This is out of my wheelhouse, but since it brings together two loose ends for me I thought I'd post it here.
The Sacramento Bee of 10/23/66 p. W14 has a piece on upcoming homecoming events at Cal Aggie, i.e., UC Davis.
The Grateful Dead are scheduled to play Freeborn Hall Friday 10/28/66, Yellow Brick Road also on the bill.
This ties two things I have discussed here.
First, having gone to Campolindo HS in Moraga, I always wondered why the GD canceled their scheduled gig at little St. Mary's College on this Friday night (10/28/66). I still don't know why, but at least I see that the band played a different gig. Maybe the pay was better.
Second, years back I found a Dead gig at Freeborn on January 6, 1967 which said that the last time they played Freeborn, the GD played to a full house. But there was no "last time" in the record at that point. Now there is: 10/28/66. Add it to your lists.
Showing posts with label Davis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Davis. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 06, 2019
Thursday, March 24, 2016
JGB at Freeborn Hall, November 12, 1976
Sometime in the afternoon or thereabouts of Friday, November
12, 1976, Garcia, John Kahn, Keith and Donna Jean Godchaux, probably Richard
Loren hopped into sedans being driven by monitor mixer Harry Popick and roadie Bill
'Kidd' Candelario to Davis,
California, about a hundred miles east of San Francisco on I-80. Thus began a
little weekend jaunt that strikes me as more pleasant than one they'd do in
August '81 (billed as the "1st
Northern California Tour"), if only because the latter passed through
Stockton in August, while this one offers foggier temperatures and a cooler implicit psychology.
It had already been a busy week, Sunday-Monday for Freddie
Herrera in Berkeley and Palo Alto (I don't think a note of these shows
circulates among collectors), then Tuesday through Thursday at Elliot Mazer's
His Master's Wheels studio, in the space formerly operated by, variously, Pacific High Recorders and Alembic. The band gives every appearance of trying to use these sessions to
work up some old favorites, sort of like a second version of Compliments, a few more fonky gospel numbers, maybe a few not so fonky, but a
nice eclectic mix, for some ready-to-sell vinyl. This is the...
... Abortive 1976 Garcia Band album
At His Master's Wheels (HMW) Elliot Mazer had put together a space that Garcia really liked, singling it out when asked about the tastiest
rooms in the Bay Area in June of 1974, right after recording Compliments (mostly at Columbia) and using it for Reflections, recorded second half 1975 and released early 1976, itself
involving some abortive components (see Corry). That involved the payoff of the summer 1975 United
Artists bailout. In late 76, Jerry played for Clive, and Arista paid the HMW studio time, as Davis, Garcia, Weir and the Grateful Dead (the latter three not at all the same thing as these men make their respective journeys) enter into a deal to further find fates. It’s impossible
to say whether Davis fronted the studio time as an act of good faith, or
whether, more likely, the time would eventually come out of Garcia’s advance. Despite its aesthetic promise, I can't say why this project gwas shelved. Eventually, after long battles with demons in the studio --recorded in earnest August-November 1977 and released around April 1,
1978-- Cats Under The Stars replaced it as the first, and in many ways the only, Jerry Garcia Band studio album.
The Abortive 1976 Jerry Garcia Band Album would differ from its predecessors, not a Jerry Garcia record, but a Jerry Garcia Band one, a false step in the institutionalization of Jerry Garcia. Bringing Nicky on board in summer 1975 was certainly a touring proposition - Nicky is contractually obligated to mention his 1975 Mercury record No More Changes (see my WIP "Hiatus Garcianomics"), and the band took xx tours (involving out of town flights) in its three-and-a-half months together. But having the Session Man in the house was almost certainly also a recording proposition: the timing with the recording Compliments is too strong suggestive. But it fell apart, for reasons unknown, and became a little bit of a Garcia-GD Frankenstein, incoherent even if it has its moments.
After August 1976 sessions paid by Round Records - perhaps the last good checks that outfit ever wrote, if they didn't bounce, October and November found Arista paying the bills, leaked to the cognoscenti no later than November 20th.[i] Conceptually, take 2 of the first JGB album resonated with the "Americana Jerry likes" feel of Compliments, but with the band of Garcia-Kahn-Tutt-Godchaux (Keith) and at least some of the material drawing from cooler, stiller depths. Garcia tried Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train" and "Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie" on for size for the project, about which I wrote at some length, noting that the ancient songstress found pulp-and-glue permanence in the New Lost City Ramblers Songbook (1964), through which, I surmise, Garcia might have learned the tunes. An undated OBIANL features on All Good Things, disc 3, track 11.
The Band also drew heavily from the gospel well with which Jerry, Keith, Donna and the rest had spent so much time in the Godchaux's living room in 1975 (for Keith and Donna), sometimes quite literally accompanied by a Samarian woman and a "Strange Man". telling her every sinful thing she'd done, and setting her free. After a shambolic January, the bicentennial live act came to feature more upbeat gospel, as well, from the celestial choir of “My Sisters And Brothers” to the hot-to-trot show closer “Ride Mighty High”. (Another angelic boogie, “Magnificent Sanctuary Band” [released on the 2004 box set All Good Things] never made it out of Stinson.)
Beyond gospel we find a Dylan (“Visions Of Johanna”, on the bonus disc All Good Things Redux), some black--and-white rockers “Bo Diddley” and “Not Fade Away” (11/9/76), a little R&B on November 10th (“Don’t Let Go”, “The Way You Do The Things You Do”), "The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise" (11/10/76), “Matilda” (calypso on both 11/10/76 and 11/11/76!) and the pure train “Streamlined Cannonball” (11/11/76). To travel to the places to which these various tunes were established, among the people who established them, would drive across every route and byway east of the Mississippi, lots of cities and hollers and plains, and a few on the other side; to do so by the means that conveyed them would bring you to ambient voice, boat, ship, raft, rail and automobile. Aesthetically, the collection would make a fine record.
