JGB Spring '93 SoCal

Preface: JGB in SoCal

Little springtime SoCal jaunts became a regular thing for JGB starting in 1983. (OK, that was very late winter, but March is generally pretty springy down there.) Some were one- or two-offs, others were a little more elaborate. Here's a sketch.

1983: 3/11a and 3/11b in Santa Barbara; 3/12a and 3/12b, 3/13 in Beverly Hills

1984: 5/17 Beverly Hills, 5/18 Irvine, 5/19 Santa Barbara, 5/20 Reseda

1985: Garcia-Kahn 5/31a and 5/31b in Beverly Hills

1986: 5/23 in San Diego, 5/24 in LA

1987: 3/13 and 3/14 in LA

1988: no SoCal

1989: 5/19 Irvine, 5/20 San Diego, 5/22 LA

1990: LA in November

1991: no SoCal

1992: summer dates

1993: 4/16 and 4/17 at UCLA, 4/18 in San Diego

1994: 5/13 San Bernardino, 5/14 Ventura, 5/15 Irvine, 5/17 and 5/18 San Diego + 5/19 Phoenix

So much to say, but so little time. Let me just foreshadow some of what might get some write up in Fate Music.

'83: Hell's Angel George Christie, Jr., a rather remarkable dude, promoting in Santa Barbara (again in '84). I have some super-sweet material here about how much better it was for Jerry working for an outlaw than it was for some of the "straight" promoters in the area.

'84: not sure yet, but definitely mention the killer music and DeeDee Dickerson's swan song.

'85: "Bullshit! Bullshit!" and all that

'86: Wolfgang trying to product-differentiate the "Band Electric" 10 months before the birth of the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band. And one of the great sardonic review headlines of all time: "Band Electric Plays at Pace Languid".

'93: maybe some stuff based on this post

'94: "Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!!"

Among the themes that will pop up are NorCal vs. SoCal, maybe some nods toward playing on John Kahn's home turf, and definitely the evolution of the SoCal jaunt as a commercial proposition: 1) from local promoters (with John Scher's help) to conceding Bill Graham the west coast monopoly he so badly wanted. (He wanted it all, but John Scher was simply too great to work with to give him up.) And 2) obvs., the switch from clubs and theaters to amphitheaters and basketball arenas. Of course, too, some great music.

JGB SoCal Spring 1993

So much for the long windup. I really just wanted to plop down some notes around a listen a month or two ago to the April 16-17, 1993 gigs in Pauley Pavilion and the 18th in the San Diego Sports Arena. I have listening-noted the Warfield 4/23/93 show on these pages, and found it somewhat low energy, though I abso-fucking-lutely love its version of "Señor" (released on Garcia Plays Dylan) and "The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game" (released on Shining Star). It seems like I haven't listened to the 4/24 or 4/25 Warfield shows, which I guess I will need to do at some point.

These three SoCal shows from the week before strike me as overall better than 4/23, generally strong, rarely really bad and occasionally fantastic. If forced to rank these three, I'd say 4/18 > 4/17 > 4/16. I note that The Powers That Were released 1 tune each from the 18th and 17th, but none from the 16th. That seems about right to me, and I have to say that they made fantastic choices. Despite its execrable cover art and (not unrelated) the fact that it was released under the reign of She Who Shall Not Be Named (whom I nevertheless name below), the Shining Star release contains some outstanding music, and the selections from this run of shows are top-shelf.

From the 17th, they selected "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love", which the Stones had covered soon after Solomon Burke's original 1964 version on Atlantic, and which was most successfully covered by Wilson Pickett. This Garcia Band version is absolutely killer, a truly fine late era performance ranging across some stanky pedal effects to some very spare sections, sung together and tenderly by Jerry and the ladies, but also across some growly exclamatory "I need it! I need it!" from ol 'Jer. More detailed notes, probably not all that illuminating, below.

From the 18th, they selected Dylan's "Positively 4th Street". (Happy belated 82nd birthday to Mr. Dylan, BTW!) What can I say about Garcia and 4th Street? Of all the Dylans he did, I think this one was the most special. It was almost never not amazing. It is one of those tunes that I still haven't found quite the right word for, which appeared across the decades, but typically in short spurts, which I think have a particular quality of Jerry loving them but finding them either challenging to do or too special to wear out. This is speculation, of course, but it's what my gut says. And none of these tunes --also including "Tough Mama", "Like A Road", a few others-- better captures that profile for me than "4th Street".

The great David Gans and Blair Jackson asked Garcia about the tune in a 1981 interview.

Q: Do you have any trouble singing a song as bitter as "Positively 4th Street"?

Garcia: Not at all. It's easy for me to cop that asshole space. I was that guy, too. For me, it occupies the same space as 'Ballad of a Thin Man'. It tells that person who's lame that they're lame, and why they're lame, which is a very satisfying thing to do. 'Positively 4th Street' has this way of doing it where it's beautiful, too. And 'It's All Over Now, Baby Blue' is basically a put-down, too. It's one of those things like, 'You're losing bad - dig yourself.' It was the beautiful sound of 'Positively 4th Street' that got to me, more than the bitterness of the lyric. The combination of the beauty and the bitterness, to me, is wonderful. ... That's something that only Dylan has been able to pull off in terms of modern songwriting, I think (Jackson and Gans 19810911, 29).

Jerry played it somewhat regularly with the Garcia-Saunders aggregation in 1973 (as represented, e.g., on the original Saunders-Garcia-Kahn-Vitt Live at Keystone, and re-released by Fantasy endlessly since then). He picked it back up for a month in 1975 in the first JGB with Nicky, then dropped it again until Ozzie Ahlers came on board in 1979 (check out the 12/21/79 version, one of the greatest single-song performances of Garcia's playing career). He dropped it again in the middle of the February 1980 tour for more than ten years, bringing it out staccato in the 90s. Here are the all of the post-1980 versions. Because I think the song held special meaning for Jerry, I offer up some conjecture as to what I think might have motivated the revival.

