"We Hardly Know Each Other": JGB at Sherwood Hall, Salinas, CA, August 6, 1981

LN jg1981-08-06.jgb.all.aud-unk-russjcan.110492.flac1644

JGB's "1st Northern California Tour", as the Keystoners had it.

In response to a really intriguing email about possible late June 1981 JGB show in Salinas, about which I have posted separately, and with the generous help of folks over at Lossless Legs, I was able to get my ears around the only circulating tape of JGB on Thursday, August 6, 1981 at Sherwood Hall, 940 North Main Street, Salinas, CA. This is an odd little tour about which I have posted separately.

Anyway, here are a few bottom lines from this listen.

1) This seems to be correctly dated. If indeed there had been a Salinas JGB show in late June '81, it was the first of two. The key evidence here is not only the seeder's personal attendance (augmented by the only tape I know for this date), but a "Happy Birthday Jerry" from the crowd, much more sensible for August 6th then for late June (given Jerry's August 1st birthday).

2) This seems to be John Kahn playing bass. If indeed there had been a Salinas JGB show in late June '81 with Phil Lesh playing (which is my correspondent's recollection), then Kahn's presence here reinforces the case for two separate shows.

3) After Midnight [JB | Allan] is the most interesting song here. Highly imperfect, but worth a listen.

Anyway, notes below.

Jerry Garcia Band
Sherwood Hall

940 North Main Street
Salinas, CA 93906-3913
August 6, 1981 (Thursday)

--set I (5 tracks, 44:41)--
s1t01. How Sweet It Is [7:37] [0:13] % [0:31] {08:21}
s1t02. Catfish John [10:04] [0:03] % {10:07}
s1t03. After Midnight [8:22] [0:05] % {08:27}
s1t04. Sittin' in Limbo/ [9:01] % {09:01}
s1t05. //Tangled Up In // Blue [#8:#36] [0:05] % {08:41}

--set II (5 tracks, 42:03)--
s2t01. crowd (1) [0:52] {00:52}
s2t02. I'll Take a Melody [11:30] [0:02] % [[0:17] {11:49}
s2t03. The Harder They Come [10:43] [0:02] % [0:06] {10:51}
s2t04. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [8:21] -> {08:21}
s2t05. Dear Prudence [10:03] -> Midnight Moonlight// [0:01] [0:02] % {10:06}

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #13b

! lineup: Jerry Garcia: el-g, vocals;

! lineup: John Kahn: el-bass;

! lineup: Melvin Seals: keyboards (Hammond B3);

! lineup: Jimmy Warren: keyboards

! lineup: Daoud Shaw - drums;

! lineup: Liz Stires - backing vocals;

! lineup: Essra Mohawk - backing vocals.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [m:ss] = recorded event time. The recorded event time immediately after the song or item name is an attempt at getting the "real" time of the event. So, a timing of [m:ss] right after a song title is an attempt to say how long the song really was, as represented on this recording.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19810806-01. 

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/110492/ (this recording)

! map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=940+North+Main+Street,+Salinas,+CA&aq=&sll=39.933312,-105.154375&sspn=0.011485,0.01929&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=940+N+Main+St,+Salinas,+Monterey,+California+93906&z=16

! JGBP: https://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/06/sherwood-hall-940-north-main-street.html

! band: JGB #13b (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html). Sounds like Kahn on bass, not a foregone conclusion during the summer of '81 (see 6/25, 6/26 and 8/22, all of which had Phil Lesh playing bass). The two keyboardists and two backing vocalists are all here. The names here are based on ongoing analysis at JGMF, LLD, and elsewhere and reflect the state of my understanding as of March 15, 2011.

! R: source: Unknown gen audience recording > NakCR-3A > AudigySE > Audacity > CDWave > TLH, transfer by Russ Cansler.

! R: seeder notes: unknown low gen source. Pauses between songs. Tape flip at 7:39 in d1t05. FOB indicated by weak vocals and upfront guitar from amp instead of house sound.  Jerry speaks off mike at the beginning of set 2 when tapers ask him to introduce the band. We weren't allowed in the balcony seats because we were deadheads and might try to smoke or something so everyone was on the floor. Drummer was late resulting in at least an hour between opening act and Jerry. Jerry site lists source as cutting Dear Prudence but this source has Dear Prudence intact and first second of Midnight Moonlight.

! R: TJS used to lists a 90 minute aud tape that "cuts in Dear Prudence and is missing the rest of the show." The seeder for this fileset infers that this is a different recording, but of course it's possible that Ryan's reference tape cut at the very end of DP and dropped the 1-second tease of Midnight Moonlight, so I am not sure that issue is settled. For now, I am working on the assumption that the recording I note here is the only one to have made it out of Sherwood Hall that night, but I have often been pleasantly wrong about such things.

! R: running fast. The bass is overloaded and boomy. Seeder is right, this definitely has that FOB feel - the guitar is off the monitors and is quite forward. (Not such a bad thing, after all.)

! s1t01 crowd starts up a Happy Birthday for Jerry, good provenance for the date.

! R: Nice tape, nice recording underneath it all. The master is probably a nice listen.

! P: s1t03 After Midnight is extremely coke-fueled. Jerry's switches a tone @ 1:59 for his solo, things start coming in @ about 2:12, and then he is tearing off a raunchy freaking run, foul, foul stuff. He goes around the bases again in the 3-min  mark, switches into the rhythm, turning it over to Jimmy Warren, @ 3:26. Warren's solo is anemic, Melvin steps in for one @ 4:36, is shredding reasonably well for 45 seconds or so, then Jerry jumps over the top for a couple of measures to set up the vocals.

! R: s1t05 TUIB cuts in with massively overblown levels - watch your speakers.

! P: Set I definitely has more of a coke vibe than a heroin vibe.

! R: s1t05 TUIB harsh splice @ 7:39, SQ much brighter afterwards.  Different source?

! R: s2t01 enters harshly, watch your ears.

! s2t01 @ 0:11 taper talk (1): "Will somebody please introduce the band?" Off-mic, Garcia replies "We hardly know each other," gets a good chuckle. It would become --really, already was-- exceptionally rare for Garcia to engage fans in this way.

! R: set II sounds brighter and hissier, more like the source for the end of TUIB than for the rest of set I.

! P: s2t05 JK sounds good @ start of DP

! R: s2t05 Midnight Moonlight is just the first note before the cassette seems to run out.

! What was the name of the opening band?