What is the Opposite of a Bat Outta Hell? JGB at Keystone, September 10-12, 1976

I am not a huge fan of the syrupy tempos of 1976 JGB, the ultimate comfort band for Our Hero. There are some great sounding tapes, the occasional killer show (4/3/76b), and some spectacular specific songs ("Right Mighty High", "Moonlight Mile", "Who Was John" and others are some of my faves), but the overall vibe is just too laid back for me. It has been intimated that I lack the patience and sophistication to appreciate this stuff, which is like fine wine or something. Maybe so.

I have been particularly indifferent to the September performances. The Pirates' Ball on 9/15/76 is certainly fun, holds a lot of curb appeal, but the music wasn't the thing for me. The Astor Theatre may have been a deco masterpiece, but Garcia's one show there on 9/20/76 was dull as day-old dishwater. And so on. I haven't felt particularly differently about the hometown weekend on September 10-12 at the Keystone Berkeley. The thing that most interests me is the provenance of the board tapes. They look like Betty Board lineage, but they are not among the tapes lassoed together by the ABCD crew. I suspect that Latvala spun copies for Alligator or Kingbee and they entered the world via those benefactors, but I can't be sure.

Anyway, below I post my listening notes for the three hometown nights, September 10-12, the first of which took place only 5 days after Rex Jackson's passing. Here is the thumbnail.

Friday 9/10

• Nick The Greek opened. He'd do so again on 11/15/76 and then he and Jerry wouldn't share a bill, so far as I know, until the 3/18/87 Artists' Rights Today benefit at the Old Fillmore.
• Reinhart Hohlwein (sp?) pulled a stunning tape.
• "My Sisters And Brothers" grooves low and slinky.
• I liked "After Midnight" and this very long version of "I'll Take A Melody".
• Mighty High has great energy, but it's a little off-kilter here and there.

Saturday 9/11

• Beautiful Betty Board
• Sugaree: what is the opposite of a bat out of hell? Whatever it is, that's how they come in on Sugaree. Sloooowww.

Sunday 9/12

• Short second set at only 40 minutes. Jerry strums HSII, but it either wasn't taped or it was closing time and it didn't happen.
• Maria Muldaur joins along. I need to check, but I think this is my earliest documented case of her joining the JGB. Sociometrists, take note.

Listening notes below the fold.

San Francisco Sessions, 1967-1968

updated title 20160319

San Francisco Sessions Series

• San Francisco Sessions, 1967-1968
• San Francisco Sessions, 1969
• San Francisco Sessions, 1970
• San Francisco Sessions, 1971
• San Francisco Sessions, 1972 

In the course of my research into Jerry Garcia’s musical life outside the Grateful Dead, I have gathered up, well, an awful lot of stuff. Sometimes I can’t resist, especially if I find myself in amongst papers that others might not get around to, but that might contain good information.

The following is just a rough list of some of the union contracts I came across. You’ll see that this is biased toward names that I know from the Side Trips Social Network – that has been my research purpose. But sometimes there’s stuff that’s very peripheral that just catches my eye.

 I am trying not to transcribe too much information, since it’s so peripheral to my interests. I am putting it out here for other researchers who might be interested. The documents of course contain all kinds of other information I am just listing date/venue, artist/project/names, employer, and a six-digit number that will help me find the document in question. If you are curious about a particular document, drop me a line.

update: I have now posted a similar list for 1969.

1967

May 4, 1967 Golden State Recorders, 655 Harrison Street (TV)

Steve Miller (SM, Jim Cooke, Tim Davis, Lonnie Turner)

(illegible)

110942

May 12, 1967 KQED Studios, SF (TV - Replay of May 10 program)

BBHC

110231

May 12-13, 1967 Fillmore Auditorium (live)

Jefferson Airplane

RCA Victor

110309

June 28, 1967 Fillmore Auditorium (live)

Steve Miller (SM, Jim Cooke, Tim Davis, Lonnie Turner, James Peterman)

Mercury Records

110919

June 29, 1967 Fillmore Auditorium (live)

Steve Miller (SM, Jim Cooke, Tim Davis, Lonnie Turner, James Peterman)

Mercury Records

110900

June 30, 1967 Fillmore Auditorium (live)

Steve Miller (SM, Jim Cooke, Tim Davis, Lonnie Turner, James Peterman)

Mercury Records

110813

July 7, 1967 KQED Studios, SF (TV)

Country Joe and the Fish

KQED

111717

July 26, 1967 The Cheetah, Santa Monica (live)

