The New Alphabet: ABCD GD

Here is a list of the Betty/Rex Grateful Dead recordings gathered together and returned to the Grateful Dead Vault in November 2016 by the ABCD group.

1971 – 35 REELS*- 1 REEL 10-19-71; + 1 REEL 12-2-71*= 35 REELS DELIVERED*

 

• 02-18-71 Portchester NY, 2 x 7” REELS ¼ trk 7.5ips Complete

• 02-19-71 Portchester NY, 2 x 7” REELS ¼ trk 7.5ips Complete

• 02-20-71 Portchester NY, 2 x 7” REELS ¼ trk 7.5ips Complete

• 02-21-71 Portchester NY, 2 x 7” REELS ¼ trk 7.5ips Complete

• 02-23-71 Portchester NY, 2 x 7” REELS ¼ trk 7.5ips Complete

• 02-24-71 Portchester NY, 2 x 7” REELS ¼ trk 7.5ips Complete

• 04-05-71 NYC, 3 x 7” REELS ¼ trk 7.5ips Complete

• 04-06-71 NYC, 2 x 7” REELS ¼ trk 7.5ips Complete

• 04-07-71 Boston MA, 1 x 7” REEL ¼ trk 7.5ips Reel #2

• 04-08-71 Boston MA, 2 x 7” REELS ¼ trk 7.5ips Complete

• *10-19-71 Minneapolis MN, 1 x 7” REEL 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #2 = *MISSING -1 REEL ON ORIGINAL INVENTORY*

• 11-15-71 Austin TX, 2 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 11-17-71 Albuquerque NM, 2 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

12-2-71 Boston MA, 1 x 10" REEL = + 1 REEL NOT ON ORIGINAL INVENTORY*

• 12-04-71 NYC, 1 X 10” REEL 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #1

• 12-06-71 NYC, 3 X 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5 ips Complete

• 12-07-71 NYC, 1 X 10” REEL 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #2

• 12-10-71 St. Louis, MO, 1 x 10” REEL 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #1

• 12-14-71 Ann Arbor MI, 2 x 10” REELS 1/2 trk 7.5ips Complete

• 12-15-71 Ann Arbor MI, 1 x 7” REEL ¼ trk 7.5ips Reel #1

• 12-15-71 Ann Arbor MI, 1 x 10” REEL ¼ trk 7.5ips Set #2

 
1972 – 47 REELS *+ 1 REEL 4-8-72; - 1 REEL 4-14-72; -1 REEL 4-16-72; + 1 REEL 8-25-72; + 1 REEL 9-9-72 = 48 REELS DELIVERED*

 

• 03-21-72 NYC, 3 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 03-22-72 NYC, 3 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 03-23-72 NYC, 3 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 03-25-72 NYC, 3 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 03-26-72 NYC, 3 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 03-27-72 NYC, 3 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 03-28-72 NYC, 3 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• *04-08-72 London UK, 2 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete =*+1 REEL NOT ON ORIGINAL INVENTORY*

• 04-11-72 New Castle UK, 1 x 10” REEL 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #3

• *04-14-72 Tivoli DK, 2 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete * = MISSING -1 REEL ON ORIGINAL INVENTORY*

• *04-16-72 Tivoli DK, 2 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete * = MISSING -1 REEL ON ORIGINAL INVENTORY*

• 04-17-72 Tivoli DK, 3 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Reels #1, #2, #3

• 05-03-72 Paris FN, 3 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 05-04-72 Paris FR, 1 x 10” REEL 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #2

• 05-07-72 Bickershaw Fest UK, 2 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Reels #1, #2

• 05-24-72 London UK, 1 x 10” REEL 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #2

• 05-25-72 London UK, 2 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Reels #1, #3

• 08-21-72 Berkeley CA, 1 x 10” REEL 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #2

• 08-22-72 Berkeley CA, 2 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Reels #1, #2

• *08-25-72 Berkeley CA, 2 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Reels #1, #2 * = + 1 REEL NOT ON INVENTORY*

• 08-27-72 Veneta OR, 2 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Reels #1, #2

09-9-72 Hollywood CA 1 x 10" REEL = + 1 REEL NOT ON INVENTORY*

 

1973 - 35 REELS

 

• 03-15-73 Uniondale NY, 1 x 10” REEL 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #3

