R. E. M. - Two Nights at The 40 Watt - May + July 1988 (sbd)

The 40 Watt Club
Athens, GA
May 20, 1988

  

soundboard recording (Pat the Wiz's digital revision from his master reel)

00 stage entrance

01 Begin the Begin 

02 Stand*

03 Pop Song 89

04 Orange Crush

05 The One I Love (free-jazz version) 

06 I Remember California*

07 stage banter, etc.

08 You Are the Everything*

The 40 Watt Club
Athens, GA
July 8, 1988

  

soundboard recording (Pat the Wiz's digital revision from his master reel)

00 stage entrance

01 Pop Song 89

02 Orange Crush

03 I Remember California

04 talking & tuning

05 Hairshirt*

06 You Are the Everything

07 Stand

08 Finest Worksong

    *live debut of these 4 songs from Green

ROB SEZ: The band's opening sets for other headliners (see info below). I believe the guys always pulled out something special for the home crowd, especially when they had a new album waiting to be released. They seem jazzed to have friends, families, peers, and rivals hear the new songs before the rest of the world. This twofer will be of special interest to fans of Green because four songs from the album receive their live debut. Then there's the band's atonal, jokey, and rather brief take on "The One I Love" — which I'm overly dignifying by calling it the "free-jazz version." Michael introduces it thusly, supposedly with a straight face: "This is a song that was written by Fred Frith in 1974, when he was still with Henry Cow, and was put out on The Residents' record label."

These recordings are yet more goodness from the tape archives of T. Patton Biddle (aka Pat the Wiz), who made some of the most historically significant recordings of R. E. M. in & around Athens in the 1980s. You can hear Pat invoked multiple times in these two sets, including Mike Mills' departing comment "thanks for taking care of us." Pat was kind enough to share with me digital transfers from his safety tapes. These two opening sets have previously circulated in soundboard quality, but they're not currently available through the usual channels. To my knowledge, this is the first time they've been placed into circulation with a known lineage, so this may be a new source even for those who already have other versions. I don't know if they're an upgrade, since I haven't heard any other versions.

FLAC

MP3@320

Further details & recording lineage: 

REMTimeline says:

May 20, 1988: R. E. M. perform unannounced as a supporting act before Vic Chesnutt, this was a benefit show for The Grit. [The announced support act was Orgusmorgue.] Michael introduces the band as "Toast." The version of "The One I Love" is very different and lasts less than a minute. First performances of "Stand," "I Remember California" and "You Are The Everything."

July 8, 1988: The Primates show. R. E. M. perform unannounced as a supporting act before both bands [The Primates and Lou Siffer]. First live performance of 'Hairshirt'.

LINEAGE: T. Patton Biddle's master cassette —> TPB's digital transfer, using unknown equipment —> unknown digital editing, including added compression —> Audacity for tracking, fades, normalization, editing out long silences, and 1 pass of eq to boost bass frequencies and lower treble —> FLAC

LOOK IN THE COMMENTS section if you want raw, untracked copies of the files Pat shared with me.

.

*STAY TUNED* More to come.

                                     

Big Star - London 2008-08-28 (aud VG+)

LOSSLESS REPOST

 

Shepherd’s Bush Empire

London, England

August 28, 2008

   
audience recording (sound quality VG; crowd noise is present, but this is a very good quality recording, from the master)

TREMENDOUS THANKS to Pike1957 for recording, sharing and recently re-seeding this by request

Notes: There's an alternate recording of this show with inferior sound, so this may be an upgrade for some of you. The setlist features several songs from 2005's In Space, Big  Star's final album of new material.

  

01 - intro

02 - In the Street
03 - Don't Lie To Me
04 - When My Baby's Beside Me
05 - I Am the Cosmos
06 - Ballad of El Goodo
07 - Back of a Car
08 - Way Out West
09 - Till the End of the Day (Kinks cover)
10 - Pomp & Circumstance #4 (from Elgar's 'Enigma Variations')
11 - Daisy Glaze
12 - Thirteen
13 - Baby Strange
14 - For You
15 - Feel
  
16 - September Gurls
17 - Thank You Friends
18 - Slut (Todd Rundgren cover)
19 - Hung Up With Summer
20 - February's Quiet
21 - Lady Sweet
22 - Patti Girl
23 - band intros
24 - Mine Exclusively
25 - Wouldn't It Be Nice (Beach Boys cover)

  

TT: 1:31:06

 

FLAC
  
MP3@320

Big  Star:

Jody Stephens – drums, vocals

Alex Chilton – vocals, rhythm guitar

Jon Auer – lead guitar, vocals

Ken Stringfellow – bass, vocals

Alex Chilton - Acme Under, NYC 1998

LOSSLESS REPOST - now in flac

 

Acme Underground
New York, NY
May 1, 1998

audience recording (sound quality VG+; transfer from DAT master; just the right amount of crowd noise so you get the ambiance)

 

Children by the millions scream for him.

