Hartbeats to New Riders: from spacesuits to OshKosh

Somewhere I have Mickey Hart saying basically what's in the title, but I cannot for the life of me find where I got this, and the Google is not helping me.

Anyone know where Mickey might have said this?

TIA!

Nina Blackwood Interviews Jerry Garcia for MTV, ca. June 2, 1983

Some classic lines here, like the studio as building a ship in a bottle and playing live like piloting a rowboat in the ocean. I wasn't super careful about getting everything 100% perfect, especially not where there's GD talk. I am not 100% certain about the geolocation, but it's got to be about right.

Jerry Garcia Interview by Nina Blackwood
MTV Studios / Teletronic Studios
West 33rd Street and 10th Avenue
New York, NY 10019
June 2, 1983 (Thursday)
Youtube > Tuberipper m4a > otter.ai

! metadata: date a little uncertain. The Relix version (Blackwood 1983) says "conducted at MTV by Nina in May, 1983". But the Gary Gershoff pix at Getty (https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portrait-of-mtv-vj-nina-blackwood-and-rock-blues-musician-news-photo/1364449796) date this as 6/2, and that does seem likely.

! venue: At this time, MTV was housed in the Teletronic Studios on West 33rd Street, right around the corner from 10th Avenue

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/RkQZy4xDDLUyUWqG7

! ref: Blackwood, Nina. 1983. Jerry Garcia: Interviewed for MTV. Relix 10, 4 (August): 16-20.

! R: source: part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-zEcX9_nXM TT 13:02

! R: source: part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl85mQ49Rlw TT 14:16

rough transcription after the jump

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.

Dawn of the NRPS

I am sure you have already pre-ordered, as I just did, but just in case, here's link to the upcoming Owsley Stanley Foundation (OSF) release called "Dawn of the New Riders of the Purple Sage". I cannot freaking wait to hear this!

https://owsleystanleyfoundation.org/bears-sonic-journals/dawn-of-the-new-riders-of-the-purple-sage/

ca. November 1-2, 1970 fragments

Having just posted on Janis's wake, which is said to have taken place on 10/26/70, I find myself wanting to at least take a stand on a few other gigs which have left me a little befuddled over the years.

The first involves a "First Annual San Francisco Halloween Marathon Festival of the Performing Arts", running 8 PM Friday 10/30/70 through midnight Sunday, 11/1/70 at the Harding Theater. Among the artists scheduled to appear during the 40 continuous hours of music we find Thelonious Monk, Les McCann, NRPS, Bobby Hutcherson, the Rafael Garrett Circus, Shades of Joy, Beefy Red, Pemmican, the Hot Hush Puppy Rocking and Jamming Society, the Ann Halprin Dance Troupe, theater groups and filmmakers. Subtitled "Marathon '70", the event was put together by Delano Dean, Lenny Sheftman and Gerry Pearlman of the Both-And, with proceeds going toward establishment of the Harding as an ongoing center for the performing arts.

Wasserman wrote the event up in general terms on 11/4/70, though he didn't mention the New Riders. Let's assume they performed as advertised. Since they were in Stony Brook on 10/30 and 10/31, I list this as a NRPS gig on 11/1/70 at the Harding. I guess I have already written this up, so you can just consider this pinned in my own data, and enjoy the above snippet of the Chron.

! announce: "A Halloween Marathon at the Harding," San Francisco Chronicle, October 23, 1970, p. 50;
! listing: San Francisco Chronicle, October 30, 1970, p. 45;
! expost:  Wasserman, John L. 19701104. On the Town: Marilyn Maye--Zing in the Anthem. San Francisco Chronicle, November 4, 1970, p. 58;
! mention: "From the Music Capitals of the World", Billboard, November 21, 1970, p. 25 (accessed via Google Books);
! JGMF: "NRPS: ca. 11/1/1970?" URL http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2009/11/nrps-ca-1111970.html.

