This post has been a long time coming… approximately 34 years.
That’s how long ago I went to see Paul Black and the Flip Kings at the Big Bull Falls Blues and Jazz Fest in Wausau Wisconsin. The year was 1992 and it was a big event for me. I had never been to a Fest, besides Summerfest. This was an overnight stay and I saw Koko Taylor (during severe weather, tent poles moving up and down scarily) and Lonnie Brooks, but the real reason I went was to see Paul Black and The Flip Kings.
Paul and the band played under the big tent in the afternoon and I sat on a blanket and soaked it all in. It was amazing. I had a tape recorder with me and I recorded the show. In hindsight, my choice to be as close to the front as was humanly possible had consequences. The bass from the speakers pretty much directly in front of me saturated the recording. It was listenable (barely), and reminded me of a car going by with 110% bass banging and the trunk rattling. I was hugely bummed but listened to it over and over nonetheless.
Over the years I have come back to that tape time and time again, and it was only recently that I took the digital copy and manipulated it with Audacity to lower the bass and boost the treble. Technology is amazing and now the sound is overall pretty damn good. Not soundboard, but still a great show to listen to.
I have only shared that recording with a very small group of friends.
As you know readers, unfortunately Paul passed in 2025.
It seems a shame to let this tape sit in my collection not being appreciated by Madison fans and even from those across the US who were in Madison years ago and crossed paths with the band at The Crystal Corner, The Harmony, or Club De Wash and many many others.
I have received so many messages from people who have seen my post
or seen my YouTube video on my Paul Black and The Flip Kings collection
and shared stories of seeing the band, every single one of them a fond memory of the music and its effect on them. Through those connections I have received a handful of other tapes of shows which I digitized and will also share with you, including my other recording of Paul Black and The Flip Kings opening for Buddy Guy at the now long gone R & R Station in Madison.
There are probably many people out there with tapes of Paul Black and The Flip Kings shows that are holding on to theirs tightly too. I was one of those people for many many years, but the time has come to share.
There are clips of the band at shows around Madison on YouTube, but as far as I can tell no full show audio out there, so we are starting an archive. So, as I post the shows to my YouTube channel, I will add links to this post so you can go dig them and relive your memories of shows. Maybe you were even at some that I will be posting!
If you have any shows that you are willing to share, please reach out. I can digitize cassettes if you are willing to send them, they will be treated well and returned once digitized.
Please reach out either through my blog: auralretentive.com
or my e-mail: thearualretentive@gmail.com
And now on with the show(s)
Paul Black and The Flip Kings – Big Bull Falls Blues and Jazz Fest 8-29-1992 Wausau WI
The Aural Retentive 