A Second Triumphant Return: JGB, Halloween '92

LN jg1992-10-31.jgb.all.aud-vasseur.141463.flac1644

Almost six years to the day after Jerry's "Triumphant Return" from death's door with the Garcia Band at the Stone, on October 31, 1992 he made a second comeback from a major health scare, playing with the JGB in the less homey Oakland Coliseum Arena less than three months after collapsing at home that summer.

I don't have time today to put it together, but in the book I will follow the redemption (1991 through 8/1/92) - fall (8/3/92) - redemption (10/31/92) narrative that the media built up for Jerry over a scant year or so. Of course, a longer, slower, and final fall would follow all of that. But these are things for me to try to tackle another time. For now, just some listening notes.

Bottom line: yes, Jerry sounds glad to be back. There are some fine moments, and almost no bad ones. It was probably fun to attend, and 14,000 fans did so - twenty times more than the teary-eyed who packed the Stone six years prior. 10/31/92 circulated relatively early from decent soundboard tape, adding to its popularity. The "Tangled Up In Blue" was selected for official release on Garcia Plays Dylan, which is a little surprising, but no big deal. "Ain't No Bread In The Breadbox" is the real surprise, totally shredding, and well warranting its officialization on Shining Star. "Werewolves Of London" was always fun, and Halloween is always a good timeThis is a good Garcia Band show. Oh yeah, and the handbill is surprisingly lame - I guess BGP was still figuring things out after Wolfgang's demise almost a year to the day prior to this gig.

Jerry Garcia Band
Oakland Coliseum Arena
695 Hegenberger Road
Oakland, CA 94621
October 31, 1992 (Saturday)
Vasseur shnid-141463

--set I (7 tracks, 54:49)--
s1t01. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [6:28] [1:20]
s1t02. Stop That Train [7:12] [0:40]
s1t03. The Maker [6:34] (1) [0:53]
s1t04. You Never Can Tell [6:54] [0:31]
s1t05. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [9:10] [0:05] %
s1t06. Lay Down Sally [7:08] [0:05] %
s1t07. Deal [7:35] (2) [0:15]

--set II + encore (9 tracks, 8 tunes, 79:31)--
--set II (7 tracks, 71:35)--
s2t08. dead air :05, //Shining Star [#11:45] [0:29]
s2t09. And It Stoned Me [7:14] [0:23]
s2t10. Ain't No Bread In The Breadbox [9:45] [0:38]
s2t11. What A Wonderful World [8:03] [0:44]
s2t12. Tore Up Over You [7:38] [0:48]
s2t13. Waiting For A Miracle [5:46] [0:26]
s2t14. My Sisters And Brothers [6:03] ->
s2t15. Tangled Up In Blue [11:40] [0:08] %
--encore (2 tracks, 1 tune, 7:55)--
s2t16. ambience [0:54]
s2t17. Werewolves Of London [6:53] (3) [0:09]

! ACT1: THE Jerry Garcia Band (JGB #21b)
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing 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/19921031-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/4351 (Schoeps MK4 shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/13230 (sbd shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/76460 (s2 Schoeps CMC54); http://etreedb.org/shn/83474 (Litzenberger MAD); http://etreedb.org/shn/97988 (s2 unknown taper Schoeps CMC34); http://etreedb.org/shn/102196 (same source as shnid-97988, complete); http://etreedb.org/shn/107738 (mtx of shnid-13230 and shnid-102196); http://etreedb.org/shn/107741 (DTS of shnid-13230 and shnid-102196); http://etreedb.org/shn/132279 (Dupree aud); http://db.etree.org/shn/141463 (this fileset).

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/11/oakland-coliseum-arena-and-oakland.html

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/NLizLAqo1652

! official: Jerry Garcia - Garcia Plays Dylan (Rhino, R2 73263, 2005) (d2t04-TUIB); Jerry Garcia - Shining Star (Grateful Dead Records 4079, 2001) (d2t05-Ain't No Bread in the Breadbox).

! review: Laskey 1992. She notes the prelude: "Before his illness, Jerry seemed tired and unenthusiastic about playing ... it really seemed that his spirit was escaping him." She found this down "spunky" and enjoyed the show.

! expost: Dunham 1992

! R: field recordist: Chuck Vasseur

! R: field recording gear: 2x Neumann KM54 > DAT

! R: Transfer: DAT Master > CDR (Kyle Porter)

! R: Extract: CDR clone > EAC > WAV > FLAC16 (Bill Shaw aka Shark)

! R: Source Notes: Sometime in the early 2000's, Chuck loaned Kyle all of his 92-95 JGB masters to transfer to CDR. Kyle "mastered" the DATs to CDR, fading in/out as needed, adjusting levels (as needed) and tracking. Kyle then gave Chuck his masters back, with nice CDR copies of all of it. Chuck offered to clone the entire set for me, so I gave him a spool of 100 blank MITSUI CDRs and the next time I saw him, he gave them back to me, filled with his JGB recordings. Many of the Chuck V. JGB recordings do circulate already, but probably not all
of them, and those that do may not be the Kyle Porter transfers. So, Here they are! --Shark

! R: recording is strangely hissy, e.g., after STT. It sounds to me like there's a cassette gen here, but what do I know?

! P: s1t02 STT Garcia sounds nicely mournful and sincere in delivering his lines - "though I try | to do my very best | I can't seem to find | no happiness".

! s1t03 @ 7:05 (1) JG: "So ... how y'all doing?"

! s1t07 (2) JG: "We're gonna take a little break, and we'll be back in a few minutes."

! s2t08 SS cuts in

! P: s2t10 ANBITB Garcia shreds some 6:20ff. Interesting and powerful. Straining and pulling 6:50. I don't remember this song cooking like this. I see why it was officially released!

! s2t11 WAWW is the Louis Armstrong

! P: s2t14 MSAB he repeats the "this world is not our own" verse.

! P: s2t15 TUIB: I guess I can see why they chose this for the release - it's clean, and the last big guitar piece from 9:30ff presents some very thoughtful melodic ideas. It doesn't burn like some versions could, but it's clean and, for a couple of minutes, interesting.

! song: "Werewolves Of London" (s2t17). Jerry seemed to enjoy singing this Warren Zevon classic. The Dead did nine super-enthusiastic versions in 1978, including one allagedly mescaline-drenched version on May 11 and a growly, coked-to-the-gills classic at Red Rocks on July 8, both of which have been officially released. It came back with the Dead Halloween '85 in Columbia, South Carolina as a show opener out of space, the first of eight consecutive All Hallows Eve's appearances through 1993. I saw the JGB version in '89 and the Dead version in '90 in, appropriately anough, London - good times.

! P: s2t17 WOL Garcia does some uncommonly high pitched "whoo"ing after 6. This version never goes bonkers, but it's good.

