Marmaduke and Jerry: unknown Bay Area "resort", ca. mid-June 1969

Gene Sculati, in a very insightful little piece written ca. mid-June 1969 (1): Recently “a local resort featured Dead accomplice Marmaduke singing country (and playing guitar) to the accompaniment of Jerry Garcia on pedal steel guitar.”

Anyone know of a Marmaduke-Jerry gig, ca. mid-June 1969, at a resort?

REFERENCE

(1) Sculati, Gene. 1969. What’s Become of the Grateful Dead? Jazz & Pop 8.9 (September): 22-24.

When did Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders first play together?

Update 15 years later (summer 2025):

I had concluded it was 9/7/70.

This seems to have been incorrect.

Unheard tape suggests that was still Howard Wales. But the evidence is indirect, only a tape label that Howie Wowie's El Paso friend Martin Fierro showed up. As we know, at least as early as 5/21/71 Fierro played with the Garcia-Saunders outfit, and Martin and Merl would play on and off through the 1970s. It's possible the Howard tie is not strong enough to mean that earlier, Martin = Howard. I have a theory about Martin and Howard that I will briefly touch on in Fate Music, and I feel about 75% confident.

2025 Timeline

Corry:

Around August 1970, Cox was recording at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco with producer Nick Gravenites, and his supporting musicians included John Kahn and Merl Saunders. Kahn took a moment to introduce Saunders to Jerry Garcia, recording in Heider's at another room. A month or two later, Saunders would join the pair at the Matrix.

8/17/70-8/20/70

Gravenites triadically closes John and Merl, connecting them from Brewer & Shipley and Danny Cox initially. AFM Local No. 6 studio session contract archives for 1970 show Brewer & Shipley at Heider's from August 17 to August 21.

I couldn't find a hint of Danny Cox until looking at San Francisco Sessions, 1971.

8/21/70: John triadically closes Merl and Jerry. Garcia is credited on the last night of sessions for pedal steel on two songs on their record Tarkio. That sequences absurdly well Corry's narrative: Gravenites employs John and Merl on some sessions, and Garcia comes in the last night. John introduces the two. Perfect.

So, yes, Jerry met Merl, as I currently understand things, on ca. 8/21/70 at Heider's

9/7/70: Martin Fierro's name appears on the tape box for 9/7/70. Do Martin's social ties point to Merl or Howard Wales in the house? I argue with about 80% confidence that the Wales-Fierro tie is vastly stronger in summer 1970 than any ties to Merl. I think that points to this being Howard. I have been researching their relationship in El Paso and it is verrrry interrrreessstingg. Jesse Jarnow's oral histories with Howard are incredible. Conjecturing further, IFJGS staff imagine that 9/7/70 was Wales's last night. Howard and Martin are tight and I mean *tight*.  IFJGS staff imagine Fierro invited or just showing up for the sendoff party. Conclusion: Wales.

For 9/14/70, the ads just say "Jerry Garcia & Friends". It is unknown whether anyone at all played keys. There is no direct or indirect evidence for Merl Saunders. Both 9/7 and 9/14 were Matrix Taped, but I have not been able to learn anything about who played what.

ca. September-start October; I believe the gap between 9/7ish and 10/12ish was partly for them to at least rehearse a little in Merl's little garage or Heider's. Saunders had been playing for pay for well over 15 years at this point.

The next advertised Garciaverse Matrix Monday night gigs were for "Jerry Garcia, Merl Sanders [sic*] and Friends", October 12-14, 1970. Even though it's Monday-Wednesday, that gig has the feel of a coming out for Merl Saunders in the Matrix Monday Night gig. Check this out - all three nights were taped. But I have not been given access to study them. At least they give us confirmation that Jerry didn't skip out after playing two shows in Paterson, NJ the night before, though of course we don't know if Jerry is on them, *doh*

Conclusion: Wales until 9/7, unknown on 9/14, Saunders commences 10/12/70. Oh yeah, and if you have any sway, please help free at least any cataloguing of these Matrix Tapes!

/fin 2025 update

For now, the basic question: when did they first play together?

In a ca. 1995-6 interview included on the DVD release of  The End of the Road: The Final Tour '95 (Monterey Video DVD 313302), Merl indicates that he went down to Golden Gate Park and played with the Grateful Dead sometime in the late 1960s. I can't offer any precision or evaluation - it's certainly possible, but is presumably utterly unknowable from this vantage point unless someone's diary or some old photographs or some other account turns up.

The Jerry Site's first listing for "Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders" is for October 12, 1970, though if you go to the band summary for that "artist" entry it lists the first show as 12/1/70. slip_not added some Merl content (a quote about he and Jerry came to play together) on the 9/7/70 Jerry Garcia & Friends entry, but there's no obvious ex ante reason for that information to be attached to that date.

So we are in a bit of a quandary, but I have a few data points to offer.

My MO here is to examine gigs and studio sessions that might have been relevant to understanding when Jerry and Merl started together. For gigs, I am especially interested in looking at the evolution of the Monday Night Jam sessions at the Matrix, since the standard story is that Howard Wales dropped out at some point and Merl joined in. It may not have been a clean/linear break, but the data might help. For sessions, I am interested because of the Merl quote listed under 9/7/70 TJS listing linked above. There seems to have been a Heider's connection where the GD, the whole PERRO crowd (Crosby and the Jeffersons), Brewer & Shipley, and Danny Cox (the latter two of whom were under the same management) were jumping into each others' sessions to an astonishing degree.

Anyway, here are what I consider some relevant data.

• 4/20/70: Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales [double-check]; Matrix; "Scenedrome" (calendar listing), Berkeley Barb, April 17-23, 1970, p.6.
• 4/27/70: Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales, & Friends; Matrix; display ad; listed as jam session in Scenedrome; Berkeley Barb, April 24-May 1, 1970, p. 8.
• 5/18/70: Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales [double-check]; Matrix; calendar listing, Good Times v.3 n.20, 5/15/70, p. 24. I believe this is the show that was released as Side Trips, vol 1. (Aside: "Thank you, sir. May I have another?")
• 5/25/70: Howard Wales, Jerry Garcia & Friends; Matrix; Scenedrome listing in Berkeley Barb, May 22-28, 1970, p. 18. Doubtful JG was there, given GD show in the UK the night before.
• 6/1/70: Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales [double-check]; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.22 (5/29/70), p. 24.
• 6/7/70: this appears not to have happened.
• 6/8/70: Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales; Matrix; [source suppressed]
• 6/15/70: Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales [double-check]; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.24 (6/12/70), p. 24.
• 6/22/70: Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales [double-check]; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.25 (6/19/70), p. 23.
• 7/6/70: Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales [double-check]; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.27 (7/3/70), p. 17.
• 7/15/70: the first "PERRO" session at Heider's that I can document; Kantner session working on "Starship" and "Old Man" for what would become Blows Against The Empire; this and all related listings provided below show Jerry present [source suppressed]
• 7/17/70: as above, but working on "Mau Mau";
• 7/20/70: Howard Wales and Friends listed at Matrix for this Monday and the next night (Tues., 7/21/70); calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.28 (7/17/70), p. 18; no mention of Garcia.
• 7/21/70: as above.
• 7/22/70: Kantner session at Heider's ("Mau Mau"; "Together"); see 7/15/70.
• 8/6/70-9/16/70: I have the GD's American Beauty sessions at Heider's from these dates; source: McNally, LST, p. 378.
• 8/10/70: Kantner session at Heider's ("Starship"; "Old Man"); see 7/15/70.
• 8/11/70: as above ("Starship"); see 7/15/70.
• 8/21/70: Brewer & Shipley session at Heider's, for what would become Tarkio; Garcia listed ("50 States of Freedom"; "Oh Mommy"); [source suppressed]
• 8/24/70: Garcia & Wales [double-check] Monday night Matrix session; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.33 (8/21/70), p. 21.
• 9/7/70: Jerry Garcia & Friends; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.35 (9/4/70), p. 16.
• 9/8/70: PERRO jams at Heider's: JG, Jorma, Jack, Kreutzmann ("Jam"); source: PERRO tapes.
• 9/14/70: Jerry Garcia & Friends; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.36 (9/11/70), p. 16.
• 10/12/70: "Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders and Friends"; Matrix; based on newspaper advertisement as listed at TJS; first TJS listing for Garcia & Saunders; spurious JG listing since GD were playing in Paterson, NJ.
• 10/13/70: as above, though GD had no gig until 10/16 in Philly, and JG could well have flown home.
• 10/14/70: as above.
• 10/19/70: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.41 (10/16/70), p. 20; in the past we would have discounted this, since GD was in Minneapolis on 10/18 and Washington, DC, on 10/23, but I have increasingly come around to the view that he flew home more often than I might have thought, and likely as not played a gig whenever a night was open around this time. So I buy that this could have happened.
• 10/26/70: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders; Matrix; calendar item in Good Times, v.3 n. 42 (10/23/70), p. 14. GD were between St. Louis (10/24) and Stony Brook (10/30), but on the logic just above I believe this could have happened.
• 11/1/70 or 11/2/70: Janis's wake. Not relevant, just wanted to keep the record straight.
• 11/2/70: I have a Jerry Garcia & Friends listing for the Harding Theater, but no source info. We have discussed this a little bit, but I am not sure where things stand.
• 11/3/70: PERRO/If I Could Only Remember My Name (IICORMN) session at Heider's ("Cowboy Movie"); based on Steve Silberman "Crosby Connection" show played on KPFA, ca. 2001.
• 11/3/70: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders; Matrix; note that this is a Tuesday; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.43 (10/30/70), p. 16.
• 11/4//70: PERRO session at Heider's; no source information listed.
• 12/1/70: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders; Matrix; note: Tuesday; calendar item in Good Times v.3 n.47 (11/26/70), p. 20).
• 12/2/70: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders; Matrix; listed at TJS based on Joey Newlander newspaper research (Berkeley Barb).

