Benefits

Does anyone happen to have or know of a list of benefits played by the Dead/Garcia?

Perhaps more realistically, does anyone have or know of a list of Rex Foundation concerts the Dead played?

Update: I have constructed and posted my own list of benefits.

Looks interesting ...

https://homesweetjeromedrapaport.wordpress.com/tag/brian-rohan-grateful-dead-brian-rohan-fillmore-management/

Books post updated

jgmf.blogspot.com/2014/12/books.html

I did manage to get some reading done, have updated the post with some very brief thoughts on some recent books.

Vassar's Debut With Old And In The Way

Listing for "Old And In The Way" featuring Jerry Garcia, Richard Greene, David Grisman, John Kahn and Peter Rowan, Tuesday, June 5 at the Aquarius Theatre", Boston Phoenix, May 29, 1973, p. 27.

Mention for "Jerry Garcia, Richard Green [sic], 'Old And In The Way', June 5th, 8 PM at the Orpheum", Boston Phoenix, June 5, 1973, section 2, p. 16.

Old And In The Way (OAITW) was at one point, by some of those involved with it, foreseen as touring out-of-state during the summer of 1973. For various reasons which mostly remain obscure, the band hit the road for only a small handful of gigs. They hired bluegrass legend Vassar Clements to fiddle for the occasion. He hooked up with them on June 4 in Boston, they rehearsed in the hotel, and Vassar Clements debuted with Old And In The Way at the Orpheum Theatre on June 5th, 1973.

Follow the tag for Vassar Clements to see what I've had to say about him. No time. Time only for trivia.

The ads above raise two points. First, note that the earlier listing bills the band at the Aquarius Theatre on June 5th. I have no idea who or what that is, it may be a typo, but in any case we know that they played the Orpheum. Second, both pieces advertise Richard Greene on fiddle. It's interesting to imagine the timelines and/or information flows whereby that information got into the papers as late as the very day of the show. Hippies and their goofy marketing.

Anyway, there are two audience tapes known from the evening, and Andrew F. has recently compiled them into an optimal complete fileset, shnid-131167.

I listened to this recently, and, as has been the case lately, I don't have a lot of takeaways. Garcia's banjo really does not impress me, while Vassar's fiddle really does. There are a few little tidbits of color in the listening notes --local yelling for "Dahk Stah" to general amusement, and generally it sounds like a good time is being had by all.

Oh yeah, I believe t08 has been unidentified, but I believe it is the Grisman original "Cedar Hill".

Old And In The Way
Orpheum Theatre
1 Hamilton Place
Boston, MA 02108
June 5, 1973 (Tuesday)
composite auds shnid-131167

--main set + encore  (29 tracks, 110:48)--
--main set (25 tracks, 98:08)--
t01. Jon Scher intro [1:12]
t02. Old And In The Way Breakdown [3:30] [0:27]
t03. Tragic Romance [3:55] [0:12]
t04. The Willow Garden [5:12] [0:12]
t05. Going To The Races [2:50] [0:27]
t06. Muleskinner Blues [3:03] [0:19]
t07. 'Til The End Of The World Rolls 'Round [2:22] [0:16]
t08. Cedar Hill [3:40] [0:16]
t09. Land Of The Navajo [8:45] [0:23]
t10. band introductions [2:08] (1)
t11. Pig In A Pen [3:04] [0:12]
t12. Lonesome L.A. Cowboy [4:37] [0:03]
t13. (2) [0:09] Hard Hearted [2:59] [0:10]
t14. Panama Red [2:47] [0:12]
t15. (3) [0:08] Wild Horses [4:44] [0:17]
t16. Fanny Hill [3:35] [0:20]
t17. The Hobo Song [5:10] [0:18]
t18. High Lonesome Sound [3:38] (4) [0:39]
t19. Down Where The River Bends [4:16] [0:12]
t20. Love Please Come Home [2:42] [0:16]
t21. Lost [3:40] [0:10]
t22. Knockin' On Your Door [3:05] [0:11]
t23. crowd (5) [0:57]
t24. White Dove [4:38] (6) [0:50]
t25. Blue Mule [4:43] [0:17]
--encore (4 tracks, 12:39)--
t26. pre-encore tuning [2:02]
t27. How Mountain Girls Can Love [2:15] [0:22]
t28. Mississippi Moon [4:21] [0:22]
t29. Orange Blossom Special [3:10] [0:07]

 ! ACT1: Old And In The Way
! lineup: Peter Rowan - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: David Grisman - mandolin, vocals;
! lineup: Vassar Clements - fiddle;
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - banjo, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass.

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: 

! JGC: https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1973-06-05-orpheum-theater-boston-ma/

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/11889 (aud, shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/83303 (allsoundz MAC), http://etreedb.org/shn/131167 (composite, this fileset).

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/wve0H

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/09/orpheum-theatre-1-hamilton-place-boston.html

! listing: Boston Phoenix, May 29, 1973, p. 27;

! mention: Boston Phoenix, June 5, 1973, sec. 2, p. 16.

! R: Source: This is a composite edit of audience tapes shnid-11889 and shnid-83303. Thanks to the tapers! Transfer: SHN & FLAC > TLH > WavMerge > Wavelab > CD-Wave > TLH > FLAC 1644 tagged.

! Show notes: This is Vassar's first gig with OAITW, and Jerry's first performance at the Boston Orpheum (of 20). Allsoundz - the taper of the 83303 source - states that there was only one show (not early and late as previously listed) and that Doug Sahm was the opening act. Allsoundz also recalled there was possibly a set-break somewhere but this is not evident from the tapes; it appears the show might have been one long set with a three-song encore.

