GD: November 11, 1970, 46th Street Rock Palace, Brooklyn, NY

From a website on forgotten NY places, which links over to setlist.net, I found this really neat recollection of the GD's November 11, 1970 show at the 46th Street Rock Palace in Brooklyn, NY.

This was possibly one of the weirdest shows I ever saw (but enjoyable nevertheless). It took place on a Weds about 2:30 in the aft (if memory serves). I'd heard it promoted on wnew-fm the day before, so I rounded up at least 10 of my regular deadhead friends and we went to what turned out to be a giant, ornate, old movie palace behind the el in Brooklyn. The theater was basically deserted. We sat in the third row. (I think the band just wanted to rehearse in a big theater(?) because Phil would put down his bass and run around the auditorium, apparently doing sound checks.) Anyway, we were literally half of the audience until a few songs in when a whole group of senior citizens (at least 20) filed in and sat a few rows behind us (not your usual dead crowd!). The 10+ of us noticed them, but didn't know what to make of their presence, so we just carried on as usual (if you know what I mean). Bur for years I wondered what drew them to see the dead? A few years ago, still wondering, I told this story to a dead head who grew up in Brooklyn and he knew the answer. They were from a local senior citizen home and they were on an outing. They had no idea what they were walking into, but the theater had a package deal with the home to get them out and about, and that must have been one of the days they were scheduled to go to that theater to see a movie. They didn't come to see the dead, (but I wonder what they made of them). By the way, the show was pretty good. It must have been because the old folks stayed for the whole thing (or else, weird as it must have been to them, it was better than going back to the home). -Reg the Veg

**update 20150815 to cross reference LIA's post, posting text of a Variety review (see reference below) and LIA's usual amazing commentary.

Jeff. 1970c. Concert Reviews: Grateful Dead. Variety 261 (November 25, 1970): 43. Text and commentary at http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2015/08/november-11-14-1970-46th-street-rock.html, consulted 8/15/2015. [xxx] re: gd 1970-11-11

 

Just for Giggles

On Deadnetcentral (DNC), there used to be ongoing banter between manly lovers of 1977 GD and sissified lovers of 1976. DNC user Chimbley made this up, with apologies to Berkeley Breathed.

(http://pages.cthome.net/chimbley/images/76Weenies-b.jpg)

IMO, it never gets old, and I wanted to preserve it here for posterity. Thanks for helping me laugh many, many times over the years, Chimbley!

JGMS: the show known variously as 1972-06-30, 1972-09-01, 1971-09-01

So for a long time I have been wanting to lay down a marker regarding the dating of the wonderful Garcia/Saunders show that circulates variously as June 30, 1972, September 1, 1972, and (less commonly nowadays), September 1, 1971. I'll concentrate on the former two dates --I have nothing to say about the '71 possibility-- and suggest to you that the correct date for this material is 6/30/72.

Let's revisit the case for 9/1/72. As far as I know, this dating derives exclusively from tape labels, sometimes very old tape labels (such as those in Pat Lee's collection) and sometimes very authoritative ones (such as the ones, I am told, in the Garcia Vault). Unless I am missing something, there has never been any other (kind of) evidence underpinning this date.

Let's also step back a bit. The Keystone Korner surely deserves a post all its own, but that's the sort of thing that others can do much better than I can. All I'll say is that it was operated by Freddie Herrera through June 30, 1972 and taken over by Todd Barkan on July 1, 1972. Soon thereafter (though not instantaneously), Barkan transformed it into an all-jazz format that proved artistically successful if, it seems, financially marginal

The September 1, 1972 dating is infirmed by three primary pieces of evidence, which seem reasonably independent of each other. The first is a "Scenedrome" (calendar) listing from the Berkeley Barb, the date of which I unfortunately seem not to have noted. I produce the scan below. It was done in 600 DPI, so you ought to be able to download and zoom it --check the circled entries-- for closer inspection. It shows Freddie Hubbard booked at the Keystone Korner from Friday, September 1, 1972 through Sunday, September 3.

Second, Todd Barkan confirmed (presumably independent of this particular listing, though perhaps not of KK booking information from 1972) that Hubbard was playing on this date.

Third, in private correspondence Barkan confirmed that Garcia/Saunders played only two KK dates (July 7-8, 1972 -- previously unknown!) under his ownership.

So far, I hope to have persuaded you that the evidence for 9/1/72 was thin to begin with and has completely fallen apart under close scrutiny.

So, what about 6/30/72?  I don't know what the Jerry Site has gathered over the years, but its listing was my initial justification for dating the material 6/30/72. Somewhat miraculously, there is a contemporary account of the show that brings a few pieces of evidence in support of the date and one not in support of it. Joel Selvin (1) reports that on the last night of Herrera's ownership (i.e., 6/30/72), the Garcia-Saunders-Kahn-Vitt-Fogerty quintet opened "their last set at Keystone with lengthy, rousing versions of After Midnight, Money Honey, and an untitled, basically unstructured instrumental" (p.1). The existing tape shows set II to begin with It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (strike), but then indeed proceeds with After Midnight (check), Money Honey (check), and a version of "Are You Lonely For Me Baby?" (call that .5 strike) that melts into a crazy, dissonant, 20+ minute instrumental passage (check) before the tape cuts out. Selvin tells us that Paul Butterfield comes on stage and trades licks with Jerry for 40 minutes at that point, but --alas!-- there seems to be no more tape.

It's possible that these numbers were standard fare for the group around this time. But the coincidences are pretty striking. This date attaches to this music for awhile, and then a contemporary piece comes up that seems to connect them independently. I, for one, am persuaded.

Bottom line, from my perspective: I'll call it 6/30/72, thank you very much. And even if you don't buy that, don't call it 9/1/72, because that ain't it.


REFERENCES:
(1) Joel Selvin, "Jamming for the Hell of It," Night Times vol. 2 no. 20 (issue 29), September 27-October 3, 1972, pp. 1, 3. See page 1 from this post.

GD: 11/28/71, Marin Veterans' Memorial Auditorium, San Rafael, CA (CXL)

"The Grateful Dead will play a benefit [at the Marin Veterans' Memorial Auditorium] on Sunday for the benefit of Head Start."

So saith a "Newgrams" in the Pacific Sun, week of Novmeber 25-December 1, 1971, p. 17.

update: David Davis found an IJ piece indicating the Marin County supes nixed the gig. Reported by LIA in comments below. Reference: "Benefits Banned for Two Weeks," Daily Independent Journal (San Rafael, CA), November 24, 1971, p. 5.

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?

NRPS: June 12-13, 1971, Keystone Korner, San Francisco, CA

So, I discovered this ad for New Riders of the Purple Sage at Keystone Korner on June 12-13, 1971 when going through the Berkeley Barb last summer ... the old fashioned way ... microfilm. Makes my eyes dry up just thinking about it.

All well and good. I assume Jerry was there.and have updated my own list and TJS to reflect this.

