Feel Your Oats, and Race Back to Eat Them: JGB opening for Frank Zappa, UIC Pavilion, University of Illinois Chicago, August 18, 1984

Last night of the August '84 tour, which was really strong, amazingly strong given the shape Garcia was in. Zappa headlined the ads, but Garcia played second. Not much to write home about, except, on the theme of "oats". 1) Garcia is feeling them in the big guitar tunes CUTS, GOOMLW and Deal. Man - hot-hot-hot stuff, early and often in these tunes. 2) Like a horse racing back to the barn, Garcia sprints the band through the Midnight Moonlight at a really embarrassingly fast tempo. Kemper must have been sore for days trying to keep up.

Jerry Garcia Band
UIC Pavilion, University of Illinois-Chicago
1140 W. Harrison Street
Chicago, IL
August 18, 1984 (Saturday) - 7 PM
Hessberg MAC flac2496 shnid-148835

--main set + encore (7 tracks, 63:23)--
--main set (6 tracks, 53:28-0:55)--
t01. - ... Cats Under The Stars [#7:06] -8:12
t02. Get Out Of My Life Woman [11:00] [0:15]
t03. I'll Take A Melody [13:47] ->
t04. Run For The Roses [5:20] [0:01] % [0:07]
t05. Gomorrah [6:10] [0:14]
t06. Midnight Moonlight [7:29] (1) [0:09] % pre-encore [0:55]
--encore (1 track, 0:55+9:54)--
t07. Deal [9:45] (1) [0:09]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #21b
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! 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; [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: URL https://jerrybase.com/events/19840818-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/8415 (O'Connell MAC shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/22084 (Senn 421s shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/148834 (this master, flac1644); https://etreedb.org/shn/148835 (this fileset). I am also aware of Nak 300 tapes pulled by David Doppelt and another by "Doug and Nancy" (the latter from the 3rd row), but it seems that neither of these has made the jump to lossless.

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

! JGBP: URL http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/12/uic-pavilion-university-of-illinois-525.html. This is a relatively rare example of the JGB playing a venue before the Dead would play it (April 9-10-11, 1987). I am surprised the Dead could still play a 10k seat arena in April 1987, but I guess that was just before "Touch Of Grey" hit it big.

! ad: Chicago Reader, unknown date

! listing: Chicago Tribune, August 12, 1984, p. 26

! review: [positive] Van Matre 1984

! expost: URL https://web.archive.org/web/20150910005323/http://home.online.no/~corneliu/picturedisc2.htm

! expost: Billboard, 9/22/1984, p. 53. Sellout @ 9,728 sold, $15, gross $145,920.

! R: historical: Last night of the August '84 tour which must have made a bundle. FZ recalled "we were the opening act and I didn't see any of his set." Van Matre says the opening / closing slots were determined by a coin flip, with Zappa headlining, and he got the imagery in a Chicago Reader ad. Van Matre likes both of the "aggressively unfashionable" acts, finding Garcia "capable of conjuring up a kind of sweet, stoned, meandering magic with his music that has lasting appeal".

! misc: Zappa setlist: Zoot Allures, More Trouble Every Day, Penguin In Bondage, Hot Plate Heaven At The Green Hotel, City Of Tiny Lights, You Are What You Is, Mudd Club, The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing, Dumb All Over, He's So Gay, Bobby Brown, Keep It Greasey, Honey Don't You Want A Man Like Me?, Carol You Fool, Chana In De Bushwop, Let's Move To Cleveland, Cosmik Debris, Sharleena, Ride My Face To Chicago, The Illinois Enema Bandit. via http://etreedb.org/lookup_show.php?shows_key=54581.

! R: field recordist: Michael Hessberg

! R: field recording gear: 2x Sennheiser ME-80 > Sony D5 (MAC)

! R: lineage: Nakamichi DR-1 playback > Tascam DA-3000 (DSF 1-bit/5.6 MHz) > dBpoweramp (24/96) > Adobe Audition CC 2019 > TLH flac2496.

! R: seeder notes: - Thanks to Michael Hessberg for the Master Cassette source - Thanks to Charlie Miller for the transfer and coordinating this effort - Thanks to Brian O'Connell for the shnid8415 Nakamichi 100 source which supplies the first 1:15 of "Cats Under The Stars", some crowd and the first few notes of "Gomorrah" (0:09 total), as well as some crowd and first few notes of "Midnight Moonlight" (0:15 total) - Thanks to Joe B. Jones for his assistance with the pitch correction. Mastered by Scott Clugston, December 2019.

! P: nice punchy tape

! R: t01 CUTS enters in progress, maybe 30 seconds missing

! P: t01 CUTS Garcia's first guitar turn late 2 already has some great fuzz. He had flubbed lyrics and sounded listless vocally, but here the guitar goes straight to the good stuff, no dicking around.

! P: t02 GOOMLW sounds so awesome!! The crowd appreciative 5 as Garcia does some percussive grungy stuff. More great playing late 8 over 9. Man, Garcia is feeling his oats here.

! P: t06 Mid Moon: I can nearly taste the oats from Garcia's feedbag as he gallops to the barn. Embarrassingly sped up.

! t06 (1) JG: "Thanks a lot. G'night."

! P: t07 Deal fucks up verse goes right to "hate to leave you sitting there composin' lonesome blues". It's a fine, if misplaced, sentiment. Notwithstanding this, Deal is very hot, as you would expect. Very hot.

! t07 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot."