! R: seeder notes 1: "Composite notes: For this show, both sources had pros & cons, and it appeared that the show could benefit from a composite that joined the two together. Allsoundz tape 83303 has the benefit of being complete and with known lineage, but was recorded farther back resulting in a more distant recording, with a lot of thumping near the mic. And, while shnid-11889 is incomplete and with unknown number of tape generations, it was recorded closer, delivering a nice aural picture of the concert. The shnid-11889 taper appears to have been a lot closer to the stage, perhaps with the mic right on the stage, as the between-song banter from Spud and the boys can be heard clearly. shnid-11889 was chosen for the bulk of the show, with shnid-83303 providing patches and the final part that was missing from shnid-11889.

! R: seeder notes 2: "Allsoundz states that his tape is mono. It also appears that the shnid-11889 original recording was mono, as the Wav's are identical, albeit having been shifted out of phase, probably from the few generations of re-recording. For both sources, DC-offsets were removed, left and right channels were manually aligned, then each source was merged to mono for editing. Both sources were apparently running slow; shnid-83303 between 40 & 50 cents, and shnid-11889 between 75 & 85 cents. Each source was speed-adjusted as best as possible given the difficulties of dealing with these old tapes. It's probably not exact, but it's pretty close..."

! R: seeder notes 3: "Lots of small edits were done to soften mic-bumps, attenuate clapping, repair drop-outs, etc. Small FLAC size due to mono WAV data. Patches from shnid-83303 added as follows: Willow Garden 3:18 > 3:19, Lonesome L.A. Cowboy 4:29 > Hard Hearted 0:49, crowd end of Love Please Come Home 2:39 > Lost 0:06, crowd end of Lost 3:38 > Knockin' on Your Door 0:18, and crowd end of Knockin' on Your Door 3:04 > thru to end of the show. Enjoy! (Aug 2014)

! P: t02 interesting to have Jerry lead things off on banjo with this breakdown. Vassar steps up 0:34, oh my God!

! t10 (1) Note how PR introduces David: "David D. Dawg Diadem Grisman"

! t13 (2) PR: "We'd like to do a tune that Vassar recorded some years ago with Jim & Jesse McReynolds. The tune is called "Hard Hearted'."

! t15 (3) someone asks for Wild Horses, band member says 'you got it'. How could anyone in Boston have known to request this song? Maybe they set up one of the Brothers to ask for it, or these were some friends of the Rowans.

! P: t15 Wild Horses 3:06 JG's banjo just doesn't impress me. He sounds rusty, here and throughout.

! t18 (4) some talk over a dedication to Mr. Mcord? Mr. Gate?

! t23 (5) crowd yelling requests, some guy says play anything, some guy wrily says "Dahk Stah!" and everyone, including taper, laughs.

! t24 (6) Dawg: "We've enjoyed pickin' for you folks." Applause. Boston dude: "We enjoyed listening to you folks." Applause. Dawg: "We'll be coming back again sometime." "Dahk Stah" joker yells out again.

Fluent Guitar and Dissonant Vocals: JGB at Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center for the Performing Arts, Eugene, OR - December 5, 1984

Drummer David Kemper's laminate from the "1984 Winter Northwest Tour" of the JGB, December 5-8, 1984.

LN jg1984-12-05.jgb.s2.aud.79642.flac1644

I have been engaging this little mini-tour undertaken by the JGB in early December 1984 as a way to reflect on Garcia's Rock Bottom. I come away consistently impressed with his guitar playing and mortified by his singing.

12/6/84 listening notes;
12/7/84 listening notes.

The first night of the "tour", Silva Concert Hall in Eugene, is, as of this writing, only represented by a good aud of set II - if you have set I on tape, please consider having it digitized and circulated. It's utterly characteristic of the others. I absolutely love this "Dear Prudence", containing everything that was really special about JGB #21b, THE Jerry Garcia Band - tight players building strong scaffolding and Garcia clambering around like a Bay Bridge welder. But it also exemplifies, in particular in two clammy spots that I mark for reference, Garcia's inexcusably bad vocals during the period. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.

Random note about the venue: it apparently opened in 1982, and it's one of the rare rooms that Grateful Dead and Garcia Band played more or less contemporaneously, with the following Jerry sightings per JGBP:

8/29/83 Grateful Dead
8/30/83 Grateful Dead
8/31/83 Grateful Dead
1/16/84 Jerry Garcia Band
5/6/84 Grateful Dead
5/7/84 Grateful Dead
5/8/84 Grateful Dead
12/5/84 Jerry Garcia Band

Here's a broader post on venues played by both GD and a Garcia side operation.

Note the little "filler" on the end of this fileset, Garcia's birth control PSA, using tape of him talking about parenting that I have heard, I believe from somewhere on GDAO. I do miss tape filler.

Jerry Garcia Band
Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center for the Performing Arts
7th and Willamette
Eugene, OR 97401
December 5, 1984 (Wednesday) - 7 PM
s2 aud shnid-79642

--fileset (7 tracks, 48:31)--

--set II (6 tracks, 47:35)--
s2t01. crowd and tuning [0:31]
s2t02. I'll Take A Melody [12:39] [0:08]
s2t03. Get Out Of My Life Woman [8:57] [0:06] %
s2t04. Dear Prudence [12:39] ->
s2t05. Gomorrah [5:57] ->
s2t06. Midnight // Moonlight [6:#31] (1) [0:07]

--filler (1 track, 0:56)--
s1t07. Jerry's PSA for birth control [0:56]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #21b
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - organ;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - 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/19841205-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/79642 (this fileset).

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/V3uHA

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/silva-concert-hall-hult-center-for.html

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html.  #21b: THE Jerry Garcia Band.

