The Grateful Dead: Top-Grossing Act of 1991

I just picked up a copy of Pollstar's 1991 Year-End Special Edition, entitled Year of the Dead, dated December 31, 1991.

Though I don't do much GD stuff, blogger's stats tell me that GD posts are the most popular. People are funny. But I digress. One of the reasons I don't do it is that others are just so much better at it, and there's so much to do. I like my quieter, Garcia-on-the-side view of things.

But I couldn't pass this up. I just loved some of the data that I found in this magazine, and so want to present a few pictures, each with a few associated thoughts (though, thankfully, not a thousand words).

The GD was the top-grossing American live music act in 1991, bringing in almost $35 million for the year. At this point, Garcia is founder and de facto leader of a company grossing well over this amount, once we factor in GD merchandising, record sales, licensing, royalties (I'd love to know the details), in addition to all of that stuff from his "other" bands. He was an entrepreneur (I need to read Barry Barnes's book, I know). A lot of the messed up shit (such as the 1978 tax liens) that I report on needs to be put into this context. The Dirty Fucking Hippie was a massively successful businessman. He wasn't just some junkie rock star. He was an American success story: Jerry Garcia, Inc.

Here's the key table, with data from Pollstar. I have independently calculated the gross per ticket stuff and the column totals. Pollstar's narrative has some weird numbers, for example "76 shows in 27 cities", while I count 58 paid shows (plus free Bill Graham Memorial show on 11/3/91, no tickets of revenue, of course) across 23 cities.

Table xxx. Grateful Dead 1991 concert grosses.

I'll leave it to GD people to comment and parse as they might like. Let me just elaborate with one more picture from these data, focusing on promoters.

Figure xxx. Grateful Dead 1991 concert grosses, by promoter. Man that is some ugly-ass graph, isn't it?

Here are a few observations, bullet style.

• There is so much continuity in promoters! I was looking at tour information from the October 22 - November 2, 1975 JGB tour, and you see not only John Scher all over it, but Cellar Door in DC and Don Law in Boston, as with here. Seems like there were lots of first-mover advantages in this particular market.
• Barry Fey was the only holdout to the total market domination of Bill Graham and John Scher.
• This distribution is such a great artifact of high modernism. It's perfect how Scher and Graham divide the country, each with his domaine réservé or his chasse gardée, exclusive territoriality on a par with the sharply distinct domains of Westphalian states. No overlapping authority, à la the pre-Westphalian Holy Roman Empire, with its thousands of princes, dukes, suzerains and assorted monarchs and their associated principalities, duchies, suzerainties, and kingdoms.  Sharp lines. Modernity. From the article:

Grateful Dead Productions had the band's yearly excursions down to a science in '91 with Bill Graham Presents and Metropolitan Entertainment splitting the country in their roles as tour producers. All the Dead dates were co-promoted by one or the other except for a stop in Denver, where the two companies couldn't agree on who had the territory. It's safe to say the plan won't change much in the future. If there's one thing to learn from this success story in a year that had so few, it's 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'

• Why would Bill Graham have co-promoted the May 1991 Shoreline shows, but not the August ones?
• Garcia, like all of us, wanted to simplify out the shit that didn't appeal to him (e.g., the business side of things) to make maximal room for the stuff that did. We should, and probably do, all strive for that sort of thing. Specialization and exchange. Pay the promoter to handle that stuff. Delegate.
• Look at how lucrative the eastern half of the country is. Man oh man! We have talked on the blogs, and the books talk a lot, about the importance of the core northeast fanbase over the years. It began very early on. The Dead perceived the importance of these folks (or are they markets?) early on and drew the appropriate conclusions in terms of engagement, marketing, outreach, etc. Constituency service, the pols would call it.
• The annual MSG and Boston Garden runs are just unbelievable. Again, high modernism. Capitalism at its finest.
• Scher seems to have been smart about working with local partners, and I am sure the GD folks were more than glad to have him sub-contract as he needed to. The Dead and Scher worked well together, they obviously trusted him, and you can't particularly argue with the results.
• The fact that the Dead staged an intervention after the Denver show 6/28/91, that Garcia entered a methadone-based recovery program that summer, and seemed burned out beyond all recognition in the fall (the Hornsby recollections, the Boston statement about taking a break from touring), gives us a little peek, as if we needed any reminder that life is full of tradeoffs, at the human toll, on Garcia in particular, of the "Year Of The Dead". A Year of Dying, too. Ain't creative destruction great?

One last point, on data and methodology: the entertainment industry has always documented itself very thoroughly, and especially in quantitative (and, specifically, monetary) terms. I guess that's true of all industries, but, like any ad-based industry, music, television, film, and the rest of the entertainment-industrial complex had a great incentive to make at least some data public. From very early on there are charts and lots of information about grosses and such.