The second is also at the Harding, and comes from a listing I found once the digital Examiner came to my attention. From that entry: "11/2/70 (Monday): Jerry Garcia / BBHC / Ice / Cleveland Wrecking Company. Harding Theater. Benefit for A Learning Place. I don't know if this would have been NRPS or JGMS; I am listing as JGMS for no particular reason."

So, another benefit, same building, the next night. Odd, but, OK.

! listing: San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle Datebook, November 1, 1970, p. 27;

! listing: San Francisco Examiner, November 2, 1970, p. 35;

! JGMF: "New-to-The-List from the Examiner, 1970-1972," URL http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2018/10/new-to-list-from-examiner-1970-1972.html.

As a final point, I'd just note that this timeframe really shines a light both on how much our boy liked to play, and on how ready he was to fly back home between gigs in other time zones, when logistics might suggest he not do so.

October 10-12, he does three gigs in New York and Jersey, then flies home to play the Matrix for two nights, before flying back to Philly for a gig on the 16th. Then Cleveland and Minneapolis, back home to the Matrix, three nights off before gigs in DC and St. Louis on 10/23-24. Home for Janis's wake, two nights in Stony Brook, home for these two benefit gigs and, on November 3rd, a session with Crosby at Heider's as well as a Matrix gig, Heider's again on the 4th, then playing somewhere in the state of New York every night (often Dead and New Riders, sometimes two shows a night) from the 5th through the 16th (less a canceled show on 11/15/70). And on and on and on through the end of November. What a nut.

New-to-The-List from the Examiner, 1970-1972

In addition to the tantalizing May 20-21, 1969 Garcia gigs at the Matrix, the newly-digitized Examiner has yielded a good number of previously unlisted, mostly-midweek Garcia gigs. A little list  from 1970-1972 follows.

update: see also a subsequent list from 1973-end

11/2/70 (Monday): Jerry Garcia / BBHC / Ice / Cleveland Wrecking Company. Harding Theater. Benefit for A Learning Place. I don't know if this would have been NRPS or JGMS; I am listing as JGMS for no particular reason.
! Listing: San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle Datebook, November 1, 1970, p. 27;
! Listing: San Francisco Examiner, November 2, 1970, p. 35.
! seealso: https://jgmf.blogspot.com/2019/11/ca-november-1-2-1970-fragments.html.

1/5/71 (Tuesday): JGMS at Matrix
! listing: San Francisco Examiner, January 5, 1971, p. 24.

2/4/71 (Thursday): JGMS at Matrix
! listing: San Francisco Examiner, February 4, 1971, p. 25.

3/30/71 (Tuesday): NRPS at Matrix. I interpret this as warmup for the east coast tour. BTW, they also played the next night, according to a redacted source, so we can add 3/31/71 (Wednesday), same band and room.
! listing: San Francisco Examiner, March 30, 1971, p. 24.

11/24/71 (Wednesday): JGMS at Keystone Korner. Garcia's first-known gig for Freddie Herrera had happened the night before Thanksgiving the year before with the New Riders. Jerry and Merl reprise the gig on its first anniversary.
! listing: San Francisco Examiner, November 24, 1971, p. 20.

1/18/72 (Tuesday): JGMS at Lion's Share
! Listing: San Francisco Examiner, January 18, 1972, p. 21.

3/1/72 (Wednesday): JGMS at Keystone Berkeley (formerly New Monk). I now understand this to be the very first night for the so-named Keystone at the corner of University and Shattuck. It's a fitting indicator of the centrality of Garcia to Freddie's enterprises that he would play this opening night at the old Monk. (See also "Jerry and Freddie, mid-March 1972".)
! Listing: San Francisco Examiner, March 1, 1972, p. 33.

6/3/72 (Saturday): JGMS at Keystone Korner
! Listing: San Francisco Examiner, June 3, 1972, p. 10.

8/31/72 (Thursday): JGMS at Keystone Berkeley
! Listing: San Francisco Examiner, August 31, 1972, p. 31.

