Wabbit Hunting with Garcia and Kahn in Oakland and Guerneville, August 17-18, 1985

I shouldn't be mean. But posterity might not recall that many characterized Jerry's vocal sound in 1985 as resembling Elmer Fudd, so I am doing it for future generations. You can thank me later.

Not much to report. While the Dunsmuir House and Gardens maybe have been a cool place to see Jerry on an August afternoon ... 

Jerry and John in dappled sunlight on the grounds of the Dunsmuir House, Oakland, August 18, 1985. Photo credit: Tim Schonholtz

... he sounds quite bad on this August 18th while delivering two sub-40 minute sets.

The night before, at the sweet little River Theater in groovy Russian River town of Guerneville, is a little bit stronger, to my ears.

Jerry Garcia and John Kahn
River Theater
16135 Main Street
Guerneville, CA 95446-8301
August 17, 1985 (Saturday) - 9 PM
Corley MAC shnid-20898 shn2flac

--set I (6 tracks, 42:48)--
s1t01. Deep Elem Blues [7:29] [0:08]
s1t02. Little Sadie [4:57]
s1t03. Valerie [6:14] [0:37]
s1t04. Friend Of The Devil [7:31] [0:08]
s1t05. Simple Twist Of Fate [10:33] ->
s1t06. Run For The Roses [4:50] (1) [0:22]

--set II (6 tracks, 40:12)--
s2t01. [0:46] When I Paint My Masterpiece [7:19] [0:10]
s2t02. I've Been All Around This World [6:15] [0:06]
s2t03. Jack-A-Roe [4:27]
s2t04. Bird Song [11:23] [0:07]
s2t05. Gomorrah [5:08]
s2t06. Ripple [4:23] (2) [0:07]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and John Kahn
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - ac-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - ac-b.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [m:ss] = 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 [m:ss] right after a song title is an attempt to say how long the song really was, as represented on this recording.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19850817-01

! JGC: https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1985-08-17

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/20898 (this fileset)

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/dYyvu55qka62

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/06/river-theatre-16135-main-street.html

! R: field recordist: John Corley

! R: field recording gear: 2x Nakamichi 700 > Sony TC-D5M

! R: lineage: MAC > ? CD > DAE (EAC0.9b4, offset corrected, secure mode QPS QUE2410) > editing (SF6) > tracking (cdwav editor) > sector boundaries confirmed (shntool) > SHN (shorten3.4) via C.Ladner. Thanks to J.Powell for the source CDR. misSHN in the rain, 12/03.

! R: seeder comments: Very clean recording without any significant flaws other than intermittent loud close up audience noise. s1t01 - master recording levels during the first 25 seconds were extremely low, i applied a +10 dB gain to this small segment using SF6 to bring it line with the remainder of the recording.

! P: s1t01 DEB voice already sounding rough

! P: s1t02 Sadie second verse he sings "standing on a corner" twice, then gets to "oh yes, sir", so a flub but a recovery.

! s1t06 JG: (1) We're gonna take a little break. We'll be back in a few minutes."

! P: s2 Elmer Fudd most definitely in the house. Almost can't sing Bird Song at all. Ouch.

! P: the set II vocals are ... not good. But, then again, you knew that.

