Garcia-Saunders with Guest Doug Sahm, ca. December 1972

Clearing out old paper files of stuff, found this piece by John Swenson about Doug Sahm:

Swenson, John. 197305. The Psychedelic Cowboy Makes His Move. Crawdaddy (May): 65-70.

After narrating the good time on 11/23/72 in Austin, Sahm continues

Then we went back up to Frisco an' did it up at Keystone with Tom Fogerty where Jerry does that jam thing. We kinda learned a few tunes an' said we'll go see whut this audience loos lahk, makin' that trip 'n it was jes that monster same reaction. [He started to sing: "Well, it's not love ..."] Y'know, there's the Berkeley freaks, they dig it y'know an' it was weird because ah ain't played Frisco in years man, 'sbeen ages (Swenson 1973, 68).

By my reckoning, Tom Fogerty never played with The Group in 1973, though that's not 100% established. So the likely dates for this event are the following:

• 12/6/72 or 12/7/72 - note that we have some eyewitness recollections from one of these shows of Sarah Fulcher being around. Like Sahm, she was a Texan with plenty of San Antonio time. Not sure that makes Sahm more or less likely (or doesn't change my estimate) for these nights, but there you go.
• 12/20/72 or 12/21/72 - the only other JGMS Keystone Berkeley gigs in the window.

So, not sure the dates, but wanted to pin these here the best I could.

update: we have pinned these to 12/6/72 at Jerrybase, because it lines up with Sarah, who also guested that night or the next.

Good Old Boys at Keystone: June 14, 1974

I  just want to pin down some details of the Good Old Boys sets from June 13 and June 14, 1974, opening for Great American String Band. These come from tape that I have been able to audition but that is not supposed to circulate. Sometimes, a "hush-hush" approach is necessary to protect the innocent. That's not the case here - just gratuitous hoarding. I don't make the rules.

Good Old Boys

Keystone

2119 University Avenue

Berkeley, CA 94704

June 14, 1974 (Friday)

--early set main--

Blue Grass Breakdown (1)

Sittin' On Top Of The World (2)

Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music)

Deep Elem Blues

(3) I'll Never Make You Blue (4)

Jesus Loves His Mandolin Player #2 (5)

Pistol Packin' Mama (6)

Wild Side Of Life (7)

Uncle Pen

Raw Hide (8)

--early set encore--

Colored Aristocracy (9)

Back Up And Push

--late set--

Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad (10, 11)

Nine Pound Hammer (12)

Little Girl And The Dreadful Snake

Used To Be

Ragtime Annie

Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms (13)

Jesus Love His Mandolin Player #34 (14, 15)

Crooked Judge

! Band: Good Old Boys

! Lineup: Frank Wakefield - mandolin, vocals;

! Lineup: David Nelson - -ac-g, vocals;

! Lineup: Robert Earl Davis - banjo;

! Lineup: Pat Campbell - bass;

! Lineup: Fred Weisz - fiddle;

! Guest: Richard Greene - fiddle (early show encore);

! Guest: David Grisman - mandolin (early show encore).

JGMF:

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/LDc43

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html

! reference: http://deaddisc.com/disc/Pistol_Packin_Mama.htm Pistol Packin' Mama (Round RX-109 / RX-LA597-G, March 1976).

! metadata: None of the advertisements indicate separately charged early and late shows, but I think that's what happened on this Friday night at Keystone.

! (1) David Nelson: "Thank you. We're the Good Old Boys. We're the Good New Boys, actually now, we've got a new banjo player ... uhhh what is his name anyway? Bob Davis. We've been stealing musicians from other bands", etc. FW: "Here's one now that David wrote about fifteen years ago. It's called 'If I Miss You On The Matress, I'll See You On The Springs'. [crowd laughs] I had to say something funny."

! (2) Frank Wakefield: "I'd like to close ... really we're almost up here. We've got some very special guests here. And I'm not gonna introduce them right on the stage [inaudible]. Fred Weisz worked with him in 1960. Dave Nelson. Nelson:  "Pat Campbell. ... This guy over here ... from New York, hails from Manhattan New York. Frank Wakefield." NB they forget to introduce the banjo player, though I guess they just had (see note 1).

! song: "Deep Elem Blues": The GOB version is like the old Jerry & Sara versions and like the JGAB ones, which are based on the Red Allen/Frank Wakefield arrangement.

! (3) FW: "Here's one now that David wrote a long time ago."

! (4) DN, paraphrased/truncated: Right now Frank's gonna do one of his mandolin tunes Jesus loves up to bout 36. What we want to do is record them all at once. #2. FW, paraphrased: "Hey maybe I'll change. How many folks was in here last night? Can I see your hands. Don't want to repeat myself. Song we did last night. ... some slow parts and some real fast parts." More chatter. NB that they did, indeed play Jesus #2 on 6/13/74. More cross-validation, not that these dates needed it.

! (5) Nelson: [inaudible] "you can lock me up in jail, but you can't keep my face from breakin' out."

! (6): FW: "One that David wrote about fifteen years ago in San Quentin."

! (7) Fred Herrera: "David, we're running late." Then something like "let's do a nice ending" or "let's do a last number"

! (8) Nelson: "Thank you, thank you very much" and crowd cheers indicate this is the end of the set.

! guest: early show encore with Richard Greene (fiddle), David Grisman (mandolin).

! personnel: With Dawg playing, and if Nelson's still onstage, this might be the only known instance of them playing together (check Fillmore East GD 1970).

! (9) Someone says "We got one here called 'Back Up And Push'. Hope you all like it. I don't recognize the speaker's voice. Not Richard Greene, Grisman, Wakefield or Nelson. Richard Greene: "Hope you all like, uh, country music. 'Cause if you do, we get to disappoint you by playing other stuff. But not for awhile." Note that this whole "encore" piece is one continuous piece of tape. So the guy who announces "Back Up And Push" is onstage playing, I assume one of the GOB guys not named Nelson or Wakefield.

! song: "Back Up And Push" sounds a little like the melody to "This Land Is Your Land" and, I hate to say it, in places, like "Copacabana". Regardless, it's credited to Bill Monroe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6jFF0asxWM is an amazing version by Bill Monroe, The Father of Bluegrass (tm).

! (10) unknown speaker: "Thank you thank you, the Good Old Boys." Sounds like the end of an evening.

! (11) Nelson: "We're gonna have some strange guests, but I can't tell ya who they is. Right now we got over on the fiddle on the right hand side, Fiddlin' Fred Weisz. On the banjo, stolen directly from Western Union, (Frank: "The hills of Manhattan, New York") Bobby Davis. All right. He's never played with us before. He played with us about five minutes in the back room there, so we have to work out our arrangements onstage. I think he's doin' pretty good. Then uhhh I'm not gonna introduce. On the bass, another musician stolen from Western Union, Pat Campbell. He's doin' real good too. He's doesn't know any of our songs either. (Frank: "He probly wrote 'em.") But he probably wrote 'em, yeah. And on this little red instrument --whaddya call that please?-- (Frank: "Ukelele.") Ukelele, yeah. That thing's falling apart. I keep worrying about it. He puts his finger underneath the binding on the frets and it snaps off every set, little pieces ... bridge is on backwards ... From the hills of Manhattan, New York, Frank Wakefield." Frank Wakefield: "This feller on the git-tar here, he's from the hills of Tennesse. I believe you're from [inaudible] Actually, the fact of the matter is, he's from a big rock group, like Jerry is ... y'know, when he plays, he plays super banjo too, he plays super acoustic, David Nelson, from Easy Riders of the Purple Sage. Give him a hand, he'd appreciate it. ... I'm mad at y'all now, I'm mad at y'all 'cause he got a better hand than I did. I feel bad now." [woman in audience says "Nobody loves you, nobody [inaudible"] Frank, responding: "So, since she said that, here's one called 'If I Miss You On The Mattress, I'll See You On The Springs'. [laughter] Here's one that David wrote when he was with the Purple Sage, and still is."

