JGB at the Auditorium Music Hall, Memphis, TN, November 18, 1975 (CXL)

Here's an ad from the Memphis Commercial Appeal billing Jerry Garcia Band (JGB) at the Auditorium Music Hall in Memphis, TN, November 18, 1975.

Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN), November 2, 1975, p. 5

The show must have been canceled, because I have never seen other record of this *and* the Garcia Band played the Keystone Berkeley this night.

I have a question about the venue, for which no address is given.

For his only Memphis gig outside the Dead on March 28, 1976, Garcia played what we list as South Hall, Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, TN. (see also JGBP). Is this the same room? I think so, as we give capacity for that space at 2,200 and the ad says 2,000 tickets available.

Would just love to hear any thoughts. In the meantime, I think I am going to list this with the same venue.

Notes from Dawson 2011 re Nicky Hopkins

 

Unidentified Nicky Hopkins Instrumentals

update: Mark Mattson has identified the number as "Lucky Old Sun" - wow!

There may be others, but I am right now pondering two distinct instrumentals that Nicky does out of "Lady Sleeps" with the JGB in the last month or so of his run with the band.

11/23/75: about 1:38:30ff here --> https://ia600902.us.archive.org/9/items/jgb1975-11-23MackeyAuditoriumBoulderCO/jgb1975-11-23MackeyAuditoriumBoulderCO.mp3

He announces that one before as one of his originals, I think.

12/19/75: about 51:30ff here--> http://www.archive.org/serve/jgb1975-12-19WinterlandArenaSanFranciscoCA/jgb1975-12-19WinterlandArenaSanFranciscoCA.mp3 a little peppier, sounds kind of Beatles-ish to me (though it's not "Mother Nature's Son")

Help!

Little Legal Matters: JGB #1 at Keystone, November 8, 1975

LN jg1975-11-08.jgb.all.aud-castelli-motb-0151.109001.flac1644

ad for JGB 11/8/75 at Keystone, SFSECDB-19751102-p31

Not going to do long listening notes, so a few random bits from this one.

First, "Micky" [sic] Hopkins. Heh heh. We are easily amused here. Also @Corry: the ad says advance tickets at BASS, but that was absolutely not the case for any Jerry show at the Keystone in this period that I can recall - no stubs at all. Did they just not have room to say "except for Jerry" in the BASS notice at the bottom? :) (I suspect the absence of tickets relates to the little legal matter referenced in point 3 below.) Also again, who the heck is opener Bobbie Kosser (billed on the monthly Keystone calendar)?

Second, in early CD trading days I had gotten a copy of this show listed as "sbd", and it took me a minute to figure out it was an aud. When I mentioned it to Bob Menke one time, inquiring whether it was his, he said he didn't tape it but knew who did. Then, some years later, the Robert Castelli aud comes out via Menke and the MOTB crew. I haven't cross-checked them, but I'd be shocked if they weren't the very same tape. How a copy ended up on CD before the MOTB release is not clear to me.

Third, the first set ends earlier than expected as the fire marshal stops by. Jerry is "more grin than beard", as Weir once said, in bemusedly noting the issue, which I am sure Corry will recognize is flowing from the material facts of the Keystone Berkeley's commercial strategy:

Seems the fire marshal is outside, so we have to take a break while everything cools out before we all get busted. Sorry, that's the way it goes. We'll be back in a few minutes, no sweat. Y'know, it's just one of those little legal matters.

Fourth, in a burst of enthusiasm, Nicky riffs like this is a BBC Live presentation, doing a little piano thing that I imagine was theme music, though it might be something else. Anita O'Day features in this little scenario. I looked her up, and she sounds incredible! As ever, I am grateful to Jerry and Co. for broadening my cultural horizons, because I was quite unaware of her. Sounds like she had a few "little legal matters" of her own, to deal with, and did so with panache and without regret.

Fifth, Nicky sounds pretty together this night and plays some wonderful, beautiful stuff.

