Segueing Out of Stony Brook: JGB in Pritchard Gym, SUNY Stony Brook, December 4, 1983

Lawn Guy Land, and especially SUNY Stony Brook, stands in the pantheon as one of the ground zero sites of the birth and development of the East Coast Deadhead and, by derivation, of the East Coast Garcia Freak. The Dead played Pritchard Gym on campus very early on, and, as so often happened, the Garcia Band followed, playing it in '77, '80, and, finally, on December 4, 1983.

Garcia's Bands in Pritchard Gym, SUNY Stony Brook. Source: Jerrybase.

The fall '83 JGB tour, undertaken largely by bus, bears all the hallmarks of this year in Our Hero's life, a little grungy, previewing the troubles that would become even more marked over the next few years --shorter sets, vocal limitations-- but playing LOUD, raging guitar and generally making up in enthusiasm what it lacked in precision.

His Stony Brook swan song illustrates all of this. Here's the lede from a show review in the campus paper, The Statesman:

In today's world of molded plastic superstars Jerry Garcia is a breath of fresh air. Rick Springfield fans wouldn't appreciate Garcia; he is old, fat and looks like he's just a step away from burning out. A person not familiar with Garcia would be more likely to ask when his last hot meal was, and not for an autograph (Reiss 1983).

The reviewer, who probably didn't stand close to Jerry (where the air was presumably rather unfresh), extols his authenticity, offering very good perspective on this Garcia era: not a picture of health, but making good music.

SUNY Stony Brook Statesman, v27 n37 (December 7, 1983), Alternatives section, p. 1A.

He makes mistakes, but he recovers and even makes up for them with a little extra added something. He hits some vocal clams, but he blasts so loudly on guitar that maybe the fans --buying up all of the 2,200+ tickets, moving over $22k Jerry and Co.'s way, and *very* knowledgeable-- might not hear the next hiccups through their ringing ears. The band works with and around him, but mostly just gets shoved aside by Garcia's overflowing ideas, limitless playing vocabulary, and sheer decibels. The show is very good, and the closing medley, rare (for JGB) true segues of "Don't Let Go" -> "Deal" -> "Tangled Up In Blue", is absolutely outstanding. Every DLG is at least good, most are very good, and a great many are great. It was very well-played in this period, and the crowd, which recognizes it out of the gate, gets treated to a great one this night, which merits a "holy camoley" from me, earns the "monster" designation, and very neatly drops into Deal after a 20 minute journey which feels efficient, packing huge punch every step of the way. The medley is worth the 45 minutes of your ear time, and provides a fitting end to Garcia's illustrious Stony Brook career.

It ain't broken, but it's badly bent.

So good that he earned a rare-for-the-tour night in a hotel bed, at what I am sure is the lovely Holiday Inn in Hauppage.

Listening notes after the jump.

A Long Way From Spain: JGB at SUNY Stony Brook, December 9, 1977

LN jg1977-12-09.jgb.all.aud-matera-fix.137736.flac2488

Not much time to post much detail, so some bulleted observations.

1)  Keith is playing some classical-Spanish sounding thing at the end of s1t01. Then, @ 7:21 of "Lonesome And A Long Way From Home", I hear John hitting some Spanish stuff, too. Check it out because, while Jerry was Swedish-Irish on his mom's side, his father was, of course, full-blown, born-in-Spain Spanish and, well, that's just fun.

2) I love "Reuben And Cérise" (Hunter's spelling, with French-accent-snob-appeal-to-me), and this one has some great power chords, but they repeat the ending figure a large number of times. I didn't count, but it's too many.

3) This LAALWFH is just amazing. It clocks in at 27 minutes, but, more importantly, it's endlessly interesting. It really gets wide open, not just in a noodly-spacey sense, but always remains musical. I was impressed with what young Buzzy, the studio drummer who often, rather necessarily, played metronomically on this first tour, with new material, with a band lacking in temporal discipline, lays out in this open idiom. The whole band sounds great here.

4) Maria is absent. She was on and off this tour.

5) The previews I reference provide great color around Stony Brook Deadheadism, the purest and ur-ist form of the broader genus Deadheadus Eastcoasticus.

