Thanks for all that info on Pete. I never got to meet him in person. That time you had with him is a treasure and your appreciation of it shines in the 3 three paragraphs you posted!
If it's multi-tracked it must be being recorded officially, as a separate track for each instrument needs to be recorded, assembled and mixed. Big difference between multi-tracks and soundbboards. Soundboards can be recorded unofficially by someone simply plugging into the mixing desk. Re. Dylan bootlegs; a lot of the stuff from Fragments and Trouble No More sound very much like good soundboards to me and not multi-tracks.
I'm thrilled at this Rainbow release. The performance is so much more lived-in and cathartic to me than the Roxy performance (which feels a bit tentative). Neil and the band more than rise to meet the nature of the songs - if anything, they surpass the agony and anger of the studio record (also, Nils' is ON it in this show!). Agree with others that it's great show for posterity as a result, despite the bootleg quality. For those put off by the quality, for what it's worth, I generally find my ears adjust to the sound after a short bit and the music comes through nicely. It's not that different from listening to some lo-fi records or records from earlier in the history of the recording industry. Probably for the best they edited out the Helpless rap - you still get to hear the overall nature of his raps in the extended Tonight's the Night reprise. Though if haven't heard the bootleg with the unedited raps, do yourself a favor and check it out. It's hilarious. Neil is on fire (in several ways I'm sure...).
There is a big difference in the sound quality between the Trouble No More and Fragments live tracks.In the booklet for Trouble No More it says which tracks are soundboards (I only have the 2 disc version) and they are the best sound quality soundboards I have ever heard.As good as most multitrack live recordings.On the other hand the live disc of Fragments has a lot of audience recordings to the extent you can clearly hear audience conversations during some of the songs.The only disappointing thing in that fantastic set and it’s hard to believe they couldn’t access better recordings. Anyway back to Neil.
If I remember correctly, the Buenos Aires track and one other are soundboard, but the rest are all AUDs (of which I have had the full recordings for years )
Rainbow is one of the highlights of NYA thus far. Superb. Excited to see what is next in the Bootleg Series.
I deleted Rainbow from my Qobuz favorites when I starting listening to it on headphones on my walk. It was not the SQ I was expecting. You all have convinced me to give it another try. Same with Ducks.
If you can tolerate rough sounding bootlegs, the Rainbow show is worth another go. It's a ramshackle document of a time when Neil and the Santa Monica Flyers were in the middle of an emotional hurricane. It's perfectly understandable if the sound quality turns you off. You're not alone. The Ducks album is pristine sounding compared to the Rainbow release. It's Neil as sideman though, he's on equal footing with the rest of the band. These two releases won't garner any new fans for Neil. I suspect they won't be big sellers either.
The only 'regret' I have is buying the Rainbow show on vinyl. I do think it would be better served on CD. I also wish we had it in the same quality as the Roxy release as some of the playing is off the charts, particularly during that Tonight's The Night reprise.
The Rainbow show is most definitely not a headphone album. For full vibe effect, you’re best served turning the lights down, pouring a drink and blasting it on your main system!
Take Rainbow for what it is - a bootleg. Enjoy Rainbow for what it is - a bootleg. I'm from the era when you'd see a guy in the parking lot before going into a venue stuffing his cassette recorder into the crotch of his jeans in order to capture a show. Rainbow is from that era.
Soundboard tapes can be made officially, taped and released by the artist. There is no law of nature that won't allow you to bootleg multi tracks, I think there is a Ducks one.
Absolutely barking I know and in 24/192 flac no less! Cd quality would be fine but the downloads are all on one usb and can play in my car should nuclear war etc force me to leave chez Torch in a hurry. Oh just out of interest my High Flyin download is 24/176 flac which makes me think maybe this material was complied many moons ago along with the old Harvest DVD Audio and the On The Beach, American Stars and Bars, Hawks, Re actor dvd audios.
