Continuing with radio transcriptions of the 1960's this week. Featuring the Hollywood Bowl debut of 25 year-old Wunderkind Indian Conductor Zubin Mehta, who began his long association with the orchestra in 1961 with this performance, featuring pianist Byron Janis, of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #3, recorded by the Armed Forces Radio Service on August 1, 1961.

Mehta was something of a shot-in-the-arm for the Orchestra, which had gone through much of the previous decade in the musical doldrums, highlighted by the occasional guest conductor or soloist. Mehta brought enthusiasm back to the orchestra and the audience, by introducing a lot of adventuresome programming and trying unconventional things. Who could ever forget the L.A. Phil and The Mothers Of Invention at UCLA? Zubin Mehta came along and was at the right place at the right time.

And this recording is right about where it all started.

Another one of those concerts that hasn't seen the light of day since it was recorded. Even though it was pressed by AFRTS for use overseas, it's not likely it got a lot of airplay. And it certainly hasn't been reissued.

So yes, we're looking at yet another rarity here. Lucky you.

Another rare, and probably unheard one from The Hollywood Bowl this weekend. This time it's Hugh Masekela, who was riding high on the crossover hit Grazin' In The Grass and appearing at The Hollywood Bowl for the first time on August 14, 1968.

Oddly, part of a Fashion Show put on by The Broadway Department Stores in Los Angeles, Masekela was sandwiched in between Fall Fashion Previews and The Shopping Experience At The Broadway. But it was still enough to make an impression on the audience, and luckily it was recorded and can now be enjoyed.

Before Hugh Masekela came on the scene, Jazz from South Africa was thought not to exist, at least in the States. Certainly, it was heard about and talked about among Jazz aficianados, but it was Masekela who turned everyone, including an audience steeped in rock and pop, on to a new and exciting take on the Jazz idiom.

Coming in at a little less than a half-hour (with one or two numbers missing and a supposed 2nd half which never materialized) it's a memorable slice of musical history from an influential and much admired musician we just don't hear much about these days.

Except here.

Get ready for Monday.

Something special and something probably never heard before. James Brown and His Famous Flames, live at The Hollywood Bowl, recorded September 16, 1966.

Anyone who has seen James Brown live before knows his sets were non-stop, high-voltage from beginning to end. And this set from 1966 is recorded during a particularly good period for Brown.

It's never been issued by anyone, anywhere as far as I know and it's the complete 55 minute set.

One or two things to mention before you hit the download or play buttons - Even though this is what is considered these days as a Soundboard recording, it's still pretty crude by comparison to what's available now in live recordings. James Brown's voice distorts quite a bit and I've tried to lessen the harshness of the offending sound, but distortion is almost impossible to get rid of without doing some drastic equalizing to make up for it. But overall, it's not that bad and is a small caveat for what is a recording heard by no one since it was originally recorded.

All that said, here is an incredibly rare and spirited performance by one of the legends of Soul and Funk.

Enjoy.

Something special and rare this weekend. A set by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet, recorded live at Hollywood Bowl on August 11, 1967. They were the opening act for a Summer Jazz concert which also included Count Basie and Lou Rawls. I'll be including those in the coming weeks, or the next time it feels like Summer in Los Angeles (it's 90 degrees in Santa Monica today). Perfect hot day music.

Needless to say, this hasn't been available in any form anywhere since it was recorded. So it's a special concert and it's a great one.

Enjoy. And if you're on the West Coast, dip into something cool and turn this up.

Something a bit special this weekend. A Hollywood Bowl concert featuring Dave Brubeck and his Quartet as opening act for Keely Smith with Nelson Riddle's Orchestra from 1960. I've posted the second half of this concert before, which featured The Kingston Trio, but not the opening acts and many people have asked me if there is any live Keely Smith (apart from the Louie Prima/Keely Smith Vegas gigs) from early on in her solo career. Ironically, this is one of her first appearances as a solo artist and her first-ever appearance at the Hollywood Bowl.

And Brubeck is wonderful as always, with Paul Desmond paving a smooth way.

Good concert all around - enjoy and get comfy for the next hour.

