Does anybody know how to reach Matt Kelly?

I am hoping to find dates for the 1973 Record Plant session work, with Jerry, that ended up on Wing And A Prayer. Email me if you have email for him, or point him here. TIA!

Chieftains Opening for OAITW

Update 7/22/2022: somehow I got the date wrong by a week, but in any case this Chieftains set is now being released by the Owsley Stanley Foundation!

A book by John Glatt entitled The Chieftains: The Authorized Biography (St. Martin's Press, 2015) describes Chesley Milliken arranging a meeting between Garcia and The Chieftains, who were touring the US in autumn 1974. After their local gigs, Garcia invited the Chieftains "to open for his own bluegrass group Old And In The Way, who were playing a show at the Boarding House to be recorded for a live album. Garcia also arranged a radio show with the legendary Tom Donaghue [sic]." Paddy Moloney recalls that "Jerry sent a limo for us and we did the show, which was San Francisco's top-rated radio programme. Jerry interviewed us and we talked and played tunes and discussed the music. Later in the week we opened for Jerry's bluegrass band and it was a wonderful evening of music."

This interested me for several reasons. First, of course, Garcia's grandfather William Clifford was Irish. Second, I have heard snippets of rumors that when he went to Ireland with Deborah in the summer of '93, he picked some tunes in some pubs and such, and I had even thought that maybe he did so with the Chieftains. (It appears not, since the bio would have mentioned it.) Third, of course, lots of the white roots music Garcia played ultimately derived from various isles off the northwest coast of Europe, not just the sea shanties and all that but also bluegrass as a Scotch-Irish-American compound, so I am just interested in this crossing as a meeting of musics. And, finally, this was just specific enough regarding timeframe --OAITW was recorded on 10/1/73 and 10/8/73-- but also necessarily mistaken (because it was said to be autumn 1974), and so I wanted to try to gain clarity.

Well, I have found it. 1974 is indeed wrong.

If he's right about OAITW being recorded, and the Chieftains gigs happening before that, then we should be closely prior to 10/1 or 10/8/73. Through the magic of digitized newspapers, I find them playing the following:

• 9/29/73: The Gaelic League sponsored a gig this night at 8 PM in the Scottish Rite Memorial Auditorium, 19th and Sloat in the city. (! ad: SFC19730928p57)
• 9/30/73: concert at the Oakland Auditorium Theatre, 8 PM (! listing: SFSECDB19730930p07)

So far, so good.

Then I started Googling around for a list of "Live From the Record Plant" KSAN broadcasts, and found none. (Someone, please get on that!) It took me some fine-tuning on the search syntax to find what I was looking for, but I found it.

• 10/7/73: 11 PM, KSAN (94.9) - The Chieftains (! listing: SFSECDB19731007p22)

Even though "later in the week" would normally be understood to mean more than one night later, there was still space for the Chieftains to open for OAITW the next night at the Boarding House. So I queried Peter Rowan, and he affirmed that The Chieftains opened for OAITW on 10/8/73. 

Update: Chieftains appear to have opened on 10/1. Since I followed the logic closely, it seems that Paddy just had the sequences and timeframes a little unclear, as they were reported in the book.

Update your spreadsheets. And, if you keep records of Garcia's whereabouts even when he wasn't playing, you can place him at the Record Plant on the night of 10/7/73, hanging with Big Daddy and talking with and listening to the Chieftains.

Now, I am contractually obligated to make two further queries.

First, is there tape of the 10/7/73 Live From the Record Plant KSAN broadcast?
update: Yes! At the SF Museum of Performance and Design, which holds the KSAN Vault. Two reels have been digitized and are available for on-site auditioning, by appointment.

Second, did Bear tape the Chieftains on 10/8/73 10/1/73 at the Boarding House? update: yes he did!