6) About 165 minutes of music on a tightly-edited tape. Second set clocks in at 95+ minutes. Good bang for the six bucks and fifty!

Oh, and I found a pic, uncredited. Happy to supply credit if the identity of the photog emerges.

Garcia at Stony Brook, 12/9/77. Photographer unknown to me at this time.

Jerry Garcia Band
Pritchard Gymnasium, State University of New York
1 Center Drive
Stony Brook, NY 11794
December 9, 1977 (Friday)
Matera MAC shnid-137736 fix shnid-137720

--set I (6 tracks, 68:47)--
s1t01. Harder They Come [12:03] [0:06] % [0:15]
s1t02. Catfish John [10:52] [0:10] % [0:08]
s1t03. That's What Love Will Make You Do [11:13] [0:03] % [0:08]
s1t04. They Love Each Other [7:11] [0:13] %
s1t05. Knockin' On Heaven's Door [14:22] [0:02] % [0:05]
s1t06. The Way You Do The Things You Do [11:50] (1) [0:05]

--set II (7 tracks, 95:43)--
s2t01. Midnight Moonlight [14:53] [0:07] % [0:06]
s2t02. Gomorrah [8:21] [0:04] % [0:02]
s2t03. Tore Up Over You [9:22] [0:04] %
s2t04. Simple Twist Of Fate [15:30] [0:07] %
s2t05. /Reuben And Cérise [8:58] [0:02] %% [1:08]
s2t06. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [9:17] [0:04] % [0:04]
s2t07. Lonesome And A Long Way From Home [27:26] [0:09]

! ACT1: JGB #4*
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Keith Godchaux - piano;
! lineup: Buzz Buchanan - drums;
! lineup: Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals.
[! absent: Maria Muldaur - vocals]

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 [mm: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/19771209-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/4444 (s2 Nak 300s shnf); https://etreedb.org/shn/16859 (reshn of shnid-4444); https://etreedb.org/shn/77713 (pitch-correct shnid-4444, flac1644); https://etreedb.org/shn/137720 (Matera flac2488); https://etreedb.org/shn/137721 (Matera flac1644); https://etreedb.org/shn/137736 (Matera flac2488, this fileset); https://etreedb.org/shn/137737 (Matera flac1644 fix).

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html. I denote this configuration as JGB #4*, since Maria Muldaur is not present.

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/efyWYZ1ew4qmbr4v9

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/10/pritchard-gym-suny-100-nicholls-road.html

! exante: “Ticketron Gets Garcia Tickets Before Campus,” (SUNY Stony Brook) Statesman, October 28, 1977, p. 3, accessed online;

! exante: Grossman 1977;

! exante: Razler 1977;

! review: [positive] Alkon 1977, who liked the show. Misidentifies drummer as Tutt. That said, he didn't like the "irritating" 75 minute intermission.  "Outraged" by a five and a half hour concert (8-1:30) with three hours of music: "When Keith and Donna sat down on the piano bench for a smoke and fifteen minute chat I felt like I was invading their privacy! I realize that a group needs frequent breaks, but the Garcia Band abused the privilege, showed disrespect for their audience, and unprofessionalism."

! seealso: JGMF, "The mystery of the Jerry Garcia Band 11/28/77 ticket stubs," URL http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/02/mystery-of-jerry-garcia-band-112877.html. Wherein I go on at great length about a very small matter of tickets misprinted with the date of 11/28/77.

! pic: URL http://www.dead.net/fanphotos/jerry-stony-brook-1977

! historical: the previews provide great color around Stony Brook Deadheads wanting to camp out for tickets and such. Stony Brook is just about ground zero in the development of campus-based GD mania and the history of the East Coast Deadhead.

! R: field recordist: Phil Matera

! R: field recording gear: unknown mics > unknown cassette deck

! R: lineage: MAC > Reel (Maxell-UD135, 1/4trk @ 3-3/4) > Teac X2000R > Korg MR1000 DSD DFF@ 5.6MHz > AudioGate > 24/88.2 Wave > Wavelab6 > OzoneRx4a > Ozone6A; CD Wave > TLH > Flac24. Transfer by John Hance.

! R: This is a fix of shnid-137720. The last 2 tracks of the second set have changed.