ROB SEZ: Alex is ON here, enjoying himself, and sounding jazzed to be playing in his old stomping grounds. If you own just one LX solo boot, this is the one to have. ENJOY!

 

MEGA THANKS to NYLifer for taping and sharing, Freddie Katz for live sound mixing, and to Craig62 for re-sharing.

Disc 1 (first set)

01 audience chatter

02 Maybelline

03 (false start)

04 I Don't Know Why I Love You, But I Do

05 (chat)

06 Alligator Man

07 B-A-B-Y

08 Margie

09 Got a Lot of Living to Do

10 Il Rebelle

11 Little GTO

12 Purple Haze

13 (false start)

14 When My Baby's Beside Me

15 I Will Turn Your Money Green

16 (chat)

17 (false start)

18 Witchcraft

19 What's Your Sign Girl

20 Take It Off

21 Thank You John

22 Bangkok

Disc 2 (second set)

01 Lipstick Traces

02 Don't Believe That You 
     Love Me No More (Hush Your Mouth)

03 Don't Stop

04 Hide and Seek

05 Sick and Tired

06 I've Never Found 

     a Girl

07 (chat)

08 In the Street

09 (chat)

10 Thing For You

11 (chat)

12 Soul Deep

13 My Baby Just 

     Cares For Me

14 The Oogum 

     Boogum Song

15 (audience)

16 There Will Never 

     Be Another You 

17 Single Again

18 Lies 

19 (chat)

20 Devil Girl

21 New Girl In School

22 (chat)

23 You've Got a Booger 
     Bear Under There

24 I Wish You Would

25 (band intro)

26 Goodnight My Love

27 (crowd)

28 The Hucklebuck

29 (crowd)

FLAC

MP3@320

Musicians:

Alex Chilton - vocals, guitar

Ron Easley - bass

Richard Dworkin - drums

Plenty more where this came from; use the Artists/Groups links at right.
  

R. E. M. - Document, Reconsidered (aka The Athens Variations)

 A Classic Albums Revisited project

Document, Reconsidered

Live & studio recordings, none officially released
Soundboard & preFM sources (quality: Ex to Ex-)

An all-soundboard, all-lossless reassessment of album no. 5 with alternative versions

SAMPLE TRACK: "The One I Love" live in Athens, Aug. 19, 1987 (sbd)

ROB SEZ:  What if R. E. M. took all those adjectives they used to describe album no. 5 (noisy, angular, sparky, crunchy, etc.), kept them firmly in mind while playing the songs as if their reputations depended on it, and let the fans hear the result? What if that music—recorded decades ago in Athens, GA—could become a soundtrack to the discontent so many are feeling now? That's the concept that animated this project, but it was just my private pipe dream for many moons.

Fast forward to early 2025, when I gained access to a tasty haul of 1980s-era R. E. M. 
soundboard recordings, courtesy of Pat the Wiz—the legendary sound tech whose superb recordings are revered in and around Athens, GA The recordings were digitally transferred from Pat's first-generation analog copy of the master reels. They're as close to perfect as you can get, absent a new transfer from Pat's master. THANK YOU, PAT!  

Among these recordings was a pristine digital file capturing the band's brief, jaw-dropping set at the 40 Watt Club on Aug. 19, 1987—recorded just after completing Document with Scott Litt. As I listened, I realized my whacky idea might just have legs. The 9-song set included no less than 5 stunning versions of Document songs, performed with a kind of virtuosic fury that was bound to impress hometown friends and peers. Pat also supplied me with a soundboard recording of another brief set at the 40 Watt, this one recorded Feb. 10, 1987. It had 2 additional—impressively angular & noisy—versions of songs that would appear months later on the completed album.  

Those 7 live variants, preserved in excellent audio quality and copied from the master analog reels, left me looking for alternative recordings of just 4 more songs from Document. The 1989 vinyl bootleg Finest Worksongs supplied 2 full-band demos, recorded at John Keane's Athens studio in February 1987. That left "King of Birds," with a couple of excellent live versions from the 1989 world tour to choose from. The last song I needed was "Strange," the Wire cover. After listening to dozens of possibilities, I couldn't source anything in good quality with a strong performance. (It didn't help that Michael never seemed to be able to remember the verses!) But then I recalled the Red Rain bootleg CD, featuring the band's live performance in Utrecht, Netherlands in 1987. Although most of the bootleg material was nabbed for Document's 25th anniversary edition bonus disc, a couple of tracks were omitted—including "Strange."

Job done. Time for you to see what you think. (Don't overlook the tracks in the Leftovers folder. You might find something you like better than what I chose for the comp.)

One correction: after I created the artwork, I discovered that "King of Birds" is from the Miami gig on 4/29/89 instead of next day's show in Orlando. At some point, I will update the artwork & post it here.

