Hello everyone, I bought a 4 Track tape/reel by Ramsey Lewis, which is dated June 29, 1966 on one of the boxes, from Goodwill. The tape box is branded as "Audiotape" and notes that it is "Formula 15 Low Noise". One of the tapes has the following handwritten -- you can see this in the pictures on the listing: 1B-File 4 Track 26953 Chess Records Ramsey Lewis 6/29/1966 Can anyone help me to understand what it is that I have here? How it can be played (I'd like to convert it to digital)? Any information would be helpful...and if anyone has enough knowledge to venture a guess as to what could be on the tape that would be interesting as well. According to wikipedia, the sessions for the album Wade In The Water ended on 6/29/2966 -- which is the same date handwritten on the tape. Could this be a tape from the session for that final day or maybe some sort of album master or safety tape? I couldn't find any sessionography for Ramsey Lewis so I don't know what work, if any, was actually recorded on the 29th. I can't tell from the auction listing if I'll be getting one or two tapes. It's quite a mystery -- and I'm sure there's likely nothing exciting to be found here, but I thought it would be fun to take a chance. Anyone want to dig in and offer up any theories -- and thanks!
Very interesting, indeed. It appears that on the date written on the box, Ramsey Lewis Trio played at the 1966 Ravinia Festival in Chicago, Illinois. [Which just happened to be the home of Chess Records...] The Ramsey Lewis Trio (Maurice On Drums) Performing At The 1966 Ravinia Festival (Chicago, IL) – Maurice White I can't tell from the picture or description if the tape is 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch or something else. That would be an important detail in figuring out what kind of machine is required to play it back. You'll need to put it on a hub to put it on the tape deck. Pro tapes are usually stored without hubs because they are extra bulk and when you're storing hundreds of tapes the cost of storing a hub with each one would be outrageous... Finally, and this will be obvious on playback, it's possible [although unlikely] that the 4 tracks are recorded as two stereo tracks, not a single 4 track run. Of course, it's also possible that Joe Shmoe's band recorded over whatever was once on this tape with their own stuff... Looking forward to hearing more about unravelling this mystery tape! Good luck with it!!
Good to know! Thanks. I’ll need to find someone that can get it on a machine to see what’s there to be heard!
It appears to be splice free, so that's good. Make sure you get somebody who knows how to handle half-inch tape on a pancake.
Ravinia is located in Highland Park, which is about 25 miles north of Chicago. My first of many concerts there was Ella Fitzgerald in 1986…
I missed this when you posted your note last night. If the date on the tape is to be believed as accurate, perhaps this tape is a session tape from an early morning rehearsal for this Festival? Maybe they ran through the songs that they were going to be performing at the taping of the TV show. From a date perspective, it seem to tie in better with this program than a final session for an album that they initially began recording two months prior. Great catch!
Not yet -- I'm not having much luck finding someone to do a transfer for me. I have one other local guy that I need to contact and then I'll report back.
