I. Howard Weiner's Positively Garcia
Howard Weiner's
very enjoyable Positively Garcia
(Weiner 2014) is like a better-written, more musical, less arcane version of my
listening notes, great flashing insights on the same issues that occupy Corry,
without the depth. That's not a criticism, by the way: it is light in the sense
of being quick and fun to read (if you are seeing these words, I think you'll
feel the same), not lightweight. Positively
Garcia is the first book on the Jerry Garcia Band, as he would have
it (see e.g., p. 3), or, as a stickler would have it, since a couple of the
shows are from 1972 and hence predate the JGB, Garcia On The Side. Tip o' the
cap to Mr. Weiner for kicking off a print discussion that I really look forward
to advancing.
The book is
chock full of good stuff, and I decided to engage a piece that caught my eye and drew my ear, its treatment
of JGB 11/4/81 at the Palace in Albany, which I guess checks in at #6 of Weiner's list of must-hear Garcia
shows. I'll take two slices across his piece, roughly speaking a more
meta take focused on the economy of this gig at its particular points in space
and time, and then a more micro listening engagement, comparing notes and
thoughts on the performance.
II. "Rise of the East Coast Deadhead"
Weiner frames JGB 11/4/81 Albany around this theme, and it
works wonders.
Quibbling, I'd say that Arnold (ongoing at
Lost Live Dead
and
Hooterollin Around), Jackson (1999), LIA (ongoing at
Grateful Dead Essays and
Grateful Dead Sources),
McNally (2002), Lesh (2005), Richardson (2014), and all the rest have amply
elaborated the phenomenal rise of the East Coast Deadhead, and it's of much older
vintage than the 1977 root Weiner taps. (What East Coast Deadhead of this
vintage doesn't mention Englishtown?) If, In The Beginning there were Sue
Swanson and whatshername, by about the third day He made the East Coast
Deadhead, probably via a solid black phone with a rotary dial. The birth year of the East Coast
Deadhead sports a '6' in the tens column. In the Garciaverse, the curve
first kinks at
An
Evening With The Grateful Dead and the
May
1970 East Coast tour, then again in January 1972 on the Wales-Garcia
Hooteroll?
tour, the first time Garcia had his name on an East Coast marquee since the
birth of the Grateful Dead. A more accurate chapter heading would have been
"a slope-change in East Coast Deadheaddom proximally preceding late
1981", but he writes too well for that.
Quibbles aside, Weiner does a great job of colorfully
narrating and analyzing a particular, for lack of a better word, economy. The
JGB and its East Coast fans sustained, extended, substantially constituted
not only the Garciaverse, but also, or rather thereby, the world of the
Grateful Dead. Let me start with the GOTS perspective. "More music"
catalyzed the Garciaverse, but the money certainly didn't hurt, and naturally
the East Coast was a huge part of that, the modal part of that I'd say. That's
where the relevant people were in the 1970s and into the 80s. Monetizing his
name helped him make his life of music and women and children and men and
meetings and highs and hoots and lonely nights in strange rooms and all the
rest. It made his life, as he lived it, possible. If Garcia's name-claiming
journey began in the comfort of the Bay Area, it really started paying the
bills once it followed the silk road, to the east.
"No Jerry = no Grateful Dead" should be emblazoned
into the Dead Canon, the band quite impossible without him as long as he
breathed (except for
8/1/69 at the Family Dog and, for an hour or so, 6/8/69 at
the Fillmore West, of course), and for a long time after he stopped. From the
advent of Jerry Garcia as a commodity/man alongside the Dead, and hence, by a
kind of natural market gravity, Jerry Garcia as an East Coast phenomenon, the
pieces almost always acted as complements, working together and strengthening
each other. I can think of one exception, summer 1992, when a hard/hot/rough
JGB jaunt to Southern California wrecked Garcia to the tune of several
cancelled Dead shows and probably a few hundred thousand dollars. But mostly,
they worked together.
After a time, GOTS made "Jerry Garcia" possible. To that extent, it set the conditions of possibility for the Grateful Dead as Garcia aged.