By the way: all that "political stuff" Peter and Michael talked about in the late 1980s— the comments a lot of fans didn't appreciate? Go back and read 'em. They were spot on, applying as much or more today than they did in the late 1980s. "Exhuming McCarthy"? More like revivifying and cloning him. "Crazy, crazy world. Crazy, crazy times." (M. Stipe, "Fireplace")

HUMONGOUS thanks to Pat the Wiz. Sincere thanks also to Colin for helpful audio consultation.

FLAC

 

MP3@320

*STAY TUNED* There's more where this came from...

            

Peter Holsapple - 1989-01-20 - 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA (sbd)

40 Watt Club
Athens, GA
Jan. 20, 1989

soundboard recording (digital transfer from analog copy of the master reel)

PH solo show, with help from Peter Buck & Ilene Markell

01 This Is Where I Belong (The Kinks cover) 

02 Storm Warning

03 Taken

04 If Only ("new song," written in Athens) 

05 Soul Kiss 

06 You Don't Miss Your Water (Wm. Bell cover)* 

07 Lonely Is (As Lonely Does) *

08 Next to Last Waltz *

09 Second Time Around *

10 Changed the Locks (Lucinda Wms. cover) * +

11 Judy * +

12 Drip Drop (Dion cover) * +

13 Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (Aretha Franklin cover) * + 

14 Neverland (brief jump edit) * +

15 Sexual Healing (Marvin Gaye cover) *

16 Darby Hall

17 She Got Soul

Musicians:

 

Peter Holsapple - guitar, vocals

* Ilene Markell, bass
+ Peter Buck, guitar

NOTES:

My source for this recording is Pat the Wiz, the legendary sound tech whose superb recordings are revered in and around Athens, GA. This recording has been digitally transferred from Pat's first-generation analog copy of the master reel. This version is as close to perfect as you can get, absent a transfer from Pat's master. THANK YOU KINDLY, PAT! When I received the source files, I applied tracking, fading, and one pass of eq.

FLAC

 

MP3@320

GO BUY PETER'S NEW SOLO ALBUM THE FACE OF 68 on Label 51 Recordings, out now. CD and high-quality digital download available at Bandcamp. Look around for vinyl copies from Record Store Day 2025.

STAY TUNED. There's more where this came from...

R. E. M. + X T C - One Night in Athens, GA 1981-04-24 (NEW SOUNDBOARD source)

B & L Warehouse
Athens, GA
April 24, 1981

soundboard & audience recordings (M1 soundboard source for R. E. M. set)

R. E. M. - opening set

soundboard recording (M1 - transferred from analog safety copy)

01 Radio Free Europe (fades in) 

02 Burning Down

03 Dangerous Times

04 All the Right Friends

05 Shaking Through

06 Body Count

07 Pretty Persuasion

08 (Don't Go Back to) Rockville

09 Hey Hey Nadine

10 That Beat*

11 Sitting Still

12 9-9

13 Windout

14 Gardening at Night (fades out)

 

      *live debut — as best I can tell

X T C - headline set

  

excellent audience recording (low generation source, exact lineage unknown)

01 Respectable Street

02 Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me) 

03 No Language In Our Lungs

04 Ball & Chain

05 Paper & Iron

06 Love at First Sight

07 Roads Girdle the Globe

08 Scissor Man

09 Towers of London

10 Burning with Optimism's Flames 

11 Living Through Another Cuba

12 Generals & Majors

13 This Is Pop

14 Making Plans for Nigel

15 Helicopter

16 Outside World

17 Statue of Liberty

FLAC

 

MP3@320

ROB SEZ:  Something brand new here, along with something pulled from the archive. What's new is the soundboard recording for the R. E. M. set. My source is Pat the Wiz, the legendary sound tech whose superb recordings are revered in and around Athens, GA. This recording has been digitally transferred from Pat's first-generation analog copy of the master reel, digitally revised by Pat. It's as close to perfect as you can get, absent a new transfer from Pat's master.

According to Remtimeline, the only other known recording for the R. E. M. set is a so-so sounding audience capture that's been in general circulation since 2011. By contrast, this pristine first-generation soundboard recording represents a very significant upgrade, which I'm happy to put into general circulation. When I received the source files, they only needed tracking and fading. No eq, no compression, no jiggery pokery. As far as I can tell, Pat didn't hit record until a minute into set opener Radio Free Europe, and his tape apparently ran out about a minute into closing song Gardening at Night.

HUGE THANKS to Pat the Wiz.

The X T C set comes from an excellent, low-generation audience recording, for which I am indebted to the kind souls at the now-defunct XTC4U and XTCWeeds.

There's a bonus goodie for X T C fans baked into the download. 

READ a 2018 remembrance of this show by Vanessa Briscoe Hay (of Pylon / Pylon Reenactment Society fame) at Flagpole, with quotes from Mike Mills.

PLEASE ENJOY. Still more to come.