The December '85 Garcia Band Shows

LN jg1985-12-14.jgb.all.aud-CC.137723.flac1644

LN jg1985-12-15.jgb.all-1.aud-CC.137724.flac1644

LN jg1985-12-21.jgb.all.aud-gale.14980.shn2flac

LN jg1985-12-22.jgb.all.aud-gale.14981.shn2flac

seealso: LN jg1985-10-14.jgb.all.aud.138028.flac1644

Earlier this year I posted listening notes on four JGB shows from August 1985, and here I do the same for December of the same year. It's relatively feasible to do this for Rock Bottom shows because they are fun sized, with sets regularly clocking in below 45 minutes.

The shows make for nice comparison pieces in this regard.

Recall these set lengths from August:

DATE      s1      s2           TT      
8/4/85    46:03   31:04      77:07
8/5/85    49:31   48:37      88:08
8/9/85    42:26   38:32      80:58
8/10/85  37:08   34:14      81:22

Here are the December equivalents:

DATE         s1        s2            TT      
12/14/85    47:22   39:24       86:46
12/15/85    42:31   29:02*     71:33 *missing Cats, probably about 8-9 minutes
12/21/85    50:11   34:09       84:20
12/22/85    40:03   44:03       84:06

So, things are not very much different four months on. More than half the sets fit on a tape side (5 of 8 and 6 of 8, respectively). In the case of the December tapes, this is not due to tape discontinuities: Jerry runs from one song to the next with very little time between, and the taper kept things rolling. That sub-35 minute 12/21 II, looks mighty short, but it probably doesn't enter the bottom five for shortest electric sets.

The big difference, then, is in personnel: the August shows involve THE Jerry Garcia Band, #21b, which ran with only a single interruption from ca. July 10, 1984 to November 19, 1993, Jerry's longest-running aggregation. The interruption happened October 1985 - February 1986 when, for reasons unknown, David Kemper was not drumming, replaced by the legendary Oakland funk master Gaylord Birch. Clean inference would really require blind listening, of course. Here I know Gaylord is in the the house, I am listening for distinctive style, and boy do I hear it. Lots more snare and hi-hat, generally busier, not as much in either respect as Kool-Aid Chemist Paul Humphrey, who played with Jerry and Merl in '74, but closer in style to him than, say, the 50-caliber Greg Errico.

This is Birch's third Garciaverse appearance. He played a few gigs in early '75 (January 21-22) with the Saunders-Garcia aggregation, certainly the funkiest and some of the most challenging gigs Garcia ever did. He next manned the chair from January-September 1979 with Reconstruction, again, an outfit that pushed Garcia out of his comfort zone, the last "challenge band" outside the Dead he ever regulalrly played with. (Not coincidentally, also the last band he'd regularly play with that didn't bear his name.) Finally, we find this little interregnum, nine gigs in six months subbing for David Kemper in the Garcia Band.

Table xxx. Gaylord Birch in the Garcia Band, 1985-1986

(Hopefully that gets a little bigger if you click on it! Otherwise, just click the link above the table.)

(Note that Mid Moon ended every show except the first one. The great Walter Keenan has pointed this regularity out to me before, and here we see it plain as day. The Jerry Band setlists never varied as much as GD setlists did, but this is ... striking even for JGB.)

Anyway, Birch simply amazes me at ever turn here. He had played four gigs in October (7th-8th not in circulation, 13th and 14th), then nothing for two months, then returns for these four in December. I doubt there was an awful lot of practicting going on in the interim, though I don't know anything about that for certain. And, yeah, some of these tunes, like "How Sweet It Is", are going to be straightforward enough, even as the Garcia Band's loose-to-unraveling arrangements, gas-brake tempo fluctuations, and general approach to things would have defied a lesser drummer. But then there are the Garcia originals and tunes played in so many different genres that it's hard to imagine Gaylord had thought much about over the years, less still played. Maybe they threw some charts at him or something, but whatever the preparation they provided him, the '85 Garcia Band would certainly have been pretty darn hard to drum for, I'd imagine. Yet Birch seems to have no trouble at all, with anything. He plays most every tune like he's been playing it for years. It's not perfect, but man is it great, and man oh man is it impressive.

I will paste listening notes below the fold. Nothing will really surprise you here, so let me just sketch some moments I dug. Thanks to the legendary Erik VanO for the ticket stub scans!

