San Francisco Sessions, 1969

update: changed title 20160319

San Francisco Sessions Series

• San Francisco Sessions, 1967-1968
• San Francisco Sessions, 1969
• San Francisco Sessions, 1970
• San Francisco Sessions, 1971
• San Francisco Sessions, 1972 

Moving through the Garciaverse, I pick up lots of pieces that are more degrees of separation out from Jerry than I can ever have real occasion to write-up, except purely on grounds of the shedding necessary to free up scarce cognitive resources. Thus was born my series San Francisco Sessions, which will run through 1972, I think.

/update

I just posted some random gatherings from SF (mostly studio) sessions, 1967-1968, mostly involving people who cross the Garciaverse in some way or who just interest me (e.g., QMS).

More of the same, 1969, with some half-baked effort to put in bold the names of folks with whom Garcia shared a stage.

A few fun ones, for me:

• I love that the Mule and the Bloomfielders did a radio commercial for Country Club Malt Liquor. I am sure that stuff went down smooth.
• A Howard Wales sighting! Ever the obscurity, even the union doesn't know his address.
• I notice Richard Greene and Kahn working a Brewer & Shipley session together on December 1st - I am not sure I knew that Greene had crossed into the Kahn-o-verse in this way.
• Question: is James Cooke of the Steve Miller sessions a.k.a. Curley Cooke, or is that someone different?

Anyway, please do leave name corrections, random thoughts, hoots and jeers in comments.

Eskimo Blue Day

Just found Garcia at Heider's (SF) on May 27, 1969 with the Airplane (Grace, Paul, Spencer, Jorma - very vew times I have found all of the Jeffersons listed on the same sessions!). What's interesting is that, as far as I know, Garcia is only known to have contributed (pedal steel) to "The Farm" on Volunteers. This session shows them working on "Eskimo Blue Day". Now, that doesn't mean he didn't work up some steel for "The Farm" on this date. And it could be that they didn't end up using whatever he might have recorded for "Eskimo Blue Day". It doesn't mean shit to a tree, of course, but I find it interesting.

San Francisco Sessions, 1967-1968

updated title 20160319

San Francisco Sessions Series

• San Francisco Sessions, 1967-1968
• San Francisco Sessions, 1969
• San Francisco Sessions, 1970
• San Francisco Sessions, 1971
• San Francisco Sessions, 1972 

In the course of my research into Jerry Garcia’s musical life outside the Grateful Dead, I have gathered up, well, an awful lot of stuff. Sometimes I can’t resist, especially if I find myself in amongst papers that others might not get around to, but that might contain good information.

The following is just a rough list of some of the union contracts I came across. You’ll see that this is biased toward names that I know from the Side Trips Social Network – that has been my research purpose. But sometimes there’s stuff that’s very peripheral that just catches my eye.

 I am trying not to transcribe too much information, since it’s so peripheral to my interests. I am putting it out here for other researchers who might be interested. The documents of course contain all kinds of other information I am just listing date/venue, artist/project/names, employer, and a six-digit number that will help me find the document in question. If you are curious about a particular document, drop me a line.

update: I have now posted a similar list for 1969.

1967

May 4, 1967 Golden State Recorders, 655 Harrison Street (TV)

Steve Miller (SM, Jim Cooke, Tim Davis, Lonnie Turner)

(illegible)

110942

May 12, 1967 KQED Studios, SF (TV - Replay of May 10 program)

BBHC

110231

May 12-13, 1967 Fillmore Auditorium (live)

Jefferson Airplane

RCA Victor

110309

June 28, 1967 Fillmore Auditorium (live)

Steve Miller (SM, Jim Cooke, Tim Davis, Lonnie Turner, James Peterman)

Mercury Records

110919

June 29, 1967 Fillmore Auditorium (live)

Steve Miller (SM, Jim Cooke, Tim Davis, Lonnie Turner, James Peterman)

Mercury Records

110900

June 30, 1967 Fillmore Auditorium (live)

