Fifty years ago today, Beatle George told us that All Things Must Pass. Then he told us about Living in the Material World. For 36 years, BigO has been trying to keep the spirit and history of the music alive. Before all things pass, we still need your help to live in this material world. You can help us to do this with a kind donation. Please give what you are happy to give…
HOW TO DONATE
Our costs will always be there. So readers who can donate towards the cost of the site, please open a Skrill account. Readers who wish to contribute to BigO will now have to use Skrill (click here). We are no longer able to use PayPal to receive donations. Register an account at Skrill. To make a payment, use this e-mail address as recipient’s e-mail address in Skrill: mail2[at]bigomagazine.com. Looking forward to hearing from you.
+ + + + +
JUST TO LET YOU KNOW
To reduce spamming, the BigO website is going through Cloudflare. What it does is scan your browser to ensure the visitor is not a spam. Do not be alarmed as this usually takes only a few seconds. Email us if you still have difficulty accessing the BigO site; or playing or downloading the tracks. If you know a better way of reducing spam, do let us know.
+ + + + +
Click on the panels for a better view or to download jpg artwork.
THE MOODY BLUES
Inglewood 1974 [Mike Millard Master Tapes via JEMS, 2CD]
The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 99. Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA; January 30,1974. Very good audience recording.
Thanks to Mike Millard; Rob, Jim R; Barry G; JEMS; BK; Goody; and mjk5510 for sharing the show at Dime.
+ + + + +
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.
+ + + + +
The Moody Blues - The Forum, Inglewood, CA; January 30, 1974
We have almost reached the century mark so to speak in terms of volumes in the Lost and Found series, celebrating the remarkable recording legacy of Mike “The Mike” Millard. Our curation of the series has moved fluidly through his 20+ year body of work. Volume 99 offers the earliest recording yet presented, The Moody Blues captured at The Forum in January 1974.
According to Mike’s own list, this was the second show he taped using his Sony/Shure setup. He ultimately did ten shows with his original rig before changing to his famous Nakamichi/AKG gear in March 1975. Ten shows on the Sony, but 11 artists, as he also taped the opener for The Moody Blues, Shawn Phillips. We’ll get to that performance down the road.
The Moodys had not released a new album since 1972’s Seventh Sojourn, but their popularity in the US was peaking. That album eventually went to Number 1 on the Billboard album chart fueled in part by the re-release of 1967’s “Nights In White Satin,” which went to No. 2 on the singles chart on its second tour of duty. The 1974 tour would be the last to feature the original Moody Blues lineup and, in fact, shortly after this show, keyboard player Mike Pinder stopped touring.
A few songs from this show appear on the TAKRL vinyl bootleg Grande Tour. We were not able to compare Mike’s recording to that bootleg. A second full version of this concert was apparently recorded by another taper and circulates in a version reconstructed by TheTooleMan/Doinker, who holds this performance in particularly high esteem: “Hey, if you ever thought that you’d like to have one, just one ultimate Moody Blues concert, this might just be the one. The performance is beyond spectacular and the band were fully into it and loving it.”
While I’m not a big Moody Blues fan, I trust TheTooleMan, and Mike’s recording seems to back his claim as this being a special show. The set list is a virtual greatest hits from their first ten years as a band and the audience is as into it as the band. All the big ones are present and still sounding fresh: “Tuesday Afternoon,” “The Dream,” “The Voyage,” “Nights In White Satin,” “I’m Just A Singer In A Rock And Roll Band” and “Ride My Seesaw.”
As mentioned above, the recording was done on Mike’s original rig as he was still learning his craft. It doesn’t offer the fidelity of his Nak/AKG masters, but for a 1974 audience tape it is still quite good and very listenable. To my ears, Mike’s mono pull is superior to the TooleMan source, but Moody Blues collectors should make their own assessment. I would describe the sound as close, a bit crunchy, but ultimately clear where it matters.
One factor in the restoration of Mike’s archive is that the older the show, the more fragile the physical cassette. The Moody Blues tapes needed to be spliced and re-shelled, and even then playback was a challenge but we were able to get a clean transfer.
Mike had yet to meet Jim (that came a month and a half later), so we have no photos or memories for this one, just Millard’s master recording.
+ + + + +
JEMS is proud to partner with Rob, Jim R, Ed F, Barry G and many others to release Millard’s historic recordings and to help set the record straight about the man himself.
We can’t thank Rob enough for reconnecting with Jim and putting his trust in our Millard reissue campaign. He kept Mike’s 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 not be nearly as compelling without Jim’s memories, photos and other background contributions. As many of you have noted, the stories offer an entertaining complement to Mike’s incredible audio documents.
As usual we got support from Professor Goody on the pitch front and mjk5510 is back in the saddle with a new computer to handle post-production and artwork going forward. We thank them both for their unwavering support.
Next week, historic Volume 100. And just to set expectations, no, unfortunately, Mike did not record:
Pink Floyd Anaheim 1977 or Sports Arena Wall shows in 1980
The Rolling Stones in 1978 or 1981
Van Halen ever
Rush again
AC/DC, Aerosmith, Boston, The Clash, Deep Purple, Def Leppard, George Harrison, Journey, KISS, Bob Marley, Van Morrison, Nirvana, The Police, Prince, R.E.M. or Talking Heads.
Finally, cheers to the late, great Mike the MICrophone. His work never ceases to impress. May he rest in peace.
BK for JEMS
+ + + + +
Lineage:
(Probably) Shure microphone > Sony TC-152SD Cassette Recorder
JEMS 2020 Transfer: Mike Millard Master Cassettes > Nakamichi RX-505 (azimuth adjustment; Dolby On) > Sound Devices USBPre 2 > Audacity 2.0 capture > iZotope RX8 > iZotope Ozone 8 > MBIT+ resample to 1644 > 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.
Please Do Not Hammer The Links. Due to the size of some of the files, please be very patient when downloading the tracks. It could be that the server was very busy. The tracks should still be around. Please try again later.
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. Introduction 3:16
Track 102. Higher And Higher 4:49
Track 103. Out And In 5:16
Track 104. The Story In Your Eyes 4:01
Track 105. One More Time To Live 5:47
Track 106. Tuesday Afternoon 4:57
Track 107. Legend Of A Mind 10:14
Track 108. Watching And Waiting 5:51
Track 109. Eternity Road 4:37
49 mins
Disc 2
Track 201. Melancholy Man 6:44
Track 202. Are You Sitting Comfortably 3:47
Track 203. The Dream 1:52
Track 204. Have You Heard Pt 1 1:44
Track 205. The Voyage 5:04
Track 206. Have You Heard Pt 2 3:11
Track 207. Nights In White Satin 5:56
Track 208. I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band) 5:05
Track 209. Question 7:50
Track 210. Ride My See-Saw 4:16
46 mins
Click here to order Moody Blues releases.