! (12) FW: "Here's another one that David wrote a long time ago. If you folks know anything about folk music. David wrote [inaudible] he wrote one here a long time ago. What sparked that?" Nelson: "When I saw my first snake."

! (13) long banter. David Nelson: "Thank you. Thank you. A little ragged, but that's all right. Half of us don't even know the words to these songs here. But this one doesn't have any words, so that's OK too. Frank's gonna do a solo mandolin tune. He writes these mandolin tunes. I am not supposed to talk while he's tuning. He doesn't remember words ... he doesn't know what necessary means, for instance. And he says to people ..." etc. etc. while FW is tuning. "But he remembers all these tunes, these long classical tunes that he wrote." FW tuning and rap. "Last set I did two harmonies. Gonna do [something else] this set." The structure here makes me thing these were separately billed early and late shows.

! (14) Frank: "We're gonna do a thing now where a guy by the name of Robert Hunter wrote a song and David, me and David arranged that and we'll do some very special stuff on the mandolin and the git-tar. And it'll prolly be on this new record, I guess, too, right?" (Nelson: "Yeah.") And it's called the 'Crooked Judge'."

! (15) This is some great context. Fred Herrera must have an intercom from his little room, and you hear it click on and a guy says, in a hushed, golf-announcer voice, "Dave. Dave. (Nelson: "Yeah?") Hey. We're startin' to run kinda late. Two tunes or so. Then someone, it sounds like Marmaduke, says "Hey, uh, Freddie says [inaudible] late." Then "[inaudible, maybe "The man returns"], there's a hoot and cheer from the audience. Frank: "So we'll get David to do that judge song first. ... If you all saw the concert we did last Saturday, we did this'un pretty much the same way." NB that implies a gig on 6/8/74.

Good Old Boys at Keystone: June 13, 1974

I  just want to pin down some details of the Good Old Boys sets from June 13-14, 1974, opening for Great American String Band. These come from tape that I have been able to audition but that is not supposed to circulate. Sometimes, a "hush-hush" approach is necessary to protect the innocent. That's not the case here - just gratuitous hoarding. I don't make the rules.

Good Old Boys

Keystone

2119 University Avenue

Berkeley, CA 94704

June 13, 1974 (Thursday)

opening for Great American String Band

--set I--

ambience (1)

Deep Elem Blues

(2)  Earl's Breakdown

(3) I'll Never Make You Blue

(4) Jesus Loves This Mandolin Player #2

On Top Of Old Smokey

Pistol Packin' Mama (5)

Raw Hide

--set II--

ambience (6)

unidentified-GOB19740613-01

(7) Jesus Loves His Mandolin Player #1

Little Girl And The Dreadful Snake (8)

Bill Cheatham (9)

T For Texas (Blue Yodel No. 1) (10)

(11) Teardrops In My Eyes (12)

New Camptown Races

(13) Uncle Pen

(14) Sally Goodin (15)

A Voice From On High (16)

Back Up And Push [1:59] [0:03]

! ACT1: Good Old Boys

! Lineup: Frank Wakefield - mandolin, ?vocals?;

! Lineup: David Nelson - guitar, vocals;

! Lineup: Fred Weisz - fiddle;

! Lineup: Sandy Rothman - banjo;

! Lineup: Pat Campbell - ac-bass.

JGMF:

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/LDc43

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html

! setlist: I am confused about the structure of the festivities at Keystone this Thursday, June 13, 1974. Need to write it out at greater length than this info file will allow.

! expost: Philip Elwood, "From country to jazz – a snap," San Francisco Examiner, June 14, 1974, p. 27. He spells fiddle player's name Wiesz, but it must be former Greenbriar Boy Fred Weisz, who had bipolar disorder and might have been a street person around Everett, WA.

! song: traditionals: s1t02 "Deep Elem Blues"; s1t06 "On Top Of Old Smokey" (Trad., arr Wakefield); s2t10 "Sally Goodin"; count: 3.

! song: country: s1t04 "I'll Never Make You Blue" (Ray Cline, Charlie Cline); s1t07 "Pistol Packin' Mama" (Al Dexter); s2t06 "T For Texas (Blue Yodel No. 1)" (Jimmie Rodgers); count: 3.

! song: bluegrass: s1t03 "Earl's Breakdown" (Earl Scruggs); s1t08 "Raw Hide"; s2t02 "unknown-GOB19740613-01"; s2t04 "Little Girl And The Dreadful Snake" (Bill Monroe); s2t05 "Bill Cheatham"; s2t07 "Teardrops In My Eyes" (Red Allen, Tommy Sutton); s2t09 "Uncle Pen" (Bill Monroe); s2t11 "A Voice From On High" (Bill Monroe, Bessie Lee Mauldin); s2t12 "Back Up and Push"; count: 9.

! song: Wakefield originals: s1t05 "Jesus Loves This Mandolin Player #2"; s2t03 "Jesus Loves His Mandolin Player #1"; s2t08 "New Camptown Races"; count: 3.

! (1) Frank: "Actually, Fred Weisz and Jerry Garcia wrote this one."

 

! (2) Someone says "Bluegrass Stomp", and Nelson says "Yeah, how 'bout 'Bluegrass Stomp'?" Not sure what Wakefield says, but David says "Let's pick one." I think Sandy suggests "Earl's Breakdown", Nelson affirms, and Wakefield introduces it. "Here's one where Sandy does some ... if y'all ever seen a [inaudible] player uh accordion player twist some keys, he's gonna do this for ya." ?Sandy?: "Frank does a little fancy key-twistin' on this one, too." DN, laughing, "Watch his hands!"

! (3) Frank: "Here's another song that Sandy wrote, about his sweetheart. She broke his heart, and he's gonna break her darn jaw now, right?"

! (4) Nelson: "Thank you. Right now, Frank's gonna do a solo mandolin tune. I don't know if of you have him heard do it before. He writes these mandolin tunes that are like classical music. They sound like classical music, but not really, I mean, it's hillbilly classical. And he's got about 34 or 6 tunes written out, and they all used to be called "Symphony #94", since that was the only classical piece he'd ever heard, by Beethoven. ... 'Jesus Loves His Mandolin Player #2'." FW gives an explanation. Talks about NYC Ballet Orchestra.

! (5) Frank: "Thank ya. Now we're gonna play one called the 'Berkeley Waltz', then we're gonna take a little intersection [sic] and we're gonna come back and play some more for ya." Nelson, to FW: "Do you know that that word means? What's that word mean?" Frank: "Oh yeah, I forgot what that word means."

! (6) Frank: "I'm sorry, about six months. Can you hear it way back in the back alright? You need more volume? Is that loud enough now? [crowd guy: "'s'all right!"] Bless you, thank you."