After August 1976 sessions paid by Round Records - perhaps the last good checks that outfit ever wrote, if they didn't bounce, October and November found Arista paying the bills, leaked to the cognoscenti no later than November 20th.[i] Conceptually, take 2 of the first JGB album resonated with the "Americana Jerry likes" feel of Compliments, but with the band of Garcia-Kahn-Tutt-Godchaux (Keith) and at least some of the material drawing from cooler, stiller depths. Garcia tried Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train" and "Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie" on for size for the project, about which I wrote at some length, noting that the ancient songstress found pulp-and-glue permanence in the New Lost City Ramblers Songbook (1964), through which, I surmise, Garcia might have learned the tunes. An undated OBIANL features on All Good Things, disc 3, track 11.
The Band also drew heavily from the gospel well with which Jerry, Keith, Donna and the rest had spent so much time in the Godchaux's living room in 1975 (for Keith and Donna), sometimes quite literally accompanied by a Samarian woman and a "Strange Man". telling her every sinful thing she'd done, and setting her free. After a shambolic January, the bicentennial live act came to feature more upbeat gospel, as well, from the celestial choir of “My Sisters And Brothers” to the hot-to-trot show closer “Ride Mighty High”. (Another angelic boogie, “Magnificent Sanctuary Band” [released on the 2004 box set All Good Things] never made it out of Stinson.)
Beyond gospel we find a Dylan (“Visions Of Johanna”, on the bonus disc All Good Things Redux), some black--and-white rockers “Bo Diddley” and “Not Fade Away” (11/9/76), a little R&B on November 10th (“Don’t Let Go”, “The Way You Do The Things You Do”), "The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise" (11/10/76), “Matilda” (calypso on both 11/10/76 and 11/11/76!) and the pure train “Streamlined Cannonball” (11/11/76). To travel to the places to which these various tunes were established, among the people who established them, would drive across every route and byway east of the Mississippi, lots of cities and hollers and plains, and a few on the other side; to do so by the means that conveyed them would bring you to ambient voice, boat, ship, raft, rail and automobile. Aesthetically, the collection would make a fine record.
The Weekend "Tour"
After laying down some tracks, the tour looks take draw a long, deep, weekend breath through some gigging and green spaces, the late Friday night show in Davis, it culminated in a pair of Saturday night shows at verdant Humboldt State.
 |
| Table xxx. |
I have notes from the front end below. In terms of the back end of the "tour", Jerry has some land up in Mendocino, that Laird Grant lives on - maybe
Garcia checked in, said hello and stocked up on the local fare --still
autumn, harvest season-- for the rides back home.
Garcia at Freeborn
Depending on where they were coming from, this crew crossed a bridge (Richmond-San Rafael from Marin, or the Bay Bridge from the City), hooked up with I-80 east bound, crossed another bridge (over the Carquinez Strait), went up over the coastal ridge and dropped into the Great Central Valley. "Jerry Garcia has always liked this town," wrote the California Aggie reviewer about Davis. Campus gym Freeborn Hall would have been a drafty, smelly basketball arena at this time, all echo, but the college kids, many of them from the Bay Area, were enthusiastic, and the show shimmered. "Never before," wrote his seasoned reviewer, "have I seen Garcia dance, nor have I ever seen him smile so much".
Garcia at Freeborn
Depending on where they were coming from, this crew crossed a bridge (Richmond-San Rafael from Marin, or the Bay Bridge from the City), hooked up with I-80 east bound, crossed another bridge (over the Carquinez Strait), went up over the coastal ridge and dropped into the Great Central Valley. "Jerry Garcia has always liked this town," wrote the California Aggie reviewer about Davis. Campus gym Freeborn Hall would have been a drafty, smelly basketball arena at this time, all echo, but the college kids, many of them from the Bay Area, were enthusiastic, and the show shimmered. "Never before," wrote his seasoned reviewer, "have I seen Garcia dance, nor have I ever seen him smile so much".
 |
| Table xxx. |
So nice to hear. In terms not of the visuals of Jerry (and
Donna) swaying in a sweet groove, but of the audio, we are blessed to have
Betty Cantor Jackson's 4th reel of the night (reels 1-3 are AWOL,
and may have returned do dust), and it holds just a 30 minute "Don't Let
Go" and a show-closing "Might High", the crème de la crème of 1976 JGB repertoire, just about (LAALWFH wants a word with me).
LN jg1976-11-12.jgb.s2p-end.sbd-wise.132401.flac1648
A few highlights of the Davis show, based on the tape
evidence.
John Kahn does a bass feature in DLG, which is actually
interesting, not his usual feathery fluttery tickling thing – actual bass playing.
He could do this in earlier years, and occasionally later on, but to hear John
Kahn play with some power in November 1976 is a revelation.
Keith is noodling around some classical tunes after DLG.
"Mighty High" is nothing short of amazing. I love Donna Jean Godchaux.
Jerry Garcia Band
Freeborn Hall, University of California
Davis, CA 95616
November 12, 1976 (Friday) - 8 PM
BCJ reel #4 wise DAT flac1648 shnid-132401
--end of show (3 tracks, 2 songs, 38:17)--
reel04-t01. crowd and tuning [0:19]
reel04-t02. Don't Let Go [28:53] (1) [2:46]
reel04-t03. Mighty High// [6:19#]
! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #3
!
lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! lineup: Keith Godchaux - piano, vocals;
! lineup: Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals;
! lineup: Ron Tutt - drums, vocals.
JGMF:
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.
! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/15850 (same source reel,
probably different source DAT and definitely more primitive DAT > CD
transfer - deprecated); http://etreedb.org/shn/132401 (this fileset - best
source).
! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/12/freeborn-hall-uc-davis-104-freeborn.html
! review: Krane, Matt. 1976. Garcia & Company:
Phenomenal Crowd Pleasers. California Aggie, November 15, 1976, p. 3. positive
review of 11/12/76. Under subtitle "Fabulous Crowd Pleasers" starts
by getting out his Webster's: "mellifluous (me-lif-loo-es, adj. (L.
/mellifluus: mel, mellis-honey, fluete-to flow), flowing sweetly and smoothly;
honeyed; said of words, sounds, etc. … Jerry Garcia has always liked this town,
Davis", gave a memorable performance. Not's the JGB has played Crabshaw
Corner in Sacto. Freeborn Freeborn
usually sounds like ass, but the reviewer says the band's gear sounded
great." Kane praises "Garcia's magnificently mellow, fluid blues
progressions". "Never before have I seen Garcia dance, nor have I
ever seen him smile so much. But he had a lot to smile about, and so did a
crowded Freeborn." "He appeared very warm and comfortable. His music
was doubly so."
! R: recordist: Betty Cantor-Jackson
! R: media: 7" reel master @ 7.5ips 1/2 track (reel #4
only). As far as I know, reels 1-3 are not in the Garcia Vault, which might
mean they are still out in the world somewhere. They are known not to be among
the Betty Boards (TM). Given the water damage to this reel, though, it's
strongly possible that the first three reels were among the miles of rotted
spaghetti and distingrated vinyl and oxide, silt and pulp and goat piss. As of
this writing (3/24/2016), my best sense is that they are gone forever, but that
could be wrong.
! R: gear: Betty's Nagra reel to reel deck (serial #SL11183)
! R: lineage: Playback on Otari MX5050-Meyer VX-1 signal
processor-Sony PCM R-700 DAT @ 48KHz (circa 1999). Original zero gen DAT played
back on a Sony PCM R-500-Digital Audio Labs Card deluxe-16 bit 48KHz. Editing
(Adobe Audition CC) - Mastering & Processing (iZotope Ozone 6) - FLAC
encoding (dBpoweramp) - Tagging (Tag & Re-name - Digital Transfer, Editing
& Processing By JW:February 2015.
! R: note: 16 bit 48Khz file set formatted for music
servers"
! R: note: "This reel was old & brittle and there
is some tape squeal present."
! R: reel04-t02 DLG @ 15:43 ran past a place where the oxide
wasn't, some squeal. Again late 22, ca. 22:50.
! P: reel-04-t02 DLG 12ff John Kahn is taking a bass solo,
and for 20 seconds he's on it, a little too fluttery at 12:20, some great bass
soloing by John Kahn -- yeah, I said it. @ 14:43 the band comes back, John gets
a nice round of applause from the crowd. This is building to a very nice
crescendo, all involved, Garcia high up 15:18, all the rest is percussion, now
he puts some blue on it 15:39. Garcia in a very interesting space 16:13, a
little more speed. 25ff is Garcia's vocale-guitar duetting, some good moaning
and scowling. Jerry gets real strong wid it to come to an end, everyone lands
right.
! reel04-t02 (1) Keith is playing a classical piece late 29.
29:49 - sounds like something definable. 30:20 for sure, that Parisian Waltz.
more at 30:35. another quote 30:53, more than a quote. He wants to play it.
Garcia strums for Mighty High @ 31:04.
! P: reel04-t03 Mighty High is incredible. Donna is bringing
it early 5ff, everyone singing hard, she is belting! You guy, girl! Even Keith
is yelling, in his nasally way, making the tape squeal. Man, that is some good
time music for the Aggies!
! R: reel04-t03 squeal somewhere in 4. 5:38 squeal. Reel
ends, maybe 30 seconds of music missing.
[i] McDonough 1976 11/20/76.
Monday, July 25, 2011
NRPS 19710121 Freeborn Hall, UC Davis, Davis, CA
My questions about whether the NRPS played the January 1971 out-of-town GD shows in Davis (1/21/71), Eugene (1/22/71) and Seattle (1/24/71) , and my conjecture that maybe they just stayed at Heider's, are at least partly answered and stand at least partly wrong.
Here's a little pictorial from the campus newspaper, the California Aggie, regarding the show at Freeborn Hall, UC Davis, Davis, CA on January 21, 1971.
So the Marmaduke picture answers the NRPS question. Then I have a few other questions from this great little display. First, who are the guys besides Weir, Garcia and Kreutzmann in the bottom-right panel? The guy far-right could be Mickey, I guess, but to the right of Billy in the picture ... who is that? Second, there's the James and the Good Brothers reference. And, sure enough, a brief review in the same paper ("Dead, Riders, Brothers," California Aggie, January 27, 1971, p. 6) mentions that the show went James and the Good Brothers, NRPS, and two sets of GD.
So, yes Virginia, the New Riders did play Thursday 1/21/71 at Freeborn Hall, UC Davis. And it appears from Jim Quigley's photos to have been "fantastic".
Update 10/12/2014: there is now an audience tape of the GD set in circulation [shnid-131516, flac 2496 | shnid-131517, flac1644], which I hope to listen to and report on soon. In anticipation, here's the last visual I have for the show (a preview), and, below that, a link to LIA's post on this show.
LIA: http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2012/07/january-21-1971-freeborn-hall-davis-ca.html, which reproduces the following: Abramson, Hilary. 1971. Grateful Dead Shake Freeborn Hall. Woodland Democrat, January 22 1971, p. unk.
 |
| California Aggie, January 25, 1971, p. 8; photos by Jim Quigley. |
So the Marmaduke picture answers the NRPS question. Then I have a few other questions from this great little display. First, who are the guys besides Weir, Garcia and Kreutzmann in the bottom-right panel? The guy far-right could be Mickey, I guess, but to the right of Billy in the picture ... who is that? Second, there's the James and the Good Brothers reference. And, sure enough, a brief review in the same paper ("Dead, Riders, Brothers," California Aggie, January 27, 1971, p. 6) mentions that the show went James and the Good Brothers, NRPS, and two sets of GD.
 |
| Reviewer, Aggie. 1971. Dead, Riders, Brothers. California Aggie, January 27, 1971, p. 6. |
So, yes Virginia, the New Riders did play Thursday 1/21/71 at Freeborn Hall, UC Davis. And it appears from Jim Quigley's photos to have been "fantastic".