! s2t06 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot. See ya later."

~~~~~~~~~~

Jerry Garcia and John Kahn
Dunsmuir House and Gardens
2960 Peralta Oaks Ct.
Oakland, CA 94605
August 18, 1985 (Sunday) - 3 PM
Menke MAC MOTB #0210 flac2496

--Set I (6 tracks, 35:00)--
s1t01: [0:05] Deep Elem Blues [6:56] [0:02]
s1t02: Friend Of The Devil [6:25] [0:08]
s1t03: [0:17] Little Sadie [6:51]
s1t04: Valerie [6:15] [0:03]
s1t05: I've Been All Around This World [4:59] ->
s1t06: Run For The Roses [4:49] [0:11]

--Set II (6 tracks, 38:25)--
s2t01: [0:30] When I Paint My Masterpiece [6:02] [0:04]
s2t02: Jack-A-Roe [4:31] [0:09]
s2t03: Bird Song [9:52] [0:04]
s2t04: Gomorrah [5:37] ->
s2t05: Ripple [4:19] (2) ->
s2t06: Goodnight Irene [6:52] (3) [0:25]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and John Kahn
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - ac-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - ac-b.

JGMF:

! Recording: 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.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19850818-01

! JGC: https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1985-08-18

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/13520 (this master, shnf, deprecated); https://etreedb.org/shn/88019 (Holtz Nak 100s MAC flac1644); https://etreedb.org/shn/88020 (Holtz Nak 100s MAC flac2496); https://etreedb.org/shn/98629 (Taz Yamaguchi and Jamie Poris MAC); https://etreedb.org/shn/141508 (supposed CSBD); https://etreedb.org/shn/141509 (supposedly Sandy Troy MAR); https://etreedb.org/shn/149863 (Jonathan Mow MAC flac1644), https://etreedb.org/shn/149864 (Jonathan Mow MAC flac2496).

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/93RVX3dF7812

! JGBP: https://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/09/dunsmuir-house-2960-peralta-oaks-court.html

! R: field recordist: Bob Menke

! R: field recording location: 15' from stage slightly off-center

! R: field recording gear: 2x Nakamichi CM 700 > Sony TC D5M

! R: field recording media: Maxell MX 90

! R: Analog Sound Preservation: MAC > Nak DR-1 > Korg at 5.6 mhz. Transfer By: Bob Menke. Mastering By: Derek McCabe.

! R: MOTB Release: #0210 24/96, release date 2012-08-19. Note: "flacs are tagged, enjoy!"

! P: s1t06 RFTR is deeply painful to listen to. Garcia absolutely crashes as this song begins, and he barely brings it to the finish line.

! s1t06 (1) JG: "We're gonna take a break for a few minutes, come back. Tune up, and stuff."

! P: s2t03 Bird Song in the 4-minute mark, Kahn is doing some really interesting and unusual modal-sounding stuff. As they round the 5-minute mark, he's still playing very creatively. I am not sure he's pulling it off, mind you, but he's trying. In the first half of the five-minute mark, Jerry hits several clammy notes, to my ears. Not that they don't work with what John's doing, but that they don't work with what Jerry's doing. 

! R: s2t03 are those speed warbles in the 6-minute mark, or is Jerry really playing that shit? E.g., 6:58-6:59?

! s2t05 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot."

! song: Goodnight Irene (s2t06): I have always wondered if, in singing the "jump overboard in the river and drown" line, Jerry became 4 year old Jerry, little Jerry, and replayed his father's drowning in the Russian River. One would think not, because that would seem a little morbid, to say nothing of painful, for our boy. But maybe he didn't go there. Or maybe he went there and he was OK. But it's hard to imagine that a person imprinted with that memory, that vision, wouldn't go there. Who knows.

! P: s2t06 GI The acoustic setting lets Jerry not oversing too badly, as of course he'd have to do with the Grateful Dead, and to a lesser extent, with his electric band. In that sense, and because the tape is so clean, we get another view on Garcia's voice in August 1985. He sounds better than he did in the GD, that's for sure. But it ain't entirely pretty. He is very limited, and his talking and singing voice both have the nasally, I-just-shredded-my-already-bleeding-sinuses timbre characteristic of Crosby's voice during this same time period, as well as a certain wascawwy wabbit huntew. Just Say No to Cocaine, Kids.

! s2t06 (3) "Thanks a lot. See y'all later."

! P: Total show time 73:26. Brutal, Jer.

How about the Mouth on that Beast? JGB at the Stone, February 2, 1980, as recorded by Bad Bob Menke

LN jg1980-02-02.jgb.all.aud-menke-motb-0038.105635.flac1644

I recently revisited an old favorite, 2/17/80, and surprised myself by not noting anything about the "After Midnight -> Eleanor Rigby -> After Midnight" medley, to say nothing of an old favorite of another kind, "Positively 4th Street". I have vowed to revisit these. Someone was also extolling old favorite 3/8/80 on its recent anniversary, claiming that this last AMERAM was the best, and we speculated that maybe the band hung it up after that because, really, where else was there to go with it? Always leave 'em wanting more, amirite? It would indeed have been sad if AMERAM had become just another thing, like MAMU -> Mexicali over on the dark end of the street. I vow to revisit that one, too, though I have held a candle of hope out for the emergence of that master tape, ready for a fresh clean transfer, for coming on 25 years, to no avail. Why do you forsake me, tape goddesses?

Anyway, let me here touch on a charming third old favorite from this period, 2/2/80 at the Stone. As was typical in the Freddie Herrera - affiliated stable of clubs, old times bluesers Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker played the soft open Thursday night, and then Jerry headlined the first weekend under the new management. (I seem to recall this being pretty much the same billings as opened the seemingly ill-starred Keystone Stockton back in '74.)

John Angus pulled a remarkable tape from the Friday show, I think in the company of his brother Harry, who is the venue guru extraordinaire (a.k.a. JGBP) of our little corner of the blogosphere and who enjoyed the white linen tablecloths and vased red roses classing up the joint on that first Friday. I have not revisited that tape in many years - add another to the to-do list. But the legendary, enigmatic HOF taper Bad Bob Menke pulled an all-time great tape the next night. The Powers That Be (TPTB) even released a track of it, "When I Paint My Masterpiece", on a 2005 Dylan homage / money grab. I hope Bob got paid for it. Because, man, what a recording! The Mouth of the Beast, indeed.

And this is a characteristically killer early 1980 Garcia Band performance. Update: five years ago the first set did nothing for me. That tells you the scientific worth of my quality assessments, heh heh.

Lossless pioneer Danny Metz, who used to do the math to be sure to cut tracks on sector boundaries to ensure Red Book CD-audio compatibility before the programs automated that process, once said that "Jerry's solo in Train To Cry [from] 5:30-7:10 may be the sickest bluesy guitar work I have ever heard." Danny also praises Johnny D's drum work. I can't argue. One of the things I have noticed in some of these shows, too, is that Ozzie Ahlers doesn't take any shit from ol Jer. Here, in TLEO, Mr. Eponymy starts throwing elbows about 4 minutes in, and Ozzie just plays harder for a while. Yeah! All kinds of good glassine guitar work throughout, some of it Mutron-smooth like leaded cathedral fare and some of it sharp and shardy. For me, the real highlights arrive in Masterpiece, well-released not least because it features the longest scrub in the history of rock and roll, and then, of course, AMERAM. So much Mutron, so much killer jamming, such a killer medley. Ozzie even does a little "Riders On The Storm" descent 13:40ish, headed to the Beatles by way of the Doors. All in all, a wonderful listen!

Oh yeah, how about some color from the flamboyantly fabulous Bay Area Reporter (via archive.org):

Garcia's local club dates have long been one of the special joys of this burgh. Some will tell you that here resides the true wonders of The Dead, without all the hocus-pocus. Others will tell you it's just a boring old fart. Let those who have ears hear [!]

Jerry Garcia Band

The Stone

412 Broadway

San Francisco, CA 94133

February 2, 1980 (Saturday)

Menke motb-0038 shnid-105635

--set I (5 tracks, 49:13)-- 

s1t01. //It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry  [8:20] [0:02] %

s1t02. They Love Each Other [9:28] [0:12] % [0:18]

s1t03. Money Honey [8:19] [0:15]

s1t04. Sitting In Limbo [13:26] ->

s1t05. That's Alright, Mama [8:34] (1) [0:14]

--set II (6 tracks, 72:30)--

s2t01. [0:12] Harder They Come [16:53] [0:54]

s2t02. When I Paint My Masterpiece [13:51] [0:16] %

s2t03. [0:13] Russian Lullaby [14:57] [0:07]

s2t04. After Midnight [15:40] ->

s2t05. Eleanor Rigby Jam [4:28] ->

s2t06. After Midnight [4:49] [0:12]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #11a

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

! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;

! lineup: Ozzie Ahlers - keyboards;

! lineup: John D'Fonseca - drums.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [m:ss] = 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 [m:ss] right after a song title is an attempt to say how long the song really was, as represented on this recording.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19800202-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/4432; https://etreedb.org/shn/16681; https://etreedb.org/shn/85532; https://etreedb.org/shn/92372; https://etreedb.org/shn/92432; https://etreedb.org/shn/105635 (this fileset)

