What I think is Might Be (?) a January 1976 keyboardists' tryout tape

The great Charlie Miller has gathered and shared many thousands of tapes. One that he got hands on somewhere along the line and then forgot about has just come into the light.

ca. 1975-1976 JGB rehearsals, outs: https://etreedb.org/shn/166364.

I hypothesize that this tape captures material from trying out / playing around with various keyboardists in January 1976. I think the need to summarize the ca. January 1976 keyboardist/repertoire options is what begat this tape --an artifact, emerging out of a distinct set of historical processes-- in the first place. It's a work tape.

I could be completely wrong about that. If you disagree, let me hear it! Tape is available to torrent from Lossless Legs (maybe be sub required).

Insofar as that's what's represented, then 

1) cool;

2) I was considerably wrong in my "Jerry's January 1976" post when I implied he was a slacker who settled for the most ready-to-hand keyboard player, Keith Godchaux;

3) I have additional material informing this idea of these as tryouts, which you'll be able to read about in Fate Music.

In the meantime, here are my very detailed listening notes, tracked differently (more baroquely) than Charlie's fileset.

Jerry Garcia Band
Probably His Master's Wheels
60 Brady Street
ca. 1976
85 minute 2 channel mono

--(20 tracks, 85:52)--
--fragment 1
t01. noisy noodle (1) [0:20] %
[MISSING: Tore Up Over You]

--fragment 2 (2 tracks,
t02. //untitled-197611xx-01-jam (2) [#21:12] %
t03. Magnificent Sanctuary Band Jam// [2:53#] %

--fragment 3 (2 tracks, 1 tune,
t04. //tape fragment// [#0:03#]
t05. //Tore Up Over You (3) [2:13] [0:06] %

--fragment 4 (3 tracks,
t06. //Freight Train [#2:47] %
t07. //Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie 1 [#5:56] (4) [0:03] %
t08. //Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie 2 [#4:30] [0:02] %

--fragment 5 (3 tracks,
t09. //Mystery Train// 1 [#7:04#] %
t10. (5) Mystery Train 2 [3:26] [0:16]
t11. Mystery Train 3 [7:09] (6) [0:09] %

--fragment 6 (5 tracks,
t12. I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) [9:36] (7) [0:14]
t13. It's Too Late [0:30]
t14. (I'm A) Road Runner 1 flirt [0:47]
t15. (I'm A) Road Runner 2 fragment [0:14] (8) [0:18]
t16. (I'm A) Road Runner 3 [4:15] (9) [0:21] %

--fragment 7 (4 tracks,
t17. Hey Bo Diddley [7:13] ->
t18. Hideaway [3:02] (10) [0:14]
t19. (11) Maybellene [0:42] ->
t20. Thirty Days flirt (12) [0:24]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band Z
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - electric guitar;
! lineup: John Kahn - electric bass;
! lineup: Ron Tutt - drums;
! lineup: unnamed-19761xxx-01 - keyboards (tracks,
! lineup: unnamed-19761xxx-02 - keyboards (tracks,

JGMF:

! t01 JG cites Tore Up Over You before tape cut

! P: I have no idea what this is - but it's a B3 player who can play!

! t01 (1) the noisy noodle has a vaguely Halloweenish feel

! R: t02 jam is munching tape at the start, super warbly, eventually gets up to speed. Jerry higher up in the mix 1:30ff.  Bass more audible late in 1. Garcia's guitar distorted, probably everything distorted.

! P: t02 jam Very New Orleans feel, bright B3. Is that really KG on organ? It does not sound like him. The organ is much more Brother Jack McDuff-sounding than I ever recall Keith being. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_McDuff. JG Nice lick 1:45. Organ feature 3:05ff, Garcia comping, John walking, drummer swinging. Right at 4 again very avian big bright organ - Jimmy Smith Brother Jack McDuff. John is walking it just like James Jamerson all up in here. 4:50 Jerry takes another lead turn. 13 more walking bass line. @13:32 you can hear Jerry's fingers on the strings - he's letting it make itself heard, as an accent. Sounds amazing - super slow late 13 as gentle as fresh a wildflower! B3 is mellifluous 14ff. Gentle, sweet tunes. Still a B3 "feauture", but it is buried in the mix and sounds a little rudimentary to my ear. Still walking along for a while, easy as you please. Nice melody Jerry lands on in 15 - something almost recognizable at 15:51. Fuzz makes it sound a little saxophonish around 16:40. Even more at 17:35 - superfuzz for Jerry, Link Wray tone for a bit. JG takes some rounds 18:19 and the organist steps forward (recording, too, I think) - things are hotting up 18:45, B3 in the classic sound - hits high right at 19, again avian. Swinging on an R&B groove around 19:15 and a N'awlins descent at 19:30. Jerry starts winding it down like 20:30, but it's hard to pin a real ending, so I just time the whole track.