! P: s2t17 (3) JG: "Thanks a lot. See ya later."

Confused, Trainwreck, Yeesh and Yikes: JGB at the Warfield, August 14, 1994

jg1994-08-14.jgb.all.sbd-miller.136390.flac1644

The title conveys some of the adjectives and interjections I used in listening to this rare sbd tape of late-era Jerry. He sounds bad - bad, I tell you.

Jerry Garcia Band
The Warfield
982 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
August 14, 1994 (Sunday)
remastered Miller sbd shnid-136390

--set I (7 tracks, 68:22)--
s1t01. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [6:58] [2:06]
s1t02. Waiting For A Miracle [5:59] [2:05]
s1t03. You Never Can Tell [10:26] 2:19]
s1t04. Mississippi Moon [11:58] [0:11]
s1t05. Lay Down Sally [12:29] [0:12]
s1t06. My Sisters And Brothers [3:49] ->
s1t07. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love [9:53] (1)

--set II (7 tracks, 80:34)--
s2t08. Shining Star [20:39] [0:51]
s2t09. Strugglin' Man
s2t10. And It Stoned Me
s2t11. Tore Up Over You [9:30] [0:06]
s2t12. The Maker [12:40] ->
s2t13. Gomorrah
s2t14. Tangled Up In Blue [14:17] (2) [0:03]

! ACT1: JGB #23
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, v;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: Donny Baldwin - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing 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/19940814-01

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2013/02/warfield-982-market-street-san.html

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/ZW52vfHTbjs

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/4306 (sbd shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/12022 (sbd shnf, slightly modified); http://etreedb.org/shn/136390 (this fileset).

! band: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/ZW52vfHTbjs

! R: SBD -> Dat -> Cassette Master -> CD -> SHN;

! R: Transfer Info: SHN -> Samplitude Professional v11.2.1 -> FLAC (2 Discs Audio / 1 Disc FLAC).

! R: Remastered By Charlie Miller (charliemiller87@earthlink.net), June 29, 2016

! R: Notes: This is a remaster of shnid-4306

! P: s1t04 Miss Moon Garcia is totally confused 5. Yikes. Complete trainwreck. Still messed up. Nice tone on the solo starting 7:25. Still really jacked up 8. No good, and jack up the end.

! P: yeesh. Boring. Miss Moon is a trainwreck. Can't hear Kahn very well. I think DB is having an off night, I often hear him when and how he shouldn't be. But, then again, finding a '1' with Jerry on this night is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall.

! P: s1t06 MSAB Garcia sounds exhausted on these vocals.

! P: s1t07 ENSTL again he sounds vocally exhausted.

! s1t07 (1) "Thanks a lot. We'll see you in a little while."

! P: s2t09 SM loses the vocals, 6, then off the beat with his vocals. Yikes.

! P: s2t11 TUOY no breath to sing it the way it should be. Good energy 7. Fucks up badly at 8, does a verse instead of closing.

! s2t14 (2) "See y'all later."

JGB19900302: Saturday, March 2, 1990, Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA

update: this was originally posted some years ago. I accidentally reposted it today. It looks like it is not perfectly together - you get what you pay for.

I wanted to try a little experiment by just unpacking a single show. I am not a very effective "prosopographer", so I can't do what Corry does, or what LIA does. Anyway, for various reasons, I ended up with Saturday, March 2, 1990, Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA.

IMO

The Jerry Garcia Band had its last sustained run of excellence from August 29, 1987 (Eel River, Piercy, CA) through August 26, 1989 (Greek Theatre, University of California, Berkeley, CA). Ask me again in two hours and I might have a different view. But, anyway, give or take a month or a year or two, this was the sweet period after the coma when Jerry had had enough time to get his chops back and was relatively healthy (though early 1989, I'd maintain, but that's a whole 'nother can o' worms), before turning south again, at least on the latter dimension. There were a few other local peaks (the last one being JGB February 6, 1994 at the Warfield), but no other sustained period combining such a high mean and such low variance.

/IMO


The Jerry Garcia Band show on Friday, March 2, 1990 at the Warfield Theatre, 982 Market Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, falls outside of these boundaries. And, indeed, now having heard it, I can say that I find it well below the mean of, say, 1989. There are some very hot moments, but Jerry definitely has less steam behind him here than he had a year earlier.

Venue

Corry has covered this venue in crisp form (in a post on the Keystones, of course!), though it hasn't gotten the full Garcia-centric treatment that someone, at some point, will have to give it. In lieu of tacking that here and now, I'd first make the obvious point that the Warfield, a xxx 2,000 seat theater, [owned? operated?] by Bill Graham, is perfectly crucial to understanding late-period Jerry, having served as the Garcia Band's home base from late 1987 through the end. Second, I'd note that the Warfield replaced Freddie Herrera's 700-capacity The Stone at 412 Broadway, San Francisco, CA, 94133 in that home court role. I have started jotting down notes on a post about this change, we'll see when I can get to it. It'll be interesting. In the meantime, Corry has just recently engaged that issue!

The live JGB Album

March 2, 1990 was recorded, and at least one song ("Waiting For A Miracle") was included, on the The double live 1991 Arista release Jerry Garcia Band (record release information | deaddisc). It is a fantastic release and has really held up well as a representation of this near-peak period. The Jerry Garcia Band played five separate multinight runs at the Warfield during a six-month in 1990: February 2-3-4, March 1-2, April 13-14-15, June 12-13 and August 7-8-9. The April and August runs were multitracked for possible use on the album. Taping security was very tight at these shows, which is a story that I hope to be able to tell at some point.

Information has never been provided by The Powers That Be as to which songs come from which shows, and no fans have ever been able to try to piece the puzzle together because a few sets have never really circulated. Since I think old copies of just about everything have been dug up, that circumstance will change, and I'll tackle the project if no-one beats me to it. (It needs to happen for How Sweet It Is and Shining Star as well.) [update: done.] I expect that we'll be able to pin everything down in reasonably short order, though w/r/t Jerry Garcia Band I think the analysis will show that there is some splicing of various material here and there. Blair Jackson has already stated on Dead Net Central that the vocals on the beautiful, haunting version of Dylan's "Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)" had to be overdubbed in the studio, since Garcia never once (during the multitrack recording period for the album, anyway) got them straight live. There is also the occasional audible splice (a truncated cymbal, for example) that will need to be pinned down, but I think it can be done.

The producers managed to cull 2 CDs worth of pretty fantastic music. But, to repeat, I think 3/2/90 falls outside the peak. A couple of recent posts at Dead Net Central, most notably by Blair Jackson, suggest that the Jerry Garcia Band's raging playing of early 1989 --check out the 1/27 and 1/28 shows at the Orpheum, easily Garcia's finest post-coma shows to that point-- may have inspired the idea to record the live album. But by the time they got around to recording,

Caveat Lector: rest of the post is sketchy/drafty

The release is pretty fantastic, I admit. But ...