• 03-16-73 Uniondale NY, 2 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Reels #1, #3

• 03-21-73 Utica NY, 3 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 03-22-73 Utica NY, 2 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Reels #1, #3

• 03-24-73 Philadelphia PA, 2 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Reels #2, #3

• 03-28-73 Springfield MA, 1 x 10” REEL 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #3

• 03-30-73 Rochester NY, 1 x 10” REEL 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #2

• 03-31-73 Buffalo NY, 1 x 10” REEL 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #2

• 04-02-73 Boston MA, 3 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 05-26-73 Kezar Stadium SF CA, 6 x 7” REELS 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 06-22-73 Vancouver BC, 5 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 15ips Reels #1, #2, #3, #4, #5

• 06-24-73 Coliseum, Portland OR, 4 X10” REELS 1/2trk 15ips Reels #1, #3, #4, #5

• 07-01-73 Universal Amphitheater, LA CA, 4 x 10” REELS 1/2trk 15ips Complete

 

1975 – 5 REELS

 

• 06-17-75 SF CA, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 15ips Complete

 

1976 - 57 REELS

 

• 06-10-76 Boston MA, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• *06-11-76 Boston MA, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete *= + 1 REEL NOT ON ORIGINAL INVENTORY*

• 06-14-76 NYC, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 06-15-76 NYC, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 06-17-76 Passaic NJ, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 06-18-76 Passaic NJ, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 06-19-76 Passaic NJ, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 06-21-76 Philadelphia PA, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 06-22-76 Philadelphia PA, 5 X 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 06-23-76 Philadelphia PA, 1 x 7” REEL Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #1

• 06-26-76 Chicago IL, 5 X 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 06-28-76 Chicago IL, 1 X 7” REEL Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #2

• 06-29-76 Chicago IL, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

 

1977 - 75 REELS

 

• 02-26-77 San Bernandino CA, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 02-27-77 Santa Barbara CA, 1 x 7” REEL Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #4

• 05-05-77 New Haven CT, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 05-07-77 Boston MA, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 05-08-77 Ithaca NY, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 05-09-77 Buffalo NY, 4 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 09-03-77 Raceway Park, Englishtown NJ, 9 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 15 ips

• 09-28-77 Seattle WA, 3 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 09-29-77 Seattle WA, 4 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 10-01-77 Portland OR, 4 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 10-02-77 Portland OR, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 10-28-77 Kansas City KS, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 10-29-77 DeKalb IL, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 10-30-77 Bloomington IN, 4 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 11-01-77 Detroit MI, 4 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 11-04-77 Hamilton NY, 1 x 7” REEL Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #4

• 11-05-77 Rochester NY, 1 x 7” REEL Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Reel #5

• 11-06-77 Binghampton NY, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

 

1978 - 85 REELS * = + 1 REEL 1-10-78 = 86 REELS DELIVERED*

 

• 01-06-78 Swing Aud, San Bernadino CA, 4 x 7” REELS 1/2 trk 7.5ips Nagra Complete

• *01-10-78 Shrine Aud, LA CA, 4 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2 trk 7.5ips Complete *+1 REEL NOT ON ORIGINAL INVENTORY*

• 01-22-78 McArthur Court, Eugene OR, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2 trk 7.5ips Complete

• 04-06-78 Tampa FL, 4 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 04-07-78 Hollywood FL, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 04-08-78 Jacksonville FL, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 04-10-78 Atlanta GA, 4 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 04-11-78 Atlanta GA, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 04-12-78 Durham NC, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 04-14-78 Blacksburg VA, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 04-15-78 Williamsburg VA, 4 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 04-16-78 Wheeling WV, 4 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 06-04-78 Santa Barbara CA, 2 x 10” REELS Nagra 1/2 trk 15ips Reels #3, #4

• 10-18-78 SF CA, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 10-20-78 SF CA, 5 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 10-21-78 SF CA, 6 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6

• 10-22-78 SF CA, 7 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Complete

• 12-31-78 SF CA, 6 x 10” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 15ips Complete

 

1979 - 11 REELS

 

• 02-17-79 Oakland CA, 9 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2 trk15ips Complete

• 04-22-79 San Jose CA, 2 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 15ips Reel #7,#8

 
1980 - 11 REELS

 

• 09-27-80 SF CA, 2 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Acoustic