Bootleg recordings were illegal pressings, unauthorized by the artist and or record label no matter their source such as soundboard, cassette player, etc.> Dylan's Great White Wonder, CSNY's Wooden Nickel, Young's "I'm Happy Y'all Came Down", etc. Neil's Official Bootleg Series gives them legitimacy and does its best to improve upon the sound of the original from back in the day. Their jackets also try to capture that as well. Neil has focused on recordings that were popular, most desired by fans, in the bins or under the counter from that time period. That said, we will see and have already seen a wide variety of sound quality in these official, legal releases. I don't know Neil's plan nor his organization's plan for the future of these kinds of releases. I do know there's a lot more out there, and some of it in remarkable quality that will most likely get an even better boost from Neil and his team. At one time releases like Rainbow were held in awe because it's all we had > it's what we got. In many instances in these times one can go to a show and leave the venue with a soundboard recording of the show one just saw and listen to it on the drive home. Some of us here had a similar experience with shows like Rainbow, and we knew and understood their sound quality shortcomings, but that was the technology then, bootleg technology. A disclaimer, I never recorded shows, never owned a device to record a show, and over the course of time owned a handful of bootleg vinyl > ones that were important to me. The Grateful Dead were among the first to allow fans to record through a variety of means and asked tapers to please not sell them to other fans but trade them. The Dead came to see that there was a whole industry that could be built around their shows and have relentlessly been releasing them for a long time now. For those who are discouraged by the lack of fidelity on a couple of Neil's recent outings, I'd encourage you to listen for what they are and enjoy the ride.
It would be interesting to know if all the songs on this release are also on the boot from a few years ago.
For those who bought Rainbow on vinyl, have you tried playing it on both mono and stereo settings? If so, would you please share your findings. I'm leaning much toward mono for my preferred setting. It sounds cleaner, less distorted, more in the room.
I’m not paying for thirty year old audience recordings, or any audience recordings, in 2023. Got burned with the Citizen Kane release, never again. I’ll accept sbds, but audience recordings, no chance.
That’s the beauty of it. You don’t need to buy it…nor do you need to tell the world everything that you’re not buying but that’s a different conversation.
I knew Pete well during the 1980s and early '90s; when we first visited London in 1987, he and Caroline had us over to dinner. He and I were both fanatical for Neil Young records, and obsessive, and frequently mailed each other singles, test pressings etc. across the pond (I was, and am, in Florida). He knew I loved Crowded House, and dutifully sent me every CD single that appeared in the UK (and there were lots of them!) At his request, I did a lot of research on Buffalo Springfield dates in Florida for "Ghosts on the Road"; sadly, the last conversation we had found me chastising him (a little) for leaving my name out of the thank-you section. A lovely fellow, brilliant, studious and thorough.
Thanks! A lucky man you are!!! When he added me to his thank you section I "chastised" him for my doing so little yet had fun researching for him. I don't recall his answer, but it was very gracious. Pete was a good guy in the truest sense of the saying.
Do you listen to the music, the performance, the history and the context when you buy a archive CD? Or just the sound quality? You sound like some Italian guy on the Genesis Movement site who said he couldn't stand live recordings with any audience presence audible. SMH.
I can understand why purchasing an audience recording could be disappointing if you werent expecting it to be that. But I'm confused as to why someone would get blindsided by that these days? I mean most people have internet access where much can be read about what to expect from each release. Not to mention streaming services offer a chance to listen to a release before you buy a physical copy. Many releases also have sample tracks released in advance and other sites offer free 30 second previews. I'm constantly researching a purchase and this site is clearly an invaluable resource for that. But there really isnt much of a reason to.be purchasing anything these days without knowing what to expect. If you were blindsided and burned by the Bottom Line audience recording I've got to say that's kind of on you. The sound quality of these recordings is subpar no question, but sometimes absolutely amazing moments happen when nobody is properly recording. I like the idea of those moments being included as part of an artists official story. At least for myself I'm usually able to see past the sound quality issues if something is exceptional enough but obviously everyone is going to have different tolerances on that kind of thing
