Killer Sugaree and final DDD: JGB at Country Club, Reseda, May 20, 1984

LN jg1984-05-20.jgb.all.aud-nak300s.79553.flac1644

This Sugaree is in the running for hottest ever, especially in the 6-10 minute range. It opened shows a lot in the 75-77 period, a little less frequently by this time, and it would leave the JGB fold in '86 to become GD only. But, for my money, the Jerry Band ones from this ca. '84 period were the very best. I am told that 8/13/84 is another smoker. I plan to revisit it soon.

I don't think Jim Rismiller still had the Country Club at this point, though I am not 100% sure. I am calling it The Country Club, though the tag still has Rissmiller's name to keep them together with other posts from earlier dates.

Last night out for DeeDee Dickerson. Thank you, DDD!

Jerry Garcia Band

Country Club

18415 Sherman Way

Reseda, CA 91335

May 20, 1984 (Sunday)

Nak 300s shnid-79553 retrack

--set I (6 tracks, 5 tunes, 53:59)--

s1t01. ambience [0:19] 

s1t02. Sugaree [15:32] [0:03] % [0:28]

s1t03. Love In The Afternoon [10:06] [0:02] % [0:02]

s1t04. Rhapsody In Red [11:42] % [0:03]

s1t05. Run For The Roses

s1t06. Deal [10:20] (1) [0:07]

--set II (5 tracks, 4 tunes, 40:31)--

s2t01. ambience [0:18] 

s2t02. Mission In The Rain [12:07] [0:03] % [0:02]

s2t03. [0:10] Harder They Come [14:21] % [0:03]

s2t04. /Gomorrah  [#5:48] ->

s2t05. Midnight Moonlight [7:30] (2) [0:07]

! ACT1: JERRY GARCIA BAND #21a

! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;

! lineup: Melvin Seals - organ;

! lineup: John Kahn - bass;

! lineup: David Kemper - drums;

! lineup: DeeDee Dickerson - vocals;

! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - 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/19840520-01

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1984-05-20

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/79553 (this fileset)

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html. DDD's last gig, and so last night out for JGB #21a. The classic 21b lineup with Gloria would debut ca. 7/10/84.

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/A6gX8hd4tfS2

! JGBP: https://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/06/rissmillers-country-club-reseda-theatre.html. 1,000 seat room which opened 3/28/80 with Merle Haggard (Jackson 1980).

! listing: Orange County Register, May 20, 1984, p. L7.

! seealso: JGMF, "The Auds Have It," URL https://jgmf.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-auds-have-it-jgb-at-irvine-meadows.html.

! seealso: JGMF, "There is World Class Guitar Playing Here," URL http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2014/02/ln-jg1984-05-19jgballaud-rossi.html.

! R: field recordist: unknown

! R: field recording gear: 2x Nakamichi CM-300 w/ CP-1 caps (no shotguns) > Sony D5

! R: lineage: MAC > ?? > DAT > HHB 830 CD Recorder (Stand Alone) > ?? > flac1644.

! R: Nice tape, brightness suggestive of improper Dolby decode.

! P: overall I like it less than the night before. Kemper sounds great on this tape. The Sugaree is pretty off the chain, otherwise not much that strikes me as special. The second set clocks in below the Minelli Line.

! historical: Garcia often undertook these compact SoCal tours in the early 80s. This one comprised four nights of earning: Beverly Theatre on Thursday 17th, Irvine Meadows (a very big space for the JGB of the time) on Friday the 18th, Arlington in Santa Barbara on Saturday the 19th, and this show to round things out. A logistics person might have wanted to run it north - south (SB, Reseda, Beverly Hills, Irvine) or the other way around, but I suspect Irvine had to be on the Friday or Saturday, so all bets were off. Robert Hunter opened the last three nights, as far as I am aware.