• 10-04-80 SF CA, 2 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Acoustic

• 10-06-80 SF CA, 2 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Acoustic

• 10-09-80 SF CA, 2 x 7” REELS Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Acoustic

• 10-10-80 SF CA, 1 x 7” REEL Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Acoustic

• 10-11-80 SF CA, 1 x 7” REEL Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Acoustic

• 10-13-80 SF CA, 1 x 7” REEL Nagra 1/2trk 7.5ips Acoustic

 

CASSETTES

 

1. 10/25/69 Winterland = 1 *MISSING = - 1 CASSETTE*

2. 2/24/71 Capital Theater = 1

3. 4/1172 Newcastle = 3

4. 4/14/72 Tivoli = 3

5. 4/16/72 Aharus = 3

6. 4/17/72 Tivoli = 3

7. 4/21/72 Bremen = 2

8. 4/24/72 Frankfurt = 3

9. 4/26/72 Hamburg = 3

4/29/72 Hamburg *= +3 CASSETTES NOT ON ORIGINAL INVENTORY*

10. 5/7/72 Wigan = 2 [*NOTE – LABELED AS 5/4/72*]

11. 5/11/72 Rotterdam = 1

12. 5/26/72 London = 1

13. 0/00/76 Studio = 1 *MISSING = - 1 CASSETTE*

14. 5/9/76 Rehearsal = 1

15. 6/11/76 Boston = 3

16. 7/18/76 Orpheum = 1

17. 12/31/76 Cow Palace = 2

18. 0/00/77 Studio = 1 [*NOTE LABELED “21APR”*]

19. 3/18/77 Winterland = 2

20. 3/19/77 Winterland = 3 *= +1 CASSETTE = TOTAL 4 CASSETTES FOR 3-19-77*

21. 3/20/77 Winterland = 3

4/23/77 Springfield *= +1 CASSETTE NOT ON ORIGINAL INVENTORY*

22. 5/19/77 Atlanta = 3

23. 6/7/77 Winterland = 3

24. 6/8/77 Winterland = 3* = - 1 CASSETTE = TOTAL 2 CASSETTES FOR 6-8-77*

25. 6/9/77 Winterland = 3 * = - 1 CASSETTE = TOTAL 2 CASSETTES FOR 6-9-77*

26. 10/6/77 Tempe = 2 [*NOTE TAPE 2 MISLABELED AS 10-2-77*]

27. 10/9/77 Denver = 2

28. 10/11/77 Norman = 2

29. 10/12/77 Austin = 2

30. 10/14/77 Houston = 2

31. 10/15/77 Dallas = 2

32. 12/30/77 Winterland = 1

33. 1/6/78 San Bernardino = 2

34. 1/7/78 San Diego = 2

35. 1/8/78 San Diego = 2

36. 1/10/78 Shrine = 2

37. 1/14/78 Bakersfield = 2

38. 1/17/78 Sacramento = 1

39. 1/31/78 Chicago = 2

40. 4/6/78 Tampa = 3

41. 4/10/78 Atlanta = 2

42. 4/11/78 Atlanta = 3

43. 4/12/78 Duke = 3

44. 4/14/78 Virginia Poly = 3

45. 4/15/78 Williamsburg = 1

46. 4/19/78 Columbus = 3

47. 4/21/78 Lexington = 2

48. 4/22/78 Nashville = 1 * = + 1 CASSETTE = TOTAL 2 CASSETTES FOR 4-22-78*

49. 5/9//78 Syracuse = 2

50. 5/13/78 Philly = 2

6/3/78 Santa Barbara Sound Check *= +1 CASSETTE NOT ON ORIGINAL INVENTORY* 51. 6/4/78 Santa Barbara = 2

