The "Dick Cavett Shows" from the 1970's (those that survive) are at the
Library of Congress. Janis Joplin's appearance is on Youtube.
I also recall seeing a retrospective from the shortlived NBC News magazine
"First Tuesday" after her death that contained performance footage.
Steve
Steve Greene
Audiovisual Archivist
Office of Presidential Libraries
National Archives and Records Administration
(301) 837-1772
On Wed, Apr 8, 2015 at 8:32 AM, Richard L. Hess <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Hi, Steve, and Marcia,
>
> I recall Dick Cavett being on ABC. I worked at ABC. I've heard some of the
> logging tapes from the 1970s and know how they were made and how they sound.
>
> They were 4-track (possibly 5-track counting time code, I don't recall)
> recordings in one direction. Both local (WABC-TV Channel 7) and Network
> were recorded. The other two tracks escape me. One may have been time code,
> though I have a 5-track repro head which allegedly was used as a format to
> provide four logging channels PLUS time code. But I got that head in the
> early 2000s from Joe Dundovic who made it at Nortronics.
>
> The recording was on Maxell 18 micron ("1/2 mil" with thin mag coat) tape
> which means 3600 feet on a 7-inch reel. Tape speed was 15/32 in/s providing
> 24+hours per reel. Dual Dictaphone (I think) transports alternating days.
>
> Those transports were designed more for 35 micron ("1 mil" with a thicker
> coating) tape with 3600 feet of that tape requiring a 10.5 inch reel.
>
> The end result exhibited very high flutter and very poor frequency
> response. The 18 micron tape was especially springy and its contribution to
> the poor flutter performance was my conclusion back in the day. But the
> 10.5-inch reels were more expensive and took up more space and fidelity on
> logging tapes was not a hill to die for. Even I understood that way back
> then. I tried much harder to have all 1-inch Type C video tapes recorded
> with Dolby A. Whether that would have been a good decision long term, I
> don't know as there are plusses and minuses, but the Type C audio had about
> the same S/N ratio as a cassette, if I recall correctly.
>
> Even if the tapes did exist, I'm not certain I'd want to listen to them.
> If you were lucky and I played the tapes on a Sony APR (not a Dictaphone),
> the interview segments might be tolerable, I think the music would be like
> fingernails on a blackboard or worse, and I'm not making a comment about
> Joplin. I actually like some of her music though I'm more of a Judy Collins
> and Joan Baez fan.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Richard
>
>
>
> On 2015-04-08 12:17 AM, Marcia Segal wrote:
>
>> If there are, I wonder who.
>>
>>
>> On Apr 7, 2015, at 10:11 PM, Steve Smolian <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>> She appeared on the local-only broadcasts of the Dick Cavett show in
>>> NYC in hear earlier NY visits. Research will tell you on what channel.
>>> Even if there are no videotapes, it's likely there were low quality logging
>>> tapes made for legal reasons. Do any of these still survive.?
>>>
>>> Steve Smolian
>>>
>>> -----Original Message----- From: Katherine LeBlond
>>> Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2015 8:18 PM
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Looking for Janis Joplin archival audio and/or video
>>>
>>> Hello all,
>>>
>>> I am new to the list and hoping to find a few or more Janis Joplin fans
>>> on
>>> this listserv. I'm one of the producers on a documentary currently in
>>> progress on her life. It is the first project to be commissioned by her
>>> family and estate and we are working very hard to unearth as much
>>> archival
>>> as possible.
>>>
>>> I'm looking for anything from old radio interviews, to home audio or
>>> video
>>> recorded at shows, etc.
>>>
>>> Would love to hear from anyone if you have stuff or can think of anyone
>>> else who might.
>>>
>>> I can be reached at: [log in to unmask]
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> KATHERINE LEBLOND
>>> DISARMING FILMS
>>> 620 VENICE BLVD
>>> VENICE, CA 90291
>>> + o 424.228.2806
>>> + c 3 <323.228.5957>23.228.5957
>>> + f 310.564.0329
>>>
>>
>> --
> Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask]
> Aurora, Ontario, Canada 647 479 2800
> http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
>
