The August '85 Electric Shows

LN jg1985-08-04.jgb.all.aud-connor.11041.shn2flac

LN jg1985-08-05.jgb.all.aud-connor.11121.shn2flac
LN jg1985-08-09.jgb.all.aud-connor.11131.shn2flac
LN jg1985-08-10.jgb.all.aud-connor.11145.shn2flac



Waaayyyy back when, in the early lossless era, when shn ruled the roost and files could best be had by FTP (though some grabbed binaries from usenet groups), Charlie Connor's August 1985 Jerry Band tapes were pretty special. They still are, in the sense that they sound nice (patched out of Corley's "Silly Hat" setup, after all), that there just weren't that many '85 JGB shows, that they give more insight into the Rock Bottom period for Our Hero and, nowadays especially, they make for some good coherent listening across the Days Between, including a relatively rare August 9th show. I wish the last night of this cluster of shows, 8/11/85, would show up - one suspects it was taped, but one finds no evidence of it.

Here's some 'base for your face, to see what I am referring to:

https://jerrybase.com/events/19850804-01
https://jerrybase.com/events/19850805-01
https://jerrybase.com/events/19850809-01
https://jerrybase.com/events/19850810-01

I have already written up the August 9, 1985 show, noting the characteristic brevity of these sets, both clocking in below the 45-minute Minelli Line. (I should call it the Judy Garland line, as Jerry did in discussing "Cabaret Economics", but this formulation alliterates it to the Mendoza Line in baseball, the "rock bottom," barely acceptable, .200 batting average named for very light hitting, ca. 1970s-1980s Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Mario. Grant me a little license, please and thank you.)

I have just revisited all four shows and, yeah, they're all short. Now, true, these tapes are tightly edited, and tuning breaks could take up a good bit of time wherever Garcia was found. On the first night of this set of shows, 8/4/85, set II clocks in at 31:04. This is currently the second-shortest electric set I have found, after 9/16/84 I  and just ahead of (i.e., below) 3/2/85 I  and 3/22/84 I. (Note, though, that there's probably a minute or more missing from Cats, the addition of which would land this squarely in the normal range for a show from this era.) Of course, I doubt any electric set will ever underperform the acoustic 5/23/85 set I in Denver - at 25 minutes, one can only hope --really, really, hope-- that the tape is incomplete.

Here are the timings for the August '85 electric shows:

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

So much for quantity, how about quality? Overall, I guess I'd say totally characteristic. Some really good guitar work, some lyrical fumbles, vocals getting rougher by the minute.

Night one: Jerry sounds pretty punchy right out of the gate, overcomes some lyrical fumbles in show opening ITAM to rage pretty hard on Sugaree. Killer guitar tone, fantastic playing, much to the appreciation of the hometown Stone crowd, which mostly seemed to prefer boogeying to judging. Kemper is SIMPLY WONDERFUL on Cats, and then Jerry struggles lyrically a little bit in Gomorrah and a lot in Reuben And Cherise, the latter of which is nothing short of tragic, becaues it's my favorite Garcia Band tune, bar none. I do think I hear some Melvin synth in there, which is cool. Midnight Moonlight gallops hard into the barn.

Night two almost fills up a whole XLII90, the longest show of the set by almost 10%. Again, frisky out of the chute, though I don't note anything from the first set until the long Tangled Up: "Not a single thing wrong with the range of ideas he expresses, the fluency and power with which he expresses them, etc. Even some interesting extended stuff 12. Very good. Kemper marching 12:30 for Jerry to wail around." This feels spacious and killer. I suspect that ol' Jer wasn't drinking tea with honey and lemon during the setbreak, because he comes back scratchier in the throat than before. Audience member astutely calls for Don't Let Go, but he'd have to wait two and a half more years for it to reappear, after landing on the shelf at the end of '84. Not a lot to report, but Kemper is absolutely flying to keep up with Midnight Moonlight, and boy must his arms be tired. *rimshot*

August 9th. I have already written it up. I don't remember what I said three years ago. If you want to check how reliable my notes are, please feel free to compare them. Good energy upfront, rough vocals, brief.