52. 7/31/78 Studio = 1

53. 8/25/78 Studio = 1

54. 9/2/78 Giants Stadium = 2 *= + 1 CASSETTE = TOTAL 3 CASSETTES FOR 9-2-78*

55. 9/16/78 Egypt = 1

56. 10/17/78 Winterland = 3

57. 10/20/78 Winterland = 3

58. 10/21/78 Winterland = 2

59. *10/22/78 Winterland = 3 * = + 1 CASSETTE = TOTAL 4 CASSETTES FOR 10-22-78*

60. 10/22/78 Studio = 1

61. 12/17/78 Atlanta = 2

62. 12/21/78 Houston = 2

63. 12/31/78 Winterland = 1

64. 2/17/79 Oakland = 3

65. 6/21/79 Studio = 1

66. 6/28/79 Sacramento = 3

67. *8/4/79 Oakland = 2 *= + 2 CASSETTES = TOTAL 4 CASSETTES FOR 8-4-79*

68. 8/5/79 Oakland = 2

69. 10/18/79 Studio = 1

70. 11/23/79 San Diego = 2

71. 11/24/79 San Diego = 1

72. 11/25/79 UCLA = 1

73. *12/8/79 Studio = 1 * = + 1 CASSETTE = 2 TOTAL FOR 12-8-79*

74. *12/26/79 Oakland = 2 * = + 1 CASSETTE = TOTAL 2 CASSETTES FOR 12-26-79*

75. 12/27/79 Oakland = 1

76. 12/28/79 Oakland = 3

77. *12/30/79 Oakland = 1 * = +1 CASSETTE = TOTAL 2 CASSETTES FOR 12-30-79*

78. 12/31/79 Oakland = 3

79. 0/00/80 Studio = 1

80. 1/24/80 Studio = 1

81. 2/00/80 Studio = 1

82. 9/25/80 Warfield = 1

83. 10/9/80 Warfield = 3 [NOTE *LABELED AS 10-7-80*]

84. 10/13/80 Warfield = 3

85. 10/14/80 Warfield = 4

86. *10/31/80 Radio City = 3 *= - 3 CASSETTES MISSING*

87. 5/6/81 Nassau = 1

Twin Wonder Powers, Activate? JGMS, October 11-12, 1973 at Keystone Berkeley

Tape Archaeology

What used to be known by some of us as the Third Batch of Betty Cantor-Jackson tapes proved the most grudging of all the batches in terms of finding broad circulation. This especially vexed Garcia freaks, because it contained a number of drool-inspiring Garcia-Saunders sets. You might imagine where the mind would go, seeing entries like these in 1996, a world in which very few had heard any Garcia-Saunders shows that had happened between July 1973 and January 1974:

JGMS 10/11/73 notes from Rob Eaton's mid-1990s work on the Third Batch of Betty Boards

JGMS 10/12/73 notes from Rob Eaton's mid-1990s work on the Third Batch of Betty Boards

Purchased in a storage auction in May 1986 along with the rest of the Betties, but lost to broader reckoning for around a decade before they became available to Rob Eaton for preservation in 1995-1996, some of these tapes still do not circulate. Fall '73 Garcia-Saunders tapes came into the world relatively late: the Winterland Legal Aid Benefit from 10/2/73 (etreedb | JGMF) in 2007 via Alligator, 11/3/73 (etreedb | JGMF) on NYE 2012-2013, and these October 11-12 shows only in 2016, almost twenty years after they were first digitized. Remarkably enough, all of these tapes are now home where they belong, having been gathered together by the ABCD crew and returned to their owners at no profit (in the case of the GD tapes) and at no cost (in the case of the Jerry stuff) - that is, effectively, pro bono. Will Wonders never cease?

Stevie Wonder in the Garciaverse

Speaking of which, let me use the occasion of twin Stevie Wonder tunes on October 11, 1973 to pin down Garcia's engagements with that legend's compositions, all of which occurred in the company of Merl Saunders. Alphabetically, I identify the following, all of which except "Reggae Woman" were done as instrumentals in the Garciaverse.

"Another Star" (Allan | deaddisc | wikipedia)
A hotty from 1976's double-sized Songs in the Key of Life, Garcia played it, hotly, with Reconstruction throughout that band's eight-month run in 1979.

"Boogie On Reggae Woman" (Allan | deaddisc | wikipedia)
From Fulfillingness’ First Finale (1974), Merl sang this one very effectively starting on 11/2/74, on current reckoning (with Paul Humphrey drumming), appearing regularly until the demise of the Legion of Mary in summer 1975.

"Creepin'" (Allan | deaddisc | wikipedia)
Also from FFF, this one never lit me up during its 1975 Garciaverse appearances.

"I Was Made To Love Her" (Allan | deaddisc | wikipedia)
This 1967 title track, by contrast, almost always lit me up. It seems to have been one of the first songs in the Garcia-Saunders repertoire, showing up in setlists as early as Fall 1971, but also, regrettably, left relatively early, not making it past 1973. Indeed, the version I discuss below seems to represent its last known appearance in a Garcia setlist.