Steve Miller (SM, James Cooke, Tim Davis, Lonnie Turner, James Peterman)

Pacific Radio – KPFK

111407

July 31, 1967 Golden Gate Park (live)

Mimi Farina

Bay Area Educational Television Association (KQED)

111114

July 31, 1967 Golden Gate Park (live)

Steve Miller (SM, Jim Cooke, Tim Davis, Lonnie Turner, James Peterman)

Bay Area Educational Television Association (KQED)

111133

September 18, 1967 unknown location (but see QMS for this date) (live)

Dino Valente

Epic Records

111501

September 18, 1967 New Committee Theater, 836 Montgomery St., SF (live)

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan)

Columbia Record Company

111520

November 8, 1967 Commercial Recorders, 149 Natoma, SF

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore, Nick Gravenites, Harvey Brooks)

Capitol Records

113510

November 10, 1967 Commercial Recorders, 149 Natoma, SF

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore, Nick Gravenites, Harvey Brooks)

Capitol Records

113544

1968

March 18-19, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

James Cotton (JC, Edward Adams, James Patrick Cooke, Raphael Martin Fierro, Larry Wayne Talbert, Jose Emilio Rodriguez

Vanguard

113426

May 7, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Wayne Talbert [leader], Dough Sahm, Mack Rebbenack, Martin Fierro, Joe Rodriguez, Eddie Adams, Bill Atwood, Mel Martin, Lee Charlton)

Mercury Records

120715

May 8, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

“Joyce Dunn” (Dough Sahm [leader], Wayne Talbert, Martin Fierro, Frank Morin, Bill Atwood, Whitney Freeman, Mack Rebbenack)

Mercury Records

120654

May 9, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Wayne Talbert [leader], Martin Fierro, Joe Rodriguez, Eddie Adams, Bill Atwood, Mel Martin, Lee Charlton)

Mercury Records

120654

May 11, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Sir Douglas Quintet “Honky Blues” (Dough Sahm [leader], Hewlett Crist, Frank Morin, George Rains, Whitney Freeman, Martin Fierro, Wayne Talbert, Bill Atwood, Mel Martin)

Mercury Records

120645

May 18, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene, Norman Bellas)

MGM

113624

May 19, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene, Norman Bellas)

MGM

113643

May 21, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene)

MGM

113653

May 22, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene)

MGM

113702

May 23, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene, Harvey Brooks)

MGM

113715

May 28, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene)

MGM

113715

May 29, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene)

MGM

113735

June 4, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene)

MGM

113806

June 8, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene)

MGM

113756

June 10, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene)

MGM

113747

June 11, 1968 Avalon Ballroom 1:30 pm

Harvey Mandel (HM [leader], Armando Peraza, Frank [Lalo] Varela, Edward F. Hoh, Arthur Stavro)

Mercury Records

120548

June 24, 1968 Commercial Recorders, 149 Natoma Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Wayne Talbert, Mack Rebbenack, Edward Adams, Jose Rodriguez, Martin Fierro)

Mercury Records

120737

June 25, 1968 Commercial Recorders, 149 Natoma Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Wayne Talbert, Mack Rebbenack, Edward Adams, Jose Rodriguez, Martin Fierro)

Mercury Records

120119, 120130

June 27, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Martin Fierro [leader], Bill Atwood, Mike Ropec, Melvyin Martin, Richard T. Washington

Mercury Records

120027, 120309

June 28, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

“Wayne Talbert” (Martin Fierro [leader], Mike Ropec, Mel Martin, Frank Morin, Richard Washington, Wilfred Sache, Lewis Davis, Bennie Harris)

Mercury Records

120042

June 29, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

“Wayne Talbert” (Martin Fierro [leader], Mike Ropec, Bill Atwood, Mel Martin, Frank Morin, Richard Washington)

Mercury Records

115239, 120257

July 1, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Martin Fierro [leader], Wilfred Sache, Melvyn Martin, Mike Ropec, Lewis Link Davis, Frank Morin)

Mercury Records

120620, 120631

July 3, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Martin Fierro [leader], Wilfred Sache, Melvyn Martin, Lewis Link Davis, Alfonso Molino Jr.)

Mercury Records

120017, 120319

July 9, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Martin Fierro [leader, address is c/o Brian Rohan], Wilfred Sache, Melvyn Martin, Lewis Link Davis, Alfonso Molino Jr.)