! setlist: s2t02 is solo mandolin. It may be one of the Jesus songs, but I just don't know. Even Neil Rosenberg was stumped!

! (7) Frank: "That's an 8-string harmony, now we're gonna play some grass for you." David Grisman, I need to borrow your mandolin real fast. I just broke a string. David? Where you is?" Ballet Opera NYC. Gimme that mandolin!

! (8) FW: "Thanks a lot. Now we're gonna turn Fred loose, who's a super good fiddle player."

! (9) Frank: "Thanks a lot. Now we gonna do somethin' where this super good bass player, Pat, he's really good on the bass", etc.

!  (10) FW: "I'd like to thank David Grisman for loaning me this mandolin. Thank you."

! (11) FW: "Now here's one that David has on record. Him and the Purple Sage Dust."

! (12) FW: "Here's one that David here wrote a long time ago. One called 'New Camptown'. What inspired you to write it, David?" Nelson, off-mic: "Who you talkin' to?"

!  (13) FW: "Here's one that Fred Weisz wrote a long time ago, that he does on the fiddle, called 'Uncle Fred'."

! (14) unknown speaker (not FW or DN): "Here's a little Sally Goodin, we'll get Fred to play a little piece of pie."

! (15) Freddie Herrera: "David ... David ... David ... David, We're starting to run late." FW: "We feel so unnecessary." Nelson: "Hey, what's unnecessary mean?" Freddie: "David, can you hear me?" And they answer with "I Hear A Voice A Callin'!" Perfect!

! (16) Freddie: "Dave. Dave. Can you hear me? Dave? Dave. I'm down here. We are starting to run late, we have time for maybe one more tune at the most." DN, to band: "Oh, we have one more tune."

If ACT = JGMS and Taper = Louis Falanga, and YYMM = 7402, does XX = 17?

I recently wrote that

in engaging any Garcia event, I first want to pin down the who, the where, and the what. So I want the sociometric, geometric, and the chronometric particulars ... If I can pin down those three pieces about any given event with reasonable certainty, I feel like it "exists" in a way I can work with.

That has presented some challenges, as some events we know happen, but that don't have crisp metadata (especially the date, truthfully) sort of elude my understanding. I have tried to do the best I can with "placeholders" and such, but this kind of chronometric fuzziness really makes me itchy. Whatever - that's just how some stuff is.

Recently, two folks asked me about the fileset preserved as shnid-8654, a Louis Falanga (supposedly also Bob Menke) tape of Garcia-Saunders that was only labeled "February 1974". Two people asking me within a day or so tells me it was being discussed online somewhere. Anyway, these queries led me to revisit the fileset, which I haven't listened to in probably 15 and maybe as many as 20 years. I don't have huge love for early '74 Garcia-Saunders relative to later in the year, but I really, truly enjoyed revisiting this stuff. Let me draw especial attention to the 27-minute "He Ain't Give You None". I noted it

is absolutely stunning. God, what an overlooked masterpiece! It starts off slow and deep, Billy makes it hop a little in like the 7 minute mark while Jerry plays it clean. It finds some quiet passages, some spacy bits, hot passages (late 19-22 really driving). In 25 it almost sounds like 'Sitting In Limbo'. An amazing piece of musicianship all around, an incredible version --earliest one known-- of this tune.

I really mean it. Go check this fucker out.

But, enough about the music. What about the metadata? :)

I am going to suggest that we should assign this material the date of 2/17/74, not because that date is true, but because it might as well be. I don't have much to go on, but here is my logic.

1) Louis taped 1/17-18/74, and the datings of those tapes got confused over the years, such that 1/18/74 circulated as if it were a three-set show. So, consecutive shows that end up in confusing labeling.

2) I listened to both the 2/16/74 Falanga tape and the 2/xx/74 Falanga tape (both noted below) in close succession, including a side-by-side comparison of "Money Honey", which appears on both, and the room-and-crowd sound of each. The tapes are quite different, with 2/16 much sharper and cleaner. But it does sound like the same room to me, for whatever that's worth. (2/16/74 still has the second guitarist and conguero we can hear on the board tape, natch.)

3) Louis and Bob were known to hit the Great American Music Hall, and Jerry and Merl did play it on 2/5/74 and 2/12/74. We have complete board tape of the former from Ed Perlstein's master reel (thank you, Ed!). Go check it out and tell us [nick | JGMF] how to make sense of the two saxes one can periodically hear. The latter does not circulate, and we lack setlist for the first set. The 2/xx material could well be from this gig. But, see #2 above. We don't have enough tape for me to be confident that this is NOT the Music Hall, instead of Keystone, but there's nothing to suggest that it is.

4) There is also 2/7/74 at the Keystone, but we seem to have enough of a setlist that, if this stuff really is from one night, it's not from that one.

5) [contra] The GD Archives had a bunch of 2/74 material, including money reckonings, including notes on how the take from 2/16/74 was divvied up among band and crew, and also the 2/9/74 Rheem Theater contract. There was no evidence from 2/17 whatsoever. (I don't recall any from any of the other shows, though, either.) So the dog didn't not bark where it might have.

When I put all of this together, I conclude that we might as well call this stuff 2/17/74, unless and until new shit comes to light. Thoughts?

Listening notes for 2/16/74 and "2/17/74" below the fold.

LN jg1974-02-16.jgms.all-2.aud-falanga.8063.shn2flac
LN jg1974-02-xx.jgms.partial.aud-falanga.8654.shn2flac

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.

In Case of Emergency, Break Glass: JGB at Keystone, March 22, 1984

 

LN jg1984-03-22.jgb.all.aud-corley.22191.shn2flac

Over the years, I thought that maybe February '82 was my least favorite JGB month, supplying a "warmish-dampish-Motel-6-towel feeling, without the hygiene", the drugs starting to really take their toll, not so much terrible as just vaguely gross.

Well, it has come to my attention that March 1984 is pretty bad, too. I lead my 3/4/84 listening notes with the title "A 35 Minute Second Set". True, the tape was tightly edited, and if DATs had been a thing the recording might have topped 40, maybe even approached the Minelli Line of 45. Well, here I am, having listened to Wednesday, March 22, 1984, and its set I, similarly tightly edited, checks in at 31 minutes and 17 seconds. As of this typing, only 9/16/84 set I comes to mind as a shorter, no-excuses electric set, at 30:54. (3/2/85 I nosed 3/22/84 out, at 31:08, but it had the excuse that the ladies apparently showed up late.) It is possible that some acoustic sets were shorter, e.g., 5/23/85 set I, but the circulating tape might be incomplete. In all of these cases, Garcia seems like he's trying to win his age bracket in the 10k.

Anyway, it would be one thing if these sets were hot, as at least one tape shows 3/2/85 I to be. But, to my ears, on this listen to this tape (a great Corley aud, the only one circulating for this date), it's just dull. When a server seems to drop a tray of glasses at 5:12 of Mid Moon, to me it feels far more like a metaphor for Garcia's health than the "orjersmic buildup" that my ol buddy neo_levo, Chris Ladner, heard in it. Your 6.1 miles may vary.