But there is some interesting stuff that kind of goes along with this. For example, the "Scenedrome" (calendar) section of the Berkeley Barb, June 6-11, 1971, p. 20, lists Merl Saunders and Tom Fogerty for the New Monk on June 12-13, 1971. (Actually, it lists "Merle Saunders and Tom Rogarty" for the 12th and "Merle Saunders and Tom Fogarty" for the 13th, but you get the idea.) Nothing earth-shattering here: Merl and Tom Fogerty were gigging without Jerry when he was otherwise occupied. I have lots of other dates like that during these years. But it does lay the groundwork for one other little possibility, which I'll try to post about soon.

JGMS: July 10, 1973, Keystone, Berkeley, CA

I have just parsed out the officially released material by release:
Live at Keystone, volume 1 datings;
Live at Keystone, volume 2 datings ;
Live at Keystone, volume 3 (encores) datings

Turning it around, here's the perspective from the shows. This info based on most complete circulating copies. Key is below.

Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
Keystone
Berkeley, CA
July 10, 1973

--Set I--
High Heel Sneakers (3)
Finders Keepers (4)
Harder They Come (1)
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (4)
It's Too Late (3)
My Funny Valentine (4)
Mystery Train (2)

--Set II--
Second That Emotion (3)
Someday Baby (2)
Merl's Tune (1)
It's No Use (1)
Positively 4th Street (1)
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) (4)

- It's No Use: album version has a piano overdub.
- 4th Street: album version has a mandolin overdub.
 - The parenthesized numbers refer to officially released (CD) material:
- (1) appears on Live at the Keystone, vol. 1 (Fantasy FCD 7701-2).
- (2) appears on Live at the Keystone, vol. 2 (Fantasy FCD 7702-2).
- (3) appears on Keystone Encores (Fantasy FCD 7703-2).
- (4) not on any of the releases.

JGMS: Live at Keystone, vol. 3 (encores) datings

Keystone Encores
Merl Saunders / Jerry Garcia / John Kahn / Bill Vitt
Initial release : 1988
Fantasy FCD 7703-2

*Hi-Heel Sneakers (Robert Higgenbotham) [7/10/73]
*It's Too Late (She's Gone) (Chuck Willis) [7/10/73]
*I Second That Emotion (William Robinson / Al Cleveland) [7/10/73]
*One Kind Favor (Traditional) [7/11/73]
*Money Honey (Jesse Stone) [unknown, presumed to be 7/11/73]
*How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) (Hollan / Dozier / Holland) [7/11/73]

JGMS: Live at Keystone, vol. 2 datings

Live at the Keystone, Volume 2
Merl Saunders / Jerry Garcia / John Kahn / Bill Vitt
Initial release : 1988

Fantasy FCD 7702-2

* That's Alright Mama (Arthur Crudup) [7/11/73, album comes in @ 5:19]
* My Funny Valentine (Rodgers / Hart) [7/11/73]
* Someday Baby (Sam Hopkins) [7/10/73]
* Like A Road Leading Home (Nix / Penn) [7/11/73]
* Mystery Train (Junior Parker / Sam Philips) [7/10/73]

JGMS: Live at Keystone, vol. 1 datings

Seeing a new torrent for 1973-07-10 at Lossless Legs reminds me that deaddisc.com has not included the information on dates from which the different performances derive. So I will post them. Here's volume one (CD release).

Live at the Keystone, Volume 1
Merl Saunders / Jerry Garcia / John Kahn / Bill Vitt
Initial release : 1988
Fantasy FCD 7701-2

*Keepers (Merl Saunders / John Kahn) [7/11/73]
*Positively 4th Street (Bob Dylan) [7/10/73]
*The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff) [7/10/73]
*It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (Bob Dylan) [7/11/73]
*Space (Merl Saunders / Jerry Garcia / John Kahn / Bill Vitt) [7/11/73, from 6:27-10:11 of Merl's Tune]
*It's No Use (Clark / McGuinn) [7/10/73]
*Merl's Tune (Merl Saunders / White) [7/10/73]

JGMS, August 24, 1974, venue confusion

August 1974 is one of Jerry's greatest months. Between the killer GD shows at the star of the month and all of the incredible Garcia/Saunders shows (8/31/74 is right at the top of my desert island list), it really is incredible. But I am confused about a few of the details from this month.

I'll start with my confusion surrounding the venue for the Saturday, August 24, 1974 Jerry Garcia/Merl Saunders gig, identifed as having taken place at the Great American Music Hall (GAMH).

Here is what three good sources of local listings show at the GAMH on Saturday, August 24, 1974:

• Hayward Daily Review, August 23, 1974, p. 44 (calendar listing): JGMS
• Berkeley Barb, August 23-29, 1974, p. 24 (calendar): Max Collie's Rhythm Aces
• San Francisco Phoenix, August 29, 1974, p. 9 (display ad): Max Collie's Rhythm Aces
• Oakland Tribune, August 23, 1974, p. 19 ("Weekend Scene" calendar): JGMS
  

My confusion was heightened by a reference to an Ethiopian famine relief concert at Berkeley Community Theater on this date (1), but this clearly seems like a misprint and refers to the Friday, August 23rd concert at that venue and it no longer concerns me (though it is slightly odd).

A recording (one cassette gen off the 10" master reels, presumably taped by Betty) circulates as GAMH, so I guess we should continue to believe that JGMS played the GAMH on 8/24 and remain agnostic about Max Collie's whereabouts.

REFERENCES:
(1) UPI, "Ethiopians cite famine," Hayward Daily Review, August 22, 1974, p. 37.

'On the floor like dying fish' - and NRPS w/o Jerry (5/29/71)

May 29, 1971 is infamous for the fact that lots of people had an adverse reaction to the liquid refreshments, which were apparently distributed from a 35-gallon trash container set onto the concert floor during an intermission. 35 people were sent to the hospital "with all of the symptoms of bad trips" ("Winterland on Probation")) The mayhem is described by an eyewitness ("Winterland--on the floor like dying fish"):

A girl in front of us ... fell down on the floor and started to put things in her mouth. She would pick up tin cans, papers, socks, garbage and anything else that was on the floor. She threw up all over and then tried to take her clothes off. People were freaking out all over the place. It was like people were being shot down. People would fall down and struggle to get to their feet again. One guy fell on about five people and they all fell like dominoes. ... Time actually halted as if we were dead. Jane and I were the only ones standing in a five foot radius while the people around us were squirming on the floor like dying fish.

For JGMF purposes, I just want to note that the New Riders came out sans Jerry and only played one song, "Honky Tonk Women."  So take 5/29/71 w/ NRPS off your Jerry lists if you keep it there.