! R: patches from shnid-77713: s2t01-Midnight Moonlight, s2t04-Simple Twist Of Fate and s2t07-Lonesome

! R: seeder note: "Thank you Phil & JJ! Salah Febuary 7, 2017"

! R: very nice recording

! P: overall: voice sounds a little fatigued.

! P: s1t01 KG is playing some Spanish-classical thing at the end of the track.

! P: s1t05 KOHD KD on electric piano

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

! R: s2t05 RAC cuts in

! P: s2t05 RAC is very good. Some huge chords. But it does on too long. Quite a bit too long.

! P: s2t07 LAALWFH. This LAALWFH gets *way* out there. @ 7:21 John is hitting a Spanish theme. I think this is pretty incredible, though hard to characterize. Just great open playing by every player.

Two Negative Reviews, One Participant Observation of Deadheaddom, Long Island Style: JGB at Stony Brook, February 24, 1980

So much to say, so little time. Eventually the February 1980 tour will have to be written up. Here are some raw materials. Really nice tape, an excellent version of "When I Paint My Masterpiece" , two negative show reviews and one a participant observation study of Deadheaddom, Long Island style, February 1980.

LN jg1980-02-24.jgb.all.aud-stankiewicz.126077.flac2496

Jerry Garcia Band
Pritchard Gymnasium, State University of New York (SUNY)
1 Center Drive
Stony Brook, NY 11794
February 24, 1980 (Sunday) 9 PM
Richie Stankiewicz MAC flac2496 shnid-126077

--set I (6 tracks, 57:17)--
s1t01. crowd [1:05]
s1t02. Sugaree [15:15] [0:17]
s1t03. Catfish John [9:40] [0:40]
s1t04. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [8:44] [0:09] %
s1t05. Sitting Here In Limbo [11:54] [0:56]
s1t06. That's Alright, Mama [8:20] (1) [0:36]

--set II + encore (7 tracks 65:00)--
--set II (6 tracks, 56:40)--
s2t01. crowd [1:47]
s2t02. That's What Love Will Make You Do [9:14] [0:22]
s2t03. When I Paint My Masterpiece [9:01] [0:18] %
s2t04. Tore Up Over You [9:01] [0:14] % 9:15-
s2t05. I'll Take A Melody [12:24] [0:38]
s2t06. The Harder They Come [12:13] (2) [0:17] %
--encore (1 track, 8:19)--
s2t07. [0:38] Midnight Moonlight [7:31] (3) [0:10] %

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Ozzie Ahlers - keyboards;
! lineup: John D'Fonseca - 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/19800224-03

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/8414 (probable Mark Cohen, shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/8913 (unattributed, shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/18019 (Mark Cohen, shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/35140 (Charlie Connor, shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/101725 (Bob Morris, flac1644); http://etreedb.org/shn/106582 (Bob Morris, 2496); http://etreedb.org/shn/126078 (Richie Stankeiwicz, flac1644); http://etreedb.org/shn/126077 (Richie Stankiewicz, flac2496, this fileset).

! band: JGB #11a (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html).

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/VSBMqxPR5QP2

! venue: JGBP supplies the given street address, though I am uncertain about it.

! personnel: "I believe his name is spelled D'Fonseca. According to ancestry.com, he was born July 30, 1958 and died March 28, 1987. His father, also named John D'Fonseca was born December 3, 1934 and died January 16, 1977. It seems like Jerry chose to hire Johnny for that east coast tour, but wasn't necessarily planning to use him long-term." (Anonymous, URL http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2011/11/johnny-de-foncesca-jr-drums.html?showComment=1368021211671#c7721560489908964906)

! review: Wald, Richard. 1980. Jerry Garcia: Relic of the Past. Statesman (SUNY Stony Brook), Alternatives section, February 27, 1980, p. 3A. Negative review. Wald describes the concert as an ordeal, and Garcia as unbudging and stagnant.  "Total lack of regard for the audience"  show opened an insensitive 45 minutes late, 30 minute Hunter set, then another 45 minutes for Garcia to come on, so ca. 11 pm.  "No apologies or helloes were offered, just an evident feeling that Garcia would rather be doing more drugs backstage" ouch. "No Dylan being played", so reviewer doesn't know Masterpiece. Almost another hour between sets, then languid and tedious set, then another half hour wait for the encore! Bemoans Jerry's appalling lassitude and insensitivity.

