins with what sounds like him emerging from the men's room and then fortunately standing rather than seated dining, which produces a richer capture, but on the downside of it, he's located near the cash register! He's missed just the majority of the first song of the set it seems, although Ganges/Genghis Kahn (aka the Good Doctor) comments that he missed the first two. The sound of the concert is dynamic and Gene's mics and recorder pulled in nice audio, although it's challenged in places when the music swells up and there are brisk recording level adjustment in reaction. Some of these songs are generously long, and as a result "Sister Morphine" takes the hit on the tape flip.

The band here consists of one of those line-ups that could only be dreamed up by Hal Willner and then put into action, with three musicians from Lou Reed's band and other luminaries. There are so many folks on this recording who have shuffled off now, hopefully to better places, but how nice to have them all under one roof here: Lew Soloff, Dr. John, Hal Willner, The Good Doctor (who passed away last May), Garth Hudson and of course, Marianne. RIP to all.

Enjoy,
elegymart