Simple Twist of Fate: JGB #23 at the Kaiser, November 11, 1994

LN jg1994-11-11.jgb.all.aud-CMC5-mk4.145714.flac1644

Like so many of the late-era shows that I have listened to in the last couple of years, this one pleasantly surprised me. The only thing that troubles me is that it brings me into aesthetic disagreement yet again with Nick, who called this show "bad enough to make you want to give Jerry a hug and make him a big pot of soup". I get it. There are certainly parts of this show where Garcia is lost and mumbling, his voice shot (even has moments as bad as 8/8/93), everything off-kilter. "Wonderful World" supplies several such moments. But I find some incredibly touching and beautiful stuff here, as well, I think it's overall pretty good (for the era ...), and I see that with a first set over an hour and a second clocking in over 80 minutes, the man is still putting it out there.

 

 

I guess, in looking back over my notes, the one tune that I really like here was "Simple Twist Of Fate", which is odd because, despite its awesome autobiographical resonance ("waterfront bar ... where the sailors all come in"), I don't usually love it. Kahn's bug ... errr ... feature ... is pretty unobjectionable, just about the only time he's audible all night. Donny sounds good to me (that tape captures the drums nicely), Melvin is good, the ladies are very far forward, especially helping Jerry with the lyrical progression of "Wonderful World" and generally putting some lung into the vocals to make up for his that are lacking.

The Maker is a nice microcosm of the show. It's just achingly flawed. He sings the "body is bent and broken" line in the wrong key, and then compensates with a little whoa-oh-oh on the "by long and dangerous sleep" line. (I also noted the body bent and broken line on the show two months before, 9/10/94 in Reno.) He sound absolutely exhausted with living.

"That Lucky Old Sun" gets a merciful e-brake at just over 5 minutes, half its typical length, which is fine. The "Don't Let Go" never really goes anywhere, though I did find him doing a repeated percussive blue note that felt kind of insistent. Some good fanning in "Deal", but it's all note and no power (unlike ten years before, when the opposite was true).

His last gig at the venerable Kaiser, where many a great time was had. Anyway, more data.

Jerry Garcia Band
Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center
10 Tenth Street
Oakland, CA 94607
November 11, 1994 (Friday) - 7:30 PM
CMC5-MK4 MAD shnid-145714

--set I (7 tracks, 63:53)--
s1t01. [0:04] Cats Under The Stars [11:16] [1:30]
s1t02. They Love Each Other [7:31] [2:33]
s1t03. Mission In The Rain [9:31] [0:33]
s1t04. Run For The Roses [5:18] [0:36]
s1t05. Simple Twist Of Fate [11:52] [0:16]
s1t06. My Sisters And Brothers [3:53] ->
s1t07. Deal [8:53] (1) [0:07]

--set II (8 tracks, 80:36)--
s2t08. [0:11] How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [6:37] [0:33]
s2t09. Shining Star [20:09] [0:24]
s2t10. Tore Up Over You [8:18] [1:55]
s2t11. The Maker [11:47] [0:13]
s2t12. Wonderful World [4:31] [0:12]
s2t13. Don't Let Go [14:10] [0:08]
s2t14. That Lucky Old Sun [5:14] ->
s2t15. Midnight Moonlight [6:08] (2) [0:06]

! ACT1: JGB #23
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: Donny Baldwin - 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.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19941111-01

! JGC: https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1994-11-11

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/15882 (Neumann KM440 shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/145714 (this fileset).

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

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/syxJeJyHJMB2

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/henry-j-kaiser-auditorium-oakland.html

! R: Source Info: FOB Schoeps CMC5 Mk4-> DAT

! R: Transfer Info: Dat Tape (Panasonic SV-3700)-> Marantz CDR-615-> CD (Late 90's); Extract Wav-> Flac Level 8-> Tagged (16/44.1). Transfers by Pete Ebel, Late 90's and March 17, 2019.

! R: quite a nice tape

! P: overall: listening evening of 8/17/2019 I had a warm feeling about this. The vocals are low in the mix, and that's good, because he sounds pretty ragged. Now, returning to WW, then back to The Maker to check myself, I am struck that the vocals are *really* fatigued sounding. There's a fine balance with these Old Jerry shows, between appreciating the weary beauty of an old man and feeling upset at how rough it is.

! P: s1t01 CUTS kicks the show off pretty well.

! P: s1t05 STOF I love this! I have listened to it a second time and still love it. Jerry gets almost all of the lyrics right. John does a feature 7:25-9:15 which is not as much of a bug as at often was. It goes to 9:15, and it's not terrible. But the key to this is Jerry's clarity with the lyrics - very good.

! P: s1t07 Deal some fanning in 6. Not powerful like ten years before, but a game effort.

! s1t07 (1) no setbreak announcement

! P: s2t11 The Maker he sounds so tired. @ 3:24 "Body bent and broken" he sings out of the key he had arranged for it. But then he gives a "whoa-oh-old ?? and dangerous sleep", forgets the rest of that verse. Pitch-bending 9.

