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Patti Smith 04/08/1979

SHOWID 686743

Set I

So You Want to Be (A Rock 'n' Roll Star)
Privilge (Set Me Free)
Dancing Barefoot
Citizenship
Poppies
Oh Boy
25th Floor
Revenge
5-4-3-2-1
Pumping (My Heart)
Redondo Beach
Because the Night
Frederick
Seven Ways of Going

Set II


Set III


Comment

Band line-up:
Patti Smith – vocals, guitar, clarinet
Lenny Kaye – guitar, bass, vocals
Ivan Král – bass, guitar, vocals
Richard Sohl – keyboards
Jay Dee Daugherty – drums, percussion


Notes:

THE GENE POOLE COLLECTION VOL. 33

Collectors With This Show

User (active/rating) Media / # Show Sound Details DB Source User Source
Daniel (4/0) / View   Analog audience recording (mono) {recorded by Nick Pettis}: unknown mic > Panasonic recorder >...
Notes: THE GENE POOLE COLLECTION VOL. 33 Here's the latest installment of the Gene Poole Collection, a random wellspring of recordings which have recently surfaced. To paraphrase Lou: This is gonna go on for a while, so we should get used to each other, settle back, pull up your cushions, whatever else you have with you that makes life bearable to kick off the new decade... Some of Gene's handiwork has probably been heard by your very ears before, for the most part via the Stonecutter Archives, but this is the first major unearthing of tapes direct from the legend himself. As promising as that may seem, it's best to let the surprises hit as they are shared. The trade-off to the prolific taping on Gene's part is that the expectations for a perfect track record would be unrealistic and unfair. There will be instances of incomplete recordings, caused by late arrivals to gigs, recorder and mic malfunctions, and other assorted foibles as would befall any mortal taper. There will be times where a master from another source exists which could be superior. For the most part, Gene recorded with a variety and mics and recorders, and many shows suffered from wire dropouts, so that only one channel was extant in the capture. Due warning about the past imperfect given and out of the way, credit should be given where due as well -- for many shows thought lost forever, it's exciting to discover that many of these even in incomplete form have now cropped up. The transfers, the audio fixes, and the research all have required some lead time -- many tapes had scant info (sometimes just the name of the artist/band, with no date listed for the performance). Needless to say, gear documentation is virtually nil -- if we wait around for that precise detail to be forthcoming, nothing from the collection would probably see the light of day. For this edition, we plumbed the great depths of the Gene Poole Collection to bring you this notoriously long-lost tape. For decades, and assuredly the first time I spotted "The Soap Factory, Long Island" show on Stonecutter's trade list, I had been inquiring about this recording that Gene made. Everyone's memory was foggy on this one, maybe Stonecutter once had a copy or had seen it, but it seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth -- that is, until we re/connected with Gene again, and he turned this one up. Mind blown. So here's where credit and blame is due: in the early days of the babel-list (for all you Patti diehards who remember that), I had furnished Steve Jackson some early PSG performance dates based on the tradelists I had at the time for the pattibase, which included this unattainable show. But now the mystery was figuring out where the Soap Factory was. If Gene only saw PSG once in Long Island (see previous edition of the series), how did he end up taping this other Long Island show? About three years ago, a handbill listing this concert was auctioned off. The handbill shows "The Factory presents" with the Good Rats playing the week before this show, and limited tickets for PSG at $6 in advance, $7 at the door. The auction listing even stated that the handbill was for the Soap Factory in Long Island, but nothing else turned up in a search for this venue. The closest place was a discotheque in New Jersey. Curiously enough, the telephone numbers on the handbill all had 212 area codes, but even back in the Seventies, Long Island was utilizing 516 area codes. The 212 area code at the time was reserved for the five boroughs of New York City. That was the first hint that perhaps this show didn't actually take place out on Long Island. The "Soap Factory" was also at the time the name of a television show with dance performances and visits to discos, but none of this seemed to line up with anything resembling rock music venues. So all clues led back to the Factory. It soon became apparent that the Factory wasn't based out of Long Island but the strong Island of Staten. The Factory had originally been built in 1881, as of course, a bona fide factory manufacturing dental equipment and supplies. At some point in the late 70s, it was turned into a site for a mall, with part of the square footage carved out for a rock club. Although extremely brief in its existence, Staten Island's "largest rock showcase" housed two stages. Aside from the Good Rats and PSG playing there, they hosted other acts such as the Joe Perry Project and Ian Hunter & Mick Ronson. The club later became Snoopy's before being shuttered for good in the late 80s with the property being converted into condos. So back to Gene -- did he recall ever taking a ferry out or hitching a ride out to Staten Island to see Patti? No such recollection. And yet here was a tape where Patti makes references to Palm Sunday (yes, that fell on April 8th in 1979) right off the bat during the first number and again at some point later in the show. Well, after further cross examination, Gene revealed that he didn't tape this show after all -- it was his old friend Nick P (also see previous edition of series) who drove out there and taped it. The recording in the venue is boomy at best -- from the sounds of it, it must've been an open raw space with high ceilings, and Nick hung out in the back. Patti missed the soundcheck for this, as she admits during her fatigued stoned chatter, and that definitely doesn't aid the sound in any way. The performance here, in contrast to the 1977 shows, which are probably not a fair comparison, feels lethargic, even narcoleptic. Patti chants Ivan's name (RIP) several times before they seem to get going on their Manfred Mann cover. Aside from the mediocre quality of the sound in the master, "Rock 'n' Roll Star" and the latter half of "25th Floor" have what sound like patches from another show, and those have been left as is -- because who knows what Gene may or may not have done decades ago in re-working this. The quieter parts of the recording also have a slightly audible generated swirly noise -- somewhat reminsicent but not the same as the over-processed noise reduction that plague early attempts to remove hiss with audio software, that kind that would make us wince, circa late 90s/early 00s. At this time in 1979, the PSG shows were running in the neighborhood of two hours in length, and there's clearly more that was performed at this show, but the tape ends where it does, and so it's unlikely any more was recorded by Nick. Apologies to everyone who was misled into believing the Soap Factory, Long Island was ever an actual venue where PSG played. There was likely some miscommunication from Nick to Gene so that when Gene made his jcard for his tape he mislabeled it that way -- nope to the Soap and the wrong Island. Please consider this upload an extending of the palm branch to you all, and another in memory of Ivan. Enjoy, elegymart
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