! review: Jaffe, Larry. 1980. Jerry Garcia Drifts Along. Unknown publication. Negative review. Here's the template, as he sees it: "five minutes to tune up, another five to find the right riff; five minutes later, the vocals came, and then jamming with the same guitar leads for five more minutes. It was like the Jerry Garcia Machine: take a classic song, ... drop the record into the slot, and [sic] comes out sounding like the Grateful Dead. ... incredibly repetitive ... great music to fall asleep by." Didn't like the hourlong intermission, bemoans idolatry of the fans, in whose eyes Garcia "can do no wrong". "A mild indulgence of this sort of aimless shuffling is harmless, but addiction to the Grateful Dead, my friends, is a sad sickness."

! review: Corley, Eric. 1980. Being a Deadhead: Unity and Insanity. Stony Brook Press 1, 8 (February 28, 1980), p. 6. Substantially about "the scene", how odd Deadheads are with their long hair, Volkswagens, their tendency to travel en masse, their rapturous worshipful engagement with Garcia. He thinks he has it figured out: "The reason for the loyalty, devotion and insanity of this particular sampling of mankind lies not so much in the music as in the crowd itself. Thousands of people who get together to smoke pot, scream, and sway with the music provide each other with a much-needed sense of unity."  He finds this endearing. 

! tags: JGB, 1980, Pritchard Gymnasium, SUNY, college gigs, tapers, Richie Stankiewicz, John D'Fonseca, listening notes, east coast, tapers, songs-W

! historical: This show resonates as a very "east coast" show. I write about this as a west coaster, which is fraught, so I don't want to go much into it. But Garcia said repeatedly that there was a New York vibe that he, not only a west coaster but a native San Franciscan, recognized and loved. The energy. Can anyone disagree? It's more interpersonally intense, for sure. New York has it all, and it's right out there for you to plug in to. This is example number 9,477 of an ambient recording supplying more information than a line tape. New York, Long Island, no less, in February, two days after the Miracle on Ice? You know what comes next -- fuhgedaboudit. Related, note that no fewer than five audience tapers made it out this night - East Coast tapers, representing.

! R: field recordist: Richie Stankiewicz

! R: field recording equipment: 2x AKG D222E > Nakamichi 550

! R: field recording location: FOB "in the sweet spot"

! R: Transfer: MAC > Nakamichi 1000-II > Sound Devices USB Pre-2 > WAV 2496, by Richie Stankiewicz.

! R: Edits: WAV 2496 > Wavelab > CD-Wave (24bit output) > TLH > FLAC 2496 tagged, by Andrew F. 11/2013.

! R: s2t04 Patch from ID-106582, Tore Up Over You 0:00 > 0:18.

! R: s1t02 a little overloaded on the guitar in Sugaree.

! P: s1t02 tempos are a little uneven, starts too slow but Jerry is trying to pick it up in the 4-5 minute range, to my ears. Crazy fanning in the late 9 minute mark. Yeah, Jer!

! R: s1t03 levels come up around 1:50

! R: s1t05 SHIL more hiss after tape flip

! P: s1t05 SHIL Jerry's voice sounds a little scratchy. Damn coke.

! s1t06 (1) JG "We're gonna take a short break, and we'll be back in a few minutes."

! P: s2t01 JK quotes a famous jazz line, maybe Monk, maybe Epistrophy or something like that?

! P: s2t03 WIPMM Jerry's tone is raunchy as he walks around some very interesting open-sounding guitar work, soloing ca. 1:30-2:30. Now I hear the genius of the tape. Ozzie solos 2:45ff. "Like a rhapsody-y" @ 4:45. Great sustain on his notes this night. He's totally locked in. Jesus he is 100% spot on with his vocals. Extra articulation, big fat bendy notes complementing. Some time in the 7-minute mark a crowd guy gives him a good "Yeah, Jerry!"