Jerry Garcia Band
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
March 22, 1984 (Wednesday)
Corley shnid-22191 shn2flac

--set I (4 tracks, 31:17)--
s1t01. [0:16] How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [6:51] % [0:02]
s1t02. They Love Each Other [6:47] % [0:18]
s1t03. Rhapsody In Red [8:42] [0:02] % [0:02]
s1t04. Deal [8:05] (1)

--set II (5 tracks, 40:19)--
s2t05. [0:27] I Second That Emotion/ [10:01#] % [0:04]
s2t06. Someday Baby [7:09] [0:02] %
s2t07. Run For The Roses [5:31] [0:10] % [0:21]
s2t08. Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [9:07] ->
s2t09. Midnight Moonlight [7:22] (2) [0:05]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #21a
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: DeeDee Dickerson - backing vocals;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums.

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/19840322-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/22191 (this fileset)

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/LDc43

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html; URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html

! band: JGB #21a (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html)

! seealso: JGMF, "A 35 Minute Second Set: JGB at The Stone, March 4, 1984"

! R: field recordist: John Corley

! R: field recording gear: 2x Nakamichi 700 > unknown cassette deck

! R: lineage: MAC > D > CD > DAE (EAC0.9b4, offset corrected, secure mode) > Soundforge 6.0 (+2.0 dB gain) > tracking (cdwav editor) > sector boundaries confirmed (shntool) > SHN(mkwact). D > shn via C. Ladner.

! R: seeder comments: Outstanding audience recording. Pauses between some tracks. Tape flip during space between t05-t06. t09 - the orjersmic build up @  the end of the main solo section beginning at 04:56 is punctuated by a seemingly? precisely timed either Jerry glass breaking somewhere close by @ 05:13 - guaranteed to make your pets stand up and take note. Thanks to J.Powell for the CDR source. misSHN in the rain, 2/04.

! P: s1t01 HSII flubs first lyric, opened my eyes at night and there you were

! s1t04 (1) JG: "[inaudible] take a break for lil while. We'll be back in a few minutes."

! R: s2t05 ISTE end clips

! song: "Someday Baby" (s2t06): one of those songs that came up in several different bands, only to disappear. In this iteration, it had returned in December '83, after almost three years off. Here it gets its final run for almost another three years (3/10/87).

! P: s2t06 Someday Baby horrible vocal clam @ 6:32

! s2t09 (2) JG, not perfectly clear, but I think "Thanks a lot, see ya later."

Sunday, Monday, What's the Difference? JGB #11a at Keystone, December 17, 1979 (Monday)

LN jg1979-12-17.jgb.s1s2p.aud-walscoller.106057.flac1644

I wanted to spin some JGB #11a (Ozzie-Johnny D quartet) from late in 1979, a little window I have neglected in favor of their first few gigs on the one hand (10/7, 10/14), and the Winter 1980 tour (overall economics, 2/16, 2/20, 2/24) on the other hand. (update: see also 12/20/79)

Joanie Walker, Paul Scotton and Charlie Miller collaborated in putting out an aud tape of 12/17, which had never really circulated much, as distinct from shows on the 20th and the 21st. Following my nose for the obscure, I checked it out.

The tape: nice.

The show: blech.

Really blech. The most obvious thing is that Jerry and Johnny D'Fonseca are just not sync'd up, a big problem given that Johnny D is the drummer. And I blame Garcia. This is not only because Johnny D is so dang young (just 21 at the time of this show) or because it's only his seventh night out with the band. And it's not just because, corresponding to these, we might put responsibility on the older fella with his name on the band to help him out, the way he did with the JGB's previous young drummer, Buzz Buchanan. It's mostly because Garcia mostly just sounds out of it. His voice is still sweet in its sweet spot, but it lacks oomph and shows limited range. There are some good pyrotechnics in Sugaree, but 22+ minutes for Sugaree is a little indulgent even for Our Hero. And the second set material, which I think is incomplete on the tape, just doesn't really go anywhere or do anything.

Maybe I am totally wrong. Maybe you will listen to it and wonder what's wrong with me. I dunno. Let's discuss.

The only other thing I have to say about this show relates to the scheduling. The left side of the panel above shows the Keystone pink section ad dated December 9th, the right the one dated December 16th. You will see that JG was originally scheduled in Berkeley for Sunday 12/16, with Monday the 17th billing the "Best New Bay Talent" for no cover and a one drink minimum. Jerry on Sunday had still been listed in the Examiner as late as the 14th. But by the time the day-of-show ad comes out, the New Riders are in the Sunday slot and Jerry has moved to Monday. What's more, we now have a newly-added Jerry show on Saturday 12/22. Maybe that one was to makeup for the canceled gig on 12/8.

No biggie, stuff happens. The Pareto Criterion asks us to evaluate a possible change in the world such that it leaves at least one party to a transaction better off, and no party worse off. This one fits the bill. The New Riders get a gig, Freddie gets the New Riders on a Sunday (selling tickets and presumably more beer than the Best New Bay Talent) and Jerry on a Monday, great for him. As for Garcia, I SPECULATE that he was totally indifferent to the change. Sunday? Monday? Whatever.

One question I have is to what extent some notion of Jerry doing the Riders a favor might have entered into the equation. Call this Qustion 1. Of course he lent his lucrative name and considerable talents to these boys out of the gate, getting them some huge paydays before sending them off on their own. I don't know who besides Dawson was in the NRPS by late 1979, but the band had certainly fallen on hard times, and would never sniff its early 70s success again. Maybe part of the context was the chance for Jerry to help produce a payday, however modest, for an old friend. I dunno.

A second, question, call it Question 2, this is somehow related to the fact that the GD canceled the last two shows of its tour in Milwaukee on 12/13 and St. Paul on 12/14. At Jerrybase we note cancellations because "one band member ill and band wants to finish new album". Maybe Jerry needed Sunday night to work on what would become Go To Heaven. Or maybe he was the sick band member and needed another day to recover, which might also account for how out of it he sounds here.

Q1 and Q2 are not mutually exclusive, of course. Maybe all of the above, and Pareto smiles.

Anyway, my notes below.

Jerry Garcia Band
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94740
December 17, 1979 (Monday)
s1s2p walscoller aud shnid-106057

--set I (4 tracks, 62:37)--
s1t01. [0:14] Sugaree// [22:15#] %
s1t02. //Catfish John [12:38] [0:09]
s1t03. That's Alright Mama [10:25] [0:41]
s1t04. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [16:16] %

--set II (3 tracks, 47:54, probably incomplete)--
s2t01. /After Midnight [#14:16] [0:07] %
s2t02. Simple Twist Of Fate [19:39] %
s2t03. /Harder They Come [#13:45] [0:07] %

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #11a
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: Ozzie Ahlers - keyboards, synthesizers;
! lineup: John d'Fonseca - drums;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass.

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/19791217-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/106057 (this fileset)

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/LDc43

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html; URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html

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

! listing: San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle Datebook, December 16, 1979, p. 18

! ad: San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle Datebook, December 16, 1979, p. 30

! seealso: JGMF, "Checking Myself: JGB at Keystone Palo Alto, December 20, 1979"

! historical: show was originally scheduled for Sunday night, 12/16, but moved to Monday for reasons unknown to me.

