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BLACK SABBATH
Long Beach 1975 [Mike Millard Master Cassettes via JEMS, 2CD]
The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 36. Live at the Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA; September 7, 1975. Very good audience recording.
Thanks to Mike Millard; Rob, Jim R; Barry G; JEMS; BK; and mjk5510 for sharing the show at Dime.
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Known Faults: Imperceptible cut in “Black Sabbath”
Introduction to the Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Series
Welcome to JEMS’ Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone series presenting recordings made by legendary taper Mike Millard, AKA Mike the MICrophone, best known for his masters of Led Zeppelin done in and around Los Angeles circa 1975-77.
Until 2020, the Lost and Found series presented fresh transfers of previously unavailable first-generation copies made by Mike himself for friends like Stan Gutoski of JEMS, Jim R, Bill C. and Barry G. These sources were upgrades to circulating copies and in most instances marked the only time verified first generation Millard sources had been directly digitized in the torrent era.
That all changed with the discovery of many of Mike Millard’s original master tapes.
Yes, you read that correctly, Mike Millard’s master cassettes, long rumored to be destroyed or lost, have been found. Not all of them but many, and with them a much more complete picture has emerged of what Millard recorded between his first show in late 1973 and his last in early 1992.
The reason the rediscovery of his master tapes is such a revelation is that we’ve been told for decades they were gone. Internet myths suggest Millard destroyed his master tapes before taking his own life, an imprudent detail likely concocted based on the assumption that because his master tapes never surfaced and Mike’s mental state was troubled he would do something rash WITH HIS LIFE’S WORK. There’s also a version of the story where Mike’s family dumps the tapes after he dies. Why would they do that?
The truth is Mike’s masters remained in his bedroom for many years after his death in 1994. We know at least a few of Millard’s friends and acquaintances contacted his mother Lia inquiring about the tapes at the time to no avail. But in the early 2000s, longtime Millard friend Rob S was the one she knew and trusted enough to preserve Mike’s work.
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Black Sabbath - Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA; September 7, 1975
Our journey through the Millard catalog continues with Mike’s master cassettes of Black Sabbath at the Long Beach Arena, on tour in support of Sabotage. We believe this recording to be wholly uncirculated, perhaps due in part to the “Poor” rating Mike assigned this work on his tape list.
How anyone would judge this recording as poor is beyond me. While I’m no expert in Sabbath, I find it hard to believe there are many if any recordings from this tour as good as Mike’s capture, which I don’t hesitate to call excellent. So why did Mike rate it Poor?
If there’s a pattern to his negative ratings, they are often applied to shows where he is extremely close to the stage, picking up more on-stage monitors than PA, which can sometimes result in an unbalanced, unsually guitar-heavy recording (stay tuned in the coming weeks for Fleetwood Mac 1980 which is almost all Lindsey Buckingham).
The Sabbath show has some of that, with Tony Iommi’s guitar way up front, but there’s something to be said for it. Afterall, his tone IS Sabbath’s sonic signature along with Ozzy’s voice. As the recording starts, Mike takes a few minutes to settle into optimal position, but once he does he stays pretty locked in which, judging by the firecrackers, took some doing in a presumably rowdy crowd.
With mastering work, we’ve attempted to bring the rest of the band into better balance and pull Ozzy’s vocals forward. The result is to our ears an impressive capture of the sultans of sludge that’s sure to please the discriminating Sabbath collector.
The setlist doesn’t spend too much time on the new album, dipping in for three songs, “Hole In The Sky,” “Symptom Of The Universe” and “Megalomania.” The rest plays out as is a greatest hits of sorts, with fine versions of “Snowblind,” “Paranoid,” “Iron Man” and “Children Of The Grave.”
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Here’s what Jim R recalled about the Sabbath show:
Mike and I attended the Black Sabbath concert on Sept 7, 1975 at the Long Beach Arena. We sat in the 3rd row, dead center at the front of our sweet spot for sound quality.
The wheelchair era was fully established by this point in 1975. I pushed Mike into the building and helped him to his seat next to me. It was also was an extremely active concert year: Mike and I attended and recorded many shows including Jethro Tull, Faces, Zeppelin, Yes, Pink Floyd, The Stones, Clapton, Elton John and The Allman Brothers.
The Sabbath concert was sandwiched three weeks after Eric Clapton (Vol 33) and three weeks before Elton John San Diego (Vol 28).
Mike was not that into Sabbath, but he agreed to record it as a favor to me. I was the bigger fan. In fact, my first concert ever in 1972 was Sabbath with Yes as the opening act. What a bill. My favorite member of the band was Geezer Butler, the wild bass player. The show was typical Sabbath. A mix of old and new tunes. Ozzy shouted multiple “We Love You” and “Get Higher” exclamations. Geezer was his energetic self. Iommi was steady on lead guitar. Bill Ward hammered away on the drums.
On this tour the band did a lot more jamming than previous ones, especially compared to the first time I saw them in 1972, where each song played live sounded pretty much like the album.
I hope you enjoy the show… Cheers to Mike.
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JEMS is proud to partner with Rob, Jim R and Barry G to release Millard’s historic recordings and to help set the record straight about the man himself. We’ve written before about the care and creative Mike applied to his cassette labeling and this Sabbath show is a particularly fine example, with the band’s logo in red letters on a blue background on the tape spine and the black and red S emblazoned on the main panel. Someday we’ll publish a coffee-table book so you can see them as the works of art that they are.
We can’t thank Rob enough for reconnecting with Jim and putting his trust in our Millard reissue campaign. He kept these precious tapes under wraps for two decades, but once Rob learned of our methods and stewardship, he agreed to contribute the Millard DATs and cassettes to the program. Our releases would be nearly as compelling without Jim’s memories and photos. His Sabbath images are particularly good.
As always, post-production was done by mjk5510, our partner and friend. Thanks as well to Goody for giving the pitch his thumbs up.
Finally, cheers to the late, great Mike the MICrophone. His work never ceases to impress. May he rest in peace.
BK for JEMS
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Lineage:
AKG 451E Microphones (CK-1 cardioid capsules) > Nakamichi 550 Cassette Recorder
Transfer: Mike Millard Master Cassettes (TDK KR90) > Nakamichi RX-505 (azimuth adjustment; Dolby On) > Sound Devices USBPre 2 > Audacity 2.0 capture > iZotope RX6 > iZotope Ozone 6 > Audacity > TLH > FLAC
Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (320 kbps). As far as we can ascertain, these tracks have never been officially released on CD.
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Kindly email us if you encounter persistent problems downloading the files. Also email us if you have any rarities you’d like to share with our readers.
Disc 1
Track 101. Killing Yourself To LIve 9:34
Track 102. Hole In The Sky 4:41
Track 103. Snowblind 6:22
Track 104. Symptom Of The Universe 4:38
Track 105. War Pigs 8:57
Track 106. Megalomania 11:22
Track 107. Sabbra Cadabra 13:16
59 mins
Disc 2
Track 201. Sometimes I’m Happy 6:56
Track 202. Supernaut 2:06
Track 203. Iron Man 6:47
Track 204. Orchid 4:28
Track 205. Rock N Roll Doctor Jam 3:22
Track 206. Black Sabbath 7:19
Track 207. Spiral Architect 5:29
Track 208. Embryo 0:25
Track 209. Children Of The Grave 6:06
Track 210. Paranoid 3:15
47 mins
Click here to order Black Sabbath releases.