TOO MUCH MONKEY BUSINESS: The Elvis Forum

Hi fellow Monkey members,

I have a question about 'rumors' that the late Bruce Jackson did own a lot of concert tapes (soundboards).
Love to believe this but i is this really true?

Btw i'm pretty new here and i like this place a lot. Actually, this is my first post. "Home is where the monkees are".

P.s. Ger, Keep up the damn good work. Still like your stuff.

The Baystar dude

Welcome Baystar dude, enjoy you stay here.

I've heard the rumours too but haven't seen anything definitive.

Welcome Baystar.
I can tell you that from my own conversations with fellow Sydneysider, the sadly missed Bruce Jackson, that he did have many tapes but as I have said on here before, Bruce was a very successful businessman and dedicated family man, both of which left him little time to travel to a certain location to catalogue old tapes. It's difficult to explain Bruce's situation - he had no interest in dealing with BMG or more recently Sony and understandably did not want strangers sifting through his personal collection of tapes, many of which contained personal messages to his family.
I'm sure had Bruce lived a little longer he would have gotten back to those old boxes (I know he wanted to) but like many of us, we tend to put some things off, certainly with no anticipation of death.

Kris is the expert here, having known Jackson.
I can only add, from conversations in the past with Jorgensen,
no deals were ever done between him and Bruce Jackson...
So...no really rare soundboards are awaiting a release in the
near future...if ever?

Ger what if any shows have you heard that have not been out yet (not just Bruce`s)or any shows you know of for sure ? Thanks TCB Jamie

Can't think of any, to be honest. Last time I visited Jorgensen to have
a listen to the then unreleased stuff is over 10 years ago... And when we
sometimes talk on the phone, soundboards are ( sorry!) never part of
the discussion. We talk 50s & 60s most of the time.

I would think that any one asking the family would wait a bit longer,as things for them must be still raw for them and there loss.

I see the Bruce Jackson collection as the last straw for us Elvis fans to get soundboards of tours, engagements and shows (July 31, 1969, 1970, 1971, July 1975, Pittsburgh 1976 and Indianapolis 1977) from which is known that FTD does not hold copies of. I hope eventually the family will hand over the collection (with some fine money paid) so fans have a chance to hear these shows as part of the legacy.

Hi Alexander, Bruce started with Elvis in '71 and therefore has no tapes from '69 or '70. I'm sure the tapes in his estate will eventually see the light of day and when this happens there will be some very happy fans.

I'm sure there are a lot of fans who would appreciate the release of all this material. Personally I don't think I could listen to another however many concerts of the same old stuff. If there was something new or different, fine, but otherwise forget it. I have plenty of concert CDs already that I've listened to once and then filed away never to hear them again.

You also John, won't be disappointed.

Thanks for pointing that out Kris, although I knew about Bruce joining the team in 1971 I was ofcourse mistaken suggesting he might have 1970 tapes or THE July 31,1969 tape. For me, however, each and every new soundboard is embraced with joy since I see this as an opportunity to explore the live years more further. The same joy I feel for 50s concerts and/ or outtakes from the 50s and 60s.

Only if there's something new or different. Otherwise I'm not interested.

Hence me bolding "new or different" in your original post and replying, "you won't be disappointed".

OK Kris, since you are known to be an insider and these mysterious hints do not help anybody. From which shows/ tours do you know for certain that there are soundboard tapes in the collection of Bruce Jackson and to avoid further rumours, can you say if Bruce told you so directly, that you have heard this from second hand or that you are guessing like (most of) the rest of us here. Right now the BJ Collection is quite a myth, let's give it some body please.

I noticed that, hence my re-confirmation that I wouldn't be interested unless there was something new or different. So Kris, what is there do you think that might be of interest to me?

It seems time to share some insides Kris!

To answer a couple of these questions directly, yes Alexander, Bruce told me directly and as to which shows/tours were recorded, though it's impossible to know definitively which shows/tours until all the tapes have been properly cataloged - though I can say that nearly all tour shows were recorded, less so with Vegas but exactly how many of these these tapes survive in Bruce's collection is still unknown.
Anymore I can not say, as I was told in confidence by Bruce and although Bruce is know longer with us, I'm inclined to still respect his wishes.

Thanks Kris, all tour shows were recorded indeed - that has been known for a while now. But unfortunately the mystery remains which shows are known to be in the BJ Collection. Some shows may have been given away or sold by BJ and have ended up in private collections while other tapes were erased and used to record other shows. Chance is John and all of us might be in for a treat or two (personally I welcome every soundboard to be released) but we will not know until the day releases are announced. If ever.

They better move it, some of us are getting on.

You're only as old as the women you feel, John.

That makes me 39....well, until last month.

Cheeky.

Question: Was Bruce Jackson also involved with the Tahoe shows?

Greetz, The Baystar dude

Yes, he did the PA in Tahoe. Pretty much the only shows he didn't work were the '73 Hawaiian shows.