Kaleidoscope
1968-08-04 Los Angeles, California Shrine Exposition Hall (M1-AUD *UPGRADE*)
~*~ Mk2 WITH EQ VERSION carefully remastered fixing many issues ~*~
~~~<>~~~ VeRy HeAvY WeSt CoAsT, MiddLe EaSteRn iNfLuEnCeD aCiD mAyHeM ~~~<>~~~
01-[20:06]. Seven-Ate Sweet
02-[05:34]. Cuckoo
03-[06:16]. Fanny Mae
04-[02:58]. Hello Trouble
05-[08:20]. Rampé Rampé
06-[05:15]. Killing Floor (aka Tempe Arizona)
07-[02:51]. Taxim//
Total Time ::: 51:22
::: QUITE fine tho' somewhat distant AUD. Check samples for ingestibility scrutinization or brief blotter bytes.
::: Warts: Somewhat distant (but high end still intact & almost NO AUD noise). Very slightly bass boomy in a few spots but not problematic or distorted. Bit of hum (lowered in this Mk2 EQ'd version). #7 cuts. Fixed or lessened every dropout & dullspot I found but surely missed a few.
::: Steve Miller Band played 2 (long!) nights with different bands on the bill each night. August 3: Jeff Beck Group/Blue Cheer/Steve Miller Band/Big Mama Thornton & the original Hound Dog Band/Charles Lloyd. August 4, 1968: Butterfield Blues Band/Ike & Tina Turner/Electric Flag/Magic Sam/Steve Miller Band/Kaleidoscope.
::: Known 1st gen & seems to upgrade circulating copies. FAR better than LP boot. Quality is consistent & "7-Ate Sweet" shines like the rest (it ain't lesser quality).
::: 'Mk1 NO EQ' is for those who don't like EQ & in hopes others will apply their EQ skills at some point. This 'Mk2 WITH EQ' is my preferred listening version with some hum removed & lowered bass.
Recording Information ::: unknown mono reel-to-reel recorder & microphone -> master mono audience reel tape -> 1st generation Maxell XLII-S 90 cassette, Dolby B on.
Playback 2011-08-02 ::: 1st generation Maxell XLII-S 90 cassette on Nakamichi BX-300 cassette deck, Dolby B on, azimuth & pitch adjusted, heads cleaned & demagnatized -> Tascam CD-RW900SL professional CD recorder -> CD-RW, no track splits -> computer -> EAC secure mode (logs made) -> wav file(s) -> azimuth & speed adjusted (pitched!) for individual recording, heads cleaned & demagnetized -> Sony Linear PCM Recorder PCM-M10 (LPCM 44.10kHz/16bit WAV files) -> computer.
Mastering 2014-07-xx ::: wavs -> Audacity [normalisation to remove DC offset, channel/phase alignment (offset adjusted every 2 minutes thruout), fades, manual one-at-a-time glitch, bump, pop, click, dropout & dullspot repairs, volume adjustments, -1.07 averaged correction single speed fix applied after spectral analysis & with pitchpipe verification, light equalisation applied to remove some hum & lower the bass a bit] -> CD Wave (track splits) -> flacs (Trader's Little Helper) -> yr ears. First uploaded week of 2014-08-02.
Line-up (as on 3rd album "Incredible Kaleidoscope") [a couple of these instruments may not have been played in this set] ::: David Lindley - guitar, fiddle, mandolin // Solomon Feldthouse (now Sulyman el Coyote) - vocals, saz, bouzouki, oud, guitar // Chester Crill (aka Templeton Parcely, Fenrus Epp, Max Buda) - violin, harmonica, vocals // Stuart Brotman - electric bass, vocals // Paul Lagos - drums, percussion, vocals.
Nothing here ever commercially released to my knowledge. If I'm wrong, please advise & I'll take the offending trax offline.
DimeTravel 048 ::: Thanks to the original taper & trader! ::: Corrections welcome ::: Overall, tho' the same evening & location & equipment, I think the Kaleidoscope set is a slightly better listen than the Steve Miller, I believe mostly because the bass wasn't quite as loud. In fact, after all the remastering work, it is an incredibly smooth & consistent experience, which mostly just suffers from distance in my opinion. There is almost NO audience noise & I reduced the louder claps between songs.
"Incredible Kaleidoscope", their 3rd album album was recorded 1968-69 & released in June 1969. It featured "Killing Floor (aka Tempe Arizona)" at about 1/2 the length it is here, a slightly shorter version of "Cuckoo" & an 11&1/2 minute "Seven Ate Sweet" - whereas this one clocks in at over 19 minutes of actual music. If I'm not mistaken, "Fanny Mae" didn't appear on any official release. "Hello Trouble" was the 45 B-side of "Just A Taste", their current single at the time. "Rampé Rampé" had originally appeared in 1967 as the 45 B-side of "I Found Out". "Taxim" had appeared on their album "A Beacon From Mars" at over 11 minutes, so likely we are getting only fragment here when it cuts at under 3 minutes. The Kaleidoscope albums, particularly the first 3 are absolutely essential West Coast psychedelia if you don't have them. However, be warned that the comprehensive "Pulsating Dreams - The Epic Recordings" 3CD collection is a brickwalled piece of shit - look for other versions.
One of the things I love about the 60s West Coast bands is the variety. The Kaleidoscope pull together remarkably diverse influences into unique & beautifically potent sounds. Whether playing a 3 minute or 20 minute song, they literally trip out. They can go from sounding like the New Riders Of The Purple Sage (as in "Hello Trouble") into Middle Eastern acid-bent instrumental frenzies, to chanting, to Butterfield Blues Band affected hallucinogenic Middle Earth doom blues, to fuzzed out Airplane-like jamming guitar sounds - all without pretension & without your being aware you are playing hopscotch in alternate universes until your brain starts screaming from all the galaxies speeding by & your ears melt from the exotic, unknown life forms floating around, and colorful explosions rock whatever is left of your sanity. Exaggeration? I don't think so. If anything, it is inept understatement. How does one put music into words, especially material as dense & extraterrestial as this? Just imagine some of the poor hippies in the audience with their brians splattered all over the ceiling & no way to climb down from the mountain - nothing to do but smile, smile, smile & allow your ego to die, open your mind & accept the illumination of the spheres & feel the heady sounds of the Kaleidoscope. Listen, enjoy, show appreciation, share, give, spread peace. Yers truly, Knees
Support the artists and/or their families! www.davidlindley.com -- www.maxbudaband.com -- www.sirocco-music.com -- www.klezkanada.org/2011-faculty/stuart-brotman
Do whatever you want with it except sell it, 'cause that ain't cool!