MERL SAUNDERS

Monday, 5 November 1979  early show

Lone Star Café
61 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York  10003
USA


FLAC master, 10 September 2023, by elegymart:
Analog audience recording (mostly right channel mono) {recorded by Gene Poole}: unknown mics/recorder > 1979-81 US/Europe TDK D-C90 (Type I Normal) analog audio cassette master {from the Gene Poole collection} > Sony TC-WE435 (azimuth adjustment) > Roland R05 (24/96) > Cool Edit Pro 2.0 (audio cleanup, convert to 16/44) > SHNtool (fixed SBE) > CD Wave (track splits) > TLH (WAV > FLAC8).
Created this text file.


Total running time  [77:17]
------------------------------------------------------------------
01  tuning up [1:33]
02  The Harder They Come [5:34]
03  Dear Prudence [6:17]
04  Lovely Night for Dancing (w/ band introductions) [14:21]
05  It's Not Fair [4:58]
06  Long Train Runnin' [8:34]
07  The System [9:46]
08  Do I Move You [11:39]
09  Two Trains [4:51]
10  After Midnight [9:38]


Band line-up:
Merl Saunders - keyboards, vocals
Andre Goosland - guitar
Tony Saunders - bass
John "Jay" David - drums
Pamela Rose - vocals


Notes:

THE GENE POOLE COLLECTION VOL. 224

Here's the latest installment of the Gene Poole Collection, a random wellspring of recordings which surfaced during the pandemic. To paraphrase Lou: This is gonna go on for a while, so we should get used to each other, settle back, pull up your cushions, whatever else you have with you that makes life bearable in what has already been the start of trying decade...

Some of Gene's handiwork has probably been heard by your very ears before, for the most part via the Stonecutter Archives, but this is the first major unearthing of tapes direct from the legend himself. As promising as that may seem, it's best to let the surprises hit as they are shared. The trade-off to the prolific taping on Gene's part is that the expectations for a perfect track record would be unrealistic and unfair. There will be instances of incomplete recordings, caused by late arrivals to gigs, recorder and microphone malfunctions, and other assorted foibles as would befall any mortal taper. There will be times where a master from another source exists which could be superior. For the most part, Gene recorded with a variety of mics and recorders, and many shows suffered from wire dropouts, so that only one channel was extant in the capture. Due warning about the past imperfect given and out of the way, credit should be given where due as well -- for many shows thought lost forever, it's exciting to discover that many of these even in incomplete form have now cropped up.

The transfers, the audio fixes, and the research all have required some lead time -- many tapes had scant info (sometimes just the name of the artist/band, with no date listed for the performance). Needless to say, gear documentation is virtually nil -- if we wait around for that precise detail to be forthcoming, nothing from the collection would probably see the light of day.

Merl Saunders used to play the Wetlands (last volume's venue) for what seemed like a monthly basis, but for this edition, we're bringing you one of his earlier performances from the Lone Star, not long after Reconstruction had been deconstructed.

This is the early show from the first of two nights at the club, and Merl's been out with the band for about a week and a half into a three-week tour. Not sure whether to call this one an out on the road gig for him, since Merl was staying with family in the Bronx when he was in NYC in the 70's playing gigs like opening for Miles at the Village Vanguard, and possibly for this gig. You'll hear him giving shoutouts to them at one point (Henry, Elaine, and Ray Chew). His son Tony is also playing bass in the band.

There's a few uncertainties to confirm on this recording -- the penultimate song is not the Little Feat song, and it's not the Paul Butterfield Blues Band by way of Muddy Waters (although Merl did do some work with Butterfield in the 70s). So the title there is an educated guess for now. Secondly with the band members, there's no reference to the guitarist other than one site online. Seems curious that he wouldn't have played with anyone anywhere anytime else beyond Merl's band. Merl mispronounces Tom Johnston's name when introducing "Long Train Runnin'," so it's possible his pronounciation of the guitarist's last name is butchered as well, unless there are a lot of Gooslands from Paris (but something like Gosselin, Gusland, Cousnanon seems more probable).

This is a decent single-channel mono capture for something primitive out of TGPC's bag, presented here in two-channel mono -- it's from a weathered old tape with a lot of dropouts, hampering mostly the beginning of the first song, although perhaps Gene was fidgeting with the deck at the beginning of each song too.

Enjoy,
elegymart