Thatsalotta data, I know, but I wanted to put it out there for you all to see.

What do I infer from all of this about the titular question? The pivot looks to be right around the time of the 8/21/70 Brewer & Shipley session. (Full disclosure: in personal email, Corry played up the Brewer & Shipley connection to Danny Cox, and thence to Merl; so credit should go to Corry for helping me see the break in the series.) There's only one Wales listing a few days later, and then come the "Jerry Garcia & Friends" listings. I would guess that Merl became a "Friend" at the 9/7/70 Matrix show (otherwise why not list Wales, as they had all year?), but there is no smoking gun in these data. Merl's name doesn't appear in listings until 10/12/70, which has the drawback of being a listing known to conflict with GD performance 3000 miles away. But it certainly suggests that Merl was definitely around by this time.

I believe I spoke with Danny Cox, and he doesn't have any old paperwork regarding his sessions at Heider's. I have not tried to contact the Brewer & Shipley people, but that might be a better lead.

In sum, in answer to the question of when Jerry and Merl first played together (qua Jerry & Merl), I'll say September 7, 1970. And maybe walk back and say that slip_not may know a thing or two. ;-)

Reading Notes: Jackson, Harry. 1970. On Tour with the Dead. Zygote, July 22, 1970: 41-44.

I have only a bad photocopy, with no page numbers, of an article written by Harry Jackson, with the only visible title word being “dead.” I am not 100% sure the above reference is correct. I will refer to pages as they appear on my copy.

The article is based on observation/interview at the March 21, 1970 Port Chester, NY GD shows. He reports a little bit on the early show, does some interviewing, then reports a bit on the late show, which ended ca. 3 a.m.

Jackson 1970, copy p1: “They’ve only been running rock shows out in Portchester for a few weeks, and the big crowds aren’t coming in yet. So they really went out of their way to pull the press out to see the Grateful Dead.”

Jackson 1970, copy p1: improved vocals as biggest change in GD at this time.

Jackson 1970, copy p1: Cutler tells Jackson that “’the boys were tripping’.”

Jackson 1970, copy p1: Hart on better harmony vocals: “We’ve been influenced, you see. We’ve been tampered with. … Steve Stills came in and stayed with me for about two months, and we hung together. And Crosby, and they were hanging out with us. So, you know, we were sittin’ around singing and getting together and getting the harmonies better.”

Jackson 1970, copy p2b: Mickey Hart: “We just finished an album the other day.” [Workingmans]

Jackson 1970, copy p3a: Mickey: “We don’t have any time off.” Q: Is that financial? MH: “Financial.”

Jackson 1970, copy p3b: Mickey is noncommittal about the show they just played … 3/21/70a, one of the greatest ever! He says it was “a little staggery … it wasn’t a super set.”

Jackson 1970, copy p3b: He leaves Mickey to find someone else: “We wandered upstairs and found Jerry Garcia talking to a photographer at the back of a narrow dressing room. The groupies were so tightly packed in on the floor that we couldn’t get to him. He was in the middle of a long rap about corner cutting at record companies. Sam Cutler’s head appeared, and he signaled. Jerry looked relieved as he picked up his guitar. “’Wow, I got to stop rapping and start playing’.”

Jackson 1970 copy p3a: question to Sam Cutler from another reporter about “the album that was just recorded.” [Workingmans]

Jackson 1970, copy p3a: Reporter’s words: “The Dead have always had problems getting themselves together as ‘professionals.’ In the past, all their affairs have been handled by members of their family. This has led to all sorts of problems.” [JGMF: I wonder if someone discussed Lennie "on background"?]

Jackson 1970, copy p3b: goes on to do a pretty good job to describe the pretty amazing end to the late show. After 3 a.m. when the show ended.

GSCBF11: John Hartford (& Friends): Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 20:15

Part of a series of back-of-the-napkin thoughts about the Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival (GSCBF), held in San Rafael, CA from Friday, April 26th through Sunday, April 28, 1974.

Previous installments:

GSCBF1: just a mention

GSCBF2: a plea for a release of the film and tapes!

GSCBF3: Sunday 4/28/74 afternoon schedule

GSCBF4: Greenbriar Boys (a.k.a. "Frank Wakefield"): Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 15:00 

GSCBF5: Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 16:15

GSCBF6: Doc and Merle Watson: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 1700 

GSCBF7: Steve Martin and John McEuen: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 1900 

GSCBF8: Skunk Cabbage: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 19:05 

GSCBF9: Great American String Band: Saturday, April 27, 1974, ca. 23:15 ("Where's Jerry?") 

GSCBF10: Ramblin' Jack Elliott: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 19:30

John Hartford comes on around 8:15 and plays like a real pro on banjo, guitar, and fiddle for about an hour, it seems. Norman Blake (guitar), Tut Taylor (dobro), Vassar Clements (fiddle) and Doug Dillard (banjo) join in as the set moves forward. I am not quite sure what all's being played, nor by whom, for the encores. See my notes below.

Update: I have now listened to both the "Debbie reels" version and the Kuykendall version, as the latter has been gently edited by PB at the (now defunct - RIP) Steam Powered Preservation Society. The Kuykendall source is less complete but better sounding. See the extensive notes below. I am leaning toward the idea that the Debbie materials indeed do come from cassette masters, while the Kuykendall tapes are indeed from reels. There is still much to unravel here. Anyway ...

~~~~~

Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival
Marin County Veterans' Auditorium Building and Grounds
San Rafael, CA

<--Ramblin' Jack Elliott precedes-->

John Hartford & Friends
Sunday, April 28, 1974 ca. 20:15

Source: "Debbie reel 4/27/74" CD 4 of 4

Provenance: unknown sbd recording (?maybe MSC > C?) > reel

Transfer: AKAI GX 636 playback > Apogee mini ME @ 24/96 > Apogee Mini DAC (monitoring/mastering) > lynx one soundcard > wavelab 5.0 > CD, by Matt Smith.

Lossless encoding: EAC > CDWave > TLH (FLAC level 8).

Tagging: Foobar 2000.

(17 tracks, 59:51)

--John Hartford (banjo)--
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t01. % ambient noise % [0:38]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t02. //Old Joe Clark [#6:28] [0:08]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t03. Up on the Hill Where They Do the Boogie [5:20] [0:16]

--John Hartford (guitar)--
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t04. tuning and talk [1:30]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t05. Turn Your Radio On [7:34] [0:10]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t06. Good Old Electric Washing Machine [2:12] [0:20]

--John Hartford (fiddle)--
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t07. tuning, false start & talk to soundman [0:43]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t08. Skippin' in the Mississippi Dew [5:01] [0:07]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t09. Boogie [3:15] ->
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t10. Jelly Bean Psychedelic Song [1:10] [0:18] %

--John Hartford (??instrument??); enter Norman Blake (guitar), Tut Taylor (dobro), Vassar Clements (fiddle)--
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t11. Steam Powered Aereoplane [7:12]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t12. call out Doug Dillard, tuning [2:43]

--John Hartford (??instrument??); Norman Blake (guitar), Tut Taylor (dobro), Vassar Clements (fiddle); enter Doug Dillard (banjo)--
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t13. Wheel Hoss [2:05] [0:08]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t14. encore calls [1:05]

--encore (note: 2x fiddle, dobro, banjo, guitar, bass)--
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t15. tuning, talk (1) [1:42]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t16. Peacock Rag [2:08] [0:15]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t17. Foggy Mountain Breakdown [6:03] [1:13] %

Notes:

! % = tape discontinuity; # = truncated timing; // = cut song

! GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t02 OJC cuts in with hot levels, adjust in first 0:12.

! GSCBF-1974-04-28-2015-Hartford-t15 (1) JH: "This is the California Chapter of the Dobrolic Plectral Society, which is an organization founded by Tut Taylor in Georgia to honor the dobro."

<--Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys follow-->

~~~~~

Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival
Marin County Veterans' Auditorium Building and Grounds
San Rafael, CA

<--Ramblin' Jack Elliott precedes-->

John Hartford & Friends
Sunday, April 28, 1974 ca. 20:15

Provenance: "master sbd reel" (a.k.a. Kuykendall source)
Source: "SBD: MR > DAT > Echo Mia > Cool Edit > CDWave > Philips CDRW804 > EAC > WAV > SHN."
Transfer: "PB" of thespps.org: received shns > wavs > joined wav (shntool) > tracking (Total Recorder Pro 6.1) > SBE fixed (shntool) > flac(6) (Flac frontend 1.7.1 / flac 1.1.2a) > tagging (Foobar2000 Live Show Tagger).
This info file by JGMF.

