Thursday, January 14, 2016

Walkin' One and Only: JGMS backing Maria Muldaur, BCT, October 12, 1974

updated with newly-unearthed Phillip Elwood review

Well, well, well ... just found a review of a Maria Muldaur show at BCT on Saturday, October 12, 1974 in the Berkeley Barb (Wikarska 1974). Maria worked with three bands this night.

1) David Nichtern (I presume "and the Nocturnes"): Nichtern, Hank DeVito on steel, Larry Jones on bass, and Claude Pepper on drums. Nicolette Larson sang some.

2) Great American Music Band: Maria sang and played violin with the main band of Richard Greene (fiddle), David Grisman (mandolin), Ellen Kearney (rhythm guitar, vocals), John Carlini (guitar) and Joe Carroll. Martin Fierro sat in for a number with the GAMB!

3) Maria's band: Merle [sic] Saunders, Paul Humphrey, John Kahn, Jerry Garcia, Martin Fierro.

Beyond being new to The List, this is the earliest second-earliest confirmed Garcia-Humphrey shared stage event, supplanting the next night at the Santa Barbara County Bowl. Update: I now have confirmation that Humphrey drummed on 10/11/74 at the Chateau LibertéElwood's review provides the following songs from the JGMS set: "Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You," "Lover Man," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," "Harder They Come," "Sitting In Limbo," and Dan Hicks's "Walkin' One And Only".

JGMS serving as Maria's backing band certainly tickles the imagination.

! review: Elwood, Phillip. 19741014. Goodtime Maria in a mellow mood. San Francisco Examiner, October 14, 1974, p. 23.

! review: Wikarska, Carol. 1974. Maria Muldaur's Body Song. Berkeley Barb, October 18-24, 14.

! seealso: JGMF, "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You?", URL http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2017/04/gee-baby-aint-i-good-to-you.html.

6 comments:

  1. Excellent find!

    The reviewer describes Maria singing Me & My Chauffeur Blues "to Paul Humphrey's steady drumbeat" and Breakin' Up Somebody's Home "supported by that same steady humping" so I think those two can be assigned to Maria's set with JGMS.

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    1. Sheesh, I never added these until today. Will show soon at Jerrybase. Thanks!

      Delete
  2. as another way to have a look go here
    https://www.gdao.org/items/show/826729

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  3. Another weird little twist: the next night in Santa Barbara (10/13/74), Maria Muldaur would front the Garcia-Saunders band for at least a number, plus an encore, per a show review and a later-published picture.

    ! review: Rowell, David B. 1974. Garcia and Saunders take the back seat. Santa Barbara News-Press, October 14, 1974, B2;
    ! expost: [picture] "Garcia's New Band at the Granada," Santa Barbara News and Review, June 20, 1975, p. 19.

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  4. 10/13/74- Etta James was also on the bill that day and I recall that she was serving time in prison and was brought to the show from prison (some sort of work release) and returned to jail when the show was over.” In 1974, James was sentenced to drug treatment instead of serving time in prison. She was in the Tarzana Psychiatric Hospital for 17 months, at the age of 36, and went through a great struggle at the start of treatment. In her autobiography, she said that the time she spent in the hospital changed her life. After leaving treatment, however, her substance abuse continued after she developed a relationship with a man who was also using drugs. In 1988, at the age of 50, she entered the Betty Ford Center in Palm Springs, California for treatment.[2]

    2.) Taylor, B. Kimberley and Linda Dailey Paulson. "Etta James Biography", Musician Guide

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