tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post7847094687826464230..comments2024-03-15T18:58:45.318-06:00Comments on Jerry Garcia's Middle Finger: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders, Ash Grove, May 1973Fate Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05648291938690043423noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-59442477538411861202017-01-29T20:26:26.113-07:002017-01-29T20:26:26.113-07:00I am very late to this party, since I’m only just ...I am very late to this party, since I’m only just now listening to this “5/23/73” tape for the first time. But it seems worth noting that, despite being billed, George Tickner is definitely not performing here, as the Davis (1973) quote above implies. There is no 2nd guitar audible at all, and there is clearly no one else soloing besides Garcia and Saunders. Sarah Fulcher is also absent. Dunno what that implies in the scope of “informal bar band” to “proper band,” but it makes sense that an out-of-town trip would pare things down to the essentials.<br /><br />I’d also bet that, whether this is really 5/29 or 5/30, it’s the early show: the closing That’s All Right Mama is really fired up (more than you’d think for any band that had played for 3 hours) and How Sweet It Is (not played here) seems to have been a standard ‘end of night’ tune during this period. Just a guess, though.Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11628132999021385676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-79709325787981868182009-12-19T08:52:05.228-07:002009-12-19T08:52:05.228-07:00Lossless Legs user Bill G relates the following in...Lossless Legs user Bill G relates the following in comments on a torrent of "5/23/73":<br /><br /><br />I was lucky enough to be at this show. Sitting on old church pews in a room that held less than 300 people. In the 2nd set, Jerry & Merl pulled out "Lonely Avenue" that simply was breathtaking!<br /><br />At the end of the show, Jerry hung out at the exit chatting up all comers. My old girl friend Kitty still has his autograph on her purse she brought to the show.Fate Musichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05648291938690043423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-90941214644922114292009-10-06T14:28:44.768-06:002009-10-06T14:28:44.768-06:00Tickner is believed/known to have sat in with Garc...Tickner is believed/known to have sat in with Garcia/Saunders at the Boarding House on 4/13/73 and 4/14/73, based on tape boxes of non-circulating Betty reels. This info is at The Jerry Site. No other dates are known, though now I want to listen to the Ash Grove show again to see if there's a second guitarist. This would presumably have been right around the time that Tom Fogerty stopped, FWIW. Haven't quite pinned that down, either.Fate Musichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05648291938690043423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-41864163970588635662009-10-06T13:59:33.130-06:002009-10-06T13:59:33.130-06:00Joe
I find your argument quite convincing. Its co...Joe<br /><br />I find your argument quite convincing. Its completely implausible that Jerry and Merl flew down to Los Angeles for a show at the tiny Ash Grove, came home, and flew back the next week. Unscheduled, unadvertised shows are were least plausible in San Anselmo, Berkeley or Cotati (though there were far fewer than is generally presumed), but I don't see it happening at the Ash Grove. <br /><br />Furthermore, it seems quite plausible that a tape labeled "5/29-30/73 Ash Grove" turned into "5/23/73 Ash Grove." The common reason given for this is "spurious electrical activity.<br /><br />Any idea what the George Tickner connection might have been? A nascent form of Journey existed around this time (as The Golden Gate Rhythm Section), and Tickner had been playing around the Bay Area since 1967, but I'm not aware of him having worked with Garcia, Saunders or Kahn in another configuration. Tickner was in the 1967 version of Frumious Bandersnatch and a 1968-ish group called Faun--then I think he went to college for a while.Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com