REFERENCES:
! ref: "Winterland--'on the floor like dying fish'," Berkeley Barb, June 11-17, 1971, p. ?4;
! JGMF: JGMF. 2010. "NRPS: May 29, 1971, Winterland, SF," Jerry Garcia's Middle Finger, January 2, 2010, URL http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/01/nrps-may-29-1971-winterland-sf.html, consulted 2/3/2012.
! expost: UPI, "1,000 At Concert Drink LSD-Spiked Cider," Los Angeles Times, June 1, 1971, p. C7;
! mention: "Bay Sounds," Oakland Tribune, May 26, 1971, p. 25;
! expost: Smith 197 1 ("Bad Trips at Rock Hall");
! expost: Wasserman 1971 ("Winterland Trip");
! expost: "Winterland on Probation," San Francisco Chronicle, August 11, 1971, p. 2.

Garcia's unidentified guests

Unidentified guests on Garcia shows. Updated 12/27/2019.

LLD's post on flute players with the GD got me thinking to the vexing question of the unidentified trumpet player on the Pure Jerry vol. 4 release (Keystone, "9/1/74"), which got me thinking to other unidentified guests on Jerry (non-GD) shows. So I figured I'd post a list and see what, if anything, turns up.

- NRPS 1970-07-07, Matrix, SF: "Bev" partners with Nelson for the vocals on "Long Black Veil." Corry: "I have been thinking about the guest vocalist on "Long Black Veil." My initial nominee would be Beverly Bivens, former lead singer of the group We Five (who hit it big in '65 with Sylvia Tyson's "You Were On My Mind"). The We Five are generally lumped with The Mamas And The Papas and those sorts of groups, but the band members were well connected to the Fillmore/Avalon bands. Bivens had left the We Five in 1967, despite their success, due to management issues. She had married bassist Fred Marshall in 1966, and she largely stepped away from professional music after 1967."

- JGMS 1972-12-28, Lion's Share, San Anselmo: trumpet (check which songs). Dave Tamarkin remembers this as a "trumpet player who just walked up out of the crowd."

- JGMS 1973-07-05, Lion's Share, San Anselmo: trumpet player for set II. DNC user "sl halper" says this: "The trumpet player is almost certainly the same guy who's on Pure Jerry 4; he pulls out all the same quotes and is especially heavy with his attempts to play John Coltrane's Resolution over the jam on d3t2 [Merl's Tune]."

- JGMS 1973-07-19, Great American Music Hall: harmonica player.

- JGMS 1973-10-02, Winterland, SF: trumpet player. Wolfgang's Vault says this is Bill Atwood, based on a suggestion by Corry Arnold. Bill Atwood chimes in in comments noting that Joe Ellis did the fall '73 GD tour trumpet playing (with Martin Fierro on sax), and suggests that this might be Ellis.

- JGMS 1974-02-05, Great American Music Hall: commenter extraordinaire runonguinness says in comments that there might be a second saxophonist, especially audible last three minutes of "My Funny Valentine". I need to revisit.

- JGMS 1974-02-16, Keystone, Berkeley: conga player (I guess Armando Peraza) and second guitarist.

- JGMS 1974-07-12, Keystone, Berkeley: guitar player. David Grisman shows up on mandolin and Martin is absent, so the lineup is definitely funky this night. Also on the bill is Locomotiv G.T., about which I know nothing, but which could of course have supplied the guest. I also wonder about Paul Pena, who was on the bill a lot during this period. Corry doubts either of these possibilities, suggesting it might be someone close to Grisman, possibly David Nichtern.

- JGMS 1974-08-15, Great American Music Hall: trumpet player

- JGMS "1974-09-01" (really 1974-08-28) Keystone, Berkeley: trumpet player. The Pure Jerry release (#4) is a composite of more than one show. The trumpet player is only partly unidentified, as I understand that his first name was Michael.

- JGMS 1974-09-02, Golden Gate Park: second horn player, maybe Snooky Flowers?

- JGMS 1974-10-27, Golden Bear, Huntington Beach: circulating tapes list the guests as Ringo and Maria Muldaur. I only know of one Ringo, but have no idea if this is him. Need to revisit.

- JGMS 1974-12-28, Golden Bear, Huntington Beach: attendee RD comments that a trumpeter blew some at the end of "Freedom Jazz Dance". Need to check tape.

- JGB 1977-01-29, 1977-01-30, Keystone, Berkeley: there is a rhythm guitar player. I now know who this was, but am saving it for the book.

- JGB 1977-04-09, Keystone Palo Alto: again, a second guitarist. As with 1/29 and 1/30.

- Reconstruction 1979-01-30, Keystone, Berkeley: female vocal accompanist on "Do I Move You?"

GD: September 15-16, 1972, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY (CANCELED)

Security & related concerns among the citizenry led to the cancellation of these shows in late August. Advanced ticket sales had already been underway, with ca. 4,000 ducats sold.

GD would end up at Boston Music Hall for these dates ... not a bad landing, though presumably much, much smaller.

REFERENCES

Red Wildy, "SPAC Postponing the Grateful Dead," Schenectady Gazette, August 30, 1972, p. 14 (accessed via Google News).
"2 Grateful Dead Concerts Canceled on Security Issue," New York Times, August 31, 1972, p. 27.

GD: March/April 1971, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL (CANCELED)

More early '71 scheduling stuff:

"The Grateful Dead pulled a last-minute cancellation at Northern Illinois University a few weeks ago."

This was in an article published on May 7, 1971 (1). So depending on the meaning of "a few weeks", it could have been in March, when the GD were in Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, canceled in Chicago, and Iowa. It could also have been April, but given the locations I think March seems more likely.

REFERENCE

(1) Larry Lujack, "Rock: A DJ's status report," Chicago Tribune, May 7, 1971, p. B11.

GD: January 31, 1971, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA (CANCELED)

Not much to say here, just another monkey wrench in the early '71 touring works for the GD.

A student committee agreed in November 1970 to try to bring the GD out for January 31, 1971. Somewhere along the line a Jefferson Airplane concert took place that offended the University administration's sensibilities. It seems that the administration pocket-vetoed the show by just never working to get the contract signed. No show.

REFERENCES

Curt Harler, "UDG Discusses Plans," Daily Collegian (Penn State University), January 12, 1971 (accessed via Google News);
Karen Carnabucci and Bonnie Shok, "Lewis' rock show committee criticized by concert sponsors," Daily Collegian (Penn State University), January 29, 1971 (accessed via Google News).

GD: July 3-4, 1970, Aragon Ballroom, Chicago (CANCELED)

Grateful Dead
Aragon Ballroom
Chicago, IL
July 3-4, 1970

CANCELED

The Aragon Ballroom, at 1106 Lawrence Avenue, Chicago, was reportedly leased by American Tribal Productions in spring 1970 in order to put on "monster rock shows" (1). A mention is made of restoring the venue to its "pre-Cheetah" condition, leading me to wonder if this same location was one of the Cheetah venues. (I had thought LLD or Rock Prosopography or Rock Archaeology had posted on the Cheetahs, but I can't find it if so.) Shows under the new management were to have begun on May 1, 1970.