! seealso: listening notes from 12/6/84 (http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2014/03/ln-jg1984-12-06jgbs1s2paud.html) and 12/7/84 (http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2014/03/ln-jg1984-12-07jgballaud.html)

! historical: Michael Hedges opened. Note that as of 3/24/2015 there is no recording of set I known to me.

! P: Overall, a perfect microcosm of the period. Some amazingly fluent guitar playing alongside occasionally cringeworthily dissonant singing.

! R: Source: AUD > ? > C > Sony TC-D5M > Realtek AC97 > Soundforge > CD-Wave > TLH v.1.0.0.72 (for SBE-OK, FLAC compression & checksums) > FLAC, October 2006 by Andrew F.

! R: seeder notes: "There's a cut (tape flip) at the start of Midnight Moonlight.  Soundforge was used to adjust levels, correct the pitch, and to make fades. THANKS to Jeff Harrison and Jake Feinberg for the tape. ENJOY!"

! R: overall, this is a totally pleasant tape. Love how it picks up John.

! P: s2t02 ITAM Mule is pulling some big fat bass strings during ITAM. Vocal troubles, not all the way to a clam, on "I understand | how the old fisherman" around 4:15. I have heard worse.

! P: s2t03 GOOMLW Garcia is croaking

! P: s2t04 DP horrible vocals. One of the things I love about how they did this song in this period is exemplified from about 5. They have run through the first hunk of the song, and now Garcia wants to play a lot of scales, spend maybe 3-4-5 minutes chasing Dear Prudence around with a good, tight band. John sounds very engaged and good, keys are not overcrowded, Kemper is metronomic. JGB #21b on Dear Prudence at a nice upbeat tempo with clarion-Jerry is playing guitar ... it's good. Melvin is right there late 5 so Jerry can start double-timing from 8 - very nice scaffolding by Melvin, and Jerry is make good use of it, fast parcour over, under, around, and through. At 9, he starts stretching and pulling instead. It's amazing how fluently his playing, given priors about the timeframe. The ending catches a few players by surprise, but they are quick to fall in, and then we drop into a nice Gomorrah. The vocals are rough, of course.

! P: s2t05 Gomorrah: OK, if you want to hear what it means to hit a vocal clam, listen to the first vocals here, maybe late 20 second range. I put this here as a marker, but I strongly discourage you from actually checking out what I mean. There would be no winners. (BTW, there's another s2t06 @ 5:24.)

! R: s2t06 Mid Moon quick tape flip (good job, taper!) at start of song, not much missing.

! s2t06 (1) JG: "Thanks a lot. See y'all later on."

! s2t07 I have heard this Garcia text before, I think it's one of the interviews at GDAO.

Old Folks at Home for a Very Long Show: JGB at the Uptown, November 17, 1981

LN jg1981-11-17.jgb.all.aud-mason.131710.flac1644

Not much to report. Note that I have just been doing a bunch of listening and most of my reports are lukewarm - what are the odds that it's as much to do with me-in-these-moments as what's actually on the tapes?

Anyway, there were no early and late shows on the Chicago stop of the JGB's "Return of Ron Tutt" tour in the fall of 1981 - normal, two-set Garcia Band show.

That said, I can see why people might have thought otherwise, because the second set here clocks in with a good solid 90 minutes of music; at 169 minutes, this is a very long show for the period.

Also from this tour:

• 11/3/81
• 11/4/81
• 11/10/81b Palladium
• 11/13/81 Boston
• 11/15/81 Provy

One last thing: John twice noodles "Old Folks At Home" at the start of set II. I'll tag #songs-O and call that a singleton, because they're fun.

Jerry Garcia Band
Uptown Theatre
4816 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL 60640
November 17, 1981 (DOW) - 7:30 PM
Mason Taylor MAC flac1644 shnid-131710

--set I (7 tracks, 69:11)--
s1t01. [0:38] How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [8:01] [0:45] %
s1t02. /They Love Each Other [#6:46] [0:20] % [0:41]
s1t03. Sitting In Limbo [12:10] [0:31]
s1t04. Valerie [7:00 ][0:05] %
s1t05. Let It Rock [8:26] [0:31] % [0:19] [-0:09]
s1t06. Mississippi Moon [0:09 + 12:03] ->
s1t07. Tangled Up In Blue [10:09] (1) [0:36] %

--set II + encore (8 tracks, 89:00)--
--set II (7 tracks, 80:19)--
s2t01. [0:20] (2) The Way You Do The Things You Do [7:54] [0:13] % [0:46]
s2t02. I'll Take A Melody [13:07] [0:39] % [0:43]
s2t03. Mystery Train [8:19] [0:06] % [0:04]
s2t04. Simple Twist Of Fate [15:10] [0:12] %
s2t05. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [8:48] ->
s2t06. Dear Prudence [12:10] [0:04]
s2t07. Harder They Come [11:35] (2) [0:07] %
--late show encore (1 track, 8:42])--
s2t08. Sugaree [8:22] [0:20] %

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #14b
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Jimmy Warren - electric keyboards;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - organ;
! lineup: Ron Tutt - drums;
! lineup: Julie Stafford - vocals;
! lineup: Liz Stires - 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/19811117-01

! JGC: https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1981-11-17-uptown-theater-chicago-il/

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/19607 ("early show" aud, shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/33423 (2nd gen aud ["maybe 1st"] from Gary's master); http://etreedb.org/shn/79043 (same as shnid-33423?, but via Moses-Minches); http://etreedb.org/shn/131710 (this fileset).