Sixth, fast FOTD FTW. Don't @ me.

Seventh, how about the big beautiful showstopper of LSTNT -> Edward, the greatest setpiece of any Jerry Band, which shows what JGB #1 with Nicky might have been, in conception if not always in execution? This one is good, not amazing. For my taste it hews a little too closely to the root songs to be an all-timer. Jerry returns a few times to LSTNT instead of taking it out, and Edward, too, keeps close to  home. There's some really interesting stuff, no doubt, including a little theme around 15 minute mark of LSTNT that might have a name, but it's not the version I'd play for a novitiate to show off what this band could do. I think the version on Let It Rock (LSTNT from 11/17/75, Edward from 11/18/75) is really good, but I also absolutely love the monster version from 12/20/75, which offers up top-shelf, grade A JGB #1.

Listening notes after the jump.

First JGB at the Keystone: October 11-12, 1975

The JERRY GARCIA Band

Prior to fall of 1975, Garcia's side bands had mostly a) been relatively loose aggregations and/or b) not had his name on the marquee. All of this preserved a kind of informal quality, maybe some plausible deniability, a little bit little less spotlight to go with his insatiable appetite for gigging. "More music [than the Dead afforded him the opportunity to play], less bullshit [than naturally went along with the Dead, and especially with being Jerry Garcia Of The Grateful Dead]" summarizes the Garcia On The Side formula.

Putting his name on the band may have been necessary to sell more tickets, but it implied some kind of ownership / leadership / responsibility, which can all be a hassle, and also killed any shot at anonymity. With the advent of the JGB, every regular band he would ever play in again would bear his name, with the sole exception of 1979's Reconstruction. Now, Garcia being Garcia, he attenuated his ownership by forming JGB as a DBA partnership with bassist and old pal John Kahn and drummer Ronnie Tutt, eschewed leadership by making piano man Nicky Hopkins talk to the audience, and presumably shirked as much "responsibility" as possible by, well, being Jerry.

The Jerry Garcia Band existed in many permutations from 1975-1995, but just about all of them played their first live gigs off the beaten path, on non-weekend nights, or both. JGB #1 established the pattern, debuting Thursday September 18, 1975 in Palo Alto, repeatedly playing tiny River City in Fairfax (including a Sunday and Thursday, as well as a Saturday), and hitting Crabshaw Corner in distant Sacramento, and snagging one bigger payday at a local community college on Friday, October 10th before a Saturday-Sunday debut at homebase, Fred Herrera's Keystone Berkeley. It wasn't big, official capacity of 476, but the audience was the core one that'd keep Garcia in Camels for almost another decade. JGB would play Keystone Berkeley 100 times, according to Jerrybase, which through m0thra's programming wizardry now lets you create a short URL for this kind of search result. (As currently configured, we cannot filter out cancellations. So there are 106 results, and I hand-counted six cancellations. A nice, perfect, pleasing, round 100 results.)

Personnel

This being JGB #1, Nicky Hopkins forms a special point of focus, but of additional interest about October 11-12, 1975 (about which Corry has written) is the presence of a second keyboard player, with Muscle Shoals session man Tim Henson on electric. Henson had already broken in on October 8th for two shows [early | late] in Santa Cruz and played another show on the 9th in Fairfax, skipping Friday the 10th for reasons unknown, so these Berkeley gigs represent his fourth and fifth (and, it seems final) appearances with the Garcia Band, ending what Selvin referred to as a tryout. At times he produces organ sounds, I think I also hear some synth (10/11/75 "No Time", about 1:30 in), but others with better ears should weigh in. Further information is patchy (see here, here, and here for some), but I think Henson would return to Alabama before either ending his own life or being murdered on Christmas Eve, 1977.

