1976-04-27 | The Radiators

38:52
SBD
Taper:
Freezer
Transferrer:
Freezer (Edited by Bgreen; Tracked, flac'ed, and packed by Chrisj)
SHNID:
rad1976-04-27.earlyradiators.sbd.freezer.lmpp1125.flac16
Source:
Soundboard (Peavey 12 channel mixer)>Deck>Deck>Cass(M) TDK-SA-90
Lineage:
TEAC 209 cassette deck>JVC 5010 standalone>TDK audiocdr(0) (freezer's)>Maxell audio CDR (1) (LMPP's copy) > EAC > wavelab 5 > uad Plugins > CD Wave > TLH > FLAC16 (level 8)
Taper Notes:
View Notes...cover tunes & their corresponding artists/writers:  
"can i get a witness" - Marvin Gaye, artist (1st recording on 7/17/1963;  1st release on 9/20/1963);  Brian Holland/Lamont Dozier/Eddie Holland, writers  
"baby don't you do it" - Marvin Gaye, artist (1st recording on 8/4/1964;  1st release on 9/2/1964);  Brian Holland/Lamont Dozier/Eddie Holland, writers
"baby what you want me to do" - Jimmy Reed, artist (1st recording on 8/7/1959;  1st release in November 1969);  Jimmy Reed, writer  
"jump back" - Rufus Thomas, artist (1st release in September 1964);  Rufus Thomas, writer
...the Rhapsodizers:
Becky Kury - bass, vox
Clark Vreeland - guitar, vox
Ed Volker - keys, vox
Camile Baudoin - guitar
Frank Bua - drums, percussion  
Source: Soundboard (Peavey 12 channel mixer)
Lineage: SBD > Deck > Deck > Cass(M) TDK-SA-90> (playback) TEAC 209 cassette deck>JVC 5010 standalone>TDK audiocdr(0) (freezer's)>Maxell audio CDR (1) (LMPP's copy) > EAC > wavelab 5 > uad Plugins > CD Wave > TLH > FLAC16 (level 8)
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Notes:
--Opening act for Third World (That recording is out there in the world as well!!!)  
--To our knowledge, this is the earliest live recording of the Rhapsodizers, the first incarnation of the now widely known Radiators.
--Freezer chose to work with LMPP in order to get some recordings out to the collectors in the best possible version.  The LMPP has produced the definitive version; this version is final, no other remastering needs to done to this tape.
--This is the first collaboration between LMPP and Mister Freezer, and it's not going to be the last. (Well, at least until bgreen gets tired of working on these old Freezer recordings.)
--This show definitely had its share of technical difficulties, however, keep in mind that this is a soundboard recording made over 30 years ago.
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Here is some background information on the recording, the band and the conditions under which the recording was made, as recalled by Freezer, explaining the construction noise and some of the comments from the band you'll hear:  
Freezer: This concert was a free show/block party on a bright and sunny Friday afternoon. The construction work was taking place right behind the stage, they were building "Dr.Banana's Smoothies & Bong Emporium" or whatever the hell Jamie (Dr.Banana) was calling his shop THAT year. (Dr.Banana was an old friend from college, he was the first person selling bamboo bongs in the Tulane area; his bongs were hand-carved and as functional as they were beautiful.)  
The carpentry work on his shop was supposed to have been completed before the concert, as this was a block party given by three businesses (Doctor Banana's Smoothies, The Boot, and The Mushroom), in order to celebrate Dr. Banana's grand opening.  (Third World & the Rhapsodizers -- Not a bad way to celebrate a grand opening, huh?)  
The Boot & The Mushroom are still in business, The Boot is now as it was then, a pub catering to the Tulane students and The Mushroom was then the best record store in the city, it is now a T-Shirt, paraphernalia, and cd/record/DVD store, which also sells bootlegs. (These businesses all share the same building.)