10 tracks, 43:44
[MISSING: Old Joe Clark]
hartford1974-04-28t01. //Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie [#4:58] [1:45]
hartford1974-04-28t02. Turn Your Radio On [7:28] [0:12]
hartford1974-04-28t03. Electric Washing Machine [2:10] [1:02]
hartford1974-04-28t04. Skippin' In The Mississippi Dew [5:23] [0:18]
hartford1974-04-28t05. Boogie [3:05] ->
hartford1974-04-28t06. Jelly Bean Psychedelic Song [1:09] [0:05] %
hartford1974-04-28t07. Steam Powered Aereo Plane * [7:05] %
hartford1974-04-28t08. Wheel Hoss ^ [2:08] [0:07] % (1) [0:54]
--Encore--
hartford1974-04-28t09. Peacock Rag ^ [2:05] [0:16]
hartford1974-04-28t10. Foggy Mountain Breakdown// ^ [#3:31]

Notes:

! % = tape discontinuity; # = truncated timing; // = cut song

! * with Blake, Taylor & Clements

! ^ with Blake, Taylor, Clements & Dillard

! This fileset calls the event the "First Annual Golden State Bluegrass Festival." GSCBF is technically correct, though the program does call it the first annual.

! This source definitely sounds better than the "Debbie reels" source, less hiss. The Debbie source is also more present in the L channel than this one, which seems to have a more balanced, centered sound. This could well be from master reels for all I know, though I am slightly dubious about that. It certainly looks for all the world like this is a 7.5 ips reel side (note the proximity to 45 minute total time). The "Debbie reel" source, of course, clocks in at 60 minutes. The big differences are the start (7:30 or so more on Debbie) and the end (3:45 or so more on Debbie). There a few more minutes missing here between the Doug Dillard call onstage and the start of "Wheel Hoss", and another 1:45 or so (encore calls from the crowd) between Wheel Hoss and Peacock Rag. That probably accounts for the lion's share of the time difference, though this source makes the Debbie tape (with its possible cassette gen) feel like it's running a bit slow. I suspect that, as Matt Smith's genealogy for the Debbie reels suggests, they may be sourced from cassettes. I.e., the Debbie reel source for this Hartford set probably lived on a 60-minute cassette at some point, perhaps even from the master. The patterns of recording discontinuities don't match this perfectly (the Debbie source seems to start with 35 continuous minutes of tape, whereas we'd expect 30 at a time from 60-minute cassettes), but everything else points in this direction.

! hartford1974-04-28t01 Up on the Hill comes in about 21 seconds into the song.

! hartford1974-04-28t01 Note that the time between Up on the Hill and Turn Your Radio On is identical here and on the Debbie tapes. Same between Washing Machine and Skippin'.

! hartford1974-04-28t04 Haven't figured out the time difference between the two versions of "Skippin' In The Missippi Dew" ... this one is about 15 seconds longer, and I don't hear a splice in the Debbie version. I am sure I am missing something.

! hartford1974-04-28t08 (1) JH: "This is the California Chapter of the Dobrolic Plectral Society, which is an organization founded by Tut Taylor in Georgia to honor the dobro."

! hartford1974-04-28t10 Foggy Mountain Breakdown cuts out @ 3:31 ... ouch!

<--Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys follow-->

THESPPS INFO FILE BELOW:

John Hartford & Friends  
First Annual Golden State Bluegrass Festival,
Marin County, CA   

04/28/74  

John Hartford - guitar, banjo, fiddle
Norman Blake - guitar
Tut Taylor - dobro
Vassar Clements - fiddle
Doug Dillard - banjo  

1.  //Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie
2.  Turn Your Radio On
3.  Electric Washing Machine
4.  Skippin' In The Mississippi Dew
5.  Boogie >
6.  Jelly Bean Psychedelic Song (break?)
7.  Steam Powered Aereo Plane*
8.  Wheel Hoss^
9.  Peacock Rag^
10. Foggy Mountain Breakdown//^

* with Blake, Taylor & Clements
^ with Blake, Taylor, Clements & Dillard

Original Source: SBD: MR > DAT > Echo Mia > Cool Edit > CDWave > Philips CDRW804>
Recieved as CDA audio.  EAC > WAV > SHN

Cat in the Limelight: RN Grosswald and Blavat 1978

Grosswald, Mike and Glen Blavat. 1978. Jerry Garcia’s Band Under the Stars. Happytimes (Philadelphia), March 31, 1978, p. 15.

Grosswald-Bavat 1978: This is a really nicely done piece from what I assume was a Philly underground paper, Happytimes, around the time of the JGB’s visit to that town in mid-March (3/16/78 at the Spectrum Theatre). Garcia had actually promoted Cats Under the Stars pretty vigorously, including interviews at least on March 10 in Rochester, March 11 in Pawtucket, and March 17 in NYC. It is well-established that Garcia poured himself into the album, loved it from an artistic point of view, and felt the sting of its commercial failure very, very deeply. I’d go so far as to say that he gave up trying after CUTS dropped through the charts like a stone. But that’s a matter for another post (or a book chapter!). For now, some reading notes.

Grosswald-Bavat 1978, 15: CUTS described as “brilliant” [CUTS]

Grosswald-Bavat 1978, 15: “The evolution of the Jerry Garcia Band has pretty much mirrored the development of the Grateful Dead. What started at as loose, informal jazz sessions at San Francisco clubs several nights a week has developed into a tight ensemble that writes and produces its own material”. JGMF: interesting and spot-on analogy. There’s a common, underlying evolutionary process in both bands, from spontaneity and “chaos” to institutionalization and “form”. [GD-JGB]

Grosswald-Bavat 1978, 15: “’We started playing by pure coincidence ten years ago,’ recalled John Kahn, ‘in a real small club in ‘Frisco called the Matrix which hasn’t existed for at least eight years. It used to be a Monday night jam session type of gig. Jerry was with organ player Howard Wales, myself, and Bill Vitt, and I’ve been playing with Jerry ever since. The jamming went on for years; most of the time five or six people would join in.’” [JGMS]

Grosswald-Bavat 1978, 15: Kahn: “’Wales quit and I got Merl Saunders, who I knew from my jazz playing days, to join us.’ Being known only as The Group in the beginning is indicative of how loose these early sessions were. [JGMF: yes!] ‘Nobody thought of having a name or any kind of focus besides showing up and jamming. We tried to avoid all the bullshit that we could,’ Kahn added. [JGMF music without bullshit]

Grosswald-Bavat 1978, 15: addition of Tutt and Fierro gave birth to “Legion of Mary” [LOM]

Grosswald-Bavat 1978, 15 quoting JG from a ca. 1975 interview, re LOM: “Legion of Mary is a different sort of group for me. I don’t write material for it. We play other people’s songs that we like and just have a good time. It’s like a low profile is more desirable for me. The Dead and this group are two different trips. And this one has a lot less pressure associated with it because we haven’t made an effort to get famous at it. That’s one of the things that makes it possible. I couldn’t take the pressure of being a double celebrity. It’s a drag just being it once.”

Grosswald-Bavat 1978, 15: recording CUTS: JK: “was recorded in the Grateful Dead warehouse where they rehearse in San Rafael. Garcia has a 16 track studio machine and we got a real compatible Neve board from the budget of the next hundred million albums.” [JGMF, NB: would be in debt from JGB, for awhile, least!]

Grosswald-Bavat 1978, 15: Kahn speaks to the consonance of the JGB recording process: “We all sort of think the same way musically and the production worked out real well in contrast to other situations I’ve been involved with where everybody contributes different ideas thus you end up nowhere. That can be a real drag.” [JGMF: Reflections?]

Grosswald-Bavat 1978, 15: after the JGB tour, Kahn goes out with Maria Muldaur, including in the area April 10 (opening for Bromberg at the Valley Forge Music Fair). GD will go on tour starting April 6^th in Florida.

Grosswald-Bavat 1978, 15: Maria Muldaur: “Maria Muldaur is now a permanent member of the Garcia Band … ‘I totally cherish being part of a musical experience like this,’ she elucidated. ‘I never was a Dead Head, but I’ve become involved because my old man is the backbone, the right hand man of the Garcia band. John and Jerry have a particular musical exchange happening. Their music has evolved and they’ve helped each other grow musically immensely and that’s when I came to respect them. At first I went to their gigs and thought this is pretty loose,’ Maria continued, ‘but then I saw that the place where they come from musically has nothing to do with putting on a tight show. There’s this intimate interchange and there’s an openness that happens. He may bumble a few notes, but that absolutely doesn’t matter ‘cause of where he takes it. And then to see the whole audience get it every time and not just applaud a solo, but levitate out of their seats. That’s a special thing to be a part of.’”

Grosswald-Bavat 1978, 15: “During the recent [GD?] hiatus, Donna spent time setting up a nursery school with Mountain Girl, Jerry’s old lady.” I didn’t know Donna and MG were close.