A second guest shows up a Saturday night, a guitarist whom Nicky introduces as Mike Godman. I can't really hear him distinctly, and it's possible I am not hearing him at all, as the electric keys deliver a range of sounds. And we can't even be sure that Mike Godman is his name, recalling that Nicky misnamed Tim as "Hensley". I have worked my Google-fu around various permutations of Mikes and Michaels with a variety of proximate family names such as Godwin, Goodwin, Goodman, but I have come up completely dry.

Update: "Mike Godman" probably ends up as a mis-hearing of Nicky saying "My God, man!" I 

RoG gets the credit for figuring that out.

So, on these guests, one request of my faithful readers.

1. Can you please tell me what Tim Henson is playing? Is there electric piano, organ and synth?

2. If you learn anything about Mike Godman, please post in comments.

Randomalia

The band noodles around a few interesting nuggets, such as "Teddy Bear's Picnic" and "Waltzing Matilda".

Introducing "Crazy Arms" on the first night, Nicky credits some of his boogie-woogie piano influences: Albert Ammons, Meade Lux Lewis, Pete Johnson, and Big Maceo Merriweather.

"Edward" is an awesome tune. It would stretch out more over the next few months, and often segue into "Let's Spend The Night Together", but here it stands alone as the show-closer.

Nicky is slurring some here, though not as much as he would in November and December. I have noted that the Garcia Band contract rider included a pint of Cuervo Especial dark tequila in this timeframe, snarking that it probably lasted him through soundcheck.

Nicky mentions his giant mirror, about which Corry has written.

Nicky is a stone-cold piano virtuoso, laying down golden licks all weekend. His composition "Pig's Boogie", written for his orange tabby and which on 10/11 features some awesome boogy bass walking by John Kahn, is a keeper, as is the solo instrumental ballad "Lady Sleeps". His other original, "No Time", suffers from Hopkins's vocal limitations and maudlin lyrics, which nevertheless combine to affect me, actually. Nicky was enduring a difficult period here - not only with his overall health and his heavy drinking and drugging, but also financially. His record label (Mercury) was hassling him, something which he mentions from stage with JGB at Concord Pavilion on October 17, 1975, and perhaps not unrelated, the night before this Saturday gig, on Friday October 10th, he and Dolly went into default on their Mill Valley home. So hearing the man earnestly sing these lyrics (credited to Dolly) with his fragile voice, in a kind of session man's lament, actually really works for me.

No Time

Lyrics: Dolly Hopkins

Music: Nicky Hopkins

Got no time to waste my life

Got no time to play the game

Life can be such a tragedy

And to you all players are the same

Got no time to live in dreams

That's all you've left me with it seems

Wasted too much time in doing things for you

I don't believe you know lies from truth

Now that it's gone

Just how long

Until I find

A place in life

Where I can find myself

And rest my weary mind

You know that music says it all

Some hasty climbers have to fall

In admiring greatness we can rise again

The world can't see its greatest man

Can't play alone

Been too long

Now I must find

Another key

To help me say the things I feel

And hope it helps someone to see

This time the band should get it on

We've played in shadows far too long

It's time for us to believe in what we do

If we want anyone else to

Consider every day as [bluest] day of life

Admiring greatness there's the chance to rise

Anyway, below the fold, you will find raw listening notes for several filesets, with lots more tiny bits and pieces.

LN jg1975-10-11.jgb.all.sbd-minches.31213.flac1644

LN jg1975-10-11.jgb.all.mtx-motb-0113.105413.flac1644

LN jg1975-10-12.jgb.all.aud-menke-falanga.7669.shn2flac

LN jg1975-10-12.jgb.s1-1.sbd-menke-smith.134658.flac1644

The Group Probably Will Be Short-Lived, Because Hopkins Has Other Contractual Obligations

The titular line comes from an interview Garcia gave ca. November 22, 1975 to a Twin Cities journalist, Jon Bream, and references JGB #1. It could be that this was true all along, and the plan was just to monetize the Jerry Garcia name in the new Band, as well as Nicky's name, for the couple of tours the band did in October and November 1975, and then to call it quits in the new year. That's not how the conventional narrative, deriving from Blair Jackson's interviews with John Kahn, has it. The conventional narrative has it that Nicky was just too much of a wreck and was cut loose, the implication being that the band ended before John and Jerry had initially planned.

