Audience 8.6 - What this old tape delivers in terms of sonic clarity and atmosphere for such a vintage ZZ Top performance has to rank it at the top of the list of must-haves for ANY collector of this band’s music. Yes, it is nothing short of a revelation, uncovering a lot of the muck, dirt, mud and distortion that most, if not all, of the early and mid ‘70’s bootlegs seem to have present. That is not to say this tape is “excellent” or even “great” as far as how it would be measured in a laboratory, but the lab is your own ear, and your mental tape measure for previous examinations of early Top.  What I am saying is, this tape allows you to hear not just Billy’s immense tone, but also the notes played on bass, and they are separate just enough to let you get a bona fide realistic feel for what this concert sounded like – you can sense position, size (of venue), PA, crowd, pretty much all of the elements of a gig in a VERY reasonably well documented way by taper. Some hiccups, nothing major or too distracting and thankfully brief, and some between song hollering near the mic but music comes through without much frustration and man, that tone!  Oh, and it must have been a really good night for the guys, they are playing fluidly and in high spirits. Kudos to whoever remastered this gem, or I should say whoever remastered this tape created a real gem. ZZ Top Overton Park Shell, Memphis, Tennessee (Memphis Country Blues Festival) 1971-04-25 Disc 1 1) Every Day I Have The Blues 2) Somebody Else Been Shaking Your Tree 3) Neighbor Neighbor 4) Just Got Back From Baby's 5) Whiskey 'N' Mama 6) Rattlesnake Shake 7) Goin' Down To Mexico Disc 2 8) Instrumental Improvisation 9) Memphis Blues 10) Little Queenie 11) It's My Time 12) Drums & Bass Solo 13) Brown Sugar 14) Jailhouse Rock

Audience 8.5/8.4 - Both of these recordings are very good in not only the general fidelity but they also seem to be low gen. They are both clear and not muddy, although one is slightly clearer in the middle frequency. It seems as though these shows have been worked on with some audio tools, but with a light touch, it is greatly appreciated by these ears!  Both shows are very worthwhile, and being the period before the more extravagant sets, kind of easier to sit through. The Kinks "The Ides of March" Disc 1 Emerson Gymnasium Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH. March 11, 1972 1. Top of the Pops 2. Brainwashed 3. 20th Century Man (Beginning tease) 4. Get Back In The Line 5. Waterloo Sunset 6. Apeman 7. Sunny Afternoon 8. Band Intros 9. Muswell Hillbillies 10. Acute Schizophrenia Blues 11. Your Lookin Fine 12. Alcohol 13. Skin & Bones 14. Lola 15. You Really Got Me 16. All Day And All Of The Night 17. Applause (Encore Break) 18. Til The End Of The Day 19. Victoria Disc 2 Chicago Auditorium Chicago, IL March 12, 1972 1. -Intro 2. -Till The End Of The Day 3. -Your Looking Fine 4. -Apeman 5. -Get Back In Line 6. -Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues 7. -Muswell Hillbillies 8. -Sunny Afternoon 9. -Demon Alcohol 10. -Skin And Bones 11. -Lola 12. -Jam - One Night With You 13. -You Really Got Me - All Day And All Of The Night 14. -Victoria 15. -Louie Louie

Audience 8.4 - This tape starts off rough but gradually opens up and ends up quite listenable especially considering this originates from an early tour stop in England 1980. These tapes are few and far between, so grab it is my advice. One thing I noticed, the sound timbre is rather eerie, a spooky kind of effect I can’t explain and it is magnified by the fact that Randy’s guitar is clearest in the mix. I could not help myself while listening to ponder what may have been, such an advanced musical sensibility that would have only gotten better. OZZY OSBOURNE - "1980 Sunderland" Mayfair Theater, Sunderland, England October 28th, 1980 Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals Randy Rhoads - Guitar Bob Daisley - Bass Lee Kerslake - Drums 01 -Intro 02 -I Don't Know 03 -You Lookin' at Me 04 -Crazy Train 05 -Goodbye to Romance 06 -No Bone Movies 07 -Mr. Crowley 08 -Revelation (Mother Earth) 09 -Suicide Solution 10 -Randys Solo 11 -Lees Drum Solo 12 -Iron Man 13 -Children of the Grave 14 -Steal Away 15 -Paranoid Notes: When Ozzy left Black Sabbath in 1979 I honestly thought it could be the last we saw of him. Sure, he was a great, mad front man in Sabbath, but I really didn’t see him as a solo act. Ozzy always struck me as crazy, fearless, yet almost child-like. He fitted well within the Sabbath context, and as part of a group; but on his own? How wrong I was. Nobody could have predicted just how successful his career would turn out to be. But it was obvious from the first time I saw him in concert and heard him play his new songs that Ozzy was going to be OK, more than OK in fact. The new album had some great tracks in “Crazy Train”, “Goodbye to Romance”, and “Mr. Crowley”, and he included Sabbath favorites “Iron Man”, “Children of the Grave”, and “Paranoid” in the live show, so how could he not be great? Oh, and Randy Rhoads was simply an incredible guitarist, just as good as his legend suggests. The tour called at Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle Mayfair and Sunderland Mayfair.  The line-up of Blizzard of Ozz was Ozzy (of course) on vocals, the late and truly great guitarist Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley (Rainbow) on bass, Lee Kerslake (Uriah Heep) on drums and local lad Don Airey on keyboards (replaced by Lindsey Bridgewater for the tour). Support came from those excellent Welsh rock heroes Budgie.

Audience 8.8 - A great atmospheric recording – I think I have figured it out though – so people used to go to concerts and party, with the musician on stage performing just an excuse to be with hundreds of other pot smoking, over-hyped hippies. What I am trying to say is that the audience is a little too into it…in my opinion. Great show though. Artist: Neil Young Date: 1973-03-17 Location: Seattle, WA Venue: Seattle Center Coliseum Source: Audience Band Members: Neil Young - guitar, vocals, harmonica, piano The Stray Gators Ben Keith - pedal steel guitar Jack Nitzsche - piano, vocals Tim Drummond - bass Johny Barbata - drums Setlist: 01. Intro 02. Sugar Mountain 03. Tell Me Why 04. Old Man 05. Heart Of Gold 06. Time Fades Away 07. Band Introduction 08. L.A. 09. Lookout Joe 10. Don't Be Denied 11. Are You Ready For The Country? 12. Last Dance 13. Yonder Stands The Sinner 14. New Mama (very end cut) 15. Southern Man 16. Cinnamon Girl 17. Alabama Length: 100:37 Notes: This is a very good to excellent sounding recording. This recording has been available for years now but this is the first time the master reels have ever been properly digitized. This show captures Neil Young and his backing band The Stray Gators touring in support of his Time Fades Away album. This is a good show but Neil is plagued with guitar problems and spends about a quarter of show tuning his guitar. Also of note David Crosby and Graham Nash join Neil onstage for Old Man.