Update 10/12/2014: there is now an audience tape of the GD set in circulation [shnid-131516, flac 2496 | shnid-131517, flac1644], which I hope to listen to and report on soon. In anticipation, here's the last visual I have for the show (a preview), and, below that, a link to LIA's post on this show.
LIA: http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2012/07/january-21-1971-freeborn-hall-davis-ca.html, which reproduces the following: Abramson, Hilary. 1971. Grateful Dead Shake Freeborn Hall. Woodland Democrat, January 22 1971, p. unk.
GD 19670106
 |
| "Big Mama to aid in raising of the dead," California Aggie, January 6, 1967, p. 5. |
Grateful Dead played at Freeborn Hall, UC Davis, Davis, CA on January 6, 1967. The above preview article is from that day's California Aggie, p. 5.
What intrigues me is the line that says that the last time they played Freeborn, the GD played to a full house. When did the GD play Freeborn Hall before 1/6/67?
Thursday, March 17, 2011
JGB "1st Northern California Tour": August 6-8, 1981
One of the oddest little jaunts you'll find the in Garcia On The Side histories is one billed as the "1st Northern California Tour", comprising the following three off-the-beaten-path gigs:
Here I just want to reflect a little bit on this mini tour. Let me start with the ad that ran in BAM magazine. I first reproduce the full page in bad quality (including the TOC for the 7/31/81 issue of BAM, which is still an unindexed goldmine of late 70s-1980s Bay Area music information), and then a clearer but less complete scan focusing on the Garcia ad.
The tour is interesting for a few reasons. First, it occurs during a particularly fluid time in terms of membership of the Jerry Garcia Band. So I'll cover personnel issues first. Second, it's just a weird little tour. So I'll say maybe a thing or two about the tour overall, maybe a sort of business/economic aspect. Third, I'll just open up a slightly broader context to the rest of 1981.
First, personnel was extremely fluid around this time.
a. Keyboards. At the start of the year, Melvin Seals had come in on the Hammond B-3 organ, and after a few gigs Jimmy Warren was also brought on as keyboardist on his electric piano (I think it was a Fender Rhodes, but I am not sure). So, here we have Melvin and Jimmy Warren on keys, which is confirmed by the two tapes.
b. Drums. Historically, TJS did not show a drummer between 6/1 and 12/17, when Kreutzmann is said to come in. We know from our various discussions here and elsewhere, ultimately reflected in and derived from Corry Arnold's contemporaneous lists, that Bill Kreutzmann came in on drums for the Concord Pavilion show on September 7, 1981. I think he was also drumming in the Bay Area on December 17-18-19, while Ron Tutt had apparently taken the October-November 1981 national tour, as well as the other September '81 Bay Area shows. Anyway, Corry reckons that Daoud Shaw was around until Concord, i.e., through 8/23. That makes a lot of sense. Shaw and Essra Mohawk were an item, and both disappear from September 7 forward. So, here we presumably have Daoud Shaw drumming (though there are no guarantees of this).
c. Backing vocals. This is understood to be the short-lived Liz Stires-Essra Mohawk tandem on backing vocals. They debuted June 25, 1981 at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, their first, the first Garcia Band show with backing vocalists since the Donna Jean Godchaux-Maria Muldaur arrangement vanished in late 1978. Essra appears to be gone by 9/7/81, replaced by Julie Stafford, so apparently our "School House Rock" heroine only sang a dozen or so times with the JGB.) (For more on backing vocalists, see here for early 80s, here for mid-1982 and here for late 1983.)
(One further note here, on Concord 9/7/81, JGBP says "Actually GD Archives source mentions Liz's sister. It's handwritten. [MS 332 Ser. 3, Box 1:2, GDR: Show Files: GD Concert Dates-Tour Schedule, Grateful Dead Archives, Special Collections, McHenry Library, UC Santa Cruz, CA].)
d. Bass. This is usually a non-issue: it was John Kahn. But recall that on 6/25/81 (Santa Cruz), 6/26/81 (Fox Warfield Theatre, San Francisco) and 8/22/81 (Fairfax Pavilion!) Phil Lesh played bass with the JGB, and Kahn was not present. I don't know anything about why this was the case, nor why John would miss a few more shows in March 1982, when David Torbert filled in. No point in me speculating about it, I just don't know. Anyway, based on a review of the two tapes of this mini-tour that I have heard, The Mule is in the house.
e. Summarizing, here's my best guess as to the personnel of the Jerry Garcia Band for the August 6-8, 1981 "1st Northern California Tour":
Second point for this post, what an odd little tour.
a) It was organized as a set, it was advertised in BAM, there were posters made, etc. There's a promoter behind this. Yet I don't see that kind of information in the materials. Doesn't seem like Graham, both because his name isn't on the materials and because it's just too obscure. He seemed to let littler, further downmarket, and/or farther flung places be by this time. Since most of them seemed to pose little meaningful competition (and many seemed to come and go, change names, and generally struggle), he didn't really need to compete on that margin. UPDATE: This is a Keystone Family joint.
b) The itinerary is pretty unlikely. San Rafael to Salinas to Davis to Stockton to San Rafael? Now Salinas has the whiff of Steinbeck and is close to Monterey. Davis is a really nice college town. Even Stockton, not generally considered a desirable place to be, brings some California Delta charm, where the Gold Rush meets the Central Valley, all of which one can appreciate in an anthropological sort of way. But not in August. We're talking easy triple digits in all three of these places, but especially Stockton. August 8th in Stockton ... oof. I start sweating just thinking of it. I'll reserve judgment on the halls; a Fox Theatre can, of course, be a magnificent thing. So I am not knocking any of this, just suggesting that it's a bit odd.