The problem is, the shows are extremely uneven, generally down to the song level. So, while I absolutely love the Jerry Garcia Band live release, I can't help but wish they had been recording a year to 18 months earlier.

To be clear, there were plenty of great versions of great songs. Enough for a really nice 2 CD release in 1991. There were some great setlist innovations during this period, with the additions of "Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)" on 2/2/90 and "Tears Of Rage" the next night being my favorites. But Jerry just doesn't sound as alive as he did a year previous.

circulation issues: VHS ... never jumped to DAT

Difficulty of taping 1990 Warfield shows.

songs (use Blair GR). Alex Allan song links

Setlist

--Set I--

Cats Under The Stars (Lyrics: Robert Hunter; Music: Jerry Garcia).

Forever Young (Lyrics: Bob Dylan;Music: Bob Dylan). From Dylan's Planet Waves (deaddisc, released January 1974).

Tough Mama (Lyrics: Bob Dylan; Music: Bob Dylan). From Dylan's Planet Waves (deaddisc, released January 1974).

The Way You Do The Things You Do (Lyrics: William Robinson, Robert Rogers; Music: William Robinson, Robert Rogers). This is a revival for TWYDTTYD, which JGB hadn't played publicly since January 14, 1984. BJ notes


Like A Road Leading Home (Lyrics: Nix, Penn; Music: Nix, Penn)

Deal (Lyrics: Robert Hunter; Music: Jerry Garcia)

Set I Comments: Garcia/Hunter tunes bookend two Dylans and two R&Bs. 

--Set II--

Mission In The Rain (Lyrics: Robert Hunter; Music: Jerry Garcia). A great San Francisco song for and by a great San Franciscan. By March 1990, though, Jerry is pretty phlegmy and has a hard time, for example with the "ten years ago, I walked these streets, my dreams were riding tall" line. He wants to put a little inflection on "walked", but he just doesn't have the range.

Waiting For A Miracle (Lyrics: Bruce Cockburn; Music: Bruce Cockburn). Late in his career, Garcia picked up a few Canadian-penned midtempos: this one and Daniel Lanois's "The Maker", which debuted a little later (xxx date xxx). Waiting For A Miracle was a really nice JGB tune for a bit, but by 1990 it had passed its peak. The best version is the one from the Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, CA on November 26, 1988 [db | LL], which was only its second appearance. Jerry took special care with the "stand up tall, pretend you're strong / in the hope that you can be" line, which really seemed to speak to him (and certainly makes the song for me). But certainly after 1989 the song could just be a dud notwithstanding which Garcia kept playing it (all the way into 1994), bless his heart. The version from March 2, 1990 is sounds just like the one (!) the one that ended up on the double-live 1991 Jerry Garcia Band.

Tears Of Rage (Lyrics: Bob Dylan, Richard Manuel; Music: Bob Dylan, Richard Manuel). This is only the 3rd of 12 JGB versions. Oh my goodness, what a fantastic cover this was for Jerry. He delivered some gut-wrenchingly good versions of this lament, the best of which, from August 5, 1990 at the Greek Theatre, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA (TJS) was selected for the outtakes of the Garcia Plays Dylan release. deaddisc URL

Think (Lyrics: Jimmy McKracklin, Don Robey (note: often credited to McCracklin and Deadric Malone, which was the pseudonym Don Robey often wrote under); Music: Jimmy McKracklin, Don Robey)

My Sisters And Brothers (Lyrics: Charles Johnson; Music: Charles Johnson)

Tangled Up In Blue (Lyrics: Bob Dylan; Music: Bob Dylan)


REFERENCES
Arnold, Corry. 1986. Bob Dylan Approximately. Golden Road no. xx (Summer): 34. Songs discussed: "She Belongs To Me", "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry", "When I Paint My Masterpiece", "Positively 4th Street", "The Wicked Messenger", "Tough Mama", "Going, Going Gone", "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", "Simple Twist Of Fate","Tangled Up In Blue", "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", "The Mighty Quinn", "Visions Of Johanna", "Desolation Row", "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right".
Jackson

Cities Burn and The Show Goes On: JGB at the Warfield, April 30, 1992

jg1992-04-30.jgb.all.aud-vasseur.141475.flac1644

On April 30, 1992, as on other Thursdays before, at least a couple American cities were in flames as protests over racial injustice turned violent and disorderly in the aftermath of a Simi Valley jury's acquittal of four LAPD officers accused in the March 1991 beating of black motorist Rodney King.

The Garcia Band played the Warfield, part of an extraordinary run of 11 Jerry appearances there with three different bands in 13 days: JGB April 29-May 3, Bob Dylan on May 5th, and Garcia-Grisman from the 7th to the 11th. Selvin provided some context:

With looters and police clashing on the street outside the theater, for the Jerry Garcia Band at the Warfield Thursday night it was business as usual. Background vocalist Gloria Jones traveled from her East Bay home on BART and, with Market Street stations closed, was forced to exit on 16th Street and take a bus back downtown, barely making it before show time.

An attendee posting at JGC remembers, too:

Riot police surrounded the theatre and there were reports of gunshots in the streets. An announcement was made from the stage warning patrons not to leave the theatre.

As Selvin titled his piece, "The Show Goes On."

I have historically thought that 1992 was absolutely the worst, most boring and useless year for the JGB. I remember *hating* 2/7/92 at one time, despite a luscious Marcus Buick tape. I might still think the year is the most boring, but it's not all bad. 8/1/92 pleasantly surprised me. On a first listen, this 4/30/92 didn't move me much, but then I revisited it and I found plenty to like. As has been the case lately, I find myself especially fond of the second set. My bottom line note reads as follows:

Garcia sounds tired, but he probably *was* tired. After his August collapse, he described his state earlier in the year: "I wasn't ill. There was no pain. I just had zero energy. I was always tired. I'd always been able to get through a concert, but now it was getting hard. I hadn't realized how run-down I'd got" (Carroll 1992). As was often the case for late era Jerry, weariness suits the material pretty well. This isn't one you'd give to a newbie to turn them on to JGB, but aficionados may just be able to appreciate the OG perspective is really setting in at this point. The segment that goes R&C, Gomorrah, DLG and The Maker is quite excellent. First listen DLG didn't kill me, but this time I found it to be very strong.

There are a few songs at interesting points in their lives: last "Throw Out the Lifeline" (with a spotty performance history note"), penultimate "Let's Spend The Night Together" (5/2/92 the last, IIRC), newly arriving, the third "Maker", which would become a late-era favorite. I also note Our Hero playing some slide in "Gomorrah", which I don't recall having heard before, which is not to say it wasn't always there.



