New '81 R.E.M. footage - earliest footage to surface!

[Sweden]

- The Reckoning deluxe show ('84 Chicago - Aragon Ballroom) is great as well. BUT - to my ears Mike Mill's bass tone sounds absolutely horrible. Plasticky, thuddy, and flatulent, not at all interesting or complex as on the albums. I wonder if this is an artifact of the recording/remixing process or the bass actually sounded that bad. Anyone happen to know what bass Mills was playing for this show?

Mike switched his main live bass from his Rick to a Guild Pilot sometime in 1984. In June he is seen playing the Rick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Ouyl7k_iU
Then in November he is seen using the Guild: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK4iUBe1W5E He then used the Guild in 85 and 86 as well, possibly also in 87 (there is very little footage from that year), after which he switched to a black Precision. The Aragon Ballroom show was on 9 July 1984, so I can't really say what bass the used then. He may have switched to the Guild by then, but not yet really found the right sound to use live? Or it may have been an issue with the recording.

In terms of 1984 shows I can also recommend tracking down the show from 15 July, at Salty Dog Saloon in Buffalo (it is in circulation). How about this set in terms of covers:
set: I Can Only Give You Everything / Radio Free Europe / Catapult / Driver 8 / The Medicine Show (snippet) / Sitting Still / Letter Never Sent / 7 Chinese Bros. / Talk About The Passion / Pale Blue Eyes / So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry) / Sharp Dressed Man / Every Word Means No / Secret Agent Man / Smokin' In The Boys' Room / Does Your Mother Know / Tusk / Crazy / Gardening At Night / 9-9 - Windout / Old Man Kensey / Pretty Persuasion / Little America
encore 1: Pills / California Dreamin'
encore 2: Batman Theme - Second Guessing / Ghost Riders In The Sky / Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)

HoF (no, not tht creepy Hoff) must have been the only time Peter ever threw an amp from stage? I mean, does anyone know why he threw the Vox off stage? Did he get sued by the guy who got hit in the leg?

The amp was acting up that entire show performance, it seems, and Peter looks ****** throughout. You can see him being confused already after the first few notes of the first song, Begin the Begin, and then guitar tech Dewitt Burton (fellow Rickresource member, right?) spends the entire song checking out the the pedal board and banging on top of the amp to get the sound working properly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt6FHFOeQ58

[Sweden]

The amp was acting up that entire show performance, it seems, and Peter looks ****** throughout.

Haha, what the hell, have we not gotten rid of this stupidity yet? And why is not "hell" censored?

[Folkie]

David,

Can you tell me specifically how I could get my hands on a copy of the Salty Dog Saloon show from July 15, 1984? Apparently they did several cover songs I've never heard them do, including surprising choices like "Sharp Dressed Man," "Secret Agent Man," "Smokin' in the Boys Room," and "Tusk." (I'd heard them do "California Dreamin'," "Pale Blue Eyes," and "Ghost Riders in the Sky" on other bootlegs.) I ran a YouTube search and couldn't get Fileserve to access the tracks. Any troubleshooting advice?

Robert

[Sweden]

I would need to check if I have any form of digital copy opf that show. I know it's on one of the 300+ cassette tapes of R.E.M. stuff that are boxed up in the basement...
If I do have it in flac/mp3 or CD form, I might be able to make it available somewhere.

[Folkie]

Thanks, David! Let me know if you find it!

[Sweden]

Thanks, David! Let me know if you find it!

Flac files of Salty Dog Saloon now found here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uh8gl1kzfewe4pu/Sxdw8C-EhV
Let me know if this works or now...

/David

[Folkie]

David,

Alas, I kept getting error messages when I tried to download the files to my computer. Any other suggestions?

Robert

[rkbsound]

Question: I just bought the Fables remaster and the Pageant remaster. On the demos on Fables, Peter Buck's guitar sounds very chorus-ey-ish; perhaps a bit warbly. Is this due to an effect used, bad tape or how he connected to the board? Everything else sounds normal in the recording, but his guitar sounds like this on every song. I really like the effect -- can it be reproduced?

[Folkie]

Question: I just bought the Fables remaster and the Pageant remaster. On the demos on Fables, Peter Buck's guitar sounds very chorus-ey-ish; perhaps a bit warbly. Is this due to an effect used, bad tape or how he connected to the board? Everything else sounds normal in the recording, but his guitar sounds like this on every song. I really like the effect -- can it be reproduced?

