Music Mountain Is All That

Sometimes the conventional wisdom has it right, and the high esteem in which folks hold the Jerry Garcia Band show from June 16, 1982 at Music Mountain in South Fallsburg, NY illustrates the point. I heard it a few times way back when, and really liked it. Then I revisited it a few days ago for the first time in at least ten years, and I really liked it. It brings great energy. Everything pops. Valerie is young and grungy, inducing her man to shoot his dog just for barking! The "Don't Let Go" is incredible, Garcia just overflowing with ideas. There is a board tape of the first set, but if a complete master sbd tape existed this should be a no-brainer for release. I may not love it as much as I love 5/31/83, but one reasonably could.

Bobby and the Midnites shared the bill, and played second. Lucky for JGB, because apparently it rained cats and dogs during the Midnites set. People had a good time. A number of great-sounding tapes made it out of the venue, but I don't think the Cornell Effect drives the love for this show. Instead, it's just really good.

Which is pretty remarkable, because according to Andy Leonard, who had worked for the Dead, Our Hero wasn't looking so good:

I had never seen a human being that color before in my life. He was the wrong color. I thought he was going to die onstage. It scared the crap out of me (Browne 2015, 296).

These kinds of contrasts happen all the time in the Garciaverse. I have just come to accept that there is no one-to-one relationship between Garcia's health and how he performed on any given night.

On this listen, I spun the John Steinthal tape, put out by the Mouth of the Beast (MOTB) crew via the legendary Barry Glassberg's first gen reel. Nice tape, excellent show.

Oh yeah, one more thing: what an odd tour, really two tours in one. Things began on this night, after three hometown warmup gigs on June 10-11-12. JGB would do 8 shows in 9 nights, though they'd lose Liz Stires before the tour was over. Then, the Garcia-Kahn acoustic duet would take over the back end, for 11 gigs in 8 nights. Jerry must have made a pile of money on this two part electric-acoustic tour!

The three electric shows for which I have data (from Billboard), the first three of the tour, show gross of over a quarter million dollars.

The acoustic shows made less: we have data for five, grossing another $123k (with only two performers drawing pay). So we're talking over $400,000 and maybe a half mil for the jaunt, which would have had Jerry away from his hidey-hole on Hepburn Heights for less than three week. At those rates, Chief Smokin' Moccasin (Scully 1996/2001, 359) could afford plenty of new slippers.

Jerry Garcia Band

Music Mountain

South Fallsburg, NY 12789

June 16, 1982 (Wednesday) - 7 PM

Steinthal MAC > 1R MOTB-0057 flac1644 shnid-88972

--set I (6 tracks, 55:02)--

s1t01. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [8:56] [0:02] % [0:05]

s1t02. Catfish John [12:57] % [0:04] %

s1t03. That's What Love Will Make You Do [11:09] % [0:04] %

s1t04. Valerie [6:57] ->

s1t05. Let It Rock [7:35] ->

s1t06. Deal [7:06] (1) [0:08]

--set II (5 tracks, 54:33)--

s2t01. (I'm A) Road Runner [8:41] % [0:04] %

s2t02. [0:32] Love In The Afternoon [12:44] % [0:03] 

s2t03. Don't Let Go [19:27] [0:02] %

s2t04. /The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [#7:48] ->

s2t05. Run For The Roses [5:04] [0:08]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #14a

! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;

! lineup: John Kahn - bass;

! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;

! lineup: Jimmy Warren - keyboards;

! lineup: Bill Kreutzmann - drums;

! lineup: Julie Stafford - backing vocals;

! lineup: Liz Stires - backing vocals.

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/19820616-01

! JGC: https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1982-06-16

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/4422 (Senn 441 shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/6659 (Silberman Senn 441 shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/12513 (Eaton-Wise Senn 421/PZM blend shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/19278 (Holvey AT815a shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/33417 (Eaton-Wise Senn 421/PZM blend flac); https://etreedb.org/shn/88972 (this source, flac16); https://etreedb.org/shn/89042 (s1 sbd); https://etreedb.org/shn/89194 (s1 mtx); https://etreedb.org/shn/89198 (s1 DTS 5.1); https://etreedb.org/shn/89657 (this fileset); https://etreedb.org/shn/120086 (Dyche Nak 300).