! t02 (2) Jerry hits "Tore Up Over You" just before the tape cuts out.

! P: t03 Magnificent Sanctuary Band Keith (I think) is leading this, the drum is very foot-pedal heavy, and this is just Keith and a drummer, with Garcia and Kahn sitting this one out. Both of the pianist's hands sound great. Probably just KG and RT.

! R: t03 MSB drop right before the end, real time

! P: t05 TUOY starts with organist back a little bit, Jerry up front. The, delightfully @ 0:29 JG starts comping, and at 0:36 the B3 comes in like a bird - exactly the same style as the earlier jam had been, same personnel. Around 1:15 or so Jerry starts singing the lyric, but without a vocal mic. The organist doing a straightforward accent on "tore up" - sounds like Jerry gets in front of a mic for the last lyric.

! t05 (3) JG: "aw fuck - I keep forgetting that thing"

! P: t06 Freight Train Jerry sounds almost acoustic. Drums just snare. Electric keyboard comes in @0:52. Jerry singing so high in the register, almost falsetto, can't quite reach the notes. Very peppy tempo. Lyrically, he sort of gets the first verse, does a couple of choruses. Beautiful swirly keys 1:25, like a carnival. 1:42 he sings the "when I die o bury me deep / down at the end of old Chestnut Street / so I can hear ol number 9 as she goes running by". Another chorus - he calls a note at 2:27 not sure "[D E G] again". Nice plucky tone against the swirly organ.

! R: t07 OBIANL ff recording has more high end, I think. Hissier for sure.

! P: t07 OBIANL beautiful just Jerry and John falsetto - out of his range I think. Drums enter at 2:00, now electric keys @ 2:08. This aggregation and keys in around 2:05 -5:55. Pretty keyboard in 5:30 range - he puts a Baby Blue riff on around 5:46.

! t07 (4) JG: "I don't know what ... I don't really know//". This sort of tails onto t08.

! P: t08 OBIANL take 2 - lovely gentle stuff. Drums enter around 0:40. Snare-led.

! R: t09 MT1 sounds better than the chunk with the Elizabeth Cotten material. More dynamic range, less hiss. drums and guitar L, synth keys R, voice center, bass L. Tune cuts in and cuts out on what was probably the last "took away my baby"

! P: t09 Mystery Train take 1 keys are synth right now - fascinating! Different player, too? Just not sure. 2:29ff electric keys/synth takes first feature. Jerry comping fantastically behind, like check out 2:49. Sounds like there's an organ on one hand, electric piano on the other hand? Jerry in a little feature ca. 3. Organ lead 3:39ff. Drummer hard in the pocket - high hat driven, super steady. More electric keys lead 4:25. JG lead 4:52

! t10 (5) song is ending, an English guy *not Nicky* says "too much". Then they roll into MT2. I normally might have tacked a second or so from the front here onto the previous track, but it's all good. Electric keys - Rhodes plus the three members Jerry, John and Tutt.

! P: t10 MT2 right around 2 there's some conversation while the beat rolls on. Can't make it out. Jerry steps up for a verse 2:30. Keys sound really nice, nice little flourish over the end of that verse. This sounds tight as hell.

! P: t11 Mystery Train take 3 is faster and drives harder.  This drives like a motherfucker. Drums ease in at 0:17, Garcia has a nice country twang going just before 30 seconds in, the synth is upfront. What is the technique he uses at 0:43 called? He plucks a single note that's not offkey, but it certainly offsets the straight vocal, punctuating. It's awesome. Sweet country sound - I wonder if he's playing a tele, almost? I highly doubt it, but it definitely has that feel. Bend at 2:04 that is definitely Bakersfield. Here in 4 the keys sound familiar. At first I thought Jimmy Warren, but maybe now it sounds like Ozzie Ahlers. I am not saying it is either of these guys - I don't think it's either one of them. But I am trying to pin some comps down. Now at 5:20 two keyboard sounds, I think it's one player with two hands going - left is like an electric piano and right is the synth. Truly glorious string scratches from Garcia right at the end, a little scrubby-dubby from 7:02-7:05. Gaaahhh.

! t11 (6) Tutt: "Ahhh, shit. [inaudible] to try another one like that." JG: "[inaudible] like that?" Somebody else (Kahn?): "It's got layers." As I will narrate in Fate Music in a heading titled "Cats in the Studio," in July 1977 Tutt and Garcia held a very similar exchange after a jam, with Ronnie saying stuff like "that'll work - we can take that wherever we want to", and Jerry concurring. Who cares? I do! Kahn gets all the credit as Garcia's band director, and he was. But Tutt was in a "musical director" space -- validated by Garcia -- in those July '77 jams, and here he is the prior year playing the same role. Very important little fragment right there.