12/14

s1t01-GOOMLW great way to kick things off. Melvin sounds great, Jerry finds some liquidy goodness midway through.

s1t02-Garcia steps in the Mutron with a big click and a wahh and the crowd hoots appreciatively, knowing that Catfish John is about to happen.

s1t04-Love In The Afternoon, a song he would never have played outside the GD, Gaylord just shines. He does some stuff 6:50-7 that knocks me out.

s1t06-Deal: there will be no surprises here. "The voice during Deal is horrifying. Big scrubba dubba doo later on 6:49, though. Yow! Go to 7 and hear the Great Barcia wail."

Overall, I had more to say about set I than about set II.

12/15

It's getting toward the holidays, and the crowd sounds drunk and ready to party. Elmer Fudd is definitely in the house vocally. But one of the things to note is that Garcia is figuring out, on the fly, how to sing with his now powerfully limited vocal range. He can't just numb up and try to power through. He has to dial back the force and dial in a little bit of singing nuance. This is really the beginning of the rounding, softening of his style over all. In '83-'84, he'd just BLAST. Here, we see the start of a little more circumspection, more befitting a man of his age.

s1t03 my love of pre-coma 80s JGB Knockin's is well known (to myself). This one is just wonderful. From the notes: "Right at 4:01 or so he hits a terrific guitar combo, and a crowd member yelps at it. 4:45 I love the feel of this - it's like the sound of recovery. Oh my, at 8:35 you hear a thing only Gaylord Birch could ever have done with JGB. Trust me, and check it out. What a drummer."

s1t04 a characteristically shreddy balls-to-the-wall wailing guitar Deal

s2t04 I find him doing some interesting picking in Midnight Moonlight, which is really uncommon at this stage.

12/21

Looks like the weakest show of the run on this set of listens - almost no notes.

Interesting to note the following recollection at Jerrybase: "I stood five feet from him the whole night. He didn't open his eyes once. He also stood at the mike, or one step back or at his amp. Not much movement. The show was great." Those observations and that assessment are, of course, not mutually exlcusive when it comes to Rock Bottom Jerry.

12/22

s1t01 CUTS man, yeah, listen to Gaylord! Yowwww!!! And they don't circle aroud too much at the end. Nice.

s1t04 after a nice salty Think (s1t03), Deal is big, as it was wont to be in this period. Gaylord double-timing some 6:15, crazy high-neck Jerry tone 6:30, even higher 6:49, doesn't sound possible. Big raging Deal here for sure. I can't imagine how loud this must have been in situ.

s2t01 Kahn does some neat stuff in HTC. Attaboy, John. Chin up.

s2t05 somehow my silly mind coins another silly acronym: MAMMM: a mile-a-minute Midnight Moonlight. Gaylord's going to need a cortisone shot after this one.

In Sum

All in all, I don't really have many complaints about these. There's lots of good stuff happening. If you need a haircut, go to Deal on any given night. But, generally, I do think there's something to be said for the effect of fresh blood on ol Jer. Looking back at my August notes, I summarized "Overall, I guess I'd say totally characteristic. Some really good guitar work, some lyrical fumbles, vocals getting rougher by the minute." I think these shows are stronger. I would certainly not play these for the unitiated - the vocals are still pretty terrible. (The tapes have the featurebug that the vocals are buried.) But I hear many interesting moments, and a higher average level, here than I did in August. Some of the credit, I think, has to go to Gaylord. This is no knock on Kemper, whom I love. But it's the same way that people sometimes let themselves go after marriage - no need to impress. But if you are looking to get with someone new, or with someone new, you want to sharpen up a little bit. So you're maybe a little more together ex ante. And, then, the new person brings new stuff - surprises. So you need to listen a little more carefully, and you  have some new stuff to respond to. That's all to the good.

This could all, of course, reflect the narrative fallacy. I know Gaylord is here, and I dream up some story that could plausibly flow from that kind of situation. You should certainly go back and check my work, if you are so inclined. But this idea that the fresh blood brought forth better from our guy is my story here, and for now I am sticking to it.

Listening notes below.

