During Gaylord's Second Stint: JGB at the Stone, October 14, 1985 (Monday)

These may be the shortest two JGB sets ever played. Gaylord Birch drumming.

See also "The December '85 Garcia Band Shows"

LN jg1985-10-14.jgb.all.aud.138028.flac1644

Jerry Garcia Band
The Stone
412 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133
October 14, 1985 (Monday)
CC shnid-138028

--set I (4 tracks, 34:48)--
s1t01. Cats Under The Stars [7:12] %
s1t02. When I Paint My Masterpiece [8:45] %
s1t03. That's What Love Will Make You Do [8:31] [0:04] %
s1t04. Tangled Up In Blue [10:15] %

--set II ( 4 tracks, 31:22)--
s2t01. Run For The Roses [4:54] %
s2t02. [0:20] Love In The Afternoon [9:22] %
s2t03. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [9:25] ->
s2t04. Midnight Moonlight [7:19] [0:02] %

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #22 (First show - October 7, 1985 Keystone Palo Alto; Last show - February 21, 1986)
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-guitar, vocals;
! lineup: Gloria Jones - vocals;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - vocals;
! lineup: Melvin Seals - organ;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! lineup: Gaylord Birch - drums.

JGMF:

! R: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; ... = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [ ] = recorded event time. The recorded event time immediately after the song or item name is an attempt at getting the "real" time of the event. So, a timing of [x:xx] right after a song title is an attempt to say how long the song really was, as represented on this recording.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19851014-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/138028 (this fileset).

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

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/stone-mothers-412-broadway-san.html

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html. This is ultrarare JGB #22, with Gaylord Birch drumming. This configuration debuted on a Monday-Tuesday, October 7th and 8th, 1985 in Palo Alto, then Sunday-Monday the next week in San Fran. Of those four shows, the last one, 10/14, is the only one to circulate as of March 2017. Four gigs in October, four in December (14-15 in SF, 21-22 in PA, weekend gigs, all in circulation), then one gig in February (2/21/86). These were the only JGB shows without stalwart drummer David Kemper between 7/20/83 and 11/19/93. We know so little about this period. Where was Kemper? Corry bands post: "I presume that Kemper had another commitment, and since Birch was an established quantity from his time in Reconstruction, he was a comfortable choice as a sub." Stylistically, I don't hear the kick bass as much with him, a lot more snare and high stuff. He remains probably the second snazziest drummer with whom Garcia ever played, after Paul Humphrey (1974).

! seealso: Arnold, Corry. 2012. Gaylord Birch – Drums. Hooterollin' Around, February 3, URL http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2012/02/gaylord-birch-drums.html, consulted 11/15/2014.

! R: source: AUD (marked 2nd Gen) kindly provided by wk & http://jgmf.blogspot.com/

! R: transfer: Maxell XLII > Nakamichi CR-5A > Edirol FA-66 > Wavelab 2448 > R8Brain > CD-Wave > TLH > FLAC 1644 tagged. Transfer by Andrew F. 03/2017.

! R: "Very tight edits thru-out, most songs cut in and out abruptly with bits missing." The vocals are deeply buried, the bass isn't particularly audible, guitar is at least pretty upfront. As I am in s1t03, I'd say the guitar sounds great, drums are OK, everything else (e.g., bass and keys) is buried.

! historical: These tapes are tightly edited, but 35 minutes and 31 minutes for the two sets, respectively, is far below the Minelli Line, below which a good square effort for the fans becomes a Cabaret Economics ripoff.

! P: s1t01 CUTS is actually surprisingly together. The December 14-15 shows are the only other late '85 Jerry Band tapes in circulation as of this writing (3/24/17), and I had thought that at least one of them opened with some real timing misfires between drums and band. They manage to wrap CUTS up pretty tightly, not doing that thing of not knowing how to end it.

! R: s1t01 CUTS 34-seconds blank tape, cross-faded out at 4:52.

! P: s1t02 WIPMM Gaylord doesn't catch the ending, it sort of fizzles and fazzles to a close.

! P: s1t03 TWLWMYD Birch is great on this, right from the get-go. He has an extra beat going that really works well, and he nicely accents behind Jerry's chorus vocal. This is cookin'!

! P: s1t04 TUIB it's too bad the vocals are so buried, because they sound reasonably strong. compare with GD 9/3/85, or the September Red Rocks shows, and he sounds much better here.

! s2t02 LITA I may have to retract my statement about the voice - maybe sounding a little more ragged here later in the evening.

! P: s2t03 TNTDODD I have been wavering on the vocals, and here they are not terrible at first ... then they get pretty bad by 3 minutes into the song.

Jim Nelson on the Drums and Several Great Rarities: JGMS at Keystone, October 4, 1974

LN jg1974-10-04.jgms.all.aud-falanga.8649.shn2flac

This is great to hear.

Three points of historical interest.

1) Louis Falanga's onstage audience tapes are great documents.

2) Lots of interesting material including, here, some great jazz ("Valdez In The Country", "People Make The World Go Round", "Freedom Jazz Dance"), and a great rare (in the Garciaverse) Motown, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

3) personnel: Bill Kreutzmann had been drumming with JGMS since about November 1973, by my reckoning, and then, after 9/2/74, JGMS goes in another direction. Here we have Jim Nelson on a tryout, it would seem. Paul Humphrey would be present in Santa Cruz on the 11th and Santa Barbara on the 13th, and is presumed to continue through October. I think it's pretty well established that he was drumming for the Fall 1974 East Coast tour, though truth be told I have never seen a shred of hard contemporary evidence for that. It's "understood". I don't doubt it, but wouldn't it be funny if Jim Nelson were really the drummer in some of these slots?

Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
October 4, 1974 (Friday)
Falanga-Menke shnid-8649 retrack shn2flac

--set I (6 tracks, 58:27)--
s1t01. //That's What Love Will Make You Do [13:43] % [1:43]
s1t02. Valdez In The Country [12:56] ->
s1t03. Space [1:54] ->
s1t04. People Make The World Go// Round [4:#10] [0:33] % [0:32]
s1t05. (I'm A) Road Runner [10:59] (1) [0:40]
s1t06. /It Ain't No Use [11:01#] (2) [0:16]

--set II (6 tracks, 54:07)--
s2t01. tuning [0:57]
s2t02. Tough Mama [7:34] [1:00]
s2t03. Freedom Jazz Dance [14:42] [1:22]
s2t04. Sitting In Limbo [11:41] [0:09] % [0:30]
s2t05. Ain't No Mountain High Enough [6:26] ->
s2t06. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [9:37] [0:08]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: Merl Saunders - keyboards;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! lineup: Jim Nelson - 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/19741004-01

! JGC: https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1974-10-04-keystone-berkeley-ca/

! db: shnid-8649 (this fileset).

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

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html | http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html | http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html.

! ad: SFSECDB19740922p31

! listing: SFSECDB19740929p05

! ad: SFSECDB19740929p31

! listing: San Francisco Examiner, October 3, 1974, p. 35

! listing: Hayward Daily Review, October 4, 1974, p. 28

! seealso:  JGMF, "Finders Keepers: JGMS with Jim Nelson on Drums, Keystone, October 5, 1974."

! historical: Three points of historical interest. 1) Louis Falanga's onstage audience tapes are great documents. 2) Lots of interesting material including, here, some great jazz ("Valdez In The Country", "People Make The World Go Round", "Freedom Jazz Dance", and great rare (in the Garciaverse) Motown, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". 3) personnel: Bill Kreutzmann had been drumming with JGMS since about November 1973, by my reckoning, and then, after 9/2/74, JGMS goes in another direction. Here we have Jim Nelson on a tryout, it would seem. Paul Humphrey would be present in Santa Cruz on the 11th, BCT on the 12th, and Santa Barbara on the 13th, and is presumed to continue through October. I think it's pretty well established that he was drumming for the Fall 1974 East Coast tour, though truth be told I have never seen a shred of hard contemporary evidence for that. It's "understood".

! personnel: Betty's reel notes that this is Jim Nelson on drums! I note lots of hi-hat, lots of quick stuff, and find that in general this guy is great, even as the group tries to learn how to play together. It's not entirely successful, but it is super-interesting.

! R: field recordist: Louis Falanga (?and Bob Menke?)

! R: field recording gear: 1x Sony ECM-70 + 1 x Sony ECM-250 Sony TC-152

! R: field recording location: onstage from stage left/house right. The sought-for setup would have been seated at Garcia's feet, one mic pointed into his stage monitor and one mic aimed at the rest of the band.

! R: lineage: unknown cassette master transfer by Bob Menke, ca. late 1990s, unknown process to CDx (Jim Powell) > CDx (Jack Warner) > CDx; re-tracked, shortened, and seeded by jupillej@mediaone.net.

! R: Utterly breathtaking. The vocals are nearly inaudible. We are getting them direct from Jerry's mouth from about 8-10 feet away or whatever, with no amplification. But Garcia's guitar is crystal-clear: this is the best example so far of the technique that Falanga and/or Menke used for these tapes, which was to directly mic Jerry's stage monitor and point another mic toward the center of the stage soundfield. His guitar has incredible tone and volume. The bass is also pretty loud and direct-sounding. Is it possible that what we are hearing is a kind of monitor mix for Jerry? Sorry, summing up: guitar and bass crystal clear and loud, drums real nicely present, keys and horns real low in the mix.

! R: s1t01 TWLWMYD cuts in; drums come up a little @ 9:20

! setlist: s1t02 "Valdez In The Country" originally given as "Boss Martin", per old Jerry Site nomenclature, changed 9/13/2009.

! P: s1t02 VITC Martin takes the first solo, and he is blowing beautifully. This song really suits him. Do we know whether it was him who brought it in to the band? The little thing Jerry and the drummer get together in the 11-min mark is really interesting. The drummer is doing some syncopated percussive stuff with one hand and a nice tight snare in the other. And Jerry really seems to respond. He's noodling low, but check right at the start of the 11-minute mark for some really, really gorgeous musical ideas from the Great Barcia.

! setlist: s1t03 Space is well-placed here. This is completely unmoored from the song, Valdez In The Country, out of which it oozed.

! s1t04 PMTWGR This version is absolutely classic, just how you want it to be: Kahn announces and starts it. Garcia swoops in @ 0:48 with the roundabout strumming he does in this tune ... but Merl wants to keep it spaced out for awhile, and I gotta say the drummer is right there with him. And who is Garcia to say no to some noodly weirdness? Thet let it bounce around for a minute or so, Garcia coming back to his strum @ 1:48, then Merl joins in with the melody. It's really, really nice because it's still really echoey and vibey, Merl using lots of reverb patience. Then the splice, though, and we are winding up. And we don't know what we are missing. Could have been legendary!

