Half Century Jerry: JGB in Irvine, August 1, 1992

In looking at the date index for the blog, I noticed I hadn't engaged a 1992 show, and the only tag for the year wasn't really focused on it. I confess that I have a strong prior that 1992 sucks. I have spun pieces of shows a time or two, and even whole ones, including 2/7/92, some of the April and early May gigs, a summer show, and 10/31/92, and never found anything to feel good about. I have it in my head that 1991 has some greatness, and 1993 has some greatness, but that 1992 had none. Update: I have now done up some notes for 4/30/92 and 10/31/92.

So, feeling a certain level of aversion, I thought that I'd pick a show with some possible meaning, so I picked Jerry's 50th birthday show, 8/1/92, from behind the Orange Curtain. I have to confess that I didn't hate it, and even found plenty to like. It pleasantly surprised me.

In the book, I plan to narrate the way the media narrated Garcia's 1992:

redemption! (the AP birthday story)

fall! (8/3/92 collapse, the dirty f!@#$% hippy probably doing drugs again)

redemption! (ca. 10/31/92, Jerry's second triumphant return, having lost a bunch of weight, smoking less, etc.)

See some of my sketchy historical notes below for some thoughts. I don't have time to write it all up right now.

Anyway, not bad, not bad at all.

jg1992-08-01.jgb.all.aud-gotfob.94028.flac1648

Jerry Garcia Band
Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre
8808 Irvine Center Dr.
Irvine, CA 92618
August 1, 1992 (Saturday) - 7 PM
Gotfob MAD flac1648 shnid-94028

--set I (7 tracks, 58:38)--
s1t01. [0:05] Cats Under The Stars [9:27] [0:05] % [0:45]
s1t02. Mission In The Rain [8:44] [1:08]
s1t03. Waiting For A Miracle [5:43] [0:49]
s1t04. Mississippi Moon [9:45] [0:16]
s1t05. Ain't No Bread In The Breadbox [7:36] [0:14]
s1t06. My Sisters And Brothers [4:28] ->
s1t07. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love [9:29] (1) [0:02] %

--set II (6 tracks, 60:46)--
s2t01. Shining Star [13:25] [1:10]
s2t02. Money Honey [7:01] [0:52]
s2t03. Knockin' On Heaven's Door [8:30] %
s2t04. The Maker [6:34]
s2t05. Don't Let Go [13:40] [0:08] %
s2t06. /What A Wonderful World (2) [8:45] %

! ACT1: JGB #21b
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing vocals.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [ ] = recorded event time. The recorded event time immediately after the song or item name is an attempt at getting the "real" time of the event. So, a timing of [x:xx] right after a song title is an attempt to say how long the song really was, as represented on this recording.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19920801-01

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1992-08-01

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/CddGMG2NU4x

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/irvine-meadows-8808-irvine-center-drive.html.

! band: THE Jerry Garcia Band, JGB #21b (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html)

! historical: Garcia's 50th birthday. Tickets were $28.75, $6-$10 more than the contemporary shows, so one paid a premium to hear Jerry play his own party. It's a fascinating little period: this very day, an AP item made the rounds ticking off Garcia's recent productivity, including JGB, Garcia-Grisman, and Ken Nordine albums, artistic accomplishments, and of course the Dead's record-setting 1991 touring receipts. Then after one more SoCal show, he'd collapse again on August 3, not quite as seriously as in 1986, but seriously enough that he had to cancel August 6-7-8 Warfield JGB shows and then 22 paydays with the Dead, including the planned Third Decadenal Field Trip, reprising a legendarily acid-soaked 1972 gig in Prankster Ken Kesey's neck of the woods. It was serious enough that Garcia even allegedly cut back on his smoking, and definitely lost a bunch of weight, returning to the stage to a third round of national publicity on Halloween night with the JGB. If the health crisis was a little less serious than in '86, and the "back from the brink" narrative was similar, his return to health was less triumphal and much shorter-lived, with Manasha alleging in court papers that ol' Jer was back on the junk before year's end. Indeed, if after '86 Garcia hit new heights --and I think he did-- the post-'92 recovery was merely local, and it's not wrong to envision a slow shuffle from 50 to the grave.

! R: Source: FOB > Schoeps > DAT @ 48k

! R: Transfer: Fostex D5 > Zoltrix 24/96 > Wavelab 5.0 @ 48k(normalized to -1db, edits, crossfades) > Cd Wave > 16/48 FLAC. *Brought To You By Gotfob*.

! P: s1t01 CUTS comes out dragging, but that's as much my priors, I think. This is good.

! R: s1t07 ENSTL fixed right channel mic bump @ 4:25 with left channel pasted in)

! P: s1t07 ENSTL JG doing some nicely layered, complex stuff 5 min mark.

! s1t07 (1) JG: "We'll be back in a little while - thank you."

! P: s2t02 MH they don't have the added piece to the arrangement yet.

! R: s2t03-04 KOHD, Maker fixed pause between knockin/maker crossfaded w/-12db fast.

! P: s2t03 Maker started it in a higher key than he would eventually do, he comes back down after the first few lines. Flubbing lyrics. He doesn't have the lyrical arrangement down, either. When did they start playing this?

! P: s2t05 DLG 7 drops into a faster, interesting space. An interesting version.

! R: s2t05 DLG song faded out, removed  the gap & fixed the fade in.

! R: s2t06 WAWW clips in

! P: s2t06 WAWW this is the Louis Armstrong song. John flutters around as a "feature" in the 5 min range. The tune overall is good though.

! s2t06 (2) JG: "Good night everybody. Thank you very much."

! P: overall, I found this to be very solid.