! song: "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" (t12): Yes, the Four Tops Tune tune, Holland-Dozier-Holland on Motown! Singleton. 

! P: t12 Sugar Pie Honey Bunch - oh my God this is stunning. Drums, organ, electric guitar, Garcia playing in a style like I have never ever heard before. 1:46 is he playing a Strat? Wow, fuzzy 2:16 what is the name of that effect? Not sure I have heard bass in this. Just keys guitar drums. God, Tutt starts some hi-hatting at 3:12 that is IMPOSSIBLE it's so good. Organ player takes a lead 3:20ff or thereabouts. @ 3:42 Garcia singing unamplified, way high in his vocal range, but amazing. This is cooking so sweet and hot and it bounces incredibly well. Band playing really well together. No idea who this organist is - DEF not Keith. This is a B3 aficionado, someone tearing it up. Any chance this is Larry Knechtel? By 6 Jerry is in more recognizable sound, still not sure which guitar he's playing. But my God is this AMAZING. Slow it wayy down at 8:48, half time, quarter time, decay to gentle @ 9:07, there's John Kahn, Jerry noodling some stuff to wind it down.

! t12 (7) @ 9:41, good hearty Jerry laugh. Tutt: "What time is it?" JG: "Too late." Someone else, affirming: "too late". Naturally enough, this leads Jerry to strum the beautiful xxx notes xxx chord of "It's Too Late".

! P: t13 ITL falsetto!

! t15 (8) JK is quoting an Abbey Road sounding piece - maybe Come Together? Powerful, McCartney sounding. Jerry hits the Lennon twang. Not sure which tune, but a Beatles riff I think.

! P: IARR 3 he doesn't lead with the first verse, I don't think? This is the quartet playing. Jerry, John, Ronnie, and organ player. Tempo slows 2:48, now sounding more like '76 JGB (heh heh).

! t16 (9) @ 3:45 IARR sort of unraveled gradually. Tutt called out a '1' to take it from the top, but Jerry starts moaning "1", becoming "whaaaa??" It's "1" a second moan, he is joined in by John I think, also moaning "1????????" They pick it up pretty continuously until 4:15, when he drops it again, Tutt calls out '1' again, and they all riff on the same goof from 30 seconds before, moaning and cawing. @ 4:10 someone yells out "Christ!", and it sounds like an English voice to me. Again, NB re: Tutt leading musically. He's the drumer and he's just counting down the beat in this case, but it's still fun to see him focused and the rest of these weirdos being weird.

! song: "Hey Bo Diddley" (t17): https://jerrybase.com/songs/326.

! P: t17 Hey Bo Diddley starts off with cool John Kahn liquid weirdness, some big bottom of the sea low amplitude forms, first 30 seconds of the track. Organ arrives 0:54. Neat interplay JG and organ player 1:38, he scrubs for the three beats, real basic, and the organist puts some color on it. Right after 3 Jerry steps back to play his guitar, and it's hot and great. Killer fuzztone 4:35 - like fuzzier than you will ever hear him. Shreddy, weaving through, around, over, the organ's melody lines. Big fuzzy R&R guitar 5:18ff. Grungy. Late 5 he finds a defined melody of something that might be identifiable. Jerry audibly unpedals the fuzz @ 6:20 with a killer rock chord, and it's back cleanly into the Bo Diddley beat, Jerry with some chunky ... all through this there is a drum that sounds like a hand drum, e.g., 6:45 for awhile, but it perfectly accompanies the drum, so I think ...?

! P: t17-t18 Jerry lets it decay and the organist hits "Hideaway", but Jerry takes a bit to really embrace it. At 0:39 Garcia is playing "Hideaway" with a guitar that sounds really unfamiliar. Wow! Groovy as fuck at 1:32 when everyone is walking it for awhile, organist splashes other tones. 2:27ish Jerry tries to end it, but not one takes him up on it, trying again 10 and Tutt catches the cue perfectly!

! R: t18 Hideaway track some static for sure

! t18 (10) Jerry playing some blues lines, Tutt drums fast to them.

! t19 (11) I track Maybellene to where Tutt starts drumming the beat. Over the start of it, he says "That's that other [?another?] Freddie King tune". I think he's referring to the melody he just hinted at - see note 10. I don't recognize it. Maybellene, of course, was written by Chuck Barry, so maybe he was just having a stoner moment with it?

! P: t19 Maybellene Jerry does some of the rough and ready vamp singing he's been having fun with all night to start, but pretty quickly he gets a verse together, like ten seconds into the noodle. John walking *incredibly* late 0:16 range. This is a boogeying little thing they are doing,

! song: "Thirty Days" (t20): Chuck Berry. Like "Maybellene", a rock 'n' roll standard.

! t20 (12) there are a couple of "fuck it"s at the very end.