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/Vr6EBXU6KvA2

! 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

! ad: San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle Datebook, January 20, 1980, p. 22; San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle Datebook, January 27, 1980, p. 13

! mention: San Francisco Examiner, January 25, 1980, p. 23;

! listing: Bay Area Reporter, January 31, 1980, p. 22. In characteristically cheeky style, the BAR writes "Garcia's local club dates have long been one of the special joys of this burgh. Some will tell you that here resides the true wonders of The Dead, without all the hocus-pocus. Others will tell you it's just a boring old fart. Let those who have ears hear."

! listing: BAM no. 72 (February 1, 1980), p. 41

! official: Jerry Garcia - Garcia Plays Dylan (Rhino, R2 73263, 2005) (d2t01-Masterpiece)

! recollex: Harry Angus recalls that the white linens and roses were on the tables again this night, as the night before, which was the hard opening of the Stone as such. See that date for the specifics.

! R: field recordist: Bob Menke

! R: field recording gear: 2x Nakamichi CM700 > Sony TC-D5

! R: field recording media: 2x Maxell UDXLII

! R: Analog Sound Preservation: MAC >> Nakamichi CR7a => Korg MR-1000 >> DSF [1-bit 5.6448 MHz Stereo] >> Korg MR-1000 => Korg AudioGate >> WAV [24/96]. Transfer By: Bob Menke; Mastering By: Derek McCabe

! R: MOTB Release: 0038 16/44.1

! R: Release Date: 2010-01-26

! R: Bob Menke pulled a truly amazing audience tape this night.

! R: s1t01 ITALTL, ITATTC clips in

! P: s1t02 TLEO Ozzie missed Jerry's not-so-subtle cue to step back early 4, Ozzie just asserts and plays. Good on ya!

! R: s1t04 SIL tape flip near end (patched?? with Nak300's > Sony 158 > MAC (Maxell UD XLII) source

! P: s1t05 TAM killer glassine guitar tone 2.

! s1t05 (1) JG: "We're gonna take a short break, be back in a little while."

! P: s2t02 WIPMM Jerry working the Mutron. Huge long scrubby segment through the 11 range. Whoa. Still at it over 12. Longest scrubbing run ever, until 12:15?

! P: s2t04 AM so much Mutron 10:15. Wonderful jamming here 11. Ozzie does a little "Riders On The Storm" descent 13:40ish. Man, this jam is stretchy-good.

! R: s2t05 tape flip patched with Nak300's > Sony 158 > MAC (Maxell UD XLII source

! P: s2t06 AM more big fanning. Great stuff.

Makes Up In Enthusiasm What It Lacks In Precision: JGB at Keystone Palo Alto, November 12, 1983

 LN jg1983-11-12.jgb.all.mtx.141451.flac1644

update: d'oh! Already posted this one.

Crispy clean but flat and unbalanced sbd meets in-your-face but unbalanced Menke aud to make for a sweet matrix. Thank you Andrew F. for your work!

The show? It's late '83. The sets are getting shorter. The DLG is fucking killer, and the Deal makes up in enthusiasm what it lacks in precision, which summarizes the show as anything else I might say.

The ad is a great illustration that Garcia, alone among the GD guys, systematically refused to leverage his GD ties to sell tickets to his side projects. Here, we see Mickey showing no such reluctance. Of course, by this time Garcia didn't need leverage to sell tickets. He just needed a pulse and a guitar.

JERRY GARCIA BAND
Keystone Palo Alto
260 S. California Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94306
November 12, 1983 (Saturday)
*Matrix* shnid-141451

--set I (5 tracks, 42:18)--
s1t01. [0:21] How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [7:06] [0:25]
s1t02. Catfish John [10:07] [0:07] %
s1t03. [0:08] Simple Twist Of Fate [11:11] [0:15] %
s1t04. [0:05] Cats Under The Stars [7:24] ->
s1t05. Run For The Roses [4:59] (1) [0:08]

--set II (4 tracks, 47:36)--
s2t01. Rhapsody In Red [9:08] [0:13] %
s2t02. [0:13] Knockin' On Heaven's Door [13:20] [0:11] %
s2t03. Don't Let Go [16:03] ->
s2t04. Deal [8:12] [0:16]

! ACT1: JERRY GARCIA BAND #21a
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - organ;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: DeeDee Dickerson - vocals;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - vocals.

JGMF:

! Recording: 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.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19831112-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/20746 (Corley MAC, shnf, not in circulation); http://etreedb.org/shn/22512 (4th gen sbd, shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/25629 (MSC flac); http://etreedb.org/shn/141450 (unattributed* MAC flac); http://etreedb.org/shn/141668 (Corley 4th gen flac); etreedb.org/shn/142118 (MSC flac1644); http://etreedb.org/shn/141450 (Menke MAC); http://etreedb.org/shn/141451 (this fileset).

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

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

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html

! P: overall: two relatively short sets. I have been engaging the 90s a bunch lately, and sets were typically running 60-80 minutes. We aren't into Jerry's Rock Bottom period just yet, IMO, but short sets were a leading indicator. That said, while I didn't note anything particular from set I, the Don't Let Go in set II is outstanding, with all kinds of modal jazzy spacey goodness, and overall, as I say of Deal, the show makes up in enthusiasm what it sometimes lacks in precision.

! R: Sources: Matrix of SBD ID-25629 & AUD ID-141450.

! R: Transfer: WAV > Wavelab > CD-Wave > TLH > FLAC 1644 tagged, Andrew F 03/2018

! R: Note: Gaps in the SBD source back-filled with Corley AUD portions taken from ID-22512; How Sweet It Is 0:00 > 4:22, and Rhapsody in Red 8:34 > 8:49.

! R: What a great matrix. The sbd is flat as a pancake, all vocals no guitar, the aud is all guitar and drums, no vocals.

! s1t05 (1) JG: "We're gonna take a break for a few minutes, we'll be right back."

! P: s2t01 RIR is energetic.

! P: s2t03 DLG this is really good. I can't pinpoint many specifics, but it's very jazzy and nicely spaced out. Late 15 again, but all throughout, this DLG spilled over with great ideas, then a true segue into Deal. Nice

! P: s2t04 Deal the Elmer Fudd vocals out of the gate are not great. He seems to skip a turn at a verse in the 3 minute mark, gets right to the guitar playing, which is strong. It's a little sloppy here and there, with Jerry just charging ahead and forcing various and sundry drummers and vocalists to adjust on the fly, but what it lacks in precision it makes up in enthusiasm.

They Really Are a Scree-um: Legion of Mary at Keystone, Thursday, May 22, 1975

LN jg1975-05-22.lom.all.aud-menke-falanga-motb-0044.87156.flac2496

I just revisited 5/21/75, and it left me a little bit ... whelmed.

By contrast, at some point between downloading the files in 2011 and today, I listened to and noted the next night, and I *loved* it.

The Bob Menke - Louis Falanga aud belongs in the freaking Smithsonian. This stands as one of the finest audience recordings in the Garcia canon, and there are a lot. Gorgeous. The vocals are very low, so it is "flawed" from the perspective of releasability. But the instrumentation is finely captured, Jerry's guitar far forward and everything else nicely balanced. Reportedly, on this night they actually placed the mics on stage near Jerry's feet, with one pointed into Jerry's stage monitor and the other pointed to the rest of the band, Bob and Louis on the rail at center stage. If you want to hear Jerry Garcia's guitar playing ca. May 22, 1975, check this out.

Song highlights for me were "Little Sunflower" and, especially, "He Ain't Give You None". Garcia once described having this fantasy of being a Mission Street blues guy. It's not clear how much such a creature ever really existed, but we know exactly what he looks like (and he looks different to each of us). We also know what he sounds like: listening to Garcia play HAGYN, I am put in mind of just a smoky little R&B bar. This is Keystone --certainly smoky, and funky in its own way-- but Jerry is just so drenched in this vibe, I'm almost surprised he's not seated and doing the B.B. King thing. "Boogie On Reggae Woman" is hot: the way Merl just jumps onto this, and everyone falls into line, is just wonderful. Merl is ready to boogie, ladies and gentlemen.

It looks like TPTB have released four tracks from this night from Betty's tapes, though none of the tunes that especially lit me up. The Garcia Vault seems to hold reels 1-3 and 5-7, and I now see that the Betty Board material in circulation is not really "snippets", as labeled, but is reel #4. So it seems likely that the whole show exists as Betty tape, if only the 6+1 pieces could be brought together.

Legion of Mary
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
May 22, 1975 (Thursday)
Menke-Falanga MAC MOTB 0044 flac 2496 shnid-87156

--set I (6 tracks, 69:32)--
s1t01. [0:04] Tore Up Over You [11:42] [0:29]
s1t02. Little Sunflower [16:23] [0:19] %
s1t03. tuning and crowd ]0:50] % [0:19]
s1t04. I Feel Like Dynamite [12:12] [0:16] % [0:05]
s1t05. [0:14] % [0:26] Every Word You Say [10:49][0:24]
s1t06. % [0:44] Mystery Train [14:02] (1) [0:13]

--set II (5 tracks, 72:55)--
s2t01. /He Ain't Give You None [12:27] [0:16] % [0:22]
s2t02. [0:11] Boogie On Reggae Woman [14:33] [0:17] % [0:02]
s2t03. % When I Die [11:50] [0:09] % [0:05]
s2t04. [0:48] Going, Going, Gone [18:52] [0:30] % [0:09]
s2t05. (I'm A) Road Runner [12:05] (2) [0:18]

! ACT1: Legion Of Mary:
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: Merl Saunders - keyboards, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Martin Fierro - saxophone, flute;
! lineup: Ron Tutt - drums.

JGMF:

