Electric Ladyland Studios 1974


Media: 1 CD
Time: 45:54
Catalog: Elements-039
Source: Radio Broadcast
Quality: VG+
Date: 12-05-74
Location: Electric Lady Studios, New York, New York

Track Listing
Finding My Way [0:05:03.07]
Best I Can [0:03:26.25]
In The Mood [0:03:30.40]
Anthem     [0:04:49.65]
Need Some Love    [0:03:12.33]
Fly By Night   [0:03:16.72]
Here Again     [0:09:10.13]
Bad Boy     [0:06:41.00]
Working Man   [0:06:44.20](fades out at 6'43")


Comments
and Reviews:
The Digital Dan:
Recorded at the Electric Ladyland Studios in NYC, 1974 in preparation for their first US tour. This recording, in front of an audience of 8-12 people in the small studio, gives us a great view into the history of the band as this is the earliest recordings with Neil Peart on drums replacing John Rutsy. They perform material from their first album and new stuff from the soon to be released Fly By Night LP. The ELS performance includes the abbreviated version of Working Man instead of the full release. I do have to admit this was my first Rush bootleg, I bought it to replace a record of the ELS show I borrowed from a friend.
Taken from Ron's ROIO Rush Review:
This show was originally performed for FM radio broadcast a couple months prior to the release of "Fly By Night." Neil has only been with the band for a few months at this point, but the playing is tight and precise. The FBN songs are still coming together, so some songs, most notably "Best I Can" contain some alternate lyrics. The structure of "Fly By Night" is different, with the guitar solo coming after the vocal bridge and a completely different ending. We get a rare treat in "Working Man," when Alex delivers a guitar solo outside of the normal structure of the song. "Bad Boy" is introduced as a Beatles song, although it was originally written by Larry Williams (I don t remember the Beatles ever doing this one, actually). It s amusing to hear the polite clapping of what sounds like about five or ten folks in the studio. Geddy s soft-spoken comments in between songs is a sharp contrast to the very hard-edged performance. An excellent pseudo- audience show. Apparently, several mikes were set up around the studio, with only a very basic soundboard feed. The result is a very well-mixed sound -- at times, you can almost imagine that you re listening to the "Rush" album. The only knock is that the overall EQ tends a bit to much towards the bass end, but this is easily remedied by tweaking a few knobs on the stereo.
Taken from the Rush CD Bootleg List:
Dec 1974 Show: Bad Boy stands out on this show. Here Again and Need Some Love are only found on these early broadcasts. This Trilogy of broadcast performances captures the very earliest Rush. You can hear the stripped down, three piece sound. Geddy's bass and vocals are raw, Alex is still in the forefront.
If you like old Rush, you'll love this. Recorded in 1974, this CD has two shows with songs no later than Fly By Night. It also contains two songs that have never been officially released, "Bad Boy" (a cover song) and "Fancy Dancer" (an original song). This CD was actually taken from vinyl, as both these shows have been available as LP boots for some time (one is called "Electric"). Because they were taken from vinyl, some pops can be heard throughout the recording, but are not very noticeable unless you're looking for them. The recording from Electric Ladyland is a soundboard -- it was actually recorded "live in the studio" -- and the quality is similar to Rush's first album. Everything is clear, sharp and very RAW; you can barely hear the polite clapping of the audience.