Mercury Records

120058, 120610

July 12, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (Powell St. John [leader], Martin Fierro)

Mercury Records

120522

July 15, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (Powell St. John [leader], Martin Fierro, Bob Arthur, John Andrew, George Rains, Mark Naftalin)

Mercury Records

120511

July 16, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (Martin Fierro [leader], L. Link Davis, Bob Salisbury)

Mercury Records

120500

July 17, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Roy Head (Doug Sahm [leader], Martin Fierro)

Mercury Records

120340

July 19, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Roy Head (Frank Morin [leader], Martin Fierro)

Mercury Records

120359

July 31, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (John Andrews [leader], Link Davis Jr., Martin Fierro, Robert Salisbury, Spenser Perskin)

Mercury Records

114118

August 1 (?), 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Mother Earth (John Andrews, George Rains, Robert Arthur, Mark Naftalin, Link Davis Jr., Frank Morin, Ronald Tourmina, Tracy Nelson [leader], Martin Fierro, Robert Salisbury)

Mercury Records

114100

August 4, 1968 Frost Amphitheater, Palo Alto, CA (live)

Don Ellis (too many other people to list, no names familiar to me)

Columbia Records

114300

August 5, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Mother Earth (John Andrews [leader], George Rains, Robert Arthur, Mark Naftalin, Link Davis Jr., Frank Morin, Ronald Tourmina, Tracy Nelson, Martin Fierro)

Mercury Records

114050

August 8, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (Martin Fierro [leader], James Cooke, Frank Morin, Lewis Link Davis, Ronald Tourmina, Louis Gasca, Spenser Perskin)

Mercury Records

114031

August 9, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (Martin Fierro, Frank Morin [leader], Lewis Link Davis, Ronald Tourmina, Louis Gasca)

Mercury Records

114217

August 14, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Mother Earth (Powell St. John [leader], John Andrews, Terry Anderson, Robert Arthur, Mark Naftalin, Frank Morin, Ronald Tourmina, Martin Fierro, Luis Gasca, Cox [?] Rodriguez)

Mercury Records

114138

August 15, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (Powell St. John [leader], Martin Fierro, Luis Gasca)

Mercury Records

114207

August 16, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (John Andrews [leader], Martin Fierro, Luis Gasca)

Mercury Records

114157

August ??, 1968 Korty Films Inc., Stinson Beach, CA (film “Riverrun”)

Richard Greene (leader), Peter Berg

Korty Films, Inc.

114413

August 27, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

“Junior Parker” (Frank Morin [leader], George Rains, Link Davis, Ron Tourmina, Martin Fierro, Terry Hensley, Henry Angeli Jr., Whitney Freeman, Charles Pritchard, Doug Sahm, Hewlett Cris)

Mercury Records

120843

September 14, 1968 Coast Recorders, SF

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115733

September 16, 1968 Coast Recorders, SF

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115743

September 17, 1968 Coast Recorders, SF

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115752

September 23, 1968 Coast Recorders, SF

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115004

September 24, 1968 Coast Recorders, SF

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

114951

September 26-27-28, 1968 Fillmore West, SF (live)

Al Kooper [leader], Mike Bloomfield, Skip Prokop, John Kahn

Columbia Records

120756

October 5, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Amigos de Musica Band (Doug Sahm [leader], Whitney Freeman, Terry Alan Hensley, Ron Taormina, Jose Rodriguez, George Rains, Martin Fierro, Frank Morin)

Mercury Records

120414

October 10-11-12, 1968 Winterland (remote session)

Dino Valente

Epic Records

115900

October 24-25-26, 1968 Fillmore West (live)

Jefferson Airplane

RCA

114750, 114800, 114810

November 4, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Shades of Joy (Martin Fierro [leader], Edward Adams, Jose Rodriguez, Jackie King)

Mercury Records

1145354

November 5, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Shades of Joy (Martin Fierro [leader], Edward Adams, Jose Rodriguez, Jackie King, Jymm Young)

Mercury Records

1145544

November 6, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Shades of Joy (Martin Fierro [leader], Edward Adams, Jose Rodriguez, Jackie King, Jymm Young)

Mercury Records

1145601

November 7, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mitch Greenhill (Richard Greene [leader], Peter Kleinow)

Mercury Records

114641

November 7, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Shades of Joy (Martin Fierro [leader], Edward Adams, Jose Rodriguez, Jackie King, Jymm Young)

Mercury Records

1145552

November 7, 1968 Fillmore West (live)

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115818

November 8, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Shades of Joy (Martin Fierro [leader], Edward Adams, Jose Rodriguez, Jackie King, Jymm Young)

