These Listening Notes May Be A Touch Unreliable: JGB at Orpheum, December 2, 1988

LN jg1988-12-02.jgb.all.aud-webber-small.xxxxxx.flac1644

In my neck of the scientific woods, reliability refers to the reproducibility of empirical measurement. My  measurement is reliable to the extent that another scholar can follow my procedure (which must be made transparent, of course) and arrive at the same value. For measurement that involves subjective judgment (how prevalent is corruption in country X, or whatever), we have multiple people make independent valuations and correlate their judgments. This, we call intercoder reliability.

Why do I mention this here? Well, I hate to break it to you, reader, but the quality judgments I offer in my listening notes maaaayyyy not satisfy conventional reliability standards. Heck, intercoder reliability between myself at two different points in time would probably fail to satisfy reviewer #2 at any given journal. I have mentioned this many times before - my own subjective feeling surely colors my evaluation of what I am listening to. And it just came up again. I recently posted how disappointed I was with JGB 12/3/88 at the SF Orpheum, wondering whether it was the weakest show of that year in which not many were played but many, such as 2/5, 7/10 and 10/31 were very good. I then decided to check out 12/2, and in listening notes completed 12/1/2020 I was thinking it might be just as bad. But now, two weeks later, I picked up where I left off, and I found it to be better. In particular, I have some stuff going on in life that makes "Like A Road Leading Home" feel really helpful, even essential, and sure enough I dug it. I liked the rest of set II, too. Nothing tremendous, but solid. So now I just can't tell if Garcia finished the show relatively well, or if it's just my head space. I dunno.

"The Way You Do The Things You Do" comes back after almost three years away (2/21/86), Jerrybase tells me, which is one of the little reasons I love Jerrybase so much.

Jerry sounds very fatigued throughout most of the show, and just about every song flubs some lyrics. Nothing stretches out. I remember not being blown away by the Caesar's Palace shows last time I listened to them (maybe 11/4?), I used to love the Wilterns but now am wondering how they hold up, and 12/2 and 12/3 find Jerry sounding worn out and sluggish. I don't quite know what to make of all of that, because, as noted, I have always loved the first half (or so) of the year. Maybe it really is a tale of two semesters. Or maybe I listened to the early part of the year in a mood to find good stuff, and here am checking out the last shows of the year a bit grumpier. Dunno.

Sean Webber-Small was a legendary relatively early digital taper, and I believe this pull is his. Crowd around him was rather chatty. There's some taper talk at notes 1 and 2, the second of which has someone near or even with the taper talking about how Stewart charged him 50 bucks for the tickets. When I hear "Stewart", I now think of the SNL skit "The Californians", and want to ask "w-w-what are you d-doing here, Stew-wart?" Face was $18.50, so maybe he was counting his ill-gotten lucre.

The Orpheum was Wolfgang's (and thus Jerry's) base of operations while the Warfield was being renovated, I believe. Ol Jer (outside the GD) played it once in '76, three times here in '88, and four times in '89.

Listening notes below the fold.

Jerry Garcia Band
Orpheum Theatre
1192 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
December 2, 1988 (Friday)
Webber-Small MAP noshnid

--set I (6 tracks, 50:11)--
s1t01. //How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [#3:49] [0:54]
s1t02. Waiting For A Miracle [6:44] [2:24]
s1t03. I Shall Be Released [8:48] [0:31]
s1t04. That's What Love Will Make You Do [7:45] (2) [1:02]
s1t05. Stop That Train [7:30] [1:52]
s1t06. Tangled Up in Blue [8:38] (3) [0:12]

--set II (7 tracks, 52:47)--
s2t01. ambience [0:17]
s2t02. Harder They Come [10:16] [0:39]
s2t03. Mission In The Rain [9:08] [0:21]
s2t04. Like A Road Leading Home [8:30] [0:27]
s2t05. Think [6:07] [0:21]
s2t06. Evangeline [3:35] [0:08]
s2t07. Don't Let Go [12:06] (4) [0:49]

! ACT1: JGB #21b (THE Jerry Garcia Band)
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing vocals.

JGMF:

! Recording: 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/19881202-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/19969 (this source tape, shnf);  https://etreedb.org/shn/20833 (Reutelhuber MAC).

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

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/mr3oJuLND6u

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/08/orpheum-theatre-1192-market-street.html

! historical: Bob Weir opened.