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/NaU24

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

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/12/uptown-theatre-4816-n-broadway-chicago.html

! seealso: http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/02/jgb-november-17-1981-uptown-theater.html. Show was originally scheduled for 10/29/71, at the front end of the tour. Instead, it ended up, reasonably enough, between Boston and Denver as the penultimate show of the 18 show "Return of Ron Tutt" tour in the Fall of 1981.

! seealso: my engagements with 11/13/81 Boston (http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2014/03/ln-jg1981-11-13jgbearly-lateaud.html) and 11/15/81 Provy (http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2014/03/ln-jg1981-11-15jgballaud.html) from this tour.

! setlist: this has often been misconstrued as early and late shows, but it was a single two set show, confirmed by MP at the JGMF metadata post and by note 1's setbreak announcement on this tape. This second set is uncharacteristically long, I'd say, and 169 total minutes is way north of the mean for the period. Note to self: IIRC 11/19/81 Denver used to be listed as a three-set show. Maybe it's really long, too? Update: nope - that one *was* early and late.

! P: Overall, not much struck me as noteworthy, but I have been in a very churlish listening mood (3/23/2015).

! R: field recordist: Mason B. Taylor

! R: field recording gear: 2x Nakamichi 300 shotguns > Nakamichi 550

! R: field recording media: chrome cassettes

! R: transfer: playback on original deck -> wizardry -> flac1644, via Lossless Legs, 11/6/2014.

! R: info: "Mason B. Taylor was a taper from Chicago that recorded concerts by many bands in the Chicagoland area and on Dead tours. He used a Nakamichi 550 with Nakamichi 300 mics with shotgun capsules for most of his earlier recordings. In later years he used Sony D-5 and Sony D-3 cassette recorders with Nakamichi 300 mics. Mason captured spectacular musical moments and loved to share them with his closest friends. In honor of Mason and all the love he put into his recordings we are now able to share these moments with those who can appreciate them most. As the shows get uploaded we would love for you to share your stories about the epic times the music evokes so we can all dial back into that moment when the magic was happening. Thanks to Mason’s family and his Chicago and Cleveland friends for opening up Mason’s Jar ... Recorded By Mason Taylor on a Nakamichi 550 Cassette Deck, on chrome tapes, with Nakamichi microphones. Transferred on Mason's restored Nak550 properly."

! P: s1t01 late 6 Jerry playing some nice plucky guitar, with a little extra sum'in-sum'in.

! R: s1t02 TLEO clips in

! P: s1t03 SIL Jerry sounds vocally ragged, but his guitar work in the 4-minute mark is quite nice.

! R: s1t05-s1t06 wonky tracking, Miss Moon starts nine seconds before end of t05

! s1t07 (1) "Thanks a lot. We'll be back in a few minutes. We're gonna take a break for a little while."

! s2t01 (2) They play a little snatch of "Old Folks At Home", again after the splice after the song, John playing it.

! R: s2t01 TWYDTTYD L channel out 6:25-6:43

! P: s2t03 MT Garcia's guitar very fluid, e.g., in 3 minute range.

! P: s2t04 STOF very slow. Bass lead 8-11:26. Three and a half minutes. Crowd is yelling "Cmon, Jer!"

! s2t07 (2) "See ya later."

Jerry Garcia Band at The Chance, Poughkeepsie, June 4, 1983 late show

LN jg1983-06-04.jgb.late.aud-vita.78981.flac1644

update: lots of great photos from the EARLY show by Peter Hazou [dead link]

1983, like some other years, was best smack dab in the middle for the Jerry Garcia Band. The JGB's May 31 show at the Roseland Ballroom on West 52nd Street in New York is one of the best of the 1980s. I also love the next night's show, and I recall really liking the June 4th early show from Mark Cohen's tape (shnid-15619).

Add in an attractive setlist and a Minches-transferred Jim Vita tape and I had high hopes for 6/4/83b (shnid-78981). I give a bottom line in my listening notes: "I find a lot to like in the guitar playing, much less so in the strained vocals. The clammy start to MITR also knocks it down a peg or two." "Rhapsody In Red" and "Sugaree" provide some utterly characteristic-for-the-period pyrotechnical guitar.

Oh yeah, one more thing - I don't seem to have the board tape of this set (shnid-10133), which is strange. Does anyone have an etreedb compatible copy of 6/4/83b sbd (shnid-10133)? Hell, anyone have any flavor of board tape for this?

Jerry Garcia Band
The Chance
6 Crannell Street
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
June 4, 1983 (Saturday) - Late Show
Vita-Minches late-1 shnid-78981

--(9 tracks, 78:02, missing encore)--
l-t01. tuning [0:05]
l-t02. Rhapsody In Red [9:46] [0:06] % [0:11]
l-t03. Harder They Come [14:56] [0:08] % [0:09]
l-t04. Sugaree [12:53] [0:02] %% [0:30]
l-t05. Cats Under The Stars [7:56] [0:03] % [0:04]
l-t06. Mission In The Rain [10:39] [0:13] %
l-t07. Gomorrah [5:04] ->
l-t08. Run For The Roses [5:12] ->
l-t09. Deal [9:13] (1) [0:09]
[MISSING --encore-- Midnight Moonlight]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #15c
! Lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! Lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! Lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards (Hammond B-3 organ);
! Lineup: Greg Errico - drums;
! Lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - vocals;
! Lineup: DeeDee Dickerson - 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/19830604-02

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1983-06-04-the-chance-poughkeepsie-ny/

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/10133 (late show sbd, shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/15620 (late show Cohen + Vita, shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/78981 (this fileset).

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/8AuFU

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/09/chance-6-crannell-st-poughkeepsie-ny.html

! band: JGB #15c (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html)

! seealso: "I sing the blues, where has it led?" http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2014/06/i-sing-blues-where-has-it-led-ln-jg1983.html. I rave about 5/31/83 there.

