I Have A Confession To Make

I do not know who the JGB backing vocalists were between October 24, 1982 and November 15, 1982

Update: they are now known: Shirley Faulkner and Elisecia Wright.

I have posted many, many times about the early 80s backing vocalists (see Appendix below). Our understanding of who was who, and when, was greatly abetted by the fact that Corry Arnold took notes from the GD Ticket Service ("thank you, and stay in touch"), which also announced Jerry Band shows and tours and sometimes identified personnel. Here's how I currently understand things. This is all catalogued at Corry's "Jerry Garcia Band Personnel 1975-1995" post at LLD, or eventually will be to the extent that he agrees with me.

June 24, 1981 - August 23, 1981: Essra Mohawk and Liz Stires

The starting date of this configuration is not certain (see the discussion here), but overall this seems pretty solid.

September 7, 1981 - June 22, 1982: Liz Stires and Julie Stafford

Intrepid researcher slipnut found some reference to Liz Stires's sister singing on the first gig in this window, but I have shown the picture below to Julie Stafford, and she thinks that is her (left of the picture), and wasn't entirely sure but thought it could indeed have been her first night out.

JGB at Concord Pavilion, 9/7/81
photo credit: unknown

As far as the end of this window, Liz told me that she left the group just before the tour ended, after a gig in Richmond (6/22/82).

June 23, 1982 - June 24, 1982: Julie Stafford

We are fortunate that a review of the 6/23/82 show mentions "the female vocalist", confirming that Julie carried on as the lone backing vocalist, presumably for the last two nights of the tour.

October 24, 1982 - November 15, 1982: unknownShirley Faulkner and Elisecia Wright

At one point, I thought Jacklyn LaBranch and DeeDee Dickerson began here. But Jacklyn has said very clearly that she and DDD started together at the Keystone in January 1983. I had also wondered whether Julie continued through the end of 1982, but she has said she did not.

So, as of now, this is a three-week hole in my personnel knowledge that disconcerts me, on the one hand, but also delights me because we still have mysteries to unravel.

January 13, 1983 - May 20, 1984 (?): DeeDee Dickerson and Jacklyn LaBranch

With Jackie's clear statement that she and DDD began in January '83 at the Keystone, the start of this period seems clear. I used my unreliable ears to pin down the end of this window, noting the very different vocal sounds and stylings between May (DDD) and July/August (Gloria).

update: as of 2024, I still have questions about when DDD ended and Gloria started. There is evidence for both of them in May 1984 ...

July 10, 1984 (?) - April 23, 1995: Jacklyn LaBranch and Gloria Jones

The front end of this period is not entirely certain. I had originally thought Gloria started on 7/28/84, because there were no known electric shows between May (DDD) and then, while at the same time we know Gloria was with the band out east in August, so must have been in the fold for the local gigs in late July and on Jerry's bday. But then in 2018 I discovered previously undocumented Keystone Palo Alto gigs on July 10-11, and it seems extremely likely that these would have been Gloria's first with the band. It is not quite an iron law, but a clear regularity, that the Jerry Band liked to break in new members on off-nights, off the beaten path, or both. A Tuesday-Wednesday down in Palo Alto fits that bill pretty well.

Appendix: Mistakes along the way

10/24/82 with Julie? Apparently not

thought 7/20/83 was Gloria's debut, was wrong | thought 7/21/83 was her second, was wrong

late '83 tour: used to think this was Gloria, then discovered it was DDD

late '83 tour: further confirmation that it was DDD and not GJ

thought Gloria debuted 1/8/84, but I was wrong because 5/19/84: DDD still in the house per a review

thought Gloria debuted on 7/28/84, but 7/10/84 is more likely And May 1984 remains possible!

NOT Jacklyn's Debut: JGB at the River Theater, Guerneville, October 24, 1982

UPDATE 20211026: Jackie has clearly stated that she and DeeDee joined the band in January 1983. So, as of now, this is the first show with the late '82 mystery (unidentified) singers backing vocalists Elisecia Wright and Shirley Faulkner.

The man who taped this show has just passed away. RIP, John Anzaldo. This is a nice tape

This is presently understood to be Jacklyn LaBranch's debut with the Garcia Band, along with DeeDee Dickerson, following a brief four-show stint as a quartet (of which I have written up the first and last). Welcome, Ms. Jacklyn! She'd sing with Jerry until the very end, 4/23/95.