! seealso: "Weakest Show of '88? JGB, December 3, 1988, Orpheum SF," URL http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2020/11/weakest-show-of-88-jgb-december-3-1988.html

! R: field recordist: Sean Webber-Small

! R: field recording gear: 2x Schoeps CMC44 > Sony PCM F1 > Sony SL2500

! R: lineage: Sony SL2500 playback > Sony SL360 Beta/1 > Sony SL-HF450 playback > Sony PCM-601 > Digital Domain VSP-P > Digital Audio Labs Card Deluxe soundcard > Cool Edit 2000 > Shntool > FLAC. Transfer and FLAC encoding by David Minches.

! R: Relatively low levels, but quite a nice tape. Some up-close clapping at start. May have been taped "under the overhang"

! R: s1t01 HSII cuts in, muffled to start. There is up-close clapping. It would seem that someone asks the lady to stop clapping around 2:30, but she declines the request. She does seem to stop after this tune, mostly.

! P: s1t02 WFAM JG sounds tired. Lots of lyrical misses. JG guitar run 3:30ff totally flaccid. No bite at all.

! song: That's What Love Will Make You Do (s1t04): returning from almost three years away (2/21/86).

! P: s1t04 TWLWMYD languidly paced.

! s1t04 (1) Taper talk: "If you could, just make sure my jacket's underneath the seat."

! s1t05 (2) Taper talk: "People are really fucking noisy." Stewart charged someone nearby $50 for the seats.

! s1t06 (3) JG: "We'll be back in a little while."

! P: s2t02 HTC lyrical flubs all over the first verse. Rough voice - he sounds exhausted this night.

! P: s2t03 MITR pretty up tempo, though we get a first mumblyverse right out of the date. Garcia sounds absolutely exhausted. His voice is quite rough.

! R: s2t03 MITR muffled for about 10-15 seconds near end.

! P: s2t04 LARLH note that I am coming back on 12/15 after leaving off here on 12/1. And in the meantime, I have had some life stuff that makes me particularly open to being soothed by LARLH. And, soothed I am. It ain't perfect, but it works for me right now.

! P: s2t05 Think this song killed in 1988, so I have high hopes. Still sounds just a little sluggish, and he trips over a few words. Nice raunchy tone 1:20ff, but not super loud. After Melvin's turn, Jerry decides to play loud 4:20ff, and he does so. Very good grunge for a short turn, and that inspires him to put some oomph into "give up my woman".

! P: s2t06 DLG pretty straightforward start, goes into the jam part 4:22, 4:57 interesting pull, more over 5, sustain. A nice little jump up at 7:59. After a decent little exploration, Jerry signals the return around 10:15, jumps right into the last verse 10:35 or so. Hits a cool low singing note late 11.

! s2t07 (4) JG: [inaudible?] "See y'all later."

Weakest Show of '88? JGB, December 3, 1988, Orpheum SF

I absolutely love 1988 JGB. There's not much of it, but it's mostly all light and bouncy and healthy sounding and interactive and good. He does speak from stage here, as he did on 7/10/88. That's kind of noteworthy, I guess.

That said, just spun 12/3/88 and it left me whelmed. Bill Reutelhuber made a characteristically great tape, but the show never really goes anywhere. At around 50 minutes each, these sets are quite short. Maybe ol Jer was saving himself for the next night's Bridge Benefit. I dunno.

update: the night before no great shakes, either

LN jg1988-12-03.jgb.all.aud-reutelhuber.20834.shn2flac

Jerry Garcia Band
Orpheum Theatre
1192 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
December 3, 1988 (Saturday)
Reutelhuber shnid-20834 shn2flac

--set I (6 tracks, 47:58)--
s1t01. [0:09] Cats Under The Stars [8:02] [0:20]
s1t02. [0:20] Forever Young [8:27] (1) [1:15]
s1t03. Run For The Roses [5:47] [0:16]
s1t04. Someday Baby [6:15] [0:29]
s1t05. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [9:18] ->
s1t06. Deal [7:07] (1) [0:14] %

--set II (6 tracks, 51:02)--
s2t01. [0:11] Harder They Come [11:18] [0:45]
s2t02. Waiting For A Miracle [6:06] [0:27]
s2t03. Stop That Train [9:00] [0:36]
s2t04. Think [6:04] [0:05] %
s2t05. Throw Out The Lifeline [4:55] [0:14]
s2t06. Tangled Up In Blue [10:45] (2) [0:35]

! ACT1: JGB #21b (THE Jerry Garcia Band)
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper - drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing vocals.