12/26/72 (Tuesday): JGMS at Keystone Korner. This one puzzles me, because the KK would have been under Barkan's ownership at this point. Barkan has narrated that he once hosted Jerry and Merl (after he started booking the room on July 7th), but didn't dig the vibe and stuck thereafter with jazz. This could well be that very gig. I still don't know what to make of a listing for JGB at KK four years later, of course ...
! Listing: San Francisco Examiner, December 26, 1972, p. 28.

A Party For Mother Earth

It's actually much, much prettier than it looks in this picture.

New Riders headlining "A Party for Mother Earth", benefiting the Bear Commune, Friends and Relations Hall, 660 Great Highway, June 3, 1971.

Jerry Garcia and Friends, Sanpaku at the Matrix: May 20-21, 1969

Fascinating.

I told you all that the Examiner would yield many interesting things. Well, this is one of the most interesting. Sometimes skimming cream is worth the price of later anticlimax.

Jerry Garcia and Friends and Sam Paku [sic: Sanpaku] at the Matrix, Tuesday, May 20 and Wednesday, May 21, 1969.

Garcia's first understood public pedal steel playing happened 5/14/69 at the Underground, supposedly a Hofbrau house in Menlo Park, understood just to be him and Marmaduke. The second instance was the second day of this listing, 5/21/69.

So, do we imagine this is Jerry and his pedal steel, and maybe Marmaduke and his songs?

If not, then what?

Stinson History

Stinson Beach Music Scene Time Line: 1960s to the Present

The site above was just brought to my attention. I can't find an email for anyone in the organization based on a cursory search, so I thought I post some reactions here.

The prompt for all of this is the newly digitized source for the OAITW gig at the Stinson Community Center on September 30, 1973, same source tape as an older source I have sketchily blogged. I haven't had time to look back at this in detail, but I also want to pin Corry's post on an early OAITW gig at a Stinson Beach bar.

The point of this post is to post some corrections and ask some questions about entries in the Stinson Historical Society page that heads the post. If anyone knows any of the principals and wishes to draw their attention to the corrections, they might be interested.

“Blows Against the Empire” and “Mexico” (1969) - Jefferson Airplane

Recordings for BATE started in July 1970, just to be clear. Not sure what the Stinson connection is supposed to be here.

1970 – Peter Rowan moves to Stinson Beach from Mill Valley, where he had been playing in bands such as Seatrain and Earth Opera. Also recently been spending time playing with bluegrass legend Bill Monroe. He moves into a house on Calle del Ribera and pays $100/month in rent. He ends up writing one song inspired by Stinson Beach: “Riding the Rainbow in the Sky,” which was never released on a record.

The liner notes to Breakdown say PR arrived in Stinson Beach in October 1972.

8/27/71 - Jerry Garcia and others play at the club known as “The Red Whale,” which is located where the current Stinson Beach Water County District is located on Highway One just past the turn off for Calle del Arroyo. It would later be renovated and renamed “The Brigg.” Still later, it would be renovated again and renamed the “Over the Hill Bar and Grill.”

Mmmmm, a specific date which I don't have. I would love to know the source of this information! In the meantime, I will add it to my spreadsheet. I am presuming this would be the NRPS warming up earlier in the day before gigging at the Longbranch this night, but of course I can't be sure.

One rumor has it that the only time Jerry Garcia met John Lennon was during this time period in Stinson Beach.

Sounds familiar, but I will pin this possible crossing here.

Autumn 1972 – Jerry Garcia & David Grisman play bluegrass music several times, with Jerry practicing his banjo whenever he can after they bumped into each other at Ed’s Superette as Garcia was buying cigarettes.

I thought the story of their hooking back up in Stinson was that Pete Rowan walked Dawg (or vice versa) up the hill to Garcia's. This doesn't rule out that they bumped into each other at Ed's Superette, of course.