! R: s1t04 PMTWGR splice @ 2:29

! s1t05 Road Runner again shows the distinctive style of the drummer, Jim Nelson. Not so much high-hat here, but lots of quick, tight rolls. Guy can hit, all right, and these Holland/Dozier/Holland rollers are presumably pretty well encoded in all the players' respective hardwiring.

! s1t05 (1) @ 11:29 Nelson (presumed): "You guys are treating me rough, man." I think that's Jim Nelson speaking, and he's probably referring to them throwing him out there with a bunch of songs and just telling him to keep up! That's how it sounds to me, anyway.

! setlist: s1t06 "It Ain't No Use" previously known as "It's No Use", changed 9/3/2011.

! R: s1t06 IANU cuts in

! s1t06 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot. We're gonna take a great for a little while. We'll be back pretty soon."

! R: s1t08 there may be a brief splice during the tuning @ 4:28. Then the clear splice @ 4:43

! P: s2t02 There is some really grungy stuff happening off the keyboards, or is it saxophone? at the start of Tough Mama. Can't tell if someone's trying to get some of that, or if it's a bad cable somewhere. Goes away by 1:20. Jerry's vocals are also more audible on the tape here than they had been at the start of set I. Tough Mama gets a little loose for awhile toward the end. They are working on it.

! P: s2t03 old note: "I think they keep trying to end FJD, but they keep forgetting to tell the drummer." new note: That said, this FJD is profoundly interesting to me. I think this is outstanding. Yes, they should have ended it at 12:04. Everything from that point is a little wonky. Though the drummer is super-interesting, they just are not together 12:04ff. Try to end again 12:50, he misses it. OK! They all decide to do some stuff, Jerry playing some realyl plucky 13, Merl does a real nice run 13:08ff, very nice job Merl! Goes high 13:25, Jerry glassy sraping chunking behind him, Merl swirling up some goodies 13:45. Martin adding percussion 14:01. Then they hit it 14:42, so it was just those two misses in the 12 minute range, and then they made some lemonade with them in any case. Very good.

! R: s2t05 Ain't No Mountain High Enough static blip @ 2:40

! P: s2t05 ANMHE amazing to hear this. Great energy. Martin misses once early on, things are a little loose in terms of arrangement, but this has a great groove! 4:30 it is driving beautifully and Garcia does some incredible guitar work, splashy long threads on top of some killer rhythm with an amazing piece of American music at his fingertips. Great. Listen to Nelson drum 5:38! They pull a little minor decay to signal end ... I could have stood for it to go a little longer ... they let it melt and decay, lots of reverb, echoey space, closes to the echo that becomes HSII. Nice!

Finders Keepers: JGMS with Jim Nelson on Drums, Keystone, October 5, 1974

LN jg1974-10-05.jgms.all.aud-falanga.8665.shn2flac

I have no idea who Jim Nelson, the drummer, might be. There are some tempo issues all night long.

I really like this period for JGMS. "La-La" and "Freedom Jazz Dance" are standouts to me. "Finders Keepers" is also pretty good.

When these tapes came into the light, back before 9/11, they were such a revelation. We had never heard much Jerry stuff between the Rheem show (2/9/74) and the show in the Park on 9/2/74 (confusing, yes!).

Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
October 5, 1974 (Saturday)
Falanga-Menke shnid-8665 shn2flac

--set I (6 tracks, 71:51)--
s1t01. The Harder They Come [15:53] (1) [1:23]
s1t02. Finders Keepers [10:51] [1:42]
s1t03. He Ain't Give You None [11:29] [0:10] % (2) [2:48]
s1t04. La-La [14:42] ->
s1t05. space [1:57] ->
s1t06. Mystery Train [10:45] (3) [0:09]

--set II (6 tracks, 60:02)--
s2t01. tuning [0:42]
s2t02. Freedom Jazz Dance [12:47] [1:19]
s2t03. Neighbor Neighbor [8:28] [1:19]
s2t04. Sitting In Limbo [11:30] [0:06] % [0:43]
s2t05. Someday Baby [8:28] [0:46]
s2t06. I Second That Emotion [13:25] (4) [0:06]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! lineup: Merl Saunders - keyboards;
! lineup: Martin Fierro - flute, sax, percussion;
! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;
! lineup: Jim Nelson - 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/19741005-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/8665 (this fileset)

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html; http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html

! personnel: Jim Nelson on drums. Real snazzy. There are certainly some tempo issues, e.g., in Mystery Train, suggestive of a drummer who's trying to find his way with The Group.

! seealso: JGMF, "Jim Nelson on the Drums and Several Great Rarities: JGMS at Keystone, October 4, 1974."

! R: field recordist: Louis Falanga and Bob Menke

! R: field recording gear: Sony ECM-270 + Sony ECM-250 > Sony TC-152

! R: field recording location: onstage mics, one directly in front of Jerry's amp, the other pointed stage center to catch the rest of the band;

! R: lineage: Menke transfer, cassette > DAT? > CD to Jim Powell; Jim Powell CD to jack Warner; EAC > shn, by jjoops; shn2flac, rename to sets, etc. 3/16/2014 by JGMF.

! R: mic placement said to be onstage, with the Falanga setup (one mic into Jerry's amp, the other pointed center stage), but his guitar is not very prominent here, which deviates from one of the key characteristics of the onstage Falanga tapes. Also, after FK it sounded like a bigger hall than Keystone. Is this GAMH?