So how is it possible that we don't have better quantitative data in the field of Grateful Dead Studies? We need  more graduate students writing more dissertations to start compiling more data; we oldsters can't handle the strain. Billboard, Pollstar ... etc. etc. I want graphs of the chart position of every Dead/Garcia record ever ... stat! (so to speak)

Render Unto Caesar, 1978

Garcia was never gonna be homeless after the 60s, but like so many he struggled managing his finances. 1978 was a bad year on various measures, and here's a simple one: tax liens. I can't imagine the stress that would be devouring most of us if we were ever to have a lien slapped against our house for failure to pay taxes. The fiscal contract is the core of the social one between citizens and state. It's where the rubber of the state's monopoly on the legitimate use of violence (Max Weber) hits the road of everyday life - you have to pay your taxes, or you can be deprived of your liberty. The US subprime mortgage crisis exposed a lot of people to a lot of this kind of stress. Garcia lived it.

I earlier noted a $25,000 federal tax lien (see 1978-CUTS tour, in progress), caught up in a kinetic whirlwind of personal and professional electricity; drama on the home front, ghosts of lectricity in the studio making the record, hitting the road. That was a big hit, but the hits kept coming in 1978. The State of California dropped two, first for about $5k as Garcia tripped the Pyramids fantastic with the Dead, and again at the end of the year for another $6,500. (Eureka … I have found it!) Uncle Sam kept hitting that, too, taking tastes for $12,450 on November 3 against Jerome J., plus $8,200 six days later and $1,200 on 12/13 against Garcia, Kahn and Tutt dba Jerry Garcia Band.

Here are the data:

Table xxx. Jerry Garcia and JGB tax liens, 1978

I don't have corresponding revenue information, though in the same records I can see the liens being released in dribs and drabs, as he pays them off. This is one tiny piece of the picture of Garcia's finances. There's selection bias in the data and all that. They are not representative! But, by the standard of normal people, this is not pretty: any year in which you get slapped with a half-dozen tax liens, to the tune of over $200k in today's terms, has to be a bad one ... Rock Star or no Rock Star.

! ref: Matthew 22:21, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+22%3A21&version=ESV.

JGB 9/15/76 S.S. Duchess, New York City Harbor, New York, NY

The relationship between the Grateful Dead and the Hells Angels has been pretty well discussed, though I am sure there's tons more to say. That's for others to do.

Here I'll just note that Garcia also worked with the Angels outside the GD framework. I have made a few posts with Hells Angels content. I don't have time to work it all out, but I am not going to let that stop me saying something, anyway.

In 2009 I briefly discussed the Hells Angels benefit at the Anderson Theatre in NYC on 11/23/70, NRPS-GD, mostly to update the setlists.  In 2011 I mentioned 3/25/72 at the Academy of Music in NYC, including this great picture of Bo Diddley and the Dead (billed as Jerry Garcia and Friends), at least parts of which were released as Dick's Pick's 30 (2003).

Jerry Garcia and Friends, 3/25/72, Academy of Music, NYC; photo by Chuck Pulin, published in Carr, Patrick. 1972b. One Full Week Running With: Grateful Dead. Grapevine (Toronto) no. 14, May 17, 1972, p. 15.

At some point I'll write up 9/5/73, on the S.S. Bay Belle, Jerry and Merl's first east coast performance.

Right now, I just want to pick my jaw up off the floor at the video that has just hit the streets: The Jerry Garcia Band aboard the S.S. Duchess, New York City Harbor, 9/15/76 [Jerrybase] in high quality color video:

Amazing. Thanks to all involved in getting this to where a schmoe like me can see it, from pretty much anywhere pretty much at any time. Like so much other great stuff, this was seeded by "Voodoonola". A tip o' the cap to you, sir or madam.

(Also of note: video of JGB playing "Not Fade Away" on the Jersey Shore, 7/9/77, also shared to Youtube. I have noted an audio listen to that, as well as the night before at the Calderone Concert Hall. I can't wait to watch it.)

This show offers awesome triangulation possibilities.

There are posters (IM's amazing poster site had one, but is no longer updated past 1976).

There are live action stills and other eye candy:

Pirates' Ball 9/15/76 photo spread, photogs Craig Silverman, Patricia, Ron Gaiella, Yipster Times, October 1976, p. 24.

Naturally enough, this being the Garciaverse, there's also tape. The legendary Ohr Weinberg had a cassette copy of unknown provenance, which Anne Cohen digitized and shared (shnid-86326).

Finally, there's also a great review:

! review: Moore, Jerry. 1976c. 6 Hours Before the Mast. Relix 3, 6 (October): 14-16. [pdf].

Moore tells us all kinds of neat stuff. This was a Hells Angels party, but adventurous public could join in at $15 a head. That would explain the posters. 2,000, including a couple hundred Angels, took part. By the way, this is the same vessel they cruised in 1973, just rechristened, and it reflects a second triple-crossing of the Garciaverse, Bo Diddley and the Angels (after the aforementioned 3/25/72, and penultimate to the Sandy Alexander Benefit crossing of 6/25/82).