3/1/91, which I have called "Certainly One of the Best and Most Interesting Shows of the 90s" (which may be damning it with faint praise): I note that 4th Street is "just about perfect - I think he gets all of the lyrics, and he does it with the right degree of bitterness." What might have led Garcia to dust this gem off after 11 years, obviously rehearse it with the band, play it for this "just for this one moment", and drop it for two years again? Well, first we know that he was using again, and not just chipping but to the point that the GD would stage another intervention four months later, whereupon Jerry went onto a methadone program. (It didn't stick.) Second, we know from his September '91 interviews that he was wildly burned out on the Dead, and he explicitly said that it was during the spring that he was asking the band about chilling out for six months, only to be told that the show had to go on. *cough* Phillesh *cough* So, in this case, I blame the Grateful Dead. Does any of this have anything to do with why he played 4th Street? Neither you nor I has any idea. But, while it may  not have been carefully planned out, I think something definitely caused its appearance. What do you think?

4/18/93 (this version) and 4/23/93 (on Shining Star): Here, I primarily blame woman troubles (Jerry's, not necessarily the women's). Humiliatingly, San Francisco institution Herb Caen led a January 1993 column asking "would the beloved Jerry Garcia dump his longtime ladyfriend, Manasha (the mother of his 3-yr-old daughter), and take off for Hawaii with a new inamorata?" (Caen 19930112). I can't recall where this occured, but when People wrote about his personal life in 1976 Garcia lost his shit, and I can't imagine the isolated and private 1993 version of himself would have been happy about having his love-life laundry aired in public. The new inamorata in January was the sweet and lovely Brigid Meier, but he had already left her in March after a) running back into Deborah Koons (also involved the 1976 complications) in Mill Valley and b) Brigid finding out he was using and asking him to get clean (McNally 2002, 603). Her recollections of that encounter supply some of the darkest images we have of the man in the grip of his addiction. Maybe he had her in mind when singing about "what a drag it is to see you" and all that. After a little fling with one Shannon Jeske (ibid), it seems like by April he would have been back with Deborah. Indeed, having heard some of the inside skinny about how She worked, the fact that She and Jerry were back together right around this time may have motivated the selection of material from these very shows.

There were other things going on in this window, of course. The last time he had played the Warfield, in late February, there was a "mini riot" outside the venue, involving 20 cops, rock-and-bottle throwing, and a dozen arrests ("12 arrests at Garcia concert," Argus-Courier [Petaluma, CA], March 2, 1993, p. "Deadheads blame riot on S.F. Police," San Francisco Examiner, March 1, 1993, p. A-13). So, to whom, or about whom or what, would he be venting his spleen in April 1993, by again dusting off, rehearsing, performing, and again dropping 4th Street? I have no idea. But I will say that, as on 3/1/91, on 4/18/93 he dusted the tune off and played it nearly perfectly, as close to perfectly as he ever did any song. I think he nailed every single lyric. And, heart? What heart! My only note about the song is this: "this is stunningly good".

There is lots of other really nice stuff in these shows, as my notes below narrate. The "Don't Let Go"s are too brief for my taste. But even tunes I don't generally love --I am looking at you, "Dixie Down"-- have a little extra something, again more on the 18th than the 17th and more on either of those than the first night. The Garcia Band at this point was running like a pretty well-oiled machine, putting plenty of bread in the breadbox --around $225,000 for these three nights!-- punching in solid 60-minute sets, and delivering good stuff to the faithful. They hold up well after 30 years, and I can recommend them to you --especially the 18th-- if you are searching for something to spin.

Oh yeah, what about the 1995 versions of 4th Street? On 1/13/95, he botches the words ("Jerry can't sing 4th Street if he can't remember the lyrics", I snipped). But I also note that he manages to remember more of them than I would, and as far as I know I am not on death's door. On 3/4/95 he says "I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes" no fewer than four times - so he does the "I could be you" and "what a drag it is to see you" responses twice. Not lyrically correct, I don't think (?), but could be (over-) interpreted as really feeling true to the man in that moment. By 4/15/95 he is running on fumes, though the version certainly makes up in feeling what it lacks in power. If my whole reasoning about the song's appearance reflecting a particularly embittered mindset is right, it certainly makes sense that it was around for these three months. He had crashed his car in January, canceled shows in February, and, not least, he was dying. So 4th Street certainly fit the Zeitgeist.

Listening Notes for April 16-18, 1993 below the fold.

Kemper's Last: JGB at Hampton Coliseum, November 19, 1993

The great drummer David Kemper joined the JGB on Wednesday, July 20, 1983, at the Keystone Palo Alto, probably for a few hundred beer drinkers at a show with gross potential of something like $5 grand. He played his last gig with the band at the legendary Hampton Coliseum on November 19, 1993, before a sellout crowd of just about 14,000, a show of gross potential of $291,000 (net of taxes, so "net gross potential").

One of the big personnel mysteries of the Garciaverse is why Kemper was let go after over a decade of stalwart service, keeping one foot on the gas and one foot on the brakes for the highly variable Jerry Band. Talking to Barry Smolin a few years later, the drummer himself seemed unclear on this.

We did that tour in '93. It was financially our most successful tour. We played big venues and sold out a large portion of them. But the success didn't translate into the music. It wasn't any different musically from the ones before. But everything else felt different somehow. I felt that Jerry was starting to change in some way that I don't really understand to this day. Maybe he was tired of me.

[Smolin: How were you informed of your termination?] 

I got a call from [Big Steve] Parish in January of '94, saying, 'Well, here's that phone call you've been expecting for ten years. Where do you want us to send your drums?' I said, 'Well, Steve, why don't you send them here to my house. ' And he said, 'Don't you want them sent to your cartage company?' I said, 'No, have them sent here to the house. ' And he said, 'Oh, by the way, we have a new drummer already. ' I said, 'Oh, okay. ' And he said, 'Well, I don't know what else to say but good-bye.' I said, 'Well, Steve, you know, you always had a way with words.' And that was it. No explanation, nothing (Smolin 1997, 21).

When the JGB next materialized at the Warfield, on February 4-6, 1994, former Starship drummer Donny Baldwin was in the chair, where he'd remain until the end.

Deadheads gossip like suburban Karens. In this case, word on the street was that someone else in the band wanted more money, and Kemper was traded out for a cheaper model. Unless Big Steve dishes, it seems unlikely that we will ever know the reasons for the change. 

update: David K has finally dished, and Big Steve was the one who wanted more money. So the gossip was half right (I had heard it was Kahn).