Anyway, not bad, old timer. Not bad. Listening notes after the jump.

Which Side Are You On?

I got a few hours at the San Francisco State University Labor Archives and Research Center to see if the haystack would yield any needles about ol' Joe Garcia, recalling that Jerry had said his pops had had some hassle with the musicians' union.

What we think we know

Blair narrates that in April 1937 Ruth became pregnant, and "around this time an incident occurred that forced Joe Garcia to quit playing music professionally".[i]

Jerry's aunt Leonor recalled:

He'd been out of work for a little while, and then he was offered a good job: There was a big, new nightclub being opened in San Francisco out at the beach [perhaps the Nut Club], and they asked him if he and his orchestra would like to play, and of course that was a big break, so he said sure. They told him they wanted to put him on the radio to show people what a great orchestra he had, but they told him, 'We won't pay you the first time you play; we just want to see how it turns out.' Joe was very ignorant about this kind of stuff and they did play for the radio for free and then when the club opened they played there for free the first time, too. When the musicians' union found out he'd played for free they suspended him for six months and fined him something like $1,500, which was a lot of money in those days. Joe was shocked. He didn't know he had done anything wrong. So he said, 'To hell with this,' and he quit playing.[ii]

What I found

At the meeting of the Board of Directors of the American Federation of Musicians Local 6 in San Francisco of October 17, 1933, Joe Garcia appeared "for questioning re activities before making application to join organization." The Board would "accept Garcia as member if information is without foundation" and concurred "in action of officers in permitting him to accept engagement at Dugout pending" his appearance.[iii]

A week later, the Board took up Joe's membership application. Garcia "admits answering questions on application falsely … explains his activities since in this jurisdiction and that he worked at Bagdad Ballroom while on National Unfair List … Admits membership in Los Angeles Local." The Board's "Secretary reads letter from Los Angeles Local [no. 47] advising that Garcia was dropped from their rolls for non-payment of dues, etc. Board rules Garcia must straighten his accounts with Los Angeles Local, and instructs Secretary to return down payment on admission fee, advise Los Angeles Local of his activities and that Garcia must be taken from job at Dug-Out."[iv]

At a special meeting two days later, the Board discussed Garcia's membership. It first read a telegram from local no. 47 (L.A.) indicating a $50 fee plus dues owed from his Bagdad Ballroom gigs. So the Board agreed to "accept Garcia as a new member on payment of $23 due Los Angeles Local, $50 Federation fine and $50 added $50 initiation fee, a total of $123 cash", and dropped its objection to him gigging at the Dugout.[v] As of the November 7, 1933 meeting he was recognized as a member.[vi]

The next reference I found to Joe Garcia was when he was dropped from the rolls around September 30, 1943.

Interpretation

I am not quite sure how to square these various things. I am about 99.9% sure the Joe Garcia being discussed in 1933 is Jerry's dad - he is identified as a saxophonist and clarinetist, and Blair informs us that he spent some time in LA.  Beyond that, the evidence diverges from the existing account. The troubles started in 1933, not 1937. There's no evidence around the radio, a six month suspension, or a $1,500 fine, which is an order of magnitude higher than the $123 the papers say he was made to pay. What's more, while Leonor suggests that he up and quit, the evidence suggests that he kept his union membership for a decade after the initial hassle.

Memory is a fickle thing, and we call it family lore rather than family fact for a reason. Maybe I have the wrong Joe Garcia, especially leaving the union in 1943 - he could well have decided to bag the whole thing back in FDR's first term and gotten the bar going. There is almost certainly more to find in the union archives, for those who might be inclined to look. And, since my imaginary intrepid fellow researcher is already digging back into the haystack, perhaps they might look for evidence around Tillie Olsen, Jerry's grandmother who was active in the laundry workers' union and the CIO, or the sailor's union next to the Garcia family bar at 1st and Harrison. Always more to do!

---

[i] Jackson 1999, 6.

[ii] Jackson 1999, 6.

[iii] Musical News v. 16 n. 11 (November 1933), p. 12.

[iv] Musical News v. 16 n. 12 (December 1933), p. 5.

[v] Musical News v. 16 n. 12 (December 1933), p. 7.

[vi] Musical News v. 16 n. 12 (December 1933), p. 10.

The Reedman vs. The Gunslinger: JGB with David Murray, Madison Square Garden, November 12, 1993

LN jg1993-11-12.jgb.all.aud-brennecke-litzenburger-GEMS.91812.flac1644
LN jg1993-11-12.jgb.s2.aud-gastwirt.139507.flac1648

The man had conceived the band bearing his name as a way to scratch some musical itches, play some mostly consonant music with mostly-simpatico (or at least deferential) people, and make a little bit of walking around money. The Jerry Garcia Band provided its namesake with a comfortable and, eventually, highly lucrative musical diversion which allowed him to be himself, do most of the soloing, not have to figure out where Mickey Hart put the one, and maybe share some laughs (among other things that release endorphins, kill pain, and produce euphoria [Dunbar et al. 2012]) with his ol' buddy John Kahn.

Yet, Jerry was Jerry, with all that implied. Like Midas, everything he touched turned to gold, and that included his bar band, half of whose members played for free in Oakland churches on Sundays. By contrast, on Friday, November 12, 1993, this group sold out Madison Square Garden, grossing almost half a million as part of its twenty night, fifteen gig swing through the eastern time zone, its last real tour. Unlike a decade earlier, a relatively punishing bus tour with Garcia deep in heroin haze, this one was first class all the way, with the band staying in New York City and flying in and out of Teterboro, while battalions of squeaks (sound techs) and squints (light techs) did the heavy lifting. It seems like only half the gigs sold out, but these were mostly good-sized rinks and arenas with five-figure capacities, the kinds of places the Dead had been playing only a few years earlier.

The Garcia band's cozy sociality also meant that guest shots became scarce once the years' third digits turned to nines. The E Street Band's good-time "Big Man" Clarence Clemons sat in once in 1990, reprising his steady gigging with the JGB from late 1989, and banjo wiz Béla Fleck joined in on a couple of numbers at the Greek Theater in Berkeley two months later, in the dark early weeks following Brent Mydland's passing. As good as Fleck is, he played in a decidedly consonant mode, picking some pretty accompaniment to Pete Rowan's "Midnight Moonlight" and, doubly improbably, some mandolinish lead reggae banjo on "Harder They Come". The next fall, while still a member of the Dead, the great Bruce Hornsby sat in with Jerry in Hampton, Virginia, on the decade's other east coast swing, in November of 1991.

