Ken and Judy Lee didn’t think anyone would be interested in hearing their recordings… Between the years 1970 and 1971, Ken worked security at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, while his girlfriend Judy ran movie projections between sets. One of a few live music taping enthusiasts of the time, Ken was granted exclusive permission by club promoter Howard Stein to record the shows at the theatre for his own personal use. Judy was on hand to perform the tape flips while Ken was busy doing his job. In 1968, the couple took Judy’s brother Mark, who was nine years old to his first concert at “Cafe Wha?” in New York City. The Monkees were on tour and Jimi Hendrix was along for the ride as their opening act. Several years later, Mark was introduced to the music of the Grateful Dead at the Nassau Coliseum on March 19th, 1973 in Uniondale, Long Island. This single event marked the beginning of a life long odyssey of musical experiences with the band that affected him most deeply. Along with his good friend, John Jay Hance, who Mark met at a Dead show in 1979, the two traveled around the United States with the band in search of the ultimate musical experience, attending over 350 shows together. The two also shared a common interest in seeing live music of a wide variety of genres, and during the 23 years that they knew each other attended more than 1000 total concerts together, until Mark’s untimely death in November of 2002. Mark knew of brother in-law Ken’s recordings from the Capitol Theatre, and had a strong interest in having the shows circulated; however, being true to his word to Howard Stein, Ken kept the recordings under wraps and the tapes never saw the light of the trading domain (One noteworthy bending of this rule occurred when Ken agreed at Mark’s request to circulate the late show that the Grateful Dead did on June 24th of 1970. This show is highly regarded as an all-time magical performance by the Dead during their 30 year history as a band)

Walkin’ The Dog, Me & My Uncle, Death Don’t Have No Mercy, Good Lovin’-> Drums-> Good Lovin’, Dire Wolf, Big Boss Man, He Was A Friend Of Mine-> Viola Lee Blues-> The Seven-> Cumberland Blues

Sony dynamic mics (balcony, 20′ spread) > Sony 124 Cassette Deck > Norelco 120 normal bias tape > Susie Q > Tascam 122mk3 > Lucid ADA1000 A/D Converter > Tascam CDRW700 > EAC > Soundforge > CD Wave > mkwACT > SHN

John Jay Hance, Peter G, Evan Bellaff