Arthur Lee & Love
(actually Arthur Lee backed up by Das Damen)
1993-10-03 Cambridge, Massachusetts Middle East Club (DM-AUD)
01. 7 & 7 Is
02. Orange Skies
03. My Little Red Book
04. Stand Out
05. L.A. Caloca
06. That's The Way It Goes
07. Signed D.C.
08. Singing Cowboy
09. Can't Explain
10. The Everlasting First
11. A House Is Not A Motel
Total Time ::: 1:03:33
::: Very fine master digital AUD. Check samples for aural approbation or soundbyte titillation & anticipatory exhilaration.
::: Warts: Nothing really, fairly steady & no real problems. It is mono.
::: NOTE: This is NOT the same as 1994-02-26 Middle East Club.
::: Opening act was Ray Manzarek & Michael McClure.
::: link to handbill for gig http://images.cloud.worthpoint.com/wpimages/images/images1/1/0107/27/1_6314a19580cdab2d44fc90c3b3f60782.jpg
::: Ad for handbill sale claims this gig was 1st time since 1960's that Arthur & Ray shared a bill. Maybe true? But they did not perform together.
Recording Information ::: Sony TCD-3 portable DAT recorder, single Sennheiser 300 microphone with shotgun shell (y-jacked mono into both channels) -> Master mono 48KHz TDK R120 Digital Audio Tape (DAT).
Playback 2009-xx-xx ::: Master mono 48KHz TDK R120 DAT on professional Tascam portable DAT recorder -> Tascam CD-RW900SL CD recorder -> 44.1KHz CD-R.
Playback 2012-12-xx ::: 44.1KHz CD-R clone (*) of Master 48KHz DAT -> computer -> Audacity (phase corrected, fades done, some volume adjustments, no EQ) -> CD Wave (track splits) -> Trader's Little Helper -> yer ears. (*call it what you want). I raised the volume of the solo acoustic set somewhat; it was way too low to enjoy. First uploaded week of 2013-01-05.
Line-up ::: Arthur Lee - acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica, tambourine, vocals.
with Das Damen (probable line-up): Jim Walters - guitar, vocals // Alex Totino - guitar, vocals // David Motamed - bass guitar, vocals // Lyle Hysen - drums.
Nothing here ever commercially released to my knowledge. If I'm wrong, please advise & I'll take the offending trax offline.
CoolSonics 206 ::: All thanks to the original taper, Knees Fudd! ::: Corrections welcome ::: Well.... 20 years on. Time to revisit some fun evenings in 1993 & 1994 with the one & only Arthur Lee. The back to back evenings in Boston & Northampton in both of those years were quite interesting. For one thing, completely different backing bands in the 2 cities. I have to say I didn't really get the Das Damen & Arthur Lee combo. In my opinion, the band completely lacked the subtlety for much of the music they were playing. OK, they were powerful & knew the music & were quite passionate about it, but there was absolutely no question in my mind that the Cheetahs, who supported Arthur at the Northampton gigs, were far more interesting & true to the original spirit of Love. I do believe the intrepid musicologist Zongo, who also attended this Boston gig with me, feels much the same way. Some of the most interesting passages of the music at the Boston gigs were buried in the onslaught of volume & power rock & really missed the point. Having said that, it was f'ing excellent to see Arthur with a heavy band in many respects, f'ing excellent to see Arthur play no matter what, & I quite enjoyed myself in Boston. The recording wasn't too much of a hassle (I'm sure others recorded the gig as well), but as many of you well know, the Middle East in the basement was (is?) a real drag, the ceilings were much too low, the sound system often left a lot to be desired, & the volume at this gig was simply stupid loud, exacerbated by Das Damen's bass player, also playing stupidly loud for the room. All in all the recording came out fairly well. Ray Manzarek & Michael McClure were a real disappointment, simply not that great, & I am a HUGE fan of the Doors & spoken word & beat poetry. As I recall, Ray was exceedingly petty, arguing with dumb drunks in the audience & nothing made much of a good impression from their set. But the Arthur Lee set is well worth listening to, the lengthy 12-13 minutes jams on "Singing Cowboy" & "A House Is Not A Motel" are pretty cool, Arthur is happy to be out playing & the quality is surprisingly good considering the above-mentioned drawbacks & the fact we were buried in a fairly packed audience situation in a rowdy Cambridge bar. So here it is, very possibly the first ever digital outing for the master DAT, as I usually traded people cassette copies in those days. This should be the best copy to ever circulate from this source.
Kudos to Zongo for life support, Lochner for mikes&more & Fast Freddie for runnin' Video Dick's Record Emporium with the bathroom office full of tape decks. Thanks to Hanwaker (few among us can keep his pace). Mountains of gratitude to Davmar, D.White, Sanchez, Elliot, The Florida Kid, Kloiber, Zingg, JTW, Bershaw, Boston Gold, Weeks, Dixon, Moore, Gough & SO many more for all that collecting & sharing... Royal thanks to The Man In The Palace, Doc Tinker, Brinkhoffs, Barely Eatin', Reel Master Gaule, Parrish & all the traders who housed me thru my music acquisition & travel years. Hats off to Brother Kent, Uncle Jake, Little Queenie (& her neighbor Frank) & his honor Ptomaine Thomas. Glasses raised to Byron for musical horizon expansion & much obliged to J & Thurston for keepin' my concert fires burnin' since my continental shift. Thanks to the Mods for keepin' DIME alive. Enjoy, share, give, spread peace. Yers truly, Knees
Do whatever you want with it except sell it, 'cause that ain't cool!