! s1t01 (1) a couple of knowledgeable audience members request "Expressway", which is a great call. "Keepers" will have to do.

! P: s1t02 FK I really like how the drummer is hitting and how they are letting the song open up right from the get-go, like after the first time through the main melody, some nice breathing in the break, then Jerry comes back sounding really nice. It doesn't sound to me like the mic is in his monitor, or else he's turned way down. They are really putting the drummer to it, making him hold the whole break. Now Merl takes a turn, drummer is killing. John sounds pretty good. Jerry staying way back. Merl is on electric piano with synth. They open up another space @ 5:30, Martin steps up. He's a pro - he had signaled himself stepping forward with the ten note declension that's the key progression of the song. Now he steps up. The band listens to each other, and they are playing well this night. Martin has found a nice little riff first half of 10 min mark, which he uses well to finish off the song. Wow, right on the '1' to finish! Nice.

! P: s1t03 HAGYN starts off powerfully, but it feels a little draggy in the 6-minute mark. There's not enough power coming from stage. Merl's organ solo isn't very loud, Kahn isn't particularly audible. It all sounds a little hollow. Could be mix and mic'ing as much as what they are playing, for sure. 7:10ish JG steps up and he's playing some very nice melodic stuff. Drummer needs to be more in the bass drum or something. This is not totally happening. Drummer needs to fill it more, IMO.

! s1t03 (2) JG: "Hey Martin. Let's do that [he's strumming the La-La chords]". Chick talking sounds really hot and really sweet. She can be heard talking about Great American String Band, I think. She recognizes La-La coming up, and she hums the melody, and she yells with pleasure when the song starts. She called it, she loves it, and it's good.

! s1t05 I label "space", GD style. It's open collective improvisation, but it's rather dissonant, very much in a "free" feel. Martin has got his effects up to '11', and they bring it down to total silence. Nice!

! P: s1t06 MT drummer is a little off. Jerry has to do a little improvising, Jerry starts vox, trying to get the drummer in line, and he gets there about 1:08. Still a little off. They never really get it together, even to end. Oh well.

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

! s2t06 (4) JG: "Thanks a lot. We'll see y'all later."

Grandma said, 'Boy, go and follow your heart': JGMS at Keystone Berkeley, November 27, 1974

LN jg1974-11-27.jgms.106mins.sbd-GEMS.91343.flac1644

Just a few quick notes.

1) Paul Humphrey drumming. The drummer is fast and great. He is noted in Rex's handwriting on the box for reel #3.

2) Some of this material is just amazing. "Valdez In The Country" and "Freedom Jazz Dance" should make us very Grateful that Merl was there to challenge Garcia with some serious jazz instrumentals. "Going, Going, Gone" is also just such a wonderful tune. If I had more time, I'd write up song notes on these three tunes.

• One subpoint. There are those who suggest that the demise of the Garcia-Saunders relationship (and of the band LOM) in 1975) primarily reflected musical issues. Hypothesis 1: Garcia just couldn't hang with the deep jazz and funk that Merl and, e.g., Aunt Monk (could play); Hypothesis 2: "musical differences", in the sense that Jerry wanted to move to more white standards (boogie-woogie stuff with Nicky, southern white gospel stuff [really black, of course] with Keith, Donna and Tutt). Either way, what the jazz instrumental here recall for me is the extent to which Garcia really was challenged to play out with some of the this JGMS (and, to a lesser extent, LOM) material.

• OK, a second subpoint: "Going, Going, Gone"

Grandma said, “Boy, go and follow your heart
And you’ll be fine at the end of the line
All that’s gold isn’t meant to shine
Don’t you and your one true love ever part”

3) The performance is top-shelf. I can see why these guys thought this was a band with a future (as they head toward the apparently greater intended permanence of Legion of Mary, a band with a name). Everybody is great here. Merl is great. Martin is great. Garcia is great. John Kahn is great. Humphrey is great. I don't know why things started getting so sluggish in 1975 --well, I have some ideas-- but this tape reveals a band full of pros who are drinking deeply from the well of American music.

4) I have corrected my understanding of the Betty tapes. There are three bunches. This is from "Bunch 1".

Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
November 27, 1974 (Wednesday)
106 min "Bunch One" Betty Cantor-Jackson soundboard

--set I (4 tracks, 52:52, probably incomplete)
s1t01. //Valdez In The Country [#15:05] [0:24] %
s1t02. //You Can Leave Your Hat On [#13:35] [0:18] %
s1t03. //Going, Going, Gone// [#12:56#] %
s1t04. //Mystery Train [#10:18] (1) [0:16]

--Set II (4 tracks, 53:23)--
s2t01. [0:04] He Ain't Give You None [12:56] [0:09] % [0:33]
s2t02. Freedom Jazz Dance [14:05] % [1:10]
s2t03. Someday // Baby [9:#24] [1:09]
s2t04. I Second That Emotion [13:41] [0:12] (2)

! Band: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
! Lineup: Jerry Garcia - el-g, vocals;
! Lineup: Merl Saunders - keyboards, vocals;
! Lineup: Martin Fierro - saxophone, flute;
! Lineup: John Kahn - el-bass;
! Lineup: Paul Humphrey - 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/19741127-02

! db: shnid-89216 (less complete, deprecated); shnid-91343 (more complete, this fileset).

! ACT2: Paul Pena

! setlist: There may have been a song before Valdez In The Country (which would have been a strange opener).

