Odd Pair at the Old Waldorf: JGB, Monday, January 11, 1982 and Wednesday, January 13, 1982

LN jg1982-01-11.jgb.all.sbd-gmb.84012.flac1644 | LNjg1982-01-13.jgb.all.aud-GEMS.98706.flac1644

What a weird little pair of shows - an early year Monday-Wednesday pairing at the Old Waldorf. Also an interesting pair of tapes. The 11th is represented by one of the uber-clean early 80s soundboard cassette tapes, which the old rumor had it marched out of "official" possession powered by a Peruvian blizzard. The 13th is represented by an otherwise unlineaged 1st gen aud cassette from the Jeff Knudsen collection which sounds absolutely stunning.

The shows are uneven. I definitely feel like the 13th is stronger overall. Maybe the fact that Phil Elwood was in the house --improbably enough, at this juncture-- supplied a little extra motivation. Elwood saw Blakey and Garcia in the same time frame and wrote a review praising both old timers for still bringing the musical goods. 

Anyway, the 11th has a lot more lyrical flubs and whatnot, though there are a few highlights probably made possible by the super clean tape. The 13th has a little more juice. I *really* like this "Roadrunner" - it's executed almost flawlessly, and just sounds good. The "Don't Let Go" is good, starting off with Billy double-time syncopating on the rim, but it's quite brief. I have never met a bad DLG, though the super long ones from the 70s can drag for me. This one is probably average, which is to say it's a delight.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jerry Garcia Band

Old Waldorf

444 Battery Street

San Francisco, CA 94111

January 11, 1982 (Monday)

MSC > DAT shnid-84012 retrack

--set I (6 tracks, 57:13)--

s1t01. //How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [#1:19] [0:13]

s1t02. Knockin' On Heaven's Door [13:22] [0:13]

s1t03. That's What Love Will Make You Do [10:49] [0:08] %

s1t04. //Simple Twist Of Fate [#14:21] % [0:02]

s1t05. I Second That Emotion [9:40] ->

s1t06. Deal// [7:07#]

--set II (7 tracks, 59:25)--

s2t01. [0:31] The Way You Do The Things You Do [8:06] %

s2t02. I'll Take A Melody [12:50] %

s2t03. Valerie [6:45] %

s2t04. Harder They Come -18:39

s2t05. //Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [# ->

s2t06. Dear Prudence [12:27] ->

s2t07. Tangled Up In Blue// [2:13#]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #14a/c

! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;

! lineup: John Kahn - bass;

! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;

! lineup: Jimmy Warren - keyboards;

! lineup: Bill Kreutzmann - drums;

! lineup: Essra Mohawk - backing vocals;

! lineup: Liz Stires - 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/19820111-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/20687 (same source tape, shnf, deprecated); https://etreedb.org/shn/84012 (this fileset)

! JGBP: https://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/06/old-waldorf-444-battery-street-san.html

! band: JGB #14a/c (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html).

! ad: San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle Datebook, December 27, 1981, p. 19

! historical: Odd little pair of gigs on Monday (1/11) and Wednesday (1/13) at the Old Waldorf at the start of 1982, in the sense that they'd usually play consecutive nights.

! R: Source: MSC > DAT

! R: Transfer: Panasonic SV-3700 > M-Audio Audiophile 2496 to Wavelab 5.0, mastering with iZotope Ozone 3 > CDWAV1.9 > FLAC (level 8). Transferred, Remastered and Seeded by Green Mountain Bros. April 2007.

! R: seeder comments: Very clean SBD with several pauses between tunes - crossfades were applied to cover. 

! R: s1t01 HSII cuts in, most of tune is missing

! P: s1t02 KOHD Jimmy feature 7:25ff. Basic, but I think it sounds nice.

! P: s1t03 TWLWMYD Very punchy. Kahn is rumbling around really nicely, though how much of that is the recording, I dunno. But a few times he rumbles and it makes me happy. Melvin's feature in 7:20ff also sounds great. Yeah, big fella!

! R: s1t04 STOF clips in

! P: s1t04 STOF Jerry delivers the lyrics slowly and with care (though not without error). Bass "feature" late 6ff. He is flubbing lyrics hard late 11.

! P: s2t03 flubby lyrics

! R: s2t03 the fileset had Valerie and HTC tracked together. I have fixed this.