! P: s2t04 TUOY now voice sounds a little worn, but hubba hubba the guitar work is top-shelf. Listen to the tone in the 2-minute mark, the sustain. Amazing tone 6:20-6:30 ish, bends a note too far and finds himself off-key (a rare misstep), gets aggressive late 6 over 7-minute mark, some of the most inventive guitar playing that you'll hear. Wow, he is disquisiting now, dissertating, phrases to sentences to paragraphs to pages of flowing creation. Nice. This is a @@ top-shelf version of "When I Paint My Masterpiece".

! P: s2t05 ITAM into some very interesting guitar work 8 minute mark, mid-9 doing some chunka chunka rhythm over the melody. Ozzie is soloing, but he's not very high in the mix, Jerry kind of dominating things.

! P: s2t06 HTC is lightning fast. 7:45 great dissonant tone, raunchy and watery and jangly. 8:15 Johnny D catches Jerry just before he falls, Garcia toes the foothold and launches into another opportunity to chase after shiny sonic objects.

! s2t06 (2) JG: "See ya later."

! s2t07 (3) JG: "Thank you, thank you."

The mystery of the Jerry Garcia Band 11/28/77 ticket stubs

I just don't know what to make of this.

 

What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, are five unique ticket stubs for a Jerry Garcia show at SUNY Stony Brook (Gym) on November 28, 1977.  There is another stub that used to be linked from the Jerry Site which is distinct from these five.

So, unless we have six beautifully-concocted fakes, it certainly seems the people had tickets for a Jerry Garcia show on this date at this location. The stubs are torn and so they appear to have been honored and used.

Here's the kicker: there is simply no other evidence that this show happened on this date. It happened on December 9th. How do we know this?

First, there are multiple eyewitness accounts.

Second, there are ticket stubs:

Third, there is a delightful recording, which, after pitch-correcting, shows this to be a typically fun and hot late 1977 JGB east coast tour show.

Fourth, there is loads of evidence from the SUNY Stony Brook Statesman (happily, online!) that the show happened on 12/9, and none whatsoever that points to 11/28.

a) For ex ante evidence, there is a piece from 10/28 that describes a ticketing snafu, whereby Ticketron was able to sell tickets before the SUNY Student Box Office could (1). The article clearly states that the show is scheduled for December 9th.

b) For more ex ante evidence, ads published in the Statesman (I think ... not sure why I didn't note the publication info) that span the 11/28 and 12/9 dates show nothing happening on 11/28, and the Garcia show on 12/9:

c) For ex post evidence, there is a show review (2).

Fifth, if you look again at the scans of the 11/28/77 tickets, you'll see the middle one on the left has handwritten "Dec. 9" under the date.

Sixth, I have now seen the gig contract, and there it is - 12/9.

So, what are we to make of the 11/28 ticket stubs?

H1: reschedule. Historically, the Jerry Site worked under the reasonable assumption that there was a reschedule.But there is simply no evidence for this. Given the coverage in the Statesman, this would have been all over the paper. Eyewitnesses also say it just wasn't so. So I think we can reject this possibility.

H2: the "11/28" stubs are counterfeits. Pro: don't these stubs look like GDP design? Should they look like that? Cons: The scans certainly have a lot of verisimilitude. Why would someone go through all the trouble of making such realistic fakes (of objects that just aren't worth that much, anyway!), only to get the date wrong?  I suppose it could give the sense of rarity or something, but this just doesn't seem likely. Not impossible, just highly unlikely.

H3: the date mis-printed. Note that the ones that are correctly dated are Ticketron tickets, while the "11/28" ones have the different style. The Neilssen piece (1) indicates at least that there was separate ticketing from the campus and from Ticketron. Maybe the student activities group putting the show on put some stoner in charge of getting the tickets together, and he/she just goofed.

I don't really know. I kind of lean to H3, but just can't bring myself to think that such an error would have slipped through the cracks.We'd really need some folks who were there, preferably involved, to weigh in. So please send your Stony Brook alums here to clear up the mystery!

REFERENCES
(1) Tom Neilssen, "Ticketron Gets Garcia Tickets Before Campus," Statesman (SUNY Stony Brook), October 28, 1977, p. 3.
(2) Mitchell Alkon, "Garcia Is Alive Without the Dead," Statesman (SUNY Stony Brook), December 14, 1977, p.9