Steve Miller (SM, Jim Cooke, Tim Davis, Lonnie Turner, James Peterman)

Mercury Records

110813

July 7, 1967 KQED Studios, SF (TV)

Country Joe and the Fish

KQED

111717

July 26, 1967 The Cheetah, Santa Monica (live)

Steve Miller (SM, James Cooke, Tim Davis, Lonnie Turner, James Peterman)

Pacific Radio – KPFK

111407

July 31, 1967 Golden Gate Park (live)

Mimi Farina

Bay Area Educational Television Association (KQED)

111114

July 31, 1967 Golden Gate Park (live)

Steve Miller (SM, Jim Cooke, Tim Davis, Lonnie Turner, James Peterman)

Bay Area Educational Television Association (KQED)

111133

September 18, 1967 unknown location (but see QMS for this date) (live)

Dino Valente

Epic Records

111501

September 18, 1967 New Committee Theater, 836 Montgomery St., SF (live)

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan)

Columbia Record Company

111520

November 8, 1967 Commercial Recorders, 149 Natoma, SF

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore, Nick Gravenites, Harvey Brooks)

Capitol Records

113510

November 10, 1967 Commercial Recorders, 149 Natoma, SF

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore, Nick Gravenites, Harvey Brooks)

Capitol Records

113544

1968

March 18-19, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

James Cotton (JC, Edward Adams, James Patrick Cooke, Raphael Martin Fierro, Larry Wayne Talbert, Jose Emilio Rodriguez

Vanguard

113426

May 7, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Wayne Talbert [leader], Dough Sahm, Mack Rebbenack, Martin Fierro, Joe Rodriguez, Eddie Adams, Bill Atwood, Mel Martin, Lee Charlton)

Mercury Records

120715

May 8, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

“Joyce Dunn” (Dough Sahm [leader], Wayne Talbert, Martin Fierro, Frank Morin, Bill Atwood, Whitney Freeman, Mack Rebbenack)

Mercury Records

120654

May 9, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Wayne Talbert [leader], Martin Fierro, Joe Rodriguez, Eddie Adams, Bill Atwood, Mel Martin, Lee Charlton)

Mercury Records

120654

May 11, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Sir Douglas Quintet “Honky Blues” (Dough Sahm [leader], Hewlett Crist, Frank Morin, George Rains, Whitney Freeman, Martin Fierro, Wayne Talbert, Bill Atwood, Mel Martin)

Mercury Records

120645

May 18, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene, Norman Bellas)

MGM

113624

May 19, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene, Norman Bellas)

MGM

113643

May 21, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene)

MGM

113653

May 22, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene)

MGM

113702

May 23, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene, Harvey Brooks)

MGM

113715

May 28, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene)

MGM

113715

May 29, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene)

MGM

113735

June 4, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene)

MGM

113806

June 8, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene)

MGM

113756

June 10, 1968 Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley

Blues Project (Andy Kulberg, Roy Blumenfeld, John Gregory, Richard Greene)

MGM

113747

June 11, 1968 Avalon Ballroom 1:30 pm

Harvey Mandel (HM [leader], Armando Peraza, Frank [Lalo] Varela, Edward F. Hoh, Arthur Stavro)

Mercury Records

120548

June 24, 1968 Commercial Recorders, 149 Natoma Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Wayne Talbert, Mack Rebbenack, Edward Adams, Jose Rodriguez, Martin Fierro)

Mercury Records

120737

June 25, 1968 Commercial Recorders, 149 Natoma Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Wayne Talbert, Mack Rebbenack, Edward Adams, Jose Rodriguez, Martin Fierro)

Mercury Records

120119, 120130

June 27, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Martin Fierro [leader], Bill Atwood, Mike Ropec, Melvyin Martin, Richard T. Washington

Mercury Records

120027, 120309

June 28, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

“Wayne Talbert” (Martin Fierro [leader], Mike Ropec, Mel Martin, Frank Morin, Richard Washington, Wilfred Sache, Lewis Davis, Bennie Harris)