! R: s2t05 TNTDODD cuts in, missing first two verses

! P: s2t06 DP BK is having tempo problems, as he had been during HTC as well.

! R: s2t07 Tangled Up In Blue is painfully cut.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jerry Garcia Band

Old Waldorf

444 Battery Street

San Francisco, CA 94111

January 13, 1982 (Wednesday)

1st gen aud gems shnid-98706

--set I (5 tracks, 50:26)--

s1t01. Sugaree [11:13] %

s1t02. /They Love Each Other [#7:38] %

s1t03. Sitting In Limbo [12:09] %

s1t04. Let It Rock [8:26] %

s1t05. Tangled Up In Blue [11:01] %

--set II (6 tracks, 62:18)--

s2t01. [0:13] (I'm A) Road Runner [7:02] %

s2t02. Don't Let Go [13:25] %

s2t03. /Harder They Come [#11:19] %

s2t04. [0:06] Russian Lullaby [11:30] %

s2t05. Dear Prudence [12:08] ->

s2t06. Midnight Moonlight [6:32] (1) 

JGMF:

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19820113-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/95067 (s1s2p aud); https://etreedb.org/shn/98706 (this fileset).

! review: [positive] Elwood 1982. Club was "jammed to overflowing". Amazing that Elwood bothered to see Jerry this late in the game. This was sort of a throwback review, discovering that Jerry and Art Blakey can still bring it.

! R: source: Jeff Knudsen's 1st gen aud cassette: "I taped this but this version is better than mine so I don't have my original anymore. I don't remember who taped this. I knew them but I can't remember their names. The reason I sent this to Matt was the one on LL was missing (I think) the last three or so songs and my copy is complete."

! R: Transfer: MAC(1) > Apogee Mini ME (24/96) > Apogee Mini DAC > Wavelab 5.0 (dithered via 'UV22HR' to 16/44) > CD by Matt Smith. Edits and Mastering: Jamie Waddell (shnflac@gmail.com) on the GEMS Edit Station. Weiss Saracon for POWR-3 Dither. Meta-data with Tag&ReName. 

! seeder notes: "Thanks to Jeff and Matt for the honor to share these". A *GEMS* Production, www.shnflac.net, April 2009.

! R: do not be put off by the generic lineage - this is a really, relaly good aud tape. Update sometime later: really, really, really good!

! P: s1t04 LIR Jerry is doing some truly unique stustained reverby train pulls in late 5. Very intentional stuff!

! P: s2t01 IARR sounds really nice

! P: s2t02 DLG man, is that Billy syncopating on the rim right out of the gate? Sounds cool. Doubling 4:10ff. Melvin pulls a little thing 4:04, 4:15 that just sounds so sweet. 4:23 some putting some sustain on it. I am loving the sound of this band right now - great palette of sound. Nice jam, doesn't get too far out, JG starts nudging back to tune 11:22.

! R: s2t03 HTC clips in

! P: s2t03 HTC peppy. Jimmy feature 5:50ff. Lyrical flub 10:05.

! P: s2t04 Russ Lull John forward 5:44ff. WTF is he doing? I dunno.

! s2t06 (1) JG: "Thanks a lot. See ya later."

Chatty Cathy in the House: JGB at the Stone, December 18, 1981

LN jg1981-12-18.jgb.all.aud-martin.16379.shn2flac

I recently learned the term "chompers" to describe people who talk through shows. Well, this phenomenon is as old as time, with the triad of the drum, the chomper and the shusher perhaps very nearly co-constituting each other In The Beginning.

Bill Kreutzmann drums, the chomper talks all show long, and I don't really hear a shusher on the in-your-face ambient recording pulled by taper Steven Martin through modified Nak 700s at the Stone on December 18, 1981. A Whistling Wally appears briefly, but thankfully he rethinks or otherwise abandons his accompaniment. Nothing in the show draws particular comment. This one is all about the tape, which totally puts you there.

I still don't understand how Kreutzmann came to be in the JGB in 1981-1982. What sequence of events and decisions produced this outcome? I dunno.