! R: Recording Info: Unknown Mics -> ? -> Cassette (Maxell UDXLII)

! R: Transfer Info: Cassette (Nakamichi DR-1) -> Sound Devices 744T (24bit/96k) -> Adobe Audition v3.0 -> Samplitude Professional v11.03 -> FLAC/16 (2 Discs Audio / 1 Disc FLAC). All Transfers and Mastering By Charlie Miller charliemiller87@earthlink.net February 14, 2010

! R: seeder notes: -- Thanks to Joani Walker and Paul Scotton for the tapes -- Thanks to Joe B. Jones for his help with the pitch correction

! R: this recording is clean. The keyboards are way forward and the bass is buried, the guitar also a little low.

! R: s1t01 Sugaree cuts out

! P: s1t01 Sugaree tempo variability, Johnny D trying to figure out where Jerry wants to be. But if you know this tune from this era, you know it's good. Many hold 12/21/79 to be the one of the best. Certainly the guitar work Jerry is doing in the 14-minute range and forward is outstanding. Standing big layers of notes 15:23. Still big peaky stuff 19.

! R: s1t02 CJ cuts in

! P: s1t03 TAM wonky start, but Jerry just bulldozes it forward and Johnny D jumps on almost immediately once Jerry really sets things. He's good. Things still wonky, but he's doing as well as anyone might.

! P: s1t04 HSII sounds a little off key for a bit, JG can't remember the lyrics in the first verse or so.

! R: s2t01 AM clips in

! P: s2t01 AM JG and JD are not syncd at all to start the tune. It's really pretty bad until about 2, when it seems to synchronize. Talk near taper @0:56: "Jerry's just like a jazz musician". More conversation that is nearly audible, someone could probably get ears on it and report out. Still late 5 it doesn't sound to me like the drums are doing what they need to be doing. JG also sounds pretty out of it on this whole version. Nothing of note here.

! P: s2t02 STOF good high peaky guitar work 10. John should take his feature late 10, but Ozzie takes it. Tempos a little unsure. John is fluttering behind, Ozzie pretty perfunctory, now John steps out a little more 11:38, still not very loud. JG steps out 13:34, crowd gives John a nice round of applause.

! R: s2t03 HTC cuts in. I cannot put my finger on what feels off this night, other than everything. Jerry's voice is still high, but it lacks oomph and range. He really needs backing vocalists to fill it out that aspect of the band's sound. All night the tempos have struck me as off.

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

What It Is All About: Jerry Band Monday at the Keystone, August 16, 1976

I love love love the mid-1976 versions of "After Midnight", with Donna seconding on "what it is all about". (Happy 73rd birthday to DJG the day of this post, BTW!) I also like the "Stop That Train"s from this era, both imprinted on my brain from some tape I played the hell out of. This show, Monday 8/16/76 at Keystone, is solid. Maria Muldaur harmonizes some in "Ride Mighty High", this now being her earliest verified (by me) appearance with the Garcia Band (next known to me is 9/12/76).

I had thought of naming the post "Do Me A Favor? Open the Door and Let 'Em In", imaging McCartneyesque Jesus to Gabriel after 17 syrupy minutes of JGB "Knockin' On Heaven's Door". I have a rule, induced after listening to 3/12/76: any version of ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’ exceeding 17 minutes in length is too long. But I didn't think that set the right tone for a post about a show which I enjoy, despite the serious issues with this particular warbling tape.

Jerry Garcia Band
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
August 16, 1976 (Monday)
sbd shnid-13041 shn2flac rename to sets

--set I (7 tracks, 86:09)--
s1t01. ambience [0:59], They Love Each Other [7:05] [0:21]
s1t02. [0:12] %% [0:12] After Midnight [14:00] [0:14]
s1t03. [3:50] Stop That Train [13:40] % [0:05]
s1t04. [0:05] Midnight // Moonlight [8:#06] [0:18]
s1t05. [1:32] How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [9:09] [0:31]
s1t06. [0:50] Knockin' On Heaven's Door [17:45] [0:09] % dead air [0:10]
s1t07. The Way You Do The Things You Do [6:43] (1) [0:07]

--set II (5 tracks, 49:56)--
s2t01. //Mission In The Rain [#9:36] [0:03] %
s2t02. [0:30] He Ain't Give You None [11:51] [0:08] %
s2t03. [0:29] Tore Up Over You [11:20] [0:04] %
s2t04. Strange Man 6:58 [0:04] % [0:03]
s2t05. [0:14] Ride Mighty High :15-8:30 (xx)

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #3
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: Keith Godchaux - piano, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Ron Tutt - drums, vocals;
! lineup: Donna Godchaux - vocals;
! guest: Maria Muldaur - vocals (s2t05 only).

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/19760816-02

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/13041 (this fileset)

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/LDc43

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html;

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html; URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html.

! band: JGB #3 (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html)

! ad: SFSECDB19760808p39; SFSECDB19760815p43

! listing: SFSECDB19760815p07

! notes: JGB played Keystone Berkeley Wed 8/11, Mon 8/16 and Sat-Sun 8/21-22 - four shows in ten days, three of them on somewhat atypical nights. He was also at Elliot Mazer's studio working, I guess, on JGB tunes to sell to Arista, including "Ride Mighty High". Very long first set here.

! personnel: Maria Muldaur comes in and adds some "ride mighty high"s to the mix in the 6-minute range. As of 8/22/2020, this is her earliest known JGB sit-in, next one coming 9/12/76.

! R: SBD R/? > CDR > shn; shn2flac jgmf 8/2020.

! R: hissy, running fast, with lots and lots of warble, especially in KOHD, TWYDTTYD, & MITR (especially, especially the last one.

! R: I have flac files dated 10/17/2010, but don't have the original shns. So this was labeled as a .shnf folder, but I am changing it to a .shn2flac.

! P: s1t02 AM In the cassette days I had a tape of 7/9/76, I think, or maybe it was this show or 7/8/76, and I just love the AMs of this era. The vibe is just right, the way Donna adds her "what it is all about" refrain just smites me.

! R: s1t04 Mid Moon cut in Midnight Moonlight at 1:09

! P: s1t06 KOHD this version violates my red-line rule, first articulated in connection with 3/12/76, that "any version of ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’ exceeding 17 minutes in length is too long". And Jesus to Gabriel, pace Paul McCartney and Wings: "Do me a favor - open the door and let 'em in."

! s1t07 (1) JG: "We're gonna take a break for a little while. We'll be back a little bit later on."

! R: s2t01 MITR cuts in

! s2t01 at the wind-down of MITR, it sure sounds like Keith is noodling around with the chords of "Positively 4th Street", but maybe I am hearing things.

! P: s2t04 ASM very slow and gentle to start, but Donna really oversings as it develops.

! P: s2t05 RMH huge grand finish

! s2t05 (2) JG: "thanks a lot. We'll see y'all later on."

They Really Are a Scree-um: Legion of Mary at Keystone, Thursday, May 22, 1975

LN jg1975-05-22.lom.all.aud-menke-falanga-motb-0044.87156.flac2496

I just revisited 5/21/75, and it left me a little bit ... whelmed.

By contrast, at some point between downloading the files in 2011 and today, I listened to and noted the next night, and I *loved* it.

The Bob Menke - Louis Falanga aud belongs in the freaking Smithsonian. This stands as one of the finest audience recordings in the Garcia canon, and there are a lot. Gorgeous. The vocals are very low, so it is "flawed" from the perspective of releasability. But the instrumentation is finely captured, Jerry's guitar far forward and everything else nicely balanced. Reportedly, on this night they actually placed the mics on stage near Jerry's feet, with one pointed into Jerry's stage monitor and the other pointed to the rest of the band, Bob and Louis on the rail at center stage. If you want to hear Jerry Garcia's guitar playing ca. May 22, 1975, check this out.