c) Putting these together, it's the juxtaposition of utterly implausible levels of organization with utterly implausible itinerary that really strikes me. There are few other tours that look quite like this that I can think of. There were lots of obscure gigs in lots of obscure places beyond the core Bay Area over the years, of course. But most didn't have the faintest whiff of business professionalism about them, with the exception of the Freddie Herrera clubs (in which Ol' Jer played a ton, 'a'course). The only other tours were typically larger scale (N > 3 shows), usually further away (e.g., midwest <--> east coast). The SoCal tours bear the closest resemblance, such as the couple-day jaunts by Legion of Mary in March (7-9) 1975, Reconstruction in July 1979 and JGB in May (17-20) 1984. But SoCal is a plane ride, and anyway with all of John's people and places down there it's probably very comfortable. These places 100 miles from SF are actually less convenient in lots of ways.
Third, just a note about the rest of the year, especially re recordings. The Garcia shows that follow this one are pretty well represented. August 20-21-22-23 are ca. 70% in circulation (missing most of two of eight sets, less a little) and represent the last Phil Lesh guest slot (8/22) and the apparent end of Daoud Shaw and Essra Mohawk's time with the JGB. There are a number of dates from after that not in circulation that I know of (scanning TJS 1981, 9/20/81, 10/25/81, 10/27/81, etc.), but there's enough sprinkled through that we can interpolate across most of them.
Before this minitour is a different deal. Going back three months (to May), I see these dates unrepresented (back of the napkin only!): 5/20/81, 5/23/81, 5/24/81, 5/27/81, most of 5/28/81,5/30/81s1 [now see shnid-116252], 5/31/81, 6/1/81, and 7/23/81 and 7/24/81 [now see shnid-132091]. Only 5.5 of the 18 JGB shows in this period currently circulate in the digital realm, to my knowledge. And the May shows might be interesting. Melvin and Jimmy and Daoud had been around since January so they were broken in, yet the evidence of what would come -- the recruitment of the backing vocalists from 6/25/81-- suggests that Garcia (and/or Kahn) was/were not satisfied with what the band was doing. As Kahn would tell Blair Jackson, "it wasn't one of our better bands" (Jackson 1999, p. 321), though it's not clear if he meant before the vocalists came, after they arrived, or both. We get the strong sense from this same material that Garcia's heroin use is escalated at this time. In any case, having almost an entire month of gigs missing here is a drag. If anyone knows of any of these tapes, please contact me, as I'd like to study them!
Anyway, mostly I just liked the artwork and wanted to shout out for BAM, and the rest of this is just an excuse to post those scans. ;-)
REFERENCE:
Jackson, Blair. 1999. Garcia: An American Life. New York: Penguin Books.
! see also: JGMF, "JG19810624: Wednesday, June 24, 1981, Sherwood Hall, Salinas, CA (UNCERTAIN)," http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2011/04/jg19810624-wednesday-june-24-1981.html.
- Wednesday, August 6, 1981, Sherwood Hall, 940 North Main Street, Salinas, CA
- Thursday, August 7, 1981, Freeborn Hall, UC Davis, Davis, CA
- Friday, August 8, 1981, Fox Theatre, 216 E. Main Street, Stockton, CA
Here I just want to reflect a little bit on this mini tour. Let me start with the ad that ran in BAM magazine. I first reproduce the full page in bad quality (including the TOC for the 7/31/81 issue of BAM, which is still an unindexed goldmine of late 70s-1980s Bay Area music information), and then a clearer but less complete scan focusing on the Garcia ad.
The tour is interesting for a few reasons. First, it occurs during a particularly fluid time in terms of membership of the Jerry Garcia Band. So I'll cover personnel issues first. Second, it's just a weird little tour. So I'll say maybe a thing or two about the tour overall, maybe a sort of business/economic aspect. Third, I'll just open up a slightly broader context to the rest of 1981.
First, personnel was extremely fluid around this time.
a. Keyboards. At the start of the year, Melvin Seals had come in on the Hammond B-3 organ, and after a few gigs Jimmy Warren was also brought on as keyboardist on his electric piano (I think it was a Fender Rhodes, but I am not sure). So, here we have Melvin and Jimmy Warren on keys, which is confirmed by the two tapes.
b. Drums. Historically, TJS did not show a drummer between 6/1 and 12/17, when Kreutzmann is said to come in. We know from our various discussions here and elsewhere, ultimately reflected in and derived from Corry Arnold's contemporaneous lists, that Bill Kreutzmann came in on drums for the Concord Pavilion show on September 7, 1981. I think he was also drumming in the Bay Area on December 17-18-19, while Ron Tutt had apparently taken the October-November 1981 national tour, as well as the other September '81 Bay Area shows. Anyway, Corry reckons that Daoud Shaw was around until Concord, i.e., through 8/23. That makes a lot of sense. Shaw and Essra Mohawk were an item, and both disappear from September 7 forward. So, here we presumably have Daoud Shaw drumming (though there are no guarantees of this).
c. Backing vocals. This is understood to be the short-lived Liz Stires-Essra Mohawk tandem on backing vocals. They debuted June 25, 1981 at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, their first, the first Garcia Band show with backing vocalists since the Donna Jean Godchaux-Maria Muldaur arrangement vanished in late 1978. Essra appears to be gone by 9/7/81, replaced by Julie Stafford, so apparently our "School House Rock" heroine only sang a dozen or so times with the JGB.) (For more on backing vocalists, see here for early 80s, here for mid-1982 and here for late 1983.)