Jerry Garcia Band
The Stone
412 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133
December 14, 1985 (Saturday)
AUD CC shnid-137723

--set I (6 tracks, 47:22)--
s1t01. //Get Out Of My Life Woman [8:45] [0:18]
s1t02. [0:25] (1) Catfish John [8:15]] [0:07]
s1t03. tuning (2) [2:19]
s1t04. Love In The Afternoon [10:10] -11:20
s1t05. Mississippi Moon [7:59] ->
s1t06. De//al [7:#49] [0:05] %

--set II (5 tracks, 39:24)--
s2t01. [0:38] The Harder They Come [8:59] ->
s2t02. When I Paint My Masterpiece [10:33] ->
s2t03. Reuben & Cherise [6:29] ->
s2t04. Gomorrah [6:13] ->
s2t05. Midnight Moonlight [6:23] (3) [0:10] %

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #22 (First show - October 7, 1985 Keystone Palo Alto; Last show - February 21, 1986)
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-guitar, vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - vocals;
! lineup: Jaclyn LaBranch - vocals;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - organ;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! lineup: Gaylord Birch - drums.

JGMF:

! R: 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.

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

! JGBP:http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/stone-mothers-412-broadway-san.html

! band:http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html. The band started on a Monday-Tuesday, October 7th and 8th in Palo Alto, then Sunday-Monday the next week in San Fran. So four gigs in October, four in December (14-15 in SF, 21-22 in PA, weekend gigs, all in circulation), then one gig in February (2/21/86).

! personnel: "Gaylord Birch played 10 JGB gigs during this stretch, all in the Bay Area. I presume that Kemper had another commitment, and since Birch was an established quantity from his time in Reconstruction, he was a comfortable choice as a sub" (Corry bands post).

! seealso: Arnold, Corry. 2012. Gaylord Birch – Drums. Hooterollin' Around, February 3, URLhttp://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2012/02/gaylord-birch-drums.html, consulted 11/15/2014.

! personnel: From October 1985 - February 1986, Gaylord Birch sat in for David Kemper on drums, the only such period for JGB between 7/20/83 and 11/19/93. Stylistically, I don't hear the kick bass as much with him, a lot more snare and high stuff. He remains energetic. We know so little about this period. Where was Kemper?

! R: AUD (marked 3rd Gen) kindly provided by wk & http://jgmf.blogspot.com/

! R: Transfer: Maxell XLII > Nakamichi CR-5A > Edirol FA-66 > Wavelab 2448 > R8Brain > CD-Wave > TLH > FLAC 1644 tagged. Transfer by Andrew F. 02/2017

! R: s1t01 GOOMLW cuts in. Guitar comes up in the mix 3:14. Gaylord is more forward on this tape than 12/15.

! P: s1t01 GOOMLW nice energy. Gaylord sounds good out of the gate, can hear him very well on the tape. Melvin feature 3:30ff. Melvin sounds absolutely fantastic. Garcia has a more comping style, but 5:20 ff he still makes it interesting. Now he steps forward to take up a lovely, liquid guitar feature.

! s1t02 (1) CJ When Jerry steps in his wah effect, in comes in with a crackle and a nice sustained reverb, and the locals hoot - they know what's coming.

! P: s1t02 CJ This sounds quite clear and energetic.

! s1t03 (2) Some crowd member: "Nice haircut, Jer!" AF hears a Masterpiece hint. It almost sounds more like 4th Street to my ears. Jerry is doing a very distinctive little melody during this tuning, something probably out of a work book.

! P: s1t04 LITA the drumming is totally unique, totally distinctive, wow! @ 6:50 and right over 7, Gaylord totally distinguishes himself.

! R: s1t06 Deal tape flip at 7:15

! P: s1t06 Deal: The voice during Deal is horrifying. Big scrubba dubba doo later on 6:49, though. Yow! Go to 7 and hear the Great Barcia wail.

! P: s2t01 HTC: Again, Gaylord Birch is a freaking pro.

! P: s2t03 RAC Jerry is trying to get it up into the high register toward the end, but I think he has to settle with what the band can give him. John is totally inaudible.