The reason for the 'Why don't you shut up' remark from the stage, (which is heard after the song) - I was at one time a "hired gun" when it came to mixing live music, I worked primarily with a band called "The Dukes" out of New Orleans.  The leaders were the sons of the original Dukes Of Dixieland founders.  I also mixed for a few other bands -- when time permitted. (I also worked for a Cuban jazz rock band called Mocco or El Mocco Loco, which had a line-up that changed every gig.)  I had done some occasional mixing for the Rhapsodizers, but I was not mixing this 4/27/1976 show. In fact, I had previously told their manager, Rick Spain, that I couldn't be doing any mixing for them because I was working steadily elsewhere for the next few months. And I was still a full time student at Tulane.  However, what you hear is me being told "Why don't you shut up...." because I was standing near the soundboard talking to someone who worked at The Mushroom.  What you can't see is me flipping the finger in response.  It wasn't my fault that the beer truck was parked next to the mixing platform and their new sound man was in the beer line.  Why did I flip the finger??? -- well, I went to college with some of them guys, they were nothing but a fledgling local band at the time; not this 'revered 30+ year old touring band' as they are today. (I suspect they still put their pants on the old-fashioned way; one leg at a time.)  In fact, to me, the Rhapsodizers were nothing but Becky Kury's back-up band. (Still are, after listening to this recording again…...)  HOWEVER, being known as “Becky Kury’s back-up band” is what eventually caused the Rhaps to split up and 3 of 'em went off to form the Radiators after a jam session in Ed Volker’s garage in January of 1978.  Actually, what REALLY caused the break-up of the Rhapsodizers was that they were being actively scouted by Columbia Records, who were considering marketing Becky as their new “Janis Joplin”.  Very shortly after the break-up, Becky Kury, a longtime asthmatic, died of complications while being treated for an asthma attack, before she had the chance to be the 'new' Janis Joplin....or even show the world Becky Kury.  (For a long time afterwards, from somewhere, this mysterious graffiti message: "Becky Kury Lives" was spray painted on the wall of the K&B Drug Store at Broadway and St.Charles. More than once, the K&B people would repaint the wall, and almost just as quickly, the same phrase would magically re-appear…)  The confusion you hear on stage directly after that remark is someone being told that I wasn't working for them and that all it would have taken to get me to fix the problem was to ask nicely.  Hence, the sheepishly-mumbled apology.  
There are multiple master recordings of this show, I'm patched out of another deck, belonging to my friend who worked at The Mushroom.  I've no idea if the other master tapes still exist. (one was also made for Rick Spain, who was at that time, the manager of the Mushroom, AND the manager of the Rhapsodizers.  It was Rick Spain who brought me into the picture, originally hiring me to mix and to record the band in late 1975.)  
Two weeks prior to this show, I recorded the Rhapsodizers at the 1976 New Orleans Jazz Fest (April 11, 1976).  They backed up Earl King.  The show was also recorded on a multi-track recorder, BUT the master multi-track recording was 'supposedly' botched, so the producers of the 1976 New Orleans Jazz Fest album “re-recorded” the backing tracks at Sea-Saint Studios with session musicians, and cut the Rhapsodizers off of the final mix of the released album.  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...atteredcrystal
Enjoy......
--Very little was done to this recording by me, there was a bit of pre emphasis on the recording that I smoothed out some and some left and right channel level fluctuations that I balanced, but basically, this recording was pristine from the get go.  All thanks to Freezer for taping and letting this piece of history out. (Though, if you ask Freezer, he’ll tell you that he was NOT trying to preserve ‘history’, he just wanted to make good tapes for his own listening pleasure.  That you now get to share this recording is a definite bonus, both for the collectors and for the LMPP.  Freezer wanted the attention that LMPP could provide for this recording, and he wanted us make the definitive version.)
--This is a big one, folks, and it's a major piece of music history, no matter what Freezer thinks. There's no older recordings of the Radiators' musical legacy in circulation....at least until Freezer goes back into his vault and finds that Earl King/Rhapsodizers 1976 Jazz Fest recording for LMPP.  
--By the way, if anyone out there wants to give Freezer copies of their recordings to repay him for offering these old recordings for circulation, you may send your recordings to us, and we'll forward them on to Freezer as directed by him.  (However, he doesn't expect anything in return. It's just that there are quite a few modern tapers who'd like to let Freezer hear what they've recorded.)
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--Taped by Freezer
--Transferred by Freezer
--Edited by Bgreen
--Tracked, flac'ed, and packed by Chrisj
--First seeded to www./www.thetradersden.org 06/2009
--Brought To You By Live Music Preservation Project
--contact: lmpp.productions@gmail.com  

additional NOTES (2021):  
--added the ffp fingerprints to the text file
--corrected song title information to their proper song titles where needed
--added more detail to the text file
--added a picture of the venue