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.
- 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.
- 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.
