(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
