Linda Ronstadt - 1976-12-06 - Boston, MA (AUD/FLAC)

(Audience FLAC)

Boston Music Hall

Steve Hopkins Master via JEMS

Taping Gear: Sony ECM-99A > Sony TC-152SD

JEMS 2013 transfer: SH master cassettes > Nakamichi CR-7A (azimuth-adjusted, Dolby B decode) > Sound Devices USBPre2 (24/96 Audacity 2.0 capture) > Peak 6.0 with iZotope Ozone > iZotope MBIT+ convert .wav to 44.1 > FLAC

Michael Botts - drums

Dan Dugmore - guitar, pedal steel

Kenny Edwards - banjo, bass, guitar, harmonica, mandolin

Andrew Gold - guitar, keyboards, vocals

Linda Ronstadt - vocals, guitar

Waddy Wachtel - lead guitar

Brock Walsh - guitar, keyboards

01 Lose Again

02 That'll Be The Day

03 Love Has No Pride

04 Silver Threads And Golden Needles

05 Willin'

06 It Doesn't Matter Anymore

07 When Will I Be Loved

08 Crazy

09 Tattler

10 Lo Siento Mi Vida

11 Love Is A Rose

12 Hasten Down The Wind

13 Tracks Of My Tears

14 Down So Low >

15 Someone To Lay Down Beside Me

16 intros

17 You're No Good

First Encore

18 Heart Like A Wheel

Second Encore

19 Desperado

20 Tumbling Dice

I never considered myself a Linda Ronstadt fan, but I don't know how anyone who likes the rootsy side of rock and powerhouse female vocals could listen to this and not be converted as I was. Packing 20 songs into just over 70 minutes, Ronstadt and her crack band (featuring several names above that you might recognize) blast through a wonderful and tight performance that showcases Linda's incredible pipes.

The covers-laden set is inspired, ranging from the Eagles to the Rolling Stones to Little Feat to Buddy Holly and then some, with Ronstadt nailing hits like "When Will I Be Loved" and "You're No Good."

Steve Hopkins himself transferred and torrented this wonderful set several years ago, but that lineage went from cassette to DAT to CD-R then ripped back into FLAC. It has also fallen off the tracker. This is the first time Steve's master tapes have been digitized directly.

In the mastering process, it also became clear that Steve's mic position changed for a stretch of side two of the master tape, causing a significant decrease in high end. We've adjusted for that to try to unify the sound of the entire recording into one pleasing whole. Most of the recording though is positively cracking all by itself, with Hopkins recording on his home field, the Boston Music Hall, site of some of his finest recordings of the era including four legendary Springsteen nights that would come three months later. Samples provided.

Thanks yet again to Steve Hopkins for allowing JEMS to present his outstanding audience recordings in a fresh light.

BK for JEMS