The Knitters @ Cathay de Grande, Los Angeles CA, 1983-07-26 (2nd show)

 

Abigail Johnson photo credit

Here is another cassette master from the Kat George archive.  This time it's a show that she didn't record but a friend of hers did.  I suspect this is the 1st or 2nd gen copy made from the master cassette.

This was the Knitters 2nd official show ever.  The Knitters were a group started by X members John Doe and Excene Cervenka in 1982. They were joined by Dave Alvin.  It's said they started this rootsy country folk act as a response to the increasingly violent and hardcore turn the punk scene had taken around this time.  I think that they just really loved playing it and had more to do with it ultimately. 

X members were older than a lot of the up and coming punk scene and had grown up listening to folk, country, 60s bands, even the Doors. The very things punk supposedly stood against. There was always that kind of roots edge to X's punk sound. 

In 2000 I saw John Doe play an afternoon instore set at Waxtrax Records in Denver's Capital Hill neighborhood.    He played the Silver Wings cover that day too and said a lot of his motivation to get into playing music to start with stemmed from wanting to be like Merle Haggard.  

That show is HERE if you want to listen.

 I had been part of sharing this recording before way back in 2005ish.   It got torrented on DIME back then  I lost all of those original files years ago and made a fresh transfer of this show with my new setup after rediscovering these tapes in a box not long ago.   I have to assume this is an upgrade to that original file set.   It's still a audience recording in a not ideal for sound room.  The quieter numbers  sound the best.  It gets a bit blown out on the louder numbers.  Enjoy

The Knitters

Cathay de Grande

Los Angeles CA (USA)

1983-07-26

Recorded: Ken Spears

From the Kat Georges cassette archive

Transferred and Presented: SxPxDxCx

Source: ? > cassette > cassette

Transfer: cassette > PT-649D > AAE-9 > Audition > CDWave > FLAC

Time: (40:47.31)

01 I'm Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail (Karl and Harty)

02 Mama Tried (Merle Haggard)

03 The New World (X)

04 Skip to My Lou (traditional)

05 Ragged but Right (traditional)

06 I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts (X)

07 Poor Old Heartsick Me (Margie Bowes)

08 Wild Side of Life - It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels

09 The Trail of Time (The Delmore Brothers)

10 The Have Nots (X)

11 Long White Cadillac (The Blasters)

- encore -

12 Silver Wings (Merle Haggard)

13 Rock Island Line (Lead Belly)

LINK TO MP3 DOWNLOAD

LINK TO FLAC DOWNLOAD 

LINK TO YOUTUBE STREAM