Grateful Dead Co-Billings

Based on a discussion at Lossless Legs, I generated my own list of openers for the GD. This isn't really openers, so much as acts that were co-billed. In many cases, GD was opening for someone else. But given my Garciacentrism, and various technical limitations, this was the easiest way for me to generate a rough-and-ready list.

Additions, corrections, etc. welcomed!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16_atDKQStYhseTEFUZldfJx2gM5dh0qC-iK7czKG4W8/edit?usp=sharing

Red Rocks

Saw something in some ca. '84 GD band meeting minutes where Weir says they should move heaven and earth to play Red Rocks. Spent some time with one of the '83 gigs, and now running 9/7/85, and boy oh boy are they good. I hadn't recalled 9/7/85 being this good. Jerry sounds very together, his voice much better than I recall from just a few days before on the last Cryptical attempt (9/3/85).

And this, my friends, is a stellar recording: https://archive.org/details/gd1985-09-07.mtx.seamons.fix.92521.sbeok.flac16

Garcia's Early '82 Tax Tour (Counterfactual)

More counterfactual history from a document in the GD Archives (ms332, ser2, box5), though I have seen it through another means as well.

This is a central piece of evidence, along with the Return of Ronnie Tutt tour in late '81 and a few other things, showing that this period marks a real effort to take care of old business. This especially involved disentangling Jerry/JGB and Grateful Dead finances. Though Marin County documents didn't yield any tax liens and such in this period that I could find (unlike 1978), Jerry was definitely having tax and more general money issues around this time, and this tour-that-wasn't, forecast from ca. February 1982, figured centrally in the various planning. (The fact that it didn't happen this way only speaks to the difficulties of taking care of business!)

Altamont Dreams

I have so little time for this hobby these days. I have fallen way behind on my reading, but I really look forward to reading Joel Selvin's Altamont, among other things.

With that in mind, I did want to put down this little tidbit I found in the Grateful Dead Archive at UCSC concerning the December 4-7, 1969 Dead shows at Fillmore West (1). I can't remember if there are additional pages of this in the folder, but there's a handwritten page which looks basically to be a handwritten (not sure by whom - Lenny? Rock?) contract addendum, probably drafted early December sometime.

Condition. In the event of a free concert, it is agreed that the members of the Grateful Dead and the members of Fillmore West families will participate in said concert and hereby forego the Saturday evening [12/6] performance at the Fillmore West. The Grateful Dead will forego $2,000 - and no comps for Saturday nite.

Condition. Because of the extraordinary circumstances surrounding this coming weekend and the presence of the Rolling Stones, Terry Reid parties -- also the homecoming of the Jeff Plane -- it is hereby requested that the promoter provide the Grateful Dead 75 more comps.

Request. That in the event of a free concert, the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones hereby request permission to use the premises of Fillmore West Saturday nite for a private, by invite only party -- the most memorable evening in San Francisco ballroom history!!

Ahhhh, what might have been!

REFERENCE:
(1) Grateful Dead Archive, Special Collections, UC Santa Cruz, ms 332 Series 2: Business, Box 2, Folder "Contracts - Fillmore West, December 4-7, 1969 - Production".