January 1973 – ... After playing at “Avila's Barn,” Jerry Garcia names David Grisman "Dawg" after he saw dog following Grisman on the beach at Stinson.

Avila's Barn doesn't ring a bell to me, though I bet that if I check Corry's "unknown bar" post it's mentioned there. update: I think the name is not "Avila" but Avella - so, Avella's Barn. I have changed it in my tag.

1973 [sic] - Goldie Rush starts Round Records above Ed’s Superette in 1973

First, the name "Goldie Rush" was new to me, and it shouldn't be, because apparently she was heavily involved in Round Records. Second, though, 1973 is too early, at least for "starts" in any formally institutionalized sense. Round Records was incorporated in the state of California on January 22, 1974.

1977 [sic] – David Jenkins (guitar) and Cory Lerois (keyboards) move to Stinson Beach, both members of the band Pablo Cruise. Lerois buys Mountain Girl/Jerry Garcia’s old house, and does a major remodel.

No. This was early 1978.

1979/1980 – The band “The Edge” is formed by Lorin Rowan, Mark Stein, Jim Dillon, Keith Glanz and Ozzie Ahleve [sic]

Correction: last fellow's name is Ozzie Ahlers.

Magic at the Edge of the Western World

San Francisco Sessions, 1972

I have been processing information from contracts filed at the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local No. 6 in San Francisco.

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

There is nothing representative about these – I have information on stuff that is a degree or two from Garcia, and a few other random tidbits of idiosyncratic interest to me. I post them mostly for future researchers who might be interested. (The six-digit numbers just reference my scans, so I can retrieve these as needed.) List after the jump.

Picture of the Murdering Punks at the Inn

A little piece in the from the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat on the tenth anniversary of the Inn of the Beginning in Cotati notes that "A picture spread in the Pacific Sun featured Jerry Garcia and the New Riders of the Purple Sage playing there in their early days". Great - now I *have* to track that down.

! ref: Jensen, Sophia. 1978. Inn celebrates its beginning. Press-Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), September 29, p. 1B.

San Francisco Sessions, 1971

I have been processing information from contracts filed at the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local No. 6 in San Francisco.

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

There is nothing representative about these – I have information on stuff that is a degree or two from Garcia, and a few other random tidbits of idiosyncratic interest to me.

A few points of note, for me.

• Danny Cox using the Saunders-Kahn-Vitt (and Garcia!) band in July
• 9/30/71 Garcia and Santana together on a contract
• More busy Jeffersons
• Rowan Brothers getting busy second half of ‘71
• Etc.

List after the jump.

Investing in Marmaduke

Some notes-to-self.

Corry:

The Grateful Dead family was interested in turning John Dawson into a recording artist as early as 1968, and willing to spend their own studio time to do it, even though nothing ever came of it, so the New Riders project can be seen as a solution rather than a random idea.

I do think this slips a little into "functional fallacy", of postulating as the cause of some beneficial thing the mere fact that it is beneficial, ergo, folks must have wanted it and caused it to be produced. It might have been that they loaned him a bunch of money as friends, and then contributed so as to increase the probability of future repayment. So that would be "money -> idea" rather than "idea -> money" (in which case we are 180 degrees from our usual positions).

LIA seems to agree that the idea of Dawson as a "solution" doesn't follow from what we know: "we don't know what the purpose of the Dawson demo was, if Garcia himself had any plan or record-label in mind, or if Dawson just wanted to shop around various companies, or if there was thought to be any leverage from Dawson's 'Dead connection'."

Either way, cool insight: this is "as if" it were an early investment in a more diversified portfolio of commercializable music - absolutely fascinating.

updates

LIA comments "If indeed the Dead were giving some of their studio time to an old buddy, it strikes me as a precursor to the Round Records idea", an interesting thought. JGMF, in comments:

I agree with LIA (in comments) and you that Round becomes the formalized expression of some basic elements of the Garciaverse: he wanted to help out his friends with paying gigs, and the world demanded that he monetize himself (in addition to giving time, effort and layers of skin) to achieve that. For all of his other flaws, Garcia was an unusually generous friend. Think about how many lives were "made," how many properties in Marin and Sonoma made affordable, by professional involvement with Jerry. Man had the Midas Touch.