The Grateful Dead, It's a Beautiful Day, Aum and Rare Bird were said to be appearing on July 3-4, 1970 (1). A second article mentions that a Dayton, Ohio band called Green Lyte Sunday will appear with the GD (2), though this band is not mentioned in later listings of summer music events (3). As late as July 3rd (4) the show is still slated to happen. On July 4, 1970, the Tribune runs the following item (5):

The Grateful Dead, originally scheduled to headline the monster rock concert at the Aragon last night, was delayed by customs at the Canadian border. American Tribal Productions continued with the curtailed bill --It's a Beautiful Day, Aum, and Rare Bird-- at reduced price and promises a special Grateful Dead concert soon.

I have no postscript to this. I couldn't find any reference to a makeup show, though of course the GD did come back to Chicago for a show at the Syndrome on November 27, 1970. No idea whether that's related in any way.

Two further things to say, one small and one big.

First, small: the context of the above suggests that the July 4th show was canceled, too.

Second, bigger: weren't the GD in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on July 3, 1970? Isn't a bunch of the footage from "Festival Express," including Jerry sitting in with Ian & Sylvia, from that date? There is nighttime footage, IIRC. If that's true, then how could the GD have been expecting to play in Chicago on July 3? Either we have something wrong about the Festival Express dates, or the GD double-booked themselves for this night (perhaps also implying that the alleged border problem was concocted to cover some asses), or something else is screwy. Thoughts?

(1) Peter Gorner, "Rocking at the Aragon," Chicago Tribune, April 25, 1970, p. S12.
(2) Peter Gorner, "Some Competition for B,S & T's Spot," Chicago Tribune, May 24, 1970, p. F4.
(3) Linda Winer, "The Long, Rockin' Summer," Chicago Tribune, June 21, 1970, p. G3; see also entertainment calendar in Chicago Tribune, June 28, 1970, p. G2.
(4) Chicago Tribune, July 3, 1970, p. B2.
(5) "Music Note," Chicago Tribune, July 4, 1970, p. S10.

GD: July 4, 1974, Titan Stadium, Oshkosh, WI (CXL)

A mention in the Chicago Tribune of June 20, 1974 (1) notes that tickets are still available for the GD's July 4th show at 10,000 seat Titan Stadium in Oshkosh, WI. I had though Corry had written this up over at Lost Live Dead, but I don't see it there so I thought I'd at least put down a marker.

This would have been a reasonable time for Jerry et al. to swing through Wisconsin, having ended the GD June tour in the northeast Nice easy stop to make on the way back home. A very perceptive local account (Branigan 1974) explains that the GD had dropped out of a prospective "July 4th superconcert" in Columbus, OH, with The Band and Eric Clapton, potentially dropping them into the laps of some industrious young Oshkosh promoters, who had been chasing Three Dog Night.


Campus and athletic department officials approved the event, and it was ticketed:

(from psilo.com)

Tickets were going quickly: 15,000 tickets sold over 11 days in Chicago alone, thousands more in other upper midwest towns. Attendance expectations rose to 30,000, and apparently the good burghers of Oshkosh got worried about lots of Dirty Fucking Hippies coming to town. Bratigan (1974) gives some great color. Local homeowners threatened to block an awaiting rezoning petition that would have held up some university athletic facilities -- how that's kicking 'em where it hurts! The local Kiwanas worried about the impact on their annual bratfest and fireworks beerbash. "We don't have enough brat for 30,000 hippies and us too!", said one local.

The university caved. Those town-gown relations can be very delicate. Apparently an alternative venue, the Loft golf course and nightclub in Fitchburg, was selected, agreed, and advertised at some point, but that one, too, was blocked when a local neighbor sued to stop the show. According to (3), "on the eve of the Fourth of July, the promoter [Zoom Productions of Chicago] apparently decided to abandon the whole idea." A column (2) the day of the show says that "Today's Grateful Dead concert ... has been postponed until Saturday [ed: July 6th] at 2 p.m. and relocated at [sic] the Ridgewood Trace Park in Madison." This doesn't seem to have happened, either.

In the end, Bratigan reports that "The Grateful Dead spent four wonderful days and nights in the Pioneer Inn" watching the lightning, victims of "a complicated dance of politics and home-grown fear". We know that Jerry was in NYC playing with Merl on the 1st-2nd-3rd (see Corry, nick), and I doubt the band was stuck in Oshkosh (though the roadies, quippies, and bag-men might have been). But who knows?

By way of unhappy postscripts to this saga, later we get reports (4, see left) that the GD is suing the promoters .




REFERENCES
(1) Gold, Aaron. Tower Ticker. Chicago Tribune, June 20, 1974, p. B2.
(2) Gold, Aaron. Tower Ticker. Chicago Tribune, July 4, 1974, p. C2.
(3) Boxoffice, July 22, 1974, p. 49, via issuu.com.
(4) "Grateful Dead Seeks Damages," Billboard, v87 n1, January 4, 1975, p. 3 (via Google Books).
(5)  Branigan, Brian. 1974. A Dead 4^th of July. Unknown publication (WI).

GD: April 12, 1971, Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, PA

Funny ... I didn't have this show in my spreadsheet, came across it and wrote a post, only to see that it's listed at Deadlists and boasts a gorgeous Miller sbd over at the LMA.

Heh Heh.

I guess all I can salvage is that tickets were still available as of the day of the show (1).

Heh heh.

REFERENCES:

(1) George Anderson, "Stage and Screen: Valdez is Coming at Gateway," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 12, 1971, p. 22. Accessed via Google News.

GD: ca. December 27, 1970, canyon east of Laguna Beach, CA

It seems that a rather loosely organized hippie gathering took place in a Canyon (presumably Laguna Canyon) east of Laguna Beach, CA starting on Christmas in 1970 and ending on Monday, 12/28. It was broken up by city police, who in good Orange Curtain fashion sang "Here Comes Santa Clause" as they rousted sleeping hippies and dropped them off at the city limits.

According to the report (1), the Grateful Dead came to play, but were "not permitted through the barricades, which were set up to halt the heavy flow of traffic into Laguna Beach." The report isn't clear about the day on which this occurred. The GD were playing Legion Stadium in El Monte, about 60 miles away, from 12/26-28, so whatever day it was --I'll assume Sunday, 12/27-- they presumably came out during the day time. I bet it would have been a good ol' time, but, alas, it was not to be.

REFERENCE:

Gordon Grant and William Endicott, "Stragglers Sound Final Notes at Laguna Beach Rock Festival," Los Angeles Times, December 29, 1970, pp. A1, A3.

GD: December 18-20, 1970, Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY, reschedule for February 1971

I guess these are famously canceled Dead shows, so nothing really new here. The (IMO terribly overrated) February 1971 GD run at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY was actually rescheduled from December 18-20, 1970. According to Deadlists, "There is tape in circulation of a radio ad announcing and apologizing for the cancellation ("The Port Chester Apology").