! P: Not as good as 5/31/83, but see notes below - I find a lot to like in the guitar playing, much less so in the strained vocals. The clammy start to MITR also knocks it down a peg or two - sadly characteristic of problems with this song during a good long part of the 1980s.

! R: field recordist: Jim Vita

! R: field recording gear: 2x Sennheiser 421 > Sony D-5

! R: field recording media: Maxell UDXLII

! R: Transfer and FLAC encoding by David Minches: Master played back on Nakamichi Dragon > ART DI/O > Digital Audio Labs Card Deluxe soundcard > Cool Edit 2000 > flac encoding > FLAC

! P: l-t02 RIR Garcia's playing in the 8 minute range is outstanding.

! P: l-t03 classic mid-83 HTC ... Jerry has tons of energy to play his guitar, round and round and round. The band cooks behind him. The singing is quite rough.

! P: l-t04 Sugaree again, 8 minute mark is where we really here Garcia digging in on the guitar. Relentless 9 minute, now scrubbing angrily late 9 over 10, gorgeous. Great, great, great, classic Garcia guitar shred. More scrubby 10:30ff, digging to bring it back home from early 11, to shake it up now Sugaree I'll meet you at the jubilee. But he lacks the vocal power to yell out "maybe I'll meet you on the run", as he would have done in 1981.

! P: l-t06 MITR sounds really bad, as it so often did, up front. Vocals no good. 8 min range tempos are really wonky.

! l-t09 (1) "Thanks a lot. See ya later."

LN jg1974-11-10.jgms.all.sbd.98704.flac1644

Not much to report. The tape has got some issues, but as has been the case in the past, this show mostly doesn't move me.

update: A little tape archaeology. I seem to recall that this tape exists because it was Harvey Lubar's birthday, and it was spun for him. Talking to him early in the 21st century, I seem to recall that the tape was out of his hands somehow, or maybe in deep storage? It'd be good to get contemporary hands on that and a fresh transfer.

Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
Palace Theater
19 Clinton Avenue
Albany, NY 12207
November 10, 1974 (Sunday) - 8 PM
2nd gen sbd Moore-Berger shnid-98704 flac1644 retrack to sets

--set I (6 tracks, 66:16)--
s1t01. Let It Rock
s1t02. Expressway (To Your Heart) [15:28] [0:02] % [0:04]
s1t03. You Can Leave Your Hat On [13:28] -14:15
s1t04. Neighbor, Neighbor [6:#49] [0:04] %
s1t05. Going, Going, Gone [11:01] [0:19] %
s1t06. Mystery Train [12:43] (1)

--set II (8 tracks, 86:12)--
s2t01. (I'm A) Road Runner [11:33] %
s2t02. Favela [13:27] %
s2t03. Wondering Why [13:32] ->
s2t04. People Make The World Go Round [4:18] %
s2t05. Harder They Come [15:31] %
s2t06. Just Kissed My Baby [10:57] %
s2t07. /Tough Mama [#8:45] %
s2t08. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [8:09] %

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: Merl Saunders - keyboards, vocals;
! lineup: Martin Fierro - saxophone, flute;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! lineup: Paul Humphrey - drums.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [x:xx] = 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: 

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/10740 (same tape, deprecated); https://etreedb.org/shn/18202 (same tape, deprecated); https://etreedb.org/shn/98704 (this fileset).

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/TduTX 

! personnel: Attendee Todd Ellenberg remembers Bill K. drumming, but that would be a revelation, as this is Paul Humphrey on the drums .Memory is a weird thing.

! venue: URL http://cinematreasures.org/theater/41/;

! venue: URL http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/04/palace-theatre-19-clinton-avenue-albany.html;

! exante: Wilcock, Donald E. 1974. Feedback: Rolling Stones Album Just In Time. Sunday Record Troy, NY), November 3, p. 40.

! setlist: Psilo's ticket stub is said to be from late show, but it says doors open at 7:15 and music starts at 8 (yeah, sure) -- hardly a late show, though it's possible they played earlier than usual on this Sunday night. The show was sponsored by SUNY Albany, and psilo's is a student ticket. However, the one exante piece (Wilcock 1974) says "concert" in the singular, and more importantly Garcia says at note 1 that they are taking a break and will be back in a little while, which seals it for me that it's a single, two-set show, barring further evidence, natch.

! P: Overall, on this listen (3/22/2015), I find this below average for the tour. "Just Kissed My Baby" is a great tune that's very interesting, but even perennial favorite "Expressway" fails to get me on my feet.

! R: source: sbd 2nd generation reel (Jerry Moore's reel)

! R: lineage: sbd reel master > reel > 10.5" reel @ 7.5 ips, dolby b

! R: transfer: by Rob Berger; 2nd generation reel play back on Technics RS-1506>Sony NR-335>Tascam HD-P2 24/48. Editing, downsampling and FLAC encoding by David Minches. Thanks to Joe B. Jones for pitch correction.

! P: s1t02 ETYH not very together

! R: s1t04 NN splice ca. 5:20

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

! R: s2t05 HTC bad tape warbles, static

! P: s2t05 HTC use this to note that Martin is using a very wide battery of effects this night. Whatever this is 8-9, and I have noted (without noting where) lots of effects all evening.

! song: "Just Kissed My Baby" (s2t06): The Meters' New Orleans masterpiece Rejuvenation was released July 1974 on Reprise Records, and "Just Kissed My Baby" oozes and struts with funk atmospherics.

! P: s2t06 JKMB Merl is calling the changes. This is very interesting music.

! R: s2t07 Tough Mama clips in, Some speed weirdness 5 minute range.

