Yes
Long Beach Arena
Long Beach, CA
March 19, 1974
Mike Millard Master Tapes via JEMS
The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 200
2496 Edition

Contrast Clause: 1644 Edition here:

Recording Gear: (Probably) Shure microphones > Sony TC-152SD Cassette Recorder

JEMS 2023 Transfer: Mike Millard Master Cassettes > Nakamichi RX-505 azimuth-adjusted playback > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity 3.1 capture > iZotope RX > iZotope RX9 Advanced and Ozone 9 > xACT 2.50 > FLAC

01 Pre-show
02 Intro: Firebird Suite excerpt
03 Siberian Khatru
04 And You And I
05 Close To The Edge
06 The Revealing Science Of God
07 The Ancient: Giants Under The Sun
08 Musical Interlude - Prelude - Ritual (nous sommes du soleil)
09 Roundabout
10 Starship Trooper

Known Faults: Dropouts in "Roundabout" and "Ritual" (mostly restored)

Introduction to the Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Series

Welcome to JEMS’ Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone series presenting recordings made by legendary taper Mike Millard, AKA Mike The Mike, best known for his masters of Led Zeppelin done in and around Los Angeles circa 1975-77. For the complete details on how tapes in this series came to be lost and found again, as well as JEMS' long history with Mike Millard, please refer to the notes in Vol. One: [Link]

Until 2020, the Lost and Found series presented fresh transfers of previously unavailable first-generation copies made by Mike himself for friends like Stan Gutoski of JEMS, Jim R, Bill C and Barry G. These sources were upgrades to circulating copies and in most instances marked the only time verified first generation Millard sources had been directly digitized in the torrent era.

That all changed with the discovery of many of Mike Millard’s original master tapes.

Yes, you read that correctly, Mike Millard’s master cassettes, long rumored to be destroyed or lost, have been found. Not all of them but many, and with them a much more complete picture has emerged of what Millard recorded between his first show in late 1973 and his last in early 1993.

The reason the rediscovery of his master tapes is such a revelation is that we’ve been told for decades they were gone. Internet myths suggest Millard destroyed his master tapes before taking his own life, an imprudent detail likely concocted based on the assumption that because his master tapes never surfaced and Mike’s mental state was troubled he would do something rash WITH HIS LIFE’S WORK. There’s also a version of the story where Mike’s family dumps the tapes after he dies. Why would they do that?

The truth is Mike’s masters remained in his bedroom for many years after his death in 1994. We know at least a few of Millard’s friends and acquaintances contacted his mother Lia inquiring about the tapes at the time to no avail. But in the early 2000s, longtime Millard friend Rob S was the one she knew and trusted enough to preserve Mike’s work.

The full back story on how Mike’s master tapes were saved can be found in the notes for Vol. 18 Pink Floyd, which was the first release in our series transferred from Millard’s original master tapes:

[Link]
[Link]

Yes, Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA, March 19, 1974

After nine years we've arrived at Volume 200 of the Lost and Found series documenting the extraordinary recordings made by Mike "The Mike" Millard, an occasion we've chosen to mark with the release of one his finest early recordings, Yes performing on the Tales Of Tropographic Oceans tour.

When we began the Lost and Found series in 2014, fewer than 50 known and verified Mike Millard recordings were in circulation. At that time, JEMS had uncovered a handful more thanks to the recovery of a long lost box of tapes that Millard sent to the late, great JEMS patriarch and Hall of Fame taper in his own right, Stan Gutoski.

Stan and Millard met in person on two occasions, exchanging tapes and taper tales. Their meet-ups were recounted to me when I first got to know Stan in the mid-'80s, as he told me about the guy in Southern California who used a wheelchair to sneak in his gear and made the most amazing recordings.

Several years later, Stan told me Millard had died and that he had attempted to contact Mike's mother, asking (as many did) about the fate of his tapes. From that moment on I became obsessed with Millard and what happened to his incredible tapes. It sounds silly to say it, but I truly believed in my heart that Mike's collection had to be out there somewhere. I spent 20+ years trying my best to find it.

Little did we know the launch of the Lost and Found series in 2014 and our continued efforts to track down those close to Millard would lead to meeting Jim R, the man who famously pushed Mike into many shows in the fabled wheelchair, and then to Rob S, who was cautiously and carefully sitting on the presumed-to-be-lost Millard archive for nearly 20 years.

Jim R and Rob S, and later Jim Ri, Ed F and others, were kind enough to lend their tapes to JEMS to be transferred, and by doing so, the Millard recording archive expanded five fold and became a weekend ritual for many on DIME via the Lost and Found series.

As we did with another major series milestone--releasing The Who at the Forum 1973, Mike's first-ever recording as Vol. 100--we've gone back to Millard's early taping days, before the Nakamichi 550 era, for this week's Yes show at the Long Beach Arena, only the sixth show he ever recorded. In 1974, we believe Mike was recording on a Sony deck with Shure microphones, but whereas most of his 1974 recordings are mono, this Yes show was recorded in stereo (and noted on his list as such), so it's possible he was using a different recorder or borrowed a set of microphones.

This is the second of two recordings Mike made of Yes in 1974. The LA Forum show on March 18 was released as Vol. 39 in the Lost and Found series, sourced from a Millard master cassettes to DAT transfer made by Rob S in the early 2000s when he was borrowing Mike's tapes from his mother. The Forum recording missed the encore of "Roundabout" and "Starship Trooper."