JGMF, in comments, where apparently I have already had the same urge to think through the titular proposition. At least I agree with myself that this is interesting!

[Corry says] "I find it strange that no record company was interested in John Dawson's demos." Here's a flyer: maybe the record companies insisted on some demonstrable GD/Garcia connection, e.g. a playing contribution from Jerry, as a condition of signing on his friends? This necessity drove (at least to some extent) Garcia's constitutive role in the NRPS, which is consistent with your idea that the NRPS was a solution (a band with Garcia, i.e., one that could sell records) to a problem (Jerry's desire to help his ol' pal Marmaduke).

NRPS (formerly The Murdering Punks) - August 7, 1969

There has long been a tape identified as New Riders Of The Purple Sage (NRPS), Thursday, August 7, 1969 at the Matrix in San Francisco. Corry has found corroborating evidence for the dating, though of course the tape cannot be tied to the Ralph Gleason "On The Town" listing he found, which bills the band August 6-9.

Matt Smith has recently undertaken a great high end transfer of Will Boswell's tape of this show, somewhere (but not too far) downstream from Matrix proprietor Peter Kafer's copy.

What an opportunity! We get to hear more or less the first gig of the New Riders an sich (Corry, see link above). Marmaduke jokes that they formerly called themselves the Murdering Punks, and they certainly murdilize a few arrangements here in what sounds for all the world like a public rehearsal. Thanks to everyone involved in creating a world in which we can hear this stuff.

My notes aren't very extensive, so let me just drop a few markers.

1) Proto-New Riders. Fascinating, exceptionally sloppy stuff.

2) The tape distorts throughout, especially on the pedal steel.

3) "Kaw-Liga" is a great freaking song. See also 7/30/70, another Thursday at the Matrix.

4) Garcia's tone on the pedal steel is unlike any other I hear him achieving. I doubt he's technically very proficient, but the soaring sound of the instrument grabs you right in the lonely spot more than a few times.

5) This copy is missing a second iteration of "Last Lonely Eagle" - see my notes, which conclude that it probably was played in both sets, since the second LLE segues over continuous tape into the show-closing "Six Days On The Road". More generally, I suspect that this reel #1 and reel #3, with a reel #2 MIA from public circulation.

LISTENING NOTES

New Riders of the Purple Sage
Matrix
3138 Fillmore Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
August 7, 1969 (Thursday)
70 min PNW flac2496 shnid-133326

--15 tracks, 69:53)--

--set I (10 tracks, 43:04)--
t01. [0:27] Kaw-Liga -4:28 [0:14]
t02. If You Hear Me When I'm Leavin'
t03. tuning (1) [1:25]
t04. Superman [3:42] [0:36]
t05. Mama Tried [2:25] [0:02] % [0:11]
t06. Games People Play [5:53] [0:21]
t07. Last Lonely Eagle [5:24] [0:01] % [0:06]
t08. Truck Drivin' Man [3:09] [0:05]
t09. Me And My Uncle [3:30] (2) -4:07
t10. Delilah [3:47] (4) % pre-set II [-0:05]

--set II (5 tracks, 26:48, incomplete)
t11. Long Black Veil [5:44] % [0:06]
t12. All I Ever Wanted [8:02] [0:10]
t13. Henry [3:35] % [0:10]
t14. Don't Take Any Chances [5:21] [0:03]
[MISSING: Last Lonely Eagle ->]
t15. Six Days On The Road (5) [3:30] [0:08]

! ACT1: New Riders Of The Purple Sage
! lineup: John Dawson - rhythm guitar, vocals;
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - pedal steel guitar;
! lineup: David Nelson - lead guitar, vocals;
! lineup: Bob Matthews - bass;
! lineup: Mickey Hart - 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/19690807-01

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1969-08-07-the-matrix-san-francisco-ca/

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/133325 (PNW flac16); http://etreedb.org/shn/133326 (PNW flac24)

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/htd1l

! venue: http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Matrix%20Shows.htm 

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/08/matrix-3138-fillmore-san-francisco-ca.html

! seealso: Arnold, Corry. 2010. August 6-9, 1969 The Matrix, San Francisco New Riders Of The Purple Sage. Lost Live Dead, February 16, URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/02/august-6-9-1969-matrix-san-francisco.html, consulted 6/21/2015.