(One further note here, on Concord 9/7/81, JGBP says "Actually GD Archives source mentions Liz's sister. It's handwritten. [MS 332 Ser. 3, Box 1:2, GDR: Show Files: GD Concert Dates-Tour Schedule, Grateful Dead Archives, Special Collections, McHenry Library, UC Santa Cruz, CA].)
d. Bass. This is usually a non-issue: it was John Kahn. But recall that on 6/25/81 (Santa Cruz), 6/26/81 (Fox Warfield Theatre, San Francisco) and 8/22/81 (Fairfax Pavilion!) Phil Lesh played bass with the JGB, and Kahn was not present. I don't know anything about why this was the case, nor why John would miss a few more shows in March 1982, when David Torbert filled in. No point in me speculating about it, I just don't know. Anyway, based on a review of the two tapes of this mini-tour that I have heard, The Mule is in the house.
e. Summarizing, here's my best guess as to the personnel of the Jerry Garcia Band for the August 6-8, 1981 "1st Northern California Tour":
- Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
- John Kahn - el-bass;
- Melvin Seals - keyboards (Hammond B3 organ);
- Jimmy Warren - keyboards (Fender Rhodes electric piano);
- Daoud Shaw - drums;
- Essra Mohawk - backing vocals;
- Liz Stires - backing vocals.
a) It was organized as a set, it was advertised in BAM, there were posters made, etc. There's a promoter behind this. Yet I don't see that kind of information in the materials. Doesn't seem like Graham, both because his name isn't on the materials and because it's just too obscure. He seemed to let littler, further downmarket, and/or farther flung places be by this time. Since most of them seemed to pose little meaningful competition (and many seemed to come and go, change names, and generally struggle), he didn't really need to compete on that margin. UPDATE: This is a Keystone Family joint.
b) The itinerary is pretty unlikely. San Rafael to Salinas to Davis to Stockton to San Rafael? Now Salinas has the whiff of Steinbeck and is close to Monterey. Davis is a really nice college town. Even Stockton, not generally considered a desirable place to be, brings some California Delta charm, where the Gold Rush meets the Central Valley, all of which one can appreciate in an anthropological sort of way. But not in August. We're talking easy triple digits in all three of these places, but especially Stockton. August 8th in Stockton ... oof. I start sweating just thinking of it. I'll reserve judgment on the halls; a Fox Theatre can, of course, be a magnificent thing. So I am not knocking any of this, just suggesting that it's a bit odd.
c) Putting these together, it's the juxtaposition of utterly implausible levels of organization with utterly implausible itinerary that really strikes me. There are few other tours that look quite like this that I can think of. There were lots of obscure gigs in lots of obscure places beyond the core Bay Area over the years, of course. But most didn't have the faintest whiff of business professionalism about them, with the exception of the Freddie Herrera clubs (in which Ol' Jer played a ton, 'a'course). The only other tours were typically larger scale (N > 3 shows), usually further away (e.g., midwest <--> east coast). The SoCal tours bear the closest resemblance, such as the couple-day jaunts by Legion of Mary in March (7-9) 1975, Reconstruction in July 1979 and JGB in May (17-20) 1984. But SoCal is a plane ride, and anyway with all of John's people and places down there it's probably very comfortable. These places 100 miles from SF are actually less convenient in lots of ways.
Third, just a note about the rest of the year, especially re recordings. The Garcia shows that follow this one are pretty well represented. August 20-21-22-23 are ca. 70% in circulation (missing most of two of eight sets, less a little) and represent the last Phil Lesh guest slot (8/22) and the apparent end of Daoud Shaw and Essra Mohawk's time with the JGB. There are a number of dates from after that not in circulation that I know of (scanning TJS 1981, 9/20/81, 10/25/81, 10/27/81, etc.), but there's enough sprinkled through that we can interpolate across most of them.
Before this minitour is a different deal. Going back three months (to May), I see these dates unrepresented (back of the napkin only!): 5/20/81, 5/23/81, 5/24/81, 5/27/81, most of 5/28/81,
Anyway, mostly I just liked the artwork and wanted to shout out for BAM, and the rest of this is just an excuse to post those scans. ;-)
REFERENCE:
Jackson, Blair. 1999. Garcia: An American Life. New York: Penguin Books.
! see also: JGMF, "JG19810624: Wednesday, June 24, 1981, Sherwood Hall, Salinas, CA (UNCERTAIN)," http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2011/04/jg19810624-wednesday-june-24-1981.html.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
'Nice Hat, John': JGB at Freeborn Hall, UC Davis, August 7, 1981
LN jg1981-08-07.jgb.all.aud-CC.xxxxxx.flac2448
JGB's "First Northern California Tour", heh heh.
JGB's "First Northern California Tour", heh heh.
Having just posted about the JGB Salinas show on August 6, 1981, here I just drop the raw data on a pretty grungy old tape of what purports to be the next night, Friday, August 7, 1981 at Freeborn Hall, UC Davis, Davis, CA.
One of the great things about lots of these old audience tapes is the crowd chatter and such, which can be revealing. In this case, first, I think I hear a couple of crowd references to John Kahn. Not a big deal, but worth establishing since he was hit or miss in the summer of '81 (Phil Lesh subbing in on 6/25, 6/26 and 8/22). Second, I hear some troubling references to "Saturday night" that make me wonder whether this really isn't the next night, Saturday, August 8, 1981 at the Fox Theatre in Stockton, CA. I don't know of any other purported source for the 7th, nor of any tape at all for the 8th, which back in the day didn't even have a setlist at the Jerry Site, so it's going to be hard to figure out. In the absence of anything else we'll have to go with the tape labeling, I guess, but it does make me wonder.
My main aim with these posts is to set up a post on a possible Salinas show in late June '81 (in addition to August 6) ... amazing how much groundwork I feel like I have to lay before I can say anything at all. I guess the next in this mini series will be a general one on this mini tour, and then I'll get to a possible earlier Salinas gig. Edit: done and done.
