Owsley Soundboards?

[Haight Trashbury]

I know for a fact that Owsley taped every single show that he did sound for, so there’s no reason why he wouldn’t have taped the Velvets on the nights that they shared the stage with the Dead (especially considering that he taped the Dead’s shows from those nights). Now that the Owsley Stanley Foundation is opening its archives, we can very easily get the existence of these recordings confirmed, and allow them to be restored for release. I was wondering what you have to say about this, since I haven’t found any real discussion of this topic before.

[MJG196]

I have never heard of this! Perhaps promising. Maybe the best bet would be to reach out to the Foundation and ask. I've done that with Dinky Dawson about Lou Reed recordings. I don't see any reason why you couldn't learn something through a simple email?

[lurid]

I have often wondered about this as well. Does anyone know how to contact the guy?

[simonm]

HT, I must say that your adherence to these facts you mention are puzzling to me. Even if it’s true that Owsley taped every Dead show, you can’t assume he taped all the other bands on the bill, or that he even did sound for the other bands. I’m not saying it’s impossible, just that it’s a potential lead to follow up, rather than a sure thing. People like Bill Levenson and Sal Mercuri (not to mention some of the people on here) have spent decades looking for tapes. There may be more stuff out there, but it’s not low-hanging fruit. Polygram had one of Klimek’s Oct ‘68 La Cave tapes in 1985 (cf the live What Goes On on the Peel Slowly set). UMG could do some kind of Professor live comp, or do a decent new capture of the Valleydale ballroom tapes, but theses things are either not commercially viable, or the representatives of the band don’t want them issued for some reason or other. Don ‘t get your hopes up about stuff we don’t even know if it exists yet; it will drive you crazy

[Haight Trashbury]

HT, I must say that your adherence to these facts you mention are puzzling to me. Even if it’s true that Owsley taped every Dead show, you can’t assume he taped all the other bands on the bill, or that he even did sound for the other bands. I’m not saying it’s impossible, just that it’s a potential lead to follow up, rather than a sure thing. People like Bill Levenson and Sal Mercuri (not to mention some of the people on here) have spent decades looking for tapes. There may be more stuff out there, but it’s not low-hanging fruit. Polygram had one of Klimek’s Oct ‘68 La Cave tapes in 1985 (cf the live What Goes On on the Peel Slowly set). UMG could do some kind of Professor live comp, or do a decent new capture of the Valleydale ballroom tapes, but theses things are either not commercially viable, or the representatives of the band don’t want them issued for some reason or other. Don ‘t get your hopes up about stuff we don’t even know if it exists yet; it will drive you crazy

Owsley taped EVERYTHING that he was behind the soundboard for, Dead or not, and there’s no reason why he wouldn’t have done sound for the VU that night. The only stuff he didn’t keep were the concerts where the bands bombed, and the Velvets played a great set that night. For $400 or more, the Owsley Stanley Foundation will let you hand pick a concert tape from the collection to digitally transfer and restore, so this shouldn’t be TOO hard to get a hold of. I’ve got pretty high hopes for this.

[MrStephen]

What dates did the two bands play together?

[stooge]

Feb 7 1969, Stanley Theatre Pittsburgh
April 25 & 26 1969, Kinetic Playground Chicago

[Wick Pick]

Interesting... That's only a couple hundred more than a box set of two complete shows would cost.
How does one find out what shows they hold?

[Haight Trashbury]

Interesting... That's only a couple hundred more than a box set of two complete shows would cost.
How does one find out what shows they hold?

If you give them the $400, then they’ll work with you to get out the reels. It’s currently outside of my price range, and my main priority is to restore the foundation’s (rumored) Syd Barrett reels, but I’ll try my best to get confirmation on this if I can do that and work with Syd at the same time. The group has nearly (if not) all of Owsley’s recordings, so the VU shows are most likely in their archives. I’m gonna be able to pay for a donation soon, so just hold on...

[lurid]

Just as a matter of interest, what Syd Barrett recordings do they hold and how did they come to have them?