Rolling Stones, The / Rubber Bowl 1972 Revised Edition / 1CD

Rolling Stones, The / Rubber Bowl 1972 Revised Edition / 1CD / Non Label

Live at Rubber Bowl, Akron, Ohio, USA 11th July 1972

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Speaking of Rubber Bowl, the Rolling Stones Akron in 1972 is known as an audience recording that is especially easy to listen to during the same year’s American tour, but even so, the best title that makes full use of the sound source has not appeared easily. It will be familiar to enthusiasts. In 2012, a Low gen version of the same sound source was released, and “RUBBER BOWL 1972” was released based on it, but it was released with problems such as sound duplication and noise, but these problems were successfully resolved. DAC board “TOURING PARTY VOL.3”
became the definitive edition.
However, it is true that the unnaturalness of the smooth texture with a weak analog feel made enthusiasts feel uncomfortable from the time the sound source was released, and in the end, the DAC version fell short. “GRAF ZEPPELIN” raised this issue. Even though it is a 1st gen., it is strange that there was no hiss in the 1972 cassette audience. In short, it became clear that equalization had been applied when the sound source was released.
Therefore, “GRAF ZEPPELIN” has made full use of technology that has evolved far since the release of those items, and has revived the original analog taste of the cassette, as well as meticulously restoring the entire sound source.The masterpiece is “RUBBER BOWL”. 1972 REVISITED”. Its natural analog feel is remarkable, and it easily surpasses the two titles mentioned above, and it has been sold out since it was very popular as the definitive version of Rubber Bowl.

Even though it was recently released at the end of 2020, it has already become difficult to obtain, proving that it was a release that excited enthusiasts. Of course, calls for a re-release were pouring in, but for this re-release, “GRAF ZEPPELIN” took it as an opportunity to review the previous release and reconsidered the sound source. The lack of analog feel that was lost when the sound source was released had already been completed in the previous release, so this time we carried out further restoration while making minor adjustments.
For example, “Sweet Virginia”, which tends to get distorted due to the aging of vintage audiences, has been carefully corrected for distortions that could not be addressed in the previous release. Of course, the final result had already shown a high degree of perfection, so there aren’t many major differences overall, but there’s still nothing to miss.
Rubber Bowl is a stereo audience that became known after entering the CD era, but the closeness of the sound image is a big attraction compared to Charlotte, which was known as a standard high quality audience for 1972 even before that.

Even so, the rubber bowl sound source is really easy to listen to because the sound image is close and it is a stereo recording. In particular, it can be said that Mick’s singing voice is captured in an extremely balanced way. Therefore, the sense of reality of the accident where Mick’s song stopped sounding at the venue due to the sound trouble that occurred in the first half of “Tumbling Dice” is really vivid. This happened so often that the situation became tense, with the audience on the verge of booing.
Mick was not discouraged by this, and was happy that he recovered by singing passionately. On the contrary, it seemed like he was even more excited, and for example, on “All Down The Line”, he exploded with shouts that kept the audience transfixed. Originally, the 1972 American tour was very exciting, but on this day it was even more sharp, and because it was a high-quality audience, it was clearly conveyed.
Mick Taylor, whose phrases are as clear as such high-tension Mick, is also truly amazing. From “Gimme Shelter”, the splendid Taylor verse is exploding, and on the other hand, “Love In Vain”, sung by Mick, is a more talkative phrase than usual. And the ultimate song is “Street Fighting Man,” which is played with a high-tension performance in the background. Not only these high-tension scenes, but also the excitement of the Rubber Bowl, which showed a very enthusiastic response to the introduction of each member including the supporter, is the secret to making this sound source attractive. The best audience of the 72 tour full of charm. For all the enthusiasts who missed the last release, don’t miss it this time!

