The Bicycle Rule: Don't Stop Pedaling, or You Might Fall Over (JGB at the Stone, November 10-11, 1986)

LN jg1986-11-10.jgb.all.aud-corley.17749.shn2flac
LN jg1986-11-11.jgb.all.aud-ty.94632.flac1644

Not a lot happening here one way or the other. It's a Monday-Tuesday night, Jerry sounds a little tired, even Corley's tape from the 10th sounds a little muffled.

Jerry Garcia Band
The Stone
412 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 
November 10, 1986 (Monday) - 9 PM
Corley shnid-17749 sh2flac

--set I (8 tracks, 7 tunes, 52:51)--
s1t01. ambience [0:13]
s1t02. Cats Under The Stars [7:50] -8:31
s1t03. Forever Young [8:43] -9:35
s1t04. They Love Each Other [8:16] -8:57
s1t05. Love In The Afternoon [7:41] [0:11]
s1t06. Run For The Roses [5:08] [0:02] %
s1t07. //Think [#6:00]
s1t08. Deal [6:22] [0:12]

--set II (7 tracks, 60:14)--
s2t01. //Harder They Come [#11:14] -11:42
s2t02. And It Stoned Me [6:51] [0:11]
s2t03. Knockin' On// Heaven's Door [9:58] [0:06]
s2t04. Reuben And Cherise [6:50] [0:22]
s2t05. That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day) [7:42] [0:03]
s2t06. Gomorrah [6:30] ->
s2t07. Tangled Up In Blue [9:54] (2) [0:05]

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

JGMF:

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

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19861110-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/17749

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/Vr6EBXU6KvA2

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

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

! R: field recordist: John Corley

! R: field recording gear: 2x disassembled Nak 700s clipped to brim of the "Silly Hat" > Sony TCD5M

! R: field recording location: 20' from stage, first row of tables, dead center

! R: lineage: MAC > ? > CDR > EAC > CDWave (retracked) > Shn. EAC'd / retracked / Shn'd by Charlie Connor. Correct sector boundaries verified with Shntool. Seeded to fungus, tol and abgd 2/5/03. Special thanks to Bob Menke for the audio discs

! R: muffled out of the gate

! P: s1t02 CUTS comes out sluggishly, Jer sounds a little tired.

! R: s1t07 Think cuts in

! R: s2t01 HTC cuts in

! P: s2t01 HTC everyone stops pedaling, and they all almost fall over at 9:28. Don't stop pedaling - you'll fall over!

! R: s2t03 Splice at 8:51 tightened up using Steinberg's Wavlab

! P: s2t04 RAC I am as big a fan of this tune as one can be, but Jer sounds a little tired for sure. Sluggish. I am revisiting this after a bit, and I hear how buried the vocals are.

! setlist: somehow we have always Mid Moon as the show closer, but it is demonstrably TUIB.

! s2t07 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot. See ya later."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jerry Garcia Band
The Stone
412 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133
November 11, 1986 (Tuesday)
Taz MAC shnid-94632

--set I (6 tracks, 51:03)--
s1t01. //How Sweet It Is [#5:26] [0:22]
s1t02. Like A Road [7:05] [0:28]
s1t03. Get Out Of My Life Woman [6:36] [0:13]
s1t04. Simple Twist Of Fate [11:53] [0:10]
s1t05. Run For The Roses [5:15] [0:05]
s1t06. I Shall Be Released [8:07] ->
s1t07. Deal/ [5:24#]

--set II (7 tracks, 54:41)--
s2t01. //The Harder They Come [#10:21] 0:11]
s2t02. Forever Young [8:13] [0:17]
s2t03. Think [6:09] % [0:14]
s2t04. And It Stoned Me [6:01] ->
s2t05. Dear Prudence [9:29] [0:17]
s2t06. That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day) [6:54] ->
s2t07. Midnight Moonlight [6:35] (1) [0:04]