Mercury Records

120042

June 29, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

“Wayne Talbert” (Martin Fierro [leader], Mike Ropec, Bill Atwood, Mel Martin, Frank Morin, Richard Washington)

Mercury Records

115239, 120257

July 1, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Martin Fierro [leader], Wilfred Sache, Melvyn Martin, Mike Ropec, Lewis Link Davis, Frank Morin)

Mercury Records

120620, 120631

July 3, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Martin Fierro [leader], Wilfred Sache, Melvyn Martin, Lewis Link Davis, Alfonso Molino Jr.)

Mercury Records

120017, 120319

July 9, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Wayne Talbert and the Melting Pot (Martin Fierro [leader, address is c/o Brian Rohan], Wilfred Sache, Melvyn Martin, Lewis Link Davis, Alfonso Molino Jr.)

Mercury Records

120058, 120610

July 12, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (Powell St. John [leader], Martin Fierro)

Mercury Records

120522

July 15, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (Powell St. John [leader], Martin Fierro, Bob Arthur, John Andrew, George Rains, Mark Naftalin)

Mercury Records

120511

July 16, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (Martin Fierro [leader], L. Link Davis, Bob Salisbury)

Mercury Records

120500

July 17, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Roy Head (Doug Sahm [leader], Martin Fierro)

Mercury Records

120340

July 19, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Roy Head (Frank Morin [leader], Martin Fierro)

Mercury Records

120359

July 31, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (John Andrews [leader], Link Davis Jr., Martin Fierro, Robert Salisbury, Spenser Perskin)

Mercury Records

114118

August 1 (?), 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Mother Earth (John Andrews, George Rains, Robert Arthur, Mark Naftalin, Link Davis Jr., Frank Morin, Ronald Tourmina, Tracy Nelson [leader], Martin Fierro, Robert Salisbury)

Mercury Records

114100

August 4, 1968 Frost Amphitheater, Palo Alto, CA (live)

Don Ellis (too many other people to list, no names familiar to me)

Columbia Records

114300

August 5, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Mother Earth (John Andrews [leader], George Rains, Robert Arthur, Mark Naftalin, Link Davis Jr., Frank Morin, Ronald Tourmina, Tracy Nelson, Martin Fierro)

Mercury Records

114050

August 8, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (Martin Fierro [leader], James Cooke, Frank Morin, Lewis Link Davis, Ronald Tourmina, Louis Gasca, Spenser Perskin)

Mercury Records

114031

August 9, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (Martin Fierro, Frank Morin [leader], Lewis Link Davis, Ronald Tourmina, Louis Gasca)

Mercury Records

114217

August 14, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Mother Earth (Powell St. John [leader], John Andrews, Terry Anderson, Robert Arthur, Mark Naftalin, Frank Morin, Ronald Tourmina, Martin Fierro, Luis Gasca, Cox [?] Rodriguez)

Mercury Records

114138

August 15, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (Powell St. John [leader], Martin Fierro, Luis Gasca)

Mercury Records

114207

August 16, 1968 Columbus Recorders, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mother Earth (John Andrews [leader], Martin Fierro, Luis Gasca)

Mercury Records

114157

August ??, 1968 Korty Films Inc., Stinson Beach, CA (film “Riverrun”)

Richard Greene (leader), Peter Berg

Korty Films, Inc.