What I feel pretty certain about is that having Big Steve do your dirty work, canning a guy who had played well over 300 gigs with the Jerry Garcia Band, speaks to Our Hero's well-worn instinct to avoid interpersonal conflict. At least have the courtesy to call the guy yourself, Jer! But that was not his way.

Anyway, I wanted to love this last show, also the Jerry Band's final show in the eastern time zone. And it was fine, the way the fall '93 shows generally are. The voice is a little frail. The guitar playing offers more pluck than power, though it has its charms. The 84 minute second set speaks to a guy still wanting to play. And, I gather from eyewitness testimony that anyone who was present for this 25+ minute "Shining Star", with extended band-audience singalong, remembers it fondly. I have no complaints at all. It feels just like any other show, and I wonder if it felt that way to David Kemper, too.

Jerry Garcia Band
Hampton Coliseum
1000 Coliseum Drive
Hampton, VA 23666
November 19, 1993 (Friday)
Schoeps Miller shnid-77281 rename to sets

--set I (6 tracks, 54:26)--
s1t01. [0:06] How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [7:27] [0:57]
s1t02. Stop That Train [10:18] [1:18]
s1t03. Money Honey [7:54] [0:16]
s1t04. Lay Down Sally [11:16] [0:04]
s1t05. My Sisters And Brothers [3:51] ->
s1t06. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love [10:57] (1) [0:07]

--set II (6 tracks, 84:04)--
s2t01. Shining Star [25:10] [0:08] %
s2t02. [0:25] Struggling Man [10:42] [0:04]
s2t03. The Maker [12:30] [0:08]
s2t04. Don't Let Go [17:47] ->
s2t05. That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day) [10:05] ->
s2t06. Midnight Moonlight [6:59] (2) [0:06]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #21b
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - vocals;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - vocals.

JGMF:

! R: 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/19931119-01

! db:

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/xGt3Bg1Hekzt9Quj8

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/01/hampton-coliseum-1000-coliseum-drive.html

! band: THE Jerry Garcia Band, JGB #21b (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html)

! historical: final show for David Kemper. Final east coast Garcia gig.

! data: Contract dated 10/20/93 (unsigned by JGB): $75k guarantee vs 80% of net box office receipts after taxes and employer's reasonable and actual direct concert expenses as approved by artist whichever is greater, plus $21,250 estimated for artist-supplied production. Capacity 13,800, net gross potential (NGP) after 5% tax of $291,428.57.

! R: field recordist: unidentified

! R: field recording gear: Schoeps MK4 -> Dat (48k)

! R: field recording location: FOB

! R: Transfer Info: Dat (Sony R500) -> Samplitude Professional v7.02 -> FLAC (2 Discs Audio / 2 Discs FLAC). All Transfers and Mastering By Charlie Miller charliemiller87@earthlink.net September 2, 2006

! R: Notes: -- Fixed drop-out in How sweet It Is -- The audience sings backup vocals during last half of Shining Star -- Thanks to Ryan Shriver for the Dats -- This has the fixed Shining Star

! P: s1t01 HSII Jerry's guitar playing sounds wonderful. His voice sounds thin, but not uncharacteristically for the period.

! P: s1t02 STT Melvin does some lovely piano work late 6. Jerry playing beautifully layered stuff.

! R: s1t01 HSII drop/gap at 0:29

! P: s1t03 MH has the extra arrangement on the ending

! s1t06 (1) JG: "Thanks a lot. We'll be back in a few minutes."

! P: s2t01 Shining Star big pitch-bending in 10. Jerry much softer vocalizing late 18. Now around 21 ladies and crowd singing, Jerry picking some in response. I know everyone who was there remembers the singalong fondly.

! R: s2t02 not sure why there's a tape discontinuity, and sounds like a short repeated section from end of s2t01 and start of s2t02.

! P: s2t04 DLG fragile voice. Mumbly lyric @ 2:57. Kind of a weird drop to the guitar/vocal comping, very low but also sooner than I expected. I like the doubling late 3 over 4. Nice and low and easy. He drops the vocals @ 4:30 to modal tone. Pretty nice dangerous, urgent feel to this DLG.

! s2t06 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot. See y'all later."

Rocks, Bottles, and a Tired-Sounding Jerry: JGB at the Warfield, February 27, 1993

Apparently 12 people were arrested after this Saturday night show, allegedly for throwing rocks and bottles at police. Ten months earlier had seen unrest in the area, not necessarily caused by Jerry's kids, but related instead to acquittal of the cops in their trial for beating Rodney King in LA. No idea what might have triggered this early '93 issue.

Janet and Chuck Vasseur pulled an absolute masterpiece of a tape this night, as so many others. The show has its moments, including a nice easy start with "I Second That Emotion" (a tune I don't generally favor) and, especially, Old Jerry heart-feeling "I Shall Be Released". "Simple Twist" is also super-gentle. Lots to like in the set II song selection, especially, for me, "Reuben And Cherise". But I spun it three times and didn't get many sparks.

But Jerry sounds exhausted all night. I take to heart Mr. Completely's advice to avoid drug determinism, and I don't think it would be engaging in that fallacy to note 1) that Jerry sounds exhausted, and 2) we know, via Barbara Meier, that he was using in this period. It's not deterministic, but neither is this pure coincidence, IMO, YMMV.

Jerry Garcia Band
The Warfield
982 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
February 27, 1993 (Saturday)
Vasseur shnid-141455

--set  (8 tracks, 72:43)--
s1t01. I Second That Emotion [9:48] [0:52]
s1t02. I Shall Be Released [9:12] [1:15]
s1t03. Mission In The Rain [8:22] [1:16]
s1t04. [0:07] Simple Twist Of Fate [10:15] [0:26]
s1t05. Ain't No Bread In The Breadbox [8:12] [0:50]
s1t06. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [9:34] %
s1t07. /My Sisters And Brothers [#4:26] ->
s1t08. Deal [8:00] (1) [0:08]

--set II (7 tracks, 62:10)--
s2t09. Shining Star [13:34] [0:26]
s2t10. Tore Up Over You [7:30] [1:10]
s2t11. Wonderful World [4:38] [0:09]
s2t12. The Maker [8:05] [0:11]
s2t13. Lay Down Sally [9:24] [2:05]
s2t14. Reuben And Cherise [8:24] ->
s2t15. Midnight Moonlight [6:30] (2) [0:05]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #21b
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - vocals;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - vocals.