JGMF:

! Recording: 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/19881203-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/19970 (Webber-Small MAP shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/20834 (this fileset)

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

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/mr3oJuLND6u

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/08/orpheum-theatre-1192-market-street.html

! R: field recordist: Bill Reutelhuber

! R: field recording gear: 2x Nakamichi 700/CP701 (in hat) -> Reutelhuber P/S -> dbx type II Encoder -> Cm (Sony TCD5m)

! R: Transfer: Cm (Nakamichi Deck/Azmituth Aligned) -> Mytek Digital 8X96ADC -> Nuendo (using Waves Q10 and Waves C4, 24bit/44.1k) -> SHN. Transfer by Bill Reutelhuber, tracked and SHN'd By Charlie Miller charliemiller87@earthlink.net 12/1/03

! R: really nice tape.

! P: s1t01 CUTS totally unobjectionable, doesn't take too many turns at the end.

! s1t02 (1) Something happening that I can't quite figure out, but Jerry give the crowd a showbiz "Thank you, thank you", to general appreciation.

! P: s1t03 RFTR slowly paced, and some lyrical flubbing out of the gate, as had also happened with Forever Young. I know he played the night before, but he's sound a little sluggish so far.

! P: s1t05 TNTDODD hadn't been played in over a year (10/27/87). I like the intense stacking and picking guitar work 4:20ff, sliding down a string. 5 Melvin takes a turn, not as arranged, I think, but Jerry had already departed from it by doing verses out of order, I think. So he comps for Melvin, who swirls his stuff for a minute, JG digs a little deeper late 5 over 6.

! P: s1t06 Deal also a little sluggish

! s1t06 (1) JG: "Thanks a lot. We'll be back in a few minutes."

! P: s2t01 HTC I had been hoping they'd come out with more juice in set II, but this still crawls out of the gate a little bit.

! P: s2t02 WFAM also drags. So far, just about everything has.

! P: s2t03 STT there we go, around 2:20ish JG plucking some nice light stuff that sounds lovely.

! P: s2t04 Think - I could defend the argument that the '88 versions of this tune are the best versions.

! s2t06 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot. [inaudible]."

At Wolfgang's Orpheum: JGB with Clarence Clemons, March 3, 1989

The success of the Dead's Touch of Grey didn't only limit that band's venue (and even city) options. It also impacted ol' Midas's bar band. Freddie Herrera's last remaining club, the 700-seat Stone on Broadway, didn't stand a chance, and a four-night Garcia Band run on May 27-28 and 30-31, 1987 brought the curtain down on Jerry and Freddie's professional relationship. It's hard to know how Jerry felt about moving up in the world and bringing his solo band's gigs into Bill Graham's orbit - maybe it was a mixture of pride at his success and chagrin at having to cut Freddie loose, or maybe it was one, the other, or neither.

Regardless, from 1987 to the end, Bill was Jerry's local promoter, starting with the direct-from-Broadway acoustic-electric shows at the Warfield just after Thanksgiving of that year. And, again, from 1990 to the end Garcia Band services were held there, at 982 Market, 3,000 congregants at a time getting some rel'g'n in between Dead shows at the Coliseum and Shoreline. In between times, though, Bill undertook major renovations at homefield, and Jerry's relatively infrequent local gigs in 1988 and 1989 happened in other spaces, most commonly the Orpheum Theatre a little ways down the street at 1192 Market. It was a great room, and the Orpheum gigs all have that nice, clean feel present throughout the period, with a healthy, happy Jerry doing his low-key R&B, Beatles, Dylan, and Garcia-Hunter material in tasty spaces with the super-consonant supporting cast of JGB #21b - THE Jerry Garcia Band. With all involved at least "tryin' to have a reasonably good time", as ol' Jer put it, and mostly succeeding, it's never a bad instinct to call up one of these Orpheum gigs and hit play.

The Friday, March 3, 1989 Garcia Band gig fits the bill just fine. There's nothing bad here, and there's plenty of good stuff, for me especially in Deal and Harder They Come. Clarence Clemons mostly bores me (when not annoying), and for the life of me I can't figure out why Jerry liked having him along for most of the year. I just don't love the Illinois Jacquet-established R&B sax style, I guess (blasphemy alert). Blair wrote up a short review in the Golden Road that raved, and you should certainly trust his judgment over mine, but on this listen (following partial listens at least in 2011 and 2014, according to my notes), the show didn't absolutely slay me. It was good and solid and fun, and Taz Yamaguchi (like Bill Reutelhuber) pulled a great tape, but the show never achieved escape velocity, for me. YMMV.

