For the long overdue return of our Lost in the archives feature, we bring you Tony Reed and his deep knowledge of 70’s Rock. Sound engineer by trade, Tony operates HeavyHead Recording Co., through which he has worked on numerous pretty cool restoration projects, as you’ll read further down. A true crate-digger, he gave us a few years ago the very interesting collection of note-for-note renditions of classic and obscure Rock, The Lost Chronicles of Heavy Rock, Vol.1, on which he plays every instruments. The multi-instrumentalist most recently released the solo album Funeral Suit, as part of Ripple Music‘s Blood & Strings acoustic series. The record digs deeper than your run of the mill “guy with a guitar” music, with subtle yet intricate arrangements and tunings that’s equal part light and shadow.
Besides all of that, let’s not forget his most predominant and long lasting band, Mos Generator. Often lumped in the wide genre of Stoner Rock, the Washington State road warrior band is undeniably rooted in 70’s guitar. These days you can also find him as a full time member of collective jam band Big Scenic Nowhere. Keep an eye out for their 2nd LP The Long Morrow, to be gradually released at a rate of a song a month starting now. Judging by the first single and their most recent Lavender Blues EP, we can’t wait for the next chapter!
What type of archive (videos, photos, text) do you spend the most time digging? What has been your latest obsession?
Audio and video for sure. I am an audio engineer by trade and have made a living in this field for over 25 years. In the last 10 years or so I’ve been hired to do quite a few audio restoration jobs. Many of these are for underground Hard Rock bands from the 70’s whose album or albums are getting re-issued but the master tapes are lost. Many times I will have to restore from an original album or from copies, usually on cassette, of the master tapes. In some cases I’ll have to search the internet to try and find a better version that somebody has uploaded. Right now, I am restoring a VAN HALEN live show from 1982 to be released on vinyl so I’ve been searching around the web to see if there are any cleaner versions. Of course that leads me down a Van Halen rabbit hole. I’m a big fan so it’s easy for me to go off exploring.
Which genre/ era/ specific scene do you typically concentrate on?
Typically it’s Hard Rock and Power Pop from the 1970’s and early 80’s.
Name your favorite live video piece of archive?
BLACK SABBATH – Brussels (mistakenly known as Paris) 1970
Are you constantly looking for something new or do you find yourself revisiting your faves over and over again?
I’m big on revisiting. I like watching things that I know will satisfy and inspire. The new things I watch usually come from recommendations within the platform I’m watching or listening to things on or by suggestions by friends.
Name three shows you wish you’d have attended?
If this is from any time period I’ll have to go with…
KING CRIMSON – Fillmore West December 15th 1969
RUSH – St. Louis, February 11th 1980
DAVID BOWIE – Hammersmith London, July 3rd 1973
Of course there are way more, and this list could change tomorrow.
What venues that you wish you’d have experienced? What attracts you to them? Have you ever talked to people who’ve been?
Fillmore West, San Francisco. So many great recordings have been done there and what I find with these recordings is that the energy of the room is almost always present in the mix. You feel like you are there and that there is magic happening.
Hammersmith Odeon, London. Once again, so many great recordings have been done at this venue.
Is there any memorable show you’ve seen and for which you’ve been trying to track down footage for a longtime, to no avail?
BIG STAR – Showbox Seattle, 12/22/2000. I often cite this show as the greatest show I’ve ever seen. The Showbox holds around a thousand people and it was only ⅓ full. I stood right in front of Alex Chilton with nobody touching me. I could actually move my arms around a bit without bumping into anybody. It was an amazing performance that I never thought would happen and I’ll never forget.
What are some of your favorite bootleg recordings? What makes them so special?
RUSH live in Tuscon AZ 11/20/78. This show is a soundboard boot and features the complete set from the Hemispheres tour. It’s biggest plus is that they play both books of Cygnus X-1 and Circumstances. I recently did a restoration job on this and now it’s even more of a pleasure to listen to.
Have you ever spent hours trying to figure out the words to an album that didn’t have any printed lyrics?
I have recorded hundreds of covers over the last 35 years and I’ve spent quite a bit of time trying to decipher lyrics. Especially in the pre-internet days.
Name some of your favorite inactive and overlooked bands?
NECROMANDUS
NUBBIN
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