R. E. M. - 'Surprise Guest' at The 40 Watt, Feb. 10 & Sept. 3, 1987 (sbd M1) - NEW

The 40 Watt Club

Athens, GA

Feb. 10, 1987

  

soundboard recording

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

00 stage entrance

01 Begin the Begin (fades in) 

02 Oddfellows Local 151

03 Lightnin’ Hopkins

04 Just a Touch (aborted)

     Note: Drew Worsham subbed for Bill Berry on drums

SAMPLE TRACK - Oddfellows Local 151 (live on Feb. 10, 1987)

The 40 Watt Club

Athens, GA

Sept. 3, 1987

  

soundboard recording

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

00 stage entrance

01 Finest Worksong

02 These Days

03 Title

04 I Believe

05 It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

06 unknown, untitled+

07 Disturbance at the Heron House

08 The One I Love

09 Begin the Begin

      +Michael claims this previously unknown song was written “at 9:20 this evening” — which is quite possible, given how shambolic & unfinished it sounds.

ROB SEZ: I'm calling this one “Surprise Guest” due to the nature of the performances. I relish the thought of a few people in & around Athens knowing R. E. M. would be making an appearance these nights, but others only hearing rumors about a surprise guest. The February set is noteworthy because two songs from Document see their live debut: “Oddfellows Local 151” and “Lightnin’ Hopkins.” These recordings are yet more goodness from the sound archives of T. Patton Biddle (Pat the Wiz), who made some of the most historically significant recordings of R. E. M. in the 1980s. 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 or not, since I don't own any other versions. Check the comments if you want the untracked, raw files as I received them.

The view from the floor at The 40 Watt
  

FLAC

MP3@320

FURTHER DETAILS & RECORDING LINEAGE

REMTimeline says:

Feb. 10, 1987: Peter Buck, Mike Mills & Michael Stipe along with Drew Worsham on drums, play an impromptu set after Mystery Date. “Just A Touch” is aborted halfway through due to Peter Buck blowing out the [borrowed] guitar amp he was using.

Sept. 3, 1987: Smokin' Dave and the Premo Dopes show. R. E. M. perform unannounced as a supporting act, and according to Michael Stipe during the show, the unknown track was written at 9:20 p.m. that evening.

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, deleting dead spots, tempo adjustment, and 1 pass of eq to boost bass frequencies and lower treble --> FLAC

Stay tuned; more to come.