In the making of this Jerry Garcia, the
institution of the East Coast tour was a cornerstone social technology, the essence of creative destruction from 1975 until his death. JGB and its acoustic brethren took reasonably long jaunts that year (e.g., October 22 - November 2), and then in the following biggish pieces:
spring 1976:
fall 1977,
spring 1978,
early 1980,
early and late 1981,
mid-1982,
mid-1983,
late 1983,
mid-1984
[work in progress]
The Dead had assiduously monetized itself amongst
this set of fan-consumers from the beginning. Having built that, in 1975 Garcia
claimed his name, in that wonderful modern Western sense of property rights, of
packaging it up,
dba Jerry Garcia Band, and selling it to willing
customers, exercising an entitlement to the residual claim (which is the
definition of property rights) on a very valuable asset: his name. Weiner does
a great service by Polaroiding the East Coast Deadhead as a key ingredient in
the alchemy by which Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead also became Jerry
Garcia, full stop.
East Coast Deadheads loved Garcia, and he played them some
great shows. As Weiner describes it, they are "rabid" fans who
attend college at SUNY Albany, or one of the plethora of
upstanding schools in the area. One day they’ll be the doctors, lawyers,
scientists, and politicians of America. But on this night they are boisterous,
stoned, Garcialoving sycophants, escaping the cultural doldrums of the
times—new wave, punk, Jordache Jeans, and The Dukes of Hazzard-- ... East Coast
Deadheads inspired Garcia by raising a ruckus—hooting and hollering at exactly
the right moments. These rowdy cats appreciated the intricacies of
improvisation, and Garcia would respond by dialing up the jam—impassioned fret
work. Garcia was the embodiment of California culture, yet his creativity
thrived in the chaotic environments hovering around New York City, New Haven,
Boston, and Philadelphia (Weiner 2014, 68).
This is a standard analysis, supported by statements made by Garcia and other GD members over the years - the East Coast was more intense and often produced diamonds, while the West Coast typically got a more laid-back, home town vibe. Either way, commerce abetted some outstanding art, and it was win-win all around. That's
certainly Weiner's claim about 11/4/81, since he places the show in his top twelve. I'll go
through the show alongside Weiner, see how our subjective assessments compare.
Bottom line of this is that Weiner puts it in his top 6, and I might put it as average for the tour (which was, admittedly, a very good one).
III. Listening Comparison
--set I--
How Sweet It Is
Weiner calls it lackluster, I find nothing of note. Our
assessments converge.
Catfish John
Weiner lumps it with HSII (lackluster), but then narrates as
follows:" As Garcia strums the climactic finale of the “Catfish John” jam,
the Palace Theatre erupts. These overly eager fans are cuckoo for Jerry from
the first note" (Weiner 2014, 68).
I note: "@ 2 John's bass sounds great, not sure how
much is PA/tape and how much is just that he sounds strong, some combination of
both. 7:06 JG symphonic." So I am with the crowd here. Again, I'd say
Weiner's sense and my own sense are pretty close.
I Second That Emotion
Weiner likes it.
I systematically dislike this as a Garcia-Kahn tune, which
is unfortunate since they played it hundreds of times in just about every band.
Songs that stood the test of time in that particular way --start early, stay
consistent, never very far from being at hand -- songs Garcia really liked and
really liked playing, weren't that common, and if it was good enough for him who
am I to say? And here at 3:25 ish I hear why he feels enthusiastic about playing
this song, he's is right on it, Mr. Tutt is right on it. Another run 'round the
bases for Jerry late 3 over 4, cruising into second on the double, safely ahead
of the throw. Garcia sounds great, the whole band sounds great."
So, against my priors (I thought Weiner would be more
positive than me), we both converge on liking it.
Simple Twist Of Fate
Weiner does not mention this song. I don't have that much to
say, pace a little draggy for me, but nice inflection on "waterfront docks
| where the sailors all come in," a classic Dylan palabragraph of Garcia's
sailor- and salt air-San Francisco early childhood. It doesn't feel like Weiner
and I diverge much on this one.