114413

August 27, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

“Junior Parker” (Frank Morin [leader], George Rains, Link Davis, Ron Tourmina, Martin Fierro, Terry Hensley, Henry Angeli Jr., Whitney Freeman, Charles Pritchard, Doug Sahm, Hewlett Cris)

Mercury Records

120843

September 14, 1968 Coast Recorders, SF

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115733

September 16, 1968 Coast Recorders, SF

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115743

September 17, 1968 Coast Recorders, SF

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115752

September 23, 1968 Coast Recorders, SF

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115004

September 24, 1968 Coast Recorders, SF

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

114951

September 26-27-28, 1968 Fillmore West, SF (live)

Al Kooper [leader], Mike Bloomfield, Skip Prokop, John Kahn

Columbia Records

120756

October 5, 1968 Coast Recorders, 960 Bush Street, SF

Amigos de Musica Band (Doug Sahm [leader], Whitney Freeman, Terry Alan Hensley, Ron Taormina, Jose Rodriguez, George Rains, Martin Fierro, Frank Morin)

Mercury Records

120414

October 10-11-12, 1968 Winterland (remote session)

Dino Valente

Epic Records

115900

October 24-25-26, 1968 Fillmore West (live)

Jefferson Airplane

RCA

114750, 114800, 114810

November 4, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Shades of Joy (Martin Fierro [leader], Edward Adams, Jose Rodriguez, Jackie King)

Mercury Records

1145354

November 5, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Shades of Joy (Martin Fierro [leader], Edward Adams, Jose Rodriguez, Jackie King, Jymm Young)

Mercury Records

1145544

November 6, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Shades of Joy (Martin Fierro [leader], Edward Adams, Jose Rodriguez, Jackie King, Jymm Young)

Mercury Records

1145601

November 7, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Mitch Greenhill (Richard Greene [leader], Peter Kleinow)

Mercury Records

114641

November 7, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Shades of Joy (Martin Fierro [leader], Edward Adams, Jose Rodriguez, Jackie King, Jymm Young)

Mercury Records

1145552

November 7, 1968 Fillmore West (live)

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115818

November 8, 1968 Columbus Recording, 916 Kearny Street, SF

Shades of Joy (Martin Fierro [leader], Edward Adams, Jose Rodriguez, Jackie King, Jymm Young)

Mercury Records

1145612

November 8, 1968 Fillmore West (live)

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115843

November 9, 1968 Fillmore West (live)

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115828

November [between ca. 6 and 12], 1968 KQED-TV studios (TV: West Pole II)

It’s a Beautiful Day (David LaFlamme [leader], Mike Holman, Patricia Santos, Linda LaFlamme, Val Fuentes, Harold Wagenet)

Bay Area Educational TV Association

114515

November 10, 1968 Fillmore West (live)

QMS (John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore)

Capitol Records

115807

November 23, 1968 Pacific Recording Studios, San Mateo, CA

Wayne Ceballos (WC, Kenneth Newell, Larry Martin)

Sire Records

114905

The Common: September 5-6-7 ish, 1969

Berkeley Tribe, August 8-14, 1969, p. 3.

Regular readers will know that I have been chasing the idea of "Jerry and the Jeffersons" in my head for a good long while. It narrates the arc of Garcia's life as a process of gradual privatization. I started it years ago, have picked it up and put it down repeatedly, have kept adding to it, etc. It is stewing in my brain.

Annie's photo at the center of p. 3 of the August 8, 1969 Berkeley Tribe shows Jerry Garcia dressed as Bluto, standing and talking at a meeting of The Common, in the Family Dog On The Great Highway on the afternoon of Saturday, August 2, 1969. (This copy is a scan from my old photocopy, with all of my marginalia and stuff. Within a few years, this page will become accessible via the Independent Voices collection.)

I have a lot to say about this moment in time. I have a lot to say about The Common, though it's already very nicely trated in Michael Kramer's Republic of Rock. Kramer scooped me in using the Bluto photo - I had been holding back on it for the book, but he beat me to it. It's a great image, and he has good taste!

The idea of being scooped is a weird one that I don't want to get into. Needless to say, there are some really good bits that I am holding back for the book, some really great stuff. On the other hand, I am swimming in data, more stuff is coming out every day, and odds of really losing anything are pretty small.

Correspondingly, I wanted to drop this little nugget on you.

Good Times, September 4, 1969, p. 19.