Grosswald-Bavat 1978, 15: “Cats Under the Stars, the Jerry Band’s best album to date, is sure to propel the Band to new heights of musical stardom. And while Jerry Garcia’s worst fears of becoming a double celebrity are being realized, apparently the feeling is ‘Cats in the limelight / feels like it’s all right.’” That is pretty brilliant.

GSCBF10: Ramblin' Jack Elliott: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 19:30

Part of a series of back-of-the-napkin thoughts about the Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival (GSCBF), held in San Rafael, CA from Friday, April 26th through Sunday, April 28, 1974.

Previous installments:

GSCBF1: just a mention

GSCBF2: a plea for a release of the film and tapes!

GSCBF3: Sunday 4/28/74 afternoon schedule

GSCBF4: Greenbriar Boys (a.k.a. "Frank Wakefield"): Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 15:00 

GSCBF5: Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 16:15

GSCBF6: Doc and Merle Watson: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 1700 

GSCBF7: Steve Martin and John McEuen: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 1900 

GSCBF8: Skunk Cabbage: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 19:05 

GSCBF9: Great American String Band: Saturday, April 27, 1974, ca. 23:15 ("Where's Jerry?")

Back to Sunday evening. This is a 37-minute set by folk balladeer Ramblin' Jack Elliott (RJE). Some banter during the Greenbriar Boys set at ca. 15:00 suggested that RJE was backstage, and he mentions during his set that he just flew in on "a ae-ro-plae" after a gig the previous night in Detroit. I cant' find any RJE tour dates readily available, but I am guessing a glance through Detroit area bookings would find him there on Saturday, April 27, 1974.

Anyway, this is an interesting set, at turns stunningly beautiful (I am a real sucker for "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright") and then sloppy and, well, rambling, like he shouldn't have sipped from that particular batch of Kool-Aid. On balance I find it totally compelling.

The recording is also interesting. It's said to be from the "Debbie reels", but there are a number of recording discontinuities within this 37-minute span of tape. The other Debbie stuff seems pretty continuous, which makes me wonder. It also makes it impossible to say whether what I list below was the whole RJE set or not.

Anyway ...

Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival
Marin County Veterans' Auditorium Building and Grounds
San Rafael, CA

<--Skunk Cabbage precedes-->

Ramblin' Jack Elliott   
Sunday, April 28, 1974 ca. 19:30

Source: "Debbie reel 4/27/74" CD 3 of 4
Provenance: unknown sbd recording (?maybe MSC > C?) > reel
Transfer: AKAI GX 636 playback > Apogee mini ME @ 24/96 > Apogee Mini DAC (monitoring/mastering) > lynx one soundcard > wavelab 5.0 > CD, by Matt Smith.
Lossless encoding: EAC > CDWave > TLH (FLAC level 8).
Tagging: Foobar 2000.

(9 tracks, 37:00)
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t01. % San Francisco Bay Blues (1) (2) [4:44] [0:28]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t02. (3) Talking Fishing %// Blues [3:#42] [0:14]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t03. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright [3:04] (4) [0:56]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t04. Cup Of Coffee [5:58] [0:13]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t05. % //Pretty Boy Floyd (1) [3:49] [0:23]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t06. Old Shep [2:45] [0:23] % [0:36]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t07. If I Were A Carpenter [3:46] (5) [0:33] % [0:06]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t08. talk (6) and tuning [1:28]
--Encore--
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t09. Strawberry Roan [3:04] [0:45]

Notes:
! % = tape discontinuity; # = truncated timing; // = cut song
! There is some vocal mic distortion here.
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t01 (1) w/ unknown harp player
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t01 (2) RJE: "we just got together about ... y'know, 15 minutes ago" (re: harp player)
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t02 TFB begins with a beautiful 40-second or so little guitar passage that I thought about tracking separately.
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t02 (3) RJE: "I don't know what you been thinking. I just got off a airplane here."
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t02 TFB gap/splice @ 3:25-3:33
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t03 @ 3:44 (4) RJE: "I was over in Detroit doin' a gig last night, and I came back here on a aero-plane, and I would rather be drivin'."
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t04 @ 0:17 RJE: "I sure am glad to be here y'know ... I wouldn't miss it for the world"
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t04 @ 5:18 RJE asks what time it is, and is told (and repeats) "7". That is pretty darn consistent with the Festival schedule and gives even more confident that we have the Sunday night schedule, at least, pretty well pinned down.
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t05 PBF clips in
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t06 Like TFB, Old Shep track starts with a great guitar improvisation (this one about 45 seconds). Very nice.
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t06 @ 2:27 RJE sort of aborts Old Shep after about a minute and a half. "You know the story. I don't think you want to h ... [trails off]" and the song ends.
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t07 (5) encore calls
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1930-Elliott-t08 (6) including discussion of "Diamond Joe"

<--John Hartford follows-->

GSCBF9: Great American String Band: Saturday, April 27, 1974, ca. 23:15 ("Where's Jerry?")

Part of a series of back-of-the-napkin thoughts about the Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival (GSCBF), held in San Rafael, CA from Friday, April 26th through Sunday, April 28, 1974.

Previous installments:

GSCBF1: just a mention

GSCBF2: a plea for a release of the film and tapes!

GSCBF3: Sunday 4/28/74 afternoon schedule

GSCBF4: Greenbriar Boys (a.k.a. "Frank Wakefield"): Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 15:00 

GSCBF5: Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 16:15

GSCBF6: Doc and Merle Watson: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 1700 

GSCBF7: Steve Martin and John McEuen: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 1900 

GSCBF8: Skunk Cabbage: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 19:05

So I am breaking the continuous look at Sunday. Probably not a good idea, but here we are.

The festival schedule has "Great American String Band & Vassar Clements" closing both Friday night (22:30) and Saturday night (23:15). A few things to note about this. First, the name issue is one that will require a lot of time and a separate post. It's probably more complicated than interesting. Second, as the man to whom the Festival was dedicated, Vassar was all over the place (and the schedule). That said, as far as I can tell he does not play on either GASB set. Third, the fact that Garcia-associated bands would close all three nights of the festival (GASB on Friday and Saturday, OAITW on Sunday, though this last was not billed in advance) is consistent with the view that things were at least somewhat Garcia-centric. (In truth, it's probably more the case that they were Vassar-centric, but I'll have to leave that aside for now.)

I put a parenthetical at the end of this post title: "Where's Jerry?" That is the question posed by an audience member, and it's a good one. Garcia is not playing with GASB here, even though he participated in a workshop on the Festival grounds earlier this very day, had played with GAS/MB the night before, lived in town, and would be all over the place the next day. I had always assumed he was on this, but he isn't. So where was he? Partying back at the hotel? (Apparently the festival organizers took every care to cater to the desires of the talent, including running limos back and forth between the festival site [Marin County Veterans' Auditorium Building and Grounds] and the hotel, and the musicians made great use of this to have a high old time.) He could have been in some other social setting, though taking a Saturday night off would be really uncharacteristic at this time.

I have to believe that our friendly music junkie must have had a really good reason not to be there, and let me offer a conjecture: maybe he was in LA working on what would become Compliments? Here's the timeline. We know that at least some of the album work was done in LA, and that it was happening right around this time. I have information on a session at Heider's Studio A (LA) on April 23rd. Let's assume that Garcia's presence for the Pilgrimage Theater gig on April 20th was related to him being down south for album work. The GAMB/GASB made its way north with a gig at the Arlingon Theater in Santa Barbara on the 24th, sans Jerry. I figure he just stayed back in LA to work on the album. Then he flies up for Friday night at the Festival, but flies back down to LA for studio work on Saturday, April 27th.

Remember that back in these days you could just walk up to ticket counter at SFO, hop a plane, and be in LA less than two hours after walking into the terminal. So I think he played the workshop midday and then caught a plane. I think the pressure was really on to complete the album, which gets to Jerry's personal financial stake in Round Records. Round had sent out invitations for a May 1, 1974 release party for "Compliments" and Robert Hunter's Tale of the Great Rum Runners.

deadnetcentral.com

Gotta love the p.s. ("Come over and get wasted, and listen to some good music"), but anyway.

Again: there's evidence of studio work on 4/23, and there's an album release scheduled for May 1st. I just think it's plausible that Garcia had to finish things up on Saturday, 4/27, and that's why he didn't play with GASB.

Anyway, notes on the GASB fileset circulated by Rob Berger, from Jerry Moore (RIP)'s reels, are below. Thanks, Rob and Jerry!

Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival
Marin County Veterans' Auditorium Building and Grounds
San Rafael, CA

<--Doc Watson precedes-->

Great American String Band
Saturday, April 27, 1974 ca. 23:15

Source: Berger sbd seed from Jerry Moore's reels, "4/27/74" d1t22-24 and d2t01
Provenance: unknown sbd recording > ?? > Jerry Moore's reel.
Transfer: Sony TC-765 playback > sbm1 > dat > cdr > soundforge > cdr > eac > flac by Rob Berger, originally transferred in 1999; from the FLAC fileset I decoded, joined the wavs in Wavelab 5.0, and cut tracks as below in CD Wave;
Lossless encoding: TLH (FLAC level 8).
Tagging: Foobar 2000.