Mystery Train
Weiner calls it "the transformative performance, the
one that really hurtles [it] towards immortality".
I don't make one note. So here I'd say we diverge
substantially.
Deal
Weiner: "Once upon a time, this was a onejam pony with
a tight instrumental tucked in the middle; but now there's an outrageous ending
jam, one that Garcia has been cultivating for the past year" (Weiner 2014,
69). Here's an example of Weiner's really wonderful musical insight: he's
absolutely right, I bet, that if we trace back to the handful of summer 1980
East Coast shows (with –ex Family Stone Greg Errico on drums), but especially
in the February '81 tour, we'd find the big, hugely layered runs he stacks on
the back of little Deal, really making it a rip-snorter all the way through his
last good playing late in life.
I have to quote Weiner at length here:
I recommend the final solo from the Albany "Deal."
Garcia opens swiftly with screeching twangs that'll burn your brain right out.
The crowd is overwhelmed, and the crazed shouting begins … The music thunders. Kahn and Tutt are the
sound and the fury-the Palace walls are shaking. A crazed outburst from Garcia
draws a tumultuous roar … Garcia restates the riff, louder, and with more
authority. A wave of approval reverberates through the faithful, and the crowd
barks for more … An obliging Garcia drops the hammer--same melody line in a
higher register, and incrementally quicker, 85 mph ... 90 mph ... 95 mph.
Feeding off the loudest roar of the night, Garcia invents exclamation notes
born out of the heat of the moment. It's an inspired collaboration, an
emotional give and take between a performer and an audience in peak states. … Garcia would play many longer versions of "Deal"
featuring mind-bending jams executed with brilliant technique; but few are as
stunning as 11-4-81. There's virtuosity within this solo, but the real thrill
is hearing how Garcia works the crowd, and how he lets the crowd work him. It's
a time out of mind moment, aural transcendence captured on an audience
recording (Weiner 2014, 70).
These were the kinds of experiences, a night of world class
American music for your $7.50, smokin' hot guitar playing
in front of a great band churning out some great rock n roll, by dint of which Garcia earned his
audience-for-life.
My notes give it a very good review, but then I conclude a
little contradictorily:
You can start to hear Garcia's voice really thinning out in
this period. Nevertheless, as I hear him doing some chorus 3:30, I hear him
nodding his head to the ladies and signaling that he wants to dig in a little.
They step up, and he does step up nicely second half of 3, now stacking and
building 4:15 to a nice full peak 4:24, crowd into it 4:32, great notes
everywhere, mixing and blending times, scales and excursions trading off at
random, then decaying intervals, a nice extension 5:20 when he could have done
something else, building it up 5:31, not in the key I want, but he's building
it up 5:45, ethereal peaks 5:45, trotting down a scale right over 6. Puts a
pedal on it 6:20, Melvin right where he needs to be, Jerry and the ladies
rejoin the vocals on cue 6:30ish. He didn't blow the roof off with that Deal,
but it was very good, as it often was during this period.
--intermission--
--set II--
Roadrunner
Weiner nicely narrates the hard traveling of 1981, with
this particular Jerry Garcia Band tour (October 31 – November 19, 1981, 18
shows in 14 cities) coming less than two weeks after coming back from a European
Dead tour for the second time that year, followed by ten days off and then
seven more Midwest Dead shows. "Roadrunner", indeed.
I am a little grumpier about things: "Again I notice
Garcia's thinning, increasingly nasal vocal delivery".
Mission In The Rain
Weiner loves it, loves it, loves it, drapes it in lots of
hyperbole. I think he is mistaken when he says "'Mission in the Rain' is
Hunter's portrait of Garcia when they both resided in the Mission District of
San Francisco" (Weiner 2014, 73), though it is clearly bound up in the
songsters' biographies. It also works well, for older Jerry, who "had lost
a lot during the last decade. His bushy black mane and beard had grayed
prematurely, and his addiction to smoking Persian had him by the balls"
(Weiner 2014, 74).
