updated 9/18/2010
Part of a series of back-of-the-napkin thoughts about the Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival (GSCBF), held in San Rafael, CA from Friday, April 26th through Sunday, April 28, 1974.
Previous installments:
The last post discussed the Sunday afternoon schedule, doing a poor job of laying out an idea that I am about 99% sure about, which is that the "Debbie reels" run more or less continuously across that part of the festival, from a ca. 3:30 p.m. set by "Frank Wakefield" 3:00 p.m. set by the Greenbriar Boys all the way through to the OAITW set that closed the proceedings.
Here I will lay out my notes for the "Frank Wakefield" Greenbriar Boys set from the Debbie reels.
Let me first address the billing. This is not "Frank Wakefield", as the circulating recordings are labeled, but The Greenbriar Boys (with Frank Wakefield). So, contrary to what I might have said elsewhere and/or in earlier drafts, Wakefield didn't play unbilled. He was billed and played with his band at the time.
The SF Examiner's Philip Elwood (19740509) says the Greenbriar Boys in this period were the following:
- John Herald (guitar, vocals)
- Frank Wakefield (mandolin)
- Brian Price (fiddle)
- Robbie Stoner (bass)
- Sandy Rothman (banjo)
By the way, the Greenbriar Boys were scheduled for 3 p.m., after Jim & Jesse and before Mac Wiseman. The recording makes it clear that the schedule went straight from GB to Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys. I can only speculate as to whether Mac Wiseman played on Sunday (he was scheduled for all three days). Perhaps his set was moved or canceled, I just don't know.
Recording, setlist and such follow. More information would be appreciated! I am sure that someone knowledgeable could identify the two songs that I couldn’t.
The Greenbriar Boys
Sunday, April 28, 1974 ca. 15:00
Source: "Frank Wakefield; Debbie reel 4/27/74, CD 1 of 4"
Provenance: unknown sbd recording (?maybe MSC > C?) > reel
Transfer: AKAI GX 636 playback > Apogee mini ME @ 24/96 > Apogee Mini DAC (monitoring/mastering) > lynx one soundcard > wavelab 5.0 > FLAC, by Matt Smith.
(16 tracks, 37:41)
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t01. talk (1) & tuning [1:16]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t02. Goodbye Old Pal [1:44]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t03. talk (2), Jack Elliott [4:37]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t04. song introduction [0:53]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t05. Jesus Loves His Mandolin Picker #16 [3:24]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t06. Chicken [2:47]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t07. talk (3)
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t08. Sleepy-Eyed John [2:55]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t09. song introduction [0:41]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t10. Passenger Pigeons [3:25]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t11. introduction of Jerry Garcia and Vassar Clements [1:10]
--w/ Jerry Garcia (banjo), Vassar Clements (fiddle), ??female backing vocalist, possibly Maria Muldaur or Donna???--
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t12. That's Alright, Mama [3:15] (4)
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t13. Rawhide (5), encore calls (6) [4:22]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t14. Heartbreak Hotel [2:20] ->
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t15. Orange Blossom Special [3:56]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t16: Acknowledgement of Vassar (7) [0:09]
Notes:
! Rawhide and Heartbreak Hotel -> Orange Blossom Special also circulates from the WB reels and on the fileset circulated by Rob Berger from Jerry Moore's reels.
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t01: (1) "We're gonna tease you for a few songs here before Jerry comes out"
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t03: (2) pre-song talk that Elliott is backstage confirms that this is same day as Elliott set. Since that's connected to continuous tape and can be definitely dated, so can this.
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t07: (3) "we want to really thank Judy Lammers for putting this festival on"
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t12: (4) after song, from stage to sound guy: "We gotta hear Vassar"
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t13: (5) speaker says "Number 6" just as the number starts. Before Neil Rosenberg identified this tune for me, I thought that could be the number of a Jesus Loves His Mandolin Player composition, but now I gather it was a mic/monitor check
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t13: (6) the continuous tape is great here, showing that "Heartbreak Hotel" -> "Orange Blossom Special" is the encore of the Wakefield set.
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t16: (7) "how about Vassar Clements, the man this festival is dedicated to"
<--Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys follow-->
The Greenbriar Boys were the first "Northern" bluegrass band to make a record, and as such were very influential to suburban bluegrass players like Garcia.
ReplyDeleteSupposedly an early publicity photo of The Wildwood Boys was posed just like the cover of the Greenbriar Boys album. I don't know if the photo survived, however. In any case, it was probably quite a big deal for Garcia to come on stage with John Herald and The Greenbriar Boys.
Nelson in Dead Relix ("DR") v3 n1 (1976), posted by Jerry Garcia's Brokendown Palaces:
ReplyDelete[QUOTE]
D.R.: When did the Good Ol’ Boys begin?
Dave: It started at the Vasser Clements California Bluegrass Festival, put on by Judy Lammers, at the Marin County Fairgrounds. The real biggies that were there were Jim and Jesse McReynolds, the Virginia Boys, Frank Wakefield, Vasser, Doc Watson, Ralph Stanley, Jimmy Martin, Maria Muhdaur, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Doug Dillard.
/QUOTE]
So, the Good Old Boys were born out of the GSCBF. Nice!
The GSCBF is turning out to be more and more of a watershed event.
ReplyDeleteSandy Rothman has told me he played with the Greenbriar Boys at this event.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that: wonderful!
ReplyDeleteDoes Sandy know who might have been the guys who formed, that one day only, the "Wild Eyed Hippie Stompers"?
Elwood reviewed the Greenbriar Boys's 5/8/74 Boarding House show, giving personnel as Herald, Wakefield, Brian Price (from Walnut Creek) on fiddle, Robbie Stoner on bass, and Sandy Rothman on banjo. It seems likely that this was the very lineup that was playing the Festival.
ReplyDeleteWhich, of course, would make this a very rare crossing of Garcia and Rothman in the GD era, the other that I know of being 12/15/73 Winterland with NRPS.
DeleteGrisman: "In 1963, during Easter vacation from school, I made a pilgrimage to Washington, D.C., to meet Frank Wakefield. I'll never forget it. It was this tiny little bar, and he and Red Allen were sitting at the table in front of the stage, drinking beer. I just walked right up to Frank and introduced myself and told him I played mandolin. He just took me home with him! Frank was a huge influence on me."
ReplyDeleteInteresting that Dawg doesn't join in the fun here at the GSCBF.
! ref: Forte 1979a, 32.