"Love Having You Around"
Garcia played this one, the first track from Stevie's 1972 Music of my Mind, with Aunt Monk at a San Francisco bar called the Generosity on May 9, 1975. There is rumor of at least one other Garciaverse performance, but details remain hazy.

You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (Allan | wikipedia)

The second single released from Talking Book (Tamla T 319 L, October 27, 1972), this one reached the top of the charts and won Stevie a Grammy.

Of course, please let me know if I am missing anything!

As a final note, the 10/11 show here features two of these numbers, and it looks to me like, besides this night, Merl and Jer and others played two Stevie tunes three other times, on 2/14/75, 3/1/75 and 4/10/75a. Every one of those occasions paired "Creepin'" and "Boogie On Reggae Woman" (and Creepin' only appeared once w/o BORW, 5/21/75).

This night, by contrast, we get the final JGMS version of "I Was Made To Love Her", played more slowly than any other Garciaverse version, and the singleton "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life", given a pretty spare and off-feeling 15-minute treatment.

What does this mean? Hell if I know. I am just pattern-matching.

On To The Music

The October 11-12, 1973 Garcia-Saunders performances at the Keystone strike me as, respectively, lackluster and about average. The first night proves especially disappointing, because look at that setlist, but boy is it low energy.

JGMS 10/11/73 reel #2, scan provided courtesy of ABCD. The handwriting is Rex Jackson's, and the information is very typical for how he labeled the tapes, with personnel characteristically listed (Merle [sic], "Kawn" [a joke]), date, DOW, venue on the left, and, on the right, we have reel #, speed and recording info, including "Revox", indicating that this was made on Rex's deck rather than Betty's Nagra. Oh yeah, one final note: those are mold stains along the bottom of the box. The Third Batch of Betties spent a long time in some pretty horrifying conditions, and Eaton worked heroically to preserve them.

"I Was Made To Love Her" - one of the great, poppin' vehicles for this band, is played too slowly and never really gets going. It would be permanently shelved after this performance.

"When I Paint My Masterpiece" - not a favorite of mine, but it was rare and Dylan is always interesting. Not much of note happens here, quite subdued, and ol' Jer puts it on the shelf until 1/20/80.

"One Kind Favor" - one of my very favorites, the version from the Cap in Passaic a month earlier, in the band's first out-of-state show, absolutely slays me. This one, again, never reaches any kind of boil.

"You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" - John is totally on this, but Garcia doesn't really know how it goes, maybe not in the right key? This sounds kind of like piano lounge stuff.

Even the "Harder They Come" from the 11th holds lots of flubbing and falling apart.

An off night, I guess. Probably the dullest '73 Garcia-Saunders show in circulation, despite the sexy setlist. What are you gonna do?

The next night comes out with more juice and sounds stronger overall to my ears on this listen, but After Midnight quickly returns things to the languid pace of the previous evening. "Train To Cry", very much not a favorite of mine, has perhaps never been played more slowly by anyone, ever. "My Funny Valentine" sounds great to my ears, and Jerry really lets it melt for awhile - probably the highlight to my ears. But, overall, and of course IMO (YMMV), 10/12/73 pales in comparison to every other show in circulation from the year, except the night before. Two weeks later, on 11/3/73, the band sets my hair on fire. Here? Well, not so much. And, somehow, the first 40 minutes of reel #1 turn up blank. Hm. Every night can't be amazing, I guess.

All of that said, and perhaps especially because it doesn't knock me out, I am inexpressibly grateful to all involved in getting these recordings into our ears: Betty and Rex, RE, Alligator and the rest, and to ABCD for doing the right thing by these precious artifacts.

Listening notes below the fold.

What is the Opposite of a Bat Outta Hell? JGB at Keystone, September 10-12, 1976

I am not a huge fan of the syrupy tempos of 1976 JGB, the ultimate comfort band for Our Hero. There are some great sounding tapes, the occasional killer show (4/3/76b), and some spectacular specific songs ("Right Mighty High", "Moonlight Mile", "Who Was John" and others are some of my faves), but the overall vibe is just too laid back for me. It has been intimated that I lack the patience and sophistication to appreciate this stuff, which is like fine wine or something. Maybe so.

