A Very Different and Special Thread: The 1967 UCSC Dorm Tape

A fellow who lives in Monterrey, named Michael Albov, recorded a gal who wondered into the dorm at
UCSC Santa Cruz with his Sony 350 Reel to Reel and handheld mics. It laid dormant
for about 40 years until he decided to archive to DAT a few years ago. He uploaded it
to Youtube and posted about the experience on the Hoffman forum.

When first clicking on the thread I thought it would be a pleasant waste of a few minutes, but after
LISTENING to the performance, I was was stunned. This was not some hack. She played songs by
Ian & Sylvia, Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke, and traditional blues and OWNED them.

(Let's be clear, this is not a perfect recording. It was "of the moment" and it is what it is.)

He never got her name or saw her again. He attempted a social media campaign in attempt to find this unknown singer
but even after getting hundreds and hundreds of leads, nothing came of it.

I contacted him and asked him if he had the original tape. He found it and I IMPLORED him to do a high rez capture. He bought a Korg MR-2 and found an original Sony 350 in mint condition.

I sent him good cables and under my guidance he dubbed the tape, which had a finite amount of plays left to 24 bit, 96 kHz, 192 kHz, and DSD64.

We spent weeks analyzing the results. I edited and mastered them in Audacity and Korg Audiogate.

This would all be cute and nice if not for the fact that the recording, which is about 30 minutes, simply leaves an impression on you that cannot be described, and I am as jaded as they come.

Unknown female:
Guitar and vocals

1. The French Girl (Sylvia Fricker, Ian Tyson)
2. I Still Miss Someone (Johnny Cash, Roy Cash)
3. Red Velvet (Ian Tyson)
4. Gospel Ship (When We're Traveling Through The Air) (Herbert Buffum)
5. Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke)
6. Let The Good Times Roll (Sam Cooke)
7. Like A Baby (Jesse Stone)
8. Hangin' 'Round (Patrick Sky)
9. Lonely Girls (Sylvia Fricker, Ian Tyson)
10. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (Bob Dylan)
11. (*a variation of) Buddy Bolden's Blues (Jelly Roll Morton)

From the original taper:: Michael Albov.

This is what I call The Dorm Tape 1967. The facts are simple and frankly taught me a lot about simplicity in recording (and later, photography). I heard a girl singing and playing guitar down the hall in my dorm at UC Santa Cruz. She was hitch hiking through and needed a place to crash. I liked the sound I heard coming down the hall and I decided to try recording her. So I grabbed my reel to reel Sony 350 recorder, a modest piece, and two really crummy dynamic mikes that were part of the kit. I hand held them a foot or so from the guitar and her mouth ( left right more or less) and just let her sing.

She was sitting on a dorm cot and I was standing in front of her monitoring the levels on the Sony while holding the mics. Kind of awkward. My life moved on and now 44 years later(!), I pulled it out, digitized it and decided to add it to the YouTube archive of material from my alma mater. What I learned is that simple ain't so bad: musicality counts for a lot and a lot can be done with simple equipment...and common sense. Hope you enjoy.

___________________________________________________

The sad post script to this is that Michael passed away of terminal cancer back in April. We became very good friends while working on this project.
I am posting the links to the FLAC files in his memory. If you choose to download the files and enjoy them, please make a donation of any amount, even $1, to the non political charity
of your choice.


Here are the the 192 links:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tzjh7s3g86haa4l/AADmmHdW_bEAkBXGyMmkdy-ha?dl=0

Here are the 96 links:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/797kvjsmisdyztr/AAARZ2YUFXVm4qlG64bNomGaa?dl=0

Here are the 44.1 links

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x4118l95j0v621j/AACUBCHZEua3I-YI8-2r3br_a?dl=0

astrotoy said:

Andre, I just downloaded and played the tape (at 192/24). It was a real treat. She has a quite marvelous voice - not Joan Baez or Judy Collins, or even Sylvia Fricker. She does very well with a large range of different types of music. It took me back to my college days (I graduated in 1967 then came out to Cal for grad school during the summer of love) and where Ian and Sylvia was one of my favorite groups - I still have all their Vanguard albums that I bought in the '60's. She does a great job on the Dylan song "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" - much like Baez sings it in her lower register, and the Buddy Bolden's Blues at the end. Sounds like he had one mike on her and one on her guitar, so the voice is on the left channel and the guitar is in the middle. The dorm room had some nice acoustics.

Thanks for taking me back in time almost 50 years.

Larry

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Larry, I need to give you a virtual hug!

You got it exactly, as did over 1000 posters on the original thread. You nailed it.

As a matter of fact, the Tom Thumb's is really hypnotic.

Yes, he had one mic on her guitar and one on her vocal. Interestingly, he kept switching what mic was in his right and left hand so I had
to swap the channels for half the songs so that it was the vocal and guitar were consistent through out.

One other note is that she was singing these songs when they were brand new, contemporary recordings. Not the iconic classics we know today.
She had her ear to the pulse.

Interestingly enough, of the songwriters listed, only Bob Dylan, Ian Tyson & Sylvia Fricker are still here with us today, 48 years later.

amirm said:

Just downloaded the tracks. It is a delight to listen to. Simple recording but ample fidelity. It is also a fascinating story and great service to the community to archive and present this work to all of us to enjoy. Thank you Andre and virtual thanks to the original recording "engineer."

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Thank you amir. Appreciate you checking it out and downloading the files.

DaveyF said:

Andre, is this the recording that we played when you visited last? If so, I do think that it is a shame that the lady is not better known. OTOH, this is so very typical in the world of pro audio.

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Yes, it is my friend. The biggest mystery of all will be who this young woman was.

DaveyF said:

That's the crazy thing about the world of pro musicians and music. A girl like the one on the recording with obvious talent is overlooked ( which BTW would have an equal or better chance of happening today), while the likes of Taylor Swift ( who happens to be playing here today) is world famous and a major star. Not saying Taylor Swift doesn't have any talent, but she sure doesn't have that much more talent than the girl in the recording ( if in fact as much). BUT, what Ms. Swift does have is one heck of a publicity manager. ( Which IMHO is precisely what one needs in today's pro music arena, talent and everything else be damned).

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When you think about how in 1967 there were no "style consultants", "song doctors", no auto tune, no songwriting software, or "social media sensations", it is remarkable how artists broke through, and they
had to do this by having a real connection with the audience. They had to strike a chord, literally and figuratively. There were no visuals to rely on, you had to hit the road ply your trade.

FYI, it was michael's dream to have vinyl cut of the recording. Limited edition for charity release.

FYI..I have a DSD64 archive as well.

amirm said:

So this is nearly 50 years old. The person would be in their 70s then. Or sadly may not be with us anymore.

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Yes exactly. Sadly, the taper, as noted, passed in April.

Any more takers?

Here is the actual tape.

ACHiPo said:

Just saw this and downloading as I type. Thanks!

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Thanks for checking it out!