Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Blossom Music Center
Cuyahoga Falls
Cleveland, Ohio
June 23, 1987

Digital Master Clone via JEMS Archive

Likely but unverified recording gear: AKG 460 mins > Sony PCM-F1/beta Deck

Transfer/Lineage: Beta Masters > Sony Beta Deck (model unknown) > Panasonic SV 3700 DAT > DAT rip to 16/44.1 .wav

1. Breakdown
2. Think About Me
3. American Girl
4. My Life, Your World
5. Here Comes My Girl
6. Listen To Her Heart
7. For What It’s Worth
8. The Waiting
9. Don’t Come Around Here No More
10. It’ll All Work Out
11. Ballad of Easy Rider
12. Runaway Trains
13. Should I Stay or Should I Go
14. Even The Losers
15. Jammin’ Me
16. Refugee
17. Don’t Do Me Like That
18. Bye Bye Johnny

Tom Petty ñ lead vocals, 6 and 12 string electric and acoustic guitars
Mike Campbell ñ lead guitar, 12-string guitar, acoustic guitar
Howie Epstein ñ bass guitar, harmony vocals
Benmont Tench ñ acoustic and electric pianos, Hammond and Vox organs
Stan Lynch ñ drums, percussion

The JEMS team has been aware of the recent influx of recordings of the late Tom Petty and we wanted to give another.

While we wish these were better times for this post, it is also an excellent time to remember that we, as music lovers, collectors, and above all, human beings, are not getting any younger and it is time to be generous with others and circulate those recordings that you have had hidden for years. That cassette that you recorded in the ë80s and that you took care of but never bothered to transfer can be the holy grail for another fan. It is a time to reflect on that.

Bowie, Kantner, Lemmy and recently, Petty, were (among many others) artists who left their unmistakable mark. It is time to appreciate the time we have, to enjoy the songs of each one of them and to pay tribute to their works.

This time, JEMS is proud to present an early digital audience recording of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the Blossom Music Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The recording predates DAT and was was made on a Sony Beta machine and PCM-F1 digital recorder, a relatively enormous set of gear deployed very effectively by one or the other of a pair of midwest tapers who were pioneers in early digital recordings. It was later transferred to DAT by our friend AK, who sent the extracted .wav file our way.

Petty collectors know that a cassette master of this show has been posted before on DIME, but this new digital source is a material upgrade and again showcases the incredible quality these digital tapers were able to achieve in the midí80s. Samples provided.

The recording, though superior in many respects, did need a bit of work. There were a few noises in one of the channels that were easily fixed by copying portions of the other channel to give integrity to the recording. It only happens two or three times, but it was necessary to note. Tape switches occurred between songs, so no music was lost (in this aspect the new source is also superior, as the other known recording has a cut in “The Waiting”). Some hot levels were adjusted (all individually, no noise reduction or general normalization was used) and some dropouts were removed. The recording is now enjoyable and, in my opinion, perfect to be circulated, though we did have to remove one officially released track.

This is dedicated, of course, to Tom Petty, to his memory, for all the music he left behind, for all the moments. He was one of the greatest ever. He will be sadly missed.

Thanks to AK for providing the source material. If you’re a Petty fan, you’re not likely to find a higher-quality audience tape from this era.

Enjoy this recording and never forget to run away, find you a lover, go away somewhere all bright and new.

frogster

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