Let me make one final point, after updating my data: Garcia was a very busy boy right in this timeframe. I now have him as follows for the eight days starting Sunday 9/30:

• Sunday 9/30 OAITW in Stinson Beach
• Monday 10/1 OAITW Boarding House (recorded for release)
• Tuesday 10/2/73 JGMS Legal Aid Benefit
• Wednesday 10/3/73 OAITW at Keystone Berkeley
• Thursday 10/4/73 11 AM and 3 PM sessions for Paul Pena at Heider's
• Friday 10/5/73 OAITW at the Santa Cruz Civic
• Saturday 10/6/73 OAITW at Keystone Berkeley
• Sunday 10/7/73 Record Plant rapping with Big Daddy and the Chieftains
• Monday 10/8/73 OAITW Boarding House (recorded for release)

"Work eight days a week | baby I give it all to you"

And on the ninth day, a Tuesday, he rested. As far as I know.

David Nichtern and the Nocturnes

http://www.concertvault.com/david-nichtern/record-plant-november-09-1974.html

What an interesting looking little fragment. I wish I could hear it.

In All GSCBF All The Time news, I suspect that Nichtern hooked up with his band, including Hot Band pedal steel player Hank Devito, as well as Nicolette Larson, through the GSCBF. They were all there.

Big Daddy: "This is Old And In The Way, and I'll let 'em stay all night if they want to."

LN jg1973-04-21.oaitw.early.fm-FlyingM.125747.flac1644

Old And In the Way
Record Plant
2200 Bridgeway
Sausalito, CA 94965
April 21, 1973 (Saturday)
57 minute Flying M FM shnid-125747

--(15 tracks, 57:29, basically complete)--
t01. (1) ... Going To The Races [0:15] [0:09]
t02. (2) The Willow Garden [3:57] (3, 4) [0:18]
t03. Katy Hill [2:19] (5) [0:16]
t04. Till The End Of The World Rolls Round [2:13] [0:49]
t05. Panama Red [2:14] [0:45]
t06. Hard Hearted [2:31] (6)
t07. Soldier's Joy [2:16] [0:05]
t08. Wild Horses [4:10] [0:15]
t09. Lost [3:11] [0:32]
t10. Knockin' On Your Door [2:27] [1:12]
t11. Lonesome L.A. Cowboy [4:04] [0:24]
t12. Fanny Hill [4:05] (7, 8) [0:51]
t13. White Dove [4:05] [0:56]
t14. Land Of The Navajo [6:30] (9) [1:42]
t15. false start [0:22], Blue Mule [3:47] (10) [0:08]

! ACT1: Old And In The Way
! lineup: Peter Rowan - ac-g, vocals;
! lineup: David Grisman - mandolin, vocals;
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - banjo, vocals;
! lineup: Richard Green - fiddle;
! lineup: John Kahn - ac-b.

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/19730421-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/11860 (shn, deprecated); http://etreedb.org/shn/125747 (this fileset)

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

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/record-plant-2200-bridgeway-sausalito-ca.html

! ref: Arnold, Corry. 2012. Old And In The Way FM Broadcasts, 1973 (FM VI). Lost Live Dead, April 12, 2012, URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/04/old-and-in-way-fm-broadcasts-1973-fm-vi.html, consulted 4/22/2012.

! R: source: stereo FM radio broadcast > Unknown > R2R > Teac 4070G (1970s);

! transfer: Pioneer R2R > Audigy 4 Pro @ 24/44 (2010);

! preparation: Audacity (clean up a few flat spots and dropouts) > AudioGate (16-44) >
Audacity (patched missing segments as noted from shn 11860 source) > CD Wav > Flac (Level 8) > Stamp ID3 tag editor.