! P: s1t02 Sugaree in the 9 and 10 this thing is just going nuts. Returning some years or months later: yeah, yeah. Sugaree comes hot out of the gate, and never lets up. Some serious attack variation arises 6:19, goodness still a minute later. Each note has its own little existence, but he constructs half-phrases, half-paragraphs, up and down the fret board, fast-slow, loud and really loud, God damn, Jerry! Jeesus fucking christ, now Kemper 8:35 just CRUSHING to keep up with Jerry and Jerry is running circles like a fucking demon. Crowd is seems to be going crazy 9:10, but Jerry is playing so fucking loud and crazy that it's hard to know. Pure energy happening here. Mamma mia! Now starts some fanning 9:45, and it sounds like he has four hands, because he seems to be fanning chords and picking notes at the same time. Boy. Softens to set up a verse first half of ten, verse comes 10:30. After that verse 11:30 he comps for Melvin, and Kemper @ 12:20, I just love you, man. 

! P: s1t04 I hold my RIRs to very high standards, and this one is not above average.

! P: s1t06 Deal Kemper is a beast here.

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

! P: s2t03 HTC going a mile a minute. Right out of the gate, Kemper sounds awesome, John hits a huge note and a little slide!

! R: s2t04 Gommorah clips in

! P: s2t05 Mid Moon goes a mile a freaking minute, and tempo seems to pick up as the song plays. Kemper needs another leg and a couple of arms to keep up.

! s2t05 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot. See y'all later."

Second Gig for the new Sextet: Rissmiller's 10/27/82

LN jg1982-10-27.jgb.s1s2p.aud-CC.xxxxxx.flac2448

Jerry Garcia Band
Rissmiller's Country Club
18415 Sherman Way
Reseda, CA 91335
October 27, 1982 (Wednesday)
83 min s1s2p Closet Call aud

--set I (7 tracks, 57:16)--
s1t01. crowd and tuning [0:28]
s1t02. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [8:43] %
s1t03. ... They Love Each Other [8:11] [0:08] % [0:32]
s1t04. Valerie [7:34] [0:11] % [0:19]
s1t05. I Second That Emotion [9:57] % [0:09]
s1t06. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [7:53] [0:03] %
s1t07. Dear Prudence [12:57] (1) [0:05] %

--set II (4 tracks, 25:41, presumed incomplete)--
s2t01. crowd and tuning [0:21]
s2t02. Sugaree [11:16] [0:16] %
s2t03. Run For The Roses [5:25] [0:04] % [0:07]
s2t04. Let It Rock [8:12] %

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #15b
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - organ;
! lineup: Greg Errico - drums;

! lineup: Elisecia Wright - vocals;

! lineup: Shirley Faulkner - 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/19821027-03

! db: shnid-137997 (better transfer of source tape noted here)

! map: http://goo.gl/maps/wR2rw

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/06/rissmillers-country-club-reseda-theatre.html

! metadata: This date has been mysterious, for such a contemporary one in such a large media market. It was not mentioned in the McNally-Arnold JG List. As of 12/9/2012, the only hard evidence for this was  the picture (via TJS-RIP) of the Rismiller's marquee, reading "The Jerry Garcia Band Oct 27 28" (seen here). It is surprising that no ticket stubs or participant recollections have emerged. The setlist is similar to what we have from clean provenance for the show on the 28th, but it is not identical. I have compared the two performances and I conclude that this is, indeed, a distinct set of music. I have a theory about what happened: I suspect that this first show was unadvertised (beyond the marquee). Maybe Jerry's people agreed to just a percentage of the door, or something, so they could have a Wednesday-night warmup for the new girls. This is consistent with a broader pattern in the Garcia Band, of breaking in new players midweek and off-the-beaten path. They want to have them broken in before they put 'em before the Keystone regulars.

update20170325: I have now seen the tour documents (at the Grateful Dead Archive at McHenry Library, UC Santa Cruz), and the show can be confirmed.