! s2t05 (3) JG: "Thanks."

~~~~~~~~~~

Jerry Garcia Band
The Stone
412 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133
December 15, 1985 (Sunday)
all-1 CC shnid-137724

--set I (4 tracks, 42:31)--
s1t01. //How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [#7:44] [0:13]
s1t02. (1) [0:21] They Love Each Other [9:21] ->
s1t03. Knockin' On Heaven's Door [15:22] ->
s1t04. Deal [9:21] (1) [0:09]

--set II, 4 tracks, 1 song missing, 29:20)--
[MISSING s2txx Cats Under the Stars]
s2t01. //Like A Road Leading Home [#9:16] [0:06]
s2t02. Think [7:39] ->
s2t03. Run For The Roses [5:11] ->
s2t04. Midnight Moonlight [6:59] (2) [0:09]

…

! R: AUD (marked 3rd Gen) kindly provided by wk & http://jgmf.blogspot.com/

! R: Transfer: Maxell XLII > Nakamichi CR-5A > Edirol FA-66 > Wavelab 2448 > R8Brain > CD-Wave > TLH > FLAC 1644 tagged. Transfer by Andrew F. 02/2017

! R: s1t01 HSII cuts in.

! R: s1t01 fascinating to hear the drunk and enthusiastic holiday crowd to start. This is significant Elmer Fudd quality to the vocals, but he's bringing energy. He needs to retrain himself with this new vocal instrument he has, after destroying it with base (i.a.). The guitar sounds fluid and lovely. Gaylord is a little off the beat at various points, but I certainly don't blame him - one gets the sense that Jerry wouldn't have been big on practice at this point, and he is a great pure drummer. Melvin giant organ chord feature to carry everyone on his ample back, Garcia amping and Birch able to pound some stuff out, knowing where things are going for awhile. Garcia late 5 another turn. Bass is inaudible on the tape, hard to know what, if anything, John is contributing on stage.

! s1t02 (1) tuning, Garcia plucks a thing and puts an effect on it that sounds great.

! P: s1t02 TLEO again Elmer Fudd, this is gonna be rough by the end of the night. Now at 1:20-1:30 of TLEO you can almost hear him learning how to sing with this newly limited voice, singing more than yelling. It's in the background, so he can let it work without needing to push it. The verse, he is trying to sing it cooler than he had been for last year or so. Fascinating to hear him do this, working toward the approach he'd take to his vocals for the rest of his career.

! P: s1t03 KOHD not sure it's a real guzinta, but why not? Lady near the beginning goes "Yeah! I haven't heard this in a long time!" I love that, catching some Jerry shows regularly enough to note that she hadn't heard this in awhile. KOHD has some real special feel to it - Jerry really emoting with it. The tune lilts wonderfully, with the peppy, plucky reggae development that I loved. Right at 4:01 or so he hits a terrific guitar combo, and a crowd member yelps at it. 4:45 I love the feel of this - it's like the sound of recovery. Oh my, at 8:35 you hear a thing only Gaylord Birch could ever have done with JGB. Trust me, and check it out. What a drummer. The problem is that they have accepted an extra beat just before the chorus, but the ladies are on the correct '1' and so the starts of choruses a little wonky. Yeah, it's just the way that Gaylord is playing it that is unlike their typical arrangement.

! P: s1t04 Deal back in Elmer Fudd territory. Nice big guitar buildup, e.g., 6:45. Maybe with a better tape it'd seem ever hotter. Quite good, 7, pushing limits 7:32, higher than he needed to, some sustain, still shredding and barely taming feedback over 8 - excellent stuff.

! s1t04 (1) JG: "We'll be back in a little while."

! R: s2t01 Like A Road Leading Home cuts in

! P: s2t02 Think the ladies are doing some unique line in the backing vocals, 7 min mark.

! P: s2t04 Mid Moon I will say guitar does some really pretty, unusual picking in this version ca. late 2.

! s2t04 (2) JG: "See ya later."

~~~~~~~~~~

Jerry Garcia Band
Keystone Palo Alto
260 S. California Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94306
December 21, 1985 (Saturday)
Gale MAC shnid-14980 shn2flac

--set I (5 tracks, 50:11)--
s1t01. [2:30] I'll Take A Melody [11:30] [0:09]
s1t02. Get Out Of My Life [9:38] [0:10]
s1t03. Like A Road Leading Home [8:59] [0:15]
s1t04. Dear Prudence// [12:19#]
s1t05. //Run For The Roses [#4:33] (1) [0:07]

--set II (5 tracks, 34:09)--
s2t01. [0:12] How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [7:36] ->
s2t02. When I Paint My Masterpiece [6:56] ->
s2t03. Reuben And Cherise [6:29] ->
s2t04. Gomorrah [6:11] ->
s2t05. Midnight Moonlight [6:36] [0:08]

…

! map:https://goo.gl/maps/7AzlG

! JGBP:http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/11/keystone-sophies-260-s-california-ave.html.