Mercury Records

1145612

November 8, 1968 Fillmore West (live)

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115843

November 9, 1968 Fillmore West (live)

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115828

November [between ca. 6 and 12], 1968 KQED-TV studios (TV: West Pole II)

It’s a Beautiful Day (David LaFlamme [leader], Mike Holman, Patricia Santos, Linda LaFlamme, Val Fuentes, Harold Wagenet)

Bay Area Educational TV Association

114515

November 10, 1968 Fillmore West (live)

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115807

November 23, 1968 Pacific Recording Studios, San Mateo, CA

Wayne Ceballos (WC, Kenneth Newell, Larry Martin)

Sire Records

114905

When did Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders first play together?

Update 15 years later (summer 2025):

I had concluded it was 9/7/70.

This seems to have been incorrect.

Unheard tape suggests that was still Howard Wales. But the evidence is indirect, only a tape label that Howie Wowie's El Paso friend Martin Fierro showed up. As we know, at least as early as 5/21/71 Fierro played with the Garcia-Saunders outfit, and Martin and Merl would play on and off through the 1970s. It's possible the Howard tie is not strong enough to mean that earlier, Martin = Howard. I have a theory about Martin and Howard that I will briefly touch on in Fate Music, and I feel about 75% confident.

2025 Timeline

Corry:

Around August 1970, Cox was recording at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco with producer Nick Gravenites, and his supporting musicians included John Kahn and Merl Saunders. Kahn took a moment to introduce Saunders to Jerry Garcia, recording in Heider's at another room. A month or two later, Saunders would join the pair at the Matrix.

8/17/70-8/20/70

Gravenites triadically closes John and Merl, connecting them from Brewer & Shipley and Danny Cox initially. AFM Local No. 6 studio session contract archives for 1970 show Brewer & Shipley at Heider's from August 17 to August 21.

I couldn't find a hint of Danny Cox until looking at San Francisco Sessions, 1971.

8/21/70: John triadically closes Merl and Jerry. Garcia is credited on the last night of sessions for pedal steel on two songs on their record Tarkio. That sequences absurdly well Corry's narrative: Gravenites employs John and Merl on some sessions, and Garcia comes in the last night. John introduces the two. Perfect.

So, yes, Jerry met Merl, as I currently understand things, on ca. 8/21/70 at Heider's

9/7/70: Martin Fierro's name appears on the tape box for 9/7/70. Do Martin's social ties point to Merl or Howard Wales in the house? I argue with about 80% confidence that the Wales-Fierro tie is vastly stronger in summer 1970 than any ties to Merl. I think that points to this being Howard. I have been researching their relationship in El Paso and it is verrrry interrrreessstingg. Jesse Jarnow's oral histories with Howard are incredible. Conjecturing further, IFJGS staff imagine that 9/7/70 was Wales's last night. Howard and Martin are tight and I mean *tight*.  IFJGS staff imagine Fierro invited or just showing up for the sendoff party. Conclusion: Wales.

For 9/14/70, the ads just say "Jerry Garcia & Friends". It is unknown whether anyone at all played keys. There is no direct or indirect evidence for Merl Saunders. Both 9/7 and 9/14 were Matrix Taped, but I have not been able to learn anything about who played what.

ca. September-start October; I believe the gap between 9/7ish and 10/12ish was partly for them to at least rehearse a little in Merl's little garage or Heider's. Saunders had been playing for pay for well over 15 years at this point.

The next advertised Garciaverse Matrix Monday night gigs were for "Jerry Garcia, Merl Sanders [sic*] and Friends", October 12-14, 1970. Even though it's Monday-Wednesday, that gig has the feel of a coming out for Merl Saunders in the Matrix Monday Night gig. Check this out - all three nights were taped. But I have not been given access to study them. At least they give us confirmation that Jerry didn't skip out after playing two shows in Paterson, NJ the night before, though of course we don't know if Jerry is on them, *doh*

Conclusion: Wales until 9/7, unknown on 9/14, Saunders commences 10/12/70. Oh yeah, and if you have any sway, please help free at least any cataloguing of these Matrix Tapes!

/fin 2025 update

For now, the basic question: when did they first play together?

In a ca. 1995-6 interview included on the DVD release of  The End of the Road: The Final Tour '95 (Monterey Video DVD 313302), Merl indicates that he went down to Golden Gate Park and played with the Grateful Dead sometime in the late 1960s. I can't offer any precision or evaluation - it's certainly possible, but is presumably utterly unknowable from this vantage point unless someone's diary or some old photographs or some other account turns up.

