B.B. King - 08/24/81
Agora Ballroom, New Haven, CT
Source:

View Details - major notes.

Media Type:

Flac

Media Count:

2

Notes:

98:30 min Date has been corrected to Aug 24, 1981, not 1983.

Tech Notes:

B.B. King and Orchestra
Agora Theater
New Haven, Connecticut
August 24, 1981

Source: unknown recording gear

Transfer: Master cassette > Sony deck > SBAudigy2 > PC > Soundforge > CDarchitech > CDR

Additional post production: Soundforge > WAV > (EAC tested) > TLH [SB's aligned] Flac level 8

This recording originally surfaced on dime in June 2010. I forgot the uploaders name.

Traders Den 02/01/16.

Re-tracking and level balancing by kingrue upload 696.

===========================================================================================

It's been over 5 years and I thought it was time to revisit this recording and do some research on this.

For me, it was a huge curiosity with a suspicious date. I had to do a lot of homework on this to pull facts together.

Since I've spent decades studying BB, I guess I'd be the one to figure this out.

Now I will lay out the facts that I've compiled to prove my case that this comes from 1981 and not 1983.

The most notable issue is that BB mentions Leonard Gill as the guitar player.

Leonard Gill left the band around November 1982, being replaced by Leon Warren around December 1982.

Secondly, during this Agora show, BB has a 10 piece band. By the summer of 1982, BB had reduced his band down to 7 members.

There were 3 additional brass musicians in the band for this Agora show. I have dates of membership written below.

There is very little recorded evidence of these 3 members, which makes it hard to verify their exact time spent with BB.

Those 3 members are: Raymond Harris, Walter Berry, Robert Garner.

Though I need to mention that when BB introduces the band members and says Tenor Sax player Robert (Garner ?), it sounds like

he says Robert Dunn on the Agora tape. But to make things even more strange, I own a signature from 1981 from the Tenor Sax player,

clearly spells Robert Gann (though that could be a shorten quick scribble for Garner).

So there is a bit of mystery about the accurate name of the tenor sax player. Garner, Gann or Dunn?

Okay, I don't want to get side tracked here, back to the facts.

Thirdly, the song titled 'Gettin' On Down' is very rare that was never officially recorded and only played for a very short time.

I have a lot of live material from the 1983 tour and 'Gettin' on Down' was not played in 1983.

Luckily it was recorded live at another show in Norfolk, VA on Feb 14, 1981. (which surfaced about 18 months ago).

The band member listing for Norfolk matches that of the Agora show, except for a different drummer, but that's no big deal.

The horn players are all the same and this is the key factor here.

Which in my opinion is the final validation that my belief of Agora being from an earlier date.

To narrow this down even more, looking through my tour database, it's plausible that BB was in New Haven around the first week

of February and also in Connecticut during the 4th week of May 1981.

BB had made the Connecticut area a regular stop during the early 80's.

From 1983 to 1990 BB King was playing at the Palace Theater in New Haven, no Agora gigs during this time.

With all things considered and facts presented, I'm making my best educated call and dating this February 1981.

I have spent a considerable amount of time looking for newspaper ads or reviews from the Agora and I couldn't find anything in print.

No posters, no ticket stubs, nothing.



10 Member Orchestra
Keyboards – Eugene Carrier (1980-1987)
Bass – Russell Jackson (1979-1984)
Guitar – Leonard Gill (1979-1982)
Drums – Herman Jackson (mid 1981-1982)
Trumpet – James Bolden (mid 1980-2015)
Trumpet – “The Chase” Walter Berry (Feb 1981 - July(?) 1981)
Trombone – "Sugar Ray" Raymond Harris (mid 1980 - mid 1981)
Tenor Sax – “The Memphis Kid” Robert Garner (1981 - ???) (This guy is a complete mystery to me.)
Baritone Sax – Eddie Synigal (1979-1981)
Conductor – Calvin Owens (1955-1957) (1979-1983)



Recording Notes:

BB mentions New Haven at the end of 'Thrill Is Gone', so we know this is New Haven.

EAC compression test indicates that this is a 2 channel Mono recording. I was a little disappointed to see that.

Now that I've seen the results, I'd bet that the master tape is in stereo and if this had been originally in mono, the channels

peaks would be slightly askew, but these peaks are perfectly aligned. It's clear to me that someone purposely took 1 channel and split into both channels, making this into mono.

But don't let that bother you, this recording is really good quality.

I just wish I knew what recording gear was used and find the master so I could do a fresh transfer in stereo.

This also need retracking, I found 3 additional songs that needed to be separated and added into the set list.