! historical: The material is pretty primitive ... the official NRPS concert history at http://www.nrps.net/music/1969.html suggests that this is their 6th show, though that would include what are understood to be Garcia/Dawson duets on at least two occasions.  They certainly seem to be trying to find their feet here, and it wouldn't surprise me if this were one of the very first full-band gigs.

! personnel: LIA (comments to this post): "That is absolutely not Phil on bass. He couldn't play this primitively in '69 if he tried. The bass player has a totally different sound & fingering than Phil - he only plays the root notes, crudely & repetitively. I say it's Bob Matthews, unless a two-fingered bass player steps up as candidate."

! setlist: I surmise that we have reel #1 (the set II material) and reel #3 (the end of set II and the show). Furthermore, other dubs of the Peter Kafer tape have a second version of "Last Lonely Eagle" in set II, segueing without tape discontinuity into "Six Days On The Road". I am guessing someone left it off because they thought it extraneous, what with repeats being nearly unheard of in the Garciaverse. But the band the song are brand new, the whole thing feels like an avowed rehearsal, and I would not be surprised to learn that they had tackled it in both sets.

! R: Recording Info: MR > R (Peter Kafer) > 7.5 ips reel (Will Boswell)

! R: Transfer info:  Akai GX636 direct tape head output  > Bottlehead tube tape pre pair Tesla tubes circa 1980  > Apogee Mini Me 24/96  > Apogee Mini DAC monitoring and mastering  > FLAC. Mastered By Matt Smith, April 2015.

! R: seeder comments: Notable gain difference between songs.

! R: stunning SQ in terms of a representation of the source tape. The source tape is super bright and oversaturated, especially on the steel guitar, and the fileset faithfully captures all of that. (What else could it aim to do?)

! P: t01 What an incredible song. Not 100% together, but Hank Williams ... early 2 Garcia's pedal steel lead is just incredible - not the most gifted, but just in terms of the sound he is getting out of the instrument, trying to give acoustic form to that sound in his head.

! t03 (1) JD: "The name of this organization is the New Riders of the Purple Sage, formerly the Murdering Punks." A little later, after some stage chatter. "Oh ... I'm told there's a Murdering Punk left. There's still a murdering punk in the organization. We ain't sayin' ... for the protection of the audience. For the protection of the band, for that matter." Someone says "Let's do that 'Superman' song, JD into mic "the 'Superman' song".

! P: GPP is rather shambolic.

! R: t07 LLE tape warble 4:48, I think I hear some warbling after that.

! P: t08 TDM late 2 kind of falls out of key.

! P: t09 MAMU has that real drippy "Kaw-Liga" feel, very dark.

! t09 (2) "We're gonna play 'Delilah' and then we're gonna take a break for a couple of moments." Someone else: "Then come back and play some more."

! R: t10 more tape warble

! R: t10 (4) "Thank you. Right. //"

! P: t12 AIEW early 3 there is some very ethereal playing that reminds me of some of the bending that Garcia would do in latter-day versions of the Manhattans' "Shining Star" (youtube). Nelson is doing some real nice stuff, is that Nelson, or the steel? Wow, this is some amazing steel ethereality.

! P: t13 Henry mess up ending, but not bad overall, given the other songs.

! P: t14 DTC again there is some real ethereal stuff happening in the guitars.