Hornsby certainly had the chops and the chutzpah to challenge Garcia, and he did so regularly in the Dead before stepping back off the scene to pursue his own extremely successful career, and perhaps to ward off the curse of the Dead's keyboard players. The one guy to really push Jerry around on his own stage was hotshot jazz saxophonist David Murray, who showed up two years after Hornsby's visit, and six weeks after sitting in with the Dead, at the aforementioned Madison Square Garden gig. The man BLEW, which is to have been expected. As Dead family insider Gary Lambert put it, "expecting a force of nature like David to function as a 'sideman' for the JGB (or any band) is kind of like saying to Jackson Pollock, 'Gee, I really admire your work. Now, could you paint me a nice Andrew Wyeth?'"

The reedman put some air into a number of very sharp notes, with a Garcia Band that was mostly soft, cottony round edges by this point in time. Garcia appears to have taken notice. Attendee Eric Pooley recalls that "Murray was in Garcia's face a little more than Garcia would have liked: [he] attacked, and Garcia retreated into shoetop space", chin on chest. Jim Powell observed that "Murray cut Jerry to shreds at that MSG Jerry Band show - maybe the only time old gunslinger Garcia ever came out on the short end." But the evidence of the night's "Lay Down Sally", normally a smooth, easy, good-time roller hewing closely to Clapton's original, belies this perspective, with all due respect to the poet and Macarthur Genius grantee who proffered it.

Segueing out of the churchy "My Sisters And Brothers", Garcia displayed little Christian charity in first feinting at the Stones' "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love", then shifting into "Lay Down Sally", taking a couple of extra measures at the start to let Murray his footing and thus making it, if not quite a fair fight, at least an honorable one. Typically, in the Garcia Band, Jerry gets the first solo (and usually the second, third and fourth). Here, Murray challenges the old fella in the light purple shirt right out of the gate, and they step on each other for a minute or two before Jerry lets him have his say, comprised of some sharp, loud bursts that might have blown back his shock-white mane. After that, still only fifty-one despite the white hair and haggard mien, the gunslinger drops the hammer, pursuing a million aggressive leads, syncopating some minor chords, and generally, all due apologies, not taking "no" for Sally's answer. Clocking in at over sixteen minutes, and finishing with an emphatic strum over the setbreak announcement, the "Lay Down Sally" from November 12, 1993 provides one of the finest musical displays of Garcia's late solo career, proving that he could still rise to a challenge when the occasion called for it.

I picked and chose from the two filesets named at the top, so some sketchy listening notes follow the fold. "Shining Star" also illustrates the reedman and the gunslinger trading blows, and both "The Maker" and "Don't Let Go" from the 86-minute second set are outstanding and worth your time.

Santa Cruz Blues

LN jg1985-10-16.jgjk.all.sbd-Miller.139756.flac1644

One of the most widely bootlegged Garcia performances, alongside the '82 Oregon State Penitentiary gig, is another Garcia-Kahn acoustic duet performance from the Catalyst in Santa Cruz on October 16, 1985. As with other beautiful recordings from this venue, an enterprising insider made a 4-channel tape combining stereo sbd feed and stereo ambient mics hung over the stage, and partly insofar as sound quality colors our perceptions of performance quality --and it does to a considerable extent, by what I think of as the Cornell Effect-- lots of people think highly of the performance, too.

The performance feels pretty standard to me, which is to say, since it's Garcia-Kahn in the Rock Bottom era, it's mostly OK, sometimes good, sometimes not so good.

I am more interested in drawing your attention to a review in the Santa Cruz Sentinel Spotlight by Dave Gingold. In this telling, the "fat man" made his fawning followers, who had been sprawling around town all day long keeping the bugs down with their characteristic homebrew of smoke and patchouli, waiting for more than two hours to start the early show.  Opener Paul Mehling claimed car problems, but "some cynics attributed the delay to nostril, rather than engine, trouble." Gingold liked the music, but then,

Poof! It was over. The audience was stunned at the barely 40-minute set, and took to 20 minutes of irate shouting and stomping to bring their deity back ... 'A dollar a song!', some muttered ...

Then, adding insult to injury, the operators turned the house, which Gingold calls nothing less than a "betrayal".

Maybe ol Jer just didn't want our intrepid recorder to have to flip his tape? Sheesh, take it easy on the guy.

Regular readers will, of course, recognize this dynamic from a Beverly Hills gig four and a half months earlier., when Jerry and John mailed in a sub-40 minute first show, eliciting angry chants of "Bullshit! Bullshit!" from the SoCal Deadheads, savvy enough about the biz to understand they'd been ripped off. Short sets were a key feature of Jerry's Rock Bottom period, of course. Hometown fans might raise legitimate questions --"awww, no last song?"-- or offer some heady wisdom --"Jerry's gotta clean up his act, man"-- , but often they'd just dance their asses off and sing along, knowing Jerry'd be back at the Stone soon enough, likely as not. Even as far away as Santa Cruz, though, visits were rare enough that even dready gon' raise a ruckus when things aren't right. When even the Santa Cruzers are irate and stomping, you know you've crossed the Minelli Line.

Sadly, Jer and John either didn't get the message, didn't care, or were too far gone to care, and the late show attendees got a mere 38 minutes. Deadheads are a very understanding and compassionate lot, but I conjecture that at least a few left shaking their manes, glad for the music but maybe worried about ol' Jer. He may even have lost a few fans this night, despite getting a "Ripple".

A few other random bits.

• I wonder if the idea for "The Fat Man Is Back" poster from Jerry's next Santa Cruz stop (2/24/87) was a "fuck 'em if they can't take a joke" reply to Mr. Gingold's earlier characterization? I know the phrase, which became a t-shirt and parking lot meme for the time, also appeared on posters for the Reno gig, but I do have to wonder of the Santa Cruz review didn't provide some inspiration.
• John Kahn picks a little bit of Mingus's "Haitian Fight Song" at the start of the late show, which almost redeems his otherwise-forgettable night for me.

Listening notes below the fold.

Shades of Joy

Anyone know if Martin Fierro would have been performing with the band Shades of Joy in May of 1973?

Twenty-Seven Performances in Twenty-Four Days: April 6-30, 1973

update 20240414: we now know that the Four Nights at the Boarding House were all two-show nights. Math may have to be updated. I am also dinging the uncertain 4/28 at the Plant, as recently discussed here. I now believe this was spurious.

Yup: I now count 27 performances in these 24 days. Edit title yet again.

update: commenter RoG has brought two more gigs to my attention, Wed-Thurs April 25-26 with JGMS at Keystone, so the title has changed from "Twenty-Two" to "Twenty-Four". All the more remarkable.

update2: oh yeah, I forget to mention another little detail from this period: on April 19th, the Dead decided to start up their own record label (Perry 1973, 50; Troy 1994, 155). Because Garcia didn't have enough going on.