! personnel: this is right on the cusp of the transition between Paul Humphrey and Ronnie Tutt. Paul is really active, light on the kick pedal but snappy on the snare.

! R: I will take the liberty of reconstructing the GEMS notes for my own purposes. So this is a compilation of two CD sources which had some common ancestors but diverged somewhere along the way. The primary source came to GEMS via Zack Tucker, with lineage MSR > P > D > CD. Source 1 provides all except first 1:30 of Valdez and last two songs, and was previously circulated as shnid 89216. Source 2 has precisely the same lineage, but came to GEMS via jjoops and the Tupperware of Treasures. Both sets of CDs were extracted and processed by Jamie Waddell on the **GEMS** Edit Station (primary software Wavelab 6.0) and circulated as a **GEMS** Production at Lossless Legs, ca. April 11, 2008.

! R: Genealogy: The common ancestry of the source CDs here is MSR > P > D > CD. These are "Bunch One" Betty Boards. For background, here's WBOTB co-conspirator Blake Gilpin's post to DNC on 7/28/98: "As far as I know, there were three bunches of "Betty Boards" that left The auction. Bunch One was the largest, purchased by a guy named Don, who knew the Sale was about to happen because his wife worked in the mortgage industry and saw the paperwork. Bunch One was the largest, purchased by a guy named Don, who knew the Sale was about to happen because his wife worked in the mortgage industry and saw the paperwork. This is the most commonly known and cataloged set of which the *reels only* were spun to PCM / Beta and most were circulated. The cassettes were not spun to digital. Some of the PCM-0 betas, specifically the Garcia Saunders material and others have not been circulated beyond Menke or possibly Dougal. ... The list of uncirculated material from Bunch One is below. (I fell into Don's and apparently Dougal's disfavor by letting a neighbor, who was an employee of the band, know what tapes we had. I had not been asked to keep these secret and I still maintain that it was the proper thing to do, if only as a courtesy. Probably just bad timing.)" These Bunch One Betties were later merged with Bunch Two (mostly comprised of Fall 1977 GD tapes, apparently), and I have traditionally (and perhaps mistakenly, or at least misleadingly) referred to these as "Second Batch" Betty tapes. I'll try to go back to original and standard usage, and to be more careful. (In my defense, Rob Eaton himself initially called these "the fourth box" until he concluded that these, which he restored in ca. 1995-1996, a.k.a. the water-damaged tapes, were one and the same.)

! setlist: seeder notes "The compilation of these two sources completes this show, minus a few missing moments in Bossa Martin [sic: Valdez In The Country], which started in late, and Someday Baby, which had a reel flip, and no patch source exists yet." I am not so sure. I think there's probably a song or two before VITC.

! R: s1t01 Valdez In The Country cuts in on a Martin solo. Things are cookin'! Unknown amount missing.

! P: s1t01 VITC is incredible. Martin is on fire, working with some great weird reverb. Merl's long electric-piano feature in the 6-7 minute mark is light and groovy and hot. @ 7:49 Garcia starts doing some syncopated off-key chordings, and then early in the 8-minute he alights with flowing fingers, so measured and controlled and so many things to say as we approach the 9-minute mark. Late in the 11-minute mark they start spacing out, really fantastic lunar-orbiter sounds from Merl, Jerry moaning around behind, the drums just gorgeous, and Martin maybe playing a little percussion, but very tastefully (cf. 11/2/74). Merl is having one of his finest performances here, as he and Jerry collaboratively pour some honey down the ol' rabbit hole. It's keeping a real nice beat, keeping the Brazilian rhythms, Martin, satisfied, picks up his horn early in the 14-minute mark, Jerry starts lettin' it roll down that same ol' rabbit hole (he's decided to follow it down, naturally), Martin takes the cue

! R: s1t01 VITC zipper @ 1:22

! R: s1t02 YCLYHO cuts in on "//take off your dress."

! P: s1t02 YCLYHO JG is doing some nice long pulling in the 6-7 minute mark, then quickens the pace with a solo that has some of the feel of what the GD would do in those long, pre-"Fire On The Mountain" versions of "Scarlet Begonias", ca. 1976. In late 8 and into 9-minute mark, Kahn starts really asserting himself with some beautiful, hefty descending blues bass lines. Descending from already down in the bottom, that is. Merl plays more electric piano over the 10-minute mark, while John is still really playing beefy, Jerry comping behind, Merl groaning as he floats over the keys, just a righty for awhile, drops some heavier and double-time left-hand around 11:00. The drop really, really cleanly into the melody again just at the 12-minute mark. Fixing up the tempo a little bit, readjusting the ass in the drummer's chair, and Merl returns to his lament about suspicious minds a' talkin' round the neighborhood.

! R: this is clearly a Betty Board. Listen to that drum tone! She has got it locked in.

! P: s1t03 GGG this is some of the straight-churchiest organ playing you will ever hear from Merl Saunders. The B-3's lament to God, and while silent prayers seem sometimes to fall on deaf ears, how could He not hear this call? Martin's flute is real gentle behind. "Grandma said 'Boy, go and follow your heart'," what a gorgeous line. Dylan. Man oh man.

! R: s1t03 Merl's organ comes into R-speaker around 0:22.