The great Good Times entertainment listings for Friday, September 5, 1969 in the prior day's issue list at Family Dog "Malachi, Rubber Duck (mime) and a jam with members of 3 groups we're not allowed to name. Lights by Temporary."

Verrryyyy innnnterresssssssting.

First, note Rubber Duck, which is the psychedlic mime-and-minstrelsy thing around Joe McCord (see here), sometimes involving TC and Garcia.

Second, more importantly, "a jam with members of 3 groups we're not allowed to name". I don't know why, exactly, they couldn't name the bands, nor at whose request. But I wonder where Mr. Garcia was, this Friday night?

Third, the reason we ask this is that it sheds light on the tapes made by Owsley Stanley ("Bear"), dated September 6, 1969, featuring the Jefferson Airplane at the Family Dog with Garcia, Mickey Hart, and others sitting in, and Sunday, September 7th, featuring Jorma and Joey Covington, Garcia possibly playing some drums (see Dick Latvala's cassette copy jcard below), and the lot of them playing a weird little set of drunken surf music at the Edge of the Western World.

Latvala!

Naturally, Corry is on the case.  I can't really try to parse the specific dates of the specific materials, but I do think that the Good Times listing sheds new light on this event, especially in terms of my "Jerry and the Jeffersons" frame.

The guy who wrote the book which is to Airplane stuff as my listening notes are to Garcia stuff says that the jam on 9/6/69 is the "longest time of an Airplane improvisation, jam or song ever!" (Fenton 2007, 158). The Jeffersons played their asses off this night. Though the sonic journal bears some imperfections (sorry, couldn't resist), it has been featured as some sort of quasi-official release.

The Family Dog Presents the Jefferson Airplane at the Family Dog Ballroom, Featuring Special Guest Jerry Garcia (Charly SNAP 293 CD, 2007SNAP 293 CD, 2007)

Furthermore, the Jeffersons had never really been very close to Chet Helms, by appearances. I have generated some data (not ready for prime time) suggesting that these parties crossed professionally less than they should have, given the contexts in which they moved (compare JA to GD in this respect). The Jeffersons were more Bill Grahamers from the beginning, and the Dead were more Chet Helmsers. So the fact that the Airplane would play an unadvertised gig for Chet in September 1969 is noteworthy (LIA). This and the 2/4/70 "Night At The Family Dog" filmed session (see) are really the only two instances I can find of the Jeffersons doing something for Chester.

My big takeaway, though, is what this tells us about The Common, a very fragile little bloom that burst out momentarily and then faced the fate that things that live must.

REFERENCES:
Arnold, Corry. 2010. September 6-7, 1969 Family Dog At The Great Highway, San Francisco Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead. Lost Live Dead, January 30, 2010, URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/01/september-6-7-1969-family-dog-at-great.html, last accessed 1/19/2012.
Fenton, Craig. 2007. Take Me To A Circus Tent: The Jefferson Airplane Flight Manual. West Conshohocken, PA: Infinity Publishing.
Johnson, Art. 1969a. Out on the Edge. Berkeley Tribe, August 8-14, 1969, pp. 3-4.

One of these is not like the others

Jack and Jorma - Matrix - July 22, 1969 (Tuesday)

Sometimes to contemplate a piece of data requires going at least one degree of separation back. Here's a case in point: I was listening to Garcia play the "3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds Jam" [a.k.a. "Turnaround, per the 6/28/69 official release] with Jack Casady. And I want to know how this version relates in the big picture, but it's hard to place. So I hook into a piece about which I know a tiny bit, the tune itself, and I work back out. So I arrive at the Jack and Jorma 7/22/69 tape, which I briefly note below.

