Reelin' In The years 1: Finger Clickin' Good

User 614215157 · Finger Snappin'

Two years ago, I posted about a pile of tapes which were for sale on eBay (see here). The lucky winning bidder, I was able to have some of the tapes transferred to CD and  I picked the recordings up earlier this week. Yesterday, I listened to the first of the tapes, the label on the box pictured above.

The tape contains a recording of the performance Duke Ellington gave with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra on Saturday, 3 August, 1968. Most of the performance is available already in fairly stunning fidelity here.

The tape I have in my possession is of a much inferior quality. It is clearly an audience-made recording. The fidelity is nowhere near that of the recording posted on Past Daily, but I do find  two points of interest in particular about my tape. Firstly, because it was likely made from the stalls, the listener has a much closer understanding of the reaction of the audience at times through the concert. This is particularly striking in the audience's response to Ellington's humorous commentary on The Golden Broom and The Green Apple. 

Secondly, and more significantly, the recording available via Past Daily is not complete. It cuts out before Ellington's famous closing 'finger snapping' routine. For the historical record, then, and in the SoundCloud stream posted above, we are pleased to present likely for the first time in 53 years, the end of the concert and Duke's hip benediction.