! P: s1t04 Mystery Train is not one that usually moves me, but this is just good, hot music. The drummer is locked right the fuck in, the rhythm is in a Brink's truck. Jerry's vocals are energetic. Kahn strands bass lines together like a pretzel maker right across the 9-minute mark, feels like he must have had both hands (and the bass, of course) up under his chin, wiggling his fingers across those thick strings. Nice.

! s1t04 (1) JG: "Thanks. We're gonna take a break for a little while. We'll be back a little bit later."

! P: s2t01 HAGYN listen to how distinctive the drummer sounds as he comes in!  Jerry blowing some glass 4:30ish, goes 'round again over the 5-min mark.

! personnel: again, when I listen to the start of Freedom Jazz Dance, Humphrey sounds totally distinctive, and is hot as hell, by the way.

! R: s2t03 SB reel splice @ 6:25

! R: there's a high-pitched whine in the "source 2" material, beginning @ end s2t02 and continuing.

! R: s2t04 drops @ 0:14-0:26, 0:40-0:44, 1:22, 1:33, 1:44, 6:44, 8:35-8:36.

! s2t04 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot. Looks like they're tryin' to close the bar. See you all later on."

When Jerry Met Freddie: NRPS, Wednesday, November 25, 1970: Keystone Korner

New Riders of the Purple Sage

Keystone Korner

750 Vallejo Street

San Francisco, CA 94133

November 25, 1970 (Wednesday)

Listing for NRPS at Keystone Korner, 750 Vallejo Street, San Francisco, CA, Wednesday, November 25, 1970. Source: "Opening Today," San Francisco Chronicle, November 25, 1970, p. 35.

"Finds" are fun, and here's one: New Riders of the Purple Sage (NRPS) at Keystone Korner, 750 Vallejo Street, San Francisco, CA, Wednesday, November 25, 1970.

So, the Grateful Dead and the Riders are on tour, playing a wild-ass Hell's Angels party at the Anderson Theatre in NYC on Monday, November 23rd, and Garcia plays a hometown gig with his old buddies David Nelson and Marmaduke, probably Dave Torbert on bass. Corry has covered the early history of the NRPS bassists beautifully (see also earlier). But the late history of the NRPS is not perfectly clear to me, and in any case this new listing might be worth thinking about in this context.

Mickey Hart's Departure From the New Riders of the Purple Sage

I know there are probably bits and pieces around about this, but I do not have my materials handy. (I'll look forward to your sources and sourced recommendations in the comments!) Corry's "New Riders Of The Purple Sage Personnel 1969-1981" tells me that the NRPS #2 configuration of Dawson-Nelson-Garcia-Torbert Hart ran from 4/17/70 through 11/29/70, the latter opening for the Grateful Dead at the Agora Theatre in Cleveland, OH. NRPS #3, with Dryden replacing Hart, kicks off on 12/12/70 (opening for the GD at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in hometown Santa Rosa). This is the configuration with which Jerry would finish his run with the Riders, opening for himself one last time at the Taft Auditorium in Cincinnati, OH, on Halloween night, October 31, 1971.

So this new listing for 11/25/70 would be Hart's third-from-final show with the NRPS, on current knowledge, followed only by the opener for the GD at the Syndrome in Chicago on 11/27 and the Agora set. But what do we know about Mickey's departure from the NRPS? Corry notes that "Mickey Hart had become increasingly distraught after his father Lenny had nearly bankrupted the Grateful Dead. He left the New Riders after their November tour, and the Dead in February of 1971." I assume the linkage of the emotional wreckage from Lenny and the NRPS departure is a good one to make, and for some reason this new listing, the night before Thanksgiving 1970, puts me in mind of the tinge of sadness that seems to accompany certain Bay Area Thanksgivings. If you are alone and already sad and feeling blue, if it's cloudy and cold and wet, that could be a tough time. So, while I obviously can't conjecture too might about the emotional color of 11/25/70 at the Keystone Korner, by gut feeling is that it was far from a rainbows-and-unicorns affair.

That said, it might've been mighty nice, too. Hang around, play some country music, have a few beers. Are we not still men?

Caveat/wild speculation: do we really know Mickey was there, and that this wasn’t a warmup for Spencer Dryden? Hmm?? 

Jerry and Freddie

Oh yeah, another thing that's not trivial. Unless I am missing something, this appears to be Garcia's first gig at a Freddie Herrera club. Corry has established the centrality of Freddie Herrera to Garcia's musical life outside the Grateful Dead, and pinpointed the room at 2119 University Way in Berkeley as the crux of that decade-and-a-half personal and business relationship. I'd go so far as to say that Freddie was the third most important person to making GOTS work, after John Kahn and Steve Parrish.

Anyway, as we know, before Fred started up in Berkeley there was his place in North Beach, the Keystone Korner (so named because it stood kitty-corner from a police station), which is right up there with the Matrix in The Lore. And I believe this is the first known gig there, and the first known with Fred Herrera. Fun stuff!

Caveat/weird observation: My next listed Garcia-Herrera crossing is March 25, 1971, at Keystone Korner. Four months is a long time between encounters. I wonder if Freddie and Jerry did actually meet, or even do business, on this 11/25/70? I was pretty sure Herrera had the club from 1969. But four months is a long time. I’d love to hear the specifics of all this (note to self).

Upshot

Another one for The List.

