Smuggled Sounds: Black Sabbath

Dayton_72_front.sized This another very good show but somewhat flawed audience recording. There are some cuts between songs (presumably done by the taper during the show) and during the intro for "Iron Man". Earlier copies of this show that I owned were very muted and muddy sounding. But after hearing a digital clone of the master tape, I am revising my previous judgment onf the Dayton '72 show (which was 'good at best'). There is much more treble in the original recording than I had been able to hear in the higher generation dubs. In fact, the only instrument that seemed a bit low in the mix was the bass. Ozzy's vocals are clear, Tony's guitar rings through and Bill's drums are all right there in the mix.. According to Michael Lindenauer, the remastered version of Dayton '72 came about after the original taper was found by a guy named Pat Patton in 1998. It was during the process of negotiating for an uncirculated recording of Jeff Beck from Dayton 3/11/72 that the Sabbath tape was uncovered. At least two attempts at transferring the reel to reel master were made and the 2nd was definitely an improvement upon previously available copies. However, the last remaster was done with the same old reel to reel recorder that the taper used back in 1972. There remains the possibility that a new transfer on newer equipment could yield even better results.Sabbath is playing well here at the beginning of their U.S. tour to promote VOLUME 4. Dayton '72 contains the earliest recorded live versions of "Under The Sun" and "Wheels Of Confusion" currently in circulation. "Under The Sun" is performed here at a brisker tempo than the studio version. Iommi's live arrangement of his multi-tracked guitar solo is well executed, leaving us all to wonder WHY they didn't play this song at more shows? Also, Dayton '72 features the ONLY complete live version of "Wheels Of Confusion" out there, as opposed to the cut version which is on the Hollywood Bowl 9/15/72 tape.
A really classic VOLUME 4 show to have, despite it's minor shortcomings. Just be sure to find a low generation copy!