Jerry Garcia Band

Orpheum Theatre

1192 Market Street

San Francisco, CA 94102

March 3, 1989 (Friday) - 8 PM

Taz MAC shnid-94638

--set I (8 tracks, 56:36)--

s1t01. ... Let's Spend The Night Together [#6:19] (1) [0:32]

s1t02. Stop That Train [6:45] [0:18]

s1t03. Forever Young [8:35] [0:04]

s1t04. Run For The Roses [5:34] [0:16]

s1t05. Like A Road Leading Home [7:45] [0:05] % [0:08]

s1t06. (2) That's What Love Will Make You Do [8:27] [0:08] % [0:05]

s1t07. I Hope It Won't Be This Way Always [4:38] ->  

s1t08. Deal [6:52] [0:06]

--set II (8 tracks, 75:39)--

s2t01. The Harder They Come [11:39] (3) [0:48]

s2t02. Waiting For A Miracle [5:44] [1:06]

s2t03. Someday Baby [[6:39] [1:12]

s2t04. And It Stoned Me [7:16] % [0:17]

s2t05. Evangeline [4:25] [0:04] %

s2t06. Don't Let Go [15:01] [0:23]

s2t07. That Lucky Old Sun [9:52] ->

s2t08. Tangled Up In Blue [10:52] (4) [0:22]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #21b

! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;

! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;

! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;

! lineup: David Kemper - drums;

! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - vocals;

! lineup: Gloria Jones - vocals;

! guest: Clarence Clemons - saxophone.

JGMF:

! Recording: 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/19890303-01

! JGC: https://jerrygarcia.com/1989-03-03

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/17554 (Schoeps CMC 34shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/21091 (Bill Reutelhuber shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/86325 (Schoeps CMC34 flac1644); https://etreedb.org/shn/94638 (this fileset).

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/mr3oJuLND6u

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/08/orpheum-theatre-1192-market-street.html

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

! review: [positive] Golden Road no. 19 (Spring 1989), p. 10. Blair loved the show, and said "Jerry looked like he was in heaven all night." I don't love it as much as Blair did.

! historical: $18.50. Garcia played the Orpheum for Wolfgang in '88 and '89, while the Warfield was in renovations. Specific dates: 5/7/88, 12/2-3/88, 1/27-28/89, and 3/3-4/89. He'd enter the Warfield in December '89 and stay there until the end.

! seealso: JGMF, "Mahalo, Jer," URL http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2014/05/ln-jg1989-01-27jgballsbd.html; JGMF: "'We're Having a Reasonably Good Time Here' (LN jg1989-01-28.jgb.all.sbd-goetz-retracked.28352.shn2flac)," URL http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2014/06/ln-jg1989-01-28jgballsbd-goetz.html

! R: field recordist: Tazuo Yamaguchi

! R: field recording gear: 2x Nakamichi 700/CP701 (in hat) > Reutelhuber P/S -> dbx type II Encoder -> Sony TCD5M

! R: field recording location: FOB, Row L

! R: Transfer and FLAC encoding by David Minches: Master played back on Nak Dragon > Grace Lunatec V3 (24/96) > Digital Audio Labs Card Deluxe> Adobe Audition 2.0 > (dither/downsample) > FLAC encoding

! R: sounds pretty good to me.

! P: old notes: Set I is lackluster.

! R: s1t01 LSTNT first 2 minutes patched from SHNID-21091 (same recording equipment, processed by Bill Reutelhuber and Charlie Miller)

! P: s1t01 LSTNT guitar comes in @ 1:17, nicely. I can already tell that I am not a fan of CC's work. JG steps back for some nice big guitar work late 3 over 4. They end it in lieu of something else.

! s1t01 (1) JG: "Thank you very much."

! P: s1t05 LARLH CC's entrance is not graceful. Lyric flub 3- mark. Very nice soaring guitar solo ca. over 4, soaring again 4:33, but I wish it were a little louder in the mix.

! P: s1t06 TWLWMYD (2) false start, sort of, first 0:12. CC lead turn 4:30ish ff, still going over 5 - this is good. Some big drum part 5:33ish. Melvin takes a lead 5:44ff. Outstanding guitar grab right after 7-min mark, singing enthusiastically. In 2011 I had said this didn't light me up. Right now (6/6/2014), I am loving it.

! P: s1t08 Deal big guitar starts at 3:30. Old notes say "it is smokin' hot - wow. 5:38 is just one reference." And, again, 10 years later (!), I went to start typing when Jerry was shredding, and it was at 5:38. Not sure this whole version smokes, per se, but that peak is a good one. Pretty short version.