The reasoning laid out in the display announcement posted to the left, whereby the GD feels that "they cannot return east without new music for the people,"  sounds a little bit specious to me, but maybe I am being too cynical. It's certainly true that they busted out a whole host of new tunes when they did get to Port Chester in February.


And as a Jerry-on-the-side guy, I am just as pleased to contemplate David and the Dorks at the Matrix on 12/20 than just another GD show, especially if it was to be as tedious as I find the 2/71 Port Chester shows to be.

GD: November 18, 1970, Montreal Forum, Montreal, QC, Canada (CANCELED)

Political unrest in Quebec in the fall of 1970 caused cancellation of a GD show scheduled for November 18, 1970 at the Montreal Forum. Promoter Ken Walker of Toronto (who had dealt with a little show-related unrest as one of the "Festival Express" principals earlier in the year) seemed to be assigned responsibility, rather than the band or someone else, but who knows.

REFERENCE:

"Poco Show Canceled," Montreal Gazette, October 20, 1970, p. 48. Accessed via Google News.

GD: October 17, 1970, Cleveland Music Hall, Cleveland, OH

I can't seem to post to Deadlists anymore and no-one over there answers my emails asking to be added to the list or whatever. Anyway, here's a bit of setlist info about the GD 10/17/70 show in Cleveland.

Casey Jones (early in the show, maybe an opener? reviewer missed it by arriving late)
Good Lovin' (reviewer mentions an old Rascals tune being sung by Pigpen ... gotta be GL, right?)
Lovelight
Encore: Uncle John's Band

REFERENCE:
Gary Thornbloom, "If You Would Just Take The Time To," Nittany Cub (Penn State University), October 22, 1970, unknown page. Accessed via Google News.

GD: 1970 "Caravan of Love" tour

Found this fascinating little tidbit (1) that evokes a number of things worth mentioning:

The Grateful Dead are traveling eastward across the country on their Caravan of Love, en route to an Aug. 25th appearance at the Isle of Wight Music Festival. The Dead would like to liven up the Washington area with a free concert on Aug. 22, but are having a tough time finding a place to do it. The ideal place would be the Sylvan Theater, but it's being used for a production of "The Tempest."

Why is this worth mentioning?

First, there's the possibility of the 8/22 free concert. By my reckoning, Jerry was at Heider's in San Francisco on 8/21 (scheduled to work on "50 States of Freedom" and "Oh Mommy" in a 5-9 p.m. session for what would become Brewer & Shipley's Tarkio) and at the Matrix on 8/24 with Howard Wales.

Second, related but more broadly, there's the funny notion that the GD were "traveling eastward across the country." In the two months prior to the writing of this article the GD had been in the Bay Area; Hawaii; Bay Area; Memphis; Bay Area; Port Chester, then E-W from Toronto to Calgary on the Festival Express; Bay Area; Southern Illinois; Fillmore East; Bay Area. Through August they would mostly be in the Bay Area (with a quick jog down to San Diego). If caravans had worked like that on the Silk Road Queen Elizabeth would have been wearing cotton, I daresay.

Third, I had never heard of the Caravan of Love. On a quick Google I found the following from dead.net, the filename of which attaches it to the date of July 25, 1970:

The July 25th date (here's a direct link to the large size of the image) does suggest that the "Caravan of Love" was the way they were going to market things. Probably a groovy wrinkle on "Festival Express". Tom Zito of the Washington Post writing about this may just mean that he got the memo, so to speak.

Fourth, for the record I believe 8/22 would have been the GD's first appearance in Washington, DC. As it happened, that ended up taking place on October 23rd at Georgetown.

Fifth, I am fascinated by the assumption here that the GD were playing the Isle of Wight in 1970 (on 8/25). The festival seems to have been the last week of August. Does anyone know more about this? Were they scheduled to, but bailed out? (Perhaps they needed to finish the album?) Was this just wishful thinking? Just wrong?

Anyway, music business sure seemed like a pretty fluid proposition ca. 1970, all right.

REFERENCES:
(1) Tom Zito, "Rock Notes: Caravan of Love," Washington Post, August 3, 1970, p. B6.

GD: Sikeston, MO, September 4-6, 1970 (CANCELED)

Grateful Dead
Sikeston, MO
September 4-6, 1970

TENTATIVE/PLANNED/CANCELED

Small-town America was not happy with the thought of hosting hordes of obscene, lawless, hideous, dangerous, dirty, violent and *young* rock festival-goers in 1970. One such festival  planned for near Sikeston, MO for the (Labor Day) weekend of September 4-6, 1970. Bands listed on an advertising circular included Three Dog Night, Grand Funk Railroad, and the Grateful Dead.

Apparently an injunction was ordered and the kibosh was put on the whole thing. It seems from the article referenced below that the groups had yet to be contacted, although it also says that the promoters had an 8/15 deadline for putting down a deposit to book the groups.

Looking at the GD's schedule from this time, it is pretty remarkable that they had no gig on Labor Day weekend 1970. Even considering that they were working on American Beauty around this time, that would seem to be a pretty lucrative weekend at which big outdoor concerts might offer a worthwhile payday. God knows the GD needed the money around that time, too, what with Lennie Hart and all that. So it does lead me to wonder if they indeed had planned on doing a gig that fell through.

REFERENCE:

"Rock fest promoters say time worst enemy," The Southeast Missourian, August 12, 1970, pp. 1, 8. Accessed via Google News.

GD: May xx (between 23rd and 30th), 1970, Northwestern University (TENTATIVE)

Grateful Dead
Northwestern University
Evanston, IL
May xx (between 23rd and 30th), 1970

PLANNED

Not sure it can be called a canceled gig, since this report characterizes plans as tentative. Furthermore, it might well have happened and we just don't know about it.

Further Productions, a Northwestern University student group, was hoping to book the GD for an outdoor gig at a weeklong campus festival planned for May 23-30, 1970. We know the GD were in the UK on 5/24 and though I show a Garcia/Wales gig on 5/25/70 at the Matrix, my next reasonable listing for Jerry is June 1 with Howard Wales at the Matrix. I don't know what's known about their itinerary after the Newcastle Performance, but it certainly seems plausible that the GD could have swung back through Chicago on their way home and played Northwestern, for example on the weekend of Friday (29th) - Saturday (30th).

Recollections one way or the other might be the way to confirm or deny that it happened.

REFERENCE:
"Zappa and Mothers Give Two Concerts Wednesday," Chicago Tribune, May 3, 1970, p. F7.

GD: May 9, 1970, Ocala, FL (CANCELED)

Grateful Dead
Southeastern Livestock Pavilion
Ocala, FL
May 9, 1970
CANCELED

Hard to know if this was ever finalized or not, but things sound certain enough as I read them.