! P: t15 SDOTR they don't know how to end it. These arrangements are checkered at best. This is a public rehearsal.

! t15 (5) "We're gonna make it home right now. Thank you very much."

NRPS 12/15/73 Winterland w/ guests

Uhhh, wow.

The amazing NRPS archivist Rob Bleetstein not only responded to my query about the source for the NRPS official concert history listing that shows Garcia (guitar) and Sandy Rothman (banjo) sitting in with the New Riders on "Glendale Train", 12/15/73 at Winterland (see also Corry). I say, he not only responded to my query, he went ahead and posted video of the thing at YouTube.

Check it out.

Thank you, Rob.

Since this is JGMF, I'll allow myself a few Garciacentric observations.

Our Hero steps up for a little twirl from about 4:45ff, on Marmaduke's invitation. Not that there's any doubt about provenance, but he's beardless, as he should be during this particular period, wearing what I can only think of as an "Atlanta" dye, similar in pattern to what he wore on 5/10/70.

This is a great little piece of evidence around Garcia's traveling habits. One might have thought he'd stay in the southeast between the Dead's gigs in Atlanta on 12/12 and Tampa on 12/18, but no - back home he goes. Since it seems a safe assumption that the Dead's gear didn't need to breathe the salt air of The City, and thus stayed in the east, Jerry doesn't have his regular guitar, and is playing one I don't recognize here with the New Riders - I assume it's one of Nelson's. Gear heads (not me!) take note.

Sociometrically, I believe this is the only known Garcia-Rothman shared stage until Thanksgiving 1986 (which wasn't really a stage, but was a performance together in front of other people). Garcia would sit in again with the Riders a few months later, at Keystone Berkeley on 2/2/74, and as far as I know would not play live with Nelson again until the same Thanksgiving '86 reunion.
Wow. What a world we live in. Thanks again, Rob!

Dirty Business

Jackson, Blair. 2014. Classic Track - New Riders of the Purple Sage, 'Dirty Business' Mix Online, January 1, 2014. URL
http://mixonline.com/classic-tracks/classic_track_-_new_riders_of_the_purple_sage_dirty_business/, accessed 10/3/2014.

I have had this in my "xfer-incoming" folder since it was published, still need to read it. It looks awesome. Note to self.

NRPS w/o Jerry, pre-Buddy?

I had found some listings from June that had NRPS playing at a time when Garcia was known to be unavailable, June 21, 1971. I wondered what they did for pedal steel, but the question became moot when I scrolled ahead a day and found a cancellation notice.

Questions, answers, questions: I have found another conflicting listing between NRPS and GD in the pre-Buddy Cage period: August 26, 1971, with the Dead playing Gaelic Park in the Bronx, New Riders are scheduled to play the Longbranch Saloon in Berkeley (per JLW "Something Else" listing, SFC, August 25, 1971, p. 25).

I wonder if they played as a Dawson-Nelson-Torbert-Dryden quartet that night?

NRPS: July 24-25, 1971, New Monk - New to The List

listing: "Rock, Jazz This Week in Bay Area," SFC, July 23, 1971, p. 45.

New Riders are scheduled to play Freddie Herrera's New Monk Saturday-Sunday, July 24-25, 1971. Commander Cody slated to open. New to The List.

NRPS June 21-23, 1971 Boarding House - CANCELED

San Francisco Chronicle, June 21, 1971, p. 47.

Here's an interesting one that I don't quite know what to do with - NRPS and Rowan Bothers playing the Boarding House June 21-23, 1971.

Of course, Garcia was in France on 6/21, and even gaining back 7 or 8 hours he probably couldn't have been back to the City to play on Tuesday (6/22), though it's not impossible. Wednesday 6/23, however, our hero certainly could have been back and playing.

I do wonder who was playing pedal steel these first two nights, if the NRPS ended up playing?

**update, 5 minutes later **

Sometimes the answers to our questions are closer than we think. From SFC 6/22/71, p. 37:

I guess that's all I  have to say about that.