jems, Various Artists, Mike Millard Master Tapes via JEMS, The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 251, 16/44 Edition, Recording Gear: AKG 451E Microphones (CK-1 cardioid capsules) > Nakamichi 550 Cassette Recorder, JEMS Transfer: Mike Millard Master Cassettes > Nakamichi Cassette Deck 1 azimuth-adjusted playback > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity 3.1 capture > iZotope RX > iZotope RX8 Advanced and Ozone 10 > xACT 2.50 > FLAC, Backing band includes T-Bone Burnett and members of Was (Not Was), Known Faults: Several passages of pre-recorded introductions and commercially released music are removed., Introduction to the Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Series, Welcome to JEMS' Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone series presenting recordings made by legendary taper Mike Millard, AKA Mike the MICrophone, best known for his masters of Led Zeppelin done in and around Los Angeles circa 1975-77. For the complete details on how tapes in this series came to be lost and found again, as well as JEMS' long history with Mike Millard, please refer to the notes in Vol. One: http://www.thetradersden.org/forums/...d.php?t=142055., Until 2020, the Lost and Found series presented fresh transfers of previously unavailable first-generation copies made by Mike himself for friends like Stan Gutoski of JEMS, Jim R, Bill C and Barry G. These sources were upgrades to circulating copies and in most instances marked the only time verified first generation Millard sources had been directly digitized in the torrent era., That all changed with the discovery of many of Mike Millard's original master tapes., Yes, you read that correctly, Mike Millard's master cassettes, long rumored to be destroyed or lost, have been found. Not all of them but many, and with them a much more complete picture has emerged of what Millard recorded between his first show in late 1973 and his last in early 1992., The reason the rediscovery of his master tapes is such a revelation is that we've been told for decades they were gone. Internet myths suggest Millard destroyed his master tapes before taking his own life, an imprudent detail likely concocted based on the assumption that because his master tapes never surfaced and Mike's mental state was troubled he would do something rash WITH HIS LIFE'S WORK. There's also a version of the story where Mike's family dumps the tapes after he dies. Why would they do that?, The truth is Mike's masters remained in his bedroom for many years after his death in 1994. We know at least a few of Millard's friends and acquaintances contacted his mother Lia inquiring about the tapes at the time to no avail. But in the early 2000s, longtime Millard friend Rob S was the one she knew and trusted enough to preserve Mike's work., The full back story on how Mike's master tapes were saved can be found in the notes for Vol. 18 Pink Floyd, which was the first release in our series transferred from Millard's original master tapes:, http://www.thetradersden.org/forums/...d.php?t=156400, The Roy Orbison Tribute, Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, CA, February 24, 1990, This week an interesting and rather different entry in the Lost and Found series as Mike "The Mike" Millard (or Saint Mike Millard as Heart of Markness refers to him) captures this multi-artist tribute to Roy Orbison. Part concert, part TV taping, The Roy Orbison Tribute took place at the behest of his widow Barbara Orbison to honor her late husband who passed in late 1988., The evening featured a handful of pre-recorded biographical and tribute videos interspersed around over 30 live performances, some buffered by celebrity remembrances of Roy. Curiously most but not all of the musical segments were covers of Orbison tunes or ones associated with him. The outliers are things like Iggy Pop doing "Home," Bonnie Raitt and John Lee Hooker doing "I"m In The Mood," B.B. King offering a fitting "The Thrill Is Gone" and a reunion of three-fifths of The Byrds--Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and Chris Hillman--who do their own mini-set at the end and bring out Bob Dylan as a special guest., For this release, we have edited out segments shown to the audience that contain commercially released music and videos that don't translate well as audio only. All the performances are intact from a wide range of artists and a few actors, as we have identified above. Surprisingly there does not appear to be a full setlist of this show available anywhere on the internet, fortunately we did find a newspaper review that filled in the performer gaps we were missing., The Byrds reunion with Dylan was the biggest headline coming out of the show and while Bob is not at his best, McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman sound great. Orbison devotees Chris Isaac and k.d. lang fare well as expected. We're also fond of Dwight Yoakum's turn and Levon Helm's. "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)" featuring 3/4s of Talking Heads plus Wendy & Lisa from Prince's Revolution is interesting and never to be repeated., This is an exceptionally rare occasion where Millard doesn't score a great seat and instead records from Section 27 of the Mezzanine, off to the side and far from the PA. Surely the consideration of a one-off special concert warranted his attendance but the recording does suffer modestly from a talkative crowd around Mike and a bit of distance in the recording. Samples provided., That being said there does not appear to be any circulating audio of the show beyond the hour shown on Showtime, leaving 20 or so songs unheard again until now. JEMS' longtime partner Exit Club recorded the Orbison tribute himself, but had issues with his microphone cutting out so it too has remained on the shelf. While not a sonic marvel, this is an appealing listen with several strong performances, though there are a few long gaps to wade through between some of them., ###, JEMS is proud to partner with Rob, Jim R, Ed F, Barry G and many others to release Millard's historic recordings and to help set the record straight about the man himself., We can't thank Rob enough for reconnecting with Jim and putting his trust in our Millard reissue campaign. He kept Mike's precious tapes under wraps for two decades, but once Rob learned of our methods and stewardship, he agreed to contribute the Millard DATs and cassettes to the program. Our releases would not be nearly as compelling without Jim's memories, photos and other background contributions. As many of you have noted, the stories offer an entertaining complement to Mike's incredible audio documents., Thanks to Rob S for the master transfer; Professor Goody for the pitch analysis; and mjk5510 for handling post production and CD artwork., Finally, cheers to the late, great Mike the MICrophone. His work never ceases to impress. May he rest in peace., BK for JEMS