Song highlights for me were "Little Sunflower" and, especially, "He Ain't Give You None". Garcia once described having this fantasy of being a Mission Street blues guy. It's not clear how much such a creature ever really existed, but we know exactly what he looks like (and he looks different to each of us). We also know what he sounds like: listening to Garcia play HAGYN, I am put in mind of just a smoky little R&B bar. This is Keystone --certainly smoky, and funky in its own way-- but Jerry is just so drenched in this vibe, I'm almost surprised he's not seated and doing the B.B. King thing. "Boogie On Reggae Woman" is hot: the way Merl just jumps onto this, and everyone falls into line, is just wonderful. Merl is ready to boogie, ladies and gentlemen.

It looks like TPTB have released four tracks from this night from Betty's tapes, though none of the tunes that especially lit me up. The Garcia Vault seems to hold reels 1-3 and 5-7, and I now see that the Betty Board material in circulation is not really "snippets", as labeled, but is reel #4. So it seems likely that the whole show exists as Betty tape, if only the 6+1 pieces could be brought together.

Legion of Mary
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
May 22, 1975 (Thursday)
Menke-Falanga MAC MOTB 0044 flac 2496 shnid-87156

--set I (6 tracks, 69:32)--
s1t01. [0:04] Tore Up Over You [11:42] [0:29]
s1t02. Little Sunflower [16:23] [0:19] %
s1t03. tuning and crowd ]0:50] % [0:19]
s1t04. I Feel Like Dynamite [12:12] [0:16] % [0:05]
s1t05. [0:14] % [0:26] Every Word You Say [10:49][0:24]
s1t06. % [0:44] Mystery Train [14:02] (1) [0:13]

--set II (5 tracks, 72:55)--
s2t01. /He Ain't Give You None [12:27] [0:16] % [0:22]
s2t02. [0:11] Boogie On Reggae Woman [14:33] [0:17] % [0:02]
s2t03. % When I Die [11:50] [0:09] % [0:05]
s2t04. [0:48] Going, Going, Gone [18:52] [0:30] % [0:09]
s2t05. (I'm A) Road Runner [12:05] (2) [0:18]

! ACT1: Legion Of Mary:
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: Merl Saunders - keyboards, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Martin Fierro - saxophone, flute;
! lineup: Ron Tutt - drums.

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/19750522-01

! JGC: https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1975-05-22

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/89046 ("Betty Cantor snippets"); http://etreedb.org/shn/87091 (this recording, flac1644); http://etreedb.org/shn/87156 (this fileset, flac2496).

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/LDc43

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html

! official: Legion of Mary, vol. 1  (Rhino, R2 74692, 2005) (d1t04-When I Die [mislabeled "Since I Lost My Baby"]; d1t05-Tore Up Over You) - URL http://www.deaddisc.com/disc/Jerry_Garcia_Collection_1_Legion_Of_Mary.htm

! official: Legion of Mary, Absolute Mary (t02-Every Word You Say) - URL http://www.deaddisc.com/disc/Absolute_Mary.htm

! official: Jerry Garcia - Garcia Plays Dylan Again (t03-Going, Going, Gone) - URL http://www. deaddisc.com/disc/Garcia_Plays_Dylan.htm

! listing: "Country Joe McDonald Back In Area," Independent-Journal [San Rafael, CA], May 16, 1975, p. 21

! mention: San Francisco Examiner, May 16, 1975, p. 39.

! R: MOTB Release: 0044 24bit/96Khz

! R: Release Date: 09/09/2007

! R: field recordists: Bob Menke and Louis Falanga

! R: field recording gear: Sony ECM-270 and ECM-250 [Positioned Onstage] > Sony TC-152 > MAC

! R: field recording media: Maxell UD90

! R: Transfer: MAC > Nak Dragon > LynxTWO Model B > WaveLab 5.0 > HD 24/96 WAV

! R: Transfer: Bob Menke

! R: Mastering: Jamie Waddell

! R: This is one of the finest audience recordings in the Garcia canon, and there are a lot. Gorgeous. The vocals are very low, so it is "flawed" from the perspective of releasability. But the instrumentation is finely captured, Jerry's guitar far forward and everything else nicely balanced. Reportedly, on this night they actually placed the mics on stage near Jerry's feet, with one pointed into Jerry's stage monitor and the other pointed to the rest of the band, Bob and Louis seated at the front table right there on the rail at center stage. If you want to hear Jerry Garcia's guitar playing ca. May 22, 1975, check this out :).

! P: s1t02 Little Sunflower is simply wonderful.

! P: s1t03 Addams Family tuning by Jerry @ start.

! s1t06 (1) JG: "We're gonna take a break for a little while, we'll be back a little bit later on."

! R: s2t01 HAGYN clips in

! R: s2t01 HAGYN, listen to fingers on steel strings around 6 seconds in.

! P: s2t01 Garcia once described having this fantasy of being a Mission Street blues guy. It's not clear how much such a creature ever really existed, but we know exactly what he looks like (and he looks different to each of us). Anyway, listening to Garcia play HAGYN, I am put in mind of just a smoky little R&B bar. This is Keystone --certainly smoky, and funky in its own way-- but Jerry is just so drenched in this vibe, I'm almost surprised he's not seated and doing the B.B. King thing.

! P: s2t02 BORW: Man, the way Merl just jumps onto this, and everyone falls into line, is just wonderful. Merl is ready to boogie, ladies and gentlemen.

! song: "When I Die" (s2t03): This is an instrumental rendition of the title track from an album that Motherlode released in 1969 on the Kama Sutra label. Written by band members William "Smitty" Smith and Steve Kennedy, it was a hit single and spent some time in the Top 20.

! P: s2t03 WID is a novelty, but it doesn't really go anywhere special.

! P: s2t04 @ 0:32 JG strums GGG, the song could be tracked to start here. This song is where this recording (and its cousins similarly taped) is so precious. You can hear Garcia's guitar so clearly, and the vibe is just so resonant. The performance doesn't knock me out on this listen, but maybe I am just not in the patient, contemplative mood required to really get it. It's very, very good.

! s2t05 (2) JG: "So long."

! R: Special Note: These are recordings done by Bob Menke and Louis Falanga at the Berkeley Keystone, made in May and June of 1975, that MOTB will be turning out, the subsequent Grateful Dead and related recordings are dedicated to Bob Menke's mom, Connie, who is suffering from pancreatic cancer. As you listen to what are certainly the most unique - if possibly not some of the best - audience recordings of Jerry Garcia in his prime, please send out healing vibes and prayers to Connie any way you see fit. We are all pulling for her, so please keep her in your hearts and prayers. The MOTB Team.

Take the Road Before Us and Sing a Chorus or Two: Legion of Mary at Keystone, May 21, 1975

jg1975-05-21.lom.all.mtx-tobin-motb-0050.87219.flac1644

I recently gave 6/16/82 a listen to evaluate whether it merited its lofty reputation, or whether it might be exhibiting a case of the Cornells. I decided it was as good as its reputation.