JGMF:

! R: 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: https://jerrybase.com/events/19930227-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/13036; https://etreedb.org/shn/29344; https://etreedb.org/shn/141455 (this fileset). As far as I can tell without A-B'ing, these are all from the Vasseur master.

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/ZW52vfHTbjs

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2013/02/warfield-982-market-street-san.html

! venue: http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2011/11/september-25-1980-fox-warfield-theater.html

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html

! expost: "12 arrests at Garcia concert," Argus-Courier (Petaluma, CA), March 2, 1993, p. 2, allegedly for throwing rocks and bottles at the police.

! R: field recordist: Janet and Chuck Vasseur

! R: field recording gear: 2x Neumann KM54 > DAT

! R: Transfer: DAT Master > CDR (Kyle Porter); Extract: CDR clone > EAC > WAV > FLAC16 (Bill Shaw aka Shark)

! R: This is a masterpiece of field recording.

! R: seeder notes: Sometime in the early 2000's, Chuck loaned Kyle all of his 92-95 JGB masters to transfer to CDR. Kyle "mastered" the DATs to CDR, fading in/out as needed, adjusting levels (as needed) and tracking. Kyle then gave Chuck his masters back, with nice CDR copies of all of it. Chuck offered to clone the entire set for me, so I gave him a spool of 100 blank MITSUI CDRs and the next time I saw him, he gave them back to me, filled with his JGB recordings. Many of the Chuck V. JGB recordings do circulate already, but probably not all of them, and those that do may not be the Kyle Porter transfers. So, here they are! --Shark

! P: s1t01 ISTE It's well known that I don't love this song. But I like how this feels coming out of the gate, despite the fact that Jerry definitely sounds vocally fragile.

! P: s1t02 ISBR I hadn't really grokked that he played this as consistently in the 90s as he did. This comes in sounding absolutely wonderful. Old Jerry.

! P: s1t03 MITR Garcia sounds quite wasted.

! P: s1t04 STOF bass feature late 5 is almost entirely inaudible, goes to about 7:10. This is a remarkably gentle version of STOF.

! P: s1t06 TNTDODD Melvin bg swirly feature over 6

! R: s1t07-08 strange to have a discontnuty and a clpped start w a DAT master.

! s1t08 (1) JG: "back in a couple minutes"

! P: s2t02 TUOY some good guitar 5:30ff.

! s2t15 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot."

Not For Kids Only Deluxe (Acoustic Disc DLACD-09, 2020)

https://acousticdisc.com/product/jerry-garcia-and-david-grisman-not-for-kids-only-download/

This happened without my noticing at the time (whenever it was in that accursed year, just passed, that shall not be named). But Acoustic Disc has remastered the Not For Kids Only (Acoustic Disc ACD 9, 1993), added four bonus tracks, and offered it up for download. I am spinning the high-def (24bit / 96 kHz) version now, and it sounds gobsmackingly great. (The original did, too - tip o' the cap to "Decibel" Dave Dennison.)

The unreleased tracks (alt. takes of Jenny Jenkins, Three Men Went A-Hunting, Teddy Bears’ Picnic, and There Ain’t No Bugs On Me) are Jerry-David duets. Alas, they are undated. I will try to see if AD will answer a query as to the dates. Let me say here that Grisman and Garcia are too important as American musicians, and this material is too important as American music, not to give it the jazz treatment, with full metadata. I have never understood why they hold things like the dates close to the vest.

Anyway, happy listening!

The Romanesque Church Design Was Based On The Roman Basilica: Discuss (JGB at the Knick in Albany, November 3, 1993)

I just marveled at the almost 90-minute second set offered up on 12/22/90, and got to wondering about post-coma others that might match or beat it in duration. I recalled some long sets on the 11/93 tour, recalled that I had unposted (because not very informative) notes on 11/3/93 (my 23rd birthday, though I was somewhere in the vicinity of Monterey, CA), and checked them out.

Indeed, 89+ for this set II. We are envisioning being able to analyze real data on set and show durations via Jerrybase at some point in the not-too-distant future.

The show is maybe below average for the tour overall, with a few guitar highlights that I mention in the notes below. The real interest lies in the impromptu version of  Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train", which Garcia plays with an acoustic sound as a 'quippie fixes a string on John's bass. First, he lets the crowd know what's going on: "We've gotta change a string on the bass. You can all talk amongst yourselves." This latter formulation absolutely, positively echoes Mike Myers' contemporaneous SNL skit "Coffee Talk" - I use it myself when equipment challenges interrupt my teaching. I may also give a topic, as Linda Richmond does in the skit. In my case, it's something on-topic like "Vladimir Putin: strong man, or the strongest man? Discuss." In hers, the title gives a sample subject.

Then, without further ado, Our Man in Albany starts picking the tune. Melvin Seals accompanies extremely well on piano, so well that it makes me wonder how he knew the tune, since it is not associated with the "Band Electric". Maybe they had worked it up? I certainly would have liked to hear it more. Anyway, Melvin's great, and he weaves in a few bars of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" for good measure, last heard (by me) in the JGB being done by the great (if very drunk) Nicky Hopkins on 12/31/75. Jerry gets the verses mostly sung, if a little imperfectly (see my rough transcription just below), and this whole thing is just a stone cold fucking delight.

1- (chorus) Freight train, freight train, run so fast | Freight train, freight train, run so fast | Please don't tell what train I'm on | They won't know what route I'm gone
2- When I'm died oh bury me deep | Down at the end ol' Chestnut Street | Place the stones at my head and feet | Tell 'em all I'm gone to sleep
3- (chorus) Freight train, freight train, run so fast | Freight train, freight train, run so fast | Please don't tell what train I'm on | They won't know what route I'm gone
4- When I'm dead and in my grave | No more good times here I'll crave | [mumblyverse] | Tell 'em all I'm gone to sleep
5- When I'm died oh bury me deep | Down at the end ol' Chestnut Street | So I can hear ol' number nine | as she goes rollin' by
6- (chorus)

Here are Elizabeth Cotten's lyrics:

Source: Cohen and Seeger 1964, 136

At 4:30, John drops a note of electric bass to signal that he's ready to play, one of his few contributions on this night, in the era when he mostly fluttered around pretty inaudibly.