REFERENCES:

• Arnold, Corry. 2010. 2119 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA: The Keystone Berkeley. Lost Live Dead, December 31, 2010, URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html, consulted 5/7/2012.
• Arnold, Corry. 2011. Jerry Garcia and Keystone Shows Overview. Lost Live Dead, January 2, 2011, URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html, consulted 5/7/2012.
• Arnold, Corry. 2012. New Riders Of The Purple Sage Personnel 1969-1981. Hooterollin' Around, February 17, 2012, URL http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2012/02/new-riders-of-purple-sage-personnel.html, consulted 5/8/2012.
• JGMF. 2009. GD/NRPS: November 23, 1970, Anderson Theatre (Hell's Angels Benefit). Jerry Garcia's Middle Finger, December 15, 2009, URL http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2009/12/gdnrps-november-23-1970-anderson.html, consulted 5/7/2012.
• "Opening Today," San Francisco Chronicle, November 25, 1970, p. 35.

The Tutt Rule: JGMS at the Keystone, June 22, 1975

LN jg1975-06-22.jgms.all.aud-menke-falanga-motb-0048.87236.flac1644

Update: 4/20/2020: I now refer to this as JGMS, because Ron Tutt is not drumming, and Greg Errico is. Less importantly, but not unimportantly, while all of the external materials refer to the group as Legion of Mary, Rex Jackson labeled his tape boxes Jerry & Merl.

Sometimes I have a modest tendency to read too much into too little. Ya think? So you’ll discount appropriately if I say that the above calendar is a gift from the data gods, not to mention whoever had it printed on that attractive blue paper. Working from the edges in toward the center, at least a local center, of my chosen topic of Garcia On The Side, we can begin with some of the obscure Bay Area bands, vintage summer 1975. I’ll let you determine for themselves which those are. Then we can look at some of the not-too-obscure ones … hello, Freddie King! Yes, I do feel the blues, thank you for asking.

Kingfish, with Garcia’s once and future bandmates Bob Weir and Dave Torbert, play a Thursday-Friday (19-20), while Keith and Donna Band played the previous weekend, Friday, June 13 and Saturday, June 14, 1975. We know Jerry was out of town on that Saturday (Legion of Mary, 6/14/75, Fox Theatre, Venice, CA), but we are given to wonder whether he tried his luck Friday with Keith, Donna, Billy K. and the gang.

Anyway, the most striking feature about this calendar as it relates directly to my engagement with GOTS is the duplicity of billings for Garcia’s June 1975 gigs with Merl. On Tuesday-Wednesday June 3-4, 1975, and again on Wednesday June 11, they are billed as “Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders”, or “Garcia and Saunders”. I will refer to this, as usual, as JGMS. On Saturday-Sunday, June 21-22, 1975, they are billed as Legion of Mary, LOM. June 1975 in general (beyond the Keystone) features a more or less even split between the two billings. (update: actually, June was 10-3 in favor of JGMS, by my count as of 4/20/2020.) Since we know of many, many LOM-billed gigs between the name’s ca. March 1, 1975 “official” debut and June, the old idea that there was a linear progression from JGMS to LOM, with a clean, speciating break between them, is untenable.

So, what’s going on? First is the “Tutt Rule”, which comes to us via recollections by Bob Menke and others: “If Ron Tutt was there, it was Legion of Mary.” Tutt was necessary and sufficient to the LOM designation (insofar as Jerry-Merl bands go). For example, a note in the MOTB 0045 seed of the June 3, 1975 show [16 bit: shnid 87198; 24 bit: shnid 87217] explains that “This is listed as Garcia and Saunders since it has been confirmed Ron Tutt did not play drums at this show” (see also the June 4, 1975 MOTB 0046 seeds [16 bit: shnid 87204; 24 bit: shnid 87234]). Cryptdev, who was also around and attending shows, shares this understanding of arrangements (i.e., that Tutt=LOM).

The Tutt Rule holds up well, on its face, against the evidence of the June 1975 Keystone billings. Ron Tutt was drumming with Elvis at the start of the month (helpfully extracted by Corry from the quite extraordinary site http://www.elvisconcerts.com): every night from May 30-June 10, inclusive. Those shows are billed as JGMS. We also know that Tutt was not drumming at El Camino Park on June 8, 1975, as established in cryptdev’s comments to Corry’s Paul Humphrey post (note cryptdev mistakenly calls it June 7). So far, so good.

There is also a second rule of thumb, slightly more elaborate, which I’ll call the alternation rule. According to received understandings, the Garcia/Saunders/Kahn/Fierro outfit used Paul Humphrey on the weeknights (because of his weekend obligations filming Lawrence Welk) and Tutt on the weekends (because he played with Elvis during the week). This one also helps to make sense of the June 1975 billings: all three JGMS listings fall on weeknights, and both LOM listings fall on weekend nights (if Sunday counts that way). Over at Hooterollin’ Around, for example, commenter Keats relays a conversation with Merl in which he recalls that “Humphrey would show up to play in his monochromatic leisure suits from the Welk show.” While Corry’s courageous research into the Lawrence Welk TV show suggests that Humphrey didn’t start that until 1976, the year after JGMS/LOM ended, he notes that it could well have been some other show filmed in Burbank or wherever. So we might imagine that the June 3-4 and 11 shows feature Paul Humphrey on drums.

But we just don’t know. Leaving aside the question of the overall contours of Humphrey’s playing with JGMS, it remains unknown whether he played at these June ’75 shows. I will be revisiting June 3-4 as soon as I can. We know that the El Camino Park drummer (June 8) was black, but cryptdev doubts it was Mr. Humphrey. What we really need is someone with great ears to check this stuff out and make stylistic notes on the drummers – while I will give it a go, it’s really beyond what my ears can detect.