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

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/10/music-mountain-south-fallsburg-ny.html

! band: JGB #14a/14c: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html

! ref: Billboard, July 3, 1982, p. 39. The show did not sell out! The venue held 10k, but this drew 7,863 paying customers for gross of $79,458.

! ref: "The Dead Come Alive: Bob Minkin's Live Photos of the Grateful Dead," URL http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/the-dead-come-alive-bob-minkins-live-photos-of-the-grateful-dead-20141103/music-mountain-south-fallsburg-new-york-june-1982-20141103;

! seealso: JGMF, "A JGB drum solo by Bill Kreutzmann - Cape Cod Coliseum, June 18, 1982," URL http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2017/07/a-jgb-drum-solo-by-bill-kreutzmann-cape.html.

! seealso: JGMF, "Long Ago and Far Away: JGB at Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, ME, June 20, 1982," URL https://jgmf.blogspot.com/2019/08/long-ago-and-far-away-jgb-at-cumberland.html.

! historical: Bobby and the Midnites also billed, Garcia Band went first. Apparently it rained mightily during Bob's set. Andy Leonard, former GD employee, says Garcia looked horrible: "I had never seen a human being that color before in my life. He was the wrong color. I thought he was going to die onstage. It scared the crap out of me" (Browne 2015, 296). Despite that, this is widely viewed as one of the great Garcia Band shows. and spinning it now (May 2020) after not having heard it in probably ten years, it holds up extremely well. It just packs tons of clear energy, not too grungy/down-and-dirty yet, still some youthful sweetness to Garcia's voice (though that'd be gone before long, and is already on its way out here in Dixie Down), the band very tight. After three hometown warmup gigs on June 10-11-12, here they start an east coast jaunt, 8 shows in 9 nights before the Garcia-Kahn acoustic duet would take over the back end, for 11 gigs in 8 nights. Man, Jerry must have made a pile of money on this two part electric-acoustic tour! The three electric shows for which I have data (from Billboard), the first three of the tour, show gross of over a quarter million dollars. The acoustic shows made less: we have data for five, grossing another $123k (with only two performers drawing pay).

! R: field recordist: John Steinthal

! R: field recording gear: 2x Nakamichi CM-300 > Sony TC-D5M > MAC (Maxell XLIIS-90)

! R: lineage: Sony TC-D5M (??) playback > TEAC AN-300 (Dolby encode) > Technics RS-1506US (Maxell UD 35-90 @ 3.75ips) > Technics RS-1506 > TEAC AN-300 (Dolby decode) > Grace Design Lunatec V3 (pre-only0 > Korg MR-1000 > DSF (1-bit 5.6448 MHz Stereo) > Korg MR-1000 > Korg AudioGate > WAV (24/96).

! R: MOTB Release Date: 2007-12-07

! R: people notes: R1 supplied By: Barry Glassberg; Transfer By: A. Egert; Mastering By: J. Waddell

! R: Mastering Notes -- Edited, mastered and downsampled to 16/44.1 on the GEMS Edit Station. -- Tape was paused between several songs. -- s2t0{3,4} - Tape pause between "Don't Let Go" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" cross-faded. 

! R: seeder notes: -- No music is lost due to the numerous tape pauses; however, the lead in is very short on a number of them. -- s1t01 - Output levels are very unstable during the opening of "How Sweet It Is"; taper is able to quickly adjust to optimum levels. -- s2t0{3,4} - Cross-fading of the tape pause - between "Don't Let Go" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" - may give the impression of a direct transition between the songs. The cross-fade was applied for aesthetics, as the tape pause was very abrupt, and there was actually a musical break.