With expressive and cascading guitar runs, Garcia evokes the
pains and pleasures of the human experience as the band backs him in a dreamlike
trance. … In the Albany "Mission," his Tiger guitar has the gift of
gab as he scurries from scene to scene-everything's poignant and
picturesque-brilliant brushstrokes galore. Garcia's phrasing is immaculate. Each
riff is a clever idea, complete with its own zestful flavor and texture.
There's a brief interlude from Seals, but Garcia's guitar won't be hushed. Just
when you think the Bearded One has ended a phrase, he sneaks in a
spine-tingling flurry, a little something for us elitists who think we've heard
it all. And the way Garcia manipulates the silence is an art form within itself
(Weiner 2014, 74).
Weiner notes a miscue that Garcia turns to gold, an extra
measure on a Mission chorus
compensated by some monstrous guitar work. At 14
and a half minutes, Weiner notes, this is the longest MITR on record (Weiner
2014, 75).
What did I think of the Mission? Heh heh, here's old Grumpy
Gus now.
This Mission did absolutely nothing for me. Sounds draggy,
and I notice vocal weakness. For a good part of 11 he is not really playing his
guitar. 11:45 nice little run over 12. Some envelope late 12 and louder, now
doing well over 13, talking himself into putting some oomph into some solos.
Not bad, but he hasn't blow the roof off this night. Good picking here 13:36,
but for some reason I am wanting more pure decibels and he's not delivering.
Subjectivity is funny, isn't it?
That's What Love Will
Make You Do
Weiner: "After such an overwhelming display, on a
another night, Garcia might have slowed things down with "Simple Twist of Fate"
or "Russian Lullaby," but instead, he almost incites a riot by
busting into "That's What Love Will Make You Do," an atypical pick
for the third spot of the second set" (Weiner 2014, 75). But he doesn't
spend much time on it.
Me: "TWLWMYD I am anxious because I think the one on
11/10/81 (early or late?) is supposed to be the best. This starts off nicely,
yeah, in a good groove."
Night They Drove Old
Dixie Down ->
Weiner talks about the song, but doesn't have much to say
about the performance. I found nothing noteworthy.
Tangled Up In Blue
"Out of the final 'Dixie' chorus, JGB blasts into 'Tangled
Up in Blue'. A classic Band anthem precedes a classic Dylan anthem. American history
and culture rolls into one" (Weiner 2014, 76). Weiner doesn't like this
TUIB as much as he likes the version from Cape Cod on 5/28/83, not as much as I
do, apparently: "@ 4:29 Garcia lets loose some very fast and deft
picking, very fluid, pulls back again 5:01 like he's got the horse to a good
canter and you just keep on going, confident strumming mid-5 to the Montague
Street verse. Over 10 this is some exceptionally inventive guitar work, all the
way across the 10-minute mark, long cascading scales, digging in a little very
end 10 to start bringing things home."
So, sounds like I liked this particular Dylan more than HW.
--encore—
Sugaree
Noting the relative rarity of a JGB encore, Weiner likes
this version, which he calls intense and short. So funny. Here's what I said: "It's
rather amazing this is the encore, because Garcia is not rushing this too much
at all. Around 5:27 I found myself really liking what he was doing; it struck
me as patient and inventive. Greatness 7:15 over 7:30 high searing peak."
Sounds like we pretty much converge in liking it, though.
In summarizing this listening comparison, I certainly don't
put this show anywhere near my top 10, as Weiner does. It's good, it has a lot
of good moments, but it strikes me as representative of the tour, which was
generally quite strong. I'd need to do more listening to really feel confident
about that.
IV. Conclusion
I have been talking a lot about some of the recent and
forthcoming books we get to enjoy here in the 50th anniversary of
the birth of the Dead and the 20th anniversary year of Garcia's
death. Weiner's will never be part of The Canon, but it's a good read and,
naturally enough, I am thrilled to see Garcia On The Side getting some love. I
recommend it.
Listening notes after the jump.