One last point: as I am frequently discovering, the tapers have played a vital role in establishing the histories that we currently use. There are other sources, of course, foremost among which is the manuscript tradition centered on Corry Arnold's contemporaneous notes (which themselves derived from, or at least incorporated, Dennis McNally's). But tapes have supplied us with a lot. And the gigs that were "off the beaten path" in terms of the tapers have tended to remain the most obscure. So such shows, including this one but especially the night before and the night following, are doubly obscure -- off the beaten path and not advertised, etc. in the "usual places" (e.g., the pink section of the Chronicle), *and* (not coincidentally) less likely to have been taped, and less circulated into more extensive trader networks even insofar as they were initially recorded.
Anyway, notes on a pretty run-of-the-mill 1981 JGB show follow.
Jerry Garcia Band
Freeborn Hall, University of California at Davis
One of the great things about lots of these old audience tapes is the crowd chatter and such, which can be revealing. In this case, first, I think I hear a couple of crowd references to John Kahn. Not a big deal, but worth establishing since he was hit or miss in the summer of '81 (Phil Lesh subbing in on 6/25, 6/26 and 8/22). Second, I hear some troubling references to "Saturday night" that make me wonder whether this really isn't the next night, Saturday, August 8, 1981 at the Fox Theatre in Stockton, CA. I don't know of any other purported source for the 7th, nor of any tape at all for the 8th, which back in the day didn't even have a setlist at the Jerry Site, so it's going to be hard to figure out. In the absence of anything else we'll have to go with the tape labeling, I guess, but it does make me wonder.
My main aim with these posts is to set up a post on a possible Salinas show in late June '81 (in addition to August 6) ... amazing how much groundwork I feel like I have to lay before I can say anything at all. I guess the next in this mini series will be a general one on this mini tour, and then I'll get to a possible earlier Salinas gig. Edit: done and done.
One last point: as I am frequently discovering, the tapers have played a vital role in establishing the histories that we currently use. There are other sources, of course, foremost among which is the manuscript tradition centered on Corry Arnold's contemporaneous notes (which themselves derived from, or at least incorporated, Dennis McNally's). But tapes have supplied us with a lot. And the gigs that were "off the beaten path" in terms of the tapers have tended to remain the most obscure. So such shows, including this one but especially the night before and the night following, are doubly obscure -- off the beaten path and not advertised, etc. in the "usual places" (e.g., the pink section of the Chronicle), *and* (not coincidentally) less likely to have been taped, and less circulated into more extensive trader networks even insofar as they were initially recorded.
Anyway, notes on a pretty run-of-the-mill 1981 JGB show follow.
Jerry Garcia Band
Freeborn Hall, University of California at Davis
1 Shields Ave
Davis, CA 95616
August 7, 1981 (Friday)
August 7, 1981 (Friday)
CC aud became shnid-136802
--Set I (6 tracks, 46:36)--
s1t01. Crowd and Tuning [0:21]
s1t02. The Way You Do The Things You Do [5:01] [1:10]
s1t03. They Love Each Other [6:45] [1:29]
s1t04. Simple Twist Of Fate [13:46] [1:29]
s1t05. I Second That Emotion [8:17] ->
s1t06. De//al [8:#00] [0:15]
--Set II (6 tracks, 45:38)--
s2t01. Crowd and Tuning [1:39]
s2t02. Knockin' On Heaven's Door [12:20] [1:42]
s2t03. (I'm A) Road Runner [5:11] [1:25]
s2t04. Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [8:34] ->
s2t05. Dear Prudence [11:36] ->
s2t06. Midnight Moonlight// [3:09#]
! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #13b
! lineup: Jerry Garcia: el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn: el-bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals: keyboards (Hammond B3);
! lineup: Jimmy Warren: keyboards
! lineup: Daoud Shaw - drums;
! lineup: Liz Stires - backing vocals;
! lineup: Essra Mohawk - backing 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.
--Set I (6 tracks, 46:36)--
s1t01. Crowd and Tuning [0:21]
s1t02. The Way You Do The Things You Do [5:01] [1:10]
s1t03. They Love Each Other [6:45] [1:29]
s1t04. Simple Twist Of Fate [13:46] [1:29]
s1t05. I Second That Emotion [8:17] ->
s1t06. De//al [8:#00] [0:15]
--Set II (6 tracks, 45:38)--
s2t01. Crowd and Tuning [1:39]
s2t02. Knockin' On Heaven's Door [12:20] [1:42]
s2t03. (I'm A) Road Runner [5:11] [1:25]
s2t04. Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [8:34] ->
s2t05. Dear Prudence [11:36] ->
s2t06. Midnight Moonlight// [3:09#]
! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #13b
! lineup: Jerry Garcia: el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn: el-bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals: keyboards (Hammond B3);
! lineup: Jimmy Warren: keyboards
! lineup: Daoud Shaw - drums;
! lineup: Liz Stires - backing vocals;
! lineup: Essra Mohawk - backing 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/19810807-02
! db: no sources as of 3/12/2011; https://etreedb.org/shn/136802 (derived from this tape)
! db: no sources as of 3/12/2011; https://etreedb.org/shn/136802 (derived from this tape)
! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/12/freeborn-hall-uc-davis-104-freeborn.html
! Personnel. This lineup reflects the state of my understanding as of March 12, 2011. I think the crowd comments indicate that Kahn is playing bass (which is non-trivial during this particular time period, actually). The dual keyboard approach is audible and that has to be Melvin (probably on a Hammond B3) and Jimmy Warren on electric piano. I can't identify the drummer or backing vocalists. But posts and comments at JGMF (especially http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/12/jgb-early-1980s-drummers-and-backup.html) do lead me to conclude that it's Daoud Shaw and his partner Essra Mohawk, along with Liz Stires as the second backing vocalist. So, JGB #13b (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html)
! R: Tape Specs: unknown gen audience cassette (Maxell XLII90 no Dolby) > Nakamichi BX-300 playback (no Dolby) > Pyle Pro cables > WaveTerminal 2496 > Samplitude 10.1 Download Version (record @ 24 bits/48kHz) > CDWave 1.9.8 (tracking) > Wavelab 5.0.1a (cross-fades, etc.) > shntool (stripped non-canonical headers) > Traders Little Helper 2.4.1 (FLAC encoding, level 8) > Foobar (tagging).