The song is one of my favorites, a perfect choice for Garcia and Grisman's then-recently-released masterpiece Not For Kids Only (Acoustic Disc ACD-9, 1993), and something Garcia had played since the pre-Dead period (see Jerrybase for the overview). In the GD era (and so the GOTS era) it showed up in the studio around 1975-1976. Jerry played it live 4/10/82a, his only "modern" solo acoustic date, but it was pretty cursory, just two and a half minutes without a good handle on the words, before running into the Cotten tune he did a lot more and in a range of contexts, "Oh Babe, It Ain't No Lie". After this impromptu version eleven years later, it came up twice more in the 1994 Garcia-Grisman live sets before ol' Jer landed at the end ol' Chestnut Street himself.

For more on this tour, the Garcia Band's last out east, see also "The Reedman vs. the Gunslinger at at the Garden" (11/12/93), "Good Clean Fun" (11/14/93), the sweet little BS passes for this "Slack Tour" featuring Church of the SubGenius prophet J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, and take a gander at the crew tourbook.

Listening Notes below the fold.

I actually had to FF: JGB at Portland Meadows, 8/8/93

LN jg1993-08-08.jgb.all.aud-vasseur.145607.flac1644

Nick thought the titular show was OK, but the vocals were so catastrophically bad that I actually couldn't really listen to this. The only other show that has revulsed me in the same way was 11/23/72, and that was as much about the recording (overloaded, especially on the vocals) as it was about the performance (which I would actually like to revisit). But 8/8/93 JGB at Portland Meadows is just a man without a voice insisting, nevertheless, on singing. I bet the crowd would have thought it cool if he had just said "My voice is shot, we'll try to do some tunes as instrumentals", but for better or for worse the protagonist keeps singing.

These are the worst vocals since pre-coma, and among the worst ever. They had played the day before in Seattle, but before that he hadn't played in six weeks or so, having spent some time in Ireland around the month of July (Greenfield 1996, 291). Maybe he was jet-lagged. I don't mean to sound too critical - voices are sometimes lost. My judgment here is purely aesthetic - I just can't listen to this.

The Maker is nice. The show has a few other moments. But, overall, a forgettable afternoon show (unless you were there, in which case maybe it was awesome).

Jerry Garcia Band
Portland Meadows
1001 N. Schmeer Road
Portland, OR 97217
August 8, 1993 (Sunday)
Vasseur shnid-145607

--set I (8 tracks, 7 tunes, 55:53)--
s1t01. [0:21] Cats Under The Stars [8:35] [0:22]
s1t02. [0:53] Mission In The Rain [7:04] [0:50]
s1t03. [0:32] That's What Love Will Make You Do [8:02] [0:11]
s1t04. And It Stoned Me,
s1t05. ambience [1:05]
s1t06. The Maker [7:19] [0:11]
s1t07. Money Honey -5:42] [0:05]
s1t08. My Sisters And Brothers

--set II (7 tracks, 63:42)--
s2t01. The Way You Do The Things You Do
s2t02. Wonderful World
s2t03. Tore Up Over You [7:42] [0:46]
s2t04. Ain't No Bread In The Breadbox [8:05] [0:06]
s2t05. Reuben And Cherise [7:52] [0:15]
s2t06. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [9:11] ->
s2t07. Tangled Up In Blue [12:17] (xx) [0:10]

! ACT1: JGB #21b (THE Jerry Garcia Band)
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing vocals.

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 [mm: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/19930808-01

! JGC: https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1993-08-08

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/6343 (Schoeps MK4 shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/13134 (DAUD shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/34588 (Bearpalm MAD); https://etreedb.org/shn/78974 (Gindoff MAD); https://etreedb.org/shn/90483 (Severson MAC); https://etreedb.org/shn/145607 (this fileset); https://etreedb.org/shn/145996 (Primo Williams's MAC).

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/nyuwi57rKey

! JGBP: https://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/10/portland-meadows-1001-n-schmeer-road.html

! band: THE Jerry Garcia Band, JGB #21b (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html)

! ref: Nick, "Aug 93: JGB up north and at home," URL http://deadthinking.blogspot.com/2018/05/aug-93-jgb-up-north-and-at-home.html.

! R: field recordist: Chuck Vasseur

! R: field recording gear: 2x Neumann KM54 > DAT

! R: Transfer: DAT Master > CDR (Kyle Porter); Extract: CDR clone > EAC > WAV > FLAC16 (Bill Shaw aka Shark)

! R: seeder's Source Notes: Sometime in the early 2000's, Chuck loaned Kyle all of his 92-95 JGB masters to transfer to CDR. Kyle "mastered" the DATs to CDR, fading in/out as needed, adjusting levels (as needed) and tracking. Kyle then gave Chuck his masters back, with nice CDR copies of all of it. Chuck offered to clone the entire set for me, so I gave him a spool of 100 blank MITSUI CDRs and the next time I saw him, he gave them back to me, filled with his JGB recordings. Many of the Chuck V. JGB recordings do circulate already, but probably not all of them, and those that do may not be the Kyle Porter transfers. So, Here they are! --Shark

! R: great tape

! P: s1t01 CUTS sluggish out of the gate. Nice tone late 4 over 5. Managed to finish it without going around too many times, which is always good.

! P: s1t02 MITR IMO JG sounds absolutely terrible.

! P: s1t06 Maker is excellent. The guitar work mid-4 is very thrilling. He remembers most of the lyrics.

! P: s1t03 TWLWMYD off key and reedy. He screws up second verse, turns it into a nice little guitar piece.

! P: s1t07 Money Honey completely croaking by the end.

! P: s1T08 MSAB his voice is as croaky here as it ever was in 84-'85.

! P: s2t01 TWYDTTYD his voice did not get better over the break

! song: s2t02 WAWW is the Sam Cooke "don't know much about history" one.

! P: s2t03 TUOY coming back to this a few days after hearing the first part of the show. God, his voice is painful to hear. But TUOY finds Melvin bringing some great energy and color, and Garcia tearing it up in the 5 minute mark. The guitar isn't loud in the mix - wish it were louder.

! P: s2t05 RAC he forgets half a verse in mid-2. Man, his voice. I can't wait for this listen to end.

! s2t07 (xx) JG: "Thanks a lot. See y'all later."