I have been particularly indifferent to the September performances. The Pirates' Ball on 9/15/76 is certainly fun, holds a lot of curb appeal, but the music wasn't the thing for me. The Astor Theatre may have been a deco masterpiece, but Garcia's one show there on 9/20/76 was dull as day-old dishwater. And so on. I haven't felt particularly differently about the hometown weekend on September 10-12 at the Keystone Berkeley. The thing that most interests me is the provenance of the board tapes. They look like Betty Board lineage, but they are not among the tapes lassoed together by the ABCD crew. I suspect that Latvala spun copies for Alligator or Kingbee and they entered the world via those benefactors, but I can't be sure.

Anyway, below I post my listening notes for the three hometown nights, September 10-12, the first of which took place only 5 days after Rex Jackson's passing. Here is the thumbnail.

Friday 9/10

• Nick The Greek opened. He'd do so again on 11/15/76 and then he and Jerry wouldn't share a bill, so far as I know, until the 3/18/87 Artists' Rights Today benefit at the Old Fillmore.
• Reinhart Hohlwein (sp?) pulled a stunning tape.
• "My Sisters And Brothers" grooves low and slinky.
• I liked "After Midnight" and this very long version of "I'll Take A Melody".
• Mighty High has great energy, but it's a little off-kilter here and there.

Saturday 9/11

• Beautiful Betty Board
• Sugaree: what is the opposite of a bat out of hell? Whatever it is, that's how they come in on Sugaree. Sloooowww.

Sunday 9/12

• Short second set at only 40 minutes. Jerry strums HSII, but it either wasn't taped or it was closing time and it didn't happen.
• Maria Muldaur joins along. I need to check, but I think this is my earliest documented case of her joining the JGB. Sociometrists, take note.

Listening notes below the fold.

ABCD and the Betty Boards

https://denisonmagazine.com/feature/spring-2019-raising-the-dead/

Do you want to know how the Betty Boards got home? This is the true story. Want to know how the May '77 (including 5/8/77) and January '78 and Felt Forum '71 and 2/26/77 and so many other Dead tapes ended up being released from fresh transfers of the master reels, rather than old DAT transfers? Did you know that Betty now has possession of all of the Garcia Betty Boards?

It's all there. These guys took the big financial risk of bringing the three main batches back together and sending them home. And they did it not for money, but for love of the music and the community and to do right by Betty Cantor-Jackson.

Thank you, ABCD!!

! seealso: https://www.cooley.edu/news/soifer-lecture-features-quest-recover-lost-grateful-dead-recordings

Garcia and Saunders at the Lion's Share

I see that 7/5/73 is slated for official release as (per B&N) Garcialive 6: July 5 1973 Lion's Share (Jerry Garcia / Merl Saunders).

• http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/garcialive-6-july-5-1973-lions-share/29919624;jsessionid=D74E41C2738E4500EC4D90119172BE33.prodny_store01-atgap05?ean=0880882255220 
• http://www.amazon.com/Garcialive-July-1973-Lions-Share/dp/B01F73YZZ0

See my post now titled "Garcia and Saunders at the Lion's Share" if you want to learn more about the very interesting songs, the great performance, the mysterious trumpet player.

This is a nice pick. I hope The Powers That Be consider trying to license use of the original reels or buying them, as the Dead should have done for 3/26/72 and did for the July '78 boxset, rather than using Rob Eaton's best-possible-at-the-time 1996 DAT transcriptions.

Friday Night at the Boarding House

edit: well, this is a first - turns out I had already posted a version of this. Heh heh. Presumably, this one is better.

April 13-16, 1973 saw Garcia "Four Nights at the Boarding House", two with Merl Saunders and The Group (JGMS), two with Old And In The Way (OAITW). So much about these shows tantalizes me – the legendary San Francisco venue, the only-in-the-Garciaverse blend of black and white, old and new, my love for the repertoires and performances of both bands, and the fact that of the four nights, and presumably at least nine sets/shows,[1] only one set circulates, the first set of the OAITW late show on Monday the 16^th (see shnid-100404 for the best copy, and my listening notes). We know a little about the other three nights from Rob Eaton: Friday the 13^th and Saturday the 14^th were represented among the Third Batch Betty Boards that he transcribed in 1996, and somewhere along the way (possibly also the Third Batch) he transcribed one of the Sunday night (4/15) bluegrass sets.