Jeff,

I believe Mitch Easter posted here that around the time of "Reckoning" and "Fables," Peter was running his guitars through a Rockman Chorus and Sustainer. I much prefer the 12-string sound of many of the "Fables" master takes to the chorus-laden 6-string sound of the Athens Demos. However, on the final take of "Green Grow the Rushes," my ear tells me that Peter runs his 360/12 through the chorus pedal. Beautiful, chiming, shimmering 12-string sound!

Robert

[rickyfricky]

Peter Buck: best right hand in the business - as of December 8, 1980 . . .

[Sweden]

David,
Alas, I kept getting error messages when I tried to download the files to my computer. Any other suggestions?
Robert

Seems to be working to use the "download as zip" option when I tried it out. Anyone else having troubles with this?

Question: I just bought the Fables remaster and the Pageant remaster. On the demos on Fables, Peter Buck's guitar sounds very chorus-ey-ish; perhaps a bit warbly. Is this due to an effect used, bad tape or how he connected to the board? Everything else sounds normal in the recording, but his guitar sounds like this on every song. I really like the effect -- can it be reproduced?

Jeff,
I believe Mitch Easter posted here that around the time of "Reckoning" and "Fables," Peter was running his guitars through a Rockman Chorus and Sustainer. I much prefer the 12-string sound of many of the "Fables" master takes to the chorus-laden 6-string sound of the Athens Demos. However, on the final take of "Green Grow the Rushes," my ear tells me that Peter runs his 360/12 through the chorus pedal. Beautiful, chiming, shimmering 12-string sound!
Robert

Peter acquired his Ibanez UE-400 multi effect sometime in '84 I think, if I remember correctly it's around the time where it first can be seen in footage. He then used one of those for the coming 27 years with R.E.M....

(Not Peter's but an identical one.)

It obviously has a "chorus/flanger" that Peter used pretty extensively in 84-86. I though the Rockman Chorus was earlier, before he got the Ibanez, but obviously won't argue with Mitch. It may have been a Rockman on Reckoning, where Mitch worked with them, and then the Ibanez for the Fables demoes.

/David

[Folkie]

David,

I think you're absolutely right. Mitch had stated that, as best he could recall, a Rockman Chorus and Sustainer was used during the "Reckoning" sessions. But, seeing as Joe Boyd stepped in for "Fables," I guess we'll never be absolutely sure what effects Peter used. The chorus effect on the final version of "Can't Get There from Here" (and on the Athens Demos) may very well be the onboard chorus on the Ibanez multi-effects unit. Too bad Joe Boyd isn't a member of the Forum!

Robert

[Sweden]

David,
I think you're absolutely right. Mitch had stated that, as best he could recall, a Rockman Chorus and Sustainer was used during the "Reckoning" sessions. But, seeing as Joe Boyd stepped in for "Fables," I guess we'll never be absolutely sure what effects Peter used. The chorus effect on the final version of "Can't Get There from Here" may very well be the onboard chorus on the Ibanez multi-effects unit. Too bad Joe Boyd isn't a member of the Forum!
Robert

One clear example of the Ibanez chorus is heard here, where Peter engages it at about 0:14 into the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7hiKTKUa9I
Clips from that performance clearly shows the foot control for the Ibanez on the floor in front of Peter.

[Folkie]

You have an excellent ear (and eye), David! Some people here have mistaken a few of the songs (like the CCR cover you posted) from this show as 12-string songs, when, in fact, Peter is playing a 6-string Ric through a chorus pedal. The difference between the dry signal and the sound with added chorus is very dramatic. Thanks for pointing that out!

Robert

[Sweden]

You have an excellent ear (and eye), David! Some people here have mistaken a few of the songs (like the CCR cover you posted) from this show as 12-string songs, when, in fact, Peter is playing a 6-string Ric through a chorus pedal. The difference between the dry signal and the sound with added chorus is very dramatic. Thanks for pointing that out!
Robert

Yep, I was convinced myself for quite some time that it was a 12 he used, but I think think Werner (or you?) pointed it out in an earlier thread that it was a regular 340 that he played.