Some stuff I have been going through recently really lays bare just how impossibly intermingled were the finances of the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia (an sich) in this period. Money big and small is moving on the regular, especially in the GD -> JG direction, partly through the practice of the O/A - an "on account" withdrawal that facilitated Jerry getting lots of cash, very frequently, in the days before widespread ATMs. But there were also much bigger loans, often in the low five figures. After every Garcia Band tour, there's a reckoning of income and expenses --we are moderns, after all, and must genuflect before Double Entry Bookkeeping--, and big chunks of what's left go to such things as paying Jerry's back taxes and paying back the GD. Ownership of assets such as the Neve console or the rest of the Front Street studio setup, which Jerry respectively bought and paid for with his Cats Under the Stars advance from Arista in 1977, was murky. Despite the heroic efforts of Bonnie Simmons and Sue Stephens and many other office folks, for many, many years it seems like Garcia just kept burning through wads of cash while Phil, inter alia, seethed. It's hard to blame the rest of the guys for worrying about all of this, though of course there would have been no "this" without Jerry, so they were in a little bit of a bind, limited in what they could do.

I know these thoughts are inchoate. I will say a lot more, and presumably more coherently, in Fate Music. But I do think that the story of 81-82 Jerry Band clearly expresses the mess of the man's life, financially and otherwise, in this period of time. They'd take in $107k on a tour like JGB in February 1981, and see $112k soaked up immediately, to say nothing of ongoing, longterm, lingering giant debts or everyday petty and not so petty cash needs. And I wonder if Billy being onboard after business was settled with Ronnie Tutt was related to all of this. Of course, it could just be that Rock had his number. Again: I dunno.

In the meantime, the band played on, and the people drank, danced, chatted, and taped, and it was kind of a hoot, all things considered.

Jerry Garcia Band
The Stone
412 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133
December 18, 1981 (Friday)
Martin MAC shnid-16379 shn2flac

--set I (6 tracks, 5 tunes, 46:33)--
s1t01. ambience [0:22]
s1t02. The Way You Do The Things You Do [7:42] [0:12] % [0:05]
s1t03. Sitting In Limbo [11:53] [0:09] %
s1t04. /Mystery Train [8:36] [0:08] %
s1t05. /Mississippi Moon [9:58] [0:08] %
s1t06. /Deal [7:22] (1) [0:04]

--set II (5 tracks, 4 tunes, 49:36)--
s2t01. ambience [0:32]
s2t02. Sugaree [10:31] [0:20]
s2t03. I'll Take A Melody [15:14] [0:13] %
s2t04. Russian Lullaby [12:47] ->
s2t05. Tangled Up In Blue [9:53] [0:03]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #14a
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Jimmy Warren - electric keyboards;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - organ;
! lineup: Bill Kreutzmann - drums;
! lineup: Julie Stafford - vocals;
! lineup: Liz Stires - vocals.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [x:xx] = 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/19811218-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/16379 (this fileset); https://etreedb.org/shn/135462 (Ohr Weinberg MAC).

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

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/stone-mothers-412-broadway-san.html

! band: JGB #14a (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html). We used to call this 14c, but it was born before b then came back, and we use the order in which they appeared to identify.

! R: such a fun tape! Jerry's vocals are low, but there's great ambience (including very chatty chomper nearby - it's not a new thing, folks!), and the backing vocalists are coming through strong, especially one of them. Chatty Cathy does keep distracting me, e.g., in Sugaree. Shush!

! R: field recordist: Steven Martin

! R: field recording gear: 2x modified Nakamichi CM-700 mics > Sony TC-D5 cassette deck

! R: field recording media: 2x Maxell XLII

! R: transfer: Nakamichi Dragon playback > Cardas audiophile cables > HHB CDR 800 master CD > Microboards QD2 CD clone > HP 9350i extraction (EAC v0.9 beta 4) > tracking (CD Wave v1.6) > patching (SF Studio 6.0) > sector boundary verification (shntool v1.01) > .shn encoding (mkwACT v0.97 beta 1). CD > SHN by Joe Jupille (jjoops@attbi.com). shn2flac jgmf 12/18/2021.

! R: seeder comments: This is a nice recording with lots of crowd ambience and energy, and most tunes barely clipping in.  In both respects it strongly resembles a different master of the same show made by Ohr Weinberg (Senn 421s > Sony TC-D5M Dolby B MAC, transfer by Jim Wise via Nakamichi Dragon > Sony PCM-R500 > HHB-800).  They are indeed different masters, though. Weinberg's master has a tape flip at the transition between Russian Lullaby and Tangled Up in Blue at the end of set II, while Martin's flips @ 7:24 of Tangled Up.  So I could have used Martin's to patch Weinberg's or Weinberg's to patch Martin's.  I chose the latter, and I think it was the right choice based on the 7:24-8:16 piece in Tangled Up. Besides the clipped starts of songs, no other flaws were noted. A MisSHN in the Rain Installment of the Music Never Stopped Project.