BS Pass - JGB - Fall 1993 - Slack Tour

A while back I posted the crew tour book for the fall 1993 JGB tour, the band's last. Since I love the look of these, I thought I'd add them to the mix. No idea who coined this the "Slack Tour", but the Paul Mavrides image is great and these are just good clean fun.

Classical Music

I am trying together instances of Garcia engaging classical music, which are few and far between.

Alan Trist reports that ca. 1960-1961 one of their friends "John the Poet" had a great classical recording collection, and they listened to a lot of Bach. "Endless Bach," Trist said. Jerry and Trist and a few others went to see three or four performance by the Vatican organist playing Grace Cathedral (Greenfield 1996, 17).

Of course, there's Beethoven's "Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor", a.k.a. "Für Elise", played by James Booker on 1/9/76.

Nick has hipped me to brief GD engagements with Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" over the years, including 55 seconds into the 11/30/73 Dark Star, the last minute of the Other One transitioning into Stella Blue on 3/14/81, @ 5:25 of Space on 10/28/84, 6 minutes into Space on 12/13/90, and @ ca. 9:25 of Space on 2/20/91. Phil dabbled around aplenty, too, I gather.

Any others I should know about?

Related, Heather Garcia Katz, his daughter by Sara Ruppenthal, is a violinist, and ca. early 1993 (according to Greenfield 1996, 285), she and Jerry had been working on a project with the Redwood City Symphony Orchestra. I would very, very much like to learn more about that. If anyone knows Heather, please send her my way!

Naturally, Blair is on the case, after narrating spring 1991, he says "Later that year, Jerry and the conductor of the Redwood [Symphony], Eric Kujawsky, hatched a plan for Garcia to commission several short works for guitar and orchestra, which he would perform with the Redwood. With glee he told Sara. 'I let him think I was doing him a favor, but I've always wanted an orchestra!' … Although Jerry did contact some composers and Davies Symphony [403] Hall in San Francisco was tentatively booked for the performance, this was one of the great plans that Garcia never managed to complete" (Jackson 1999, 402-403).

The Reedman vs. The Gunslinger: JGB with David Murray, Madison Square Garden, November 12, 1993

LN jg1993-11-12.jgb.all.aud-brennecke-litzenburger-GEMS.91812.flac1644
LN jg1993-11-12.jgb.s2.aud-gastwirt.139507.flac1648

The man had conceived the band bearing his name as a way to scratch some musical itches, play some mostly consonant music with mostly-simpatico (or at least deferential) people, and make a little bit of walking around money. The Jerry Garcia Band provided its namesake with a comfortable and, eventually, highly lucrative musical diversion which allowed him to be himself, do most of the soloing, not have to figure out where Mickey Hart put the one, and maybe share some laughs (among other things that release endorphins, kill pain, and produce euphoria [Dunbar et al. 2012]) with his ol' buddy John Kahn.

Yet, Jerry was Jerry, with all that implied. Like Midas, everything he touched turned to gold, and that included his bar band, half of whose members played for free in Oakland churches on Sundays. By contrast, on Friday, November 12, 1993, this group sold out Madison Square Garden, grossing almost half a million as part of its twenty night, fifteen gig swing through the eastern time zone, its last real tour. Unlike a decade earlier, a relatively punishing bus tour with Garcia deep in heroin haze, this one was first class all the way, with the band staying in New York City and flying in and out of Teterboro, while battalions of squeaks (sound techs) and squints (light techs) did the heavy lifting. It seems like only half the gigs sold out, but these were mostly good-sized rinks and arenas with five-figure capacities, the kinds of places the Dead had been playing only a few years earlier.

The Garcia band's cozy sociality also meant that guest shots became scarce once the years' third digits turned to nines. The E Street Band's good-time "Big Man" Clarence Clemons sat in once in 1990, reprising his steady gigging with the JGB from late 1989, and banjo wiz Béla Fleck joined in on a couple of numbers at the Greek Theater in Berkeley two months later, in the dark early weeks following Brent Mydland's passing. As good as Fleck is, he played in a decidedly consonant mode, picking some pretty accompaniment to Pete Rowan's "Midnight Moonlight" and, doubly improbably, some mandolinish lead reggae banjo on "Harder They Come". The next fall, while still a member of the Dead, the great Bruce Hornsby sat in with Jerry in Hampton, Virginia, on the decade's other east coast swing, in November of 1991.

Hornsby certainly had the chops and the chutzpah to challenge Garcia, and he did so regularly in the Dead before stepping back off the scene to pursue his own extremely successful career, and perhaps to ward off the curse of the Dead's keyboard players. The one guy to really push Jerry around on his own stage was hotshot jazz saxophonist David Murray, who showed up two years after Hornsby's visit, and six weeks after sitting in with the Dead, at the aforementioned Madison Square Garden gig. The man BLEW, which is to have been expected. As Dead family insider Gary Lambert put it, "expecting a force of nature like David to function as a 'sideman' for the JGB (or any band) is kind of like saying to Jackson Pollock, 'Gee, I really admire your work. Now, could you paint me a nice Andrew Wyeth?'"

The reedman put some air into a number of very sharp notes, with a Garcia Band that was mostly soft, cottony round edges by this point in time. Garcia appears to have taken notice. Attendee Eric Pooley recalls that "Murray was in Garcia's face a little more than Garcia would have liked: [he] attacked, and Garcia retreated into shoetop space", chin on chest. Jim Powell observed that "Murray cut Jerry to shreds at that MSG Jerry Band show - maybe the only time old gunslinger Garcia ever came out on the short end." But the evidence of the night's "Lay Down Sally", normally a smooth, easy, good-time roller hewing closely to Clapton's original, belies this perspective, with all due respect to the poet and Macarthur Genius grantee who proffered it.

Segueing out of the churchy "My Sisters And Brothers", Garcia displayed little Christian charity in first feinting at the Stones' "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love", then shifting into "Lay Down Sally", taking a couple of extra measures at the start to let Murray his footing and thus making it, if not quite a fair fight, at least an honorable one. Typically, in the Garcia Band, Jerry gets the first solo (and usually the second, third and fourth). Here, Murray challenges the old fella in the light purple shirt right out of the gate, and they step on each other for a minute or two before Jerry lets him have his say, comprised of some sharp, loud bursts that might have blown back his shock-white mane. After that, still only fifty-one despite the white hair and haggard mien, the gunslinger drops the hammer, pursuing a million aggressive leads, syncopating some minor chords, and generally, all due apologies, not taking "no" for Sally's answer. Clocking in at over sixteen minutes, and finishing with an emphatic strum over the setbreak announcement, the "Lay Down Sally" from November 12, 1993 provides one of the finest musical displays of Garcia's late solo career, proving that he could still rise to a challenge when the occasion called for it.

