Pink Floyd: Cruel But Fair (1975 Mike Millard Recording - FULL Concert)
This concert was found on a now-defunct boot site about a year ago. This is the absolute best sounding Pink Floyd concert from 1975 that I’ve heard. This recording isn't marred by the tape hiss that affects “Hogs in Smog.” The narrative below was borrowed from the site I got the concert from, with some additions and corrections made as needed. The artwork looks recent and fan-made, and it’s excellent quality. Unbelievably great sound for a 37 year old audience recording!
Pink Floyd
April 26th 1975
The L.A. Forum
Source: Audience recording by Mike Millard
Sound Quality: 8-9
Back-story:
The fan recording of a concert is really an extension of taking snapshots of your heroes. Back in the ‘60s and ‘70s recordable media was just making its way into households as a consumer electronic device, either an expensive reel-to-reel deck or a convenient cassette recording deck. Just imagine sneaking one of those into a concert these days. More likely, the stealth recorder of choice today would be a mini-disc recorder or your cell phone…small enough to fit your pocket.
But Mike Millard was different. He arrived early at concerts near his home, pulled out a wheelchair from the boot of his car, and proceeded to wheel himself into the arena, presenting himself as being physically handicapped. He managed to secure front row "seats," almost always front and centre. Hidden underneath his wheelchair was a Nakamichi stereo cassette deck hooked up to two high-quality AKG mics. Security guards in those days were probably unaware of such goings-on.
His recordings are much sought after for their quality - capturing the expanse of the stage plus the great ambience of the halls. His close proximity eliminated any echo from his recordings. All the instruments recorded right off the front speakers. Plant’s voice is crystal clear. But Millard had a habit of marking his tapes when he copied them for another collector or fan. He would, for instance, lower the levels when transferring the audio to a VHS tape or lower the volume in mid-song when making a cassette copy. It has been said he detested bootleggers who pressed up his recordings onto vinyl or CD to sell. To that end, he kept a log of all the trades he made with clear indications of what markings he did to the tapes. That way, he knew which of his trades were sent to bootleggers. He worked as a custodian in a public school. In a fit of depression, he committed suicide in 1990. His friends say he destroyed all copies of his Led Zeppelin recordings. What has survived are the first generation copies he made and shared freely with other Zep fans. These are what are now being traded back and forth.
Millard was active from 1974 to the ‘80s and was said to have taped shows by Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Yes, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jethro Tull and even Kansas. To date, we have never found a copy of his Who or Tull recordings. The non-Zeppelin masters are supposedly in the possession of Millard’s family. Hopefully, someday they will be shared again.
This show is VERY desirable as this is one of very few FULL 1975 concert boots available. It contains the best-existing versions of Dick Parry performing a saxophone solo in "Echoes" and the prototypes "Raving and Drooling" and "You've Gotta Be Crazy," which would eventually become "Sheep" and "Dogs" respectively. After You Gotta Be Crazy, Roger Waters says "It was a cruel song.... But fair. The next tune we're going to do for you is another new number, it's called 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond.' It has something to do with Syd Barrett who some of you might remember..... & some of you probably won't."
CD1
01 - Raving And Drooling
02 - You Gotta Be Crazy
03 - Shine On You Crazy Diamond I-V
04 - Have A Cigar
05 - Shine On You Crazy Diamond VI-IX
CD2
01 - Speak To Me
02 - Breathe
03 - On The Run
04 - Time
05 - The Great Gig In The Sky
06 - Money
07 - Us And Them
08 - Any Colour You Like
09 - Brain Damage
10 - Eclipse
11 - Echoes