…

! R: field recordist: Dan Gale

! R: field recording gear: Sony ECM939LT > Sony TC-D6C

! R: field recording location: center of dance floor

! R: Transfer: Cassette Master (NAD 6050C) > SBM > DAT @44.1k (PCM-R500) > VXPocket v2 > Sound Forge (v. 4.5a) > WAV > CDWAV (v.1.71) > mkwACT (v.0.97b1) > SHN. Recorded and Transfered by Dan Gale (dgale@loslobos.org)

http://LosLobos.setlist.com. Sector boundaries verified with shntool (v. 1.01).

! R: vocals very low and bass is totally inaudible. This is a very characteristic club show aud tape for the period.

! R: s1t04-05 end of "Dear Prudence" and beginning of "Run For The Roses" missing due to cassette flip.

! P: s1t04-05 DP has lots of vocal flubs, and RFTR is kind of a mess, I think the latter being attributable to the unfamilar drummer.

! s1t05 (1) JG: "[inaudible] We'll be back in a few minutes."

! R: s2t01 seeder notes "I used SoundForge to fade in/out and also to lower a brief clipping in the beginning of 'How Sweet It Is'."

! R: s2t01 HSII level fluctuations at the start

!P: s2t03 RAC horrific clam 3:33.

! P: s2t05 Mid Moon crazy pace - mile a minute, at least.

! note: 34 minute second set. Sheesh.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jerry Garcia Band
Keystone Palo Alto
260 S. California Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94306
December 22, 1985 (Sunday)
Gale MAC shnid-14981 shn2flac

--set I (4 tracks, 40:03)--
s1t01. [0:21] Cats Under The Stars [8:06] [0:26]
s1t02. [0:14] Knockin' On Heaven's Door [14:23] [0:12]
s1t03. Think [8:15] [0:03]
s1t04. Deal [7:53] (1) [0:09]

--set II (5 tracks, 44:03)--
s2t01. [0:14] Harder They Come [11:15] [0:08]
s2t02. Sugaree [11:03] ->
s2t03. Run For The Roses [5:02] [0:24]
s2t04. Mississippi Moon [9:08] ->
s2t05. Midnight Moonlight [6:38] [0:10]

…

! R: field recordist: Dan Gale

! R: field recording gear: Sony ECM939LT > Sony TC-D6C

! R: field recording location: center of dance floor

! R: transfer: Cassette Master (NAD 6050C) > SBM > DAT @44.1k (PCM-R500) > VXPocket v2 > Dell Inspiron 8100 > Sound Forge (v. 4.5a) > WAV > CDWAV (v.1.71) > mkwACT (v.0.97b1) > SHN. Recorded and Transfered by Dan Gale (dgale@loslobos.org).

! R: seeder notes: "I used SoundForge to fade in/out. Sector boundaries verified with shntool (v. 1.01)"

! R: nice punchy aud tape, low vocals. Gale always pulled good tapes.

! P: s1t01 CUTS man, yeah, listen to Gaylord! Yowwww!!! And they don't circle aroud too much at the end. Nice.

! P: s1t02 KOHD Melvin does a neat little decay thing at 8:40 that I liked.

! P: s1t03 Think Jerry's first feature he seems to enter a different key, not entirely successfully. Nice salty tone 3.

! P: s1t04 Deal is big, as it was wont to be in this period. Gaylord double-timing some 6:15, crazy high-neck Jerry tone 6:30, even higher 6:49, doesn't sound possible. Big raging Deal here for sure. I can't imagine how loud this must have been in situ.

! s1t04 (1) JG: "Back in a while. Crowd guy: "short". And, right he is. This is the total running time of the set, because there are no tape discontinuities here.

! P: s2t01 HTC listen to what John does 2:41-2:42, again 2:49-2:50, little five note things. Yeah, Kahn!

! P: s2t05 Midnight Moonlight going a Mile A Minute - a MAM MidMoon.