Staying with that démarche, a week ago I spun 5/21/75, Legion of Mary at the Keystone, which has long circulated from low-gen soundboard reels the provenance of which I do not know. (These are not "Betty Boards".) I have been moving through the world for the last week with the feeling that this one, too, deserved the esteem in which it is held. But now, looking back at my notes, I can't really see the basis for that feeling. I spun a lovely matrix done by Matt Vernon of the soundboard tape (MSR > 1R) and the killer Menke-Falanga aud under the auspices of the Mouth of the Beast (MOTB) project. The tapes are awesome, the music comes through, the room is very present even on $10 ca. 2005 computer speakers, and one can hear the band relaxed, tuning, chatting, etc.

Figure xxx. Extract from contract, dated 5/19/75, for Legion of Mary engagement at Keystone Berkeley, May 21-22, 1975.

I only really noted one musical highlight in Garcia's work on "You Can Leave Your Hat On". He finds some chukka-chukkas that put me a little in mind of the Dead's "Caution", and It Is Good. I found two sort of problematic parts. First, "Finders Keepers" just didn't survive the transition to 1975 intact. It dragged in all of the Legion versions that come to mind, and it just sounds like the band lost interest in it, whereas a year earlier it crackled. Second, "Harder They Come" is done here more slowly than any other version I can recall, and not to good effect (IMO, YMMV). It lacks urgency.

So, where does that leave me? Sounds great. Certainly provides a great listen. But it didn't destroy me. So, I'd say the esteem in which it is held surpasses the esteem it deserves. Still lovely 1975 Jerry, just not the crème de la crème.

Oh yeah, the post title arises because, for reasons that aren't clear to me --maybe it was snowing in May in Berkeley, wink-wink?-- Jerry noodles "Sleigh Ride" at the start of set II.

Legion of Mary
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
May 21, 1975 (Wednesday)
MTX MOTB-0050 shnid-87219

--set I (6 tracks, 74:14)--
s1t01. That's A Touch I Like [10:12] (1) [2:22]
s1t02. I Feel Like Dynamite [12:29] (2)
s1t03. Last Train From Poor Valley [10:57] [0:14] % dead air [0:06] % [0:27]
s1t04. Finders Keepers [12:30] [0:48]
s1t05. Tough Mama [8:05] [1:41]
s1t06. That's What Love Will Make You Do [12:00] (3)

--set II (6 tracks, 81:11)--
s2t01. (4) [0:23] I'll Take A Melody [9:09] [0:54]
s2t02. You Can Leave Your Hat On [15:52] [1:17]
s2t03. Mississippi Moon [8:38] [0:53]
d3t01. Harder They Come [20:32] [1:04]
d3t02. Creepin' [13:36] [0:28]
d3t03. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [8:12] (5) [0:12]

! ACT1: Legion of Mary
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: Merl Saunders - keyboards, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Martin Fierro - saxophone, flute (s2t03);
! lineup: Ron Tutt - drums.

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 [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/19750521-01

! JGC: https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1975-05-21

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/4478 (sbd shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/4479 (sbd shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/87086 (Menke-Falanga MOTB0043 flac1644); https://etreedb.org/shn/87133 (Menke-Falanga MOTB0043 flac2496); https://etreedb.org/shn/87149 (sbd pitch-patch); https://etreedb.org/shn/87219 (this fileset); https://etreedb.org/shn/87526 (MOTB0050 DTS5.1); https://etreedb.org/shn/87573 (DVD-A); https://etreedb.org/shn/138651 (sbd); https://etreedb.org/shn/141905 (sbd).

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/LDc43

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html

! official: More of the Best [3 track bonus CD that was distributed with pre-ordered copies of  The Very Best Of Jerry Garcia] (Rhino, 2006) (t01-TWLWMYD)

! ref: URL http://www. deaddisc.com/disc/More_Of_The_Best.htm

! listing: "Country Joe McDonald Back In Area," Indepdent-Journal [San Rafael, CA], May 16, 1975, p. 21

! mention: San Francisco Examiner, May 16, 1975, p. 39

! R: MOTB Release: 0050 16bit/44.1Khz; Release Date: 09/12/2007

! R: Matrix of 2 sources; 1--Lineage: SBD > 15ips reel > 15ips reel > DAT; Transfer 1: DAT > Sony R500 > Genesis Digital Lens > Fostex CR200 > CD; transfer 2: CD > EAC > WAV > SHN. 2--Audience FOB Recording; Media: Maxell UD90; Lineage: Sony ECM-270 and ECM-250 Blended [Positioned Onstage] > Sony TC-152 > MAC; Transfer: MAC > Nak Dragon > LynxTWO Model B > WaveLab 5.0 > HD 24/96 WAV; Taper: Bob Menke and Louis Falanga; Transfer: Bob Menke, Mastering: Jamie Waddell. Matrix Mastering: Kevin Tobin

! R: match and patch notes: I matched the speed of this recording to the MAC - it was slightly faster overall (about 1/2 a second per minute) and more consistent than the sbd recording. Audio Patches: 1) Between The Touch I Like I Like and I Feel Like Dynamite, 48.033 seconds were missing from the Audience recording and were filled in from the Soundboard recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 2) Aprox 4 minutes into I Feel Like Dynamite, 19.564 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 3) Between I Feel Like Dynamite and Last Train From Poor Valley, 27.500 seconds were missing from the Audience recording and were filled in from the Soundboard recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 4) Between I Feel Like Dynamite and Last Train From Poor Valley, another 35.900 seconds were missing from the Audience recording and were filled in from the Soundboard recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. Note: This includes the first few notes of Last Train From Poor Valley. 5) Aprox 7 minutes into Last Train From Poor Vallery, 21.273 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 6) Between Last Train From Poor Valley and Finders Keepers, 33.900 seconds were missing from the Audience recording and were filled in from the Soundboard recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 7) Between Finders Keepers and Tough Mama, 12.007 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 8) Aprox 7 minutes into That's What Love Will Make You Do, 36.803 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 9) At the end of That's What Love Will Make You Do, 11.116 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 10) Before I'll Take A Melody, 17.000 seconds were missing from the Audience recording and were filled in from the Soundboard recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 11) Between I'll Take A Melody and You Can Leave Your Hat On, 21.423 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 12) Aprox 4 minutes into You Can Leave Your Hat On, 22.372 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 13) Between You Can Leave Your Hat On and Mississippi Moon, 18.883 seconds were missing from the Audience recording and were filled in from the Soundboard recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 14) Aprox 4 minutes into Mississippi Moon, 24.773 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 15) Between Mississippi Moon and Harder They Come, 16.966 seconds were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 16) Between Mississippi Moon and Harder They Come, another 1.593 seconds were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 17) Aprox 8 minutes into Harder They Come, 02.139 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 18) Aprox 11 minutes into Harder They Come, 20.807 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 19) Between Harder They Come and Creepin', 18.339 seconds were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 20) Aprox 4 minutes into Creepin', 22.035 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 21) Between Creepin' and How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You), 15.893 seconds were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better. 22) Aprox 3 minutes into How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You), 5 minutes and 36.666 were missing from the Soundboard recording and were filled in from the Audience recording. Missing audio was normalized to fit better.

! s1t01 (1) Several members of the band repeat Merl's request to have his vocal mic turned on.

! P: s1t02 IFLD "you might not agree with me .. betcha" repeatedly (4x) 11:20-11:40, then he messes up the feelin' hittin' him, back on track 11:48.