! R: 4th gen audience cassette (Maxell XLII90, no Dolby) > Nakamichi BX-300 playback (no Dolby) > Pyle Pro cables > WaveTerminal 2496 > Samplitude 10.1 Download Version (record @ 24 bits/48kHz) > CDWave 1.9.8 (tracking) > Adobe Audition 3.0 (cross-fades, etc.) > Traders Little Helper 2.4.1 (FLAC encoding, level 8) (flac2448).

! R: This is fundamentally a nice tape, notwithstanding several cassette gens.

! R: s1t02 HSII badly oversaturated, brickwalled to start. Levels come down about 30 seconds in.

! P: s1t02 HSII Jerry's voice sounds a little wrecked.

! R: s1t03 TLEO fades in, a few beats missing

! P: s1t04 Valerie JG flubs the first verse vocals. Nice vocal inflection on "growled at you". Pretty nice guitar solo 4-minutes in. Doesn't completely ignite at first, but then 4:30ff, late 4-min mark, some fuzz and distortion. Good, not great.

! P: s1t05 ISTE is peppy.

! P: s1t07 DP 9-min mark Jerry's playing is very fluid. He's making perfectly symmetrical circles, which, as anyone who has ever tried to hand-draw one can attest, is not easy to do. Very airy and nice. No rush, but not ponderous. Exploratory.

! R: s1t06 TNTDODD levels way way down

! R: s1t06 splices after song, then returns to the start of "Run For the Roses". I can't tell whether this RFTR fragment is actually from in front ot the RFTR in this fileset (s2t03), and it's just a scrap of tape, but I saved it anyway. Who knows that it is.

! s1t07 (1) "We're gonna take a break. We'll be back in a little while." Good sized crowd.

! P: s2t02 Sugaree Jerry's vocals are very expressive. He sounds engaged. Melvin some nice swirls behind the action during the first verse. JG some nice fanning 8-min mark. Again, late 9-min mark, Jerry is giving the vocals his all. Not bad.

! P: s2t03 RFTR starts off a little tentative. I note that the backing vocalists aren't as present with the oohhh-ooohs and "run for the roses!" exclamations, behind the verses, as they would later become. Noting that this is the second show with the ladies, I would suggest that they don't quite have the arrangement fully worked out. The tentative instrumental and vocal start to the song almost seems to reflect this, as if Jerry needs some fill under his feet to really dig in, as the song requires. It'll be interesting to hear when this particular lineup puts the fuller vocal arrangement in. Of course, the musical execution falls apart once in the 3-min mark, as well. Melvin isn't very audible during the verses either. In some, there are some holes in the sound, especially under and around the verses, that need to be filled. Garcia can't carry it vocally, though he doesn't sound bad yet.

! Disclaimer: This is part of a "Closet Call" project aimed at making missing Garcia dates available for study. These are "warts and all" ... straight transfers of the source cassettes with editing only of the most offensive tape transitions and such. If you don't like hiss, possible speed problems, etc., etc., then move along. And, to anticipate a FAQ: no, I don't plan on doing 16/44s of these. Thanks to wk for supplying these tapes!

! URL: http://jgmf.blogspot.com

JGB: October 27, 1982, Rissmiller's Club, Reseda, CA

Photo credit: Karen Verity

Tapes have circulated dated October 27, 1982 from Rissmiller's Club in Reseda, CA. I seem to recall that at ont point such a date was listed at the Jerry Site and that I myself got the idea that it was bogus and deleted it. I can't remember why. Anyway, the image of the Rissmiller's marquee, above (I'd like to give photo credit, but I don't know where it came from), seems to suggest that there were indeed shows on the 27th and the 28th. Would love to get confirmation from someone who attended and/or knows the story ...

Update: I have posted listening notes from a "Closet Call" audience tape of the 10/27/82 show.

Update2: 100% certain that this gig happened, now having seen various papers around it. https://jerrybase.com/events/19821027-03