More Jerry color (Sard Thee Well!):

In all that freaky crowd, the Angels were the freakiest. The first thing that hit you was that most of them were pretty big, inspiring awe by size alone. Their garb ran mostly to oily denim and leather, the kind of clothing that makes your nose wish it were in some other state. Naturally, they all wore their colors. Tattoos seem to be almost as popular among the Angels as motorcycles. Scars, missing limbs, and prosthetic devices (hooks and such) were very much in evidence, as were weapons ranging from knives to brass knuckles and chains. One Angel in particular, I wish I had a picture of. He was well over 6 feet tall, and must have weighed over 300 pounds. He was wearing only a·vest over his oily denims, and, wherever he went, his stomach preceded him by feet. He was so festooned with chains that he clanked with every step he took. He was so greasy and ugly that he was beautiful, a veritable human tank.

Moore describes four decks set up with nitrous tanks (free if you could fight your way in), packed bars and food services, speakers everywhere, and TV monitors "with a phenomenal color picture of the performance" (video - check!).

Moore narrates a few things which are confirmed by the video. (Indeed, one wonders if ol' JM didn't have a copy of the video? He always did have a remarkably good memory for stuff, though.) He notes "a rather stoned Angel stumbled onto the stage during the Garcia Band set, seizing control of a microphone long enough to drawl out 'Hey folks some cookin' music. Get it on with that boogie beat there,'" which we do get on the video. He also says, cheekily, "Jerry has a funny little trick of rotating his ass in circles to cue" the amazing, upbeat gospel "Mighty High" [Allan | deaddisc | Jerrybase], and there Garcia is on video, shaking his tail.

The order was an apparently forgettable Bay Area band called Cheyenne, Elephant's Memory, then Bo Diddley backed by EM, then, from 11:55-2:05 or so (actually 2:07 am), the Garcia Band. Jerry mentions a hot "Midnight Moonlight", which is not on the video. I need to revisit that.

I'll just finish with a few quick thoughts on what I got out of watching this incredible video, bullet-style.

• John Kahn mostly can't be heard, which would be familiar from later years. This is basically intended as a criticism.
• Nice to see Ronnie Tutt banging the start of "Mighty High"
• Nice to see Donna Jean singing the beautiful stuff she was doing this period behind "Stir It Up", her groove on "After Midnight", and her power on "Mighty High".
• "Mighty High" (Crawford, Downing) was, per Allan, "originally recorded by The Mighty Clouds of Joy and later covered by Gloria Gaynor". JGB only played it in 1976, it is my favorite song of 1976, and this video is breathtaking. It cuts out only a minute or two in, and as much as I want to lament the Cut Of Death, I must celebrate the couple of minutes that we do get. It's not present on Ohr's old tape, and here we get to listen and watch. Wonderful, amazing, glorious stuff. Thank you, Jay-zuss!

There is World-Class Guitar Playing Here (JGB at the Arlington in Santa Barbara, May 19, 1984)

LN jg1984-05-19.jgb.all.aud-rossi-ford.124791.flac1644

Really great tape. And, while things are a little bit uneven, there's a lot to like in this performance. The arrangements are generally tight and the guitar playing can be outstanding. This band is together. Melvin plays colorfully, drums strong and bass nice and thompin'. Garcia does a lot of very sophisticated layering and building, playing around with tempo, tone, amplitude, etc. etc. Some very creative work. The vocals are not good, but they are not as bad as they would become later in the year. All in all, I'd totally recommend this show to someone, with the proper caveats.

Bias is such a pain in the neck. I am pretty sure that I listen to this show for signs of what I know I believe will come in late 1984: Rock Bottom. But this ain't it, not yet. Pretty interesting listen, all in all. Thanks to the folks involved in getting this into the world, from taper Adam Rossi on through.

Jerry Garcia Band
Arlington Theatre
1317 State Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
May 19, 1984 (Saturday)
85 min Rossi via McCue-Ford shnid-124791

--set I (4 tracks, 39:55, missing ca. 10-12 minutes at end)--
s1t01. How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You [10:18] [0:04] %
s1t02. They Love Each Other [8:40] [0:03] % [0:14]
s1t03. Let It Rock [9:39] [0:05] % [0:05]
s1t04. I Second That Emotion [10:45] -> Tangled Up In Blue// [0:03#] %

--set II (4 tracks, 45:31)--
s2t01. [0:13] Cats Under The Stars [10:09] [0:03] %
s2t02. Knocking On Heaven's Door [13:56] ->
s2t03. Dear Prudence [13:23+0:02] ->
s2t04. Midnight Moonlight [-0:02+7:44] (1) [0:04]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #21a
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards (Hammond B3 organ);
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: DeeDee Dickerson - vocals;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - vocals.

JGMF:

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

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19840519-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/108319 (unlineaged aud); http://etreedb.org/shn/124791 (this fileset, now deprecated - d'oh!); http://etreedb.org/shn/125760 (complete show, best available).

