Interesting Comments Regarding The 1975 The Houston Summit Show
keifspoon
guy that discovered the footage. Makes you wonder what else is out
there? (I'm talking to you Saratoga '71).
I was at the show on November 20, 1975 at The Summit and saw the
original projection on the giant video screens. It was the first
musical event there ever and before the concert started they were
panning the crowd. Girls were popping their tops and the like and lots
of marijuana smoking, especially since Toots & the Maytels opened.
When The Who came out, the place exploded and it was great to see the
them on huge video screens as well as live. To this day it’s still one
of the best rock and roll shows I’ve ever seen.
A few years later, I was working for a company that contained a TV
studio and in conversation with one of their cameramen he mentioned
that his dad had worked at The Summit. He said he'd helped clean up
after the flood of '80 and salvaged the tapes. He offered to make me a
copy and brought the masters to the studio and he did make me a copy,
which I was very glad to have. But shortly after, he left the company
unexpectedly and the masters were left in the studio. Although I kept
my eye on them, I didn’t take them because I felt they were his tapes,
but as time went on and they just sat there I got the feeling he was
never coming back and he never did. The tapes sat there for a few
years, at the studio, until finally the company was closed. Since they
were preparing to throw everything out anyway and my co-worker never
came back, I felt it was ok to take the tapes. Not just ok, but an
absolute necessity. So they stayed at my house and after a few more
years, I began researching Texas salvage law and found out that after
three years if lost property isn’t reported stolen and no other claim
made then the property can be claimed by possession. So now the
physical property was mine, although I was certain I didn’t own the
intellectual contents, meaning the show itself. That, of course, would
always belong to The Who.
Years later, I searched the internet, which didn’t exist when those
events had occurred. By searching for the date and venue, I found in
tour listings and video archives an entry referencing the early use of
video cameras and projection at The Summit. It speculated that the if
the show had been projected, the video must not have survived or it
would have surfaced by now, but here I was reading that with them
sitting right next to me! Knowing I could not "release" the tapes
myself, but not knowing what else to do with them, I made sure they
were kept safe in a climate controlled atmosphere. I knew how good
they were and felt it would be a crime if they were lost or damaged.
Eventually, I opened my own business and formed a production company
called Torn Ticket Productions to manage Michael Bruce from the
original Alice Cooper band who I’d met in ’97 and we became friends.
The name Torn Ticket Productions was based on the torn ticket from
that The Who show. Through associating with the Cooper band I met a
lot of people in the industry and somehow Torn Ticket ended up being
put in touch with Trinifold Management and a fellow named Curbishley
in order to work a deal through middlemen. In hindsight, I think we
could have done a better job of negotiating, but we were a little
paranoid they might just take what we showed them. So we only let them
see short clips from about five songs on second or third generation
degraded copies and with only an assurance that the original masters
were clear and bright. Predictably in hindsight, it ended up that
Trinifold passed on the purchase and with a comment that there was
“already enough” The Who material available. Also, I think now I was
asking too much. Either way, they didn't bite. I was told that both
Pete and Roger had watched the clips, which I thought was cool.
Anyway, through our talks, the folks at Trinifold were very decent.
Also, they agreed that as long as Torn Ticket did not attempt to
reproduce the actual images on the tapes that we could sell the
masters to whoever we wanted since they only owned the intellectual
property. Soon after, my primary contact indicated he’d put together
some investors who wanted to purchase the tapes outright. Since I felt
he’d done his best to work the deal between Torn Ticket and Trinifold
(and was offering cold hard cash), we made a deal and I turned the
tapes over to him. This was around 1999.
In 2004 or 2005 I was surprised to see the tapes being sold as a
bootleg by 4Reel because I knew it was not the intent of the investors
to bootleg the tapes. Curious and confused, I contacted the purchaser
and found him a very unhappy man. As it turned out, after purchasing
the tapes each of the investors insisted on having their own copy
“just for themselves”. However, one of the investors had double-
crossed the others and sold his 1st generation copy and this became
the basis of the 4Reel bootleg, effectively taking all the money for
himself as everyone else lost their investment. Quite the seedy
business.