! R: s1t04 Mystery Train clips in

! R: s1t05 Miss Moon clips in

! R: s1t06 Deal clips in

! R: s2t03 ITAM @ 5:47 a guy whistled a measure, and I thought Whistling Wally was gonna join Chatty Cathy on this tape. But it appears to have been a momentary burst of enthusiasm.

! P: s2t03 RussLull John steps forward 5:48. The crowd seems to support and encourage this, for reasons that must forever remain mysterious. It's a full blown solo for quite awhile. Ends at 9, crowd gives John a nice round of applause. Note they have been drinking for hours by this time. (I keed, of course.)

! P: s2t05 TUIB gets nice and loud

! s1t06 (1) JG: inaudible set break announcement

Music Mountain Is All That

Sometimes the conventional wisdom has it right, and the high esteem in which folks hold the Jerry Garcia Band show from June 16, 1982 at Music Mountain in South Fallsburg, NY illustrates the point. I heard it a few times way back when, and really liked it. Then I revisited it a few days ago for the first time in at least ten years, and I really liked it. It brings great energy. Everything pops. Valerie is young and grungy, inducing her man to shoot his dog just for barking! The "Don't Let Go" is incredible, Garcia just overflowing with ideas. There is a board tape of the first set, but if a complete master sbd tape existed this should be a no-brainer for release. I may not love it as much as I love 5/31/83, but one reasonably could.

Bobby and the Midnites shared the bill, and played second. Lucky for JGB, because apparently it rained cats and dogs during the Midnites set. People had a good time. A number of great-sounding tapes made it out of the venue, but I don't think the Cornell Effect drives the love for this show. Instead, it's just really good.

Which is pretty remarkable, because according to Andy Leonard, who had worked for the Dead, Our Hero wasn't looking so good:

I had never seen a human being that color before in my life. He was the wrong color. I thought he was going to die onstage. It scared the crap out of me (Browne 2015, 296).

These kinds of contrasts happen all the time in the Garciaverse. I have just come to accept that there is no one-to-one relationship between Garcia's health and how he performed on any given night.

On this listen, I spun the John Steinthal tape, put out by the Mouth of the Beast (MOTB) crew via the legendary Barry Glassberg's first gen reel. Nice tape, excellent show.

Oh yeah, one more thing: what an odd tour, really two tours in one. Things began on this night, after three hometown warmup gigs on June 10-11-12. JGB would do 8 shows in 9 nights, though they'd lose Liz Stires before the tour was over. Then, the Garcia-Kahn acoustic duet would take over the back end, for 11 gigs in 8 nights. Jerry must have made a pile of money on this two part electric-acoustic tour!

The three electric shows for which I have data (from Billboard), the first three of the tour, show gross of over a quarter million dollars.

The acoustic shows made less: we have data for five, grossing another $123k (with only two performers drawing pay). So we're talking over $400,000 and maybe a half mil for the jaunt, which would have had Jerry away from his hidey-hole on Hepburn Heights for less than three week. At those rates, Chief Smokin' Moccasin (Scully 1996/2001, 359) could afford plenty of new slippers.

Jerry Garcia Band

Music Mountain

South Fallsburg, NY 12789

June 16, 1982 (Wednesday) - 7 PM

Steinthal MAC > 1R MOTB-0057 flac1644 shnid-88972

--set I (6 tracks, 55:02)--

s1t01. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [8:56] [0:02] % [0:05]

s1t02. Catfish John [12:57] % [0:04] %

s1t03. That's What Love Will Make You Do [11:09] % [0:04] %

s1t04. Valerie [6:57] ->

s1t05. Let It Rock [7:35] ->

s1t06. Deal [7:06] (1) [0:08]

--set II (5 tracks, 54:33)--

s2t01. (I'm A) Road Runner [8:41] % [0:04] %

s2t02. [0:32] Love In The Afternoon [12:44] % [0:03] 

s2t03. Don't Let Go [19:27] [0:02] %

s2t04. /The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [#7:48] ->

s2t05. Run For The Roses [5:04] [0:08]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #14a

! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;

! lineup: John Kahn - bass;

! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;

! lineup: Jimmy Warren - keyboards;

! lineup: Bill Kreutzmann - drums;

! lineup: Julie Stafford - backing vocals;

! lineup: Liz Stires - 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/19820616-01

! JGC: https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1982-06-16

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/4422 (Senn 441 shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/6659 (Silberman Senn 441 shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/12513 (Eaton-Wise Senn 421/PZM blend shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/19278 (Holvey AT815a shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/33417 (Eaton-Wise Senn 421/PZM blend flac); https://etreedb.org/shn/88972 (this source, flac16); https://etreedb.org/shn/89042 (s1 sbd); https://etreedb.org/shn/89194 (s1 mtx); https://etreedb.org/shn/89198 (s1 DTS 5.1); https://etreedb.org/shn/89657 (this fileset); https://etreedb.org/shn/120086 (Dyche Nak 300).

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

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/10/music-mountain-south-fallsburg-ny.html

! band: JGB #14a/14c: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html

! ref: Billboard, July 3, 1982, p. 39. The show did not sell out! The venue held 10k, but this drew 7,863 paying customers for gross of $79,458.

! ref: "The Dead Come Alive: Bob Minkin's Live Photos of the Grateful Dead," URL http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/the-dead-come-alive-bob-minkins-live-photos-of-the-grateful-dead-20141103/music-mountain-south-fallsburg-new-york-june-1982-20141103;

! seealso: JGMF, "A JGB drum solo by Bill Kreutzmann - Cape Cod Coliseum, June 18, 1982," URL http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2017/07/a-jgb-drum-solo-by-bill-kreutzmann-cape.html.

! seealso: JGMF, "Long Ago and Far Away: JGB at Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, ME, June 20, 1982," URL https://jgmf.blogspot.com/2019/08/long-ago-and-far-away-jgb-at-cumberland.html.

! historical: Bobby and the Midnites also billed, Garcia Band went first. Apparently it rained mightily during Bob's set. Andy Leonard, former GD employee, says Garcia looked horrible: "I had never seen a human being that color before in my life. He was the wrong color. I thought he was going to die onstage. It scared the crap out of me" (Browne 2015, 296). Despite that, this is widely viewed as one of the great Garcia Band shows. and spinning it now (May 2020) after not having heard it in probably ten years, it holds up extremely well. It just packs tons of clear energy, not too grungy/down-and-dirty yet, still some youthful sweetness to Garcia's voice (though that'd be gone before long, and is already on its way out here in Dixie Down), the band very tight. After three hometown warmup gigs on June 10-11-12, here they start an east coast jaunt, 8 shows in 9 nights before the Garcia-Kahn acoustic duet would take over the back end, for 11 gigs in 8 nights. Man, Jerry must have made a pile of money on this two part electric-acoustic tour! The three electric shows for which I have data (from Billboard), the first three of the tour, show gross of over a quarter million dollars. The acoustic shows made less: we have data for five, grossing another $123k (with only two performers drawing pay).

! R: field recordist: John Steinthal

! R: field recording gear: 2x Nakamichi CM-300 > Sony TC-D5M > MAC (Maxell XLIIS-90)

! R: lineage: Sony TC-D5M (??) playback > TEAC AN-300 (Dolby encode) > Technics RS-1506US (Maxell UD 35-90 @ 3.75ips) > Technics RS-1506 > TEAC AN-300 (Dolby decode) > Grace Design Lunatec V3 (pre-only0 > Korg MR-1000 > DSF (1-bit 5.6448 MHz Stereo) > Korg MR-1000 > Korg AudioGate > WAV (24/96).

! R: MOTB Release Date: 2007-12-07

! R: people notes: R1 supplied By: Barry Glassberg; Transfer By: A. Egert; Mastering By: J. Waddell

! R: Mastering Notes -- Edited, mastered and downsampled to 16/44.1 on the GEMS Edit Station. -- Tape was paused between several songs. -- s2t0{3,4} - Tape pause between "Don't Let Go" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" cross-faded. 