(6 tracks, 20:15)
GSCBF-1974-04-27-2315-GASB-t01. Banter (1), Tuning [0:24]
GSCBF-1974-04-27-2315-GASB-t02. My Plastic Banana Isn't Stupid [3:19] [0:06] % [0:25]
GSCBF-1974-04-27-2315-GASB-t03. Dawg's Rag [7:22] [0:31]
GSCBF-1974-04-27-2315-GASB-t04. Talk (2,3,4) [1:04]
GSCBF-1974-04-27-2315-GASB-t05. I'll Be A Gambler If You'll Deal The Cards [2:27] [0:04] %
GSCBF-1974-04-27-2315-GASB-t06. ... Sweet Georgia Brown [#4:27] [0:04]

Lineup:
Richard Greene - fiddle;
David Grisman - mandolin, harmony vocals;
David Nichtern - guitar, vocals (I'll Be A Gambler If You'll Deal The Cards);
Taj Mahal - guitar, vocals (Sweet Georgia Brown).

Notes:

! % = tape discontinuity; # = truncated timing.

! This performance is very hot.

! There are occasional pops in the recording, which is overall quite good.

! The source tape for this is the "soundman" reels acquired in 1st gen by Will Boswell. So the Matt Smith transfers of the Boswell tapes are probably going to sound better than this, though we'll have to see. Because of the heavy editing of this tape source (there are recording discontinuities before and after every song, unlike the "Debbie" source, which is pretty continuous except for master tape changes), we can really have no idea how much of the GASB set this represents. We can be pretty sure that this is Saturday night, but we can't know much more than that. As noted below, Sweet George Brown is the (expected) last song of the set.

! GSCBF-1974-04-27-2315-GASB-t01: (1) Richard Greene: "... David Nichtern. It's called Plastic ... my ... something about my plastic banana. I don't really remember it." DG: "Well the thing is, that it's not stupid." RG: "Oh." DG: "His plastic banana is not stupid."

! GSCBF-1974-04-27-2315-GASB-t03: this version of Dawg's Rag is smokin' hot!

! GSCBF-1974-04-27-2315-GASB-t04: (2) Richard Greene: "It's really far out. It's very far out. We're really tickled that you like original stuff. It's great. Another original for you, it's by David Nichtern. It's called 'I'll Be The [sic] Gambler If You Deal The Cards'. ... Dawg broke a string ..."

! GSCBF-1974-04-27-2315-GASB-t04: (3) crowd member yells for "Wild Horses". Nichtern: "We don't do that tune."

! GSCBF-1974-04-27-2315-GASB-t04: (4): crowd member asks "Where's Jerry?"

! GSCBF-1974-04-27-2315-GASB-t05: David Nichtern lead vocals.

! GSCBF-1974-04-27-2315-GASB-t06: SGB enters in progress, probably a good chunk missing. This sounds like the (expected) last song of the GASB based on the "thank you"s at the end.

<--end of Saturday, April 27, 1974 festival program-->

JGMS: November 2, 1974, Keystone, Berkeley, CA

Almost-certainly-almost-never heard Garcia/Saunders show: November 2, 1974. I don't usually link to recordings this way, but I am salivating at the chance to hear this bad boy.

Thank you Robert Castelli, Bob Menke, Derek McCabe, and the MOTB crew for serving this puppy to your hungry, waiting fans!

I will post on the show after I get to listen to it, probably by editing here. TJS will be updated at some point, too. I do know that any show with Donny Hathaway's bossa "Valdez in the Country" and Eddie Harris's voodoo fusion "Freedom Jazz Dance" is going to be a keeper. On that, see October 6, 1974, at the Great American Music Hall (GAMH) [JGMF | ?I thought the LLD suite of blogs had done a venue post on GAMH?], San Francisco, CA [TJS | db.etree | LL | bt.etree].

GSCBF8: Skunk Cabbage: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 19:05

Part of a series of back-of-the-napkin thoughts about the Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival (GSCBF), held in San Rafael, CA from Friday, April 26th through Sunday, April 28, 1974.

Previous installments:

GSCBF1: just a mention

GSCBF2: a plea for a release of the film and tapes!

GSCBF3: Sunday 4/28/74 afternoon schedule

GSCBF4: Greenbriar Boys (a.k.a. "Frank Wakefield"): Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 15:00 

GSCBF5: Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 16:15

GSCBF6: Doc and Merle Watson: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 1700 

GSCBF7: Steve Martin and John McEuen: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 1900

Next up on Sunday evening is Skunk Cabbage, a local bluegrass band. On a cursory scan through Google Images I wasn't able to get a picture of this act, so I scanned one out of the concert program.

At some point I will have lots to say about this band, which is apparently not related to this Skunk Cabbage in Vancouver, BC. There's very little that I find online upon a quick glance, so it'll be nice to lay down that marker.

Let me for now just drop two things. First, Vassar used to play with them a bit. One of the SK players told me that Vassar first sat in with them the day after the last OAITW show. Except for the reunion at the GSCBF, the latest known OAITW show was November 4, 1973 at Sonoma State College, so the date in question would have been Nov. 5th. Anyway, it seems this was quite a regular thing and it is an interesting connection. Second, GSCBF co-organizer Judy Lammers was SK's manager at the time. This partly explains why SK got such a sweet, prime-time slot in the festival schedule. Again, I plan on trying to learn more and making a future post just on Skunk Cabbage.

OK, here's what I note about their set at the GSCBF. My own ignorance explains why I don't know the names/instruments and some of the song titles. I would be grateful for your help in illuminating in any way you can!

Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival
Marin County Veterans' Auditorium Building and Grounds
San Rafael, CA

<--Steve Martin and John McEuen precede-->

Sunday, April 28, 1974 ca. 19:05

Source: "Debbie reel 4/27/74" CD 2 (end) and 3 (start) of 4
Provenance: unknown sbd recording (?maybe MSC > C?) > reel
Transfer: AKAI GX 636 playback > Apogee mini ME @ 24/96 > Apogee Mini DAC (monitoring/mastering) > lynx one soundcard > wavelab 5.0 > CD, by Matt Smith.
Lossless encoding: EAC > CDWave > TLH (FLAC level 8).
Tagging: Foobar 2000.

(15 tracks, 33:43)

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t01. Steve Martin intro, tuning [2:16]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t02. untitled Skunk Cabbage 19740428-1 [0:30] [0:10]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t03. Salty Dog Blues [2:40] [0:06]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t04. song introduction [0:27]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t05. Foolin' % Around (Buck Owens) [2:17] [0:05]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t06. song introduction [0:27]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t07. Leather Britches (traditional) [3:20] [0:07]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t08. talk [0:33]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t09. Once a Day [3:27] [0:37]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t10. I Wish You Knew (Loovin Brothers) [2:50] [0:44]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t11. Let Me Fall [1:56] [0:10]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t12. talk (1), band introductions [1:02]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t13. Salt Creek [3:07] [0:46]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t14. The Crawdad Song [2:48] [0:56]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t15. Hello City Limits [2:05] [0:14] %

Lineup:
Tom Rigney - fiddle, vocals;
Bob Bruen - mandolin, vocals;
Marc Brinitzer - lead guitar, vocals (on "Once a Day")
Don Laughland - rhythm guitar, vocals (on "Let Me Fall")
Steve Gallagher - banjo;
Dave Carpenter - bass, vocals.
[NB: sounds like Douglas Bird is introduced on bass?]

Notes:
! % = tape discontinuity
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t02. The untitled song is presumably an easily identifiable standard
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t05. Foolin' Around gap @ 1:21-1:24
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t09. "Once a Day" a C&W song ?originally recorded by Connie Smith?' SK learned it from a band called Country Boy.
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t10. Bob and Mark sing "I Wish You Knew" as a duet
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t10. Joking reference to degeneracy of the crowd.
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t10. "We're gonna let Don sing one here" (Let Me Fall)
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t12. (1) "Boy, it's amazing to be up here in front of seven million people or whatever it is."
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1905-Skunk_Cabbage-t14. says band comes from Walnut creek

<--Ramblin' Jack Elliott follows--> 

GSCBF7: Steve Martin and John McEuen: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 1900

Part of a series of back-of-the-napkin thoughts about the Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival (GSCBF), held in San Rafael, CA from Friday, April 26th through Sunday, April 28, 1974.

Previous installments:

GSCBF1: just a mention

GSCBF2: a plea for a release of the film and tapes!

GSCBF3: Sunday 4/28/74 afternoon schedule

GSCBF4: Greenbriar Boys (a.k.a. "Frank Wakefield"): Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 15:00 

GSCBF5: Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 16:15

GSCBF6: Doc and Merle Watson: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 1700

After the sequence of three sets covered in posts 4, 5 and 6, we have a dinner break on the program. I am assuming that things came back from dinner time on schedule. I know this sounds like an unreasonable assumption given festival-giving in general and this group of folks in particular (a later set will hint that there is generalized degeneracy present!), but the sets seem to conform to a pretty strict festival scheduling and things don't feel too terribly rushed to my ears. I could be 100% wrong, but anyway.

