1968-05-30 Zurich 45th anniversary CTT special
First and foremost I'd like to thank Marcel Aeby for all his research of the Zurich Monsterkonzert and for making the tape of May 30 available. For all the info and photos of this event please refer to Marcel's excellent websites
http://www.monsterkonzert.ch/ and http://monsterkonzert.blogspot.com
HISTORY:
On 30 May 1968, the 19 year old Arnold Soder travelled with a couple of friends by chartered coach from Möhlin to Zürich to enjoy the first night of the Monsterkonzert. He recorded the whole event onto 2 Philips C 90 Compact Cassettes with his brand-new Philips cassette recorder.To this day the two cassettes remain the only know audio document from the first night, containing excerpts of the performances of all bands and almost the entire Jimi Hendrix Set.
JIMPRESS 99 Autumn 2012:
The recording of the 30 May concert made by Arnold Soder occupies three sides of two 90-minute cassette tapes, and is of only "good" quality; much of the music is rendered less than fully enjoyable by the low fidelity of the recording. There is a substantial amount of echo due to the venue acoustics, and the sound indicates that the taper was probably some distance from the stage. There is also some distortion to the recording during the loudest parts. Furthermore, there is some annoyingly distracting sound by the taper, or someone near him, that diminishes a listener's enjoyment of some of the material substantially.
Recording Date: 30 May 1968
Audience Recording
Taper: Arnold Soder
Original Source: cassette
THE MOVE
- Sunshine Help Me (last bit only) 0:15
THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE
- Tune Ups
- Introduction by Giorgio Frapolli
- Tax Free (23) 8:18
- Fire (107i) 2:40
- Hey Joe (120) 5:15
- Foxy Lady (80) 3:43
- Red House (105) 10:07
- Purple Haze (130) 6:38
- Farewell by Giorgio Frapolli
JIMPRESS 99 Autumn 2012:
The Hendrix portion of the tape runs 43:50. The recording begins immediately after the Move's performance, and includes 3:14 of crowd noise and tuning, punctuated by many tape stoppages. MC Giorgio Frapolli makes some announcements, ending with "Jimi Hendrix and his Experience", followed by the audience cheering. Some guitar chords and tuning runs are audible, and the sounds of microphone checks, with Noel saying "One, two" and "good evening." There are cuts in the audio, as well as distortion and feedback; then Jimi plays some riffs with his wah-wah pedal. Microphonic feedback is followed by Jimi saying "testing."
TAX FREE
The concert begins with "Tax Free" (23), lasting 8:18. Close to the beginning (0:03-0:06) there is some weird audio interference - perhaps something was overrecorded ? "Tax Free" includes a great deal of wah-wah, and some fine palying; this is one of the highlights of the show. Mitch begins his drum solo at 3:05, earning cheers from the audience at 3:40; Jimi rejoins, playing quiet phrases, at 3:59. The sound here, as in many places throughout the tape, is distorted: though Noel's bass is audible, so is the voice of the taper, or of those nearby. There is an ugly audience noise at 5:46. At 7:46, the band drops out, and Jimi plays a closing cadenza, flavored wth the whammy bar. Jimi plays a few tuning runs after the song ends.
FIRE
Next is a succinct (and slightly incomplete) version of "Fire" (107i), lasting just 2:40. Noel's supporting vocals are audible in the choruses. Jimi's solo (1:11-1:21) is not memorable, but there are some interesting guitar breaks (1:26-1:45), slightly disfigured by taper voiceover near the beginning. The track ends prematurely at 2:40, omitting a bit of guitar, but in all likelihood not much more than the final chord. This is followed by 27 seconds of unrelated audio that runs backward, which is either the remnant of a previous recording o a subsequent tape-over. The concert recording resumes with some bass tuning runs, followed by what sounds like a false start of "Hey Joe"; something clearly isn't working right, and Jimi's guitar trails off after about 20 seconds. Noel makes a mostly unintelligible comment about a "problem" which is followed by some tuning by Jimi that includes several chords from "Hey Joe."
HEY JOE
"Hey Joe" (120) (5:15) begins with a sound painting, lasting 1:01, before the conventional opening begins. The audience cheers when Jimi begins singing (1:32); someone in range of the taper's microphone whistles along distractingly, starting at 1:41. Jimi's first solo (2:59-3:22) is fairly undistinguished. The whistler is again evident from 3:32-3:42. Jimi's outro solo (4:38-5:01) is again unremarkable. After the song ends, the audience applauds, we hear Jimi's guitar making it's "thank you" sounds, Noel gives a "Thank you very much, ta," and Jimi says "Thank you very much." More guitar and tuning follow. Jimi says "Like to continue on with a song we recorded off our Are You Experienced LP, back in 1874"
FOXY LADY
The next song is "Foxy Lady" (80) (3:34), which begins with a fifteen-second feedback introduction. The vocals in this song are nearly lost behind the instruments, except for the nearly a capella phrases that end the verses. The whistler again intrudes (1:15-1:31). Jimi's solo (1:55-2:16) and his outro cadenza (3:01-3:34) are typical. After the song concludes, we hear applause, indecipherable chat from Noel, microphonic feedback, laughter from the taper, tuning, and drums before a cut in the tape. Jimi then says "This is a very very slow song that was recorded in 1738" and again mentions the Are You Experienced LP. More guitar tuning follows, and another comment from Jimi, who says something like "We're gonna slow it down with this song called 'Red House."
RED HOUSE
"Red House" (105) (10:07) is the highlight of the show. It opens with two instrumental choruses, each beginning with Jimi's characteristic intro riff for the song. The third and fourth choruses are vocal; unfortunately the taper is audible at the end of the third chorus. The fifth chorus is a fiery instrumental, and the sixth restrained, chromatic, and chordal. Mitch takes a drum solo starting at 6:44; just 37 seconds later, Jimi offers some chromaticism in the background. Unfortunately the low volume here makes nearby audience noises more distracting. Jimi starts the next chorus by playing quiet lead guitar with wah-wah (7:45). There is a rude tape cut at 8:54, directly after the conclusion of the chorus, cutting the opening of the final vocal chorus - just a second or two, probably. The song ends at 10:07. Noel says " Thank you very much" and Jimi tunes his guitar. Jimi says something largely inaudible, including "Thank you very much for coming" and "last song"; he concludes with a final "thank you."
PURPLE HAZE
After a brief tape cut, the final song, "Purple Haze (130) (6:38), begins with an extravagant 2:29 sound painting, with feedback, drums, and bass. The low audio quality keeps this free-for-all from being as enjoyable as one might hope. Jimi's vocals are largely inaudible until the line "Scuse me while I kiss the sky" at 3:21. The annoying whistler returns to spoil the fun (3:26-3:53). Jimi's solo (3:52 - 4:27) is mostly unscathed, but the whistler comes back during the pentatonic riff (4:34), and can be heard intermittently thereafter. Hendrix offers a cadenza, including some dental playing and feedback, to end the song (5:45-6:38). The MC speaks for another nine seconds, and the tape ends.
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