! R: seeder notes: -- No music is lost due to the numerous tape pauses; however, the lead in is very short on a number of them. -- s1t01 - Output levels are very unstable during the opening of "How Sweet It Is"; taper is able to quickly adjust to optimum levels. -- s2t0{3,4} - Cross-fading of the tape pause - between "Don't Let Go" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" - may give the impression of a direct transition between the songs. The cross-fade was applied for aesthetics, as the tape pause was very abrupt, and there was actually a musical break.

! R: overall: Steinthal was a great taper, and this is a nice tape. Everything is forward out of the gate except the bass.

! P: s1t01 HSII he flubs the second verse, starting again with "needed the shelter"

! P: s1t03 TWLWMYD 5:30 ish Garcia is just hitting some great notes, very high up the fretboard as 6 approaches, crystalline playing, crowd appreciative. Jimmy takes a lead early 6.

! P: s1t04 Valerie lyrical flub again around 1:40, and this time the protagonist shoots his dog for merely *barking* at our anti-heroine. Very nice guitar work 3:44 ish, before and some after, featuring unexpected jumps between notes, skipping some, not splitting stuff evenly but taking a more diverse approach.

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

! P: s2t02 LITA what I really hear is how he is varying the phrase lengths and note intervals. Man, this is highly articulate playing.

! P: s2t03 DLG is truly top shelf Jerry. Billy steps forward 10:20ff, and it becomes a true solo from about 10:35-11:20 or so. Then John steps back in and we have a drum-bass duet. Jerry returns 12:41 with a beautiful, confident, melodious piece.

! R: s2t04 TNTDODD clips in

Long Ago and Far Away: JGB at Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, ME, June 20, 1982

LN jg1982-06-20.jgb.all.aud-lamarre.139447.flac2496

Great pull by Doug Lamarre, very good JGB from the strong month of June 1982. Bobby Cochran and Bob Weir from Bobby and the Midnites sit in on the encore, which includes the JGB singleton "Johnny B. Goode".

Jerry sounds quite strong.  Two new tunes stand out. "Valerie" holds some serious heavy-metal appeal, and "Run For The Roses" involves some uncommon wah-pedaling.

Kahn gets two mentions, first for some big pulling at the start of "Mission In The Rain" and, second, neater, for some noodling he is doing at the start of the show. Here is an mp3 of the snippet, which runs about 20 seconds starting from about 0:23 of the first track of this fileset.

The noodle sounded to me like "Blue Moon", but I don't know squat. Nick urges comparison with Ray Brown's bassline on this Oscar Peterson version of Jerome Kern's "Long Ago (And Far Away)". Getting all musicological up in here, he says that "Kahn is playing what sounds like a C, Am, Dm, and G, which in the language of music theory is a I-vi-ii-V progression.  'Blue Moon' is one famous example of this". So I don't feel totally foolish.

Anyway, I would welcome your analyses. It's always fun when Jerome's namesake comes up, and when a Garcia engagement crosses into uncommon deep Americana.

Listening notes below the fold.

Angels in the Balcony? JGB, March 27, 1982 Keystone

LN jg1982-03-27.jgb.all-1.aud-knudsen-GEMS.111727.flac1644

Gave this an anniversary listen today, and it pleasantly surprised me. There's an awful lot of depth of feeling in this whole show. Sugaree is very good right off the bat, and in the first set only "After Midnight" does less than it might have; I blame the arrangements, which just feel too cokey-80s for my taste. "Don't Let Go" is quite a rich and stellar version. It stands up very well to most any one I can think of from the period, and may be among the very top. Jerry's got lots of great ideas, but he's not at all in a rush. There are many imaginative and inventively packaged runs.

The first set is quite short for the period, I think (would need to double check) and the second set quite long. At least one person (see the historical notes below) remembers there being an exceptional number of Hells Angels present this night. There's no other evidence of that. But there is a feel to this show that cannot be pinned digitally, but that's nonetheless real. Much recommended.

Nice to have an audience tape to go with the crisp, long-circulating MSC>DAT copy, which lives in my brain as a "Kreutzmann tape". Same provenance as other '82 sbd tapes. I don't know any details and I am not sure about this stuff, but that's where I file it. This taper, Jeff Knudsen, was quite the wild man, taping a bunch of shows from this period blazing on acid on shore leave. He sometimes loses track of things, but the tapes are always fun and much appreciated. On this night, he records from the balcony. Not surprisingly, this gives the tape a much more spacious feel than what one mostly gets on Keystone tapes, from up front.