! Recording: 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.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19750522-01

! JGC: https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1975-05-22

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/89046 ("Betty Cantor snippets"); http://etreedb.org/shn/87091 (this recording, flac1644); http://etreedb.org/shn/87156 (this fileset, flac2496).

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/LDc43

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html

! official: Legion of Mary, vol. 1  (Rhino, R2 74692, 2005) (d1t04-When I Die [mislabeled "Since I Lost My Baby"]; d1t05-Tore Up Over You) - URL http://www.deaddisc.com/disc/Jerry_Garcia_Collection_1_Legion_Of_Mary.htm

! official: Legion of Mary, Absolute Mary (t02-Every Word You Say) - URL http://www.deaddisc.com/disc/Absolute_Mary.htm

! official: Jerry Garcia - Garcia Plays Dylan Again (t03-Going, Going, Gone) - URL http://www. deaddisc.com/disc/Garcia_Plays_Dylan.htm

! listing: "Country Joe McDonald Back In Area," Independent-Journal [San Rafael, CA], May 16, 1975, p. 21

! mention: San Francisco Examiner, May 16, 1975, p. 39.

! R: MOTB Release: 0044 24bit/96Khz

! R: Release Date: 09/09/2007

! R: field recordists: Bob Menke and Louis Falanga

! R: field recording gear: Sony ECM-270 and ECM-250 [Positioned Onstage] > Sony TC-152 > MAC

! R: field recording media: Maxell UD90

! R: Transfer: MAC > Nak Dragon > LynxTWO Model B > WaveLab 5.0 > HD 24/96 WAV

! R: Transfer: Bob Menke

! R: Mastering: Jamie Waddell

! R: This is one of the finest audience recordings in the Garcia canon, and there are a lot. Gorgeous. The vocals are very low, so it is "flawed" from the perspective of releasability. But the instrumentation is finely captured, Jerry's guitar far forward and everything else nicely balanced. Reportedly, on this night they actually placed the mics on stage near Jerry's feet, with one pointed into Jerry's stage monitor and the other pointed to the rest of the band, Bob and Louis seated at the front table right there on the rail at center stage. If you want to hear Jerry Garcia's guitar playing ca. May 22, 1975, check this out :).

! P: s1t02 Little Sunflower is simply wonderful.

! P: s1t03 Addams Family tuning by Jerry @ start.

! s1t06 (1) JG: "We're gonna take a break for a little while, we'll be back a little bit later on."

! R: s2t01 HAGYN clips in

! R: s2t01 HAGYN, listen to fingers on steel strings around 6 seconds in.

! P: s2t01 Garcia once described having this fantasy of being a Mission Street blues guy. It's not clear how much such a creature ever really existed, but we know exactly what he looks like (and he looks different to each of us). Anyway, listening to Garcia play HAGYN, I am put in mind of just a smoky little R&B bar. This is Keystone --certainly smoky, and funky in its own way-- but Jerry is just so drenched in this vibe, I'm almost surprised he's not seated and doing the B.B. King thing.

! P: s2t02 BORW: Man, the way Merl just jumps onto this, and everyone falls into line, is just wonderful. Merl is ready to boogie, ladies and gentlemen.

! song: "When I Die" (s2t03): This is an instrumental rendition of the title track from an album that Motherlode released in 1969 on the Kama Sutra label. Written by band members William "Smitty" Smith and Steve Kennedy, it was a hit single and spent some time in the Top 20.

! P: s2t03 WID is a novelty, but it doesn't really go anywhere special.

! P: s2t04 @ 0:32 JG strums GGG, the song could be tracked to start here. This song is where this recording (and its cousins similarly taped) is so precious. You can hear Garcia's guitar so clearly, and the vibe is just so resonant. The performance doesn't knock me out on this listen, but maybe I am just not in the patient, contemplative mood required to really get it. It's very, very good.

! s2t05 (2) JG: "So long."

! R: Special Note: These are recordings done by Bob Menke and Louis Falanga at the Berkeley Keystone, made in May and June of 1975, that MOTB will be turning out, the subsequent Grateful Dead and related recordings are dedicated to Bob Menke's mom, Connie, who is suffering from pancreatic cancer. As you listen to what are certainly the most unique - if possibly not some of the best - audience recordings of Jerry Garcia in his prime, please send out healing vibes and prayers to Connie any way you see fit. We are all pulling for her, so please keep her in your hearts and prayers. The MOTB Team.

Take the Road Before Us and Sing a Chorus or Two: Legion of Mary at Keystone, May 21, 1975

jg1975-05-21.lom.all.mtx-tobin-motb-0050.87219.flac1644

I recently gave 6/16/82 a listen to evaluate whether it merited its lofty reputation, or whether it might be exhibiting a case of the Cornells. I decided it was as good as its reputation.

Staying with that démarche, a week ago I spun 5/21/75, Legion of Mary at the Keystone, which has long circulated from low-gen soundboard reels the provenance of which I do not know. (These are not "Betty Boards".) I have been moving through the world for the last week with the feeling that this one, too, deserved the esteem in which it is held. But now, looking back at my notes, I can't really see the basis for that feeling. I spun a lovely matrix done by Matt Vernon of the soundboard tape (MSR > 1R) and the killer Menke-Falanga aud under the auspices of the Mouth of the Beast (MOTB) project. The tapes are awesome, the music comes through, the room is very present even on $10 ca. 2005 computer speakers, and one can hear the band relaxed, tuning, chatting, etc.

Figure xxx. Extract from contract, dated 5/19/75, for Legion of Mary engagement at Keystone Berkeley, May 21-22, 1975.

I only really noted one musical highlight in Garcia's work on "You Can Leave Your Hat On". He finds some chukka-chukkas that put me a little in mind of the Dead's "Caution", and It Is Good. I found two sort of problematic parts. First, "Finders Keepers" just didn't survive the transition to 1975 intact. It dragged in all of the Legion versions that come to mind, and it just sounds like the band lost interest in it, whereas a year earlier it crackled. Second, "Harder They Come" is done here more slowly than any other version I can recall, and not to good effect (IMO, YMMV). It lacks urgency.

So, where does that leave me? Sounds great. Certainly provides a great listen. But it didn't destroy me. So, I'd say the esteem in which it is held surpasses the esteem it deserves. Still lovely 1975 Jerry, just not the crème de la crème.

Oh yeah, the post title arises because, for reasons that aren't clear to me --maybe it was snowing in May in Berkeley, wink-wink?-- Jerry noodles "Sleigh Ride" at the start of set II.

Legion of Mary
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
May 21, 1975 (Wednesday)
MTX MOTB-0050 shnid-87219

--set I (6 tracks, 74:14)--
s1t01. That's A Touch I Like [10:12] (1) [2:22]
s1t02. I Feel Like Dynamite [12:29] (2)
s1t03. Last Train From Poor Valley [10:57] [0:14] % dead air [0:06] % [0:27]
s1t04. Finders Keepers [12:30] [0:48]
s1t05. Tough Mama [8:05] [1:41]
s1t06. That's What Love Will Make You Do [12:00] (3)

--set II (6 tracks, 81:11)--
s2t01. (4) [0:23] I'll Take A Melody [9:09] [0:54]
s2t02. You Can Leave Your Hat On [15:52] [1:17]
s2t03. Mississippi Moon [8:38] [0:53]
d3t01. Harder They Come [20:32] [1:04]
d3t02. Creepin' [13:36] [0:28]
d3t03. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [8:12] (5) [0:12]

! ACT1: Legion of Mary
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: Merl Saunders - keyboards, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Martin Fierro - saxophone, flute (s2t03);
! lineup: Ron Tutt - drums.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [mm:ss] = 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.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19750521-01

! JGC: https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1975-05-21

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/4478 (sbd shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/4479 (sbd shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/87086 (Menke-Falanga MOTB0043 flac1644); https://etreedb.org/shn/87133 (Menke-Falanga MOTB0043 flac2496); https://etreedb.org/shn/87149 (sbd pitch-patch); https://etreedb.org/shn/87219 (this fileset); https://etreedb.org/shn/87526 (MOTB0050 DTS5.1); https://etreedb.org/shn/87573 (DVD-A); https://etreedb.org/shn/138651 (sbd); https://etreedb.org/shn/141905 (sbd).

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/LDc43

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html

! official: More of the Best [3 track bonus CD that was distributed with pre-ordered copies of  The Very Best Of Jerry Garcia] (Rhino, 2006) (t01-TWLWMYD)

! ref: URL http://www. deaddisc.com/disc/More_Of_The_Best.htm

! listing: "Country Joe McDonald Back In Area," Indepdent-Journal [San Rafael, CA], May 16, 1975, p. 21

! mention: San Francisco Examiner, May 16, 1975, p. 39

! R: MOTB Release: 0050 16bit/44.1Khz; Release Date: 09/12/2007

! R: Matrix of 2 sources; 1--Lineage: SBD > 15ips reel > 15ips reel > DAT; Transfer 1: DAT > Sony R500 > Genesis Digital Lens > Fostex CR200 > CD; transfer 2: CD > EAC > WAV > SHN. 2--Audience FOB Recording; Media: Maxell UD90; Lineage: Sony ECM-270 and ECM-250 Blended [Positioned Onstage] > Sony TC-152 > MAC; Transfer: MAC > Nak Dragon > LynxTWO Model B > WaveLab 5.0 > HD 24/96 WAV; Taper: Bob Menke and Louis Falanga; Transfer: Bob Menke, Mastering: Jamie Waddell. Matrix Mastering: Kevin Tobin