Jack and Jorma
The Matrix
3138 Fillmore Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
July 22, 1969 (Tuesday)
96 min PNW sbd flac24

(8 tracks, 96:12)
t01. jam [21:22] [0:15] % [0:37]
t02. Jam [11:00] [0:04] % [0:11]
t03. Uncle Sam Blues [8:02] [0:07]
t04. Turnaround [14:58] [0:07]
t05. [0:16] Come Back Baby [7:45] [0:08] %
t06. (1) [0:09] Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning [9:04] [0:05] %
t07. New Song (instrumental jam) [6:27] %
t08. Turnaround [15:34] %

! Band: Jack and Jorma
! personnel: Jorma Kaukonen - guitar, vox;
! personnel: Jack Casady - bass;
! personnel: Joey Covington - drums;
! guest: Peter Kaukonen - guitar (t01 only).

JGMF:

! R: 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.

! tunabase: http://www.tunabase.com/setlists/1969/19690722.html.

! db: http://db.etree.org/shn/97837 (Mike Lai / Wayne Gucwa sbd); http://db.etree.org/shn/107240 (unk). Those filesets both have highly questionable lineage. I believe the lineage on the current fileset.

! R: MSR (PA) > R (EP) > R (DC) > R (Pat Lee) @ 3.75 ips > Akai GX636 > Apogee Mini Me (24/96) > Mini Dac > Lynx One soundcard > Wavelab 5.0 > FLAC24. Transfer by Matt Smith (PNW).

! historical:  So the lineage is presumed to go Peter Abrams > Ed Perlstein > DC > Pat Lee. It's a nice tape, bright-to-hissy relative to some of the muddy Matrix Tapes out there. This has been edited down pretty tightly, with splices between every track. It's really hard to say if this is the show they played, or a show they played on another date, or pieces of various shows, or what. This material has long also circulated dated "4/22/69", but I presume that's a slip-of-the-pen somewhere along the line. Tunabase lists it as 7/22/69 without comment, and shows no mention of "4/22/69". Same goes for the Chicken (http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Matrix%20Shows.htm). I'd like to know whether there was any hard evidence for the dating, but I don't have any particular reason to question Jack and Jorma at the Matrix on Tuesday, July 22nd.

! band: As I understand it, the name Hot Tuna would not come into usage until October 1969. There are lots of ways to characterize a "band" name. I will just say "Jack and Jorma" because that's how I think of it. Happy to use a formulation more preferred by Hot Tuna types.

! P: I think these guys are quite amazing, but I am nearly at a loss as to how to describe them. Amazing musicianship, individually and collaboratively. I don't normally have much to say about drumming, but Joey Covington is stellar here. It's no wonder Jack & Jorma grabbed him up. Dude can hang. Jack & Jorma are Jack and Jorma, virtuosi in their prime. They are just playing for hours. The jams are all excellent, though I am partial to the "3/5 of a Mile Jam". I find myself less compelled to listen closely enough and to note this stuff, but a minute-by-minute musical breakdown could probably be instructive. That's for someone else to do.

! personnel: I only hear a second guitarist (Peter Kaukonen) in t01. I have designated him as a guest.

! P: t01 starts off a slow jam. Goes lots of places, as these Jack & Jorma jams tended to.

! P: t02 this might be one of the named jams known to Airplane cognoscenti.

! R: t03-t04 I can't hear whether there's a tape splice in there. I presume so.

! R: t04 fade to splice @ 7:02, repeated section?

! t06 (1) Jorma: "This next song is a Revered Gary Davis tune. It's called "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning'."

! P: t08 "3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds Jam", called "Turnaround" on the official 6/28/69 release, is outrageous. Jack leading the way in the late 3-minute mark. In the 5-minute range, Jack is cutting trail where no rock bassist had ever ventured. Jorma's solo in the 6-minute mark is harsh and potent. In a kind of Pooneil space for a bit. @ 7:44 tempo change, slow it down.

November 24, 1968: Jam with Jefferson Airplane, Grande Ballroom, Detroit, MI (POSSIBLE)

In connection with another post that is taking me a long time to finalize, I have been looking at the various crossings of Garcia and the Jefferson Airplane. Among the many sources I have been using is Scott Abbot's JABase volume 3, available online at http://home.myfairpoint.net/srabbot/airplane/jabase.htm.