Love love love Guerneville and the River Theater. The handbill notes minors welcome, doors open 8:30, drinks 1/2 price until the show starts. D'oh! Since JG might not come on until 11, this might have cost ol' Mark Anthony some coin.

LN jg1982-10-24.jgb.all.aud-anzaldo.99221.flac1644

Jerry Garcia Band
River Theater
16135 Main Street
Guerneville, CA 95446-8301
October 24, 1982 (Sunday)
John Anzaldo MAC shnid-99221

--set I (6 tracks, 47:13)--
s1t01. crowd and tuning [0:24]
s1t02. (I'm A) Road Runner [9:05] [0:02]
s1t03. They Love Each Other [7:52] [0:10]
s1t04. Sitting In Limbo [12:17]
s1t05. Let It Rock [7:55] ->
s1t06. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [9:21] [0:05]

--set II (6 tracks, 50:21)--
s2t01. crowd and tuning [0:08]
s2t02. Sugaree [15:48]
s2t03. Love In The Afternoon [12:17]
s2t04. Run For The Roses [6:25] ->
s2t05. Valerie [6:52] ->
s2t06. Deal [8:46] [0:02]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #15b
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: Greg Errico - drums;

! lineup: Elisecia Wright - vocals;

! lineup: Shirley Faulkner - 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/19821024-01

! JGC: jerrygarcia.com/show/1982-10-24

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/74618 (unknown aud); http://etreedb.org/shn/99221 (this fileset).

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

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

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

! R: field recordist: John Anzaldo

! R: field recording location: (slightly) Jerry's side, 5-10' from stage

! R: field recording gear: Sony ECM 929LT > Sony WM-D6C (TDK SA-C90, no NR)

! R: Transfer (JA): Nakamichi CR-7A playback > Creative SB Audigy 2 > Creative WaveStudio > CD; Editing (jj): EAC > CDWave > Sony SoundForge Studio 7 (patching, smoothed tape transitions) > shntool > TLH (FLAC level 8); Editing (DM): TLH decode > Adobe Audition 2.0 (pitch correction -0.9%) > TLH (FLAC level 8).

! R: Waaay upfront sound ... vox nearly inaudible, nice in-your-face guitar tone. Very nice listen, IMO, despite some abrupt tape transitions and tight editing. I have smoothed most of the tape transitions. This is a different master than the one that circulates under shnid 74618. That one sounds to be a bit farther back, with more crowd noise but also more vox and high-end. Thanks to John Anzaldo for taping, transferring and sharing, and to Joe B. Jones for help with pitch correction.

! P: The show is perhaps  below average for the period, with Jerry's vocals sounding particularly rough in the second set. It is interesting in a few respects, though. First, there are a few relative rarities. Per TJS, his is the 3rd to last version of RR (11/15/82a, 1/13/83) and the last JGB version of Sitting in Limbo (Garcia/Grisman would revive it on 12/7/91). Perhaps coincidentally, this version of SIL kind of falls apart near the end. Second, this is the first show for Elisecia Wright and Shirley Faulkner. I don't hear them until Let it Rock, and then only a little @ start. They are there on HSII (though they seem to be throwing JG's groove off a little bit, and their singing over the verses suggests that their arrangments have really been worked out). I don't hear them after HSII, but you can't hear them very well. I am not sure if they are turned down, even off-mic, only participating intermittently, or if this has to do with the fact that the tape isn't picking up the PA.

! R: s1t01 Roadrunner level fluctuations.

! R: s1t03 TLEO clips in.

! P: s1t05 Let it Rock reaches some good heights - probably the hightlight of the show. Very, very good.

! P: s1t05-6 LIR > HSII transition is pretty unique, imperfect but interesting.

! R: s2t03 LITA first 0:27 missing from this tape. I patched it in from shnid 74618 with a 1s cross-fade. The level rise @ 0:55 was from the master tape.

! R: s2t04 RFTR clipped in on this tape. I patched the first 0.949s (+ 0.5s crossfade) from shnid-74618. The level rise @ start and drop @ 0:22 was from the master tape.

! R: s2t05 Valerie levels come up at ca. 3-min mark.

! R: s2t06 Deal major brief level rise @ 5:30 (maybe a splice, tape flip?).