! opener: Robert Hunter

! map: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=1317+State+Street+Santa+Barbara,+CA&hl=en&sll=38.997934,-105.550567&sspn=7.229361,16.907959&t=h&hnear=1317+State+St,+Santa+Barbara,+California+93101&z=17

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/09/arlington-theater-1317-state-st-santa.html

! band: It has long been thought that Gloria Jones started with David Kemper in July of 1983. But that is clearly wrong. DeeDee Dickerson was definitely around through 1983. I have conjectured that Gloria began with the new year in 1984, but I now think that is wrong, too, because the Rowe review names all of the band members except the drummer, and he says it was DDD and not Gloria. It's possible he had some kind of old information, but it doesn't seem like it. As of this note (7/28/2018), it feels like DDD was around at least through this show, and Gloria arrives ... sometime later. update 20200418: I have now pinned this as 7/28/84. We shall see how long that conclusion holds.

! review: Rowe, Mark. 1984. Extended Jams From Jerry Garcia Band. Daily Nexus (U.C. Santa Barbara), May 24, 1984, p. 8A.

! seealso: JGMF, "The Auds Have It" [5/18/84] and "Don Dearth Was My Third Grade Teacher, And He Was A Taper: JGB at the Stone, May 12, 1984".

! seealso: JGMF, "Killer Sugaree and final DDD: JGB at Country Club, Reseda, May 20, 1984"

! tags: 1984, Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara, CA, drugs, Adam Rossi, SoCal, JGB

! field recordist: Adam Rossi;

! field recording equipment: Nakamichi 300 > Sony D5;

! field recording media: cassette;

! source tape: master cassette > Sony D6 > unknown Akai home deck > TDK SA90 (Bill Murath's copy, shared by Mark McCue);

! source transfer: Nakamichi Dragon > Lunatec V3 (24/88.1) > Lynx AES 16AES(e) > WaveLab 7.2.1 (UAD-2) > .wav @24/88.2 > Apogee UV22HR/Crystal Resampler > .wav @16/44.1 > xAct (conversion and tagging) > flac16; transferred, edited and mastered by Alex Ford - June 2013.

! R: seeder comment: Thanks to Bill Murath who originally made the 1st gen cassette copy that I transferred.

! R: seeder comment: Last but NOT least, thanks to Mark McCue for loaning me his cassette for the transfer.

! seeder notes: historical: Great American Music Band played the Arlington Theatre on 4/24/74 (without Jerry). Kingfish w/ Bob Weir and Robert Hunter opening also played the Arlington Theatre on 10/29/86.

! setlist: song selection: I am not a huge fan of this first set list, especially given that we don't really get to hear TUIB. TLEO, LIR and ISTE would not typically be my favorites. I like set II a little better, especially CUTS. A 45 minute second set is a fucking ripoff, though. He always talked about how he didn't want to burn his audience, and I think he mostly held up a pretty good standard in that regard. But during 1984-1985 there were some pretty short shows. SoCal seemed to get its disproportionate share of them, with the May 1985 Beverly Theater incident indicating that at least some of the crowd was willing to express its displeasure. Good for them. At least on this night (5/19/84), the food is pretty good even if the quantity's a bit small, which I can't say for 5/31/85.

! R: this is a really, really nice tape.

! R: s1t01 noise and static from 0:00 - 1:35. A little overloaded.

! P: s1t01 HSII Jerry reals tries to belt some stuff out at the end of HSII, but it's phlegmatic.

! P: s1t02 TLEO Jerry's vocal struggles continue. Furthermore, he seems to be adding a measure to the chorus section that everyone else is struggling to stay with. It's Jerry vs. the rest of the band, and I don't blame them. He's pretty wrecked. Over 2-min, he's trying to figure the vocals out. He sounds scratchy, but he's starting to warm up. Late 5-min over 6-min mark, his guitar playing picks up, musical inspiration and manual dexterity meet, say a hot hello to each other, then Jerry layers 'em together a few different ways, pulls 'em apart and puts 'em together, like competitive cup-stacking.

! P: s1t03 LIR is also a little flabby, definitely "lose in the cage" as the P-90X guy's friend might have said.

! P: Observation after LIR. This is a night in which the heroin is working against the vocals and any kind of musical discipline, but the cocaine more than compensates on the instrumental side. Magnesial guitar playing, welders' gear and a release from liability to be up front. That is a first set impression. The second set starts off sluggighly but is probably considerably above averge. The Arlington remains an American masterpiece, leafy classisicist pastels, old Hollywood neon, deep, plush, supportive seats. Somehow there's a stone breeze, like the kind you get walking inside a grotto, church or wine cellar in the Mediterranean summer. Mid-May in Santa Barbara at the Arlington, just like July at the Bowl, can approximate natural and human perfection, true harmony. Jerry Garcia does not attain perfection on 5/19/84. Far from it. There will be moments from three months later in which I don't think he even attains professionalism, not a light criticism. But there is world class guitar playing here. This is the end of Jerry's "metal" period, which in the GOTS context I date from around February 1981 and which continues through about August 1984, in which the vocal quality and certain disciplines decline, but this is often compensated by especially incendiary guitar playing, clearly evident in LIR here. His rock-star fanning of early 1981 reappeared from time-to-time, as in mid-1983by which time it had taken on a more feedbacky sound. By '84 things were really metallic, not rattling your fillings so much as vibrating them at high pich. All told, things are a little feverish with Jerry, around this time, he's running really hot. In three months he'd start his descent to rock bottom, that hair-raising inexorable slide, no guardrails, to January 18, 1985.

