Earl Zero And Corner Stone @ San Francisco, CA 1980-06-15
Earl Zero and Corner Stone
Savoy Tivoli
San Francisco, CA
1980-06-15 (Sunday)
THTP Release 103
Recording chain:
Stage mics > splitter (split to house snake/SBD and TH snake) > TH dedicated snake >
Peavy MkII 12 channel mixing board (10 channels snake, 2 channels audience mics) >
AKAI GXC-570D Cassette Deck (Dolby B on) > TDK SA-90 tape
Archival Process:
1999: Sony TC-KA3ES > TDK SA-90 tapes playback (NO Dolby) > BBE 462 Sonic Maximizer (to clean up tapes) >
Tascam DA-30 DAT > HHb DAT-125 DAT tape
2002: HHb CDR-850 Professional CD Recorder (In real time) > HHb CDR74 Gold 100 year archival grade CDRs
2005: Transfered to HDD in AIFF file format
Dime release processing: AIFF Master Files > FFMPEG > 16 bit FLAC 8 > tagging, cover artwork, checksums.
Recorded, preserved, and master AIFF files provided by: Terry Hammer
Setlist:
01. //Jah Mission Possible
02. Mama Don't Fight (Prince Alla)
03. Melting Pot (Roger Cook-Blue Mink)
04. I Love This Little Girl Of Mine
05. Natty Rebel (U-Roy cover)
06. So Long Rastafari (Dennis Brown cover, also covered by Bob Marley, Yellowman)
07. Small Axe (Bob Marley and the Wailers cover)
08. Home Sweet Home (Bunny Wailer)
09. Please Officer
10. City Of The Wicked
11. Righteous Work
12. Visions Of Love
13. None Shall Escape The Judgement//
Length: 1:31:35
Band:
Earl Zero (Earl Anthony Johnson) - vocals
? - violin
Steve Hayton - guitar
? - keyboards
? - horns
? - bass
? - drums
? - congas, percussion
Notes:
* We do not yet know all the names of the members ofCorner Stone. It was a band of local musicians who backed Earl when he first arrived in the SF Bay Area. Anyone know? There is a British reggae group Cornerstone, but that is not this earlier group. There is also a garage rock group called the Cornerstones, but obviously that's a different group too. There's also a british rock/pop group by the same name. But that doesn't help us here. I also doubt that the US Meta & the Cornerstones is related, though they are a reggae group.
* And yes, I'm pretty sure that is a reggae violin, which should narrow down the search for who was in Corner Stone quite a bit. A smoking hot violin too, never heard reggae violin before. Worth checking out for that alone, LOL.
* While not complete, this set is much longer than the abbreviated Earl Zero and Corner Stone THTP 33, so there's plenty of time to sit back, fall into the heavy rootsman groove, and reflect on I-man's role in the greater order of things.
* About Earl Zero: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Zero
"Zero first had success as a singer himself with the Al Campbell-produced "Righteous Works" in 1975. He recorded for Don Mais' Roots Tradition label (recording "Home Sweet Home" and "I No Lie"), and joined Tommy Cowan's Talent Corporation roster, and had further success with "Please Officer" and "City of the Weak Heart", released on Cowan's Arab label, the latter also recorded by Jacob Miller on his Killer Miller album. In 1976 he moved on to work with Bertram Brown, recording "Get Happy", and again recorded with Campbell on "Heart Desire". He continued recording through the late 1970s, recording with Soul Syndicate. His first two albums, Visions of Love and In the Right Way, were released in 1979.
In 1979 he relocated to Northern California, and has continued to record since, with several albums released."
* He is the uncle of Toronto rapper Raz Fresco.
* Earl Zero did a 12" on Epiphany with the OFFS called "Earl Zero Vs. The OFFS"
* " Earl Zero's single "City of the Wicked / Righteous Works" was released in 1979 on Greensleeves.
* Terry Hammer worked as Earl Zero's soundman, but not until 1981.
* Steve Hayton was in a 1970's bad called Daddy Longlegs.
* Includes photos, sample flyer (from Back D.O.R.).
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No distribution in lossy formats!!
No selling!!
No bootlegging!!
No remastering!!
Yes sharing. Definitely share.
Support the artists when or if they play, and buy their records/merchandise.
Please correct any errors or oversights in this information in the comments section so the information can be as accurate as possible.
If you can find related materials like flyers, posters, ticket stubs, even photos, etc, please add them in a comment and I will add them to the main release folder, so that can be included on the next re-seeding. Every bit is welcome, and as I am time constrained on this project due to the amount of material, I cannot spend as much time on each release doing research as I would like, so if we can add to and improve the information and release contents during this series, that would be great.
Please make an effort to pick at least one of these THTP releases and keep it seeded for as long as you can, particularly the lesser known groups. That will really help out long term.
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About Terry Hammer and the THTP:
Someone put my feelings very well about these recordings in the following quote. I can't really improve on their words beyond noting that these recordings sound absolutely and utterly stunning, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to be able to present these to you here in their original, first generation, lossless hi-fidelity versions, for the first time ever.
"[These recordings were] recorded and preserved by collector/engineer Terry Hammer, for broadcast over the UC Berkeley station KALX and several others from the 1979 -1981 period. Anyone who spent a night at one of these clubs knows how chaotic the atmosphere was. That he was able to, not only get a decent feed from the sound mixing board, but was also able to get clean recordings was something of a miracle. And the fact this guy did it over and over again is pure dedication to the cause of preserving history for decades to come. Fortunately for everyone, he’s been making these gems of history available and their value as historic documents is inestimable. This is really exciting stuff and I am grateful for Terry’s foresight and deft skill."
src: https://pastdaily.com/2014/06/25/gang-four-live-american-indian-center-san-francisco-1980-nights-roundtable-concert-edition/
As Terry notes about the process of recording these shows: "Like all of my live recordings this was mixed direct to 2-Track Reel To Reel (and Cassette deck for backup and personal use) using headphones. Sitting in the club with the loud P.A. sound trying to drive the amp in my mixing board loud enough to hear what I was mixing.If you've ever been to a live concert,then,you know how loud it can be."
If you've ever been looking for an excuse to upgrade your sound system, these recordings certainly should provide you with some motivation, because they have incredible sound. And if you already have a quality sound system, you are in for a treat!! The audio goes straight to 20k hz, no losses I can detect. Due to the reality of tapes, even high end as used here, the low end starts at 47 hz.
And if you want to learn more about this incredible musical era, listen to the stuff you haven't heard, there are amazing gems in there.
Do we call these soundboards? Technically not precisely because this is not the house mix, these shows were mixed using a dedicated mixing board, with an additional 1 to 2 audience mics (1 for Mab because he needed 11 snake inputs), 2 at other clubs) in the mix. But I call it the Terry Hammer Tape Project (THTP) to make sure there is no doubt about the project's creator.
TECH:
Note that Terry made 2 master recordings (recording at the same time) when he mixed these shows live:
1: Reel to reel, for the radio stations:
Technics RS-1500 Reel To Reel (mostly TDK Audua L-1800 & LB-1800 tape with back coating or Scotch 206 / 207 with back coating. Maybe a few Maxell UD-XL). All the KALX shows went to KALX, they supplied the reel to reel tape.
2: For his own use, and as backup in case something happened to the reels:
AKAI GXC-570D Cassette Deck (Dolby B on) > TDK SA-90 tape
Terry isn't sure, but thinks the audience mics he used maybe were Electro Voice EV-DS35's.
Info: http://www.bbesound.com/products/sonic-maximizers/482i.aspx
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- teetering
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