(Nancy Wilson - Nat "King" Cole - In a word, magic)

October 4, 1964 saw an extraordinary group of people assembled on stage at the Hollywood Bowl to raise funds and awareness for defeating a Proposition on the November ballot. Proposition 14, or the attempt by Realtor groups and the John Birch Society to nullify the Rumford Fair Housing Initiative that passed in 1963. A veritable who's who of Hollywood, with orchestra led by none other than Nelson Riddle and emcee's Joey Bishop and Milton Berle introducing a lineup of talent that included Nancy Wilson and Nat "King" Cole.

I've extracted the Wilson and Cole sets out for this segment.

This goes under the heading of "previously unknown concert tapes", as I don't believe any commercial (or otherwise) copy of this concert has been available before today.

You get to hear it first.

Taking a brief foray into the Transcription Service of Armed Forces Radio this week. Here is a recording of a concert at the Hollywood Bowl by The Los Angeles Philharmonic, guest conducted by Walter Hendl and featuring legendary violinist Issac Stern in a performance of the then-newly discovered Violin Concerto Number 1 by Bela Bartok.

The concert was recorded during the 1961 Hollywood Bowl season. Stern recorded this piece for Columbia Records with the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy also in 1961. I doubt this particular performance has seen the light of day, so it's something of a rarity for Stern collectors.

And even if you're not, it's still rare and the recording probably hasn't been heard in some fifty years.

The last Oscar Peterson Trio concert I put up wasn't that long ago and it came via the CBC Transcription service from a concert given in Montreal and broadcast by the CBC. This one has never seen the light of day. It's from a concert given on August 3rd 1968 at The Hollywood Bowl and Peterson is the opening act for Vikki Carr and headliner Duke Ellington, and I'll be offering those portions of the concert later on.

But this one is really nice and if you're a fan of Oscar Peterson, it's a must-have since it's never been available in any form before today. The legendary Peterson is in fine form and the sound is wonderful.

I figured as long as you're probably recovering from yesterday's festivities, you might want something that's not going to be too tough to take. And Oscar Peterson goes well with just about everything. Even hangovers.

Enjoy.

Dipping into some early 60's vintage Americana this weekend with the legendary Kingston Trio, recorded live at The Hollywood Bowl during the Summer of 1961. This was the first Hollywood Bowl appearance of the new Trio lineup, with John Stewart having joined after the exit of founding member Dave Guard in April of that year. It's interesting because I ran sometime back a Hollywood Bowl concert featuring Dave Guard's Whiskey Hill Singers, which was the Hollywood Bowl debut of that band also in 1961. I also ran the first part of this concert a few weeks ago as part of Newstalgia Downbeat as it featured opening acts The Dave Brubeck Quartet along with Keely Smith (also making her Hollywood Bowl solo debut).

This is solidly in that period of time when Folk music had taken on massive popular appeal and many groups made the crossover from strictly Folk music to a sort of Folk/Pop hybrid that would eventually morph into Folk/Rock some years later.

The popularity of the Folk genre would fade over time, particularly at the onset of The British Invasion in 1964. But elements were rescued when Folk/Rock emerged with a whole different set of practitioners. But just about every one of them took their nod from The Kingston Trio.

So here they are with the complete set as it was recorded - never available commercially or even thought to have existed. Rescued from the dumpster a couple of decades ago, and preserved to let you know what it actually sounded like.

It's 1961 all over again - at least for the next hour.

(Buffalo Springfield - 1967 - Back by popular demand - the whole set)

One of my first Backstage Weekend posts for Newstalgia was a Hollywood Bowl performance by The Buffalo Springfield from April 29, 1967. Significant in that it was the first public performance of "Mister Soul" (recorded a few days earlier) and one of the few recordings surviving from the period of the band during their prime. At the time I did the post all we had was You Tube and I was restricted to a 10 minute lump of that concert. And so only Mister Soul made it. But a few months later, when C&L got the new snappy embed player, I promised everyone who asked that I would make available the whole set, unedited.

Response to the first playing of the set was so overwhelming, even Neil Young included that recording of Mister Soul on his latest boxset. Needless to say, I was really happy to oblige.

Just be aware, if you haven't heard this yet - there are some bad technical glitches, which explains why it has never been issued. Not only is the Hollywood Bowl sound system crude by todays standards with lots of distortion, there's a nice high-pitched squeal which goes through the whole show, which I found out later was an ungrounded radio mike.

But with all the technical problems, one thing stands out - and that's a historic performance by a legendary band during a pivotal time in our music culture.

And that, I think is worth putting up with some distortion, squeals and bad mixes - don't you?

Enjoy and Happy New Year everyone!