! historical: Santa Barbara shows are woefully underdocumented, because it's a town that doesn't need to project itself, for whatever reason. No-one has gone through the local papers (sounds like a trip is in order!). Very few recollections and stubs and pix pop up.

! R: s1t05 very beginning of Tangled Up In Blue is audible, then cuts out.

! P: s2t01 CUTS Starts off sluggish, but in the 5-minute mark we hear heavy metal Jerry and my faith is restored. Through the six minute mark he has a little less grunge, but he's sustaining at a much higher level of grunge than he had been before the earlier filth. I think he pushes on one dimension (say, grunge), then pulls that back to 75% of the peak (but 200% of the prior peak, or something like that), builds up another dimension, etc. Then he runs some phrases and ideas through it. It's definitely equivalent to paragraphing language, hell, it's equivalent to managing a work flow ... lots to stack up and integrate. My main gripe with many versions of CUTS as that he didn't know how to cut it off, and this one definitely outlives its usefulness by the end.

! P: s2t02 KOHD the arrangement is just so perfect, and the playing is gorgeous. The crowd is occasionally yipping with appropriate delight at what this band is laying down. Everyone is locked in. Kemper the pulse, John the swing, Melvin the color, Garcia's poetic intellectualism. Melvin takes a nice lead figure in the 7-min mark. Love love love the reggae arrangement of KOHD they settled on in 1981 and which stayed very fresh all the way to the end. Melvin hits another high around 8:20, Garcia does a big pull and some plucky stuff 8:20-8:30 mark.

! P: s2t04 MM could be such a throwaway to end the shows of this period, when he was racing through to get back to his drugs, first and foremost. These vocals are indifferent, but the guitar playing is stellar. Great run late 1 over 2 minute mark. Another nice run 2-min mark, some big funky Chording. Now, here, he could have gotten back to the vocals @ 3:24ish, but instead he takes another run. I am not going to do it, but I bet a very micro analysis of better vs. worse versions of this song during this period would find him taking this extra turn on a good night and turning it down on a bad one. But this is conjecture. Melvin nice solo 4-min. The set overall still feels short, but I guess I wouldn't feel totally ripped off, because they did bring good energy. Last night of the mini SoCal tour.

! s2t04 (1) JG: "Thanks a lot, see y'all later."

His voice is fading fast: JGB at SUNY New Paltz, 11/29/77

LN jg1977-11-29.jgb.all.aud-cooper.berger.124217.flac2496

I have already posted about the fascinating setlist rarity, "Here Comes The Sun" popping up in the middle of "Stir It Up". Neat.

Beyond that, I note that this is a pivotal moment in Garcia's singing. Everything's still arranged around the highs he could hit early in 1976 and 1977. But in the meantime, The Movie et seq. has made a smoking ruin of his otolaryngological system. Even at $200 a gram around this time, Garcia seems to have been doing lots and lots of blow; John Henry himself couldn't compete against marching Bolivians in tunneling through the human sinus. I had always thought that he was doing top-shelf medical stuff, and perhaps it varied. But an interview from a year later (December 1978) finds Jerry not being choosy:

The toot is vicious, cut with meth, not with quinine, and it’s enough to rip your sinuses out. It goes straight to the forebrain – a howling blizzard of Insight and Truth. The rush is, well, chilling; your scalp tingles, a hospital sourness scours the back of your throat.  Then a Con Ed generator of electricity sizzles your synapses (Abbott 1979, 35).

There's also the three packs of Camels a day (Troy 1994, 190). I don't know how Jerry's opioid of choice, "Persian", which he smoked, may have affected things. Maybe it palliated the nose, throat and sinuses, leaving him ready to dust and maybe darn some socks ("Refreshing!"). But even so, vocal chord striation brings singing limitations. I hear all of that here, much more than I did on my recent listen to 11/23/77. His voice is fading fast -- six weeks later, in January 1978, he'd pass several Dead shows without singing -- and he hasn't trained himself nor modified arrangements to go around and through these new limitations.