Anyway ... assuming things are on schedule, then I assume that the dinner break ended promptly at 7, or at least the emcee (Steve Martin, yes, that Steve Martin) came on then. What we have next is Steven Martin's emcee act taking musical form (we all know he plays banjo), duet-style with John McEuen of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (NGDB).

McEuen was a particularly big deal at this event and in this moment in time because, though I am no expert on all of this, I believe he was a key mover behind the late 1972 "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (WTCBU for my short) project. This brought together a bunch of old-time country and bluegrass leading lights with some of the younger crowd, with the explicit aim of building bridges across generations and genres. Many of the summer 1973 bluegrass festivals were advertised as culminating in a WTCBU reunion, and the GSCBF followed suit. Jimmy Martin had mentioned in his set that he was on later with the Dirt Band, and he was one of the WTCBU old-timers. I'll try to make a post about the overall overlap of these two projects.

Anyway, Martin and McEuen get together for a five-minute bit of hokey comedy and banjo playing.  Here's what note from their set.

Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival
Marin County Veterans' Auditorium Building and Grounds
San Rafael, CA

<--Doc & Merle Watson, then dinner break precede-->

Steve Martin and John McEuen
Sunday, April 28, 1974 ca. 19:00

Source: "Debbie reel 4/27/74, CD 2 of 4"
Provenance: unknown sbd recording (?maybe MSC > C?) > reel
Transfer: AKAI GX 636 playback > Apogee mini ME @ 24/96 > Apogee Mini DAC (monitoring/mastering) > lynx one soundcard > wavelab 5.0 > CD, by Matt Smith.
Lossless encoding: EAC > CDWave > TLH (FLAC level 8).
Tagging: Foobar 2000.

(6 tracks, 3:57)

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1845.Martin-McEuen-t01. % tuning [0:05]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1845.Martin-McEuen-t02. unknown Martin-McEuen 19740428-1 [0:52]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1845.Martin-McEuen-t03. Steve Martin talk [0:44]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1845.Martin-McEuen-t04. "Duelling Banjoes" [0:21]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1845.Martin-McEuen-t05. Devil's Dream [1:37]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1845.Martin-McEuen-t06. Steve Martin talk [0:15]

Notes:
! % = tape discontinuity
! Both are playing banjo.
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1845.Martin-McEuen-t02. unknown Martin-McEuen 19740428-1 should be easily identifiable to someone with more knowledge. Please help!

<--Skunk Cabbage follows-->

JG interview: January 12, 1985, Nora Sage's House, by Jas Obrecht

It's been linked around, but this interview is amazing, and the context that page gives about this particular moment in Garcia's life is precious. Anyway, go check it out.

JGB: November-December 1977 East Coast Tour Rarities

1977 The Jerry Garcia Band (JGB) was formed in 1975 to be a professional recording and touring band, and in productive years the Band would do a late-year East Coast tour. I'd guess the germ of this tradition formed in 1973, when Garcia and Saunders played the Hell's Angels Forever gig on the S.S. Bay Belle in NYC Harbor (September 5th) and then a billed gig at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ on September 6th. The next year (1974) they did a full two-week tour and then (1975), JGB proper (Garcia, Kahn, Tutt, Hopkins) did a slightly shorter one of ca. twelve days.

The 1977 East Coast JGB tour is interesting for a bunch of reasons which I won't get into here. Let me just point out that it has a few very-rarely-played things that are worth hearing.

On 11/21/77 at the Hofstra Playhouse in West Hempstead, NY, the JGB did early and late shows at 7:30 and 10:30. The early show features a clear "Here Comes the Sun" melody about seven minutes into, of all songs, "Stir It Up". This would happen three more times: 11/29/77 (SUNY New Paltz) [JB | JGMF], 12/4/77 (Rutgers) and 12/10/77a (Warner Theater, Washington, DC).

On 11/26/77 at the Cap Theatre in Passaic, they did 7:30 PM early show and 11 PM late show. The second song of the early show is "They Love Each Other", which has a fascinating "Close Encounters" theme  tucked into it about four minutes in. Funny combination. Anyway, the JGB had seen the movie in New York City within a few days of this show, and out comes the famous five-note sequence in an unlikely place. It would show up again on 12/11/77 (Recreation Hall, Pennsyvlania State University, State College, PA) during the last number, "Lonesome and a Long Way From Home" (LAALWFH), and it was also hinted at during "Don't Let Go" on 12/3/77 [JB | JGMF]

11/26/77b, I note "LAALWFH is very nice, with some "Fire on the Mountain" themes in the 7-min. mark." There are a few "FOTM" themes in Garciadom: 10/10/68 with the Hartbeats, during what I call the "New Potato Caboose-ish Jam" that starts the proceedings; 8/21/71, during the Mickey Hart Barn Jam; and the amazing 4/3/76 late show, also during LAALWFH.

There may be other things to uncover ... it wouldn't surprise me if there isn't another "Close Encounters" theme or two lurking around. Hell, maybe Corry already wrote this up in Golden Road! And, as I said above, there's much, much more to say about this whole tour, but I'll have to save that for another post.

The John Rich Question: Reply to Corry

Bravo, Corry! The John Rich Question is indeed a great mystery.See Corry's post for the details of the question. I am sure I'll have to update this post several times, but I wanted to take the second I have available to get started with a reply.

I love this mystery. I agree with Corry that it stands alongside the Tim Hensley Question as one of the most interesting puzzles of JGB-era (post-1975) GOTS. Update: It is Tim Henson, Nicky just mis-slurred his name on 10/11/75.

I also love this music. The steel really gives great depth and color to these shows, which is great since I find 1976-1977 JGB for the most part to be a bit of a snore. The shows have a wintry feel to me -- not sure why I'd describe them that way (beyond know the date, of course), but there you go. They are well worth very close listening.

I believe the source of the name is an Oakland Trib piece by Larry Kelp from 12/23/76 (1), which gives a loose, analytical review of the Wednesday, 12/22/76 show. Kelp lauds the JGB's "lower key music" (which he later artfully labels "sway music") and identifies John Rich as the "newest member" of the JGB, filling "in the sound with tasty rhythm and pedal steel guitars". It sounds like the atmosphere was joyful and intense. I haven't scrutinized this, but I assume a midweek, three-night run was quite unique and only feasible because it was right before Christmas.

There is a second guitarist on January 29, January 30, and April 9, 1977. I believe that he/she is sometimes playing rhythm and sometimes a steel guitar. Given what Kelp says, I'd bet it's "John Rich." He plays those two instruments and he seems to have been around for at least a few months, which in that world qualified for membership, I'd guess. Membership is a big deal to me, as an institutionalist. (Long back story to that ... there's an original thought there that I think is important, but it's years away from fruition.) As Corry notes, we have discussed JGB becoming a going concern around this time. I have other, really nice evidence about that that I haven't processed yet, but anyway the fact that this guy was around and characterized to the local music reporter as a "member" of the band is noteworthy.

Yet I have been able to find absolutely zilch about this guy. No-one I have spoken to (Donna, Linda Kahn, numerous others) seems to remember him. There are a few album credits that look likely, but they strike me as really obscure. (Sorry, don't have them noted yet.) He's tough to Google because of another country music-playing John Rich, of the group "Big & Rich".This can all be better researched, I know, and if no-else does it I'll get to it eventually and post an update.

Corry's guess that there's a Tutt connection seems plausible to me. Between Nashville and LA Tutt must have known an awful lot of steel players. I don't know how many would have come in and out of Elvis's orbit (I have never really listened to The King), but I assume it's a lot. If we can ever encourage Tutt to talk about this stuff, we might get to know for sure!

A few more scattershot thoughts.