There, I find a listing for the Airplane doing two shows at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, MI on Thursday, November 24, 1968. Abbot notes a "jam with the Grateful Dead after the second show".

Deadlists shows a GD show on this date at the Hyde Park Teen Center in Cincinnati, OH. However,  Deadlists's own notes point to a flyer at http://cincinnati.com/blogs/eyeontheeastside/files/2011/05/thedead.jpg, which, if legitimate, indicates the Hyde Park Teen Center show was on 11/30. Both dates can be made sense of in terms of the GD itinerary, which has them at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago on Wednesday-Thursday 11/27-28/68 (where were they on Friday, 11/29/68?). The 11/24 Cinci gig would presumably have had to be in the afternoon, if it's accurate, and if the location of the GD in Detroit that night is to be believed. More likely, I think, is that the Cinci thing was on 11/30. This leaves the GD free between 11/23/68 in Athens, Ohio and 11/27/68 in Chicago.

Here are the mileages from Athens to Detroit (e.g., after 11/23), from Detroit to Chicago (e.g., after 11/24). The map also shows the distance Athens-Chicago.

So, they had a super-long drive from Athens to Chicago between 11/23/68 and 11/27/68, as well as the implied several free nights. Why the hell not pass through Detroit and jam with the Airplane? Check out the room in advance of their own billing the next week. Now, I note that this makes the 11/30/68 Teen Center thing seem less plausible -- why drive 430 miles for such a gig? I am not sure how all of this fits together.

I am really inclined to believe that members of the GD were at Grande Ballroom on 11/24/68 with the Airplane.

Oh yeah, one other thing (which would also cause problems for the 11/30/68 Teen Center thing), based on looking at the posters for the 12/1/68 GD date at Grande Ballroom linked from Deadlists. Can the posters be read to say the GD are playing 11/29, 11/30 and 12/1/68 at the Grande, with opening acts on Friday night (BS & T) and on Saturday (The Rationals), playing without an opener on 12/1? This would account for the open Friday night, which the late 1968 GD would absolutely abhor if it could be avoided in favor of a payday.

a few more Surrealistic Pillow tidbits

LIA did a great post on Garcia on Surrealistic Pillow, partly in response to the little tidbit I posted about. I love how fully many of my fellow, GD/JG scholar-bloggers are able to develop thoughts and evidence in this medium. It is much harder than I would have thought, but of course very, very enjoyable. Thanks for the conversation, folks!

(Aside: LIA, can you please provide an RSS feed link to your Grateful Dead Guide? Be great to be able to keep up more easily.)

A few scattershot reax.

LIA:

As an aside, though it’s been thought that Garcia played guitar on My Best Friend, we have his word it was Skip Spence – which is curious, because Skip by then was long out of the band, and already playing in Moby Grape.

Right. This is discussed a little bit -- though the book is so poorly organized, it's hard for me to see by whom -- in Fenton 2007, p. 267. The interviewee says this:

The first single released was My Best Friend. Very possibility [sic] the weakest tune on the record. It was also written by Skip Spence. Skip by this time is obviously out of the band. If we pretend the single sold well you are now promoting somebody that is on another record label. If the public enjoyed that style how will you recreate the song when the writer is with Moby Grape.

BTW, on the same page there's a bit of discussion of Jerry's contribution to Surrealistic Pillow, to the effect that McNally told whomever is speaking that JG helped with the arrangement on Somebody to Love. So this is probably ultimately derived from the same 1967 interview with Garcia, to a portion of which I originally linked. By the way, the audio version of that interview posted at archive.org runs to about 68 minutes, but there is a version around that runs to 83 minutes and seems basically complete.

Now, in terms of the dates of Garcia's contributions to SP, I have compared LIA's post with the four sources listed in the references. These four sources together manage to provide dates for every track on the album, and the main tunes that were cut in those sessions but didn't appear on the original vinyl.

