Fall '77 Gig Economics: The Case of SUNY New Paltz (JGB, 11/29/77)

Handbill for JGB at SUNY New Paltz, 11/29/77. Scan via Mark Cohen. Note that Ron Tutt is erroneously listed among the personnel.

The economics of the Garcia Band's Fall '77 tour have remained a little out of view for me, since I have never been able to track down itineraries, contracts, box office reports and all that, which I have seen for a few other trips. But a great report in the SUNY New Paltz Oracle lays them bare for one gig (11/29/77), and provides a snapshot into Garcia's rock star lifestyle of the time.

I should note that I have discussed a setlist rarity from this show (the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" inside the Wailers' "Stir It Up"), set forth some listening notes under the title "his voice is fading fast", and have also presented these kinds of data for a gig two years earlier ("Accounting the JGB: October 8, 1975").

The SUNY New Paltz Concert Committee brought in name talent a couple times a year for the students, drawing from student activity fees and generally running these events at a loss. But the earnest-seeming crew in place in Fall 1977, which seems to have been operating under the probably-copyright-infringing-but-totally-1977 name of "Jedi Productions", didn't plan to lose as much as they did on the Garcia Band's Tuesday night gig. For Google interest, here are the names and positions of the folks involved in putting on the show.

Kirt Madsen ... Production Manager
Eric Early ... Production Manager
Bill Dacey ... Stage Manager
Rick Markle ... Electrician
Joni White ... Talent Coordinator
Shari Berkowitz ... Tickets
Esther Friedman ... Publicity
Karen Reilly ... Hospitality
Rob Insolia ... Treasurer
Stan Wisla ... Security
Brian Higgenson ... Staging Consultant
Erica Pauling ... Secretary
Richard Someck ... Concessions
Randi Sackheim ...Programs
Debbie Golub ... Programs
Steve Martin ...General Manager
Jack Babb ... Assistant to General Manager

I would love to hear from any of them, especially Karen Reilly, who is mentioned in the narrative below.

According to the report in the school paper (Ratner 1977), the gig lost about $8,000, which is more than planned, mostly due to ticket sales of only 1,300 against a projected 2,000. But other aspects of putting the concert on probably also taught our young impresarios some valuable lessons in show biz economics. Here are the expenses.

Table xxx. Expenses for JGB at SUNY New Paltz, 11/29/77. Source: Ratner 1977.

So here we have the band at a $10k guarantee, whereas it got $12,500 at Penn State (Clifford 1977). Monarch does well on sound and lighting. But let me get to the "hospitality" line item, which generates the following data and story, a little sidebar under the heading "Garcia Serves Up New Paltz, Brings His Own Chef":

     When the Jerry Garcia Band plays a school, it usually submits a list of refreshment requirements: Freshly ground coffee (either of Sumatra, Celebes, Jamaica High Mountain, Mocha-Java, or Columbian beans); Coffee must be made via the drip method, not electric percolator; Three (3) bottles of good French red wine and one and one-half (1 ½) cases of Heineken Light beer; Four (4) quarts of orange juice – no sugar; Four (4) of bottled spring water; Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches and good cheeseburgers; a dinner meal for fifteen …
     When they came to New Paltz, they were willing to forego the refreshment requirements. Instead; they brought their own chef, affectionately named Cy Kocis, and asked the concert committee for $600.
   "I knew things were going to be wrong when they wanted $600 in cash Tuesday morning," explained Karen Reilly, the Concert Committee's Hospitality Chief. Karen managed to knock them down to $450.
     Cy Kocis arrived at 1:30 on Tuesday; installed a four-burner stove charcoal grill and large cooler in Elting Gymnasium 101, and went to work. Filet Mignon and halibut steaks were on the dinner menu. The cooler contained a sumptuous feast for the band and its crew. Karen was there to meet the entourage. In fact, she was there since 9:00, earlier than anyone, making sure everyone experienced New Paltz's hospitality. "But when Cy Kocis gave me 4 large butternut squashes and told me to start peeling and cutting, I told him I had to get towels, or something, for the stage crew." Everyone has their limits.

Why do I imagine this merits quoting at length? I love the standard contract rider information. I knew Jerry was a coffee junkie, but I didn't know he was a coffee snob (which I count as a point in a person's favor). Good French wine pleases me, too, though not sure who of the band would most enjoy it. I guess I have Keith as good for at least a dozen of those Heinekens, but what do I know? Burgers? Definitely Jerry.

Then comes "Cy Kocis". Interesting. $600 cash is also interesting, and suspicious minds sometimes wonder whether that kind of wad might not have bought more than filet, halibut and butternut squash. I also admire the cut of Karen Reilly's jib, haggling them down to $450 and taking a pass on the vegetable peeler. She sounds awesome.

Anyway, good color.

His voice is fading fast: JGB at SUNY New Paltz, 11/29/77

LN jg1977-11-29.jgb.all.aud-cooper.berger.124217.flac2496

I have already posted about the fascinating setlist rarity, "Here Comes The Sun" popping up in the middle of "Stir It Up". Neat.

