In March 1998, Lester Butler was home and playing locally with the California version of 13: Eddie Clark, Mike Hightower and guitarist Chris Masterson.
“Chris replaced Alex Schultz and Enrico Crivellaro and did most of the gigs in the Los Angeles area and short road trips outside of L.A.,” Clark wrote to No Fightin’. “Alex Schultz was the ‘ringer’ for festivals and such, as promoters asked if Alex was in the band for those events. Hence his appearance on (Moulin Blues Ospel) 1998.”
That band didn’t miss a step, as heard on a March 29, 1998, tape from a club called 14 Below in Santa Monica.
The tape includes only a handful of songs, and likely not in the correct order, but who cares when you get a dynamic 11-minute jam on “Automatic”?
Masterson gets to show off on an expansive version of “Devil Woman,” taking suggestions from Paul Size’s classic “King King” solo to go off in his own direction.
Masterson is famously seen and heard on the Yo! Studios rehearsal video from a few weeks before this gig. That’s the Clark video from March 3, 1998, with several rehearsal songs, including “Business In The Street.”
14 Below, Santa Monica, March 29, 1998
- Automatic (11:20)
- Devil Woman (8:32)
- Lester’s Jump Boogie (5:09)
- So Low Down (3:45)
- Night (6:46)
- I Wish You Would (11:02)
No Fightin' 