Two discrepancies that result. When Tamarkin contradicts other sources, I defer to him. Here are the discrepancies:

1. Plastic Fantastic Lover. LIA dates this 11/1, as does Abbott, but this contradicts Tamarkin. Tamarkin p. 116, says that Garcia joined them on the second day of sessions, which was 11/1. But it doesn’t specify any tracks cut on that day. On p. 117, he says “The next day, the band cut ‘Plastic Fantastic Lover’”.
2. Today. LIA dates this 11/2, as do Scofield and Abbot, but this contradicts Tamarkin. Departing from a discussion of 11/2 (as "the next day" following the second day of sessions), JT says that Garcia is credited “again on the next day’s session for Marty and Paul’s ‘Today’” (p. 117). That would be 11/3.

I'd say the best way to resolve this would be, first, to ask Tamarkin, and second, to re-read the relevant passages of Got a Revolution. But I think I have what he put down on paper correctly interpreted.

Anyway, here is what I have come up with. You should be able to click on the image to view it larger. Comments, reactions most welcomed!

Surrealistic Pillow - Tracks by date

REFERENCES:

1. Abbot, Scott. 2007. JABase: Jefferson Airplane Setlists, v3. Last updated March 29, 2007. URL http://home.myfairpoint.net/srabbot/airplane/jabase.htm, accessed 1/3/2011.
2. Fenton, Craig. 2007. Take Me To A Circus Tent: The Jefferson Airplane Flight Manual. West Conshohocken, PA: Infinity Publishing.
3. Scofield, Matt. ND. Deaddisc entry for Surrealistic Pillow, URL http://www.deaddisc.com/ot/Surrealistic_Pillow.htm, accessed 1/3/2011.
4. Tamarkin, Jeff. 2003. Got a Revolution! The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane. New York: Atria Books.

Garcia on Jefferson Airplane, Surrealistic Pillow

Was just pointed to this early 1967 interview (audio only) with Garcia posted at youtube. Not sure I had heard it before, but I think it contains a tidbit or two that are not pinned down yet regarding Garcia's contributions to the Jefferson Airplane blockbuster Surrealistic Pillow. So this is sort of of a piece with my post on Garcia's involvement on Stephen Stills albums.

I am not going to rehearse the whole story of Garcia's involvement in the album. Matt Scofield does an amazing job of it at deaddisc, and I am sure that Jackson and McNally would shed additional light. (I should just make it a practice to refer to them before ever posting on anything.) Let me just summarize what Scofield says we know and what we don't with a few bullet points, some of them direct quotes from deaddisc.

• Garcia plays guitar on Today and Comin' Back To Me. 
• Some sources suggest that Garcia also played acoustic guitar on Plastic Fantastic Lover and My Best Friend.  
• Garcia's contribution to Surrealistic Pillow is not easy to define exactly.
• His playing contribution is partly documented.
• Some sources suggest that Garcia was also played on Plastic Fantastic Lover and My Best Friend. To date this remains speculation - any information about documented sources describing other Garcia involvement on this album would be most welcome. 

Well, in this youtube interview we learn the following bits of JG involvement that were unknown (apparently) or in need of confirmation:

• JG played flattop (presumably acoustic steel) guitar on How Do You Feel (@ ca. 0:58).
• JG did not play on My Best Friend; Skip Spence did. (@ ca. 1:05)
• JG's playing on Today and Comin' Back To Me are confirmed (@ ca. 1:09)
• JG played flattop guitar on Plastic Fantastic Lover (@ ca. 1:11) 
• re: Someone to Love JG says "The arrangement on the album is more or less my arrangement. I kinda rewrote it."

From the horse's mouth, so to speak.

Now, of course, it's not certain that his parts appeared on the final product or if, as the lack of credits would imply, they ended up on the cutting room floor. But it may well be him, and in any case we might be able to circle in on some more dates when he was in LA with the Airplane if we know the dates on which the numbers including him were recorded.