The Jerry Site's first listing for "Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders" is for October 12, 1970, though if you go to the band summary for that "artist" entry it lists the first show as 12/1/70. slip_not added some Merl content (a quote about he and Jerry came to play together) on the 9/7/70 Jerry Garcia & Friends entry, but there's no obvious ex ante reason for that information to be attached to that date.

So we are in a bit of a quandary, but I have a few data points to offer.

My MO here is to examine gigs and studio sessions that might have been relevant to understanding when Jerry and Merl started together. For gigs, I am especially interested in looking at the evolution of the Monday Night Jam sessions at the Matrix, since the standard story is that Howard Wales dropped out at some point and Merl joined in. It may not have been a clean/linear break, but the data might help. For sessions, I am interested because of the Merl quote listed under 9/7/70 TJS listing linked above. There seems to have been a Heider's connection where the GD, the whole PERRO crowd (Crosby and the Jeffersons), Brewer & Shipley, and Danny Cox (the latter two of whom were under the same management) were jumping into each others' sessions to an astonishing degree.

Anyway, here are what I consider some relevant data.

• 4/20/70: Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales [double-check]; Matrix; "Scenedrome" (calendar listing), Berkeley Barb, April 17-23, 1970, p.6.
• 4/27/70: Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales, & Friends; Matrix; display ad; listed as jam session in Scenedrome; Berkeley Barb, April 24-May 1, 1970, p. 8.
• 5/18/70: Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales [double-check]; Matrix; calendar listing, Good Times v.3 n.20, 5/15/70, p. 24. I believe this is the show that was released as Side Trips, vol 1. (Aside: "Thank you, sir. May I have another?")
• 5/25/70: Howard Wales, Jerry Garcia & Friends; Matrix; Scenedrome listing in Berkeley Barb, May 22-28, 1970, p. 18. Doubtful JG was there, given GD show in the UK the night before.
• 6/1/70: Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales [double-check]; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.22 (5/29/70), p. 24.
• 6/7/70: this appears not to have happened.
• 6/8/70: Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales; Matrix; [source suppressed]
• 6/15/70: Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales [double-check]; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.24 (6/12/70), p. 24.
• 6/22/70: Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales [double-check]; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.25 (6/19/70), p. 23.
• 7/6/70: Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales [double-check]; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.27 (7/3/70), p. 17.
• 7/15/70: the first "PERRO" session at Heider's that I can document; Kantner session working on "Starship" and "Old Man" for what would become Blows Against The Empire; this and all related listings provided below show Jerry present [source suppressed]
• 7/17/70: as above, but working on "Mau Mau";
• 7/20/70: Howard Wales and Friends listed at Matrix for this Monday and the next night (Tues., 7/21/70); calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.28 (7/17/70), p. 18; no mention of Garcia.
• 7/21/70: as above.
• 7/22/70: Kantner session at Heider's ("Mau Mau"; "Together"); see 7/15/70.
• 8/6/70-9/16/70: I have the GD's American Beauty sessions at Heider's from these dates; source: McNally, LST, p. 378.
• 8/10/70: Kantner session at Heider's ("Starship"; "Old Man"); see 7/15/70.
• 8/11/70: as above ("Starship"); see 7/15/70.
• 8/21/70: Brewer & Shipley session at Heider's, for what would become Tarkio; Garcia listed ("50 States of Freedom"; "Oh Mommy"); [source suppressed]
• 8/24/70: Garcia & Wales [double-check] Monday night Matrix session; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.33 (8/21/70), p. 21.
• 9/7/70: Jerry Garcia & Friends; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.35 (9/4/70), p. 16.
• 9/8/70: PERRO jams at Heider's: JG, Jorma, Jack, Kreutzmann ("Jam"); source: PERRO tapes.
• 9/14/70: Jerry Garcia & Friends; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.36 (9/11/70), p. 16.
• 10/12/70: "Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders and Friends"; Matrix; based on newspaper advertisement as listed at TJS; first TJS listing for Garcia & Saunders; spurious JG listing since GD were playing in Paterson, NJ.
• 10/13/70: as above, though GD had no gig until 10/16 in Philly, and JG could well have flown home.
• 10/14/70: as above.
• 10/19/70: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.41 (10/16/70), p. 20; in the past we would have discounted this, since GD was in Minneapolis on 10/18 and Washington, DC, on 10/23, but I have increasingly come around to the view that he flew home more often than I might have thought, and likely as not played a gig whenever a night was open around this time. So I buy that this could have happened.
• 10/26/70: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times, v.3 n. 42 (10/23/70), p. 14. GD were between St. Louis (10/24) and Stony Brook (10/30), but on the logic just above I believe this could have happened.
• 11/1/70 or 11/2/70: Janis's wake. Not relevant, just wanted to keep the record straight.
• 11/2/70: I have a Jerry Garcia & Friends listing for the Harding Theater, but no source info. We have discussed this a little bit, but I am not sure where things stand.
• 11/3/70: PERRO/If I Could Only Remember My Name (IICORMN) session at Heider's ("Cowboy Movie"); based on Steve Silberman "Crosby Connection" show played on KPFA, ca. 2001.
• 11/3/70: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders; Matrix; note that this is a Tuesday; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.43 (10/30/70), p. 16.
• 11/4//70: PERRO session at Heider's; no source information listed.
• 12/1/70: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders; Matrix; note: Tuesday; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.47 (11/26/70), p. 20).
• 12/2/70: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders; Matrix; listed at TJS based on Joey Newlander newspaper research (Berkeley Barb).

