Elton John/WA,USA 1974

Another absolute master, Stan Gutsky, also known as “Millard of Seattle”. The latest work of the master archive project, the Elton John edition, is here. Some of you may be wondering, “Who is Stan?” He is known as one of the founding staff of the prestigious “JEMS”, but he is also a great recording artist himself, and has left behind many historical masterpieces, such as LED ZEPPELIN in 1973, George Harrison in 1974, and PINK FLOYD in 1975. He is called “Millard of Seattle” because of his great skills, but he started his activities in 1972, earlier than Millard. In fact, it is said that “Millard was Gutsky of Southern California”. Unfortunately, Mr. Gutsky passed away in early 2020, but his vast master collection was left to “JEMS”. “JEMS” has been focusing on excavating Millard for the past two years, but it seems that they are now taking a break. It seems that they are finally getting serious about excavating the Gutsky master. Moreover, the collection is said to be “a treasure even greater than Millard’s.” First of all, we can expect records older than Millard’s works. As mentioned above, Gutsky started his activities in 1972, earlier than Millard. Moreover, he was one of the first to adopt the “Tandberg Model 11 portable,” which is more expensive than the equipment used by the early tapers of the world. He recorded with a high quality sound that was second to none. Secondly, there are plenty of recordings that no one knows about for the first time. In the Millard excavation project, there were many upgrades to well-known recordings, but Gutsky was not as active in trading as Millard. There are a lot of unknown recordings that no one has heard yet sleeping in his collection. Thirdly, the transfer environment needs to be improved. Even if the recording is excellent, it will be a waste of treasure if there is no equipment and environment to bring it out. Especially with vintage recordings, the equipment itself is old, and it is not uncommon for noise to be introduced just by playing it. Gutsky’s equipment is no exception, and in particular the “Tandberg Model 11” is a full-track mono that cannot be played on a standard deck. Until now, noise processing was required with an app after digitization. Therefore, “JEMS” introduced a new full-track mono head unit to the Otari open reel. It is now possible to transfer Tandberg masters without noise. This is a long digression. In short, “great recordings that you have never heard before will come out one after another!”, and this work is a pioneer of that. This is a superb audience recording of “Seattle performance on October 12, 1974”. Of course, the main character of a live album is not the taper but the musician. Speaking of Elton in 1974, it was the midst of the golden age when “Caribbean” and “Greatest Hits” were big hits in succession, and at the same time, “Here and There” was recorded. Let’s look back on the schedule and check the show’s position.・February 1st-13th: Japan (12 performances) ・February 21st-March 18th: Oceania (4 performances) ・May 5th-27th: UK #1 (3 performances) ←※Official HERE《June 28th “CARIBOU” released》 ・September 25th-November 4th: North America #1 (24 performances) ←★Here★《November 8th “GREATEST HITS” released》 ・November 8th-December 3rd: North America #2 (20 performances) ←※Official THERE ・December 20th-24th: UK #2 (5 performances) This is Elton John in 1974. The Seattle performance of this work was the 13th performance of “North America #1” immediately after the release of “CARIBOU”. If you are an avid collector, you may get a pin here. Yes, it is a concert exactly one week after Mike Millard’s masterpiece “L.A. FORUM 1974”. This work is a beautiful recording that is not inferior to the mirrored recording. It is difficult to decide which is better, as the venues are different, but the clear air and the strength of the core that penetrates the center, the beauty of the sound, and the fineness of the details… everything is wonderful. To be honest, it seems that only the sense of closeness is one step higher in “L.A. FORUM 1974”, but this can’t be helped because it depends on the position. It is clear that the basic equipment and sense are not inferior to the mirrored at all (by the way, although the “Tandberg Model 11 portable” is said to be portable, it requires 10 AA batteries and weighs more than 4.5 kg. Hiding it and bringing it in and recording with this sound… I really admire it). The set is the same as “L.A. FORUM 1974”, so I will avoid repeating it, but “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, “All The Girls Love Alice”, and “Grimsby”, which can’t be heard in “HERE AND THERE”, are also delicious hit parades. You can experience a spectacular show where all songs except “Border Song” from the astronomical hit “Greatest Hits” are performed. Although he is not as well known as Millard because he had few trades during his lifetime, Stan Gutsky was still a historical master. This is the first of the collection reprint project. This work itself is a live album that allows you to experience a luxurious Greatest Hits show at its finest, but the expectations for the future project itself are also rising. In 2022, the prestigious “JEMS” will be the birth of a masterpiece that you will definitely not be able to take your eyes off of. Stan Gutsky from Millard next year? Amazing ultra-high sound quality. Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, WA, USA 12th October 1974 TRULY PERFECT SOUND Disc 1(69:36) 1. Intro 2. Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding 3. Candle In The Wind 4. Grimsby 5. Rocket Man 6. Take Me To The Pilot 7. Bennie And The Jets 8. Daniel 9. Gray Seal 10. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 11. Burn Down The Mission Disc 2(64:16) 1. Band Introduction 2. You’re So Static 3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 4. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me 5. Honky Cat 6. All The Girls Love Alice 7. Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting) 8. Crocodile Rock 9. The Bitch Is Back 10. Your Song Elton John – vocals, piano Dee Murray – bass Davey Johnstone – guitar, mandolin, banjo Nigel Olsson – drums Muscle Schoals HornsHarvey Thompson – saxophone Ronnie Eades – baritone saxophone Harrison Calloway – trumpet Charlie Rose – trombone