In this post I want to say just a bit more about Friday the 13^th, mostly triggered by a show review I found in the Stanford Daily.[2] I'll start with what we already knew, and then turn to what the review adds.

Metadata

The Soto-McNally-Arnold JG List, Garciaverse successor to the Soto List, had a listing for this show, which may have come from union contracts and/or the newspaper and other research of any of the named authors. I show a Barb "Scenedrome" listing (April 13-19, 1973, p. 18) and one in the Hayward Daily Review (April 6, 1973, p. 53) with scheduled 8 pm start.

Setlist

Rob Eaton contributed setlist details for the end of the show, updated by TJS staff:

--end set II--

Money Honey

Positively 4th Street

untitled-19730307

Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Tape Archaeology

These details came from a sound recording, and I'd like to dig into a bit of tape archaeology.

When Betty Cantor-Jackson and Rex Jackson got together in 1972, they mixed and mingled their lives and their tape collections. The legendary Betty Boards could be more accurately, if less fetchingly, understood as the Cantor-Jackson Collection, the tapes they merged and then made (together and apart) during Rex's foreshortened life (d. September 5, 1976) and beyond it, Betty flying where it's wing-meltingly-hot to make some of the finest sound recordings in the long history of live music.

This gorgeous personal collection of professionaly-curated tape got washed away along with everything else in her life over a number of years, by the early '82 floods and by a spate of equally natural human disasters, muck that doesn't come off with a Q-Tip. The tape went from a box in Betty's San Anselmo basement to the world of storage units (somewhere in the world exist documents that could help us pin down details, I just haven't managed to uncover them yet), lost from memory until it wound up auctioned-off with a thousand or more of its companion Betty Boards around May 1986.[3]

For over nine years, this tape hid in a goat barn until, in late 1995, its possessor called Rob Eaton to investigate and, eventually, preserve it. Armed with wood-stemmed cotton swabs and rubbing alcohol, an oven to bake flaky oxide to a vinyl backing, sweating over an Otari 50/50 reel to reel->Apogee 500 A/D converter-> Panasonic SV3700 DAT setup, Eaton spent 700 of his 1996 hours annotating, cleaning, repairing, spinning, and presumably soaking in and enjoying some of the sweetest sounds ever captured live – a Third Batch of Betty Boards, including the last 40 minutes of the Garcia-Saunders group at the Boarding House on Friday, April 13, 1973.[4]

Now I will get even more arcane about this particular artifact.

Eaton's "Kingbee" List gave the following:

04/13/73 The Boarding House, San Francisco Ca - xcerpt
4.8, 039min, Sbd, A0D1, Reel Master->Dat 1, 44k,
10inch Master Reel@7.5ips 1/2trk->3700 x 0->3800 x 1

Though he's almost never mistaken, I thought Kingbee had tripped up on this one. I thought this must be reel #3 of a show recorded on 7" tape. I was wrong, KB was right as usual. Not that anyone cares, but let me run through my reasoning.

It has generally been my sense that Betty usually taped Garcia on 7" reels running at 7.5 ips or 10" reels running at 15 ips (about 48 minutes). Sometimes tape diameter and recording speed would cross to the other diagonal, but not that much. What we have here is a 10" reel running at 7.5 ips (96 minutes), just such an off-diagonal tape. And, I have finally come around to the idea that this could indeed be the last 40 minutes of a contemporary JGMS gig, on these parameters – this looks a lot like the 49 minute end-of-show tape that lived with 4/13/73, March 7, 1973. I also note that Lion's Share 7/5/73 gives 10-7.5 parameters, though that one is a 180 minute monster. So maybe this is how she was doing it at this time.

Show Review

Happily, recent gatherings give me a bit more to report. The Stanford Daily has been beautifully preserved and presented at http://stanforddailyarchive.com/. Thanks to all involved in making that happen. Among many other delights, it yielded a review by Jay Harlow of this Friday the 13th at the Boarding House. 

Garcia and Saunders "returned for a two-night stay" (following a three night run in January[5]), "joined by guitarist George Pichner [sic: George Tickner], ... an important enough part of the group to deserve equal billing." They were late in starting: "At 9:30 we got word that the band was still waiting for the bass player. Five minutes later he was outside looking for a parking space, and eventually came walking in through the audience, being occasionally booed and heckled." The show eventually kicked off just before ten with "That's A Touch I Like". Garcia's guitar plays like a good, dry white wine (it was already Palo Alto, after all).