Apparently two fellows known as Ed Sanford and Lee Smith, both of Ocala, had countercultural leanings (my supposition) and planned a "New Renaissance Faire" for the armpit ... errr ... fair city of Ocala, FL on  May 9, 1970.

The Grateful Dead were to be the featured act, to perform along with Florida bands such as the Ecumenical Drug Stores (Ocala), The Brick Wall (Ocala), The Riff (Gainesville), Brother and Lmpnt (??) (Tampa), "and a yet unnamed group associated with the underground newspaper Amazing Grace of Tallahassee" (1).

Not sure whether the Faire happened, but the GD performed that date at Worcester Policytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA.

REFERENCE:
(1) "Rock Concert Scheduled for Ocala," Ocala Star-Banner, March 3, 1970, p. 2B. Accessed via Google News.

GD: April 1-3, 1969, Dinner Key Auditorium, Miami, FL (CANCELED)

Grateful Dead
Dinner Key Auditorium
Miami, FL
April 1-3, 1969
CANCELED

A three-day happening from April 1-3, 1969 at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami was canceled after the March 1st onstage antics and subsequent arrest for lewd and lascivious behavior, indecdent exposure, and other charges of the Doors' Jim Morrison. The decision to deny permission for the event was made by one George MacLean, lessee of the auditorium from the city, who noted that participants proposed for the happening were "the same type people and the same type music as The Doors" (1).

"The Expanded Spiritual Music Concert", was to involve a showing of the Jeebus-themed film "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and musical performances by "groups such as" the Grateful Dead, Country Joe and the Fish, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Steve Miller Band, Sweetwater, Joe Smith and the Believers, and the New Rhythm and Blues Quartet.

The "Easter Rock" event promoters ("Together Productions") sought an injunction to allow the show to proceed, but were denied in March by a Dade County Circuit Judge (2). It seems not to have helped that at least one of the promoters had an outstanding warrant for illegal drugs possession.

REFERENCES:

(1) "Easter Program with Rock Groups is Banned in Miami," Herald-Tribue, March 19, 1969, p. 16, retrieved via Google News.
(2) Barbara Malone, "'Easter Rock' Producers Lose Court Round," Miami News, March 20, 1969, pp. 3A-4A, retrieved via Google News.

Mickey and the Hartbeats, October 1968

Someday I may write up a post about these shows that I love so much and that are so central to my thinking. But for now I just wanted to show off the poster I splurged and bought myself.

Updates:

! note: Note the misdating to 1969 by Grushkin's AOR.

! ref: AOR 2.118: October Calendar; The Matrix, San Francisco, 1969 [sic]; Artists: George Chacona, Marty Rice (Grushkin 1987, 166).

! ref: Grushkin, Paul. 1987. The Art of Rock: Posters from Presley to Punk. Artworks photographed by Jon Sievert. New York: Abbeville Press Publishers.

! note: Note dates 10/8/68, 10/9/68, 10/10/68, for searchability.

! seealso: "Hartbeats as Tempo Etudes," http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2012/11/ln-jg1968-10-30hartbeats163minssbd.html.

GD: October 12, 1969, The Meadow, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY (CANCELED)

Via Google News, found this in the Village Voice:

Now, I show "Jerry Garcia and Friends" at the Matrix on this date, based on the list of Matrix gigs shared by former venue manager Gary Jackson. I presume that to represent the New Riders, though I just don't know. I have no particular reason to think that the gig happened, and nothing more than what's reproduced above. So I'll assume it didn't happen and file it under canceled gigs (which I take to include ones that were planned, but only tentatively).

GD: early 1971 logistical difficulties

I am sure there are more, but I am just putting down a marker to keep track of canceled/rescheduled/uncertain early '71 GD shows

• canceled (or maybe only tentatively planned?) shows on March 5-6 in New Haven, CT (Thomas 1970).
• show at Franklin & Marshall College reschedule from March 6 (busy day!) to April 10th (Weiner 1971). I thought I read somewhere that the GD claimed to F&M people that their entire March 1971 itinerary had been canceled, but now I can't find that information.
• canceled March 19, 1971 at the Syndrome in Chicago, as documented by Corry.
• uncertain April 2, 1971 show at Kent State, as discussed by Corry.

REFERENCES

1. Thomas, Robert McG Jr. 1970. Yale Prom Gives Way After a 127-Year Run. New York Times, December 12, 1970, p. 12.
2. Weiner, Jimi. 1971. Grateful Dead to Appear in March. Franklin and Marshall College Reporter, January 12, 1971, p. 1.

Blogger sucks

Really, the formatting issues and such are terrible.

That's all.

GD/NRPS: March 21, 1971, Expo Milwaukee Convention Center, Milwaukee, WI

March 1971 is an interesting one to me re the GD. It's overlooked between the (overrated, IMO) Port Chester shows of February and the college and Fillmore East shows of April. Given my taste for the obscure, I'd naturally be drawn to it.

Musically, and thus most importantly, it has one of the most unusual appearances of 1971: a raging 15+-minute Caution -> Feedback tucked inside an otherwise standard (i.e., no major jams) early '71 show at the Fox Theatre, St. Louis on March 18th. .Huh? Anyway, homey says check it out. The tapes also sounds great since I think they were multitracking at least some of the shows for what would become Skullfuck.

The logistics of this time period are marginally interesting. I have posted about this separately.

I thought it noteworthy that NRPS played, while I had never seen this on lists before. But I see that the New Riders concert history for 1971 has been updated with lots of gigs. The Jerry Site will get a once-over in view of this.

Anyway, I started this post wanting to note a few things about March 21, 1971. Here are a few things not apparent (or different) from Deadlists, and/or otherwise noteworthy.

• also appearing: the Ox (apparently a Milwaukee band)
• the venue is consistently referred to as the Expo Milwaukee Convention Center. Carman (1971) gives the address as 4805 South 2nd Street, though I also found the address as 4747. It seems to have been attached to the Red Carpet Inn. (Cue Wimpy: "Ahh, the red carpet treatment ... this is obviously the superior establishment.")
  
• venue capacity is given at 2,500, while attendance was estimated at about 5,000. Sounds like it was dangerously packed.
• Jensen (1971) says that the GD performed "And We Bid You Goodnight". This was presumably the encore/final song.
• Deadlists says "This is the complete show, there was no second set (the band had to catch a plane)", but there is no mention of this in the many discussions of the show in the Milwaukee papers. Where does this information come from. 