1. So, other dates when Garcia is playing with a steel player? Hmm ... an interesting challenge.
• The Canadian Festival. I have a sit-in with Ian & Sylvia (and thus Buddy Cage playing steel) on July 3, 1970, based on Walter Keenan's analysis of the Festival Express footage.
• Did James and the Good Brothers have a steel player? If so, the "2/27/71" sit-in should count.
• The Scotty's Music Store Jam, date uncertain. I used to call it 5/14/70, but of course Buddy Cage wasn't around yet (they wouldn't meet until the Canadian Festival train trip). This has just come up for some discussion at the Archive. Let's say it's December 9, 1971. Totally deserving of its own post, BTW.
• November 3, 1972, JG plays steel with NRPS @ Winterland. Not sure if Buddy is there too, or if Jerry is subbing for him.
• 11/23/72, Doug Sahm & Friends at Armadillo World, Austin. Gotta be a steel player here, no? I can't listen to that tape because of the horrible vocal distortion and the drunkenness of the players. Does that make me a lesser person?
• 3/18/73, I think he's there (on steel, w/ NRPS at Felt Forum) instead of Buddy, right?
• 12/15/73 NRPS at Winterland. Also with Sandy Rothman on banjo. Why, oh why, is there no tape of this?
• February 2, 1974 w/ NRPS at Keystone, Berkeley.
• I'll be listening to this soon enough for my Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival (GSCBF) series, but would the Dirt Band have had a steel player on 4/28/74?
• I'll stop there for now, maybe make a full post of it at some point.
2. Kelp notes that the JGB's version of "Stir It Up" recalls the Wailers' version from their 1973 gigs at the Matrix in SF; anyone doubt that Jerry attended one or more of those '73 shows? He was already dabbling in reggae ("Harder They Come" was being played before October 19-20, 1973), but this would of course become a huge influence, partly defining the sound of the Melvin Seals-era JGB.
3. The opening act on Tuesday and Wednesday was Steve Seskin, who "opened the evening with a bright set of acoustic folk and blues songs. He was aided by singer Landy Pareira and bassist-harmonica player Steve Gurr." This is confirmed by a 12/19/76 calendar listing in the Trib (2), which lists opening act for the Tuesday 12/21 show as "Stacy Raven".
4. NB you Phil people that Tooloos played over the weekend through 12/19 (2)
5. At the 12/21 setbreak announcement, Garcia says "We're gonna try to get ourselves together," which is probably about equipment but could be read lots of ways (e.g., in terms of quickly working up some arrangements). 
6. My notes (which have been fragmented and disorganized for two years, after my Tapetracker stopped working) say that Rich plays steel on all but Let it Rock and Ride Mighty High on 12/22/76. He's definitely playing on Mighty High on 12/21, so I'd want to verify that he wasn't there the second night - I'd bet on close listening, he is there.
7. An unlineaged sbd tape of 12/23/76 just surfaced. We should put an ear to it to see if there's a steel player. Update: yes, it does.
8. This is an instance of what I tag as "JG-Host" during a period in which there would be very, very few. My thought is that Jerry's drug use clearly correlated negatively with three clearly measurable aspects (inter alia, natch) of his non-GD musical career: album credits, guest shots (sit-ins, i.e., JG-guest) and these. Assuming that "sit-in" is the correct characterization of "John Rich" being on these tapes --and if he were really understood as a member, it wouldn't be within my own, working taxonomy of these things-- these were the only ones of 1976. They mystery guitar player from early '77 is the only guest in that year. Lee Oskar (10/24/78) is the only JGB guest of 1978 that I know of. A few ladies sing-along with Reconstruction in '79. You get the point. Did you know that during the nadir of Garcia's drug use, by my reckoning, there were no JGB sit-ins between Mickey Hart at the Phoenix Theater, Petaluma, on 1/22/83 and Bonnie Raitt at the Greek Theater, Berkeley, on 8/30/87? Well ... now you do.

Anyway, I am grateful to LLD for prompting this! Thanks, Corry!

REFERENCES:

(1) Kelp, Larry. 1976. A Showcase for Garcia’s Styles. Oakland Tribune, December 23, 1976, p. 22.

(2) "Bay Area Calendar," Oakland Tribune, December 19, 1976, p. E-14.

GSCBF6: Doc and Merle Watson, Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 17:00

Part of a series of back-of-the-napkin thoughts about the Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival (GSCBF), held in San Rafael, CA from Friday, April 26th through Sunday, April 28, 1974.

Previous installments:

GSCBF1: just a mention

GSCBF2: a plea for a release of the film and tapes!

GSCBF3: Sunday 4/28/74 afternoon schedule

GSCBF4: Greenbriar Boys (a.k.a. "Frank Wakefield"): Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 15:00 

GSCBF5: Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 16:15

Good stuff. Merle Watson is a freaking unbelievable instrumentalist. Help with the unidentified song would be appreciated!

Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival
Marin County Veterans' Auditorium Building and Grounds
San Rafael, CA

<--Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys precedes-->

Doc and Merle Watson
Sunday, April 28, 1974 ca. 17:00

Source: "Debbie reel 4/27/74, CD 2 of 4"
Provenance: unknown sbd recording (?maybe MSC > C?) > reel
Transfer: AKAI GX 636 playback > Apogee mini ME @ 24/96 > Apogee Mini DAC (monitoring/mastering) > lynx one soundcard > wavelab 5.0 > CD, by Matt Smith.
Lossless encoding: EAC > CDWave > TLH (FLAC level 8).
Tagging: Foobar 2000.

(32 tracks, 61:57)

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t01. talk [0:11]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t02. Salty Dog Blues [2:33] [0:16]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t03. talk [0:44]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t04. Doc Bog's Country Blues [2:59] [0:12]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t05. talk [1:25]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t06. Ramblin' Hobo [1:33] [0:11]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t07. talk [0:47]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t08. Movin' On [2:21] [0:11]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t09. talk [1:05]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t10. Peach Pickin' Time In Georgia [3:27] [0:16]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t11. talk [0:29]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t12. Poor Boy Blues [2:19] [0:19]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t13. talk [0:36]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t14. Wabash Cannonball [3:45] [0:13]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t15. talk % [0:23]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t16. //Tennessee Stud [2:45] [0:15]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t17. Maria Muldaur invite [1:08]

--w/ Maria Muldaur (vocals)--
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t18. Honey Babe Blues [3:11] [0:30]
--(Muldaur out)--

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t19. talk & tuning [0:17]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t20. Streamlined Cannonball [2:34] 0:20]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t21. talk [0:26]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t22. Summertime [3:25] [0:20]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t23. Vassar Clements & Billy Roberts invites [1:06]

--w/ Vassar Clements (fiddle)--
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t24. Cotton Patch Rag [3:49] [0:17]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t25. talk [0:26]

--w/ Vassar Clements, Billy Roberts (harmonica)--
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t26. unknown Watson 19740428-1 [3:15] [0:17] %
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t27. talk (Doc's history) [0:46]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t28. Treat Me Like A Fool [0:58] [0:07]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t29. Blue Suede Shoes [2:59]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t30. crowd (encore call) [0:56]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t31. talk [0:56]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t32. Mama Don't Allow [3:50] [0:32] %

Notes:
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t18: Doc, after "good lookin' man" verse by Maria: "'nuff to make a man cry." Then after next verse: "Oh, sing it, young'un, sing it." This is distinct from the Friday night version, on which Maria also sits in but the banter is different.
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t22: This version of Summertime is breathtaking.
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1700-Watson-t26: blues number "ain't got no mama now"

<--dinner break, then Skunk Cabbage follows-->

Reading Notes: Harris, David. 1970. Rock’s First Family: Grateful Dead. Circus 4, 4 (March): 32-35 .

Just figured I'd post my random scribbles about stuff as I read. 

Harris, David. 1970. Rock’s First Family: Grateful Dead. Circus 4, 4 (March): 32-35.

This article is based on discussions that appear to have happened in January 1970, since Tom Constanten is present.

Recall that there have been various discussions of this timeframe online:

• LLD on GD/JG tour itinerary December 1969
• NRPS' whereabouts in late 1969 - early 1970 
• LLD on GD/JG tour itinerary January 1970
• NRPS on 1/19/70
• LLD on GD/JG tour itinerary February 1970
• LiA on February 1970
  
• LLD on a possible 3/12/70 NRPS gig
  
• LLD on March 1970 NRPS
• LiA on March 1970 GD
• LiA on 3/17/70 

Anyway, here are some tidbits.

p. 32: "songs for a fifth [GD] album [ed: Workingmans] are being taped this month" (i.e., March 1970).

p. 32: GD are making a movie called Zechariah ... never heard of this. Here's  some of the discussion:

Their upcoming movie is Zechariah, described as a kind of fantasy cowboy flick with a plot line closely resembling Herman Hesse's Siddhartha. Costuming has been completed for the Dead; filming may begin in April, either in Mexico or in the old back lots of MGM. Zechariah was written by screen veteran Joe Massot ... and will be produced by George England, known for his productions of Shoes of the Fisherman and the Ugly American among others. 'If it's done as we originally heard about it,' MacIntire said, 'the movie really won't be a western, but will be an interesting piece of surrealism. ... The movie's star (Ginger Baker) is Zechariah--the Dead have their segment of the picture when Zechariah interacts with them, lusts after the kind of lives they live and wants to be a part of them. We're really looking forward to filming it.'

p. 32: The article focuses to some degree on the NRPS, listing Lesh as bassist. Says the NRPS "recently" cut a demo tape for Warner-Reprise.

p. 32: "the present schedule often finds the Dead playing on weekends, the 'New Riders' on weekdays. 'They're going all around to various beer houses and country and western, folk-oriented, collegiate type places,' MacIntire said. [NB: consistent with a 1/19/70 NRPS gig at UC Berkeley!] 'But the ideal is to book them into hard-core country redneck places where they can get the feedback they need from the people who really know country-western music.'"

GSCBF5: Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys: Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 16:15

Part of a series of back-of-the-napkin thoughts about the Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival (GSCBF), held in San Rafael, CA from Friday, April 26th through Sunday, April 28, 1974.

Previous installments:

GSCBF1: just a mention

GSCBF2: a plea for a release of the film and tapes!

GSCBF3: Sunday 4/28/74 afternoon schedule

GSCBF4: Greenbriar Boys (a.k.a. "Frank Wakefield"): Sunday, April 28, 1974, ca. 15:00

Not much to say about this set by the King of Bluegrass, except that this music is absolutely awesome. No Garcia content here except a shared bill.