! P: s2t01 HTC outstanding. Garcia is growling 10 minute mark, really giving it a lot of oomph. Nice!

! s2t01 (3) JG: "I'd like to thank Clarence Clemons for sittin' in with us tonight."

! P: s2t06 DLG CC is very repetitive for awhile in 7. 8:13 JG breaks out of the rhythm. Clean return to song at 13:10.

! s2t08 (4) JG: "Thanks a lot. See ya later."

Nick on the Dead's July '76 Orpheum shows

http://deadthinking.blogspot.com/2016/01/orpheum-theatre-july-1976.html

Great write up, wet your whistle for the forthcoming Dave's Pick.

We're Having a Reasonably Good Time Here

LN jg1989-01-28.jgb.all.sbd-goetz-retracked.28352.shn2flac

Love this show. Two snaps up.

A few bullets.

First, I had a cryptic note-to-self in the 1/27/89 listening notes to elaborate on the "a year too late" thesis. In a nutshell, it's my argument that when JGB recorded itself in 1990 at the Warfield for what would become the eponymous 1991 double-live record (Arista 18690, August 1991), it did so after its peak, which I date from ca. 2/5/88-5/22/89. They got on a roll and started rolling tape, but what they got in the can wasn't the crème-de-la-crème.

Don't get me wrong, I love the release (and the 1997 followup, How Sweet It Is [Grateful Dead Records GDCD 4051, 1997], material from the same 1990 Warfield shows). Some of the tunes, such as "Waiting For A Miracle", were better for having matured a bit. Others, including the amazing take on Dylan's "Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)", weren't in the repertoire yet. So it's not a disaster, by any means. I just happen to think that 1988-1989 JGB is much fresher, peppier, livelier and tighter than the 1990 vintage.

At some point, with more time, I'd elaborate. But not now.

Second, during "Waiting For A Miracle", someone appears to make her way up on stage. Garcia, who sounds healthy and happy and alive during this wonderful period, deftly rips the e-brake on the tune. As one of the ladies says, "He didn't miss a beat!" Garcia, grinning behind his beard, chats up the crowd:

Hey, if any more of you are gonna lose it, wait till between songs, OK? Y'know?
[JG laughs. Kemper splashes, one of the ladies says "Yeah Jerry!"]
Thanks. We'd appreciate that.
[Everyone onstage is cracking up. "Yeah Jerry!" The ladies are retelling the story to each other.]
We're having a reasonably good time here, you know what I mean?

Garcia sounds amazing, relaxed and happy. Listen to the ladies talking and laughing here - awesome. We know that Garcia very rarely addressed the crowd in any direct way in the later years, really not much after 1970 or so. During his Rock Bottom period, his mutterances would cover the set break and the show closing. But during this 1988-1989 period, a few times, he joked and laughed with the crowd. He's no freaking oracle, of course, and I don't want to be one of those "Jerry spoke!" guys. But we can't ignore the data that pertain to health and openness, any more than we can ignore the dogs that don't bark, when he couldn't get his chin off his chest. Engaging the audience this way is engaging humanity this way, and that was something that Garcia found exceptionally difficult to do as his fame (and isolation) grew. It's also an indicator of health: the sicker he was, the less he engaged, ceteris paribus.

Third, I noted in discussing 8/11/84 at the Caldwell College nunnery that Garcia played "Like A Road Leading Home" just after a stage-crashing incident. Well, on 1/28/89 he did it again. It's probably a coincidence. But there weren't that many stage crashers at JGB shows, I have just come across two such incidents, and both times Garcia serenades the tripper with this soothing Nix-Penn confection (Allan).

When the road gets too long
And you run all out of song
And the pain gets too much
For you to bear

Chorus
Turn around, turn around
Turn around, and I'll be there
Like a road, like a road
Leading home

Fourth, this is just a great show from any period. I really, really like the "Don't Let Go" this night, much stronger than the night before (as is "Let's Spend The Night Together", though that one is still too tame for my taste, compared to the Nicky Hopkins-era versions). But every song positively crackles. See my notes below. But don't take my word for it. About ten years ago, Rob Goetz posted (somewhere, I can't recall) reviews of many 1989 Garcia Band shows. Here's how he summarizes this one, based on the second set alone.

I am truly impressed. ... On this particular night Jerry’s jamming was profound. Each song from this second set is exceptional and shows that Jerry’s abilities were not in question. For many years I was of the opinion that Garcia just couldn’t cook in the late 80s through the 90s. On this particular night, 1/28/1989, Jerry provided all the evidence I need to throw that opinion straight out the window. On 1/28/1989 Jerry delivered one of his finest performances ever. I can’t wait to hear the first set – whenever it is released. ... Bravo to Jerry for this truly special performance.

