OTHER RECORDINGS

This page documents the small number of live Patto recordings that are circulating among collectors. 

       
Unfortunately, most of the unreleased recordings that are currently available to collectors are less than desirable when it comes to sound quality.  According to Richard Lane, Patto did eight BBC sessions, and some of those are available.  But even some of the BBC recordings available are average to poor in quality.  This will not deter us Patto fans too much from listening, though, will it?  

Wouldn't it be nice to hear all the tapes that Alvin Lee recorded when Patto toured with Ten Years After?  Or how about the BBC releasing the few sessions that haven't been lost/destroyed?

Most of the recordings are not well documented, so some of the date and venue information is very likely inaccurate. Some of the dates are taken from unofficial bootleg CDs, if that gives you an indication of their reliability.  Maybe you can help set the record straight?
    

Note:  I would be happy to trade copies of these recordings with other collectors.  However, in anticipation of requests, I will say up front that I cannot sell copies of these recordings under any circumstances.
               
Munich, Germany April 17, 1971
A fine, short live set from the last date of the tour (with Rod Stewart and the Faces).  It features  young versions of "Air-Raid Shelter" and "How's Your Father".  Everyone is on.  The crowd warms up as the set goes along, applauding during Ollie's vibes in "The Man".  After appropriate encore applause, they leave with "a message from the King."  

San Antone / Air-Raid Shelter / Beat The Drum / How's Your Father / The Man / A Big Hunk O'Love

Sound quality:  Good audience recording.  Recorded far from the stage, so the echo of the venue gets a bit much at times.  But it is a good audience tape once your ears get used to it.
      
BBC In Concert 1971
As the title suggests, this session was recorded live with an audience, as opposed to most pre-recorded BBC programs.  There is a second guitarist playing rhythm, Bernie Holland.  Some of the projects Bernie was involved in included Jody Grind, the first Dick and the Fireman gigs, the Rutles' "Archaeology album, and a band called Rocks with Mike Patto, John Halsey, and others.

San Antone / Government Man / Beat The Drum / Sittin' Back Easy / So Cold

Sound quality:  Excellent studio recording. A BBC transcription disc of this show has surfaced giving us both a great upgrade in sound quality plus the "Beat The Drum" track, which was previously unknown to exist.
   
BBC: Mike Harding - Sounds of the Seventies
Recorded June 28, 1971 / Broadcast on July 6, 1971
 

Give It All Away / You, You Point Your Finger / Air-Raid Shelter

Sound quality:  Excellent studio recording..
       

Germany 1971 or 1972
It is great to hear an audience enjoying the Patto's so much.  Ollie is absolutely on fire for this set -- incredible!  Mike's vocals are solid.  The looning is really appreciated by the audience, especially "Stairway of Love", during which John sings while holding his nose and can't keep from laughing himself.  Before "Sittin' Back Easy", Ollie and Mike play a bit of "Johnny Reggae", a silly English pop hit song for the Piglets in 1971.  The solid performance and the fun atmosphere of a Patto gig make this one worth a listen.  Not certain of the country or the year.

Hold Your Fire, Tell Me Where You've Been, You You Point Your Finger, Route 66, Shakin' All Over, Stairway of Love, Walk Don't Run (Twist Competition), San Antone, Johnny Reggae, Sittin' Back Easy.

Sound quality:  Poor audience recording.  John's drums are almost completely lost and the recording is distant/distorted.
      
The Bremen Club, Offenburg, Germany 1972
This German performance offers another example of Ollie's stunning guitar playing.

Songs: Stairway of Love, Hold Your Fire, You You Point Your Finger, Shakin' All Over, Route 66, The Man, San Antone, Sittin' Back Easy.

Sound quality:  Poor audience recording, but you can hear Mike and Ollie clearly.

This was previously incorrectly documented as being from Italy, because Mike says "buon giorno" at one point.
   
The Piper, Viareggio, Italy July 30, 1972
Mike is only joking around when he says it is Elvis Presley's birthday (Jan. 8).  The band's only gig at The Piper was on 7/30/72.  They were touring with with Amazing Blondel, who played The Piper a couple nights earlier.

Fantastic guitar from Ollie straight away in "Hold Me Back" - he even throws in "Strangers In The Night" á la Jimi Hendrix.  Flat Footed Woman features Ollie on electric piano -- there is a bit missing during his solo.   Screaming ending to "The Man" that John kicks into high gear behind great soloing from Ollie.  Mike jokes that it's Elvis' birthday and that they received a telegram from the King asking them to play one of his songs, and the band rips it up with "A Big Hunk O' Love".  Route 66 is incomplete.

The songs (not a complete set):
Hold Me Back / Flat Footed Woman / Time To Die / The Man / A Big Hunk O' Love / Route 66

Sound quality:  Not very good but still pretty listenable.  Ollie's guitar/keyboard and Clive's bass are pretty clear.  Some of John's drums are lost.  Mike's strong vocals are somewhat distorted, but not so much that you can't hear when he occasionally jumbles up words.

This set was included on the "Patto: Straight to the Tempest" bootleg CD.
      

BBC: Bob Harris - Sounds of the Seventies
Recorded January 24, 1973 / Broadcast on February 5, 1973
This session includes one of the "Monkey's Bum" tracks, "General Custer".  Unusual is the addition of sax from Dave Brooks to the lineup.

The songs:
Flat Footed Woman / General Custer / Singing the Blues on Reds

Sound quality:  Excellent studio recording, though General Custer has a bit of distortion.
   