I picked and chose from the two filesets named at the top, so some sketchy listening notes follow the fold. "Shining Star" also illustrates the reedman and the gunslinger trading blows, and both "The Maker" and "Don't Let Go" from the 86-minute second set are outstanding and worth your time.

The Hypothesis is Wrong - Long Live the Hypothesis!

update: I now have it on good authority that, indeed, the arrangements in the tour book are for the crew, while the band enjoyed a somewhat more upscale experience. So, the hypothesis is correct, I just don't have any parchment evidence for it.

update2: here is link to the whole tourbook as a pdf.

I spoke with Melvin some years ago for a half hour or so. He's a very sweet guy.

I came away with the impression that the late-era east coast Garcia Band tours were first-class affairs, staying in a nice Manhattan hotel and flying to and from shows one at a time from Teterboro. (NYT just had a good article on Teterboro, BTW.) It felt like quite a contrast from the bus-centered tour of late '83.

Well, a copy of the JGB's November 1993 tourbook came up on ebay, and while it was exorbitant, I justified the purchase by using a gift card for a chunk of it. (Our psychologies play all kinds of tricks to enable the consumption that makes markets tick.) I was especially interested in this because, rather ironically, I have had more access to 1970s era business materials than to materials from the 80s and 90s. Because one of my abiding interests in institutionalization, which, as any process, only takes over time, this is really problematic: I have the "before", but not so much on the "after". Beyond institutionalization, there's also the overall difference in Garcia's circumstances, lots more money sloshing around post-coma (post-In The Dark) than before, and I sort of assumed an aging and more affluent Garcia would have done exactly as Melvin gave me to believe - a little higher end hotel, a little higher end travel, etc.

So, when the tour book came, I opened it with alacrity, expecting to see mostly one Manhattan hotel, charters out of Teterboro, maybe even first class seats on the transcontinental pieces to start and end the tour.

Well, not so much. Though I haven't seen the '91 tour info, the '93 materials more or less falsify the hypothesis. My mind immediately went to the narrative I was planning - from straitened circumstances on the bus in '83 to the lap of luxury ten years later. I was crestfallen. For all of about a thirty seconds. And then my mind immediately spun a new narrative - that things hadn't changed that much, and wasn't that cool? That the Garcia Band remained a pretty simple, stripped down affair, even as the money got bigger and bigger. He wasn't playing boutique theaters and sweaty college gyms anywhere, but Madison Square Garden and various other five-figure-capacity sheds, but things were still pretty straightforward.

I can make that work, of course. It's interesting, too. But I was just struck by what anybody who knows a lick about human cognition knows, which is that we are storytellers, and we can pretty much always find a narrative to fit any set of facts.

Anyway, that was all I had to say about that.

Oh, no, actually, one more thing: maybe the tourbook is only, or mostly, crew info. update: yes, that is indeed the case. So the Marriots and Embassy Suites, and the sometimes several-hundred mile drives right after shows ended, were maybe only for the grunts. Maybe Jerry and the band did fly around. I'll have to ask around.

4/23/93: great setlist, low energy

LN jg1993-04-23.jgb.all.aud-neumann.15923.shn2flac

Great setlist, low energy. At least that's how I hear it.

Jerry Garcia Band
Warfield Theater
982 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
April 23, 1993 (Friday)
Neumann KM54 MAD shnid-15923 shn2flac

--set I (7 tracks, 56:56)--
s1t01. ... Cats Under The Stars [#8:13] [0:47]
s1t02. Knockin' On Heaven's Door [10:15] [0:26]
s1t03. That's What Love Will Make You Do [8:13] [0:12]
s1t04. He Ain't Give You None [8:00] [0:41]
s1t05. Ain't No Bread In The Breadbox [7:45] [0:14]
s1t06. My Sisters And Brothers [4:00] ->
s1t07. Deal [7:59] (1) [0:11] %

--set II (8 tracks, 62:50)--
s2t01. /The Way You Do The Things You Do [#9:24] [0:12]
s2t02. The Maker [#8:48] [0:19]
s2t03. Money Honey [6:40] [0:20]
s2t04. The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game [7:20] [0:12]
s2t05. Lazy Bones [7:47] [0:08]
s2t06. Reuben And Cherise [8:07] [0:42]
s2t07. Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power) [6:39] ->
s2t08. Midnight Moonlight [6:02] (2) [0:10] %

! ACT1: JGB #21b
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing vocals.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [ ] = 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/19930423-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/15923 (this source tape, shnf, presumably deprecated); https://etreedb.org/shn/145502 (this fileset)

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2013/02/warfield-982-market-street-san.html

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/ZW52vfHTbjs

! band: THE Jerry Garcia Band, JGB #21b (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html)

! official: Both s2t02 "The Maker" and s2t04 THGCBTG were released on 2001's Shining Star (see http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-dates-of-all-of-tracks-on.html).

! field recordist: [presumed] Chuck and Janet Vasseur

! R: field recording gear: 2x Neumann MK54 > unknown DAT deck

! R: field recording location: FOB

! R: transfer: DATx > CDRx (via S.Aserkoff) > DAE (EAC 0.9 beta 4, offset corrected, secure mode) > tracking (cdwave) > SHN (shorten 3.4) > FTP via C.Ladner/candyman FTP. "Another installment of the MisSHN in the Rain."

! R: seeder comment: "Fantastic recording and performance." JGMF comment: hm. Recording has a weird quality to my ears, like there's a frequency that's too low in there somewhere. The vocals are pretty low, which could well be how JG wanted to be mixed this night, since, as I note below, he sounds a little rough around the edges.

! P: Vocals sound a little tired.

! R: s1t01 CUTS fades in

! P: s1t04 HAGYN very enthusiastic vocals.

! P: s1t07 Deal very good, some very big stuff. Even some wah 6:25ff.