Oh yeah, one more thing (so, fifth): Goetz also notes how sloppy the GD were in February 1989, saying that whatever was bugging Garcia at the Kaiser, for example, didn't seem to be bugging him a week prior. Big contrast, from this loose and inspired playing to pure shambolism in the span of seven days.

Listening notes below the fold.

Mahalo, Jer: JGB, January 27, 1989 at the Orpheum

 LN jg1989-01-27.jgb.all.sbd-moses.84866.flac1644

Can't believe I haven't annotated any 1989 Garcia Band. For my money, 1988-1989 is one of the great JGB periods, which a fresh and healthy Jerry (that's what starts to break down, for me, 1990-1991), solid band, some fresh material, rehearsed arrangements, and lots of classic American songs. Nothing too crazy, lots of good music.

Friday, January 27, 1989 finds Garcia healthy and frisky after, I believe, an extended Maui scuba vacation. This is his first public appearance since the New Year's Eve Dead show, and the first Garcia Band gig since early December (2-3), also at the Orpheum. The Dead would play four shambolic Chinese New Year shows at Oakland's Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium starting a week from this night, so 1/27 really does feel like warming up.

It's hard to listen to any show in isolation, which is what I'd really like to do here - put some fresh ears on a show that has a positive connotation in my head, just listen to it on its own terms. But I can't. I know I am a fan of the next night, and the next Orpheum weekend (March 3-4), which I also really like, and the rest of the spring, which is a peak period for me.

But I can't hear this one out of its context, and the greatness of the context leads me to sympathize with this show. Where vocals are flubbed (as they really are throughout the night), I hear Jerry shaking out the cobwebs. Where things are a little brief, I call them "tight". When entropy strikes arrangement, I give them unearned credit for how they meant it to sound. I try not to beat myself up about it - it probably is a good show. But I also think it's true that I am looking ahead to what's coming.

Setlist Notes

It's certainly an interesting show. Here's the setlist with some notes. 

JGB setlist 1/27/89 Orpheum Theatre

"Let's Spend The Night Together" (Jerrybase) is a great song on any measure, and most every Garcia version is excellent. The fact that he played this so well and often with Nicky Hopkins gives it special resonance. In the Hopkins era it served as a "jam vehicle", stretching out and thus not usually played on a night with another long number such as "Don't Let Go". This night we get both, but LSTNT, coming out of 13 years of mothballs (last played 1/28/76), clocks in at a brisk 6:47. This resurrected version stayed much tighter, usually clocking in 10 minutes, I'd estimate. This was the first time Jerry ever opened a show with it, and he'd only do that one more time, five weeks later on 3/3/89. It's still a work in progress, but I have always argued that toying with the repertoire is an unalloyed good - when he's working up new material, Garcia is engaged. (The version from the next night, 1/28/89, is much hotter and is overall outstanding.)

"Waiting For A Miracle" (Allan | deaddisc | JB): Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn penned this lovely paean to popular hope amidst war and poverty in Managua, Nicaragua in winter 1986. Jackie LaBranch heard it on the radio and brought it to the Garcia Band (Jackson 1989, 44), which sandpapered it a little, roughened it up some, and put a radio-worthy version on the double-disc live Jerry Garcia Band (Arista 18690, August 1991). This is a great example of the idea that fresh repertoire reflects fresh Jerry - here, he not only agreed to tackle a new number, but Garcia -I presume, since he's the one who has to sing 'em- made some lyrical edits that really worked, scuffling for a nickel and struggling for a dime instead of struggling for a dollar and scuffling for a dime, looking more toward the future than toward the past, standing up tall instead of proud. This is probably just driven by how singable the different sounds could be for this particular singer, but Garcia certainly made the song his own.

"I Hope It Won't Be This Way Always" (Allan | deaddisc | JB): The canonical version is from the Angelic Gospel Singers' 1968 Nashboro release Jesus Paid It All (deaddisc). Founded in 1944 by Margaret Wells Allison and her sister, adopting its first male member in 1961, and performing and touring about sixty years, the Angelic Gospel Singers are dubbed by the Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music "the longest consistently selling female gospel group in African American history" (via wiki). A staple in observant African American households, they're probably rare in white homes and largely silent in white cultural accounts. John Kahn's place was an exception – he loved and curated a huge record collection around inter alia every black American musical idiom, including church music, and brought this one to the Band from the likely-sounding compilation All Time Gospel Hits (perhaps Nashboro LP 7034, 1966) (Jackson 1989, 44).