! R: match and patch notes: I matched the speed of this recording to the MAC - it was slightly faster overall (about 1/2 a second per minute) and more consistent than the sbd recording. Audio Patches: 1) Between The Touch I Like I Like and I Feel Like Dynamite, 48.033 seconds were missing from the Audience recording and were filled in from the Soundboard recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 2) Aprox 4 minutes into I Feel Like Dynamite, 19.564 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 3) Between I Feel Like Dynamite and Last Train From Poor Valley, 27.500 seconds were missing from the Audience recording and were filled in from the Soundboard recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 4) Between I Feel Like Dynamite and Last Train From Poor Valley, another 35.900 seconds were missing from the Audience recording and were filled in from the Soundboard recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. Note: This includes the first few notes of Last Train From Poor Valley. 5) Aprox 7 minutes into Last Train From Poor Vallery, 21.273 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 6) Between Last Train From Poor Valley and Finders Keepers, 33.900 seconds were missing from the Audience recording and were filled in from the Soundboard recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 7) Between Finders Keepers and Tough Mama, 12.007 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 8) Aprox 7 minutes into That's What Love Will Make You Do, 36.803 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 9) At the end of That's What Love Will Make You Do, 11.116 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 10) Before I'll Take A Melody, 17.000 seconds were missing from the Audience recording and were filled in from the Soundboard recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 11) Between I'll Take A Melody and You Can Leave Your Hat On, 21.423 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 12) Aprox 4 minutes into You Can Leave Your Hat On, 22.372 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 13) Between You Can Leave Your Hat On and Mississippi Moon, 18.883 seconds were missing from the Audience recording and were filled in from the Soundboard recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 14) Aprox 4 minutes into Mississippi Moon, 24.773 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 15) Between Mississippi Moon and Harder They Come, 16.966 seconds were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 16) Between Mississippi Moon and Harder They Come, another 1.593 seconds were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 17) Aprox 8 minutes into Harder They Come, 02.139 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 18) Aprox 11 minutes into Harder They Come, 20.807 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 19) Between Harder They Come and Creepin', 18.339 seconds were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 20) Aprox 4 minutes into Creepin', 22.035 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 21) Between Creepin' and How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You), 15.893 seconds were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 22) Aprox 3 minutes into How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You), 5 minutes and 36.666 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better.

! s1t01 (1) Several members of the band repeat Merl's request to have his vocal mic turned on.

! P: s1t02 IFLD "you might not agree with me .. betcha" repeatedly (4x) 11:20-11:40, then he messes up the feelin' hittin' him, back on track 11:48.

! s1t02 (2) Martin: "Hey, could you send some water up here?"

! P: s1t04 FK lost some zip as it aged - the 1974 versions bring tons more pop than the Legion ones do. This might be just about the last version?

! s1t06 (3) JG: "Thank you. We're gonna take a break for a little while. We'll be back a little bit later. Thank you."

! s2t01 (4) Garcia is noodling "Sleigh Ride" and someone, maybe John, says "Merry Christmas."

! P: s2t02 YCLYHO Garcia proliferates the notes in 9, and it is good. Around 12:40 and forward, he puts out some "Caution" style chukka-chukka, and it, too, is good.

! P: s2t04 HTC starts off normally paced, then drops into a very slow iteration, the slowest I can recall.

! s2t06 (5) JG: "Thanks a lot. We'll see y'all later on."

Kabuki Acoustics

LN jg1982-08-23.jgjk.early-late.aud-menke-connor.12586.shn2flac
LN jg1984-06-03.jgjk.all.sbd-unknown.81273.shn2flac

Bill Graham ran the Kabuki Nightclub in Japantown for a few years in the early 1980s, and Garcia played twice, both times acoustic with ol' buddy John Kahn. I am not a huge fan of the Garcia-Kahn acoustic duet, and these shows do nothing to move me from that basic position. Jerry still sounds somewhat youthful in '82, not at all the case two years later. Not much to report either way, though I did like the "Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie" from the '82 late show.

BTW - did Garcia (JGJK? JGB?) really play the Warfield on Saturday 8/21/82?


Jerry Garcia and John Kahn
Kabuki Nightclub
1881 Post Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
August 23, 1982 (Monday) - early (7:30 PM) and late (11 PM) shows
Menke MAC early-1, late shnid-12586 shn2flac

--early show (8 tracks, 1 tune missing, 54:37)--
e-t01. [0:19] Deep Elem Blues :20-
e-t02. Friend Of The Devil [7:06] [0:24]
e-t03. Little Sadie [3:34] [0:08]
e-t04. I've Been All Around This World [4:12] [0:41]
e-t05. Valerie [8:19] (1) [0:49]
e-t06. Simple Twist Of Fate [11:42] % [0:01]
e-t07. Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie [6:22] [0:04]
e-t08. Run For The Roses [4:23] (2) [0:17]
[MISSING: Ripple]

--late show main set + encore (11 tracks,
--late show main set (10 tracks,
l-t01. //It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry [#5:24] [0:08]
l-t02. Dire Wolf [3:02] [0:20]
l-t03. To Lay Me Down [7:06] [0:18]
l-t04. Bird Song [8:25] [1:02]
l-t05. Going, Going, Gone [4:17] [0:03]
l-t06. Jack-A-Roe [4:40]
l-t07. Gomorrah [5:44]
l-t08. Run For The Roses [4:56] [0:12]
l-t09. Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie [5:44] ->
l-t10. Ripple [3:54] (3) [0:47]
--late show encore (1 track, 6:26)--
l-t11. Reuben And Cérise [6:11] (4) [0:15]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and John Kahn
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - ac-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - ac-b.

JGMF:   

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [m:ss] = 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 [m:ss] right after a song title is an attempt to say how long the song really was, as represented on this recording.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19820823-01 (early); https://jerrybase.com/events/19820823-02 (late)

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1982-08-23 (early); https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1982-08-23-kabuki-theater-san-francisco-ca-2/ (late)

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/12586 (this fileset); https://etreedb.org/shn/106691 (early Jaret MAC)

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/tmuZ7bWNniw

! JGBP: https://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/01/kabuki-theater-1881-post-street-at.html. He lists capacity 700, but I show 1,400. Ticket calls it Kabuki Night Club, ad calls it Kabuki Nightclub at Japan Center Theatre.

! ad: San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle Datebook, August 15, 1982, p. 28

! historic: comedienne Paula Poundstone opened the late show. These were the first Bay Area JGJK shows. First time for Garcia playing the Kabuki - only other time was two years later (6/3/84, also JGJK).

! R: field recordist: Bob Menke

! R: field recording gear: 2x Nakamichi 700 > Sony D5M

! R: field recording media: 2x (presumed) Maxell metal cassette, Dolby B

! R: field recording location: 25' from stage DFC

! R: Transfer: Cassette Master > Echo Event Gina A/D > Sound Forge 4.5 > CDR > EAC (secure mode) > CDWave (retracked on sb's) > SHN (MKWACT). Analog > Digital transfer by Bob Menke, EAC/Shn'ed by Charlie Connor.

! R: seeder notes: Seeded to fungus, and abgd 10/20/02. Correct sector boundaries verified with Shntool. Flaws: d1t06 - dropouts at 11:05 & 11:07; d2t03 - dropout at 1:32; d2t07 - dropout at 1:41; The dropouts were tightened up using Steinberg's Wavelab 3.0.

! e-t05 (1) JG, as if surprised to see the crowd in front of him: "Hi!"

! P: e-t06 STOF bass feature 6:27ff

! e-t08 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot. [inaudible]"

! P: l-t09 OBIANL maybe I am just in the mood for it, but this sounds especially heartfelt to my ears

! l-t10 (3) JG: "Thank ya."

! P: l-t11 RAC late 2 he has to ta-da-da through a verse, having forgotten it.

! l-t11 (4) JG: "Thanks a lot. See ya later."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jerry Garcia and John Kahn
Kabuki Nightclub
1881 Post Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
June 3, 1984 (Sunday) - 9 PM
sbd shnid-81273 shnf2flac

--set I (6 tracks, 36:19)--
s1t01. //Deep Elem Blues [#6:30] (1) [0:12]
s1t02. Friend Of The Devil [7:29] (2) [0:10]
s1t03. Dire Wolf [3:25] (3) [0:03]
s1t04. Oh Babe, It Ain't No Lie [6:06]
s1t05. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry [7:26] (4) [0:02]
s1t06. Run For The Roses [4:40] (5) [0:17]

--set II (6 tracks, 45:56)--
s2t07. Little Sadie [4:25] (6) [0:07]
s2t08. To Lay //Me Down [7:#51] (7) [0:02]
s2t09. Valerie [8:05]
s2t10. Bird Song [13:40]
s2t11. Goodnight Irene (8) [6:54]
