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YES
Long Beach 1979 [Mike Millard Master Tapes via JEMS, 2CD]
The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 98. Live at the Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA; May 25,1979. Very good audience recording.
Thanks to Mike Millard; Rob, Jim R; Barry G; JEMS; BK; Goody; and mjk5510 for sharing the show at Dime.
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Known Faults:
- Awaken: splice
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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Yes - Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA; May 25, 1979
We’re rounding the final turn of the first 100 Mike Millard recordings released in our Lost and Found series. Volume 98 sees us return to one of the groups Mike the Mike recorded most often in his 20 years of field work, Yes.
This time it is 1979 and a tour in the round in support of the band’s ninth studio album, Tormato. The Yes line-up in 1979 was Jon Anderson on vocals, Steve Howe on guitar, Chris Squire on bass, Alan White on drums and Rick Wakeman on keyboards.
While Tormato may not be the most beloved of Yes albums, the 1979 tour is no slouch in terms of performance. Presenting the show in the round on a rotating stage seems like a novelty now, but it was seen as state of the art back then and surely a technical marvel to pull off. The turntable platform would slowly turn one direction, then stop and eventually unwind back in the other direction.
The setlist featured a few songs from Tormato, classics like “Awaken,” “Starship Trooper,” “Heart Of The Sunrise,” “I’ve Seen All Good People” and “Roundabout,” as well as “The Big Medley,” which user Robert Adams describes on the authoritative Yes collector web site Forgotten Yesterdays as, “the infamous ‘history of Yes’ medley…[which] was great fun to hear and I wish there was an official release of it.”
Mike and Jim were on the floor of the Long Beach Arena, well within Millard’s sweet spot. The result is another excellent recording that stands with his best captures of the band. Mike’s tapes are the underlying source of the circulating recording of the May 25 show, but this is the first high-resolution digitization directly from his master cassettes and as such should be an upgrade to all previous incarnations.
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Here’s what Jim R recalled about Yes at the Long Beach Arena night one in 1979:
Mike and I attended the Yes concert at the Long Beach Arena on May 25, 1979. We also went the following night.
Yes was one of our favorite groups musically and a foundational bond in our friendship. I first met Mike at a Yes concert in the same venue during the 1974 Tales tour. We attended every LA-area show that followed including this 1979 two-night stand in Long Beach. We were dedicated Yes fans.
On May 25, we sat in the eighth row from the stage. The following night we sat in the second row. For this tour it was “Yes In The Round,” featuring a rotating stage with stationary lighting and sound rigs. The stage was in the middle of the floor. Yes was one of the first groups to attempt this setup.
In The Round brings more people closer to the stage–great for those further away, but lousy for Mike and I, as half the group was behind us half the time instead of being in front of us all the time in the first ten rows. On the plus side, we got a close-up view of drummer Alan White, who was usually in the back.
Rick Wakeman was on this tour, which is always a highlight for me. The band was very tight as usual. All the musicians are virtuosos on their respective instruments. The sound by Clair Brothers was top notch. I am listening to the master recording as I type this and Mike’s tape matches my memories.
The Long Beach arena is close to the beach and as such had a “Hey Dude” sort of vibe, which also meant security was more laid back than The Forum, which aided my ability to bring in my camera bag along with Mike’s gear.
I hope you enjoy the sights and sounds as much as Mike and I did.
Cheers to my buddy Mike.
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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.
It takes a village to keep the Lost and Found series on track each week and we thank Professor Goody for doing the initial preparation work on this show, Jim R for pulling out his great photos and ticket stubs and mjk5510 for handling post-production despite some computer issues.
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
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.
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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. Siberian Khatru 10:20
Track 102. Heart Of The Sunrise 11:24
Track 103. Future Times/Rejoice 7:19
Track 104. Circus Of Heaven 5:28
Track 105. Time And A Word 4:09
Track 106. Long Distance Runaround 2:18
Track 107. Survival 0:51
Track 108. The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) 6:41
Track 109. Perpetual Change 6:29
Track 110. Soon 7:10
63 mins
Disc 2
Track 201. The Clap 6:18
Track 202. And You And I 10:37
Track 203. Starship Trooper 11:43
Track 204. Wakeman Solo 6:09
Track 205. Awaken 17:19
Track 206. Tour Song 2:15
Track 207. I’ve Seen All Good People 7:59
Track 208. Roundabout 9:15
72 mins
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