! R: Not a great tape, but not the worst I have heard and immeasurably better than no tape at all. It's well recorded in one sense, which is that they left the tape rolling between songs. One might think that the resulting issues in music (tape flip in Deal, end of Mid Moon cut) would make this a bad choice, but I'd disagree: for an otherwise missing '81 tape in mediocre quality from an odd run of shows, the between-song stuff is arguably just as historically important as 30-second bit of deal or yet another Midnight Moonlight. Fine by me, anyway: thanks, tapers!
! s1t01 crowd talk: TWYDTTYD @ 1:28 "John Kahn on the bass, [?he is good?]"; @ 5:30 "[inaudible] Saturday night"; @ 5:54 guy yells "Saturday Night" ... next guy yells "Terrapin".
! metadata: I confess that the discussion of Saturday Night has me confused, if this is really Friday, August 7. Maybe just a little inside joke or something, but it could also indicate that this tape is mislabeled and could actually be the Stockton show (8/8/81)?
! s1t04 STOF JG sounds very rough
! s1t04 crowd talk @ 14:08 audience member yells "Nice hat, John!" ??
! s1t06 Deal tape flip @ 7:50, maybe 30s second missing
! R: One of the people involved taping is definitely a woman. @ 12:56 on s2t02 you can hear her saying something like "the microphone's about the same size as this tape player"
! s2t02 crowd talk: The crowd is calling out tunes late in s2t02, including "Catfish John" and "After Midnight". Good, knowledgeable requests!
! s2t03 Jimmy Warren can best be heard tinkling around in Roadrunner.
! P: s2t04-5 JK is nice and decisive in moving into Dear Prudence from Dixie Down.
! R: s2t06 Midnight Moonlight cuts out. I didn't try to smooth the end.
! Disclaimer: This is part of a "Closet Call" project aimed at making missing Garcia dates available for study. These are "warts and all" ... straight transfers of the source cassettes with editing only of the most offensive tape transitions and such. If you don't like hiss, possible speed problems, etc., etc., then move along. And, to anticipate a FAQ: no, I don't plan on doing 16/44s of these. Thanks to wk for supplying these tapes!
! Personnel. This lineup reflects the state of my understanding as of March 12, 2011. I think the crowd comments indicate that Kahn is playing bass (which is non-trivial during this particular time period, actually). The dual keyboard approach is audible and that has to be Melvin (probably on a Hammond B3) and Jimmy Warren on electric piano. I can't identify the drummer or backing vocalists. But posts and comments at JGMF (especially http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/12/jgb-early-1980s-drummers-and-backup.html) do lead me to conclude that it's Daoud Shaw and his partner Essra Mohawk, along with Liz Stires as the second backing vocalist. So, JGB #13b (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html)
! R: Tape Specs: unknown gen audience cassette (Maxell XLII90 no Dolby) > Nakamichi BX-300 playback (no Dolby) > Pyle Pro cables > WaveTerminal 2496 > Samplitude 10.1 Download Version (record @ 24 bits/48kHz) > CDWave 1.9.8 (tracking) > Wavelab 5.0.1a (cross-fades, etc.) > shntool (stripped non-canonical headers) > Traders Little Helper 2.4.1 (FLAC encoding, level 8) > Foobar (tagging).
! R: Not a great tape, but not the worst I have heard and immeasurably better than no tape at all. It's well recorded in one sense, which is that they left the tape rolling between songs. One might think that the resulting issues in music (tape flip in Deal, end of Mid Moon cut) would make this a bad choice, but I'd disagree: for an otherwise missing '81 tape in mediocre quality from an odd run of shows, the between-song stuff is arguably just as historically important as 30-second bit of deal or yet another Midnight Moonlight. Fine by me, anyway: thanks, tapers!
! s1t01 crowd talk: TWYDTTYD @ 1:28 "John Kahn on the bass, [?he is good?]"; @ 5:30 "[inaudible] Saturday night"; @ 5:54 guy yells "Saturday Night" ... next guy yells "Terrapin".
! metadata: I confess that the discussion of Saturday Night has me confused, if this is really Friday, August 7. Maybe just a little inside joke or something, but it could also indicate that this tape is mislabeled and could actually be the Stockton show (8/8/81)?
! s1t04 STOF JG sounds very rough
! s1t04 crowd talk @ 14:08 audience member yells "Nice hat, John!" ??
! s1t06 Deal tape flip @ 7:50, maybe 30s second missing
! R: One of the people involved taping is definitely a woman. @ 12:56 on s2t02 you can hear her saying something like "the microphone's about the same size as this tape player"
! s2t02 crowd talk: The crowd is calling out tunes late in s2t02, including "Catfish John" and "After Midnight". Good, knowledgeable requests!
! s2t03 Jimmy Warren can best be heard tinkling around in Roadrunner.
! P: s2t04-5 JK is nice and decisive in moving into Dear Prudence from Dixie Down.
! R: s2t06 Midnight Moonlight cuts out. I didn't try to smooth the end.
! Disclaimer: This is part of a "Closet Call" project aimed at making missing Garcia dates available for study. These are "warts and all" ... straight transfers of the source cassettes with editing only of the most offensive tape transitions and such. If you don't like hiss, possible speed problems, etc., etc., then move along. And, to anticipate a FAQ: no, I don't plan on doing 16/44s of these. Thanks to wk for supplying these tapes!
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