Neville Brothers
Adam's Rib
Washington, DC
May 27 or 28, 1984

SBD > C > ? > CDR
EAC > FLAC > Wavelab 6.10 (cross-fades, volume adjustments, tracking, cleanup) > FLAC
See notes

Disc 1
Set I / Early Show?

1. Intro tune >
2. Hey Pocky Way / All Night Long / Willie & The Hand Jive
3. Mardi Gras In New Orleans
4. The Time Is Right
5. Africa
6. Saving My Love For You
7. Wake Up
8. Woman's Gotta Have It
9. Arianne
10. Tell It Like It Is
11. This Is Your Life
12. Meet The Boys On The Battlefront
13. Brother John / Iko Iko / Do You Wanna Dance / Jambalaya / The All Asked For You

Disc 2
Set II / Late Show?

1. Ode to Billy Joe
2. People Say
3. Africa
4. Hey Pocky Way
5. Arianne
6. She's A Lady
7. Say You Love Me
8. She Made Me Sing La La
9. Ain't No Use
10. Fire On The Bayou

Disc 3
Encore:

1. Big Chief
2. Intro >
3. Down By The River Side
4. Amazing Grace

Here is a nice recording of a virtually unknown performance by the Neville Brothers.

I received this in trade back in 2006, from a nameless benefactor (hey, let me know if you want credit?) but there was a problem with disc 1, which wouldn't play properly.  EAC would take 18 hours, and the results were full of static.  So, I put it away.  A month ago, I tried again on new equipment, and disc 1 extracted fine.  It still took 18 hours, and generated dozens of "suspicious positions," but there's not a single EAC glitch on the entire disc.  Huzzah!

The person who gave me the discs described them as "a good sounding soundboard tape that I copied from the house sound man's master.   It was recorded either May 27 or 28, 1984."  There is some hiss and thus at least one cassette generation.  Whether it's C > D > CDR or C > A > CDR I don't know.

Adam's Rib is the name of every other BBQ joint in America.  Back in 1984, this Adam's Rib was a club at 21st and Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, DC.  It was open for only about a year.  Pretty much the only reference you'll find for it is Tom Principato and Danny Gatton's CD "Blazing Telecasters" which was recorded there at about the same time.  Today, there is a small chain of restaurants in Maryland area with the same name.  Any connection?  I don't know.

Although the original discs were labeled Sets I, II and Encore, there are some duplicate songs in each set.  The Nevilles did play some early / late show combos at clubs in the mid-1980s.  On the other hand, set II opens with the MC saying "OK, DC, once again, put your hands together . . ." which is an odd thing to say if there was a different crowd for a late show.

The CDs have a few analog artifacts.  There is a tape flip in disc 1, Arianne, which unfortunately came between verse and chorus in a way that wasn't easily patched.  That has a quick fade in/out, instead.  A second tape flip on disc 2, Say You Love Me, was easier to handle by removing about 8 seconds of the music at about 2:38 and cross-fading the ends together.  Unless you notice the missing verse, you probably won't hear that one.  Ode to Billy Joe had a number of level adjustments, which have been smoothed out.  For some reason, the beginning of side B of each tape was louder than the end of side A.  That has been smoothed over as well.  A number of small glitches, like patch cord pops, were removed or muted.  No doubt something remains.

In all, a fine, fun recording.  Enjoy!

--mhg :: 05/03/12