A few further trivia:

• The Bugle-American v2 no.11 (#24) of March 18-24, 1971 has a nice spread in its second section. Three photos by Mark Goff appear (my photocopy is too dark to make scanning worthwhile, I think). One is of Jerry backstage, a second is of the serious crowding at the venue entrance, and the third looks to be a terrific shot taken right over Jerry's shoulder, past Marmaduke as the NRPS play. I'd like to track down this photog, or at least this photo, because it looks like a real keeper.
• Another oddity that I stumbled across, with methodological consequences, is that the version of the Milwaukee Journal available at the Google News archive is different, with different content, from some other versions floating around. Take March 22, 1971. Google News has the "latest edition". I don't know what edition I have (my photocopy is truncated in the key spot), but the content is also different, and some of it doesn't seem to exist in Google News. I obtained my photocopies from the Milwaukee Public Library using its (not inexpensive) research service. Carman (1971) appears as the front page of that day's newspaper from that source. A search on various other content from my photocopy turns up empty on Google News. Nothing we can do about it, but just caveat lector: if you are looking for something that should be in Google News but isn't, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. The Google is not all-knowing even with respect to the sources that it archives.

REFERENCES

1. Carman, John. 1971. Rock Show a harbinger in Battle for Youth Park? Milwaukee Journal, March 22, 1971, pp. 1, 3. 
2. Jensen, Dean. 1971. Lively Bash by Grateful Dead Has Jugs of Wine, Little Verse. Milwaukee Sentinel, March 22, 1971, p. 5.

GD/NRPS: November 23, 1970, Anderson Theatre (Hells Angels Benefit)

-->
Crossland, Chip. 1970. Hells Angels Presents The Grateful Dead. East Village Other v1, n1, pp. 10-11. Publication info from my copy uncertain.

I believe I got this from Joey Newlander. There was no publication information, but the reference, which comes from Deadlists, is probably correct.

Pretty hilarious write-up. My only real purpose is to make setlist notes, since Deadlists doesn't list much. A pantomime artist opened --Crossland is appropriately blown away by the surreal juxtaposition of a mime at a Hells Angels party--, followed by the New Riders, then the GD.



NRPS
unknown number of unidentified tunes
Mama Tried (w/ Bob Weir)
Cathy's Clown (w/ Bob Weir)
The Weight


Grateful Dead
three songs unknown to Crossland ("probably new")
Me and Bobby McGee
In the Midnight Hour
Not Fade Away
Casey Jones
unidentified ballad, Garcia vocal
Uncle John's Band

Deadlists evinces some uncertainty about the context in which Cathy's Clown was played ("Bobby sang Cathy's Clown at one point, perhaps with NRPS"), but it's perfectly clear from the Crossland review that this was the New Riders. The Weight is clearly identified as the last New Riders tune, though it's not clear if Bobby was involved.

Deadlists surmises that Bobby McGee "must have been the NRPS version", but this is belied by the context of the review. It's GD (by my reckoning using current Deadlists data, this would be only the second time the GD played it, though of course there could be undiscovered versions). Crossland misidentifies Pigpen as Phil Lesh in discussing Midnight Hour ... hard to imagine Philip wanting somepin' to drink and promising to cream on his lady!

The order of the rest of the songs is uncertain, though it does seem like UJB closed the show.

protest signs

The HuffPo has posted a gallery of pretty hilarious protest signs.

My favorite one isn't in there, so I post it below for my own enjoyment, and that of any other morans who may view it.

JGB on the Chuckie V

JGB, USS Carl Vinson (SF Bay), March 6, 1987

On March 6, 1987, the Jerry Garcia Band played a gig at probably its most unexpected location, aboard the U.S.S. Carl Vinson, which was apparently harbored in Alameda.

There's a tape of it, available in a basic version and a remastered version, done by sirmick.

etree user jg714829 comments on the basic version that

jerry had to play this show as part of his comunity [sic] service for getting arrested the year before in golden gate park. 

etree user STICKMON63 relates the following:

I have a friend of a friend, named Matt who was the photographer for "The Eagle" the ship's newspaper who took some photos of this show and had a hand held tape recorder that he had recorded the show with. He had sent us a copy of the tape but the quality was terrible. He said there were only 20-30 in attendance, mostly officers who were required to be there and most looked like they were not having a very good time. Matt said he had a blast & danced his ass off. He sent us a copy of "The Eagle" dated 3/10/87 that had a short interview w/Jerry and a couple of photos from the show......this show was supposedly part of Jerry's "comunity service work" as a result of his drug bust in SF back in 85

update: this contains at least two errors: 1) there were thousands in attendance, and 2) this had nothing to do with post-Bust community service, which Jerry undertook on 8/27/85.

I have just put in a Navy FOIA request and hope to learn more. I'll update if/when I hear anything, but in the meantime I am all ears for any info that might come up!

Nice Blazer, Kid

JGJK: Eisenhower Auditorium, Penn State University, November 16, 1984

Archives of the Penn State Daily Collegian are available online at http://digitalnewspapers.libraries.psu.edu/, which might prove useful for others (I have found lots of Jerry-related stuff).

Just for giggles, I thought I'd post this little snippet from the police blotter over the weekend of the Jerry Garcia/John Kahn show (Robert Hunter opening) at Eisenhower Auditorium on 11/16/84:


Tee hee.

Good scheme, too bad it didn't work. Also funny to me because it's so east coast. Hard to imagine anyone at, say, CU-Boulder thinking a university blazer would draw attention away from them. :)

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JGMS: Bo Jangle's, SF, February 11, 1972

edited, corrected

Lost Live Dead and related have inspired me. Sorry to steal your schtick! I don't get into depth (nor turn a phrase) the way LLD does, but it sure is fun, anyway.

So the SF Chronicle is almost certainly loaded with stuff of interest. Unfortunately, unless I am missing something it does not seem to be available electronically prior to 1985. The San Francisco Public Library has paper indexes back into the 70s, and fiche indexes from before then. These latter seem unreliable at best. The former (paper indexes) are fine, but obviously don't pick up things like ads or concert listings. So it's really a needle-in-a-haystack resource, involving the dizzying and eye-drying work of scanning microfilm, the quality of which ranges from OK to illegible.

Anyway, one of the really good articles I found, based on a lead (though I think it had a mistake in it) from David Dodd's quite amazing annotated bibliography (1), is the Ellwood one referenced below (2). There is so little known about these early Garcia gigs that every little piece of information is golden.

correction: I had this listed as the Chronicle, but of course Elwood was the music guy at the San Francisco Examiner. Same situation applies, a fortiori.

The article references a Jerry Garcia - Merl Saunders gig "last night" (i.e., 2/11/72) at "a far out club, Bo Jangles, at 709 Larkin" (San Francisco, CA 94109). It notes that Armanda [sic] Peraza was present on congas and Bill Kreutzmann on drums. There is no information about tunes played.

This article interests me for a few reasons.

First, until now there has not been a show for this date at the Jerry Site (TJS). I have remedied this.

Second, there is a show dated 2/12/72 at TJS, with location given as Bojangles Club, Sacramento. This listing seems to derive from the list of uncirculated Betty Boards, and gives Roger "Jellyroll" Troy as one of the guests. A few thoughts on this.