BBC: John Peel - Sounds of the Seventies
Recorded February 12, 1973 / Broadcast on February 27, 1973
Better copy of this session over the "Life After Death" CD.  A humorous "On Top Of Old Smokey" bit with John Mayall on harmonica introduces  "San Antone".  Features an unreleased original composition, "Holy Toledo", reminiscent of  some of the "Monkey's Bum" material.  Great guitar from Ollie on Loud Green Song.  Also has a sax player in the lineup, probably Dave Brooks again.  Better than average quality recording.

The songs: San Antone / Holy Toledo / Loud Green Song

Sound quality:  Very good studio recording.
    

BBC: The Sequence - Sounds of the Seventies
Recorded February 13, 1973 / Broadcast on March 16, 1973
This is the final BBC session for Patto.  Ollie sings "Dear Landlord" and the unreleased Monkey's Bum song, "Sausages".  All songs fade in except for "Hold Me Back".  Probably Dave Brooks again on sax.

Dear Landlord, I Got Rhythm, Sausages, Hold Me Back

Sound quality:  Poor quality studio recording  - lots of distortion, tape hiss, and dropouts.
    
"Life After Death", Bootleg CD of  Miscellaneous BBC Sessions
This CD, probably no longer making the rounds, is a collection of average to poor quality BBC sessions.  Released shortly after Ollie's death -- tasteless title, eh?.  Dates are likely inaccurate, but here goes.

San Antone/Holy Toledo/Loud Green Song - Feb. 12, '73 (inferior to tape copy described above)
San Antone/Government Man/Sittin' Back Easy/So Cold - "In Concert" 1971
The Man - March 3, 1970
Hanging Rope/Beat the Drum - March 11, 1970
Hard Life/Love Me - November 3, 1970
Dear Landlord - February 13, 1973 (incomplete)
Hold Me Back - March 27, 1970

Features unreleased cuts, "Hard Life", "Love Me", "Holy Toledo", "So Cold", and an incomplete cover version of "Dear Landlord".  "Hard Life" and "So Cold" (with a short reference to the Beatles) are particularly strong cuts. 
    
More BBC Sessions
From another tape source of about 45 minutes of various poor quality BBC sessions.  For those tracks also on "Life After Death", these are inferior in quality, but a little more of the between-songs chatter from the radio announcers is intact. 
    
Government Man / Hard Life / Love Me - November 3, 1970
Time To Die / Hold Me Back (cut) - March 27, 1970
      
The Torrington,  London,  July 13, 1975
This is the last of three reunion benefit gigs that Patto did for the family of one of their roadies named Eric Swain who was shot and killed by robbers in Pakistan.  Eric was the brother of another road man for Patto, Barnabus Swain. 

The frequent audience laughter certainly makes you wish you were there to see whatever looning antics they were up to.  There are some humorous moments that don't require the visuals, though.  The a cappella bits that feature John ("Stairway of Love" and "Mummy"), for example.

The songs (surprisingly, San Antone was not included):
Hold Your Fire / Loud Green Song / I Got Rhythm / Stairway of Love / Mummy / Twist Competition (set to the music of the Ventures' Walk Don't Run) / Route 66 / Hold Me Back / My Days Are Numbered / Sittin' Back Easy / Singing the Blues on Reds / Government Man /  Shakin' All Over / A Big Hunk O' Love / You Left Me Lonely / High-Heeled Sneakers

Sound quality:  Poor audience recording.  The show was recorded on a dictaphone machine, so the quality is terrible.  The vocals seem to suffer the most from the quality.  The band play a great set, without much hinting at the fact that they had broken up two years earlier, so it's still worth listening to if you can tolerate the sound. 
   

Mike Patto, "Voice of the People", Bootleg CD compilation
TENDOLAR "label", TDR-095.  This bootleg is a compilation of various recordings, most of which feature Mike on vocals.  The quality ranges from excellent to poor, and while it is an interesting collection, superior quality and/or more complete recordings of most of the tracks are available.  It is done rather sloppily, with the endings and/or beginnings of a bunch of the tracks cut off.

1.  Drive My Car - Bo Street Runners; excellent quality, ends abruptly before fading completely.
2.  Love - B-side to Mike's 1966 single; excellent quality, ends abruptly before fading completely.
3.  I'll Always Love You - Timebox 1967 single; excellent quality, probably taken from one of the official Piccadilly CD compilations.  It isn't Mike singing, though - it is John Henry.
4 - 7.  All The Time In The World, California Calling, Shooting Star, More Than Meets The Eye - Boxer 1975 BBC session; fair to good quality (little top end, significant tape hiss and dropouts throughout).
8-9.  Cotton Growing Man, I Am The Walrus - Spooky Tooth, live in Cleveland, Ohio 1974.  Very good quality from an FM broadcast.  Last note of Cotton Growing Man cuts off abruptly.
10.  I Need You - Patto, from unreleased 4th album, Monkey's Bum. Beginning of first note gone.
11. Air-raid Shelter - From June 1971 BBC session; poor quality, much better copy available
12 - 13.  A Fool In Love, No Reply - Cuts from the 1977 Boxer LP, Absolutely, taken from a somewhat noisy copy of the LP (no CD release has been done yet).
14 - 16.  San Antone, Holy Toledo, Loud Green Song - Patto, the February 12, 1973 BBC session.  Very good quality.  
17.  Funeral Empire- Tempest, March 1974 BBC broadcast.  It is not Mike singing - it's Ollie Halsall.  Excellent quality, but it is faded out a full minute before the end of the performance. 

 

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