! P: s2t11 WW bad vocals out of the gate, and a lyrical miscue. OMG, now his voice is gone. Donny hits an extra beat.

! P: s2t13 DLG he fumbled the first lyric, couldn't remember the second one so took an extra turn. He sounds lost and very rough, hasn't gotten a lyric yet. Oof.

! P: s2t14 TLOS he has to pluck the start several times. It must have been hard to try to drum for him in this period, as he is trying to figure out how stuff goes. This version is paced more quickly than most. Oh goodness, he repeatedly loses himself here, guitar and lyric. Ends prematurely, but it was a mercy killing. At 5:14, that's gotta be the shortest TLOS on record.

! s2t15 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot. See y'all later."

Unscary Jerry: Halloween '88

Just another good, clean '88 Garcia Band show. By my count, the "Band Electric" only played 16 gigs the whole of the year, which is a shame, because Garcia's clean, relaxed vibe suits it perfectly.

"Werewolves" is fun, as always, Cats is fine, Forever Young and Stop That Train are both way above average, Think is *terrific*, Lifeline is delightful in its first of only three appearances --I think it would have worn thin-- and Don't Let Go has some great vocal work. Indeed, the vocals outshine the guitar on this night, though the grunge in "Think" is worth hearing. As I say, good clean fun.

Jerry Garcia Band
Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center
10 Tenth Street
Oakland, CA 94607
October 31, 1988 (Monday)
Reutelhuber shnid-21790 shn2flac rename

--main set + encore (6 tracks, 90:14)--
--main set (7 tracks, 86:13-0:13)--
t01. /Werewolves Of London [#5:40] [1:34]
t02. Cats Under The Stars [8:02] [1:05]
t03. Forever Young
t04. Stop That Train [6:32] [0:53]
t05. Run For The Roses [5:19] [2:23]
t06. Think [6:30] [0:31] %
t07. [0:18] Throw Out The Lifeline [4:48] [0:38]
t08. Evangeline [3:18] [0:03]
t09. Don't Let Go [12:05] [2:15]
t10. That Lucky Old Sun [9:33] ->
t11. Deal [6:52] (1) [0:13] % pre-encore [0:13]
--encore (1 track, 0:13+4:01)--
t12. My Sisters And Brothers [3:54] (2) [0:07]

! ACT1: JGB #21b (THE Jerry Garcia Band)
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - 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.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19881031-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/4378 (Travitz MAD shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/19857 (unattributed Nak 700 shnf, could be Bill R.); http://etreedb.org/shn/21790 (this fileset).

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

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/syxJeJyHJMB2

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/henry-j-kaiser-auditorium-oakland.html

! ref: Billboard, November 19, 1988, p. 26. Tickets $18.50-$22.50, $146,150.00 gross on 7,900 tickets sold (sellout).

! R: field recordist: Bill Reutelhuber

! R: field recording gear: Nakamichi 700/CP701 (in hat) > Reutelhuber P/S > dbx 221e type II encoder > Sony TCD5m

! R: field recording media: Maxell XLIIS

! R: field recording location: FOB; Each mic was in front of each stack on each side and about 25 feet back.

! R: transfer Info: Cassette Master (Nakamichi Deck/Azmituth Aligned) > dbx 224x Decoder > Mytek Digital ADC8X96 > Nuendo (24bit/44.1k) > SHN (2 Discs Audio / 1 Disc SHN). Process Info: 1) Processed to a 16 bit file with waves Q10 and L2. 2) Tracked and Normalized with Samplitude v7.02 Professional. Transferred and Process #1 By Bill Reutelhuber. Process #2 By Charlie Miller, charliemiller87@earthlink.net, 1/6/04.

! R: Note From Bill Reutelhuber: "Recorded due to the team effort of about 20 to 30 people!!"

! P: Garcia sounded consistently fresh and lively for '88 JGB shows, and this one is no different. Lots of good little articulations, good energy. He doesn't get all of his lyrics right, but I'd attribute that to the unusual irregularity of the band's gigging during the year: last show before this one was 7/10/88, three and a half months before!

! R: t01 Werewolves clips in.

! P: t03-t04 FY and STT were both very good.

! P: t06 Think: man this just has some great, raunchy guitar tone. Love it.

! song: "Throw Out The Lifeline" (t07): Public debut. Allen: "Based on a hymn by Edwin Smith Ufford, apparently written after observing a lifesaving drill at Point Allerton near Boston, Massachusetts in 1888." It didn't stick around very long, and that's probably fine by me - it's nice, but it just wasn't going to get very interesting, IMO, YMMV.

! P: t09 DLG Yeah! Garcia is growling, and he gives two "whoow!"s late 3, killer stuff. He had done some of this in Werewolves as well. Man, he sounds freaking fantastic. It doesn't get as far out as I might have liked, but it's tight as a drum, including the whole band sticking the final landing. Even the Russian judge gives that one a high 9.

! P: t11 Deal doesn't ever achieve escape velocity for me.

! t11 (1) JG: "Thanks a lot. See y'all later on."

! t12 (2) JG: "G'night everybody."