I got to commune with more Chronicle microfilm a few days ago, and managed to spin through January 1, 1973 through August 10, 1973. I didn't gather every last listing, just too little time, but I gathered a bunch. These first eight months of 1973 yielded three New-to-The-List gigs, all Garcia-Saunders: April 10-11, 1973 at the Orphanage, and May 24, 1973 at the Keystone.

SFC19730409p45, listing for 4/10/73 JGMS at the Orphanage

SFC19730410p36, Datebook listing for 4/10/73 JGMS at the Orphanage

SFC19730411p41, listing for 4/11/73 JGMS at Orphanage

SFC19730523p58, listing for 5/24/73 JGMS at Keystone

Ah, Garcia, you amaze me.

The last entry lets us see that Jerry played with three bands, three different styles, over three days in May '73: Jerry and Merl on the 24th, plus already-known shows with Old And In The Way at Bimbo's on the 25th, and of course the Dead, with NRPS and Waylon Jennings also playing, at Kezar Stadium on the 26th.

Even more strikingly, these new-to-The-List April shows, Tuesday-Wednesday gigs, fill in a remarkable run from that month. I have already written about OAITW in Santa Barbara on the 12th, a four night run at the Boarding House right after these gigs, two with Merl playing inter alia black contemporary, and two with Dawg and Pete Rowan and the rest playing white roots music, taking a deep dive into Friday the 13th, which got a review in the Stanford Daily (Harlow 1973), and also some listening notes from the 16th. But with these shows, we see a truly insane month of shows once the Dead got back from the east coast.

April 6-8: JGMS at Keystone

April 9: off night (Monday - slacker)

April 10-11: JGMS at Orphanage

April 12: OAITW at the Granada in Santa Barbara (2 shows)

April 13-14: JGMS at Boarding House (4 shows)

April 15-16: OAITW at Boarding House (4 shows)

April 17: off night (Tuesday)

April 18: OAITW session at the Record Plant (uncertain)

April 19-21: OAITW at Lion's Share

April 21: afternoon FM broadcast live from the Record Plant

April 22: off night (Sunday)

April 23: OAITW at Orphanage

April 24: OAITW at the Inn of the Beginning

April 25-26: JGMS at Keystone off nights, only consecutive nights off since this run started, and since 3-4-5 after Dead flew back home

April 27-28: OAITW at Keystone

April 29: night off (Sunday)

April 30: OAITW at Orphanage

Now, there are a few uncertain dates in there. But if my reckoning is correct, and without counting thigh dubious 4/18 session in Sausailo, this is 272422 performances in 24 days, 

I note that Selvin referred to the Orphanage as a "cocaine speakeasy" (Selvin 1996, 37). This which might have come in handy given the unprecedentedly hectic pace of the month's musical pursuits.

Let's Spend the (Wednesday) Night Together

November 21, 1990, a Wednesday night, Garcia played a killer "Let's Spend The Night Together," featuring what the seeder notes as "relentless, furious" guitar work. Indeed. "Tears Of Rage" and "Tore Up Over You" also stand out.

Pack of Wolves opened, for the record.

Jerry Garcia Band
The Warfield
982 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
November 21, 1990 (Wednesday)
B&K 4011 MAD flac1648 shnid-141474

--set I (11 tracks, 7 tunes, 65:51)--
s1t01. crowd [0:37]
s1t02. Cats Under The Stars [9:26] [0:02]
s1t03. crowd and tuning [0:53]
s1t04. Stop That Train [6:21] [0:06]
s1t05. crowd and tuning [1:21]
s1t06. That's What Love Will Make You Do [9:03] [0:55]
s1t07. Lay Down Sally [8:57] [0:06]
s1t08. crowd and tuning [1:05]
s1t09. Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [9:13] [0:40]
s1t10. Throw Out The Lifeline [5:10] ->
s1t11. Let's Spend The Night Together [11:52] [0:05] %

--set II (7 tracks, 68:18)--
s2t12. The Way You Do The Things You Do [11:50] -12:26
s2t13. You Never Can Tell [7:41] [0:56]
s2t14. Tears Of Rage [10:24] [0:24]
s2t15. Tore Up Over You [10:28] [0:35]
s2t16. Waiting For A Miracle [5:46] (1) [0:28]
s2t17. Struggling Man [6:40] [0:05]
s2t18. Tangled Up In Blue [12:22] (2) [0:04]

! ACT1: JGB #21b (THE Jerry Garcia Band)
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing 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/19901121-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/22087 (Bill R. shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/22226 (B&K 4011 shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/111702 (Da Weez, incomplete s1 flac1644); http://etreedb.org/shn/141474 (this fileset).

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2013/02/warfield-982-market-street-san.html

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/ZW52vfHTbjs

! R: field recording gear: B&K 4011s > Panasonic SV 255

! R: lineage DATx copy Archived and Transferred By Stuccoholmes 2018; Edited and Mastered by Jamie Waddell in Wavelab 7.2, 16bit 48kHz FLAC Level8 in TLH. originally shared at www.shnflac.net   **gems**

! R: seeder comments: "Sounds as these tapers got a better location than the 20th, and were rewarded musically - no info on DATs"

! P: seeder comments: "Let's Spend The Night Together is EPIC - relentless, furious Garcia licks"

! R: Man, the crowd is crazy chatty.

! P: s1t02 CUTS he's having a hard time with the lyrics.

! P: s1t06 TWLWMYD JG sounds vocally fatigued, if you know what I mean.

! P: s1t07 LDS 6:15ff Garcia bends a huge note, to a hint of feedback. Awesome.

! song: "Throw Out The Lifeline" (s1t10): this had a weird performance history. Debuted 10/31/88, played twice more in late '88, then on the shelf until this version, first of five in the late '90 - early '91 period (last 1/29/91), then one laste time on 4/30/92.

! P: s1t11 LSTNT as the seeder notes, this LSTNT has Garcia absolutely SHREDDING, especially from the 7 minute mark forward. This tune features some truly exceptional guitar work. Man, what I wouldn't give to hear a soundboard tape of this. WOW - still cooking in late 8, and he is really playing the shit out of his electric git-tar.

! song: "Tears Of Rage" (s2t14): this is the penultimate Garcia Band version of this stunning, incredible Bob Dylan / Richard Manuel tune (1/31/91).

! P: s2t14 Tears Of Rage: God, I love this song so much. He does a good job with the lyrics, and sounds appropriately mournful.

! P: s2t15 TUOY has some awesome guitar stuff in the late 4. Again in 8 he is doing some amazing stuff - in both of these ranges, he has things tuned just a little "off" - I lack the musical vocabulary to explain it, but he's in an odd key, and it sounds great. I think he flubs the lyric coming back in early 9, but the guitar was so smokin' that he probably left a smoking crater of his own mind - quite understandable, and easily forgiveable.