! s1t07 (1) JG: "We'll be back in a little while."

! R: s2t01 TWYDTTYD clips in, not much missing.

! P: s2t02 Maker @ 6 ish he starts the "Brother John" line hard and high, almost like the "body .... bent and broken" verse, but then drops down into another key.

! P: s2t04 THGCBTG - wow. Jerry sounds old, but that makes this all the more powerful. Rarity! All 90s versions: 4/20/91, 4/21/91, 5/22/91, 11/13/91, 4/23/93, 11/11/93, that's it. #songs-H

! P: s2t05 Lazy Bones this is a cluster to start. This is another one that got only infrequent play.

! s2t08 (2) JG: "Thank you. See ya later."

The Dates of All of the Tracks on the Late-Era Arista JGB Releases

Internaut jmoleton posted sometime back a more or less complete set of dates for the 1990s-2000s official JGB releases, Jerry Garcia Band (1991), How Sweet It Is (1997), and Shining Star (2001), over at the Workingman's Tracker.

I have appropriated jmoleton's info, asked commenter Nick to check a few things, verified a few things myself, and have produced a table of this material. The image below is static. But, depending on how well well Google Sheets handles sorting, you might be able to follow this link to a Sheet which allows you to sort by, for example, real chronological order (sort on date and track number). Or, you could reconstitute a show structure by sorting first on track number. Or whatever. Have at it.

Good, Clean Fun - JGB at the Onondoga County War Memorial, Syracuse, NY, November 14, 1993

LN jg1993-11-14.jgb.all.aud-SchoepsMK4.137896.flac1644

JGB plays two strong hour-plus sets on the November '93 tour. I love Señor, and he gets most of the lyrics on this version."The Maker" is nice and concise, and I swear I heard a little "Mountain Jam" in there.

Anyway, good, clean fun for your twenty-two-and-a-half 1993 dollars.

Jerry Garcia Band
Onondaga County War Memorial
800 South State Street
Syracuse, NY 13202
November 14, 1993 (Sunday)
FOB Schoeps MK4s flac1644 shnid-137896

--set I (8 tracks, 7 tunes, 68:13)--
s1t01. crowd/tuning
s1t02. Cats Under The Stars
s1t03. Stop That Train
s1t04. Let It Rock
s1t05. Run For The Roses
s1t06. Ain't No Bread In The Breadbox
s1t07. Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power) [6:33] ->
s1t08. Deal

--set II (8 tracks, 65:20)--
s2t01. crowd/tuning
s2t02. I Second That Emotion
s2t03. And It Stoned Me
s2t04. Tore Up Over You
s2t05. Lazy Bones
s2t06. The Maker
s2t07. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
s2t08. Midnight Moonlight

! ACT1: JGB #21b
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing vocals.

JGMF:

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

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1993-11-14

! db: lots of sources, I imagine

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/YXwuDY3RpsT2

! review: Bialczak 1993a. Show was a sellout, 7,500 at $22.50, which is over $168k gross potential more or less realized.

! expost: Bialczak 1993b, on refurbishments to the old shed.

! venue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oncenter_War_Memorial_Arena.

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/03/onondaga-war-memorial-800-south-state.html

! seealso: JGMF, "The Reedman vs. The Gunslinger: JGB with David Murray, Madison Square Garden, November 12, 1993," URL http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-reedman-vs-gunslinger-jgb-with.html.

! historic: venue was Onondaga County War Memorial. This was its grand reopening: "The Onondaga County War Memorial was rechristened for big-time concerts by The Jerry Garcia Band on Sunday night, and a capacity crowd of 7,500 enjoyed the new touches of the refurbishment" (Bialczak 1993b). Gross is estimated by me.

! R: source: (FOB) Schoeps MK4s > Dat (Panasonic SV-255/48k)

! R: Transfer: Dat (Sony PCM-R500) > Sound Devices 744T > WAV

! R: Lineage: wav > Adobe Audition 3.0.1 > iZotope RX4 Advanced > iZotope Ozone 5 Advanced > CD Wave > TLH > Flac16.

! R: seeder notes: Thanks to Charlie Miller for the transfer and passing this source to me. edited and mastered SIRMick March 2017.

! R: s1t02 CUTS overloaded to start, especially first minute.

! P: s1t02 CUTS love how much reverb he's already working in late 5.

! P: s1t03 STT very good and bouncy. 5:20 the ladies hit a backing vocal that isn't what the rest of the band was expecting. 6ff pitch-bending.

! P: s1t07 Señor I just love this song so, so, so very much. He hits almost all of the lyrics on this version.

! P: s1t08 Deal late 6 the guitar notes are as fulsomely elaborated as at any other time, but they lack the same old tensile strength. It's outstanding, incendiary guitar playing, but it's just not as aurally potent as it used to be.

! P: s2t05 LB John did a long feature through like 4-5 range, not all bad. 6:08ff Jerry sets out to work.

! P: s2t06 Maker big pitch-bends late 6. I see that this will only clock in at 8:49 - fascinating -- compare over time. I prefer this. Right around 8 he starts playing a "Mountain Jam", I swear.

Say Hey

Dennis McNally recalls, April 12, 1993 at Candlestick Park, before Garcia, Bob Weir and Vince Welnick sing the National Anthem for the Giants' home opener:

I turn to Willie Mays, who is legendary for being cranky, and I said, “Mr. Mays, can I introduce you to Jerry Garcia? He’s going to be singing the National Anthem today.” And Willie says, “NO!” and then he yells at the other two guys [Giants greats Willie McCovey and Gaylord Perry], “Come on! We have to get to this alumni event. Let’s go.” And they go. And I turned to Jerry, and he was cracking up. What I realized with Jerry at that moment was that he was so fed up with people wanting something from him that the idea that somebody didn’t give a shit who he was absolutely made his day.

"Excerpted with permission from "Deadheads: Stories from Fellow Artists, Friends & Followers of the Grateful Dead" by Linda Kelly. Copyright 2015, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc."

Palmer, Tamara. 2015. New Edition of Old Grateful Dead Book Revisits the Time Willie Mays Refused to Meet Jerry Garcia. NBC Bay Area, June 11, 2015, URL http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Book-Excerpt-The-Day-Willie-Mays-Refused-to-Meet-Jerry-Garcia-307013421.html.

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