The quote is consistent with either story. It could be that this was always the plan, but no earlier interviews elicit the information. But it's also possible that by Thanksgiving Jerry had had enough with Nicky, and the "contractual obligations" were the musical equivalent of "irreconcilable differences" in marriage settings and "spending more time with the family" in political ones.

Anyway, the November 22, 1975 show at the St. Paul Civic Center Theatre was a very long one, something like three hours of music, and was mostly captured in a totally beautiful recording by Greg Overlid which especially picks, without much beyond air in the way of mediation, the play of Jerry's fingers and strings. The "Let It Rock" shows off Nicky's virtuosity, "Russian Lullaby" benefits from a peppy tempo, and there's a singleton goof with "Blackbird" as well as either a single or rarity, noted in one of the reviews, of "Old Man River", composed by Jerry's namesake Jerome Kern.

But the show, on this listen, doesn't slay me. The closing medley of "Let's Spend the Night Together -> Edward the Mad Shirt Grinder" was the band's big, huge jam vehicle, and as it goes, usually so goes my assessment of a JGB #1 gig. In this case, it never really achieves escape velocity, so I find myself a little disappointed, overall.

LN jg1975-11-22.jgb.161mins.aud-overlid.141918.flac2448

Jerry Garcia Band
Civic Center Theatre
143 W. Fourth Street
Saint Paul, MN 55102
November 22, 1975 (Saturday)
Greg Overlid aud, unlineaged cassette copy flac2448 shnid-141918

--set I (8 tracks, 81:43)--
s1t01. //Let it Rock// [taper moves seats]
s1t02. Blackbird tuning jam -> Positively 4th Street [11:55] [0:07] %
s1t03. tuning [1:02], All By Myself [8:45] % [0:02]
s1t04. [0:09] They Love Each Other :10-
s1t05. Pig's Boogie
s1t06. tuning and Nicky Hopkins intro (1), Mississippi Moon
s1t07. Sugaree
s1t08. [0:17] Roadrunner [11:44] (2) [0:11]

--set II (7 tracks, 91:28)--
s2t09. tuning [1:30], How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [6:19] [0:09] %
s2t10. Catfish John [11:07] [0:07] %
s2t11. Russian Lullaby [8:35] [0:40]
s2t12. Friend Of The Devil
[MISSING: Lady Sleeps > Ol' Man River {suspected setlist location}]
s2t13. Mystery Train
s2t14. I'll Take A Melody
s2t15. tuning -> Let's Spend The Night Together ->
s2t16. Edward The Mad Shirt Grinder [11:15] [0:18]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #1
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: Nicky Hopkins - piano, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Ron Tutt - drums, 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/19751122-04

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/nYdwPE5yV8J2

! JGBP: https://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/05/st-paul-civic-center-143-west-fourth.html

! venue: Band itinerary calls it "St. Paul Civic Center Theatre". Contract cover page also says that, as does contract p. 1. That satisfies me: I am changing the last word of the venue from "Arena" to "Theatre".

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/20552 (s1p aud shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/138733 (3 source compilation); http://etreedb.org/shn/141929 (this source, flac1648); http://etreedb.org/shn/141918 (this fileset).

! band: Jerry Garcia Band #1 (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html).