As is so often the case, Blair Jackson was on the job, reporting on "Waiting For A Miracle" and "I Hope It Won't Be This Way Always" in the Golden Road, along with another new-to-the-Garcia-Band-repertoire number, "Throw Out The Lifeline", again brought in by Kahn from all-male North Carolina gospel group the Sensational Nightingales.

Race, Class, Gender, and JGB #21b

If I were feeling expansive, I'd add to Blair's characteristically excellent account a little analysis of the race, gender and class contours laid bare by the advent of these songs to the JGB repertoire.

On race, I have argued (WIP) that THE Jerry Garcia Band, #21b, the one that ran almost continuously for over a decade from summer 1983, integrated two of the three musics that formed the core of Garcia's musical life: white and black American roots and rootsy contemporary music. (The third, electronica, was supplied by the contemporary Grateful Dead.) In the past, Garcia had maintained different bands for these purposes, playing lots of contemporary (and some older) black music with Merl and white roots music in his country and bluegrass side projects. After the mid-1970s, the he starts bringing in more Dylan and Garcia-Hunter material, i.e., rootsy white contemporary Americana, refines the (white) bluegrass offerings to a few Peter Rowan originals (Mississippi Moon and Midnight Moonlight), and leavens everything with a big dose of R&B. JGB #21b was a racially integrated American musical act. It's hard for me to overstate the importance of this as a statement about Garcia's musical interests and commitments. I am fascinated that Kahn brought in the black church number while Jackie LaBranch brought in the deeply white and Canadian Cockburn's tune.

I am also fascinated by the gender and "class" contours of the fresh material. Jackie LaBranch brought "Waiting For A Miracle" to the group, a black woman who was definitely part of the band rather than its leadership (the Garcia-Kahn duopoly). Maybe every band (and leadership) worth its salt alights to a good song when it comes along – that'd be the hope. But I think that there are loads of bandleaders who weren't really looking for suggestions from the backup singers. The whole jazz band leader trip, show business itself, cuts against that kind of democracy. The Garcia Band has often been lauded for its relatively egalitarian ethos, especially early on and especially when it came to divvying up receipts from a bar gig. But as it got more lucrative, this has to have given way – does anyone really think that the band got the same amount as Jerry for a 1990s gig at the Warfield? I don't think so. But it probably wasn't a straight line, and I conjecture that it was down as much, at times, to Garcia's level of engagement as to the bottom line. In late 1988, Garcia is healthy, open, thriving, engaged. "Jackie's got a song? Let's try it." As either Jackie or Gloria can be heard repeatedly on this and other contemporary Garcia Band tapes, I'd give that a "Yeah, Jerry!"

Misc.

Why did Garcia play the Orpheum for Bill Graham six times in four months in late 1988-early 1989 (December 2-3, January 27-28 and March 3-4), and then never again? I assume the Warfield was being renovated, but I just don't know. In 1990, the Garcia-Graham partnership would move a quarter mile down Market and would never leave.

The poster advertises a special guest. Was this meant to be Clarence Clemons, or was there an opener? I don't know.

Anyway, I love this period. The next night is better than 1/27, but this show has its moments.

Jerry Garcia Band

Orpheum Theatre
1192 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

January 27, 1989 (Friday) - 8 PM

sbd-moses flac1644 shnid-84866

--set I (8 tracks, 52:04)--

s1t01. Let's Spend The Night Together [6:47] [0:41]

s1t02. Stop That Train [6:40] [0:25]

s1t03. Someday Baby [5:34] [0:50]

s1t04. Run For The Roses [5:22] [0:20]

s1t05. Mississippi Moon [7:41] (1) [0:49]

s1t06. Waiting For A Miracle [5:05] [0:03] %

s1t07. I Hope It Won't Be This Way, Always [4:35] ->

s1t08. Deal [7:07] (2) [0:07] %

--set II (7 tracks, 62:53)--

s2t01. The Harder They Come [10:14] [0:20]

s2t02. And It Stoned Me [5:52] [0:14] % [0:02]

s2t03. Knockin' On Heaven's Door [8:19] [0:37]

s2t04. Think [5:57] [0:06] %

s2t05. Don't Let Go// [14:36] %

s2t06. That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day) [9:18] [0:09]

s2t07. Midnight Moonlight [7:05] (3) [0:04] %

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #21b

! lineup: Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals;

! lineup: John Kahn - bass;

! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;

! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - backing vocals;

! lineup: Gloria Jones - backing vocals;

! lineup: David Kemper - drums.