Jerry Garcia Band
Elting Gym, State University of New York (SUNY)
New Paltz, NY 12561
November 29, 1977 (Tuesday)
Jim Cooper flac2496 shnid-124217

--set I (5 tracks, 55:10)--
s1t01. //Let It Rock [#6:48] [0:02] % [0:13] % [0:16]
s1t02. Stir It Up (1) [10:41] [2:16]
s1t03. I Second That Emotion [9:18] %
s1t04. ... Simple Twist Of Fate [#13:20] % [0:04] %
s1t05. /Midnight Moonlight [#12:07] %

--set II (7 tracks, 72:36)--
s2t01. [0:28] % /The Way You Do The Things You Do [9:55] %
s2t02. /Catfish John [#9:48] %
s2t03. The Harder They Come [13:41] %
s2t04. [0:04] % /Gomorrah [#6:28] %
s2t05. /Mystery Train [#8:36] [0:02] %
s2t06. /Russian //Lullaby [#13:#50] %
s2t07. Mission In The Rain [9:37] (1) [0:03] %

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Keith Godchaux - piano;
! lineup: Buzz Buchanan - drums;
! lineup: Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals;
! lineup: Maria Muldaur - 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/19771129-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/124216 (Cooper flac1644); http://etreedb.org/shn/124217 (Cooper flac2496, this fileset).

! map: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=elting+gym+address&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Elting+Gym,+Southside+Loop,+New+Paltz,+New+York+12561&gl=us&t=h&z=16

! band: JGB #4 (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html).

! seealso: JGMF, "Fall '77 Gig Economics: The Case of SUNY New Paltz (JGB, 11/29/77)"

! tags: 1977, JGB, listening notes, Here Comes The Sun, Jim Cooper, college gigs, Elting Gym, SUNY, New Paltz, NY, rarities, drugs, vocals, songs-H

! R: field recordist: Jim Cooper

! R: field recording equipment: 2x Sony ECM22p > Hitachi TRQ-232

! R: field recording media: 1x Maxell UDKLII-C90 (Dolby B), 1x Maxell UD-C90 (Dolby B)

! R: transfer: Nakamichi Dragon (Dolby B) > Benchmark ADC1 24/96 > PC > Adobe Audition 2.0 > cd wave > flac. transfer & seeded by Rob Berger 3/13.

! R: notes: "nice aud for a gymnasium. thanks Jim"

! s1t02 (1) Stir It Up JG plays "Here Comes The Sun" melody from 8:45-9:10.

! P: s1t04 STOF JG's voice sounds shot. He is straining against range limitations, and he hasn't yet trained himself how to sing around them. This is a pivotal moment in his singing. Everything's still arranged around the highs he could hit early in 1976 and 1977. Discuss. Bottom line: late 1977, Jerry's having to adjust his singing style pretty drastically, but he hasn't quite gotten there. And, oh yeah, Simple Twist: the whole old man thing works to pretty good effect, so it's not all bad. Some nice glassy guitar picking mid-6ff. This STOF has some nice interplay between Garcia, Keith and John. Jerry laying out long paragraphs late 8 over 9-min mark. 10-minute mark Garcia is fanning very close together, a good 30-second blast, that's nonetheless under control. Yeah, hits it hard 10:45, a 5-second thing to drop the big '1' for the next verse. Well done. Pretty good version of STOF, NB no bass feature.

! R: s1t05 MM clips in

! P: s2t01 TWYDTTYD these harmony "arrangements" aren't working for me.

! R: s2t03 HTC patched drop out

! R: s2t06 RL clips in, splice @ 12:46

! P: s2t06 RL Kahn does a bass feature late 6-min mark

! s2t07 (1) JG: "See y'all later on."

Maria 'Shaking Her Substantial Booty' at Waterbury's 'Decrepit Palace Theater': JGB 11/23/77, Commander aud

LN jg1977-11-23.jgb.all.aud-commander-berger.123904.flac1644

I have always had big love for this show. On this listen, the only song that really lights me up is TWLWMYD. (ed.: Blair Jackson points out Mission in the Rain, which is indeed stellar, deep and heartfelt. Good call.) Not sure if that's because I am not in the mood, or this tape doesn't move me the way Jerry Moore's does, or something else. Anyway, not much to report.

Reviewer "Leapin" (see scan) drops some color: "The JGB packed Waterbury's decrepit Palace Theater on the eve of Turkey Day … upon arrival to CT on Wednesday, Mr. Garcia was rather ill, according to several close friends of the attending physician." (That doctor would be in big trouble today, I think.) Leapin makes special repeated mention of Maria Muldaur, who is prone to "shaking her substantial booty", and seems generally to have enjoyed the show.

Jerry Garcia Band
Palace Theater
100 East Main Street
Waterbury, CT 06702
November 23, 1977 (Wednesday)
Commander MAC Berger 1644 shnid-123904

--set I (6 tracks, 61:03)--
s1t01. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [7:30] [0:21] % [0:14]
s1t02. Catfish John [8:37] [0:07] % [0:53]
s1t03. That's What Love Will Make You Do [10:33] [0:04] %
s1t04. I'll Take A Melody [13:46] %% [0:27]
s1t05. Simple Twist Of Fate [10:14] %
s1t06. Mission In The Rain [7:41] (1) [0:02] %