s2t12. Ripple [4:40] (9) [0:12]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and John Kahn
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - ac-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - ac-b.

JGMF:   

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [m:ss] = 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 [m:ss] right after a song title is an attempt to say how long the song really was, as represented on this recording.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19840603-01

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1984-06-03

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/8912 (sbd, shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/10134 (sbd, shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/81273 (this fileset); https://etreedb.org/shn/93922 (Abrams Nak 300 MAC, flac1644); https://etreedb.org/shn/108054 (Greeney55 MAC, flac1644).

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/tmuZ7bWNniw

! JGBP: https://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/01/kabuki-theater-1881-post-street-at.html. He lists capacity 700, but I show 1,400 (Selvin 1996), while Golden Road brief review of this show pegs it at 1,100.

! historic: Robert Hunter opened for this second of two Garcia dates at the Kabuki (the other being 8/23/82, with early and late shows).

! official: More of the Best [3 track bonus CD that was distributed with pre-ordered copies of The Very Best Of Jerry Garcia] (Rhino, 2006) (t03-Dire Wolf)

! review: "Deadline," Golden Road no. 03 (Summer 1984), p. 6. "Garcia had slight problems projecting his vocals, and Kahn seemed utterly lost on the Dead material" (GR03 p.6).



! R: SBD -> Cm -> Dat -> CD -> EAC -> SHN

! R: s1t01 DEB cuts in

! s1t01 (1) JG: "Thank you."

! s1t02 (2) JG: "Thank you."

! s1t03 (3) JG: "Thank you."

! P: s1t04 OBIANL John sounds lost at the start of this.

! s1t05 (4) JG: "Thank you."

! s1t06 (5) JG: "Thank you. We're gonna take a little short break, and we'll be in ... a little later."

! s2t07 (6) JG: "Thank you."

! R: s2t08 TLMD splice @ 6:22.

! P: s2t08 TLMD some interesting extended vocal work at the end. No biggie, but not nothing.

! s2t08 (7) JG: "Thank you."

! P: s2t09 Valerie interesting work late 4, different tone that I recall having heard on other acoustic versions of this tune.

! s2t11 (8) JG: "Thank you."

! s2t12 (9) JG: "Thanks a lot. See y'all later on."

Heresy Alert

Avert your eyes if you are sensitive to this sort of thing.

Great tapes, but 2/2/80 set I does nothing for me.

Discuss.

Further hypothesis: it exhibits the "Cornell Effect", whereby great sounding tape produces systematic and massive overestimation of performance quality.

UPDATE: In March 2021 I revisited this show, and found it to be "killer". Let that be a lesson to you, readers, that my assessments are not only subjective (lacking reliability) but also inconsistent (lacking validity).

Finders Keepers: JGMS with Jim Nelson on Drums, Keystone, October 5, 1974

LN jg1974-10-05.jgms.all.aud-falanga.8665.shn2flac

I have no idea who Jim Nelson, the drummer, might be. There are some tempo issues all night long.

I really like this period for JGMS. "La-La" and "Freedom Jazz Dance" are standouts to me. "Finders Keepers" is also pretty good.

When these tapes came into the light, back before 9/11, they were such a revelation. We had never heard much Jerry stuff between the Rheem show (2/9/74) and the show in the Park on 9/2/74 (confusing, yes!).

Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
October 5, 1974 (Saturday)
Falanga-Menke shnid-8665 shn2flac

--set I (6 tracks, 71:51)--
s1t01. The Harder They Come [15:53] (1) [1:23]
s1t02. Finders Keepers [10:51] [1:42]
s1t03. He Ain't Give You None [11:29] [0:10] % (2) [2:48]
s1t04. La-La [14:42] ->
s1t05. space [1:57] ->
s1t06. Mystery Train [10:45] (3) [0:09]

--set II (6 tracks, 60:02)--
s2t01. tuning [0:42]
s2t02. Freedom Jazz Dance [12:47] [1:19]
s2t03. Neighbor Neighbor [8:28] [1:19]
s2t04. Sitting In Limbo [11:30] [0:06] % [0:43]
s2t05. Someday Baby [8:28] [0:46]
s2t06. I Second That Emotion [13:25] (4) [0:06]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: Merl Saunders - keyboards;
! lineup: Martin Fierro - flute, sax, percussion;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Jim Nelson - drums.

JGMF:

! Recording: 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.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19741005-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/8665 (this fileset)

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html; http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html

! personnel: Jim Nelson on drums. Real snazzy. There are certainly some tempo issues, e.g., in Mystery Train, suggestive of a drummer who's trying to find his way with The Group.

! seealso: JGMF, "Jim Nelson on the Drums and Several Great Rarities: JGMS at Keystone, October 4, 1974."

! R: field recordist: Louis Falanga and Bob Menke

! R: field recording gear: Sony ECM-270 + Sony ECM-250 > Sony TC-152

! R: field recording location: onstage mics, one directly in front of Jerry's amp, the other pointed stage center to catch the rest of the band;

! R: lineage: Menke transfer, cassette > DAT? > CD to Jim Powell; Jim Powell CD to jack Warner; EAC > shn, by jjoops; shn2flac, rename to sets, etc. 3/16/2014 by JGMF.

! R: mic placement said to be onstage, with the Falanga setup (one mic into Jerry's amp, the other pointed center stage), but his guitar is not very prominent here, which deviates from one of the key characteristics of the onstage Falanga tapes. Also, after FK it sounded like a bigger hall than Keystone. Is this GAMH?

! s1t01 (1) a couple of knowledgeable audience members request "Expressway", which is a great call. "Keepers" will have to do.

! P: s1t02 FK I really like how the drummer is hitting and how they are letting the song open up right from the get-go, like after the first time through the main melody, some nice breathing in the break, then Jerry comes back sounding really nice. It doesn't sound to me like the mic is in his monitor, or else he's turned way down. They are really putting the drummer to it, making him hold the whole break. Now Merl takes a turn, drummer is killing. John sounds pretty good. Jerry staying way back. Merl is on electric piano with synth. They open up another space @ 5:30, Martin steps up. He's a pro - he had signaled himself stepping forward with the ten note declension that's the key progression of the song. Now he steps up. The band listens to each other, and they are playing well this night. Martin has found a nice little riff first half of 10 min mark, which he uses well to finish off the song. Wow, right on the '1' to finish! Nice.

! P: s1t03 HAGYN starts off powerfully, but it feels a little draggy in the 6-minute mark. There's not enough power coming from stage. Merl's organ solo isn't very loud, Kahn isn't particularly audible. It all sounds a little hollow. Could be mix and mic'ing as much as what they are playing, for sure. 7:10ish JG steps up and he's playing some very nice melodic stuff. Drummer needs to be more in the bass drum or something. This is not totally happening. Drummer needs to fill it more, IMO.

! s1t03 (2) JG: "Hey Martin. Let's do that [he's strumming the La-La chords]". Chick talking sounds really hot and really sweet. She can be heard talking about Great American String Band, I think. She recognizes La-La coming up, and she hums the melody, and she yells with pleasure when the song starts. She called it, she loves it, and it's good.

! s1t05 I label "space", GD style. It's open collective improvisation, but it's rather dissonant, very much in a "free" feel. Martin has got his effects up to '11', and they bring it down to total silence. Nice!

! P: s1t06 MT drummer is a little off. Jerry has to do a little improvising, Jerry starts vox, trying to get the drummer in line, and he gets there about 1:08. Still a little off. They never really get it together, even to end. Oh well.

! s1t06 (3) JG "Thank you. We're gonna take a break for a little while. We'll be back a little bit later."

! s2t06 (4) JG: "Thanks a lot. We'll see y'all later."

JGB: June 23, 1977: Benefit Concert for the Survival of the Forest Community of Camp Meeker

On Thursday, June 23, 1977, Jerry Garcia Band (JGB) out-of-pattern early and late shows at Santa Rosa High School. High school gigs were pretty unusual for Garcia at any point (beyond early Grateful Dead), but by the late 1970s it almost always meant that there was some personal connection, somehow, to Garcia. For example, Garcia-Kahn (JGJK) played gigs at South Eugene High School on June 5 and 6th, 1982 that had a Kesey family connection (see the June 5, 1982 Oregon State Pen post), as, I suspect, did the Churchill High School (Eugene, OR) OAITW gig dated May 8, 1973.

The whole event has a great Sonoma County vibe to it. A pretty poster reveals a billing as “Maria Muldaur and Special Guest” in a "Benefit Concert for the Survival of the Forest Community of Camp Meeker”:

The invaluable Paul Liberatore published a piece on Maria a week before the show, finding her leaning in, preparing for a tour, raising two kids in Mill Valley, and taking time to help a friend and a cause.

A very old friend of mine, Louise Patterson, lives in Camp Meeker, a little redwood community of about 1,500 people near Occidental. It's a beautiful, inspirational pocket in the woods. I've gone there now and then to lay out for a day or two. One day she called me in tears, sobbing about these two brothers who want to log it, cut down the redwoods.