JGMF:

! Recording: 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/19890127-01.  On poster there is a special guest listed. Was that supposed to have been Clarence Clemons (sp?), or was there an opener?

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1989-01-27-orpheum-theatre-san-francisco-ca/

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/14015 (Dan Cole MAC shnf SBEs, deprecated); http://etreedb.org/shn/16577 (Dan Cole MAC shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/84866 (sbd flac1644, this fileset).

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/08/orpheum-theatre-1192-market-street.html

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/J6txb

! band: JGB #21b, THE Jerry Garcia Band (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html).

! historical: the "year too late" thesis. Sounds to me like they are thinking about recordable arrangements. Also of note, a few things. First JGB of 1989, and first JGB gig in almost two months! The prior shows (December 2-3, 1988) were also at the Orpheum, as were the next two (March 3-4, 1989). That's six gigs in a three month span at the same room, which he'd never play again, and which he had only played a few times in the previous 15 years (twice, to be exact - 5/21/76 and 5/7/88). What gives? I wonder if the Warfield was being renovated?

! R: main source (through s2t04): unknown soundboard tape > ? > A (big) cardboard box, maxell XL2S90 cassette dolby B > Nakamichi CR3A,(Dolby B) eq out  > hp computer > Sound Forge (vol@5.5db) > CD wave >  Flac > you!

! R: "Guessing 2nd or 3rd gen SBD", to which I'd say, "at most". This is a nice tape.

! R: second source (s2t05-s2t07): MAC (Sony D6C w/Sony stereo mic) > 1 cassette > Nakamichi CR3A playback onto HP Computer (no dolby) > Sound Forge Vol@ 5.5DB > CD Wave > Flac7.

! R: transferred by John Moses 5-7-07.

! R: s1t01 maybe fast? Jerry's guitar is buried in the mix, organ very prominent.

! P: s1t01 LSTNT Too bad the guitar is so low in the mix, because Jerry sounds on his game. @ 3:15 this is a very well rehearsed-sounding return from the break. Jerry's soloing 5-min mark sounds great. I want to check out an audience recording. Tight stop.

! P: s1t03 Someday Baby JG flubs the first verse. But after that he is singing very nicely, sounds great on this soundboard tape! Melvin big lead late 2, very forward in the mix and sounding strong. Arrangement gets a little squirrely again later, and Jerry just closes up shop.

! P: s1t04 RFTR this sounds great. Jerry sounds amazing here.

! s1t05 (1) after MM, as after several other tracks, one can hear the ladies talking. Here, one of them says "That was real good", and I can't disagree with her.

! P: s1t06 vocal flubs on WFAM, but he's giving it his all. Seems like a bunch of songs have that profile this night. I think Gar is performing courageously, with great ease and fluidity. @ 3:12 someone misses the change, things get a little loose in the cage for a bit. Extra vocal effort 3:30, "like the ones that DIE, tryin' to set the ay ay ayngels in us free"! Gar is extemporizing vocally, in lieu of remembering the words. But they hadn't been playing this long.

! song: WFAM (s1t06): hadn't been played much. xxx

! song: IHIWBTWA first time played. Next night maybe second, and maybe that's it?

! setlist: do a setlist analysis. xxx

! s1t08 (2) JG: "We'll be back in a few minutes."

! P: s1 gets good points for energy, but it's a little sloppy. First show of the year, first show in xxx weeks! I have in my mind that Garcia had probably just been scuba diving in Hawaii before this. He sounds clean as a whistle. And to those who don't like such speculation, to heck with ya. s2 is good. This is probably an average show from an above-average period, really showing Jerry rested, relaxed, and playing well.

! P: s2t04 Think some very heavy guitar work in the 2-min range. Melvin steps up 2:49, playing nicely. More very heavy guitar 4:45 forward, "give up my woman!" over 5 mark.

! P: s2t05 DLG more vocal flubbing at the start of the song. Garcia's shaking the cobwebs out. Very exceptional work on DLG, using his voice to push his guitar, as if by extending his diaphgram he's just moving his guitar grasp just a little bit.

! R: s2t05 DLG cuts out, not much missing

! R: s2t06 TLOS level adjustment early on

! s2t07 (3) JG: "Thanks a lot, we'll see ya later."

REFERENCES:

Jackson, Blair. 1989. Roots. Golden Road no. 19 (Spring): 44.