Thatsalotta data, I know, but I wanted to put it out there for you all to see.

What do I infer from all of this about the titular question? The pivot looks to be right around the time of the 8/21/70 Brewer & Shipley session. (Full disclosure: in personal email, Corry played up the Brewer & Shipley connection to Danny Cox, and thence to Merl; so credit should go to Corry for helping me see the break in the series.) There's only one Wales listing a few days later, and then come the "Jerry Garcia & Friends" listings. I would guess that Merl became a "Friend" at the 9/7/70 Matrix show (otherwise why not list Wales, as they had all year?), but there is no smoking gun in these data. Merl's name doesn't appear in listings until 10/12/70, which has the drawback of being a listing known to conflict with GD performance 3000 miles away. But it certainly suggests that Merl was definitely around by this time.

I believe I spoke with Danny Cox, and he doesn't have any old paperwork regarding his sessions at Heider's. I have not tried to contact the Brewer & Shipley people, but that might be a better lead.

In sum, in answer to the question of when Jerry and Merl first played together (qua Jerry & Merl), I'll say September 7, 1970. And maybe walk back and say that slip_not may know a thing or two. ;-)

Garcia, Gravenites, Jules Broussard: ca. 1973, San Quentin Prison

**update: I have it in my mind that this never happened. I spoke with Nick the Greek once and seem to have come away with that idea**

On 4/29/90, Garcia sat in with "Nick Gravenites and Animal Mind" for a Brian Wilson Defense Fund Benefit at the South of Market Cultural Center in San Francisco. If you haven't heard it, the circulating fileset is well worth seeking out. The whole thing is great, but "Small Walk-In Box" will leave you marveling at Jerry's ability to pick up a tune (presumably with little preparation) and nail it. I tend to conceive of Jerry's various one-off guest shots from the 1986-1990 period as of a piece with each other, with a relatively healthy/happy Jerry really on his game, but that's a matter for another post or several.

What I want to mention here is an otherwise unknown-to-me gig that Garcia seems to have played around 1973 at San Quentin.  Lost Live Dead did a post on Grateful Dead performances at San Quentin, to which this might need to be added.

In Jimbo Juanis's regular Relix column that discusses the 4/29/90 thing (seemingly mis-dated 4/30, but anyway), he reports a bit of chatter with Nick Gravenites. Nick the Greek says that he had played with Garcia once before:

About 17 years ago, Garcia and I and Jules Broussard (a local sax player) played for the inmates at San Quentin Prison. All the inmates at the gig were musicians and they all brought their horns and we all played together. We did the gig in the room that used to house the gallows.

I don't have a lot to add, except that I sure would like to learn more! I wonder if records of this sort of thing might be requestable under some kind of state of California open records provision?

REFERENCE: 
(1) Jimbo Juanis, "Bay Area Bits," Relix 17, 4 (August 1990): p. 25.

Possible Jerry Gig? October 15-16, 1971, Keystone Korner, SF, CA

So, here's one that caught my eye. Nick the Greek, Merl, Tom Fogerty, Dave Getz (presumably) and John Kahn gigging at the Keystone Korner on a Friday-Saturday night in October, 1971 when Jerry is not known (to me) to have been otherwise occupied. Jerry and Merl were billed at the same place the weekend before.

Makes one wonder, doesn't it?