About ten miles west of Guerneville, this is a breathtaking –no, breathgiving—little patch of earth that Garcia, who went to high school not too far away in Cazadero, would have known well.

The show was announced again in the I-J on June 17th: "Maria Muldaur, accompanied by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, will sing at 7.30 p m. Thursday in the auditorium of Santa Rosa High School. The show is a benefit for the Camp Meeker Improvement Club, a group opposed to logging redwoods in the Southern Sonoma community of Camp Meeker." With brisk ticket sales, a second (11 PM) show was added a few days later. I take note, because it's what I do, of the phrase "Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead": it's strongly out-of-pattern. For his own paying gigs, the contracts always, from the beginning he started touring under his own shingle in 1974, forbade any mention of the Dead or his affiliation with the band in event publicity. That he'd allow that rule to be bent almost certainly reflects some combination of it being John's old lady Maria who recruited him (most likely most important) and it being a cause he really believed in.

I think the nature of the event also drives the primary historical interest here, which is that Ronnie Tutt experienced a direct conflict between his Elvis Presley employment and his Garcia involvement. Mr. Tutt had donned his “Blue Light” band suit and was drumming in Des Moines behind Elvis this night -- the last time he'd ever do so. I suspect that this benefit came up after he had committed to the Elvis tour. Greg Errico appears to have gotten the call to sub for him with JGB. As a side note, after Des Moines Tutt would miss the last three shows of the Elvis tour for the birth of twins. Probably within two months, he’d stop playing live with Jerry (until a brief reunion for the late 1981 JGB tour, October 31-November 19). We don’t know much about Tutt’s departure from JGB other than that it happened, and right around the time that Elvis died (on August 16, 1977).

I go into all of that because, at one point, I was thinking that Tutt’s absence foreshadowed his departure from the JGB, as if there was some friction or things just weren’t clicking. But I no longer believe that. It’s more mundane, I think: Tutt just had a scheduling conflict.

One other personnel note. I assume and think I hear this as Donna Jean Godchaux. But it could be Maria. The truth is, there’s probably more variability around all of this than we have ever appreciated.

I post some listening notes below. Just to put a bow around my overall impression, I should say that, to me, this version of the JGB (Garcia-Kahn-K. Godchaux-Tutt, plus Donna Jean and/or Maria Muldaur singing) got pretty steadily better from its start in 1976 through its end in ca. late summer 1977. It’s not monotonic, of course – 4/3/76b may be the best show of the period—but it’s an overall trend. Contrary to many listeners, I find the 1976 flavor of the band to be way too cough syrupy. There are lots of reasons to “Just Say No” to heroin, and not the least of them (though certainly not the greatest) is that music seems to record at 45 RPM and playback at 33 1/3. Things … just … get … really … slowwwwwww. 1977 shows still sometimes drag, but I find more sway and bounce that gets my toe tapping.

The real highlight here is the 26-minute “Don’t Let Go”. I like it very much. I’ll write up some song notes about it at some point.

Listening notes follow.

Jerry Garcia Band
Santa Rosa High School
1235 Mendocino Avenue
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
June 23, 1977 (Thursday) - Late Show
Connor MAC (Menke gear) shnid-16714

--late show (5 tracks, 73:53)--
l-t01. They Love Each Other [7:25] [0:10] %
l-t02. Knockin' On Heaven's Door [14:55] [0:21] % [0:54]
l-t03. Tore Up Over You [11:55] [0:23] % (1) [1:12]
l-t04. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [9:52] [0:19] %
l-t05. /Don't Let Go [26:05] (2) [0:22] %

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #3f
! Lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! Lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! Lineup: Keith Godchaux - piano
! Lineup: Greg Errico - drums;
! Lineup: Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [m:ss] = 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 [m:ss] right after a song title is an attempt to say how long the song really was, as represented on this recording

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19770623-02 (early); https://jerrybase.com/events/19770623-03 (late)

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1977-06-23-santa-rosa-high-school-santa-rosa-ca/

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/16714 (this fileset); https://etreedb.org/shn/137527 (early show McClary MAC)

! historical: The show, a "Benefit Concert for the Survival of the Forest Community of Camp Meeker" was billed as Maria Muldaur and Special Guest, but it is the Jerry Garcia Band.

! personnel: Ron Tutt was playing in Des Moines with Elvis's band. I suspect that this benefit gig came up after Tutt had committed to the Elvis tour. Greg Errico got the call.

! personnel: I assume and think I hear this as Donna Jean Godchaux. But it could be Maria. The truth is, there’s probably more variability around all of this than we have ever appreciated.

! venue: JBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/santa-rosa-high-school-1235-mendocino.html.

! map: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=1235+Mendocino+Avenue,+Santa+Rosa,+CA&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=1235+Mendocino+Ave,+Santa+Rosa,+California+95401&gl=us&t=h&z=16

! R: "Sony ECM -> Sony TC-152 MAC -> D -> CD (Ryan at thejerrysite.com indicates the taper was Bob Menke). Thanks to Chuck Gannon for the great sounding discs! EAC/SHN by jim@juddcreek.com 4/03".

! R: Actually taped by Charlie Connor, formerly of SoCal, using Bob's gear.

! seeder note: "Quite excellent, both sound and performance. Rich bass."

! P: s2t02 KOHD Donna Jean comes in on harmony vocals. Jerry pulls some very, very long phrases in the 9-minute mark, and Keith is tinking very nicely behind him. Jerry wailing, but slow and careful. I know they don't go together, but he's way up the neck pulling glass strings, and then swings down to lower register. Errico making himself heard @ 10:45.

! R: s2t03 (1) what a wonderful piece of audience taping, to capture the in-between stuff. It sounds like Garcia is running through the changes for Dixie Down, e.g., with a drummer that they don't work much with.

! P: s2t04 TNTDODD, you can really hear the scratch in Garcia's voice. I'd bet his hair was frizzy and graying. The start of this song feels like a little bit of a struggle, tempo-wise. Around 4 minutes in, Garcia is taking a beautiful, delicate chinese flower solo. Lots of sustain. The recording picks up the depth of this interpretation very nicely. Jerry and Donna singing. Nice.

! R: s2t05 "First couple notes of Don't Let Go missing, but the edit (prior to [seeder] copy) is seamless."

! P: s2t05 DLG @ 4:45 ff JG is doing a really nice, long testamentary solo. Speak, brother! He's playing a poppy line that puts me in mind of Peanuts or cartoons or Vince Guaraldi or something right in this moment. (Probably subconscious: Santa Rosa also houses the Charles M. Schulz stuff [and I think, in his time, housed Charles M. Schulz] and Mr. Guaraldi.) Anyway, this is a really nice example of what the 1977 JGB was capable of, but only really fleetingly. Things were still too slow, a la 1976, for my taste. But when they picked up, like with this, they picked up very, very nicely. Garcia in the 7-minute mark is crafting long Cassadyesque run-ons, with the advantage, in principle, of being able to breath (which thefastestmanalive seemed not to need). In the 15-minute mark Kahn is doing some bit fat pulls for a few measures, and then he solos about 15:45-17:30. I need to think of when was his last big Bay Area bass solo like this? At 17:30 he starts blowing trail back toward Don't Let Go and everyone wisely gets behind and with the bass. Garcia is still keeping a lot of fuzz around things though, not quite ready to pass up his play time. So things are gonna get weird, and around 18:45 we're out and about. The sky and stars can be mighty big in Sonoma County and he pulls some riverine echo from 19:45 forward. Man oh man is this tape just wonderful, so airy and roomy. They really draw this thing through and through here. Lots of singing and hollering and tearing it up. Jerry strums 'em to a reasonably clean close. Errico's a freaking pro, right there.

! s2t05 (2) No stage announcement, no thank you, no nothin'. Harumph.

REFERENCES
! ref: Liberatore, Paul. 1977. Maria Muldaur: ‘Playin’ Real Good – For Free’. Independent Journal (San Rafael, CA), June 16, 1977, p. 29. Re 6/23/77
! ref: “Rock Billboard: Maria Muldaur slates benefit,” Independent Journal, June 17, 1977, p. 27.
! ref: “Overlook,” Independent Journal (San Rafael, CA), June 21, 1977, p. 17.

The Tutt Rule: JGMS at the Keystone, June 22, 1975

LN jg1975-06-22.jgms.all.aud-menke-falanga-motb-0048.87236.flac1644

Update: 4/20/2020: I now refer to this as JGMS, because Ron Tutt is not drumming, and Greg Errico is. Less importantly, but not unimportantly, while all of the external materials refer to the group as Legion of Mary, Rex Jackson labeled his tape boxes Jerry & Merl.