! P: s2t08 HSII completely falls apart for awhile around 5:30. Kahn is inaudible.

Burnt to a Crisp on Long Island

LN jg1978-03-12.jgb.all.aud-unknown.82587.flac1644

Sunday, March 12, 1978, the Mystery Cats met up with all kinds of old friends for a party on Long Island.

Corry's got the goods on Hunter, Nelson, Marmaduke and Garcia all finding themselves together this night - it's great stuff. See also my other posts from this tour:

• 3/10/78 interview
• 3/10/78 listening notes
• 3/11/78 interview 
• 3/14/78 Dauby Rolfe aud listening notes
• 3/16/78 listening notes and tour context
• 3/17/78 late show listening notes from aud and sbd

I hate that our information gets fragmented across two posts, but I just tried to post these listening notes in comment at Corry's and blogger said I had too many characters (heh heh). So I'll post them here and elaborate just a touch.

First, color:

Band flew out of Provy to La Guardia on American #431, scheduled to land at 2:30 PM, 45 minute limo ride, check in at the Holiday Inn in Hauppage. Gig schedule: Soundcheck at 2-3 PM (yeah, right), doors at 6, Hunter at 8, NRPS at 9:30, JGB at 11:30. Noted closing time: "No strict curfew" (compare with the 3/14 Boston closing time: "****MIDNIGHT CURFEW STRICT").

As I noted at Corry's, this really highlights his point, that this was a big ol' party - no strict curfew, and it was on all night long. I wonder where John Belushi was on early morning of 3/13/78?

Second, on this listen, Garcia sounds burnt to a crisp, also consistent with the party vibe and the zoom-zoom-zoom of the tour (Cleveland-Rochester-Pawtucket-Long Island in four nights!). But it definitely impacts the quality of the music, to my ears. He can't sing. His guitar playing is often incendiary, but mostly just huge long scrubs and crashing endings to songs, flashy gimmicks, tricks. Here's what he told Michael Lydon in the summer of 1969 about using flashy technical tricks.

I think that the moments that translate the idea originally are pure, and that once you learn them consciously, they then become a device; and once it’s a device, it’s frozen ... I know the trick that you do to get everybody up and dancing, the trick that you do to get a standing ovation. ... [B]ut you can’t rely on ‘em because they’re lies once you know ‘em.

A dozen years later, he reiterated to David Gans and Blair Jackson that "our trip is to learn the [show biz] tricks and then not use them" (Gans and Jackson 1982, 8).

I don't want to be too hard on the guy - maybe I am just grouchy. But when I hear him inter alia coked to the gills, mostly pretty sloppy, and then ending every song with a sonic boom, it just feels a little dissatisfying. And that surprised me, because I have been very fond of this show from the Shure tape (shnid-4473).

8,110 paid attendance, $61,115 gross, probably one helluva great party, but, below average musically, IMO, YMMV, on this listen, etc.

Jerry Garcia Band
Suffolk Forum
Veterans' Memorial Highway
Commack, NY 11725
March 12, 1978 (Sunday)
MAC shnid-82587

--set I (6 tracks, 57:02)--
s1t01. The Harder They Come [10:57] (1) [0:19]
s1t02. Mission in the Rain [8:48] [0:17] %
s1t03. [0:18] Simple Twist of Fate [9:51] [2:13]
s1t04. Tore Up Over You [8:22] [1:01]
s1t05. Gomorrah [6:03] [0:24]
s1t06. Mystery Train [8:13] (2) [0:18] %

--set II + encore (9 tracks, 75:36)--
--set II (7 tracks, 65:25)--
s2t01. crowd [0:31]
s2t02. Love In The Afternoon [10:38] [0:15] % [0:44]
s2t03. I Second That Emotion [11:02] (3) [0:10 % [0:07]
s2t04. Russian Lullaby [16:30] [0:14] % [0:21]
s2t05. They Love Each Other [7:17] [0:29]
s2t06. (4) [0:16] I'll Be With Thee [4:57] [0:19]
s2t07. Midnight Moonlight [11:16] [0:18] %
--encore (2 tracks, 10:11)--
s2t08. crowd [1:47]
s2t09. Rhapsody In Red [8:15] (5) [0:09]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #4
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Keith Godchaux - keyboards;
! 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; [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/19780312-04

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1978-03-12-suffolk-forum-commack-ny/

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/4473 (Shure aud, shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/82587 (this fileset).

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

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/bNF5F

! data: Billboard, March 25, 1978, p. 114. 8110 paid attendance, $61,115 gross.

! ref: Arnold, Corry. 2012. March 12, 1978: Suffolk Forum, Commack, NY: Jerry Garcia Band/NRPS/Robert Hunter and Comfort. Lost Live Dead, January 26, 2012, URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/march-12-1978-suffolk-forum-commack-ny.html, accessed 11/23/2013.

! P: overall: Garcia sounds shot - he is partying way too hard with NRPS and Hunter and maybe freaking Belushi and who knows who else.  Redacted source has Hunter at 8, NRPS at 9:30, Garcia at 11:30, with pointed note "no strict curfew". Holy smokes, party all night (see commenters at Corry's place, and one from JGC: "I was late to work before the show ended"). Garcia's voice is *gone*. Fourth consecutive night onstage, Cleveland-Rochester-Pawtucket-Long Island. There is nothing about this show which, on this listen (3/22-23/2015), really moves me. He ends every song with some tremendous pyrotechnics, but it feels gimmicky to me, something he said he'd never do. On this listen of this tape, the show feels far below average for the tour.

! R: overall: This is a totally pleasant listen once it settles in.