! R: overall: Steinthal was a great taper, and this is a nice tape. Everything is forward out of the gate except the bass.

! P: s1t01 HSII he flubs the second verse, starting again with "needed the shelter"

! P: s1t03 TWLWMYD 5:30 ish Garcia is just hitting some great notes, very high up the fretboard as 6 approaches, crystalline playing, crowd appreciative. Jimmy takes a lead early 6.

! P: s1t04 Valerie lyrical flub again around 1:40, and this time the protagonist shoots his dog for merely *barking* at our anti-heroine. Very nice guitar work 3:44 ish, before and some after, featuring unexpected jumps between notes, skipping some, not splitting stuff evenly but taking a more diverse approach.

! s1t06 (1) JG: "Thanks. We're gonna take a break for a few minutes. We'll be back a little bit later."

! P: s2t02 LITA what I really hear is how he is varying the phrase lengths and note intervals. Man, this is highly articulate playing.

! P: s2t03 DLG is truly top shelf Jerry. Billy steps forward 10:20ff, and it becomes a true solo from about 10:35-11:20 or so. Then John steps back in and we have a drum-bass duet. Jerry returns 12:41 with a beautiful, confident, melodious piece.

! R: s2t04 TNTDODD clips in

Da Weez

https://archive.org/details/gd1983-04-23.117598.Sennheiser421.daweez.d5scott.flac16

! db: shnid-117598
! R: field recording gear: 2x Sennheiser 421 microphones > Sony TC-D5M
! R: field recordist: Da Weez
! R: transfer: Sony TC-D5M (original record deck) > Pre Sonus Inspire GT > Sound Forge > .wav files > Trader's Little Helper > flac files, by D5scott.

I have no idea who these gentlemen are, but taper Da Weez never made a bad tape, and the good taste in gear suggested by D5scott's name is exceeded only by the straightforward beauty of his transfers of Da Weez's masters. They all come tagged "R.I.P. Sandy - aka 'Bigfoot'", which adds a sad human note to these revelatory sonic documents.

People sometimes imply that there are no more histories to write of the Grateful Dead and affiliated phenomena, but I totally disagree (beyond my own interest in asserting the contrary). There are tapers' histories to write for example, from socio-, Cleo-, musico-, and psychoacousticotechnicoothero-metric lenses. Just think of Flashback Charlie, that even hard-edged Brooklynite Jerry Moore might have recommended for a little meditation outside the Bottom Line, or finding a backdoor broom--closet way into the Academy of Music, just down the street from the Hells Angels' clubhouse in rough mid-70s NYC, or besuited east coaster Barry Glassberg. In the Bay Area, technical genius Jaime Poris, was were joined by James Olness (later a Bill Graham archivist and printer) in the 80s, joined later by Bu and the DAT Brats (working The Rail at the Warfield), then Chuck and Janet Vasseur with the four-digit, vintage Neumanns, a pierrine digital setup and upfront acumen. There's a book right there.

I just wanted to take a minute to give a thought to all involved. Da Weez went to the show and taped, not a cheap or trivial proposition. Sounds like Sandy (RIP) was around. At the very least, D5scott has taken the time, lending gear and skill to transfer the tapes. Tom Anderson's db.etree and Brewster Kahle's archive.org, helped along by casts of countless volunteers, help us fingerprint the fileset and hear it at any time from wherever you are. Deadlists keeps a canonical reference from The List of ca. early 2000s. The ArcHIVE, consisting of thousands of decentralized copies held by fans and collectors everywhere, relentlessly propagates itself, inter alia through "eternal flame reseeds at the torrent site Lossless Legs (shnflac.net). And, literally, on and on It goes: the parameter I'd use to state Its temporal limit asymptotically approaches the limit of humanity itself.

In other news, "Alabama Getaway" sprints out all flared nostrils and deep, grungy guitar from the first break, coked-out and scatterbrained. There's an "Funniculi Finnicula" tease before "Candyman", and Jerry sounds frisky.