Beyond that, I note that this is a pivotal moment in Garcia's singing. Everything's still arranged around the highs he could hit early in 1976 and 1977. But in the meantime, The Movie et seq. has made a smoking ruin of his otolaryngological system. Even at $200 a gram around this time, Garcia seems to have been doing lots and lots of blow; John Henry himself couldn't compete against marching Bolivians in tunneling through the human sinus. I had always thought that he was doing top-shelf medical stuff, and perhaps it varied. But an interview from a year later (December 1978) finds Jerry not being choosy:

The toot is vicious, cut with meth, not with quinine, and it’s enough to rip your sinuses out. It goes straight to the forebrain – a howling blizzard of Insight and Truth. The rush is, well, chilling; your scalp tingles, a hospital sourness scours the back of your throat.  Then a Con Ed generator of electricity sizzles your synapses (Abbott 1979, 35).

There's also the three packs of Camels a day (Troy 1994, 190). I don't know how Jerry's opioid of choice, "Persian", which he smoked, may have affected things. Maybe it palliated the nose, throat and sinuses, leaving him ready to dust and maybe darn some socks ("Refreshing!"). But even so, vocal chord striation brings singing limitations. I hear all of that here, much more than I did on my recent listen to 11/23/77. His voice is fading fast -- six weeks later, in January 1978, he'd pass several Dead shows without singing -- and he hasn't trained himself nor modified arrangements to go around and through these new limitations.

Jerry Garcia Band
Elting Gym, State University of New York (SUNY)
New Paltz, NY 12561
November 29, 1977 (Tuesday)
Jim Cooper flac2496 shnid-124217

--set I (5 tracks, 55:10)--
s1t01. //Let It Rock [#6:48] [0:02] % [0:13] % [0:16]
s1t02. Stir It Up (1) [10:41] [2:16]
s1t03. I Second That Emotion [9:18] %
s1t04. ... Simple Twist Of Fate [#13:20] % [0:04] %
s1t05. /Midnight Moonlight [#12:07] %

--set II (7 tracks, 72:36)--
s2t01. [0:28] % /The Way You Do The Things You Do [9:55] %
s2t02. /Catfish John [#9:48] %
s2t03. The Harder They Come [13:41] %
s2t04. [0:04] % /Gomorrah [#6:28] %
s2t05. /Mystery Train [#8:36] [0:02] %
s2t06. /Russian //Lullaby [#13:#50] %
s2t07. Mission In The Rain [9:37] (1) [0:03] %

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Keith Godchaux - piano;
! lineup: Buzz Buchanan - drums;
! lineup: Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals;
! lineup: Maria Muldaur - 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/19771129-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/124216 (Cooper flac1644); http://etreedb.org/shn/124217 (Cooper flac2496, this fileset).

! map: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=elting+gym+address&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Elting+Gym,+Southside+Loop,+New+Paltz,+New+York+12561&gl=us&t=h&z=16

! band: JGB #4 (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html).

! seealso: JGMF, "Fall '77 Gig Economics: The Case of SUNY New Paltz (JGB, 11/29/77)"

! tags: 1977, JGB, listening notes, Here Comes The Sun, Jim Cooper, college gigs, Elting Gym, SUNY, New Paltz, NY, rarities, drugs, vocals, songs-H

! R: field recordist: Jim Cooper

! R: field recording equipment: 2x Sony ECM22p > Hitachi TRQ-232

! R: field recording media: 1x Maxell UDKLII-C90 (Dolby B), 1x Maxell UD-C90 (Dolby B)

! R: transfer: Nakamichi Dragon (Dolby B) > Benchmark ADC1 24/96 > PC > Adobe Audition 2.0 > cd wave > flac. transfer & seeded by Rob Berger 3/13.

! R: notes: "nice aud for a gymnasium. thanks Jim"

! s1t02 (1) Stir It Up JG plays "Here Comes The Sun" melody from 8:45-9:10.

! P: s1t04 STOF JG's voice sounds shot. He is straining against range limitations, and he hasn't yet trained himself how to sing around them. This is a pivotal moment in his singing. Everything's still arranged around the highs he could hit early in 1976 and 1977. Discuss. Bottom line: late 1977, Jerry's having to adjust his singing style pretty drastically, but he hasn't quite gotten there. And, oh yeah, Simple Twist: the whole old man thing works to pretty good effect, so it's not all bad. Some nice glassy guitar picking mid-6ff. This STOF has some nice interplay between Garcia, Keith and John. Jerry laying out long paragraphs late 8 over 9-min mark. 10-minute mark Garcia is fanning very close together, a good 30-second blast, that's nonetheless under control. Yeah, hits it hard 10:45, a 5-second thing to drop the big '1' for the next verse. Well done. Pretty good version of STOF, NB no bass feature.

! R: s1t05 MM clips in

! P: s2t01 TWYDTTYD these harmony "arrangements" aren't working for me.

! R: s2t03 HTC patched drop out

! R: s2t06 RL clips in, splice @ 12:46

! P: s2t06 RL Kahn does a bass feature late 6-min mark

! s2t07 (1) JG: "See y'all later on."