Van Morrison featuring the Caledonia Soul Orchestra
Swing Auditorium
San Bernardino, CA
November 30, 1973

Download FLAC: Google Drive

JF Archive Series Vol. 21 via JEMS

Taper: JF

Source: unknown recorder > unknown microphones (mono)

JEMS 2016 Transfer: master cassette > Nakamichi CR-7A (azimuth adjustment) > Sound Devices USBPre 2 > Audacity 2.0 capture > iZotope RX6 > iZotope Ozone 6 > Audacity > TLH > FLAC

01 instrumental
02 instrumental
03 Moondance prelude (instrumental version) > Van Intro
04 Come Running
05 Ainít Nothiní You Can Do
06 Warm Love
07 Into The Mystic
08 Iíve Been Working
09 I Just Want To Make Love To You
10 Here Comes The Night
11 I Will Be There
12 And It Stoned Me
13 Boogie Chillení
14 Domino
15 Caravan
16 Gloria
17 Cypress Avenue

Known Faults:
-And It Stoned Me: start slightly cut

Sid Page – violin
Jack Schroer – saxophone
Bill Atwood – trumpet
Bill Bridges – guitar
David Hayes – bass
David Shaw – drums
James Trumbo – piano, organ

JEMS is thrilled to return to the JF Archive series, presenting another one of the nine Van Morrison performances recorded in and around Southern California circa 1973-74. For further details and backstory on JF, his tapes and the extraordinary lost Van performances from 1975 that started the series, please refer to the notes in Vol. Three:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=524853

Unlike the initial Lost California tapes, JFís 1973-74 recordings have long been in circulation among collectors. However, this series marks the first-ever digitization and dissemination directly from JFís cassette masters. The recordings were made with low-end equipment but yielded surprisingly listenable results.

The San Bernardino show is another significant performance and recording.

Like the Shrine shows from October we posted recently, Van is mixing recent material, covers and classics. The show begins with two unknown instrumental numbers (if you can identify the tunes, please do let us know) which lead to an instrumental ìMoondanceî intro before we hear someone say, ìAnd now ladies and gentleman, here is Van Morrison,î at which point ìMoondanceî stops and the band immediately goes into a high-stepping ìCome Running.î

ìCome Runningî sets the pace for a lively and largely up-tempo set. As at all the late í73 shows, Van again dips heavily into blues and R&B covers, including ìAinít Nothiní You Can Do,î made famous by Bobby ìBlueî Bland and penned by Don Robey and Joe Scott; John Lee Hookerís ìBoogie Chilleníî (one of just five known performances); and Willie Dixonís ìI Just Want To Make Love To You.î The rest of the show is loaded with crowd-pleasing material, including ìInto the Mystic,î ìDomino,î ìCaravan,î ìCypress Avenue,î ìHere Comes The Nightî and ìGloria.î

The Swing Auditorium is not the most acoustically cooperative venue, as JF notes below, but the sound quality here is relatively close and clear. There seems to be some low-end distortion, likely caused by the bass cabinets overwhelming the built-in microphone on JFís tape recorder, but it doesnít detract too much from what is otherwise a very listenable capture. Samples provided.

Hereís what JF recalls about the San Bernardino show:

ìWas there a worse venue in Southern California to hear music than the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino? I seriously doubt it. It was like an airplane hanger. I canít imagine why anyone wanted to play there, except for the fact that, according to Keith Richardís book, the very first U.S. performance by the Rolling Stones took place there. In any case, I saw lots of bands play the venue and all of the concerts were sonic and visual nightmares. The Swing was always festival seating and I donít ever remember getting there early enough to get up close. I remember parking always being a horror, too. This was probably recorded from somewhere halfway back in the hall, although there were some bleachers at the back, the only seating in the room, and sometimes I retreated back there to ëworkí.î

JF also provided us with with a clipping of the newspaper advertisement for the Swing Auditorium show. Weíve included it in the files.

Once again, our gratitude goes to JF, who reached out on DIME (you could be next!) and offered us his archive, which had been sitting in boxes for over 20 years, 6000 miles away from where he lives today. Like so many early tapers, he had great stories to tell and the memories flooded back as we sorted through reels and cassettes. 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 who helped get JFís masters back in his control.

Thanks to Goody for checking the pitch. We always feel better when he has blessed an important transfer. We also want to acknowledge the value and work of http://ivan.vanomatic.de, the definitive Van Morrison setlist archive on the web. It has been a constant reference tool for this entire series. Finally, kudos to mjk5510, who continues his yeoman duty as JEMSí post-production and quality-control supervisor. His contributions are vital to getting the music to you.

BK for JEMS