Monday, November 22, 2021

Late '78 Kahn (JGB at Paramount Theatre, Portland, OR, October 26, 1978)

LN jg1978-10-26.jgb.all.aud-severson.148655.flac2496

Not a ton to report. Kahn sounded absolutely amazing on this tour. Really, all through 1978. I don't know if he changed something, if the sound people just dialed him in especially well, or something else, but the bass was big and fat. Great recording by Mark Severson, full of ambience. Garcia strong.

Apparently young Buzzy had let his union membership lapse, because the Portland Musician's Mutual Association, A.F. of M Local number 99 sent a "Dear Sir and Brother" letter, fraternally hoping that notice of Buzzy's delinquency would give everyone "sufficient opportunity to avoid a repetition of this occurrence in any A.F.M. Local's jurisdiction, which could result in files being filed against" ol' Jer.

Jerry Garcia Band
Paramount Theatre
1037 S.W. Broadway
Portland, OR 97205
October 26, 1978 (Thursday)
Severson shnid-148655 flac2496

--set I (7 tracks, 6 tunes, 64:14)--
s1t01. ambience [1:16]
s1t02. Harder They Come [10:53] [1:57]
s1t03. Mission In The Rain [10:11] [0:16] % [0:49]
s1t04. Simple Twist Of Fate [10:38] [2:04]
s1t05. They Love Each Other [7:08] [1:56]
s1t06. It Ain't No Use [7:58] [0:19] % [0:17]
s1t07. Mystery Train [8:18] (1) [0:14]

--set II (7 tracks, 6 tunes, 64:20)--
s2t01. ambience [0:43]
s2t02. Love In The Afternoon [10:26] [1:46]
s2t03. Reuben And Cherise [5:37] [1:33]
s2t04. Tore Up Over You [7:50] [1:33]
s2t05. Gomorrah [5:56] [0:08] %
s2t06. /I'll Be With Thee [#5:09] [1:32]
s2t07. Lonesome And A Long Way From Home [21:45] [0:14] % dead air [0:04]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! lineup: Buzz Buchanan - drums;
! lineup: Keith Godchaux - keyboards, harmony vocals;
! lineup: Donna Jean Godchaux - backing vocals;
! lineup: Maria Muldaur - backing vocals.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; # = truncated timing; {x:xx} = time as tracked on this recording; [x:xx] = recorded even 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.


! db: 



! ad: Sunday Oregonian, October 8, 1978, p. 16

! ad: Capital-Journal (Salem, OR), October 13, 1978, p. 14-A

! seealso: Nick, "10/24/78: floundering in the snow," URL http://deadthinking.blogspot.com/2017/11/102478-floundering-in-snow.html

! seealso: Corry, "October 26, 1978 Paramount Theater, Portland, OR: Jerry Garcia Band/Bob Weir Band," URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/02/october-26-1978-paramount-theater.html. Corry suggests that Garcia found himself increasingly socially isolated in this period, couldn't go out to see other bands gig, and so was scouting talent from bands that opened for the GD or the JGB, noting "Garcia's primary keyboard players from 1979 to 1990 were all in bands that opened for him in 1978".

! historical: Bob Weir Band opened. Western flight #215 from SFO, landing PDX 5:09 PM: R. Taylor, Garcia, Kahn, 2x Godchaux, Muldaur, Buchanan, Healy, Loren, and GUITAR all ticketed. GUITAR doesn't get its own ticket on other flights of the tour until the end.

! R: field recordist: Mark Severson

! R: field recording gear: 2x Sony ECM 270 mics > Sony TC-158

! R: Transfer Info: Master Cassette (Nakamichi CR-7A) > Tascam DA-3000 (DSF 1-bit/5.6 MHz)> dBpoweramp (24/96) > Adobe Audition CC 2019 > TLH flac2496

! R: Notes: - Thanks to Mark Severson for the master cassette recording - Thanks to Charlie Miller for the transfer and coordinating this effort - Thanks to Pat Lee and Matt Smith for the Sony 18n source which supplies the first 5:05 of "Love In The Afternoon" - Thanks to Joe B. Jones for verifying the pitch. Mastered by Scott Clugston December 2019.

! P: s1t02 HTC @ 4:25 KG plays a terrific first lead, while Kahn is rumble-shredding beneath him. This band was so good, and sounded so good, on this tour. Hard to believe they'd only play a couple more shows.

! P: s1t03 MITR @ 3:40 Garcia decides he wants to play loudly, and does so.

! P: s1t04 STOF I have been repeatedly struck by how great Garcia's guitar work is. Late 6 here I especially note it again. Brimming over with stuff to say. No JK solo in this STOF.

! s1t07 (1) JG: "We're gonna take a break for a little while, we'll be back in a few minutes."

! R: s2t06 IBWT clips in

! P: s2t07 LAALWFH JG takes it out right over 6, and it comes back to the tune at 18:15. 12 pretty good, noodly minutes. And then they really stretch out the post-return piece - more than I ever recall in any other version. Donna moaning, Maria harmonizing nicely - lovely!

2 comments:

  1. I have probably said this elsewhere, but I wonder if the supposition that Jer & Bob were watching Brent Mydland (Bob's band) very closely didn't make Keith feel like he was auditioning for his own job with the GD. That seems too simple an explanation for why his playing in these final JGB sounds so good, but I can't shake it.

    Agreed that this Simple Twist is something special. Ditto LALWFH.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That *is* interesting. I wish I knew more details. I have seen information on negotiating the separation agreement bw the Godchauxs and the GD, but that was all pretty proximate to them actually leaving.

    ReplyDelete

!Thank you for joining the conversation!