--set II + encore (8 tracks, 68:53)--
--set II (7 tracks, 57:15)--
s2t01. [0:20] Let It Rock [7:20] %% [0:16]
s2t02. They Love Each Other [7:03] [0:05] %
s2t03. Mystery Train [9:30] [0:01] % [0:46]
s2t04. Love In The Afternoon [8:31] [0:03] % [0:26]
s2t05. Reuben And Cherise [6:13] [0:04] % [0:34]
s2t06. Gomorrah [5:52] [0:04] %% [0:20] [-0:04]
s2t07. Midnight Moonlight [0:04+9:36] (2) [0:05] %
--encore (1 track, 11:38)--
s2t08. [0:15] Lonesome And A Long Way From Home [11:06] [0:17] %

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Keith Godchaux - ac-piano, el-piano;
! lineup: Buzz Buchanan - drums;
! lineup: Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals;
! lineup: Maria Muldaur - 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/19771123-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/4447 (shn, probably Moore master and deprecated); http://etreedb.org/shn/16204 (shn, Moore master, deprecated); http://etreedb.org/shn/25622 (uncertain aud, shn); http://etreedb.org/shn/123904 (this fileset); http://etreedb.org/shn/123905 (Moore master, flac2496).

! map: http://goo.gl/maps/n5Kvy

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/08/palace-theater-100-east-main-street.html

! review: review: Leapin. 1977. In Concert: Jerry Garcia Band. unknown publication ca. December 1977.

! R: field recordist: The Commander

! R: field recording equipment: Audio Technica condensor mics > Sony TC-153SD, Dolby B on

! R: field recording media: 1x Maxell XLII-90, 1x TDK SA-C90, 1x Maxell XLI-90 (low bias, encore).

! R: transfer: Nakamichi BX-300 (Dolby B) > Tascam HD-P2 24/96 > PC > Adobe Audition 2.0 > cd wave > flac. organic pitch correction, transfer by taper Chuck (tc3) & Rob Berger feb. 2013.

! R: seeder notes: "good aud from the balcony and has the Lonesome encore that Jerry Moore's (killer) source is missing. Thanks to TC3 for his help and efforts on this one and to the Commander of course."

! R: I have retracked for sets rather than discs.

! P: s1t03 TWLWMYD this version just totally grooves.

! P: s1t06 STOF This is nice. The crowd really hears what it is and gives a reaction at the first chorus, and especially the titular line. Like so much Dylan, this song could be an imprint of New York, more the cover of "Freewheelin'" than the "Hard Times In New York Town"
(http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/hard-times-new-york-town). It's not perfect. Is Keith playing electric piano at any point here, yes, I believe he is!

! P: s1t06 MITR I will say that Maria is off-key. Ouch.

! s1t06 (1) "We're gonna take a break for a little/"

! P: s2t01 LIR not a good start. Keith is way out front, and it's not clear that the tempos are where people want them. Jerry finally starts laying out the tempo of the song, Buzzy wisely gets behind him. Why they had the new guy setting the tempos to start, I dunno ... I guess he's the drummer, but whatever it is, they don't have their tempos together to start the song, and many songs on this night and during this period. Keith is so heavily percussive. Garcia takes a solo late 4-minute mark and you can hear him really having to dig in (not necessarily a bad thing!) to be heard over Keith.

! R: s2t06-t07 I would have tracked differently, as noted by timings.

! s2t07 (2) JG: inaudible

! P: after hearing the whole show, the second set underwhelms me a little bit. On this listen, only TWLWMYD really lights me up. Funny.

Big Daddy: "This is Old And In The Way, and I'll let 'em stay all night if they want to."

LN jg1973-04-21.oaitw.early.fm-FlyingM.125747.flac1644

Old And In the Way
Record Plant
2200 Bridgeway
Sausalito, CA 94965
April 21, 1973 (Saturday)
57 minute Flying M FM shnid-125747

--(15 tracks, 57:29, basically complete)--
t01. (1) ... Going To The Races [0:15] [0:09]
t02. (2) The Willow Garden [3:57] (3, 4) [0:18]
t03. Katy Hill [2:19] (5) [0:16]
t04. Till The End Of The World Rolls Round [2:13] [0:49]
t05. Panama Red [2:14] [0:45]
t06. Hard Hearted [2:31] (6)
t07. Soldier's Joy [2:16] [0:05]
t08. Wild Horses [4:10] [0:15]
t09. Lost [3:11] [0:32]
t10. Knockin' On Your Door [2:27] [1:12]
t11. Lonesome L.A. Cowboy [4:04] [0:24]
t12. Fanny Hill [4:05] (7, 8) [0:51]
t13. White Dove [4:05] [0:56]
t14. Land Of The Navajo [6:30] (9) [1:42]
t15. false start [0:22], Blue Mule [3:47] (10) [0:08]

! ACT1: Old And In The Way
! lineup: Peter Rowan - ac-g, vocals;
! lineup: David Grisman - mandolin, vocals;
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - banjo, vocals;
! lineup: Richard Green - fiddle;
! lineup: John Kahn - ac-b.