! s2t16 (1) young lady in the audience yells "Love you Jerry!" and the crowd seconds the emotion.

! P: s2t18 TUIB sounds a little ponderous coming out of the gate.

! s2t18 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot. See ya later."

June 1990 at the Warfield

The post-coma Garcia Band was getting hotter and hotter from 1987-1989, in my view, and somewhere along the line two kinds of business/money decisions were made. First, it'd start regularly playing the Warfield, which I think had been recently renovated, for Wolfgang.  JGB played fifteen gigs at 982 Market in 1990 --February 2-4, March 1-2, April 13-15, June 12-13, August 7-9, and November 20-21. Second, for the first time since Old And In The Way, Garcia On The Side would tape itself and release a live record.

These came together, of course: all of the material from the 2 LP Jerry Garcia Band Arista release (hitting shelves on 8/25/91) and the posthumous (1997) How Sweet It Is came from 1990 Warfield shows. If you look closely, you'll notice that only the April and August shows supplied released material, something I have wondered about over the years.

As I listed to some newly-circulating transfers of June 1990 DAT audience masters --as far as I can tell on a cursory glance, other transcriptions of these same masters have been in lossless circulation for a long time-- I was guessing that the reason no material from this Tuesday-Wednesday tandem had been released is that these shows just aren't very good. I stand by the quality assessment. Garcia sounds exhausted, coming right off three nights with the Dead at Cal Expo and heading into another weekend --not very good either, by my recollection-- at Shoreline. The first night is especially ragged, but the 13th isn't great either (IMO, YMMV).

Whatever your view, or mine, or Jerry's/Kahn's/Cutler's on that question, not releasing these shows seems to have been overdetermined. Why? Because, as it happens, only the April and August shows were recorded for release. I had never realized that until prompted to dig through my massive stash of squirreled-away, generally forgotten and largely useless GOTS trivia. But, while the February, March, June and November shows were recorded to two-track DAT, only the A's got the full treatment, with 5000 feet of 2 inch Ampex 456 Grand Master spinning at 15 ips and magnetizing 24 tracks of Jerry, John, David, Melvin, Jacklyn and Gloria for posterity. I don't know why, but it seems to be a fact.

Anyway, with respect to these June shows, they didn't miss much, so it's fine. There are a few good moments, but not that much to show the band at its best to the record-buying public. Clarence Clemons comes in the second night, and contributes nothing of note, to my ears, though I am sure he was fun to party with.

Some listening notes follow, for what they're worth.

~~6/12/90 set II "Rick" MAD shnid-141471--

Jerry Garcia Band
The Warfield
982 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
June 12, 1990 (Tuesday)
s2 Rick MAD flac1648 shnid-141471

-- set II (7 tracks, 73:25)--
s2t01. The Way You Do The Things You Do [12:38] [0:26]
s2t02. [0:12] Mission In The Rain [9:06] [0:26]
s2t03. Dear Prudence [12:52] [1:21]
s2t04. [0:11] Russian Lullaby [11:09] [0:15]
s2t05. Think [8:04] [0:58]
s2t06. Gomorrah [6:32] ->
s2t07. Midnight Moonlight [8:03] (1) [0:12]

! ACT1: JGB #21b (THE Jerry Garcia Band)
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing 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/19900612-01

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1990-06-12

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/11365 (shnf); http://db.etree.org/shn/108908 (Reutelhuber s2 flac); http://etreedb.org/shn/141471 (this fileset). I haven't compared to see if the Bill R. and the Rick tapes are the same, which one might suspect since both are only set II.

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/ZW52vfHTbjs

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2013/02/warfield-982-market-street-san.html

! venue: http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2011/11/september-25-1980-fox-warfield-theater.html

! R: source: DAT Audience Recording attributed to "Rick"

! R: lineage: DAT Archived and Transferred By Stuccoholmes 2018; Edited and Mastered by Jamie Waddell in Wavelab 7.2, 16bit 48kHz FLAC Level8 in TLH

! R: seeder comment: "clear, balanced sound, minimal crowd intrusion, gets an A from me"

! P: s2t01 TWYDTTYD sounds low energy to me.

! P: s2t02 MITR JG sounds a little unsure of himself.

! P: s2t03 DP very good, excellent guitar work throughout. 8 min exemplary playing. At the end, Melvin holds onto it too long, and JG needs to walk it down for an emergency landing.

! P: s2t04 RL JG sounds tired. JK's feature get completely off any known beat at some point. Again, Garcia sounds exhausted.

! s2t07 (1) JG: "Thanks a lot. See y'all later."

~~6/13/90 "Rick" shnid-141472--

Jerry Garcia Band
The Warfield
982 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
June 13, 1990 (Wednesday)
Rick MAD flac1648 shnid-141472

--set I (7 tracks, 65:02)--
s1t01. Cats Under The Stars [8:34] [0:07] % [0:29]
s1t02. They Love Each Other [7:55] [0:39] %
s1t03. [0:13] Knockin' On Heaven's Door [11:08] [0:03] % [0:53]
s1t04. That's What Love Will Make You Do [8:39] [0:58]
s1t05. Like A Road Leading Home [8:55] [0:14]
s1t06. My Sisters And Brothers [4:24] [0:17]
s1t07. Let's Spend The Night Together [11:31] (1) [0:02]

--set II (10 tracks, 8 tunes, 77:07)--
s2t08. Second That Emotion
s2t09. [0:30] And It Stoned Me :31-7:36 - 7:54
s2t10. Tears Of Rage [10:10] [0:07]
s2t11. crowd and tuning [1:28]
s2t12. Reuben And Cérise [7:56] [0:10]
s2t13. crowd and tuning [1:05]
s2t14. Waiting For A Miracle
s2t15. Tore Up Over You [7:24] [0:12]
s2t16. That Lucky Old Sun [11:17] ->
s2t17. Tangled Up In Blue [12:10] (3) [0:17]

! ACT1: JGB #21b (THE Jerry Garcia Band)
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing vocals;
! guest: Clarence Clemons - saxophone.

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/19900612-01

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1990-06-12

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/11366 (unknown MAD, shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/85819 (mixed sources [Bu & Rick set I, Schoeps CMC 521s set II] flac); http://etreedb.org/shn/141472 (this fileset). I am pretty sure we will find that 85819 and this tape match, but I haven't verified.

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/ZW52vfHTbjs

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2013/02/warfield-982-market-street-san.html

! venue: http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2011/11/september-25-1980-fox-warfield-theater.html

! P: Overall, this is stronger than the prior night (IMO), when Jer sounded really fatigued, but he still sounds a little down and it doesn't knock me out.

! R: DAT Audience attributed to "Rick". DAT Archived and Transferred By Stuccoholmes 2018
Edited and Mastered by Jamie Waddell in Wavelab 7.2, 16bit 48kHz FLAC Level8 in TLH.