What It Is All About: Jerry Band Monday at the Keystone, August 16, 1976

I love love love the mid-1976 versions of "After Midnight", with Donna seconding on "what it is all about". (Happy 73rd birthday to DJG the day of this post, BTW!) I also like the "Stop That Train"s from this era, both imprinted on my brain from some tape I played the hell out of. This show, Monday 8/16/76 at Keystone, is solid. Maria Muldaur harmonizes some in "Ride Mighty High", this now being her earliest verified (by me) appearance with the Garcia Band (next known to me is 9/12/76).

I had thought of naming the post "Do Me A Favor? Open the Door and Let 'Em In", imaging McCartneyesque Jesus to Gabriel after 17 syrupy minutes of JGB "Knockin' On Heaven's Door". I have a rule, induced after listening to 3/12/76: any version of ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’ exceeding 17 minutes in length is too long. But I didn't think that set the right tone for a post about a show which I enjoy, despite the serious issues with this particular warbling tape.

Jerry Garcia Band
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
August 16, 1976 (Monday)
sbd shnid-13041 shn2flac rename to sets

--set I (7 tracks, 86:09)--
s1t01. ambience [0:59], They Love Each Other [7:05] [0:21]
s1t02. [0:12] %% [0:12] After Midnight [14:00] [0:14]
s1t03. [3:50] Stop That Train [13:40] % [0:05]
s1t04. [0:05] Midnight // Moonlight [8:#06] [0:18]
s1t05. [1:32] How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [9:09] [0:31]
s1t06. [0:50] Knockin' On Heaven's Door [17:45] [0:09] % dead air [0:10]
s1t07. The Way You Do The Things You Do [6:43] (1) [0:07]

--set II (5 tracks, 49:56)--
s2t01. //Mission In The Rain [#9:36] [0:03] %
s2t02. [0:30] He Ain't Give You None [11:51] [0:08] %
s2t03. [0:29] Tore Up Over You [11:20] [0:04] %
s2t04. Strange Man 6:58 [0:04] % [0:03]
s2t05. [0:14] Ride Mighty High :15-8:30 (xx)

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #3
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: Keith Godchaux - piano, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Ron Tutt - drums, vocals;
! lineup: Donna Godchaux - vocals;
! guest: Maria Muldaur - vocals (s2t05 only).

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/19760816-02

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/13041 (this fileset)

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/LDc43

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html;

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html; URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html.

! band: JGB #3 (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html)

! ad: SFSECDB19760808p39; SFSECDB19760815p43

! listing: SFSECDB19760815p07

! notes: JGB played Keystone Berkeley Wed 8/11, Mon 8/16 and Sat-Sun 8/21-22 - four shows in ten days, three of them on somewhat atypical nights. He was also at Elliot Mazer's studio working, I guess, on JGB tunes to sell to Arista, including "Ride Mighty High". Very long first set here.

! personnel: Maria Muldaur comes in and adds some "ride mighty high"s to the mix in the 6-minute range. As of 8/22/2020, this is her earliest known JGB sit-in, next one coming 9/12/76.

! R: SBD R/? > CDR > shn; shn2flac jgmf 8/2020.

! R: hissy, running fast, with lots and lots of warble, especially in KOHD, TWYDTTYD, & MITR (especially, especially the last one.

! R: I have flac files dated 10/17/2010, but don't have the original shns. So this was labeled as a .shnf folder, but I am changing it to a .shn2flac.

! P: s1t02 AM In the cassette days I had a tape of 7/9/76, I think, or maybe it was this show or 7/8/76, and I just love the AMs of this era. The vibe is just right, the way Donna adds her "what it is all about" refrain just smites me.

! R: s1t04 Mid Moon cut in Midnight Moonlight at 1:09

! P: s1t06 KOHD this version violates my red-line rule, first articulated in connection with 3/12/76, that "any version of ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’ exceeding 17 minutes in length is too long". And Jesus to Gabriel, pace Paul McCartney and Wings: "Do me a favor - open the door and let 'em in."

! s1t07 (1) JG: "We're gonna take a break for a little while. We'll be back a little bit later on."

! R: s2t01 MITR cuts in

! s2t01 at the wind-down of MITR, it sure sounds like Keith is noodling around with the chords of "Positively 4th Street", but maybe I am hearing things.

! P: s2t04 ASM very slow and gentle to start, but Donna really oversings as it develops.

! P: s2t05 RMH huge grand finish

! s2t05 (2) JG: "thanks a lot. We'll see y'all later on."

Studio Sessions at Jerrybase

We have pushed a lot of new studio sessions (a subset of "private" musical activities" which also include rehearsals, private events, etc.) to Jerrybase. They appear in blue in your search results.

There is lots of info here that you didn't know. For example, take a look at 1978, and see a few jazz standards you may not have known were played in this period by Keith, Jerry and John in their little "hot jazz" combo thing. I am super proud of having gathered up this information, which sheds new light. It's dramatically incomplete, it mostly covers the 1970s, but most of it has not been systematically documented until now.

Thanks to the amazing m0thra for his generous time and programming skills in getting this stuff presented!

I don't do a lot of Weir talk

But man, I do love this guy. We are such fortunate fans to have such smart and literate artists in our lives!

Quote from a recent interview about his songwriting, which I recommend. One bigger point, one smaller point.

I take the dream seriously. That’s all I can say. They’re very real. It’s not just brain chatter. There’s chatter involved in your daily thinking, that’s all. But you know how people say it’s just a dream, it’s just a dream. There is no such thing. Dreams are every bit as real as any other part of your body. 

Getting in touch with that, being in touch with that dream world, is a lifelong pursuit. As you’re younger, you can train yourself to get better at it as you get older. Not just for art, but for any sort of endeavor. There’s a lot that dreams can tell you.

Smaller point: He drew inspiration from Of Mice and Men in writing Jack Straw. Maybe you all knew that, but I did not.