One last thing: it's funny I don't have a single image for this date. That'll be true for the 80s more generally. 80s shows were just in the old McNally-Arnold list, which for the period is evidence enough. Who wants to go back leafing through BAM every week to scan Keystone ads? I don't.

Jerry Garcia Band
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
March 27, 1982 (Saturday)
Jeff Knudsen all-1 GEMS flac1644 shnid-111727

--set I (4 tracks, 31:07-0:09, missing ca. 15 minutes)--
s1t01. [0:06] Sugaree [12:59] [0:06] %
[MISSING: s1t02. They Love Each Other]
s1t03. //Love In The Afternoon [#8:06] % [0:02]
s1t04. After Midnight [9:16] (1) [0:20] % pre-set II [-0:09]

--set II (6 tracks, 82:15+0:09)--
s2t01. [+0:09] (I'm A) Road Runner [8:29] [0:02]
s2t02. Don't Let Go [22:25] [0:03] % [0:04]
s2t03. Russian Lullaby [12:47] [0:02] % [0:06]
s2t04. The Harder They Come [15:29] ->
s2t05. Dear// Prudence [12:#50] ->
s2t06. Tangled Up In Blue [9:24] (2) [0:04]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #14a/c
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - al-g, vocals;
! lineup: Julie Stafford - vocals;
! lineup: Liz Stires - vocals;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - organ;
! lineup: Jimmy Warren - electric piano;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! lineup: Bill Kreutzmann - 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/19820327-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/6605 (MSC, shnf); http://db.etree.org/shn/111727 (this fileset).

! map: http://goo.gl/maps/z22BN

! band: JGB #14a/c (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html)

! venue: JGBP | LLD

! setlist: TJS had historically listed IARR as the end of set I. But here we can hear the setbreak announcement, after about 10 seconds of indecision and to the taper's consternation, after After Midnight. The now-presumed four-song first set is indeed a slap in the face. The soundboard tape has the whole first set, which runs to about 44 minutes I think. Brutal. But redemption is always around the corner! On this night, he makes up for it with a long and quite strong second set. Need to check the timings of contemporary shows.

! R: field recordist: Jeff Knudsen

! R: field recording gear: Superscope Mics > AIWA HS-1 recorder

! R: field recording location: front of balcony

! R: field recoding media: 2x Maxell XL-II cassette

! R: transfer: 24bit/96kHz by Matt Smith

! R: mastering: Weiss-Saracon for 16 bit 44.1 kHz  TLH for FLAC8 SBE Free, by Jamie Waddell a **GEMS** Production www.shnflac.net  January 2011

! R: seeder notes: "-Huge thanks to Jeffrey for sharing his recordings and Matt Smith for the transfer work -Recorder Shuts off between some songs -Missing TLEO -LITA Cuts IN -Microphone static on a few songs"

! historical: Jeff Knudsen: "This show popped up out-of-the-blue. I got a phone call-- remember, there was no internet, no texting, no PMs, just the 'Pink Section' (if you remembered to look at it). My friend says, 'Didja hear? Fat Jerry gonna play Berkeley on Saturday.' 'GTF outta here-- only one night?' 'Yep' 'OMG!' (used to be called 'Oh My Gawd') So off we went. I just blew all my $$$ on Chico, Arcata and Garberville and now he has his hands in my pocket-- yet again!!

! R: historical: Jeff Knudsen: "Why is this show popping up now? Well, I got this email awhile back: 'You don't know me from Adam. I went to a lot of Keystone shows in 81 and 82. I actually met you several times through a guy named Howard who was present at that time as well.  And I know Matt [Smith] who has been emailing you lately. I was wondering if you have or will ever post 3/27/82 from Berkeley? IMO it has one rockin Sugaree to open. I also remember this show because of the more than usual number of Hells Angels. They had taken over the upstairs portion of that venue and while they didn't say so, it seemed like no one else was allowed up there that night. maybe it was just something I ate but i recall it being quite tasty. Anyway thank you for all those shows you got up and hope you're well."

! historical: Jeff Knudsen: "Well--- here is it!  However I don't remember "Angels in the balcony", but of course I was dosed to the max and very busy in the front row of the balcony trying the push all those little tiny buttons! It is a miracle this recording came out so well. Guardian Angels fo' sho'."