! R: source: Unknown MAC > CD, discs provided by Jim Wise;

! R: transfer: CDR > EAC > WavMerge > Soundforge > CD-Wave > TLH > FLAC, February 2007 by Andrew F.

! R: seeder notes: ShnID-4473 supplies d1t01 and d1t02. Before Simple Twist, the taper can be heard saying he was busted and had to move to re-start taping. Compared to ShnID-4473, this source sounds further back, but does have nice clarity.

! R: seeder notes: ShnID-4473 also supplies a tape-flip patch; from 16:43 of Russian Lullaby (crowd noise at end) thru 0:14 of TLEO. There's some minor tape-speed problems in the following
spots: in Midnight Moonlight, 2:56 > 2:59, 4:40 > 4:42, 4:58 > 5:00; and Rhapsody in Red at 7:27.

! R: seeder notes: The files were combined with WavMerge and re-tracked with CD-Wave.
Soundforge was used to make fades, patch the  tape-flip, correct the pitch, and adjust the levels. Also, the levels of the ShnID-4473 tracks were raised to match.

! P: s1t01 HTC John Kahn is just great here. But then later in the song there is a painful minute or two of just utter mush, the band totally out of sync.

! s1t01 (1) JG: "Thank you."

! P: s1t02 MITR his voice is rough but it's got a lot of feeling. Buzzy seems a little off, but Kahn remains powerful. Jerry's vocals still have the range for which the song was originally designed, so it continues to work. For many years he never quite figured how to start it off, and it frequently started off key and off kilter, with frequent vocal clams. I noted this as early as 6/4/83 recently, but it probably started earlier than that. On the other hand, Jerry's March 1978 vocal articulation is superb, enunciating very cleanly. Kahn hits a clam at some point, PA problems 4:25. Passionate fanning 8 minute mark to bring the tune home. Nice.

! P: s1t03 STOF big huge finish, Tiger and big fanning, slamming in 9 minute range. They seem to be starting slow and finishing strong.

! s1t06 (2) "We're gonna take a break for a little while, back in a few minutes. Thank you."

! s2t03 (3) @ 11:12 weird little snippet, "I just broke a string", sounded like Weir to me but it's very brief and I can't tell.

! s2t06 (4) A very hoarse JG: "We're gonna -- Donna and Maria are gonna sing a song now [inaudible]."

! R: s2t07 Mid Moon some bad tempo problems right over 3, again 4:44 and all around that. Batteries are dying. Good fanning early 8.

! P: s2t09 RIR nothing particularly noteworthy to me, which is really saying something - this is one of my favorite songs.

! s1t09 (5) "All right, thanks a lot."

Grazing

With a tiny bit of space, I have been doing some good work, reading, noting, cleaning, filing, listening. On this last, I have been in a grazing kind of mode. I have listened to an OAITW (6/5/73), some November '74 JGMS (11/10/74), a '78 (3/12/78), 11/17/81, 6/4/83b, a few other things (12/5/84 s2).

This batch of listening raises various questions.

First, in identifying variation in my assessment of a given show, what percentage of the variance is accounted for by variation in the actual quality of the show?

I ask this because I didn't come away from most of these listens very impressed. The second question, then, is what might account for this?

Hypothesis 1: I am in a bad mood/wrong frame of mind/whatever. It has to do with me, the listener.

Hypothesis 2: The tapes, many of which are of relatively recent vintage (in terms of shnid), just aren't as great as, say, a bunch of Betties (and what is, after all? what is?).

Hypothesis 3: Improbable things happen, and here I just, improbably, drew a bunch of middling cards off the deck all in a row.

Something else?

Simon and Garfunkel meet Anthem of the Sun

"Grateful Dead Records," Rolling Stone, November 23, 1967, p. 4.

The Grateful Dead hopes to have some new records out soon, particularly a single in late November and an LP in January. If the group obtains the approval of Warner Brothers, the January release will be a two-record set chock full o' goodies. Some of the titles already recorded for the LP include "Alligator," ''No [sic] Potato Caboose," and "Dark Star." The single is an as yet unnamed original tune. Live tracks may also be included. Warner Brothers is setting up an eight-track remote tape unit at concerts the Dead are doing November 10 and 11 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The Dead hopes to include a marching band on their LP and make use of the arranging talents of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, who have indicated a desire to help the Dead while in Los Angeles during November.

Late Jerry

On a forum of which I am a part, poster Elliot makes a very interesting observation about our hero in 1995.

I suspect he was putting in as much effort as he was capable of. He was definitely serious about that learning [Unbroken Chain]. Before the first night of the May '95 Seattle shows we could hear the sound check while waiting in line. After running through a bunch of songs (including Tough Mama), everyone left the stage except Jerry. As we were entering the venue, Jerry was still on stage. He stayed there for about 15-20 minutes, running through every possible variation on his leads for UBC. That was the only time I ever entered a venue to find Jerry on stage practicing his leads. This was certainly contrary to the image we have of him during this time period.

The man was dying, we now know, but he was also trying. It must have been very painful to witness this decline - I am glad I decided to do other things during the last five years of his life.

A Conversation With Jerry

https://youtu.be/2tamQ9Uj1Hk

So many data, so little time. One item on my lengthy "to-do" list is to try to process every Garcia interview. It's finite, naturally enough, and thus in principle do-able. In practice, well, only so many hours.

Anyway, this one is a bunch of raw tape for Rolling Stone 20th, 1987 sometime. Some really good material. Jerry seems a little uncomfortable on camera and this is not his most fluent interview, but still the sheer charismatic intelligence just jumps off the screen. There are a few neat lines in here that I really like.

Raw notes follow.