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/19730421-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/11860 (shn, deprecated); http://etreedb.org/shn/125747 (this fileset)

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

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/record-plant-2200-bridgeway-sausalito-ca.html

! ref: Arnold, Corry. 2012. Old And In The Way FM Broadcasts, 1973 (FM VI). Lost Live Dead, April 12, 2012, URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/04/old-and-in-way-fm-broadcasts-1973-fm-vi.html, consulted 4/22/2012.

! R: source: stereo FM radio broadcast > Unknown > R2R > Teac 4070G (1970s);

! transfer: Pioneer R2R > Audigy 4 Pro @ 24/44 (2010);

! preparation: Audacity (clean up a few flat spots and dropouts) > AudioGate (16-44) >
Audacity (patched missing segments as noted from shn 11860 source) > CD Wav > Flac (Level 8) > Stamp ID3 tag editor.

! R: seeder notes: "This one is from the Record Plant in Sausalito, California (across the Bay from San Francisco). For this live radio show Richard Greene replaced Vassar Clements [ed: this is incorrect, as Clements came in later] and joins with the new boy, Jerry Garcia on the banjo. [ed: the band never existed w/o Garcia, this is a reference to Grisman's joky characterization in introducing Jerry.] Tom Donahue, the father of FM radio is the DJ and engineer for this broadcast. The lineage prior to my tape copy is unknown. The quality is very good, with a slight hiss noticeable in the quietest sections. My tape did not have the opening portion and included a cut in "Lonesome L.A. Cowboy". Patches were inserted using the shnid-11860 source to complete the show. "'till the end of the world" has a squiggly spot in it. there is a slight speed difference between the tape and the SHN 11860 patch source. Someone with a better ear than mine can figure out which pitch is correct and tweak as needed. Hope this makes some people smile. For historical reference only and not intended for resale or any commercial use. Enjoy what may be an upgrade for some -M- (September 2013) FLYING M PRODUCTIONS  FAN RECORDINGS FOR COLLECTORS TRADE FREELY BUT PLEASE DO NOT BUY OR SELL"

! R: t01. GTTR fades in. This is patched in from shnid-11860, which is decidedly inferior to the present recording. Thank you, sharer!

! setlist: I need to check, but my sense is that Going To The Races was the set opener for OAITW, and given how short the songs were, we are probably missing almost exactly (only) the two and a half minutes suggested by the 57:29 run time of the tape. The broadcast must have been 60 minutes, and we are just missing the very start. Update: actually, given how fast this is running, it was probably recorded to 60 minutes, and the missing front of GTR just reflects the startup of the FM broadcast.

! t01 (1) DJ voice over "Old And In The Way".

! t02 (2) PR: "Here's a old-timer called 'The Willow Garden'".

! t02 (3) Big Daddy, Tom Donahue: "Old And In The Way. Live from the Record Plant."

! t02 (4) Peter Rowan: "We're gonna call on Richard Greene, with that little fiddle, to fiddle out one for us. [Greene, calling the tune to the band: "'Katy Hill'".] 'Katy Hill'." Sweet to hear the fiddle player call the tune and everyone start playing.

! P: t02 Jerry sounds really good. He'd been working up his chops during this week. Grisman takes first solo (after the fiddle, of course), after a few measures Garcia doubles behind him. How Richard doubles and Jerry triples. Richard pulls some wicked shit @ 1:35, Garcia plucking louder 1:40, it's a train! It's a train! Great playing by everyone.

! t03 (5) DG: "Fiddlin' Richard Greene." PR: "And here's David Grisman. He's gonna sing a song called 'The End Of The World Rolls Round"."

! P: t04 Garcia first solo.

! t06 R: Grisman's voice sounds Chipmunky. This is running really much too fast.

! t06 (6) DG: "We've got a new boy on the 5-string banjo, just been with us about two months. Jerry Garcia." Let's hear it! Crowd applause.

! song: "Soldier's Joy" (t07): This is *the* canonical Scotch-Irish fiddle tune, now known and played for more than 250 years. The fileset circulated with a parenthetical reference to "Bonaparte's Retreat", but I think that's a different tune.

! P: t08 WH Rowan botches the lyrics.

! R: t08 definitely running fast. Rowan's vocals are just way too high. Chipmunks!

! R: t11 end patched in from shnid-11860.

! P: t12 FH John Kahn plays some really nice lead acoustic bass here for a few spells. Nice. This is good number.

! t12 (7) time for our gospel show. Time for the gospel part of our show.

! t12 (8) Richard Greene is our lonesome LA cowboy. We import him for all of our radio shows.

! t14 (9) JG says "That's it?" Tom Donahue comes over the PA: "Now listen, man, I don't know if anybody can hear me in there, but if you wanna do another song, go ahead and do another song. [crowd: yeah!] This is KSAN in San Francisco, and this is part of our live weekend. This is Old And In The Way, and I'll let 'em stay all night if they want to."

! t15 (10) Big Daddy: "OK, we'd like to thank Old And In The Way ..." (fades out).

somewhere toward the end of the show: ! t?? (??) DG: "We wanna send this one out to all our sick and shut-in friends in radio land."