Whatever the case, the show at Keystone Berkeley, 2119 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA, 94107 on Sunday, June 22, 1975 falls foul of the Tutt rule and belies any assumption we might make about Humphrey being there when Tutt was not. An unimpeachable but unnameable source identifies the drummer at this show as “Gregg Ricero”, a misspelled first name and anagrammatic rearrangement of the last name of Greg Errico. And, as is so often the case, the tape gives us a confirmatory piece of evidence when, after the first song, a crowd member yells “That drummer’s outta site!” Errico is not identified by name, but I am constantly amazed by how knowledgeable Garcia audiences were, even at this relatively early date. The attendee just sounds like he’s making special note of a drummer he hasn’t seen before. When I put these two facts together, I can only conclude that, notwithstanding the Legion of Mary billing, the drummer this night is Greg Errico. This further makes me wonder about the rest of the month, and whether we might not have an opportunity to scrutinize the alternation rule more closely, e.g., by comparing Errico’s drumming here with the drumming on June 3, 4 and 21, among others.

The show is a little sluggish to my ears, but I love it. No one song or passage really stood out for me as particularly great or particularly off. Within about two weeks, Legion of Mary would be no more.

Listening notes follow …

Legion of Mary

Keystone

2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704

June 22, 1975 (Sunday)

--Set I (6 tracks, 80:10)--

d1t01. //Think [#8:14] (1) [0:19] % [0:16]

d1t02. Favela [17:07] [0:14] % [0:33]

d1t03. Last Train From Poor Valley [12:12] [0:54]

d1t04. [0:25] I Feel Like Dynamite [12:25] [0:21]

d1t05. I Second That Emotion [14:52] [0:17] %

d1t06. That's Alright, Mama [11:55] (1) [0:15]

--Set II (5 tracks, 72:20)--

d2t01. After Midnight [15:40] [0:25] % [0:27]

d2t02. Wondering Why [23:10] [0:26]

d2t03. Tough Mama [8:16] [0:17] % [1:34]

d2t04. My Problems Got Problems [12:54] [0:27]

d2t05. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [8:38] (2) [0:03]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
! lineup: ! lineup: Jerry Garcia – el-guitar, vocals;

! lineup: Merl Saunders - keyboards, vocals;

! lineup: John Kahn – el-bass;

! lineup: Martin Fierro - saxophone, flute;

! lineup: Greg Errico - drums.

MOTB:

MOTB: MOTB Release: 0048 16/44.1

Release Date: 09/14/2007

Band: Legion Of Mary

Date: 06/22/1975. Sunday

Venue: Keystone

Location: Berkeley, CA

Source: Audience FOB Recording

Media: Maxell UD90

Lineage: Sony ECM-270 and ECM-250 [Positioned Onstage] > Sony TC-152 > MAC

Transfer: MAC > Nak Dragon > LynxTWO-B > WaveLab 5.0 > HD 24/96 WAV

Taper: Bob Menke and Louis Falanga

Transfer: Bob Menke

Mastering: Derek McCabe

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.

! TJS: http://www.thejerrysite.com/shows/show/1178

! db: http://db.etree.org/shn/87236 (this fileset); http://db.etree.org/shn/87237 (same tape and transfer, preserve at 24bit/96kHz); http://db.etree.org/shn/12558 (deprecated copy of same master); http://db.etree.org/shn/103435 (deprecated copy of same master, misidentified as a soundboard).

! R: this is one of the great set of audience recordings ever made, the 1974-1976 recordings made by Louis Falanga and Bob Menke of Bay Area Jerry Garcia shows. These guys came into the bar, went to the front, grabbed the table at Jerry's feet (right of center from the audience perspective) as soon as the doors opened. As the evening progressed, they would prepare cassette decks (e.g., this Sony TC-152), presumably complete with fresh batteries. Cassettes would be opened, maybe labeled, made ready (e.g., these Maxell UD90s). Two separate microphones, a Sony ECM-250 and (I presume) a newer Sony ECM-270, probably discrete while the lights are up, I figure? Lights go down, mics come out and are, apparently, placed onstage right in front of Garcia, one of them pointing into his stage monitor and the rest angled stage-center to catch the other players. You can hear the clinking of glasses, the low talk of the players onstage, the beautiful fuzz around the monitored guitar … so very much. Wonderful.

! R: The vocals are low ... persistent buzzing, especially set II?

! R: d1t01 Think enters in progress, maybe 30 seconds missing.

! P: d1t01 Martin does a Lonely Avenue quote about 5-minutes in.

! d1t01 (1) @ 8:23 crowd guy yells "That drummer's outta site." Someone on stage: "Really?"

! P d1t01-d1t02 both of these opening numbers are a little sluggish.

! P: d1t06 TAM they don't quite know how to start, consistent with this being a less acclimated drummer.

! d1t06 (1) JG: "We're gonna take a break for a little while. We'll be back a little bit later."

! P: I find the performance sluggish. Nothing really takes off in Set I.

! P: d2t01 After Midnight is plodding

! d2t01 @ 16:01 chick asks for "Sing Me A Rainbow" ... odd. Wasn't that a NRPS tune?

! R: d2t02 the buzzing is really bad in WW. It's a monitor buzz. Really bad in Tough Mama, down @ 0:27, back up.

! d2t05 (2) JG: "Thank you."