A friend named Sarah helped with the vocals on some numbers, and particularly shone on "Honey Chile". Her voice ... blends very nicely with Garcia's guitar. .. In the middle of the set there was a long, beautiful instrumental number in which everyone had some solo space. ... Pichner [sic], who had been playing mostly rhythm guitar so far, did some good leads, à la Eric Clapton at times. His somewhat harsher tone sets off Garcia and Saunders very well.

Harlow namechecks Bill Vitt for us, and has high praise for the Mule: "bassist John Kahn was certainly worth waiting for. Both in backup and solo playing, he is a real stylist. At times the flair in his left-hand fingerings reminded me of a classical guitarist." He gives us a few more setlist details ("That's All Right", "Lonely Avenue" and "I Second That Emotion"), and it sounds like a good time, "first rate musicians really working together".

Beautiful.

Unfortunately, Harlow doesn't say anything about the electric violin player reported present at JGC (via TJS). I wonder if George Tickner did any fiddling?

In Sum

Armed with this new information, let me sum up in the form of a draft TJS-successor entry.

Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders

Boarding House

960 Bush Street

San Francisco, CA 94109

April 13, 1973 (Friday) - 10 PM

--unknown set and order status--

That's A Touch I Like

That's All Right

Lonely Avenue

I Second That Emotion

Honey Chile

--end set II--

Money Honey

Positively 4th Street

untitled-19730307

Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders

! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;

! lineup: Merl Saunders - keyboards;

! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;

! lineup: George Tickner - el-g;

! lineup: Bill Vitt - drums;

! lineup: Sarah Fulcher - vocals.

! ?guest?: ?? – electric violin.

JGMF:

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19730413-01

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1973-04-13-boarding-house-san-francisco-ca/, noting "An unknown electric violinist sit in on this performance".

! db: none in circulation as of 8/11/2015.

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/09/boarding-house-960-bush-st-san.html

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/4JEC3

! ad: San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle Datebook 19730401p12

! listing: Hayward Daily Review, April 6, 1973, p. 53

! listing: San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle Datebook 19730408p04

! ad: San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle Datebook 19730408p11

! listing: "Scenedrome," Berkeley Barb, April 13-19, 1973, p. 18

! listing: Hayward Daily Review, April 13, 1973, p. 53

! listing: San Francisco Examiner, April 13, 1973, p. 35

! listing: San Francisco Examiner, April 13, 1973, p. 44

! review: [positive] Harlow, Jay. 1973. Garcia, Saunders 'Together' At Boarding House Theater In SF. Stanford Daily, April 17, p. 7. Accessed via http://stanforddailyarchive.com/, 7/2/2015

! personnel: Harlow (1973) namechecks the whole band (though, as a few weeks earlier at the Inn of the Beginning, Sarah is just Sarah). The author identifies "George Pichner", but it's George Tickner on second guitar.

! setlist: The show was scheduled for 8, but started closer to 10 (John Kahn was late arriving). The set structure is uncertain beyond that That's A Touch opens the proceedings Dixie closes them down. I hypothesize that one of the sets was truncated due to the late start. For example, the songs from RE's reel transcription, Money Honey through Dixie Down, could be the entirety of set II. The rest of the songs derive from a review in the Stanford Daily (Harlow 1973), and I place them in set I, though that's not certain.

! song: " untitled 19730307" is the beautiful unnamed thing Jerry and Sarah did together on the March 7, 1973 tape.

---

[1] Normally, I'd say eight sets/shows, two sets per night for JGMS and two shows per night for OAITW. But the circulating tape of 4/16/73b suggests that that show contained two sets, bringing our presumed set total to at least nine, and possibly as many as sixteen sets (2 for each JGMS date and 4 for each OAITW date).

[2] Harlow 1973.

[3] Budnick 2014.

[4] See Eaton 2015 for more detail.

[5] See my write-ups for 1/24/73 (http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2012/07/ln-jg1973-01-24jgmsearly-latesbd.html) and 1/25/73 (http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2012/07/ln-jg1973-01-25jgmsearly.html). Betty taped and Eaton transcribed 1/23, but it has never seen the wider light of day.