! R: This is a really nice tape, at root, and interesting. It's interesting because there aren't that many balcony tapes from the Keystone that I can think of. I think Jim Wise may have been up there on 9/18/81. Anyway, it's a whole different feel.

! R: s1t01 static blast about 24 seconds in. Vox very distant, electric piano prominent. Bad buzz at 4:45, watch your speakers! Don't think that's PA, because there's no crowd reaction.

! P: s1t01 Sugaree Jerry takes an extra run around before start the lyrics, which come in around 0:50. Those were a nice fluid phrase he was putting together in that little warmup round. Jerry's playing is very articulate this night, even, first half o 6 min mark. Does some chunka-chunka-ing and starts swinging it more over the 7-min mark, it's the two things combined: the chunka-chunka for half a measure, then the melody part he played before that. So he's cutting each of the previous things he did in half, and pairing them. Good idea, Jer! Still soloing to late 7-minute mark, and he takes the next lyric right before 8. So I don't think anyone else has really featured yet, 'cept ol' Jer.

! R: s1t03 LITA cuts in, static for awhile

! P: s1t03 LITA drummer is doing some really interesting pounding in 1-2 mark. That BK? Sounds good.

! s1t04 AM is going too fast in this time frame, and the backing vocals are cheezy. This arrangement has a strong early 80s feel, and I don't mean that in a good way. If he were a little more appearance-conscious (and thinner), Garcia might be wearing a white suit, maybe sleeves pulled up to his elbows and a skinny black tie. Think early 80s Steve Winwood or, more relevant, Clapton look. Song finishes

! s1t04 (1) JG: "We're gonna take short break, we'll be back in a coupla minutes" --guy, maybe taper, yells "Aw, shit, man!" Crowd not happy. Then taper talk: "Hey, sorry to fuck up folks. Got microphone problems, y'have ..." %

! R: s2t01 IARR mic static 3:30ff for a while; static 4:30ff; 7:18ff bad static;

! P: s12t01-s2t02 this is very nearly a guzinta

! R: s2t02 DLG more static.

! P: s2t02 DLG there is something special about this setlist. I need to check when "Don't Let Go" was played this early in a second set. In the 7-minute mark, Jerry is in a really nice low register and this has a real nice swampy feel. Melvin fills beautifully behind Jerry. Long phrases, punctuated with plucking, now back higher, some sustain, then some speed. Garcia is writing beautiful lines here, great tone. This is powerful good in this 7-8 min range, still finding lots to say to 9, then strums some stuff early 9 to change the tone and color, not as low, but a minor feel, with all that tonal burn, he steps back and lets Jimmy play a little bit; Jimmy's not very loud, and he does some good stuff, but he's also pretty limited, I'd say. Melvin gets a little louder, Jerry steps in front of him 10:20 and starts scaling, some really nice playing and Bill sits right back where Jerry can lean on him. 11:02 sharp note. 11:17 Jerry's got his head down, now some fuzz on it 11:20 after Melvin had thrown a nice dart. Now getting higher up the neck late 11, Jerry finds a nice little line over 12, hits it three times and doesn't overuse it, nice. A different phrase 12:28. He is overflowing with good ideas this night and the band is tight. Can't hear John at all, but Billy has got the rhythm locked in. This is an outstanding DLG. Even when he comes back to the theme in the 20 range, he's still stretching out and saying interesting things. Not in a rush to get back to it. But, OK. Jerry sounds wrecked, but in not a terrible way.

! P: s2t03 RL this pacing is deep and swampy and outstanding! Jerry is deep in the groove already, which was the same space in which he ended DLG. He's really in no rush during this long second set. Excellent. Sounds like taper is hassling with people a little in the 3-min mark, he wants them to shut the fuck up or something. Meanwhile, Jerry is playing, no, channeling Irving Berlin. Crowd is really cheering John on, then 9:25ish Jerry steps back onstage and everyone starts cheering him on. One guys says "Turn it on, Jerry, break windows!" Jerry steps up right at 10, but he's not trying to break anything. He's playing carefully and thoughtfully. That's the kind of space he's in this night. Nice pluck 10:30.

! R: s2t03 RL static 2:58-3:18.

! R: s2t05 DP splice in the first minute, not much?

! S2T06 (2) taper: "That's how it was. Let me tell you, that's how it was."