2a. Although TJS goes so far as to say that "The venue is known today as Beau's Bojangles", I certainly wonder whether this show was actually played in SF. It always seemed odd to see that Sacramento show in the mix this early - this band at this time was pretty exclusively a Bay Area (and largely a San Francisco) phenomenon. Given that they played at a Bo Jangles in SF on 2/11, I suppose its possible that the "Iranian combine" that ran the place also had one in Sacto ... stranger things could have happened.

2b. We are also left to wonder whether the "2/12" show is actually the 2/11 show discussed by Elwood. A listen to the tape, to check for the presence of Peraza, might shed some light, but at this point that's not one of my options. So this remains an open question.

As an upshot on this point #2, I'll just work under the assumption that JGMS played a Friday (11) and Saturday (12) engagement for Bo Jangles. I'll list the Friday show as SF and will leave the Saturday listing as Sacramento unless more evidence emerges. Perhaps I'll put a note on TJS listing to mention the uncertainty around the Sacramento location.

Third, in a case of Serendipity, Corry had asked in comments on the NRPS ca. 11/1/70 post whether the Both/And club was still open as late as late 1970. While it could well have opened and shut and taken on various permutations, I simply note that Elwood's article also mentions a gig "at the relatively sedate and traditional Both-And jazz club". So something by that name was running in early 1972, FWIW.


References
(1) Dodd, David G., and Robert G. Weiner. 1997. The Grateful Dead and the Deadheads: An Annotated Bibliography. Music Reference Collection no. 60. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

(2) Elwood, Philip. 1972. Distinctive Variety of Musical Styles. San Francisco Examiner, February 12, 1972, p. 8
--> -->

NRPS: ca. 11/1/1970?

update: ! seealso: https://jgmf.blogspot.com/2019/11/ca-november-1-2-1970-fragments.html

The San Francisco section of the "From the Music Capitals of the World" Feature in the November 21, 1970 issue of Billboard (p. 25, available via Google Books), written by Mary Turner, indicates that the New Riders of the Purple Sage performed at an event called "Marathon 70," put on by Both/And Productions, over the Halloween Weekend of 1970. The image is below.
We know that GD and NRPS were at SUNY Stony Brook on Halloween night (Saturday). We also know that the GD were in Port Chester from Thursday, November 5th.

Did the NRPS (and Jerry) come back to the Bay Area rather than just hanging around the east coast? Hard to say for sure, but there seems to be enough evidence (fragmentary, but independent) suggesting that they did, and thus that this gig might well have happened.

First, the Jerry Site lists a Monday, November 2nd "Jerry Garcia and Friends" show at the Harding Theater, SF, based on information contributed by Joey Newlander from a listing in the Berkeley Barb. TJS further speculates that the gig did not happen, what with the GD out east. OK.

Second, the PERRO tapes (in this case, sessions for David Crosby's If I Could Only Remember My Name) include at least one cut ("Cowboy Movie") said to have been laid down at Heider's in SF on Tuesday, November 3rd. (This has always been important to me, since that was the date of my birth and I *love* the idea that that's what Jerry was doing on that day!)

Third, Good Times (v.3 n.43, 10/30/70, p. 16) ran a listing for a Garcia/Saunders show at the Matrix on this same night, Tuesday, November 3rd.

Fourth, though not independent of #2, I also have a PERRO session listed for Wednesday, November 4th, though I have no notes on where that information might have come from.

Now we have a fifth piece of evidence in the indication that NRPS might have been back in the Bay Area in between Stony Brook and Port Chester.

I am going to go ahead and speculate that the "Halloween Weekend" notion plus the gigs seemingly booked for every other night during this short window, both militate in favor of a Sunday, November 1, 1970 listing.

I'd like to hear from anyone who knows more about this event ("Marathon 70") and/or the Both/And. Thoughts?

8/28/77 update

updated--see below

In an earlier post I had asked about a show scheduled for Folsom Field at CU-Boulder on August 28, 1977. Turns out it was for a festival known as "Sun Day" (this being Sun Day 3), with the following on the bill: Willie Nelson; Emmylou Harris; Dave Mason; Jerry Jeff Walker; Stillwater; Jerry Garcia. This was going to be co-organized by Feyline and the CU Program Council. I originally became aware of this through a Calendar listing in Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph, August 27, 1977, p. 22D.

The Boulder Daily Camera had one earlier mention that I found, regarding a hassle about the provision of emergency medical services (Linda Cornett, "Ambulance Debate Rises in Plans for CU Concert," Boulder Daily Camera, August 14, 1977, p. ??)

This didn't sink the gig, though, at least not according to published reports. It turns out that an illness in the Willie Nelson group and "personnel issues" in the JGB led to the cancellation. The notice speculates that these latter are in connection with Tutt and Elvis, the latter of whom died a bit before the scheduled gig. It also notes, however, that ticket sales had been slow. May have been win-win-win all around to cancel it. For the skinny, see "Big Concert Canceled; Borrow Some Records," Boulder Daily Camera, August 19, 1977, p. 17.

I plan on poking through the Program Council archives to see if there's more to the story, just for giggles.

update--here is the article

NRPS 9/15/71 in NYC?

A mention in the "From the Music Capitals of the World" feature in Billboard, September 11, 1971, p. 22 says that "Columbia's New Riders of the Purple Sage play the Manhattan Center Ballroom, Wednesday (15) at 34th St. & 8th Ave."

Hard to know what to make of this. That particular week was a blank slate until recently, when in my searching around I discovered listings and such for the following gigs:

Friday 9/10/71, JGMS @ Harding Theater, SF (1)
Thursday 9/16/71, JGMS @ Keystone Korner, SF (2)
Friday 9/17/71 and Saturday 9/18/71, NRPS @ Friends and Relations Hall, SF (2, 3)

So while it's not impossible that JG could have gone east to play with the NRPS on 9/15/71, it seems pretty unlikely, doesn't it? I'd be grateful for thoughts and/or leads about how to figure out whether this happened. Who would have been promoting Manhattan Center gigs at that time?

References:
(1) listing in Hayward Daily Review, September 16, 1971, p. 25.
(2) Oakland Tribune, September 15, 1971, p. 25
(3) there is also a poster IIRC.

just a reflection

I love El Dorado Canyon. Driving there today, the Flatirons just seemed to be stretching and reaching for the sky under the brilliant autumn sun. Never particularly noticed how their angling back from town gives them that "reaching" feel.

Driving back, just basked in the golden glow. Man it's nice up there.

Fishing Journal: 200911xx, Clear Creek

Pretty nice water. From Boulder, 93 to 6 to the second bridge. Caught some pretty good-sized (for me) rainbows. Used a little rainbow something-or-other nymph on top and did OK with big green beadheads on the bottom. Needed some split-shot but couldn't find it, so had to rely on the big fellas just sinking.

Was told that it would be good where the river curves around the mountain, since the road goes through a tunnel and few venture out that far. Good-looking water, but I didn't do great that far over. I was getting tired, could partly be it.

May try this again if weather is still good over the next month, because flows seemed ample enough to hold up for a bit yet.