! R: seeder notes: clear, balanced sound, minimal crowd intrusion, gets an A from me"

! personnel: Clarence enters about 2 minutes into TLEO.

! historical: Per seeder, "John Kahn's Birthday, crowd sings to him set2". A group wishes him HBD again at the very start of Luck Ol' Sun.

! s1t01 @ about 27 seconds in, someone close to mic says "OK if you move it".

! P: s1t01 CUTS Garcia sounds tired.

! P: s1t03 KOHD was very sweet.

! P: s1t04 TWLWMYD gets nice and  grungy late 6 into 7.

! s1t07 (1) JG: "We'll be back in a little while. Thanks a lot."

! song: R&C (s2t12): this was last played 12/1/89. Not forever, but it just wasn't always played in this period.

! s2t13 (2) female taper's friend: "This is a test of the emergency Jerry system. This is only a test."

! P: s2t17 TUIB JG sounds vocally tired. The playing is fine, but it never really achieves escape velocity.

! s2t17 (3) JG: "See y'all later. Thanks a lot."

Certainly One of the Best and Most Interesting Shows of the 90s: JGB, March 1, 1991, Warfield

This is widely understood as one of the great Garcia Band shows of the 1990s, and I don't disagree. 

The setlist showed lots of novelty. "Struggling Man" had returned 11/20/90 (previous: 9/15/79 w/ Reconstruction). HAGYN had returned 1/30/91 (previous: 8/16/76 w/ JGB #3). Money Honey returns this night for the first time since 8/9/80. 4th Street returns this night first time since 2/23/80. ENSTL had debuted 1/29/91. So there's certainly evidence of Garcia challenging himself to do some interesting things. 

Performance-wise, maybe I was just hearing things, but both sets start with some ad hoc noodling/jamming, which is freakishly rare in the Garciaverse - I can't really think of any other instances of this, period. 

Set I doesn't strike me as exceptional but set II does, especially the last four tunes. Russian Lullaby is peppier than usual, and the band knows better than to let John try to go it alone during his feature. The Don't Let Go is truly exceptional, a candidate for best of the 90s (along with 2/6/94 in my book [see nick]), and even best post-coma (but see 5/19/89). (I don't compare the '88 versions which I love so much, because those are short and snappy, while this is a big-ass one.) Positively 4th Street is just about perfect - I think he gets all of the lyrics, and he does it with the right degree of bitterness. ENSTL finishes off well. Finally, 81 minutes seems like a very long second set, more kudos to the ol fella for bringing some juice this night. 

So, putting all of this together, I think this show deserves its very favorable reputation.

Very good, ol' Jer.

Jerry Garcia Band
The Warfield
982 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
March 1, 1991 (Friday)
B&K 4011s MAD flac1648 shnid-141449

--set I (8 tracks, 7 tunes, 64:44)--
s1t01. crowd and tuning [2:54]
s1t02. Cats Under The Stars [9:15] [1:18]
s1t03. He Ain't Give You None [8:10] [0:50]
s1t04. Struggling Man [7:46] [0:15]
s1t05. Forever Young [8:54] -10:27
s1t06. Run For The Roses [5:10] [0:21]
s1t07. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [8:47] ->
s1t08. Lay Down Sally

--set II (8 tracks, 7 tunes, 81:36)--
s2t09. crowd and tuning [1:40]
s2t10. [1:00] The Harder They Come 1:01-
s2t11. Money Honey [6:48] [0:57]
s2t12. And It Stoned Me
s2t13. Russian Lullaby [11:35] [0:52]
s2t14. Don't Let Go [19:46] [0:47]
s2t15. [0:24] Positively 4th Street [8:49] ->
s2t16. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love [8:33] (1) [0:16]

! ACT1: JGB #21b (THE Jerry Garcia Band)
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing 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/19910301-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/4372 (B&K 4011 EAC gen shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/6627 (B&K 4011 no EAC shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/7329 (B&K 4011 via C. Miller shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/109050 (Da Weez, flac1644); http://etreedb.org/shn/141449 (this fileset).  I haven't bothered to compare the various B&K tapes, but they may well be from the same source.

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2013/02/warfield-982-market-street-san.html

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/ZW52vfHTbjs

! seealso: JGMF, "At Wolfgang's Warfield: JGB, March 2, 1991 orchestra tape," http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2014/03/ln-jg1991-03-02jgballaud-mk4.html.

! R: field recordist: unknown, maybe Rob Darroch and Sara Paul?

! R: field recording gear: 2x B&K 4011 (hand-held @ 6', ORTF 110 degrees) > Neuman Power Supply > Panasonic SV-255

! R: field recording location: in the sweet spot

! R: DATx copy archived and transferred By Stuccoholmes 2018; Edited and Mastered by Jamie Waddell in Wavelab 7.2, 16bit 48kHz FLAC Level8 in TLH.

! P: Overall: see above

! P: s1t01 there is a little jam happening here! Whoa.

! P: s1t02 CUTS Ol' Jer is pretty lost on the lyrics. Don't know how to end it, and the effort includes a few off-key notes by ol' Jer.

! setlist: "Struggling Man" had returned 11/20/90 (previous: 9/15/79). HAGYN had returned 1/30/91 (previous: 8/16/76). Money Honey returns this night for the first time since 8/9/80. 4th Street returns this night first time since 2/23/80. ENSTL had debuted 1/29/91.

! P: s1t04 SM things are not on the same page at the start. JG and Kemper are out of sync, or Jer's own guitar is not in sync with when he's singing.

! P: s2t10 They are teasing TWYDTTYD before the tune, and then doing other weird little jams. Something in the water this night.

! P: s2t11 Money Honey love the guitar tone here.

! P: s2t13 RL John takes a feature, but Jerry and Kemper stay nicely forward, so he doesn't have to carry to heavy a load. It works. This RL is played at a very peppy tempo, to the good!

! P: s2t14 DLG This is a great DLG. He flubs the return lyric, but it's all good. An exceptional DLG.

! s2t16. (1) JG: "Thanks a lot. We'll see y'all later."

Palm Sunday

I know today is Easter, but JGBP tipped me off to a reddit AMA with Donna Jean the other day, and she provided this great memory from the Cats Under the Stars sessions:

It was about 4 o'clock in the morning, and Jerry and I were singing the duet on Palm Sunday, and we had the microphone on omni, so we were facing one another singing this song. It was probably the most soulful singing experience I ever had. It was a beautiful thing. I cannot say enough about how soulful that was, singing four inches from one another and singing that song. It's something I'll never forget.

Cool.

! ref: https://www.reddit.com/r/gratefuldead/comments/88dm78/hey_yall_its_donna_jean_ill_be_over_here_at_600/dwk2i0h/