Joni Mitchell featuring Tom Scott and The L.A. Express
Anaheim Convention Center
Anaheim, CA
March 5, 1974
JF Archive Series Vol. 13 via JEMS
Taper: JF
Source: unknown recorder > unknown microphone (mono)
JEMS 2015 Transfer: first-gen reel > Otari MX-5050 > Sound Devices USBPre 2 > Audacity 2.0 capture > iZotope RX4 > iZotope Ozone 5 > iZotope RX MBIT+ resample 16/44.1 > Peak Pro XT (edit / index) > xACT 2.21 > FLAC
01 This Flight Tonight
02 You Turn Me On, I’m a Radio
03 Free Man In Paris
04 The Same Situation
05 Just Like This Train
06 Rainy Night House
07 Woodstock
08 Cactus Tree
09 Big Yellow Taxi
10 People’s Parties
11 All I Want
12 A Case Of You
13 Dialogue
14 For The Roses
15 Cold Blue Steel
16 Blue
17 For Free
18 Trouble Child
19 Help Me
20 Car On A Hill
21 Both Sides, Now
22 Raised on Robbery
23 The Last Time I Saw Richard
24 Twisted
THE JF BACKSTORY
JEMS loves a vintage taper series and we’re pleased to offer another one, this time from the archive of our friend JF, who taped in and around Southern California in the ’70s and Boston in the ’80s. He frequented smaller venues, like the Troubadour and the Roxy, leaving arenas to others and leaning more towards the folksier, jazzier and eclectic sides of rock.
Most of his ’70s tapes were made on what I would describe as the kind of large, rectangular, portable, C-cel powered cassette recorder that my family and surely many others had in the ’70s, either a Panasonic or a Sony. While I used ours to record myself, my friends and my sister around the house, the teenage JF figured: Why not try taking it into concerts?
I only learned what recorder JF used after I had heard some of his tapes and I have to say I was mildly shocked. Given the gear, his tapes are remarkably clear for the era. And make no mistake, this was an early era for audience recording, part of the first wave spurred on by of the vinyl bootleg revolution.
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
JONI IN ANAHEIM
The JF Archive series resumes with what we believe to be a previously uncirculated Joni Mitchell performance on her well regarded 1974 tour backed by Tom Scott and the L.A. Express. The tour was notable as her first to explore more of a jazz direction compared to her folk-rock beginnings.
You can find the poster for the show, the ticket, photos and a nice contemporary review here:
http://jonimitchell.com/chronology/detail.cfm?id=1365
ItÃs a lively set featuring a very talkative Joni. The sound quality isn’t up to the level of the best audience tapes of the tour (among them JEMS’ Seattle 3/13/74 master found here http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=318981), but in all, this a lovely performance and another one of those ìyou are thereî recordings, despite the lo-fi gear. Samples provided.
JF did an excellent job capturing the complete performance with no noticeable cuts in the music, Joni’s between song dialogue and stories come through loud and clear.
Though originally recorded on cassette, JF’s Joni recording was transferred from reel-to-reel. That’s because JF, due to tight budgets at the time (he was barely out of high school), routinely transferred his master tapes to reels in order to save tape/money. Because he recorded his masters in mono, he would dub the finished recording onto a single track of a reel, allowing him to fit four or more shows on one 7″ tape and reuse the cassette for the next show. That wasn’t true in all instances, but it is for most. And yes, in hindsight, he is still kicking himself about it. And yet, based on the tapes we’ve transferred so far, JF did a fine job dubbing off his masters, and the Joni reel doesn’t sound any worse for wear despite the one-generation loss.
Once again, we must express our gratitude 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.
Lastly, as always, special thanks to mjk5510, who continues his critical duty as JEMS’ post-production and quality-control supervisor. His contributions are essential in getting the music to you.
BK for JEMS