! preview: Minneapolis Star, November 7, 1975, p. 9B

! listing: Minneapolis Star, November 18, 1975, p. 4C

! preview: Minneapolis Star, November 20, 1975, p. 6C

! review: Bream 1975, Anthony 1975

! historical: Price $5.50 pre-show/ $6.00 day of show. Cloudy day, high temperature of 37 degrees. JGB guarantee of $5,000 plus $1,250 for lights and sound. Anthony identifies capacity crowd, ca. 2,900, but boxoffice says 2,628, a sellout, gross of $14,454. I had a larger capacity for the room, over 4k, but no source for that info. Promoter John Ballard/Edgewood Agency had taken a bath on the 4/75 Legion gig in Milwaukee, I think, asked for good terms; Zippy didn't want him to cry over spilled milk.

! R: field recordist: Greg Overlid

! R: field recording gear: 2x Shure 545 microphones > Nakamichi 550 cassette deck

! R: field recording location: front row

! R: first digital circulation of 3 songs from set2- CFJ, RL and ITAM (27 mins of new music)

! R: missing first notes of Mystery Train patched with SHNID-138733

! R: taper notes: "The Jerry Garcia Band / Garcia / Hopkins / Kahn / Tutt / St. Paul Civic Theatre / Saturday, November 22, 1975 / Nakamichi 550 w/Shure 545's / Sandy / "Tex" / Joey / Greg / Rhesa  / Dikel / S & Ggg get stage passes / get in before general admission crowd /  get us front row seats / not 10-15th / pulled out at end of first number by usher / talked to John Ballard, prom. / missed 1 to 1-1/2 min. Let It Rock / 1 to 1-1/2 limbo / Nicky Drunk!! /  DUBS: Buddy & Nancy / Stu K. / Rhesa / Jeff S./ Russ F./ Dave P. / Jeff C./ Joe S. / Steve B."

! R: lineage: From the collection of Jeff Knudsen. Recorded by Greg Overlid. Archived & Transferred by Tom Markson. Critical Assistance by John Wenzel, Andrew F. and Joe Jupille. Speed Correction by Jason Chastain. Edited and Mastered by Jamie Waddell, 24 bit 48 kHz.

! R: provenance: Jeff Knudsen has been an avid Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead and San Francisco Sound music fan for over 40 years. From a letter to Dead Relix Magazine asking for help cultivating a tape collection, Jeff developed a relationship with Dick Latvala and many other tapers, building an enormous music collection.  He also taped many Jerry Garcia shows at venerable institutions like the various Keystones. Jeff loved to share tapes in a twinkle of an eye.  He was a key player in leaking the Betty Boards back in the day.  A few years ago, he decided he should pass his collection on to someone who could properly archive and transfer.  After a few years of offering it publicly, there were no takers. In 2008,  Arizona LL members Jamie and Tom felt the Knudsen collection was too valuable to let go.  After a flight so bumpy that we almost cried, and a great visit, albeit too short, with Jeff... 1200 lbs of tapes, gear and cds were lovingly packed at his Florida homestead.  The next era of his beloved collection summer camp for the tapes in the desert... an ongoing process of cataloging and transferring the contents to share.  Born from decades of Jeff's passion for live music collecting and the archival efforts of many, it's an honor and a privilege to share the Knudsen Tapes with you.  Enjoy! originally shared at www.shnflac.net"

! R: this is a really pretty tape. The finger-string interplay is directly audible, and it sounds sweet! Over and over again, strings directly recorded, nothing between them and the mics but air.

! R: s1t01 LIR clips in, cuts out; taper moves seats after the tune. Nicky very prominent - love it! The end cut is a COD.

! P: s1t01 LIR comes in amazing, Nicky truly doing the virtuoso thing right out of the gate. Jerry is filligreeing a lot, matching Nicky who continues to just play some beautiful stuff.

! s1t06 (1) JG: "Nicky Hopkins on piano".

! s1t08 (2) JG "...take a break"

! P: s2t10 CJ some great glassy picking by ol Jer.

! P: s2t11 RL I love this peppy tempo.

! P: s2t15-16 LSTNT > Edward never really achieves escape velocity. Tutt does a little drum feature late 7 of Edward, which is uncommon and neat.