*****************************************************************************************
1971-09-30 London - Broadcast WNEW-FM (24bit/96kHz)
Pink Floyd
Paris Cinema, Lower Regent Street
London, England
September 30th 1971
Lineage: Maxell XLII Cassette (low) > *Technics RS-B965-M > Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 > Audacity 1.3 > Wav (24bit/96kHz) -----> Adjustments (32bit float/96kHz) > Wav (24bit/96kHz) > CDWave (1.98) > FLAC (24bit/96kHz)
*The Technics RS-B965-M is a modified deck - for details see the Tapeheads.net forum
01 [10:23] Embryo
02 [04:51] Blues
03 [14:43] Fat Old Sun
04 [08:16] One Of These Days
05 [27:11] Echoes
== [55:26] Total
***Neonknight's Notes***
This complete WNEW-FM, New York, broadcast of the band's 1971 BBC session is a fascinating and important discovery. WNEW-FM tapes normally contain only the two unique songs to the broadcast: stereo versions of Embryo and Blues, and both tracks are often converted to mono. Kbrubaker's tape contains the full 55 minute WNEW-FM broadcast in stereo.
Kbrubaker's cassette is from the same lineage as recordings already circulating of Embryo and Blues. It has identical flaws but sounds better. The Maxell chrome tape was recorded very 'hot' and took it well. In this new version both songs have a warm, dynamic analogue feel to them that I have not experienced with other copies, particularly the DAT versions circulated in the 1990s.
Arguably of greatest interest from a research perspective is the fact that Embryo and Blues are sourced from tape, whereas the other songs are from vinyl (evidenced by occasional vinyl crackles during quieter passages). This strongly suggests that the late, great DJ Alison Steele (aka The Nightbird) was playing a BBC Transcription Services disc.
There are just two brief moments that prove the recording to be from WNEW-FM. The first is a station identification appearing at 8:20m of Embryo and the second is a brief comment from Alison Steele after Echoes. From her tone I think it is reasonable to infer that it would be the last song from the set that she would be playing.
Blues is still the incomplete track everybody is familiar with. Listening to the song again of late I have been wondering whether the excerpt was all the BBC recorded.
Embryo has been omitted from most, if not all repeat airings of the show, most probably as a consequence of the band never having given the track a full release. For those not familiar with the various versions, the BBC have retained a mono copy of Embryo (here we are offering a stereo copy) and no longer have the recording of Blues. The mono Embryo features in a number of copies of the concert that have been previously circulated.
We took a conscious decision to leave the songs in the order they are on Kbrubaker's tape. It was tempting to re-order them to how they were really played by the band but we felt that would undermine the value of this offering as an archival record.
Some collectors believe that WNEW-FM aired the concert in 1971 but to the best of my knowledge we can't be sure that was so. We can be certain, however, that it was broadcast between 1971 and 1979 as Steele left the station that year. In a thread on Yeeshkul Ron Toon said that he believed that the show was only broadcast once by WNEW-FM, and I think he is likely to be right. I tried writing to the station archivist and he couldn't help, unfortunately.
Why the BBC would have sent Embryo and Blues to WNEW-FM is a mystery. One explanation is that the Beeb was, I believe, somewhat in awe of any US station asking for their material back then, and often prepared to go the extra mile to provide the best possible service.
***Littlepieces' Mastering Notes***
This very unique recording has the expected drop after 16kHz due to the usual limitations of a FM broadcast. The broadcast seems likely to have gone through some relatively minor FM leveling as the quieter sections peak a little higher than the BBC Transcription Services disc source. There is a low frequency hum that is apparent during very quiet segments as well as the vinyl artifacts Neon mentioned and some rough starts and stops in the recording. As Neon mentioned, none of these were addressed in order to maintain an accurate archival record.
The only thing modified in this recording was the speed as it was running 4.75%-5.25% slow.
Neonknight Tape Transfer/ Little Pieces Production (LPP)/(June 2012)
*****************************************************************************************