I am not sure of the players, nor of the song titles. Any and all help would be appreciated!

<--Greenbriar Boys precedes-->

Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys
Sunday, April 28, 1974 ca. 16:15

Source: "Debbie reel 4/27/74, CD 1 of 4"
Provenance: unknown sbd recording (?maybe MSC > C?) > reel
Transfer: AKAI GX 636 playback > Apogee mini ME @ 24/96 > Apogee Mini DAC (monitoring/mastering) > lynx one soundcard > wavelab 5.0 > CD, by Matt Smith.
Lossless encoding: EAC > CDWave > TLH (FLAC level 8).
Tracking: Foobar 2000.

(20 tracks, 29:02)

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t01. acknowledgement of Vassar (1) [0:09]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t02. introduction [0:29]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t03. My Walkin' Shoes Don't Fit Me Anymore [2:18] [0:15]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t04. I Cried Again [1:53] [0:10]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t05. unknown Martin 19740428-1 [1:21] [0:07]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t06. Jimmy Martin talk (2) [1:10]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t07. Little %Maggie, She's So Sweet (3, 4) [1:58] [0:09]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t08. talk [0:29]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t09. Tennessee (I Hear You Calling Me) [2:31] [0:08]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t10. talk [0:26]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t11. When The Savior Reached Down His Hands For Me [2:32] [0:11]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t12. talk [0:23]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t13. Stormy Waters [2:17] [0:04]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t14. talk (5) [0:48]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t15. The Brakeman's Blues [1:39] [0:03]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t16. talk (6) [0:45]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t17. Sunny Side of the Mountain [2:39] [0:05]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t18. encore calls [0:42]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t19. Just Plain Yellow [2:21]
GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t20. crowd, emcee (7)% [0:48]

Lineup:
Jimmy Martin - guitar, vocals;
???female???  (harmony vocals; lead on "Little Maggie");
Freddie xxx (harmony vocals on Stormy Waters),
??? (banjo)
??? Paul Williams (mandolin)
??? (bass)

Notes:
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t01. (1) t01 here is the same as GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t16, to help keep things seamless. It goes "How about Vassar Clements, the man this festival is dedicated to".
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t02. (2) it's good to be out here in the good state of California visitin' with you folks. I've always wanted to come out here. Thank you. I heard everybody was all right and it looks like you're havin' a lot of fun, I'll say [chuckles]. ... I tell you, it's good to see everybody so happy for one time. Enjoy yourselves."
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t03. (3) Little Maggie splice/tape gap @ 0:59-1:03
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t03. (4) I thought the lead vocalist on this was female, but Martin seems to say "Give him a nice hand, would ya?" after the song. The vocalist may be the "Freddie" mentioned before "Stormy Waters".
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t14. (5) talk mentions that JM was in "Lauden"? Florida last night with Bill Monroe. This could be used to pin down the date even further.
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t16. (6) "they got us on again tonight with the Dirt Band"
! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1615-Martin-t20. (7) "That was Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys ... first time they've played on this festival//". NB that the pre-published schedule doesn't list this act on any day other than Sunday. With all of the other voluminous evidence, this further confirms that this happened on Sunday afternoon.

<--Doc and Merle Watson follows-->

OAITW: Homer's Warehouse, July 24, 1973

**This is an update to a post originally made 9/19/2010, now updated as of 12/28/2014**

In a first draft of this post, I used the occasion of a listen to an Old And In The Way set from Homer's Warehouse in Palo Alto from Tuesday, July 24, 1973 to drop a few crumbs. I have revisited the material (shnid-11861), and will repackage, a little, add a little, update based on this listen and synchronic read through the promoter's account (Bernstein 2013, 149-152).

First, how was this show structured?

The fileset said this was a complete show. This is also all of the material which Bernstein (2013, 152) lists for the evening, but he shows a setbreak before Lonesome L.A. Cowboy. I think this must be mistaken, for several reasons.

Reason 1: this tape runs continuously, including across the putative set divide (t06-t07); Reason 2: The DJ (note 1) says there will be another go 'round the bases with Asleep At the Wheel and "Jerry Garcia and Old And In The Way", and that stuff's not here; Reason 3: Vintage 1973 Garcia would never inhabit a set structure that would give him two cracks at 53 minutes – it would be a decade before he'd inflict that kind of "cabaret economics" on his own fans.[1] Update: that's wrong. Sets at the Boarding House and Homer's, when they were in the early-late format, ran about an hour Reason 4: ear- and eye-witnesses. Corry, who listened to the show from home, says "I'm certain the broadcast was early in the evening. … I think part of the reason for the broadcast would have been to encourage people in the listening area (all near Homer's Warehouse) to come on over. I'm sure Asleep At The Wheel and OAITW played another set, as it was not a midnight broadcast." cryptdev: "I listened to and taped this show and Corry is absolutely correct. Two sets for each band, and KZSC only broadcast the first sets by AATW and OIITW, respectively". Attendee Anonymous: AATW was the 9pmish opener at one show. Then OAITW came on, played 'til the wee hours (1-2 am) … I know they took two breaks, as we gathered outside for warming ceremonies".[2]

I am prepared to call it on that basis. This appears to have been one continuous evening of music, running 1) Asleep At The Wheel, 2) Old And In The Way, 3) AATW, 4) OAITW, the first two of which were broadcast and the second of which is represented on shnid-11861. (Who has a copy of the AATW set, BTW?) What we have on the tape is piece #2 from the evening. Eyewitness Anonymous says things kicked off around 9 PM and stretched into the wee hours. If we assume that AATW played an hour, this set is starting at maybe 10:30 and going until midnight. And then it'd be AATW and OAITW another time 'round the bases. Nice.

It appears that this was only ticketed once, which would have been very much out of pattern for Homer's (or the Inn, or the Share) in this kind of situation. The first thought in the minds of these club proprietors is always that they can turn the house when Garcia's billed. Corry suggests it's soliciting traffic to the venue itself– a certain number of people within earshot may well have put on their sneakers and got on down to the club, later this same night or some other night. (The DJ does not make it sound very inviting in note 1 – sounds like it's already packed!) Whatever, it's a rather distinctive setup, for sure, with Asleep At The Wheel, Hell's Angels around, FM broadcast, and of course the legendary Vassar Clements, rightfully at the center of much of the interest and energy around these shows.[3] The promoter: "we had managed to choreograph a pretty sophisticated little production, bringing together a diverse group of people who spanned Tennessee [sic: Florida] (Vassar), West Virginia (Benson), and planets as yet undiscovered (the Dead family)" (Bernstein 2013, 149-150).

Second: "The Burden of Being Jerry" (Gans and Greenfield 1996)

No biggie, but it seems clear that Jerry would not have wanted the band called "Jerry Garcia and Old And In The Way". The DJs may not know much about this stuff (one of Corry's points in comments), but in any case I find it noteworthy that this is seen and discussed as a Jerry Garcia thing. Which it is, of course, but sort of shouldn't be, in a way. If you follow me. Better it should be a Vassar thing, or a Grisman or a Rowan thing.

Third: Jerry's Fans and Unamplified Music

After "Eating Out of Your Hand", at note 4, Grisman asks the crowd to refrain from clapping along, since it made it hard for the band members to hear themselves (unamplified instruments and all that). This is consistent with the view that the "Garcia" audience needed to be educated/acculturated into bluegrass. It probably didn't make things better that the clapping seemed to be dreadfully off-time, but in any case this is an interesting (if tiny) instance of the encounter between hippies and the bluegrass world, about which I'll have more to say at some point.

In comments, LIA draws our attention to Garcia's own discussion of the issue, in 1976: "We ran into a really weird problem in terms of dynamics which was that bluegrass music is like chamber music: it’s very quiet. And if the audience got at all enthusiastic during the tune and started clapping or something, it would drown out the band and we couldn’t hear each other" (Relix).

It's no big deal, but I thought it was worth noting a specific instance of the phenomenon.

Fourth: A Note on Asleep At the Wheel

Ray Benson had great respect for Jerry Garcia and wanted to play on a show with him before The Wheel left the Bay Area for good. Jerry's blue grass fans and the Wheel fans would love that, so we dropped the idea on Sam Cutler, who said he would get back to us. Sam also told us there would be a new musician with Old and in the Way. Vassar Clements, the most respected blue grass fiddler alive, had joined the band. In a few weeks, he would be making sawdust on our stage. The next morning, we got a call back from Sam that Jerry was okay with The Wheel opening the show. "Jerry's only request of them," he said, "is please don't blow the audience into center field with volume." When I called Benson to tell him the deal was on, he flipped. (Bernstein 2013, 149).

Fifth: The Performance

Meh. After listening to this again, I am underwhelmed. It's possible things are running slow, and/or that we're not picking up some of the instrumentation because of the technical challenges posed by sound (re-)production, which can be considerable. I had high hopes early on when Jerry takes a nice turn, but he doesn't knock me out this night overall, and rather the contrary. Things sound a little disjointed, almost fall apart a few times. This band needs more gigs! (I seem noncommittal about overall performance quality in my analysis of the 7/21/73 gig in Berkeley.)

More detail, references, etc. below the fold.