ローリング・ストーンズ1972年のアクロンはラバー・ボウルと言えば同年のアメリカツアーの中においても特に聞きやすいオーディエンス録音として知られていながら、それでいて音源を活かし切ったベスト・タイトルがなかなか登場しなかったことでもマニアにはおなじみでしょう。2012年に同音源のLow genバージョンが登場、それを元に『RUBBER BOWL 1972』が登場したものの音のダブりやノイズといった問題を抱えたままのリリースとなってしまい、それらの問題を見事に解消したDAC盤『TOURING PARTY VOL.3』
が決定版となったのでした。
ところがアナログ感の希薄なツルリとした質感の不自然さが音源の登場時からマニアに違和感を覚えさせたのも事実でして、結局DAC盤もまた一歩及ばない結果となってしまった。その問題提起をしたのが「GRAF ZEPPELIN」。いくら1st gen.とはいえ1972年のカセット・オーディエンスでヒスノイズが皆無なのはおかしい。要は音源公開時にイコライズを施してしまっていたことが明らかになったのです。
そこで「GRAF ZEPPELIN」はそれらのアイテムのリリース時から遥かに進化したテクノロジーを駆使し、カセット本来のアナログテイストを見事に蘇らせた上で音源全体も緻密にレストアしてみせた傑作が『RUBBER BOWL 1972 REVISITED』でした。そのナチュラルなアナログ感は目覚ましいものがあり、先に挙げた二タイトルをも軽く凌駕する、ようやくのラバー・ボウル決定版として大好評からのSold Out。

2020年末という最近のリリースであったにもかかわらず、早くも入手困難となってしまった状況がマニア狂喜のリリースであったことを証明しています。もちろん再リリースの声は当然のごとく押し寄せていたのですが、今回の再リリースに際して「GRAF ZEPPELIN」は前回のリリースを見直す好機とばかりに音源を洗い直し。音源公開時に失われたアナログ感の欠如に関しては既に前回のリリースで完成の域に達していましたので、今回は微調整ながらも更なるレストアを敢行。
例えばビンテージ・オーディエンスの経年劣化によってヨレが生じやすい「Sweet Virginia」などは前回のリリースで攻めきれなかったヨレを緻密に修正。もちろん、前回で既に完成度が高い仕上がりを見せていましたので、全体的に大きな違いは少ないのですが、それでも抜かりはありません。
ラバー・ボウルはCD時代に入ってから知られるようになったステレオ・オーディエンスですが、それ以前から72年の定番良質オーディエンスとして知られていたシャーロットと比べても音像の近さは大きな魅力。

それにしてもラバー・ボウル音源は音像が近くてステレオ録音だから本当に聞きやすい。特にミックの歌声が極めてオンなバランスで捉えられているという点は随一と言っていいのではないでしょうか。それ故に「Tumbling Dice」の前半で起きた音響トラブルからミックの歌が会場で鳴らなくなってしまったアクシデントの臨場感も本当に生々しい。あまりにも頻発したものだから、会場がブーイング寸前の緊迫した状況にまで。
それにもめげず、むしろ熱唱することで持ち直したミックはエライ。それどころか彼はさらにテンションが上がったようにすら思え、例えば「All Down The Line」などは観客を釘付けにさせんばかりのシャウトが炸裂。元々テンション高めな72年アメリカツアーではありますが、この日はさらにキレッキレであることも良質オーディエンスだからこそしっかり伝えてくれる。
そんなハイテンション・ミックに負けじとフレーズが冴え渡っているミック・テイラーも本当に素晴らしい。「Gimme Shelter」からして見事なテイラー節が炸裂していますし、一方ミックが歌い上げる「Love In Vain」がまたいつも以上に饒舌なフレーズ。そして極めつけはハイテンションな演奏をバックに弾き倒す「Street Fighting Man」。こうしたハイテンションな場面だけでなく、サポートを含む各メンバー紹介にまで非常に熱狂的な反応を見せるラバー・ボウルの盛り上がりもこの音源を魅力的に昇格させてくれた秘訣。そんな魅力満載な72ツアー極上オーディエンス。前回のリリースを見逃したマニアの皆様、今回こそお見逃しなく！

(78:54)
01. Introduction
02. Brown Sugar
03. Bitch
04. Rocks Off
05. Gimme Shelter
06. Happy
07. Tumbling Dice
08. Love In Vain
09. Sweet Virginia★ヨレを緻密に修正。
10. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
11. All Down The Line
12. Midnight Rambler
13. Band Introductions
14. Bye Bye Johnny
15. Rip This Joint
16. Jumping Jack Flash
17. Street Fighting Man

Mick Jagger – Vocals, Harmonica
Keith Richards – Guitar, Vocals
Mick Taylor – Guitar
Bill Wyman – Bass
Charlie Watts – Drums

Nicky Hopkins – Piano
Bobby Keys – Saxophone
Jim Price – Trumpet, Trombone