! R: seeder notes: "This one is from the Record Plant in Sausalito, California (across the Bay from San Francisco). For this live radio show Richard Greene replaced Vassar Clements [ed: this is incorrect, as Clements came in later] and joins with the new boy, Jerry Garcia on the banjo. [ed: the band never existed w/o Garcia, this is a reference to Grisman's joky characterization in introducing Jerry.] Tom Donahue, the father of FM radio is the DJ and engineer for this broadcast. The lineage prior to my tape copy is unknown. The quality is very good, with a slight hiss noticeable in the quietest sections. My tape did not have the opening portion and included a cut in "Lonesome L.A. Cowboy". Patches were inserted using the shnid-11860 source to complete the show. "'till the end of the world" has a squiggly spot in it. there is a slight speed difference between the tape and the SHN 11860 patch source. Someone with a better ear than mine can figure out which pitch is correct and tweak as needed. Hope this makes some people smile. For historical reference only and not intended for resale or any commercial use. Enjoy what may be an upgrade for some -M- (September 2013) FLYING M PRODUCTIONS  FAN RECORDINGS FOR COLLECTORS TRADE FREELY BUT PLEASE DO NOT BUY OR SELL"

! R: t01. GTTR fades in. This is patched in from shnid-11860, which is decidedly inferior to the present recording. Thank you, sharer!

! setlist: I need to check, but my sense is that Going To The Races was the set opener for OAITW, and given how short the songs were, we are probably missing almost exactly (only) the two and a half minutes suggested by the 57:29 run time of the tape. The broadcast must have been 60 minutes, and we are just missing the very start. Update: actually, given how fast this is running, it was probably recorded to 60 minutes, and the missing front of GTR just reflects the startup of the FM broadcast.

! t01 (1) DJ voice over "Old And In The Way".

! t02 (2) PR: "Here's a old-timer called 'The Willow Garden'".

! t02 (3) Big Daddy, Tom Donahue: "Old And In The Way. Live from the Record Plant."

! t02 (4) Peter Rowan: "We're gonna call on Richard Greene, with that little fiddle, to fiddle out one for us. [Greene, calling the tune to the band: "'Katy Hill'".] 'Katy Hill'." Sweet to hear the fiddle player call the tune and everyone start playing.

! P: t02 Jerry sounds really good. He'd been working up his chops during this week. Grisman takes first solo (after the fiddle, of course), after a few measures Garcia doubles behind him. How Richard doubles and Jerry triples. Richard pulls some wicked shit @ 1:35, Garcia plucking louder 1:40, it's a train! It's a train! Great playing by everyone.

! t03 (5) DG: "Fiddlin' Richard Greene." PR: "And here's David Grisman. He's gonna sing a song called 'The End Of The World Rolls Round"."

! P: t04 Garcia first solo.

! t06 R: Grisman's voice sounds Chipmunky. This is running really much too fast.

! t06 (6) DG: "We've got a new boy on the 5-string banjo, just been with us about two months. Jerry Garcia." Let's hear it! Crowd applause.

! song: "Soldier's Joy" (t07): This is *the* canonical Scotch-Irish fiddle tune, now known and played for more than 250 years. The fileset circulated with a parenthetical reference to "Bonaparte's Retreat", but I think that's a different tune.

! P: t08 WH Rowan botches the lyrics.

! R: t08 definitely running fast. Rowan's vocals are just way too high. Chipmunks!

! R: t11 end patched in from shnid-11860.

! P: t12 FH John Kahn plays some really nice lead acoustic bass here for a few spells. Nice. This is good number.

! t12 (7) time for our gospel show. Time for the gospel part of our show.

! t12 (8) Richard Greene is our lonesome LA cowboy. We import him for all of our radio shows.

! t14 (9) JG says "That's it?" Tom Donahue comes over the PA: "Now listen, man, I don't know if anybody can hear me in there, but if you wanna do another song, go ahead and do another song. [crowd: yeah!] This is KSAN in San Francisco, and this is part of our live weekend. This is Old And In The Way, and I'll let 'em stay all night if they want to."

! t15 (10) Big Daddy: "OK, we'd like to thank Old And In The Way ..." (fades out).

somewhere toward the end of the show: ! t?? (??) DG: "We wanna send this one out to all our sick and shut-in friends in radio land."