Millard's March 19 Long Beach recording has long been in circulation, but the quality of extant versions suggest they are at least a couple of generations down from the master or maybe more. Thanks to Rob S, the original Long Beach master cassettes are still in hand and were newly transferred for this release. Because of their age, an astonishing 49 years old, they did present playback challenges, but after multiple attempts, we were able to execute a clean transfer which provides the source for this release.

Recordings made in Millard's pre-Nakamichi era are generally lower fidelity, owing to the equipment used and that gear's reduced ability to manage high volume levels without distortion. Yes Long Beach '74 is no different and there are times when the recording feels unbalanced between the instrumentation. Chris Squire's bass, Rick Wakeman's keyboards or Steve Howe's guitar can dominate if not overwhelm the sound in stretches, as one can hear on the circulating copies.

That being said, the new master transfer offers improved fidelity, with high and low end restored compared to prior versions, along with sharper instrument separation and less muddiness and distortion. Jon Anderson's vocals sound particularly good, and Alan White's cymbals can now be heard above the fray. At its best moments, it might pass for a recording made on Mike's future rig. We believe the new Long Beach '74 represents a significant upgrade to circulating copies of this beloved performance. Mike himself rated this one "Good," we think it is better than that. Samples provided. You'll also hear a bit of the pre-show chatter before the lights go down that we believe is unique to this transfer.

The Yes Long Beach show has even greater significance in Millard history as it was at this very concert that Millard met Jim R, starting a long, fruitful partnership of taper and photographer. Jim tells the story in detail below.

Here's what Jim R recalled about seeing Yes in Long Beach 1974 and meeting Mike Millard for the very first time:

I attended the Yes concert on March 19, 1974 at the Long Beach Arena. I sat one section over from a man who was not yet known to me but who would become a very significant figure in my life as this was the night I met the man we would all later call Mike "The Mic" Millard. A momentous occasion. It is truly an honor to be included in Volume 200.

I went with a friend and we got there plenty early. I was minding my own business, just people watching, when I looked over to the section to my right and there is a guy taping microphones to the railing in front of him. We were sitting in the Loge Level. I sat in Row E and Mike was in the first row, Row A.

Mike's row had a short concrete wall in front with a handrail along the top. It was this handrail to which Mike was taping his microphones. I think to myself, "Who is this guy? I need to find out his story." So I move down and I strike up a conversation with him. To make a long story short, we were both big Yes fans and it turns out we only lived about five miles apart in Orange County.

Mike had a friend with him shooting 8mm movie film with no sound. Mike and I exchanged numbers and a day or two later Mike calls the house, my mom takes down his information, and yes I still have her handwritten message. I was 19 at the time and still lived at home.

A week or so later, Mike, his friend and myself get together at Mike's house where we watch the 8mm movie while attempting to sync up Mike's sound to the picture. We would get it in sync for several joyous seconds, then the two sources would drift apart. Rinse and repeat.

A few months later we started going to concerts together dreaming up ways to smuggle in our gear. A little trivia here: before the wheelchair, they would let in recorders and camera gear. Easy peasy. Then they prohibited recorders but allowed in camera gear. So I had a hollowed out zoom lens case that would hold Mike's batteries. If they stopped Mike, he would simply give up his batteries knowing all along I had a fresh set. This worked for several shows. Then we had to improvise again.

I hope you enjoy the sights and sounds on this one. My photos are black and white from quite a distance away, they are what they are.

Cheers to my buddy Mike. RIP to him along with Chris Squire and Alan White.
###

JEMS is immensely proud to partner with Rob, Jim R, Ed F, Barry G, Jim Ri and many others to release Millard's historic recordings and to help set the record straight about the man himself.

We can’t thank Rob enough for reconnecting with Jim and putting his trust in our Millard reissue campaign. He kept Mike’s precious tapes under wraps for two decades, but once Rob learned of our methods and stewardship, he agreed to contribute the Millard DATs and cassettes to the program. Our releases would not be nearly as compelling without Jim’s memories, photos and other background contributions. As many of you have noted, the stories offer an entertaining complement to Mike’s incredible audio documents.

As we've written with our last two releases, the Lost and Found series will go on summer hiatus for the next several weeks, but will return in the fall with more from the Millard archive. How much more? Thankfully there are still a good number of DIME friendly and DIME unfriendly shows to go and we remain ever vigilant in our efforts to track down the 40-ish missing shows we know Mike recorded but for which we do not have a copy (master, first generation or otherwise). There are still Mike friends and conspiritors out there with whom we have made contact, but have yet to confirm what tapes they have from Millard. Fingers crossed.

The Lost and Found series would have stopped dead in its tracks without the contributions and support of my friends Jim R and Rob S. Thank you both for your generosity, kindness and for embracing the mission to get Mike's incredible work out to the world. Professor Goody has also been steadfast in his availability to fine-tune the recordings and we thank him for always being ready and able. Last but not least, sometimes I think of JEMS as a law firm and eventually other partners go on the door and are added to the firm name. Suffice it to say, mjk5510 made partner many years ago and he is just as much a part of JEMS as the four of us who started it.

On that note, we remember the late Jared Houser and the aforementioned Stan Gutoski for their seminal contributions to JEMS, along with MS, and longtime pals slipkid68, ExitClub, BrotherKM, Slowburn, Hoserama and many others who took this hobby of preserving live recordings as seriously as we did.

Finally, cheers to the late, great Mike the MICrophone. His work never ceases to impress. May he rest in peace.

BK for JEMS