Neil Young / Los Angeles 1983 Mike Millard First Generation Tape / 2CDR

Neil Young/ Los Angeles 1983 Mike Millard First Generation Tape / 2CDR / Uxbridge

Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, CA, USA 23rd January 1983

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Mike Millard, who continues to surprise enthusiasts around the world every week, released a tape, and the latest sound source was Neil Young’s 1983 solo tour. This is another performance that was not known to have been recorded by Millard, and it also surprises enthusiasts around the world. Speaking of mirrored recordings that capture the stage of Neil in the 1980s, the popular “COSTA MESA 1989: MIKE MILLARD FIRST GENERATION TAPES” can be mentioned, but the sound quality of this sound source is not so good.
You can guess from the fact that it was called “weird tour, weird tape” when it was released. This recording is a first generation copy, but for some reason all the intervals between songs are cut and the sound quality is monaural. In addition, the sound started to have a narrow range from around “Don’t Be Denied”, and the range finally narrowed in the latter half of the live. And “The Old Laughing Lady” played at the opening is not recorded. That’s why it was called “weird tape”.
I guess from these factors, although Millard recorded it, it failed to record the first song and became monaural, so it seems that it was a sound source that was not widely distributed among traders.

However, it is still a valuable sound source for mirrored recording, and the sound image itself is truly a large enough audience recording. For this release, “recorder 1” compensates for “The Old Laughing Lady” that Millard failed to record. There are three types of audience recordings on this day, including this mirrored recording, but here is the one with the best sound quality. However, “recorder 1” also has a severe cut between songs, and the line “thank you Los Angeles” issued by Neil after finishing singing the previous song is supplemented from “recorder 2”. It is the worst sound source of the three types in terms of sound quality, but the only merit is that there are no cuts between songs.
As a result, the opening lost from the mirrored recording was reproduced, and all songs were recorded.

This release has solved such problems, but the performance content is the best. Not only is Neil on the stage of playing the whole story, but unlike before, it is a fascinating song selection with his representative songs lined up in a row. In fact, the wonderfulness of this song selection and performance content has been well received after the favorable reception, and in February, we achieved the feat of realizing the Madison Square Garden performance by playing and talking.
However, unlike the 70’s, for example, in “Don’t Be Denied”, the venue is excited by the production that the images of past Neil and CSNY are projected on the screen, and in “Old Man”, the sound of the banjo is played by the sequencer. It was also well received that it included a production that was not just a narration, such as playing while playing.
However, although it was good until the tour was postponed due to favorable reception, Neil got a cold because he went in the winter, and in the end he was forced to end due to poor physical condition. That’s why Neil was in good physical condition, and the size of the venue was just right. The mirrored sound source that captured the stage at the Universal Amphitheater on that day was perfect for enjoying the 1983 solo tour.
Neil Young is not straightforward. While playing the whole story, the end of the live is a surprising development that ends with a techno number from the album “TRANS” that was just released at that time. That was the reason why it was called “weird tour”. In addition, when techno tunes are played, the sound output at the venue tends to be loud and the sound of the audience recording tends to be cracked, but as expected, the sound is distorted at the last “Computer Age”.
Even so, “Heart Of Gold”, “Helpless”, and “Ohio” were lavishly performed, and the venue was really lively. It is the remarkable aspect of mirrored recording that this atmosphere can be felt realistically. It was a live performance of a series of famous songs that were really easy to hear, and I was convinced that it was well received. For the reason I mentioned at the beginning, this time it will be released on CD-R, but even so, there is no lack of compensating for unrecorded songs!

