Two Sax Attack? JGMS at the GAMH, February 5, 1974

LN jg1974-02-05.jgms.all.sbd-ladner.32088.flac1644

I won't elaborate much. I have always held early '74 Garcia-Saunders in rather low esteem, despite my early familiarity with, place-based affinity toward --I attended Campolindo High School, just down the road-- and resulting inordinate love for the 2/9/74 Rheem Theater show. I was prompted to check-in with 2/5/74 by valued commenter runonguinness's observation that there appears to be a second sax present in set II, and esteemed fellow blogger nick's engagement with the issue, raising the possibility that it's Martin doing his best Rahsaan Roland Kirk and playing two horns at once. I was rather gobsmacked at either notion, having produced an earlier lossless fileset many years back from the same Ed Perlstein board patch (shnid-11254), and apparently not having noticed the second saxophone appearing throughout set II. What else have I been missing? God only knows.

Anyway, as you will see from my listening notes below, my method was to try to track moments where the saxes appear to diverge, and I find a number of them. I have posted my basic conclusions as comment at deadthinking, and if you have thoughts or comments on the key question please consider posting them over there, so we don't fragment "the literature" too much. I just have to post my own notes when I have them, because that's how I roll.

I enjoyed the show, a Tuesday at the amazing GAMH, very much. It's LONG, and quite good. I hated the overwrought vocals on Road Runner here in early '74, but there's a lot of good stuff here, including some nice melty stuff at the end of My Funny Valentine.

Listening notes below the jump.


Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
Great American Music Hall
859 O' Farrell Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
February 5, 1974 (Tuesday)
sbd shnid-32088 retrack by set

--set I (6 tracks, 82:36)--
s1t01. Someday Baby [15:40] (1) [1:23]
s1t02. La-La [14:28] [1:48]
s1t03. (I'm A) Road Runner [14:23] [1:18]
s1t04. It's Too Late [13:30 [2:41]
s1t05. My Problems Got Problems [10:55] [0:18]
s1t06. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [5:40] (2) [0:23]

--set II (7 tracks, 95:26)--
s2t01. Harder They Come [16:16] [0:57]
s2t02. Think [9:25] [0:07] % [0:04]
s2t03. Wondering Why [10:05] [0:09] %
s2t04. /Mystery Train [#9:56] %
s2t05. /My Funny Valentine [#22:47] % [0:37]
s2t06. Are You Lonely For Me [13:10] ->
s2t07. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [11:49] (3) [0:05]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: Merl Saunders - keyboards, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Martin Fierro - saxphone, flute (s1t02, s2t03);
! lineup: Bill Kreutzmann - drums;
! guest: ??? - saxophone (s2t01, s2t02, s2t04, s2t05, s2t06, s2t07)

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [mm: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 [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/19740205-01

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1974-02-05

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/11254 (same source tape, shnf, runs slow?, deprecated); https://etreedb.org/shn/32088 (this fileset)

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/d8HiPqn3MAw

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/04/great-american-music-hall-859-ofarrell.html

! historical: Stuart Little Band opened.

! listing: Hayward Daily Review, February 1, 1974, p. 43

! mention: San Francisco Examiner, February 1, 1974, p. 32

! listing: San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle Datebook, February 3, 1974, p. 4

! ad: San Francisco Examiner, February 5, 1974, p. 20

! listing: San Francisco Examiner, February 5, 1974, p. 21

! ref: Johnston 20200204.

! personnel: so I engaged this fileset, despite my general lack of love for early '74 JGMS, to investigate the observation of a second saxophonist (by runonguinness in comments to my post on Garcia's unidentified guests) or the possibility of Martin playing double saxes a la Rahsaan Roland Kirk (Johnston 20200204). I conclude that there are two saxophonists who are just really well sync'd up. Martin did a fair bit of studio work, with the Sahm guys, in the Bloomfield orbit, and even in Saunder's Heavy Turbulence world. There are lots of guys running around the Bay Area that he has experience playing with. And the parts that sound doubled really aren't the hard or sophisticated parts - it's mostly pretty straight melody lines, stuff that sounds relatively easy (to my totally unknowledgeable ears) to line up, tightly. So, yes, while it seems impossible that a one-off could be so sync'd, but I do think that is what is happening here.

! P: long show, and sounds strong to my ears on this listen.

! R: Source:  MSR (Sony TC-377, 7" reels @ 7.5ips by Ed Perlstein) > PCM > DAT > DAT > playback on Sony PCM-R500 > S/PIDF coaxial > Audiophile 2496/P4 2 GHz > recorded as 24 bit/48 KHz WAV with Wavelab 5 > Waves L3 Multimaximizer using hi res CD rendering settings > 16 bit/44.1 KHz WAV > CDWAV 1.9 (tracking) > FLAC (level 5). Transfer and mastering via C.Ladner.

! R: seeder comments: This source is an upgrade over the currently circulating source (SHNID-11254) with none of the previously noted flaws: - complete version of "Someday Baby" - no dropouts in "Road Runner" - no crackles in "My Problems Got Problems" - "Mystery Train" fades in very quickly but I think all of the notes are there. Thanks to Michael Townshend for letting me check out his DAT.

! s1t01 (1) JG: "Thanks a lot."

! P: s1t03 IARR overwrought vocals of early '74, quite unfortunate.

! s1t06 (2) JG: "We're gonna take a break for a while, and come back and play some more later on. Thanks a lot."

! s2t01 HTC second saxophonist first appearance 10:35ff. @ 10:42, the lower one is running a more continuous note while the higher one plays more staccato. Same thing @ 11:25 ish. Very late 13, deviate. Again audible 14 min range. @ 14:49 sounds like a different line.

! s2t02 Think twin saxophones continue @ start, but by 3:45 turn there is only one. Not sure this sounds like Martin, but could certainly be overthinking things. Another sax turn @ 5 and forward. @ 7:49 they clearly play different lines. Again @ end, 9:18.

! s2t03 WW there is no blowing for a while - I hear flute come back 6:47 after being gone for a bit. Maybe MF had to pee.

! R: s2t04 Mystery Train clips in

! s2t04 MT this second sax sounds like bari sometimes?

! R: s2t05 MFV clips in

! s2t05 MFV second sax audible again late 12. Some slight deviations right around 13:50. Two horns playing separate lines 18:05, one of them quotes Greensleeves. Different lines again 22:18, 22:30.

! P: s2t05 nice melty ending.

! R: s2t06 AYLFM little glitch @ 4:17.

! s2t06 AYLFM I hear the two saxes come apart @ 6:22, through 6:52, a few times. 9:55 bari and other one, separate lines.

! s2t07 HSII separate sax lines @ 0:53 and shortly after.

! s2t07 (3) JG: "Thanks a lot everybody. We'll see y'all later."