The 4Reel version is pretty good, but nowhere near as good as the
original tapes where everything is crisp and bright just like at a
real rock concert. On the original 3/4" masters, black is jet black,
yellow is bright and stark staring clear like real life. Still, for a
bootleg the 4Reel DVD is definitely a quality item and I also enjoy
seeing clips on Youtube. I once contacted 4Reel (or someone selling
for them) to buy 10 copies and to give to friends and the like who'd
been to the show with me that night. When I told them I was buying
back my own tape they were very kind and sold me the 10 for a reduced
price in appreciation for having taken care of the only copy for all
those years.
Anyway, that's about it. By now you realize I don't have any other
shows as you’d inquired. I guess lightning only strikes once. But,
when I read about how much fans of The Who enjoy seeing the show and
some of the comments they post, it makes me feel good to have been a
part of the story and that the tapes even exist."
Over the two decades following the gig at the Summit, even the most
astute Who fans were unaware of the existence of the master. In the
mid-1990s, concert experts Joe McMichael and Irish Jack Lyons wrote
the following about Houston: "The [p]erformance was relayed onto a
back projection screen by a closed-circuit video system, but it seems
not to have been recorded as no trace of footage has ever emerged."
Concert File (1997), 1st edition (p. 170).
“Yes, that comment was most likely the source of what I read when I
was researching the 11/20/75 date on various The Who databases. And
yes, it was a hoot to read that while the only copies were sitting
right next to me. The negotiations with Bill Curbishley and a fellow
named Robert Rosenburg at Trinifold were around 1999 with the final
sale to the interested third party the next year."
So 24 years elapsed before the master saw the light of day. Writing in
the 1st edition of Anyway Anyhow Anywhere (2002), Who chroniclers Andy
Neill and Matt Kent were able to observe that the "entire
concert...was filmed in stereo sound, incorporating a three camera pro-
system, relaying live visuals and added effects to two large back
projection screens." (p. 265) With the realization that the show was
recorded, McMichael and Lyons amended their comments about Houston in
the 2nd edition of Concert File (2004) (p. 229).
Although Jeff isn't familiar with Andy Neill and Matt Kent, he found
their observation about Houston quite interesting.
"Whoever wrote Anyway Anyhow Anywhere must have seen the tape prior to
the 4Reel release because they knew it was a 3 camera pro-shot, not 2
or 4 cameras, and had some special effects. However, the added effects
are simply someone playing with various editing functions on the fly.
In fact, the whole tape was edited on the fly and a testament to
whoever was at the master controls. The cameramen were great, but
whoever edited that tape was a genius. "Behind Blue Eyes" is nearly
perfection personified. Each cut, pan, zoom, and especially the multi-
camera fade between Roger and Keith at the end makes you almost want
to cry it's so good!
I also once had a conversion by email with a Who fan who indicated who
might have mixed the sound that night. I don’t remember the name he
gave, but it was obvious he held whoever it was in high esteem as
someone who knew how to mix The Who. I suppose it was the soundboard
guy on that tour. Maybe you know.
The entry indicating that the show was filmed in stereo is I think
mistaken. Although I can't confirm 100% that the 3/4" masters are
mono, I had copies made at two different times from two different
production facilities and both times the result was a clear crisp
mono. It only stands to reason that the original masters are also
mono. I'm sure today's technology could create a stereo version nearly
as good as if it had been recorded that way. In fact, I've even used
something as simple as Sound Forge to create such a stereo effect and
from less quality. But, I'm virtually 100% certain that the original
3/4" masters are mono.
Hey, thanks for getting me thinking again. It's been awhile since I
thought about all this."
As a final question, I had to ask about the current whereabouts of the
master.
"Most likely the original 3/4" master tapes are still in the hands of
one of those investors who lost their money. Who knows? It may still
pay off for them. Personally, I’d love to see Trinifold eventually
acquire and work with the original tapes. Anyone who purchased the
boot would be more than happy to re-up to an enhanced top generation
stereo version, wouldn’t they?"
frazzz
I want an official "1975 The Houston Summit" release - with "Charlton '74"
as the second bonus disc!
-fraz
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do...@webtv.net
do...@webtv.net
"Somebody needs to forward this to The Who's management! I want an
official "1975 The Houston Summit" release - with "Charlton '74" as the
second bonus disc!"
Consider it done buddy, it'll be there Tuesday by Special Delivery.
:-)
