Cream
Barbecue '67
The Tulip Bulb Auction House, Spalding, Lincolnshire, UK
29 May 1967 (complete show with noted faults)
Fresh transfer from 2nd gen 7" master reel copy 16/44 version
Goody's Speed/Pitch-adjusted Remaster via nickp944
1st gen copy 7" Reel (see picture) -> WAV -> Audacity (track splitting) -> xACT (FLAC conversion & tagging) -> BiglyBT (torrent creation) ->
Goody's additional lineage:
foobar2000 (WAV) > Audition (Pitch Bender, various amounts; Tracking updated; Levels adjusted) > iZotope RX8 Advanced (Azimuth adjusted) >
r8brain (convert to 16-44) > TLH (FLAC Level 8; Align sector boundaries; .ffp) > foobar2000 (tags)
Contrast Clause:
This differs from the shows posted here:
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=765848 - which is the 16/44 flat transfer of this show from 7" reel
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=765847 - which is the 24/96 flat transfer of this show from 7" reel
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=582101 - which is Graeme Pattingales remaster (uncredited, but includes GP's notes from the CRM1101 release)
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=704080 - which is Goody's speed adjusted version of the above
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=693864 - which is sourced from the bootleg "Blues Ancient & Modern"
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=704079 - which is Goody's speed & pitch corrected version of the above
Set List
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01 Introduction 0:36
02 dropouts and artefacts 0:09
03 N.S.U. 4:17
04 Sunshine Of Your Love 5:21
05 We're Going Wrong 5:58
06 Steppin' Out 5:25
07 Rollin' and Tumblin' 4:48
08 Toad 7:06
09 I'm So Glad 5:49
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Runtime: 39:30 (including Track 2)
Cream were:
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Jack Bruce: Bass, Vocals & Harmonica
Ginger Baker: Drums
Eric Clapton: Guitars and Vocals
Goody's Notes:
The speed/pitch of the source ran a bit slow with the pitch averaging approximately 26 cents flat, now corrected.
Some levels were adjusted, with a large amount of extra work in that regard in "We're Going Wrong", and tracking has been updated.
Many thanks to all involved in providing this best possible source!
Pro tip - listen in phones for suitably trippy stereo panning effects... kudos to the sound engineer.
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Nick's Notes:
Through a fellow Soulseek user, I was recently made aware of an Instagram user who had made available master reels for this, and for the 1967-04-22 Ricky Tick show, which I have posted already. The best-sounding bootleg of this show - HEN's Blues Ancient and Modern - as well as, presumably, all other circulating copies of this show, are sourced from this reel, which is most likely one generation removed from Ian's tape, and the best we are likely to get. Apart from the Introduction, the dropouts and cuts found in all circulating versions are found on this master, sadly, as well as many other distracting artefacts. I present this unaltered, with the exception noted below.
From Wikipedia:
"Barbeque 67 was a music event held in the market town of Spalding, Lincolnshire, in the East Midlands of England. Despite the presence of many well-known artists among its lineup, the event remains largely unknown. It is considered by some to have been the first rock festival....Towards the end of 1966, Grantham promoter, former footballer Brian Thompson, set about booking Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band and The Move. Their management persuaded Thompson to also book three relatively unknown acts at that time, being Pink Floyd, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream.[1] The event was held in Spalding at the tulip bulb auction hall, most likely the largest building in the area that could hold a large crowd....Tickets cost just £1 and covered accommodation came in the form of the Spalding Town F.C. stand next door....The Spring Bank Holiday was sunny and hot, which would have been very uncomfortable in a large crowd inside a metal shed. The event appeared to be unorganised and the sound terrible....The two bands grouped under Psychedelic started, Pink Floyd and The Move, followed by the two Blues Rock groups, Jimi Hendrix and Cream....Hendrix had many issues, including tuning problems, was late on stage, meaning only a half-hour set, and finished by throwing his guitar into his speaker stack - the same red Stratocaster he would burn at Monterey the following month. It was widely agreed that Clapton out-played Hendrix that day....The event became a one off in Spalding due to opposition from local residents.....Whilst a groundbreaking event for its time in the Summer of Love ahead of the famous Monterey Pop Festival and possibly the first Rock music festival in the UK, the event remains largely unknown outside of its home.
This is the complete recording. The show was one set. The recording, as noted below, is plagued by problems caused by the PA, and contains multiple dropouts and artefacts. I have left the tape as-is, with one exception: immediately following the introduction is a long dropout followed by a brief burst of applause and a further dropout. I have isolated this as Track 02, so those choosing to do so can burn to CD with minimised annoyance. The transition will not be seamless but it's better than what's there presently. I have left the entire tape otherwise untouched, so anyone wishing to remaster it can do so. I received the recording as a single WAV files, and have made no other changes beyond tracking, tagging and FLAC conversion.
The reels were discovered by Clinton Heylin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_Heylin) whilst researching a book on bootleg recordings. The master transfer was done by Jeff Friedman (https://dylan.utulsa.edu/dylan80-collectors-roundtable/).
More information about this show and the festival can be found here: http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/spaulding-festival.html including (uncredited again!) Graeme's notes on the show
The Ricky Tick show from 1967-04-22 can be found here in CD Quality: http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=765660
and here in 24/96: http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=765667
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From his authoritative Cream web site: http://gpatt.customer.netspace.net.au/cream/ here are Graeme Pattingale's notes on the show:
"Ian Sippen set up his quality equipment to record Cream. He placed the mikes left and right stage, which was smal & semi-circular resulting in the drums being placed forward. Unfortunately the left mike failed and the recording is dominated by the guitar and the drums. The loss of bass is partially compensated for by the magnificent, very present sound of the drums. Jack's vocals are largely heard by direct acoustics rather then through the PA - what a set of lungs.
NSU is hesitant as they try to sort out the gear on the fly with the PA dropping out and the guitar amps being adjusted. Sunshine follows and is no better with Eric starting way too fast and pulling back, Eric & Ginger struggling to hear Jack and Ginger is laying down a very basic beat - one can see him glowering at the roadies as they desperately tried to sort things out. Things are better for a quite superb "We're Going Wrong", after Eric tells the audience to quiet down. A short "Stepping Out" is performed but with amp problems for Eric followed by "Rollin' & Tumblin" with a just audible harp and then "Toad" with very audible drums. "T'm So Glad" closes the set but by this time Eric's Marshall is really breaking up and he just manages to finish before it totally cracks up. It was a short set and they were glad to get away & leave it to the headliner.
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My heartfelt thanks go to trailblazing concert taper Ian Sippen for being there, Soulseek user paisley for telling me about these recordings, Instagram user "Bernard Jenkins" for the tape, EC expert Geetarz for add'l source info, and the inestimable Graeme Pattingale, without whom Cream lore, history and scholarship would be a shadow of itself.
Additional thanks to Goody for his stellar work - above and beyond!
Geetarz authoritative Eric Clapton site: http://www.geetarz.org/reviews/clapton/index.htm
"Bernard Jenkins" massive collection of Cream & Clapton photos on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clapton_was_god/
Files tagged, text file created & checksums generated by lovesick alien and/or goody January, 2024
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