世界中のマニアを毎週驚かせ続けてくれているマイク・ミラードが遺したテープ公開、最新の音源はニール・ヤング1983年のソロ・ツアーでした。これも今までミラードが録音していたと知られていなかった公演であり、やはり世界中のマニアを驚かせています。80年代のニールのステージを捉えたミラード録音と言えば好評発売中の「COSTA MESA 1989: MIKE MILLARD FIRST GENERATION TAPES」が挙げられますが、今回の音源はそこまで音質が良くありません。
公開時に「weird tour, weird tape」と称されたことからも察せられるでしょう。今回の録音はファースト・ジェネレーション・コピーなのですが、何故か曲間がことごとくカットされていた上に、音質がモノラルなのです。その上「Don’t Be Denied」辺りからレンジの狭い音になりはじめ、ライブ後半はいよいよレンジが狭くなってしまう。そしてオープニングに演奏された「The Old Laughing Lady」は未収録。そのせいで「weird tape」と称されたのですね。
こうした要因から推測するにミラードが録音はしたものの、一曲目を録り損ねた上にモノラルになってしまったことから、トレーダー間にあまり出回らせなかった音源なのではないでしょうか？

とはいえミラード録音の貴重な音源には変わりなく、音像自体は十分に大きいオーディエンス録音なのはさすが。今回のリリースに際してはミラードが録り損ねた「The Old Laughing Lady」を「recorder 1」にて補填。今回のミラード録音を合わせてこの日は三種類のオーディエンス録音が存在するのですが、音質的に一番優れているのがこちら。ところが「recorder 1」もまた曲間のカットが激しく、先の曲を歌い終えた後でニールが発した「thank you Los Angeles」という台詞を「recorder 2」から補填。音質的には三種類の中で一番劣る音源なのですが、唯一曲間のカットがないというのがメリット。
これによってミラード録音から失われたオープニングを再現し、なおかつ全曲収録を実現してみせました。

そうした問題を解消してみせた今回のリリースですが、演奏内容は最高。ニールが全編弾き語りというステージなだけでなく、それまでと違い彼の代表曲がずらりと並んだ魅力的な選曲です。実際この選曲や演奏内容の素晴らしさが好評に次ぐ好評を呼び、何と二月には弾き語りでマディソン・スクエア・ガーデン公演を実現させるという快挙を達成。
しかし70年代と違い、例えば「Don’t Be Denied」ではスクリーンに過去のニールやCSNYの映像が映されるという演出で会場を沸かせていますし、「Old Man」ではバンジョーの音をシーケンサーで鳴らしながら演奏するなど、単なる弾き語りだけでない演出を盛り込んだことも好評を博したのです。
ところが好評によってツアーを引き延ばしたまではよかったものの、冬に行ったせいでニールが風邪をこじらせてしまい、最後は彼の体調不良から強制終了となってしまいます。それだけにニールの体調がよく、なおかつ会場のサイズ的にもちょうどよかったこの日のユニバーサル・アンフィシアターでのステージを捉えたミラード音源は83年のソロ・ツアーを楽しむには打ってつけ。
とは一筋縄でいかないニール・ヤング。全編を弾き語りにしつつ、それでいてライブ終盤は当時リリースされたばかりのアルバム「TRANS」からのテクノ・ナンバーで締めくくるという意表を突いた展開。それが「weird tour」と称された所以でした。おまけにテクノ・チューンが演奏される際は会場の出音が大きくなってオーディエンス録音の音が割れがちなのですが、案の定ここでも最後の「Computer Age」では音が歪み気味。
それでも「Heart Of Gold」に「Helpless」、そして「Ohio」といった目くるめく名曲が惜しげもなく披露されており、実際に会場も大盛り上がり。この雰囲気がリアルに感じられるのがミラード録音の面目躍如。実に聞きやすい名曲連続の弾き語りライブであり、なるほど好評だったというのも納得。最初に触れた理由から今回はCD-Rでのリリースとなりますが、それでも未収録曲までしっかり補填して抜かりはありません！

Disc 1 (47:45)
1. Old Laughing Lady
2. Motor City
3. Revolution Blues
4. Don’t Let It Bring You Down
5. Soul Of A Woman
6. Are There Anymore Real Cowboys?
7. Old Man
8. My Boy
9. Helpless
10. Dance Dance Dance
11. Heart Of Gold
12. Don’t Be Denied
13. Pochahontas

Disc 2 (43:30)
1. Sail Away
2. Powderfinger
3. Ohio
4. Human Highway
5. After The Goldrush
6. Transformer Man
7. My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)
8. Mr. Soul
9. Comes A Time
10. I Am A Child
11. Computer Age

Uxbridge 1429