A Conversation With Jerry

1987 Rolling Stone interview uncut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tamQ9Uj1Hk&t=0m36s

grandmother listened to Grand Ole Opry when he was a kid

mother liked Hawaiian music 1:42 father was a professional musician surrounded by music all my life

The first record I remember was a record called "Gee" by The Crows. see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvmGLV_GE0M

2:19 R&B black music

the first music I heard that I thought had an identity other than R&B was Chuck Berry 3:05 when he came out with Maybelline … and that guitar … the guitar was the thing that pulled me into those records first … Chucks stuff was the first stuff that had that other added thing

successful black record would be covered by lame white

Lil Richard Fats Domino

3:56 first started playing with my cousin Danny I had taken piano lessons as a kid

electric guitar accordion story with a good big laugh 4:20 he's the one that introduced the idea of improvising to me 5:23

Beatles it was more the movies than the records their first records were so sappy, I didn't really like em that much, frankly. 6:59 but when the first movie came out Hard Day's Night had great flow, great style and the thing of fun

that's what kicked the Beatles off on the west coast in terms of the folk music coffeehouse post-Beatnik circuit

acoustic to electric 8:43 really the big thing was the addition of drummers

the folk scene continental already Cambridge NYC Denver Chicago Berkeley SF Peninsula LA 10:26 interconnected university towns that was where you worked

1142 the thing about the Haight-Ashbury was that the rent was cheap 1205 economics pure and simple

1400 amazing contrast between traditional working class musicians who could get ripped off by sharpies. GD were more educated than that. [NB artifact of postwar America!]

1443 we were never climbers in that [showbiz success] sense. We were already having fun doing what we were doing. We already knew that it had almost no commercial potential, apart from the community we were in. more good talk late 14 minute

1538 Acid Tests one of the truly democratic art forms to appear in this century

it didn't require that we be intelligible on any level

1650 the Acid Test experience gave us glimpses into the form that follows chaos. If you throw everything out, and lose all rule and stop trying to make anything happen, on any level, other stuff starts to happen. 

Bay Area I've always thought it was the greatest place there is.

18-19 some Warlocks talk

late 19 story about Family Dog shows Lesh lady what this little séance needs is us

23 Sgt. Peppers

25 Bringing It All Back Home some moments of amazing poetic beauty Baby Blue that was when his songs started speaking to what the freak on the street was experiencing

27 Monterey we'd been hanging out with Hendrix before the shows etc. I knew him from when he played with John Hammond so he wasn't a complete stranger

The way it was with the friends of ours who died during that period of time, it was like most deaths, they were mostly just fuck-ups, they weren't suicides, or the culmination of a tragic existence. Janis was not that sort of person. 3136 She was a loose drug user. Like any drug user, sometimes you get more than what you think it's gonna be, and you take it, and the next thing you know, you're dead. That could happen to anybody.

3249 rock and politics I never thought it was a good idea. In the Bay Area at that time, there were two big philosophical pillars. There was the SF approach, there was the Berkeley approach. The B approach awas the politics, the endless argument, the pro-con dualism. The SF approach was psychedelic in the largest possible sense which is that everything that happens happens and that's the way it is. It lacks the polemic …

politics and music is taking something beautiful and putting it in service of something evil 3524

3830 I've always been a big fan of the classic Motown stuff of the 60s and the Muscle Shoals, Memphis, Otis, black music has a way of going in and out of bags …same as anything else

3922 the magic part of music, even today … 10% of special shit

41 it's always nice for the kids to have music. Punk music was music the kids could dig, and it was thoroughly obnoxious to adults.

4150 If commitment counts, when you're onstage, and whether you're bleeding over every note or whether you're wounding yourself physically or on whatever level [interesting look he gives], that's real. It represents a kind of commitment to music that I admire.

4237 Elvis's death had a special kind of significance for me. At the time, I was playing in a solo band of my own, and I was using Ronnie Tutt, who was Elvis's drummer. Elvis was about to go on tour, and I was having to cancel all my recording plans because Ronnie was gonna be on tour. All of a sudden, Elvis died and I got the drummer. So, in a way, it affected me very specifically.

4320 more Elvis liked the rawness of Mystery Train and Sun catalog … Elvis's power as a performer was incredible. Great about Elvis's dream of having his show be orchestra, white gospel, black gospel, roc and roll, etc. Garcia admired that.

4503 Elvis was a victim of the Judy Garland syndrome. What do you do when you've risen to absolute success. Where is there for you to go? Las Vegas? Wow, some reward. Gee, that's great: work as hard as you can, and you get to go from Mississippi to Las Vegas. It's wrong. He deserved something better. But the music world doesn't have the imagination to invent it for him, and he wasn't lucky enough to have come up with his own guidance system. He was under the influence of other people who felt they knew what he could do and what he couldn't do and what the business could open for him. He had no alternative. In some senses that's the music business's thing. It's reductive and unless you invent your own alternative for where you want to go, and how you want to improve, and how you want to contain your own improvement, it doesn't happen for you. The music business says to you 'Repeat your success, do your formula thing, and live on that, or die from boredom, or get pathetic like Elvis'. To me that's unacceptable. In that sense, Elvis is a martyr to the thoughtlessness, the mindlessness, of the music business. That's how little it cares for the performers, and how little it really cares about the music.

4840 We've been willing to sell out on some levels for a long time, but nobody's been buying!

4945 selling out, advertising, etc. "The new fascism is rock n roll."

5415 For me, music is the thing that moves me forward in my life.

56 minute Lennon talk

57 talk about Janis

59 The music belongs to the people who buy the tickets. If they want to take it home with 'em after the show's over, they're welcome to.

5945 the only thing that makes [rock n roll] happen is commercial exploitation.

6142 GD as institution: "By dint of having survived this long" …