tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post795048249501507149..comments2024-03-15T18:58:45.318-06:00Comments on Jerry Garcia's Middle Finger: NRPS (formerly The Murdering Punks) - August 7, 1969Fate Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05648291938690043423noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-60282709510646599882020-05-02T10:28:11.341-06:002020-05-02T10:28:11.341-06:00So, something to throw in to the mix for the late ...So, something to throw in to the mix for the late July and early August 1969 period. A contemporary note has shown up that says that Peter Albin stated "Peter, Dave, Dave Torbert, Dave Nelson backed Albert Collins at the Matrix and also the Family Dog". Ity also mentions auditions for "Bugsy" (who I assume to be Charley "Bugsy" Maugh) and "John Herald" (a vocalist). Albert Collings played the Family Dog on August 1 (the "picket" line show) and August 2. I have no one listed at the Matrix bettween July 22 and August 1 although it is though Sanpaku played that week. August 1 saw Harvey Mandel at the Matrix and was the night of the equipment and tape theft. I have NRPS listed at the Matrix August 6 to 9. So I would propose the unknown bassist could actually be Peter Albin (I could possibly ask him). Perhaps the same folk played August 1 at the Beach?Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09212506413302199102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-26968225364546998952018-01-31T10:54:16.533-07:002018-01-31T10:54:16.533-07:00As long as Garcia was in the NRPS, he sang harmony...As long as Garcia was in the NRPS, he sang harmony on the chorus of "The Weight" when they played it, so he had a mic in place.<br />cryptdevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944617292210813801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-39323796076908869222015-06-25T21:40:13.630-06:002015-06-25T21:40:13.630-06:00On 9/2/70, he sings some backing vocals (Nelson is...On 9/2/70, he sings some backing vocals (Nelson is out sick), but I note that I think he is alternating the steel playing and the singing, not doing them at the same time.<br /><br /><a href="http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2011/04/nrps-matrix-1970-06-of-7-ln19700902.html" rel="nofollow">http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2011/04/nrps-matrix-1970-06-of-7-ln19700902.html</a>Fate Musichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05648291938690043423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-17894613407205144502015-06-25T21:14:25.973-06:002015-06-25T21:14:25.973-06:00I will take your ears on the bass. It makes sense ...I will take your ears on the bass. It makes sense that it was Matthews, who was a great engineer but not really a musician. I don't think Hunter every played live, just rehearsed.<br /><br />I have always felt that the Sep 18 '69 NRPS tape was very atypical, with Garcia's singing. Of course, we only have two tapes, but there are almost no pedal steel players who play and sing at the same time. I think Jerry tried it one night (Sep 18), and figured out that it either wasn't doable or not of interest, and never did it again. <br /><br />We actually know nothing about NRPS setlists or arrangements from Sep 18 '69 to Apr 18 1970. Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-32983430514770319272015-06-24T22:40:07.488-06:002015-06-24T22:40:07.488-06:00That is absolutely not Phil on bass. He couldn'...That is absolutely not Phil on bass. He couldn't play this primitively in '69 if he tried. The bass player has a totally different sound & fingering than Phil - he only plays the root notes, crudely & repetitively. I say it's Bob Matthews, unless a two-fingered bass player steps up as candidate... <br /><br />It also struck me that Dave Nelson can barely be heard in the first set. In fact, I wasn't sure if he's even playing in most the songs, though I can faintly hear him at points. <br />He's up louder in the mix in the second set - you can hear him soloing along with Garcia in All I Ever Wanted, which helps give that song more atmosphere.<br /><br />I presume it's Nelson doing the quiet harmonies in the background on some songs? 9/18/69 seems to be our only NRPS tape with Garcia singing harmonies.Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-67291164188748875032015-06-24T17:21:30.723-06:002015-06-24T17:21:30.723-06:00Until the post-modern Ratdog era.Until the post-modern Ratdog era.Fred Levitanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14122238322524363801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-49982459459926475792015-06-24T17:20:10.992-06:002015-06-24T17:20:10.992-06:00Recursive, if not truly post-modern - little irony...Recursive, if not truly post-modern - little irony detected, although certainly rootsy. I guess this IS the place...Fred Levitanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14122238322524363801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-65857633337005871932015-06-23T07:14:42.951-06:002015-06-23T07:14:42.951-06:00I listened closely to stage talk for any indicatio...I listened closely to stage talk for any indication of Phil vs. Bob, came up empty, and the playing didn't jump out at me as Phil or not, though it might to others.<br /><br />This version of MAMU, as I say in my listening notes, sounds good and spooky with this primal steel guitar of Jerry's.Fate Musichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05648291938690043423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-26604061291331250692015-06-22T19:27:21.717-06:002015-06-22T19:27:21.717-06:00I should add that since 2016 will be the anniversa...I should add that since 2016 will be the anniversary of the first Grateful Dead performance of "Me And My Uncle," the fact that the early New Riders did it means that Jerry played the song more than Bob. Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-26140908408302532492015-06-22T19:26:13.540-06:002015-06-22T19:26:13.540-06:00Is this a good place to discuss the essentially Po...Is this a good place to discuss the essentially Post-Modern nature of "Truck Drivin' Man?" A song called "Truck Drivin' Man" about a song about a Truck Drivin' Man? Written and recorded by Terry Fell in 1954 (not Laurence Sterne), and rerecorded by Buck Owens in 1965 albeit with an extra verse (not sung by the Riders).Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18366371.post-91715250891025395522015-06-22T19:22:34.943-06:002015-06-22T19:22:34.943-06:00This really is an amazingly good version, far bett...This really is an amazingly good version, far better than my dusty old cassette (which I got from Dick Latvala some time in the mid-80s), or any other version I have heard since. Certainly the most distinctive thing is Garcia's sharp tone on the pedal steel. This fits my hypothesis that what appealed to Garcia about the steel was the sound, not the notes. He could play the notes just fine on a six-string, but he liked the sound of a pedal steel and a hotwired Owsley amp.<br /><br />Do you have a sense of whether Phil Lesh is playing bass, or Bob Matthews? Logic says that it's Matthews, but none of the participants seem to remember, just repeating stories that they have told a million times even thought the facts don't line up.<br />Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com