The rare song 'Gettin' on Down' is quick and short and BB is trying to get down in the gutter and he almost makes it there.

Though his band doesn't get that low, his style of blues has always been an up-tempo blues.

Did you know that BB isn't even considered traditional blues... They say once you add horns, it ain't blues no more..

But BB still had the blues and this performance shows all of that.

I still need to discover when this precisely took place. I need to find newspaper reviews or advertisements for this concert.

Is there anyone in Traders Den or dime land that can find some piece of written document, placing an exact date.

oh and one more thing to mention. BB always did 2 shows per night (when he wasn't playing a festival gig).

Looking at the time length on this might suggest that this is the Late Show.

Thanks for reading my novel, HA. My work here is done. Time to Get on Down !!!!


Side A
01 Blues Band #1
02 Blues Band #2
03 B.B. King Introduction Jam
04 Everyday I Have The Blues
05 Blues Instrumental
06 Caldonia
07 When It All Comes Down
08 Night Life

Side B
09 I Like To Live The Love
10 How Blue Can You Get
11 Why I Sing The Blues
12 Never Make Your Move Too Soon
13 Band Introductions
14 Gettin' On Down
15 Thrill Is Gone

Side C
16 Happy Birthday to Linda
17 I Just Can't Leave Your Love Alone
18 There Must Be A Better World
19 Fanfare Outro

Total Time = 98:30 min

Enjoy

George

=======================================
Fingerprints:

01 Blues Band #1.flac:b2ee6c312d415611db5259665ad44696
02 Blues Band #2.flac:9a022cbda9580d0ebf898004fd987e73
03 B.B. King Introduction Jam.flac:611818850d91ff301cc931f6848d6f2e
04 Everyday I Have The Blues.flac:e41dc5b842671279278eec51e6bcb0d6
05 Blues Instrumental.flac:e9064f376ab7a2107786e5f822a17c27
06 Caldonia.flac:7d643a7c5937e67d01cbf5e51d2a2a18
07 When It All Comes Down.flac:75af353bbdab4dbb939b5f33bbcbd2bd
08 Night Life.flac:8472f9559dbeacbb988fd10b3de6625c
09 I Like To Live The Love.flac:7528e1f014e39dedc27a3dfa6190b13e
10 How Blue Can You Get.flac:93a7f150ff3a879a90b93b6fdbcbda7f
11 Why I Sing The Blues.flac:e74b01ed10c2825c1ff89baf230504dd
12 Never Make Your Move Too Soon.flac:9b3ba50047dc7db9e6008eee1564f0f3
13 Band Introductions.flac:26f7f59b990dec43d2df1053315918b1
14 Gettin' On Down.flac:32d035e63ff18778b6c31d5173c687e8
15 Thrill Is Gone.flac:cc0fe90a9977a1760d3e5dc454e3645c
16 Happy Birthday to Linda.flac:d623764f20e7649b678b219a173fa6cd
17 I Just Can't Leave Your Love Alone.flac:523ff23a9475d247422e9454d95a78c2
18 There Must Be A Better World.flac:0f5a1806a7c0a2f5339d55131a5c6a29
19 Fanfare Outro.flac:89294e08f36e0d6c9b72b8fc5488e082

Checksum file saved to disk.

No errors occured.

Trades Allowed: Yes Traded From:

Show Rating:

Sound Rating:

A-

Reference #:

Generation:

0

Lists: georgerue |
Owned by George Rue · Last Updated May 23, 2023


B.B. King 08/24/81
Agora Ballroom, New Haven, CT
Set I
Blues Band #1
Blues Band #2
B.B. King Introduction Jam
Everyday I Have The Blues
Blues Instrumental
Caldonia
When It All Comes Down
Night Life
I Like To Live The Love
How Blue Can You Get
Why I Sing The Blues
Never Make Your Move Too Soon
Band Introductions
Gettin' On Down
Thrill Is Gone
Happy Birthday to Linda
I Just Can't Leave Your Love Alone
There Must Be A Better World
Fanfare Outro
Set II
 
Set III
 
Comment
Keyboards – Eugene Carrier
Bass – Russell Jackson
Guitar – Leonard Gill
Drums – Herman Jackson
Trumpet – James Bolden
Trumpet – “The Chase” Walter Berry
Trombone – Raymond Harris
Tenor Sax – “The Memphis Kid” Robert Gunn
Baritone Sax – Eddie Synigal
Conductor – Calvin Owens
Last Changed By George Rue
Click 'Edit Show' or the 'Set I(II)(III)' or 'Comment' text to make corrections.
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Cached: Thu, 28 Mar 2024 04:22:50 EDT