Sometimes I have a modest tendency to read too much into too little. Ya think? So you’ll discount appropriately if I say that the above calendar is a gift from the data gods, not to mention whoever had it printed on that attractive blue paper. Working from the edges in toward the center, at least a local center, of my chosen topic of Garcia On The Side, we can begin with some of the obscure Bay Area bands, vintage summer 1975. I’ll let you determine for themselves which those are. Then we can look at some of the not-too-obscure ones … hello, Freddie King! Yes, I do feel the blues, thank you for asking.

Kingfish, with Garcia’s once and future bandmates Bob Weir and Dave Torbert, play a Thursday-Friday (19-20), while Keith and Donna Band played the previous weekend, Friday, June 13 and Saturday, June 14, 1975. We know Jerry was out of town on that Saturday (Legion of Mary, 6/14/75, Fox Theatre, Venice, CA), but we are given to wonder whether he tried his luck Friday with Keith, Donna, Billy K. and the gang.

Anyway, the most striking feature about this calendar as it relates directly to my engagement with GOTS is the duplicity of billings for Garcia’s June 1975 gigs with Merl. On Tuesday-Wednesday June 3-4, 1975, and again on Wednesday June 11, they are billed as “Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders”, or “Garcia and Saunders”. I will refer to this, as usual, as JGMS. On Saturday-Sunday, June 21-22, 1975, they are billed as Legion of Mary, LOM. June 1975 in general (beyond the Keystone) features a more or less even split between the two billings. (update: actually, June was 10-3 in favor of JGMS, by my count as of 4/20/2020.) Since we know of many, many LOM-billed gigs between the name’s ca. March 1, 1975 “official” debut and June, the old idea that there was a linear progression from JGMS to LOM, with a clean, speciating break between them, is untenable.

So, what’s going on? First is the “Tutt Rule”, which comes to us via recollections by Bob Menke and others: “If Ron Tutt was there, it was Legion of Mary.” Tutt was necessary and sufficient to the LOM designation (insofar as Jerry-Merl bands go). For example, a note in the MOTB 0045 seed of the June 3, 1975 show [16 bit: shnid 87198; 24 bit: shnid 87217] explains that “This is listed as Garcia and Saunders since it has been confirmed Ron Tutt did not play drums at this show” (see also the June 4, 1975 MOTB 0046 seeds [16 bit: shnid 87204; 24 bit: shnid 87234]). Cryptdev, who was also around and attending shows, shares this understanding of arrangements (i.e., that Tutt=LOM).

The Tutt Rule holds up well, on its face, against the evidence of the June 1975 Keystone billings. Ron Tutt was drumming with Elvis at the start of the month (helpfully extracted by Corry from the quite extraordinary site http://www.elvisconcerts.com): every night from May 30-June 10, inclusive. Those shows are billed as JGMS. We also know that Tutt was not drumming at El Camino Park on June 8, 1975, as established in cryptdev’s comments to Corry’s Paul Humphrey post (note cryptdev mistakenly calls it June 7). So far, so good.

There is also a second rule of thumb, slightly more elaborate, which I’ll call the alternation rule. According to received understandings, the Garcia/Saunders/Kahn/Fierro outfit used Paul Humphrey on the weeknights (because of his weekend obligations filming Lawrence Welk) and Tutt on the weekends (because he played with Elvis during the week). This one also helps to make sense of the June 1975 billings: all three JGMS listings fall on weeknights, and both LOM listings fall on weekend nights (if Sunday counts that way). Over at Hooterollin’ Around, for example, commenter Keats relays a conversation with Merl in which he recalls that “Humphrey would show up to play in his monochromatic leisure suits from the Welk show.” While Corry’s courageous research into the Lawrence Welk TV show suggests that Humphrey didn’t start that until 1976, the year after JGMS/LOM ended, he notes that it could well have been some other show filmed in Burbank or wherever. So we might imagine that the June 3-4 and 11 shows feature Paul Humphrey on drums.

But we just don’t know. Leaving aside the question of the overall contours of Humphrey’s playing with JGMS, it remains unknown whether he played at these June ’75 shows. I will be revisiting June 3-4 as soon as I can. We know that the El Camino Park drummer (June 8) was black, but cryptdev doubts it was Mr. Humphrey. What we really need is someone with great ears to check this stuff out and make stylistic notes on the drummers – while I will give it a go, it’s really beyond what my ears can detect.

Whatever the case, the show at Keystone Berkeley, 2119 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA, 94107 on Sunday, June 22, 1975 falls foul of the Tutt rule and belies any assumption we might make about Humphrey being there when Tutt was not. An unimpeachable but unnameable source identifies the drummer at this show as “Gregg Ricero”, a misspelled first name and anagrammatic rearrangement of the last name of Greg Errico. And, as is so often the case, the tape gives us a confirmatory piece of evidence when, after the first song, a crowd member yells “That drummer’s outta site!” Errico is not identified by name, but I am constantly amazed by how knowledgeable Garcia audiences were, even at this relatively early date. The attendee just sounds like he’s making special note of a drummer he hasn’t seen before. When I put these two facts together, I can only conclude that, notwithstanding the Legion of Mary billing, the drummer this night is Greg Errico. This further makes me wonder about the rest of the month, and whether we might not have an opportunity to scrutinize the alternation rule more closely, e.g., by comparing Errico’s drumming here with the drumming on June 3, 4 and 21, among others.

The show is a little sluggish to my ears, but I love it. No one song or passage really stood out for me as particularly great or particularly off. Within about two weeks, Legion of Mary would be no more.

Listening notes follow …

Legion of Mary

Keystone

2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704

June 22, 1975 (Sunday)

--Set I (6 tracks, 80:10)--

d1t01. //Think [#8:14] (1) [0:19] % [0:16]

d1t02. Favela [17:07] [0:14] % [0:33]

d1t03. Last Train From Poor Valley [12:12] [0:54]

d1t04. [0:25] I Feel Like Dynamite [12:25] [0:21]

d1t05. I Second That Emotion [14:52] [0:17] %

d1t06. That's Alright, Mama [11:55] (1) [0:15]

--Set II (5 tracks, 72:20)--

d2t01. After Midnight [15:40] [0:25] % [0:27]

d2t02. Wondering Why [23:10] [0:26]

d2t03. Tough Mama [8:16] [0:17] % [1:34]

d2t04. My Problems Got Problems [12:54] [0:27]

d2t05. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [8:38] (2) [0:03]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
! lineup: ! lineup: Jerry Garcia – el-guitar, vocals;

! lineup: Merl Saunders - keyboards, vocals;

! lineup: John Kahn – el-bass;

! lineup: Martin Fierro - saxophone, flute;

! lineup: Greg Errico - drums.

MOTB:

MOTB: MOTB Release: 0048 16/44.1

Release Date: 09/14/2007

Band: Legion Of Mary

Date: 06/22/1975. Sunday

Venue: Keystone

Location: Berkeley, CA

Source: Audience FOB Recording

Media: Maxell UD90

Lineage: Sony ECM-270 and ECM-250 [Positioned Onstage] > Sony TC-152 > MAC

Transfer: MAC > Nak Dragon > LynxTWO-B > WaveLab 5.0 > HD 24/96 WAV

Taper: Bob Menke and Louis Falanga

Transfer: Bob Menke

Mastering: Derek McCabe

JGMF:

! Recording: 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.

! TJS: http://www.thejerrysite.com/shows/show/1178

! db: http://db.etree.org/shn/87236 (this fileset); http://db.etree.org/shn/87237 (same tape and transfer, preserve at 24bit/96kHz); http://db.etree.org/shn/12558 (deprecated copy of same master); http://db.etree.org/shn/103435 (deprecated copy of same master, misidentified as a soundboard).

! R: this is one of the great set of audience recordings ever made, the 1974-1976 recordings made by Louis Falanga and Bob Menke of Bay Area Jerry Garcia shows. These guys came into the bar, went to the front, grabbed the table at Jerry's feet (right of center from the audience perspective) as soon as the doors opened. As the evening progressed, they would prepare cassette decks (e.g., this Sony TC-152), presumably complete with fresh batteries. Cassettes would be opened, maybe labeled, made ready (e.g., these Maxell UD90s). Two separate microphones, a Sony ECM-250 and (I presume) a newer Sony ECM-270, probably discrete while the lights are up, I figure? Lights go down, mics come out and are, apparently, placed onstage right in front of Garcia, one of them pointing into his stage monitor and the rest angled stage-center to catch the other players. You can hear the clinking of glasses, the low talk of the players onstage, the beautiful fuzz around the monitored guitar … so very much. Wonderful.

! R: The vocals are low ... persistent buzzing, especially set II?

! R: d1t01 Think enters in progress, maybe 30 seconds missing.

! P: d1t01 Martin does a Lonely Avenue quote about 5-minutes in.

! d1t01 (1) @ 8:23 crowd guy yells "That drummer's outta site." Someone on stage: "Really?"

! P d1t01-d1t02 both of these opening numbers are a little sluggish.

! P: d1t06 TAM they don't quite know how to start, consistent with this being a less acclimated drummer.

! d1t06 (1) JG: "We're gonna take a break for a little while. We'll be back a little bit later."

! P: I find the performance sluggish. Nothing really takes off in Set I.

! P: d2t01 After Midnight is plodding

! d2t01 @ 16:01 chick asks for "Sing Me A Rainbow" ... odd. Wasn't that a NRPS tune?

! R: d2t02 the buzzing is really bad in WW. It's a monitor buzz. Really bad in Tough Mama, down @ 0:27, back up.

! d2t05 (2) JG: "Thank you."