Van Morrison - 1975-06-08 - Santa Barbara, CA (AUD/FLAC)

(Audience FLAC)

County Bowl 
Santa Barbara, CA 
June 8, 1975 
Lost California Performances 
JF Archive Series No. 8 via JEMS 

Taper: JF 

Source: unknown recorder > unknown microphone (mono) 

JEMS 2015 Transfer: JF master TDK cassette > Nakamichi CR-7A (azimuth adjustment) > Sound Devices USBPre 2 > Audacity 2.0 (24/96) capture > iZotope RX4 > iZotope Ozone 5 > iZotope RX MBIT+ resample 16/44.1 > Peak Pro XT (edit / index) > xACT 2.21 > FLAC 

01 Alright, Okay, You Win (Count Basie/Joe Williams) 
02 One Of These Days (Mose Allison) 
03 Wild Night 
04 Brown Eyed Girl 
05 I’ve Been Working 
06 Domino 
07 Sweet Mary Blues (Leadbelly) 
08 Blue Money 
09 St Dominic’s Preview > Walk On The Wild Side (Lou Reed) > You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Rolling Stones) 
10 Moondance 
11 Gloria 

Known Faults: 
None 

JEMS is pleased to revisit the JF Archive and release another title in the Van Morrison Lost California Performances series. For further details and backstory on JF, his tapes and the extraordinary lost Van performances from 1975, please refer to the notes in Vol. 

The Santa Barbara set is the last of five shows in but three days time recorded by JF. Though it seems odd now, the show took place in the afternoon. It is a relatively short set but oh so sweet, with Morrison’s vocals at the apex of an arc of passion that started at the first show of the run in Irvine two days earlier. The set list retains “Blue Money” from Riverside and restores “Sweet Mary Blues” from Irvine along with more familiar inclusions from this leg of the tour. 

Here’s what JF recalls about the Santa Barbara show, which is his favorite of the five: 

“The County Bowl back in the 1970s was not at all what it is today. Back then, you drove up a dusty driveway and parked in a bunch of dirt. You trudged up a dusty path to the bowl where, if you had lawn tickets, you got to take up position on a grassy incline in front of the stage. That’s where we had tickets on this day. I’m pretty sure my friend Steve joined Laura Greenwood and me that day, and we stretched out our blanket about 2/3 of the way back to the brick wall which separated our section from a large section with seats. We were about halfway between center stage and the right bank of speakers. It was all very casual and natural. The setting in the woods over Santa Barbara was every bit as beautiful, if less groomed, than it is now. 

I have always loved this recording. It has a slightly boomy, low-fi clarity that I find irresistible. You can almost feel the heat of the summer afternoon in the sound captured on tape. Being an outdoor venue, of course, there was none of the echo or trapped sound you got in indoor halls. Once again, Van was stretching the musical horizons of us kids.” 

The higher quality of the Riverside recordings is not only preserved in Santa Barbara but the recording sounds closer to the action while still capturing the atmosphere of the distinctive setting. Samples provided. 

Van’s band for the 1975 tour was: John Blakely on guitar; Mark T. Jordan on keyboards; David Hayes on Bass; and Tony Dey on drums. Tom Scott and the L.A. Express was the opening act on this day. 

Thanks to JF, who reached out on DIME (you could be next!) and offered us his archive, which had been sitting in boxes, 6000 miles away from where he lives today, for 20+ years. Like so many early tapers, he had great stories to tell and the memories flooded back as we sorted through tapes. We are pleased to be able to bring his work to all of you. Please let him know through your comments that you are, too. 

We also appreciate the unnamed Van collectors for helping to get JF’s masters back in his control. Lastly, special thanks mjk5510, who continues serve as JEMS’ post-production and quality-control supervisor. He is essential to our process and we couldn’t do it without him. 

Santa Barbara is the last of JF’s 1975 recordings and the final chapter in the 40th Anniversary Lost California Performances cycle. What a run it has been. But fear not, the JF Archive will continue and in 2016 we are pleased to announce we’ll be presenting nine more of JF’s Van Morrison master tapes from 1973-74.