Vassar Clements, Laurel Theater, Knoxville TN 3-8-97 (New and Improved!!)
Audience Recording: (analog cassette master tape to digital transfer) 44.1khz, 16bit
Recorded by David Emanuel
New Transfer: Sony TC-WE 475 > Gemini DRP-1


As far as I know I'm the only one who has this recording.  There was a listing for it on eTree by someone else but I have not had confirmation of it as of yet.  Anyway, I was the only one I knew of recording this unless the sound guy did and he let the recording out.  The Laurel theater was an old church near the University of Tennessee Campus in Knoxville, first built as the Fort Sanders Presbyterian Church, constructed in 1898. It was later used as the auditorium of the now defunct, alternative School, Laurel High School until about 10 years ago with it being shared as a community center, and it is used as the Jubilee Community Center today.  It is a small auditorium, at that time, with folding chairs.  The acoustics are very lively - you can hear a pen drop.  More information on this theater can be found here: http://www.jubileearts.org/laurel.htm

Recently I found more information in an article about the weekend that Vassar performed.  There was a 2 day festival (Friday and Saturday 3-7, and 3-8 1997) called the Jubilee Festival.  Vassar played on the second evening of this gathering of musicians at the Laurel Theater.  Others mentioned in the article who performed were Reggie Harris, Mark Harris and Boyd Derring (with Vassar Clements insinuated although they may have performed on their own too) as well as Paula Larke and the Golden Gospel Singers.

I recall the evening that Vassar was at Laurel; a sunny, warm evening in early March - Spring was certainly on its way!  IÂ’m not sure if there was another group playing this night or not because his performance was right at 80 minutes & somewhat short, but just enough to fit onto one CD.  However, he does say near the end of the recording to "stick around" because there was more to come (not him though).  There was a lot of clapping initially on the master tape I made, but thank to George (kingrue of TTD) who worked his magic was able to decrease it by quite a bit without impacting the rest of the volume. The master tape of this recording was found in my basement closet recently after a good friend of mine and I had discussed the 'Old And In The Way' recordings with Garcia, Rowan, Clements and others, and we both recalled that Vassar had played in Knoxville where we both live.  Upon finding the tape, I quickly transferred it to digital format, listening as I went- the first time this concert has been listened to in over 20 years!  I uploaded a digital copy to TTD initially, but in conversing with George who I sent some other recordings to render, we decided to also send him the master tape from this show to see what he might be able to do with it, given the new equipment he had just purchased.  There is no doubt that this rendering is superior.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!

Lineage/edits:  Audience recording - from the back (center) of the auditorium with Sony WMD-3 Pro Walkman with ECM-907 Microphone (120 degrees stereo separation on a mic stand) onto TDK SA-100 (Dolby B) with a quick flip to side B and immediately pressing record again > Sony TC-WE 475 > Gemini DRP-1 (SD Wave Recorder 44.1 kHz) & Editing to reduce clapping and normalization with Editing: Soundforge by friend, George.  A Very Big Thanks to George for his help!!! (His rendering reduced hiss considerably!!!) > CD Wave Editor (by me) for slight editing (getting rid of some dead air) & Tracking > TraderÂ’s Little Helper for FLAC level 8 Files and Fingerprints creation and Archive.org automated rendering for the creation of torrent and other files necessary here.

The Show (and files):
1.  VC-97-3-8-01 Tuning
2.  VC-97-3-8-02 Hillbilly Jazz
3.  VC-97-3-8-03 Band Intro
4.  VC-97-3-8-04 Swing Street
5.  VC-97-3-8-05 Boogie
6.  VC-97-3-8-06 There AinÂ’t No Cows in Texas
7.  VC-97-3-8-07 (Banter)
8.  VC-97-3-8-08 Midnight Moonlight
9.  VC-97-3-8-09 Uncle Pen
10. VC-97-3-9-10 (Banter)
11. VC-97-3-8-11 Say Goodbye to The Blues
12. VC-97-3-8-12 High Lonesome Sound
13. VC-97-3-8-13 Catfish John
14. VC-97-3-8-14 Black Mountain Rag
15. VC-97-3-8-15 Bill Bailey (Won't You Please Come Home)
16. VC-97-3-8-16 Lonesome Fiddle Blues
17. VC-97-3-8-17 (Banter)
18. VC-97-3-8-18 My Sweet Love Ain't Around
19. VC-97-3-8-19 (Banter-Outro)
20. VC-97-3-8-20 Patty On The Turnpike
18. VC-97-3-8-18 Patty On the Turnpike

**PLEASE TRADE ONLY IN LOSSLESS FORMAT!!!**

The Band:
Vassar Clements - Fiddle, Vocals
Reggie Harris- Guitar
Boyd Derring - Bass (mandolin?)
Rich Campbell- Guitar, Vocals
Joe Turrey - Piano, Sax, Other Instruments?, Vocals

VC-97-3-8-01 Tuning.flac:71d3b62bc6fe6181feba34a73627905b
VC-97-3-8-02 Hillbilly Jazz.flac:59414df015576f4420198579f0620d9c
VC-97-3-8-03 Band Intro.flac:3abf54e68fb54ab563b0b402b9806e36
VC-97-3-8-04 Swing Street.flac:41404aaf368150c98c821ab97082d2fe
VC-97-3-8-05 Boogie.flac:b81d740767f08f264da5b8a32675b183
VC-97-3-8-06 There Ain't No Cows In Texas.flac:08b0008966684480f7ef78e963185595
VC-97-3-8-07 (Banter).flac:f4afec679ae61c75c6b6d763219102ab
VC-97-3-8-08 Midnight Moonlight.flac:1ea57554530610bb00a1ba6efaf9d718
VC-97-3-8-09 Uncle Pen.flac:c0408f0f3d78ee2c95ecd8948e7d3cd7
VC-97-3-8-10 (Banter).flac:34ffbde0d3cb719b7d6ab1ac28ba6574
VC-97-3-8-11 Say Goodbye To The Blues.flac:8dde282d904fee47830c2d1941ebde88
VC-97-3-8-12 High Lonesome Sound.flac:02f3535e9bb2976e39d79475fbaa3d3f
VC-97-3-8-13 Catfish John.flac:def8cd543922ec18c15e6d1e0db295b9
VC-97-3-8-14 Black Mountain Rag.flac:5f24fa6d8e25b759a8f6049bb1a4a38c
VC-97-3-8-15 Bill Bailey (Won't You Please Come Home).flac:dac3ea264c83922e15aa945f59fffa3c
VC-97-3-8-16 Lonesome Fiddle Blues.flac:e882c88d220f8b04068fe37b1ea941fd
VC-97-3-8-17 (Banter).flac:efb193b2fd8c53614e9f59589f818578
VC-97-3-8-18 My Sweet Love Ain't Around.flac:65cf3d74fb78b3e6685c57b204eaf43d
VC-97-3-8-19 (Banter- Outro).flac:01644daeb3fa4453ba3de022fd2d6fd4
VC-97-3-8-20 Patty On The Turnpike.flac:9f40ba82a9f37d37302c8fbb38ff0726