! s1t02 (2) Martin: "Hey, could you send some water up here?"

! P: s1t04 FK lost some zip as it aged - the 1974 versions bring tons more pop than the Legion ones do. This might be just about the last version?

! s1t06 (3) JG: "Thank you. We're gonna take a break for a little while. We'll be back a little bit later. Thank you."

! s2t01 (4) Garcia is noodling "Sleigh Ride" and someone, maybe John, says "Merry Christmas."

! P: s2t02 YCLYHO Garcia proliferates the notes in 9, and it is good. Around 12:40 and forward, he puts out some "Caution" style chukka-chukka, and it, too, is good.

! P: s2t04 HTC starts off normally paced, then drops into a very slow iteration, the slowest I can recall.

! s2t06 (5) JG: "Thanks a lot. We'll see y'all later on."

Twin Wonder Powers, Activate? JGMS, October 11-12, 1973 at Keystone Berkeley

Tape Archaeology

What used to be known by some of us as the Third Batch of Betty Cantor-Jackson tapes proved the most grudging of all the batches in terms of finding broad circulation. This especially vexed Garcia freaks, because it contained a number of drool-inspiring Garcia-Saunders sets. You might imagine where the mind would go, seeing entries like these in 1996, a world in which very few had heard any Garcia-Saunders shows that had happened between July 1973 and January 1974:

JGMS 10/11/73 notes from Rob Eaton's mid-1990s work on the Third Batch of Betty Boards

JGMS 10/12/73 notes from Rob Eaton's mid-1990s work on the Third Batch of Betty Boards

Purchased in a storage auction in May 1986 along with the rest of the Betties, but lost to broader reckoning for around a decade before they became available to Rob Eaton for preservation in 1995-1996, some of these tapes still do not circulate. Fall '73 Garcia-Saunders tapes came into the world relatively late: the Winterland Legal Aid Benefit from 10/2/73 (etreedb | JGMF) in 2007 via Alligator, 11/3/73 (etreedb | JGMF) on NYE 2012-2013, and these October 11-12 shows only in 2016, almost twenty years after they were first digitized. Remarkably enough, all of these tapes are now home where they belong, having been gathered together by the ABCD crew and returned to their owners at no profit (in the case of the GD tapes) and at no cost (in the case of the Jerry stuff) - that is, effectively, pro bono. Will Wonders never cease?

Stevie Wonder in the Garciaverse

Speaking of which, let me use the occasion of twin Stevie Wonder tunes on October 11, 1973 to pin down Garcia's engagements with that legend's compositions, all of which occurred in the company of Merl Saunders. Alphabetically, I identify the following, all of which except "Reggae Woman" were done as instrumentals in the Garciaverse.

"Another Star" (Allan | deaddisc | wikipedia)
A hotty from 1976's double-sized Songs in the Key of Life, Garcia played it, hotly, with Reconstruction throughout that band's eight-month run in 1979.

"Boogie On Reggae Woman" (Allan | deaddisc | wikipedia)
From Fulfillingness’ First Finale (1974), Merl sang this one very effectively starting on 11/2/74, on current reckoning (with Paul Humphrey drumming), appearing regularly until the demise of the Legion of Mary in summer 1975.

"Creepin'" (Allan | deaddisc | wikipedia)
Also from FFF, this one never lit me up during its 1975 Garciaverse appearances.

"I Was Made To Love Her" (Allan | deaddisc | wikipedia)
This 1967 title track, by contrast, almost always lit me up. It seems to have been one of the first songs in the Garcia-Saunders repertoire, showing up in setlists as early as Fall 1971, but also, regrettably, left relatively early, not making it past 1973. Indeed, the version I discuss below seems to represent its last known appearance in a Garcia setlist.

"Love Having You Around"
Garcia played this one, the first track from Stevie's 1972 Music of my Mind, with Aunt Monk at a San Francisco bar called the Generosity on May 9, 1975. There is rumor of at least one other Garciaverse performance, but details remain hazy.

You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (Allan | wikipedia)

The second single released from Talking Book (Tamla T 319 L, October 27, 1972), this one reached the top of the charts and won Stevie a Grammy.

Of course, please let me know if I am missing anything!

As a final note, the 10/11 show here features two of these numbers, and it looks to me like, besides this night, Merl and Jer and others played two Stevie tunes three other times, on 2/14/75, 3/1/75 and 4/10/75a. Every one of those occasions paired "Creepin'" and "Boogie On Reggae Woman" (and Creepin' only appeared once w/o BORW, 5/21/75).

This night, by contrast, we get the final JGMS version of "I Was Made To Love Her", played more slowly than any other Garciaverse version, and the singleton "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life", given a pretty spare and off-feeling 15-minute treatment.

What does this mean? Hell if I know. I am just pattern-matching.

On To The Music

The October 11-12, 1973 Garcia-Saunders performances at the Keystone strike me as, respectively, lackluster and about average. The first night proves especially disappointing, because look at that setlist, but boy is it low energy.

JGMS 10/11/73 reel #2, scan provided courtesy of ABCD. The handwriting is Rex Jackson's, and the information is very typical for how he labeled the tapes, with personnel characteristically listed (Merle [sic], "Kawn" [a joke]), date, DOW, venue on the left, and, on the right, we have reel #, speed and recording info, including "Revox", indicating that this was made on Rex's deck rather than Betty's Nagra. Oh yeah, one final note: those are mold stains along the bottom of the box. The Third Batch of Betties spent a long time in some pretty horrifying conditions, and Eaton worked heroically to preserve them.

"I Was Made To Love Her" - one of the great, poppin' vehicles for this band, is played too slowly and never really gets going. It would be permanently shelved after this performance.

"When I Paint My Masterpiece" - not a favorite of mine, but it was rare and Dylan is always interesting. Not much of note happens here, quite subdued, and ol' Jer puts it on the shelf until 1/20/80.

"One Kind Favor" - one of my very favorites, the version from the Cap in Passaic a month earlier, in the band's first out-of-state show, absolutely slays me. This one, again, never reaches any kind of boil.

"You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" - John is totally on this, but Garcia doesn't really know how it goes, maybe not in the right key? This sounds kind of like piano lounge stuff.

Even the "Harder They Come" from the 11th holds lots of flubbing and falling apart.

An off night, I guess. Probably the dullest '73 Garcia-Saunders show in circulation, despite the sexy setlist. What are you gonna do?

The next night comes out with more juice and sounds stronger overall to my ears on this listen, but After Midnight quickly returns things to the languid pace of the previous evening. "Train To Cry", very much not a favorite of mine, has perhaps never been played more slowly by anyone, ever. "My Funny Valentine" sounds great to my ears, and Jerry really lets it melt for awhile - probably the highlight to my ears. But, overall, and of course IMO (YMMV), 10/12/73 pales in comparison to every other show in circulation from the year, except the night before. Two weeks later, on 11/3/73, the band sets my hair on fire. Here? Well, not so much. And, somehow, the first 40 minutes of reel #1 turn up blank. Hm. Every night can't be amazing, I guess.

All of that said, and perhaps especially because it doesn't knock me out, I am inexpressibly grateful to all involved in getting these recordings into our ears: Betty and Rex, RE, Alligator and the rest, and to ABCD for doing the right thing by these precious artifacts.

Listening notes below the fold.