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.

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*STAY TUNED* More to come.