Night four, 8/10/85 - thirty-six years ago to the day as I type this. Elmer Fudd has arrived to sing, more than over the previous week's shows, to my ears. Very last "Rhapsody In Red", which gives me a sad, because it was a rocker. It wouldn't have worked post-coma until maybe late 1990 and into 1991, IMO - before then he's just too clean to grunge it up, and after he's just not powerful enough. But it coulda been good in that window. This Reuben he remembers the words, more or less all of them I think, and I do love those words. But the voice is pretty weak at this point and maybe it's best that he just raced through Midnight Moonlight -- four consecutive shows as a show-ender and sought refuge back at Hepburn Heights.

Listening notes below the jump.

Above Ground, But Below the Minelli Line: JGB, The Stone, August 9, 1985

A decade before the final fall, Garcia played another Friday night at the Stone. I still think of this as the Rock Bottom period, even though he is clearly recovering.

Two sets below the Minelli Line (45 minutes), the whole gig fits snugly on a single Maxell, with room for filler on the B-side. Nothing terrible, not even the voice. Just nothing worth noting. I'd happily plunk down eight 1985 dollars --$18 and change in 2016-- to see this show today.

jg1985-08-09.jgb.all.aud-connor.11131.shn2flac

Jerry Garcia Band
The Stone
412 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133
August 9, 1985 (Friday)
Connor MAC shnid-11131 shn2flac

--set I (5 tracks, 42:26)--
s1t01. /Cats Under The Stars [#9:02] [0:19]
s1t02. Catfish John [8:33] [0:08]
s1t03. Simple Twist Of Fate [10:46] ->
s1t04. Run For The Roses [5:13] ->
s1t05. Deal [8:18] [0:07] (1) %

--set II (5 tracks, 38:32)
s2t01. /I'll Take A Melody [#11:29] [0:03] %
s2t02. /When I Paint My Masterpiece [#6:28] ->
s2t03. Gomorrah [6:24] ->
s2t04. Reuben And Cérise [7:01] [0:05] % [0:02]
s2t05. Midnight Moonlight [6:54] (2)

! ACT1: JGB #21b
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing 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.

! JB: https://jerrybase.com/events/19850809-01

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1985-08-09

! db: this fileset

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

! R: field recordist: Charlie Connor

! R: field recording gear: John Corley's disassembled Nak 700s clipped to brim of
hat for stealth > Sony TCD5M (3rd deck in a patch chain)

! R: field recording location: FOB. 20' from stage, first row of tables, dead center

! R: transfer: Nak DR-10 (playback) > Midiman Flying Cow 24bit/48kHz A/D > RME Digi96/8 >
Steinberg's Wavelab 3.0 (bit resolution & resampling to CDR redbook 16/44.1 > CDWav beta1.6 (tracking only) > SHNv3 (MKW ACT). Analog and Digital Mastering by Charlie Connor. Shn'ed, vined and seeded to fungus and abgd August 6, 2002. shn2flac by jgmf 1/1/2018.

! R: nice punchy tape.

! R: s1t01 CUTS clips in

! P: s1t01 CUTS band comes out with energy. Garcia's voice sounds pretty rough, but it's mercifully low in the mix.

! s1t03-s1t04 these guzintas are sortaguzintas, of the kind that were common in this period of short sets.

! s1t05 (1) no set break announcement

! R: s2t01 ITAM clips in

! R: s2t02 Masterpiece clips in

! P: s2t05 Mid Moon: nothing says "horse racing back to the barn" better than a Rock Bottom era Midnight Moonlight..

! s2t05 (2) JG: "Thank you. See ya later."

! P: It's not bad. It's just really short. Both sets under the Minelli Line.

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.