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

JGMF:

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

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19861111-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/15006 (Corley MAC shnf);  https://etreedb.org/shn/94632 (this fileset)

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/Vr6EBXU6KvA2

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

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

! R: field recordist: Tazuo Yamaguchi

! R: field recording gear: 1x Nakamichi 100 > Sony TC-D5M

! R: field recording location: 5' from stage

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

! P: JG sounds tired (somewhat ragged vocals), but the show has energy. STOF quite rough vox. I think the tape isn't doing his voice any justice, either, since it is just capturing direct from Garcia's mouth rather than through the PA, I'd guess. The low vox of an upfront aud.

! R: s1t01 HSII beginning cut

! R: s2t01 HTC beginning cut

! P: s1t04 STOF no bass solo

! P: s1t06 JG flubs first verse of ISBR. But he is singing very delicately and thoughtfully here. 

! R: S1t01 Deal end clipped

! R: s2t01 HTC cuts in

! P: s2t01 HTC comes out much more peppily.

! P: s2t02 Forever Young sounds pretty out of it, but in that endearing, "Jerry's struggling" way, not the "he's out of it" way.

! P: s2t05 DP pretty good guitar solo in the 5-min mark.

! P: s2t06 Melvin's church organ is so perfect for this song

! s2t07 (1) JG: "Thanks a lot. See y'all later."

If ACT = JGMS and Taper = Louis Falanga, and YYMM = 7402, does XX = 17?

I recently wrote that

in engaging any Garcia event, I first want to pin down the who, the where, and the what. So I want the sociometric, geometric, and the chronometric particulars ... If I can pin down those three pieces about any given event with reasonable certainty, I feel like it "exists" in a way I can work with.

That has presented some challenges, as some events we know happen, but that don't have crisp metadata (especially the date, truthfully) sort of elude my understanding. I have tried to do the best I can with "placeholders" and such, but this kind of chronometric fuzziness really makes me itchy. Whatever - that's just how some stuff is.

Recently, two folks asked me about the fileset preserved as shnid-8654, a Louis Falanga (supposedly also Bob Menke) tape of Garcia-Saunders that was only labeled "February 1974". Two people asking me within a day or so tells me it was being discussed online somewhere. Anyway, these queries led me to revisit the fileset, which I haven't listened to in probably 15 and maybe as many as 20 years. I don't have huge love for early '74 Garcia-Saunders relative to later in the year, but I really, truly enjoyed revisiting this stuff. Let me draw especial attention to the 27-minute "He Ain't Give You None". I noted it

is absolutely stunning. God, what an overlooked masterpiece! It starts off slow and deep, Billy makes it hop a little in like the 7 minute mark while Jerry plays it clean. It finds some quiet passages, some spacy bits, hot passages (late 19-22 really driving). In 25 it almost sounds like 'Sitting In Limbo'. An amazing piece of musicianship all around, an incredible version --earliest one known-- of this tune.

I really mean it. Go check this fucker out.

But, enough about the music. What about the metadata? :)

I am going to suggest that we should assign this material the date of 2/17/74, not because that date is true, but because it might as well be. I don't have much to go on, but here is my logic.

1) Louis taped 1/17-18/74, and the datings of those tapes got confused over the years, such that 1/18/74 circulated as if it were a three-set show. So, consecutive shows that end up in confusing labeling.

2) I listened to both the 2/16/74 Falanga tape and the 2/xx/74 Falanga tape (both noted below) in close succession, including a side-by-side comparison of "Money Honey", which appears on both, and the room-and-crowd sound of each. The tapes are quite different, with 2/16 much sharper and cleaner. But it does sound like the same room to me, for whatever that's worth. (2/16/74 still has the second guitarist and conguero we can hear on the board tape, natch.)

3) Louis and Bob were known to hit the Great American Music Hall, and Jerry and Merl did play it on 2/5/74 and 2/12/74. We have complete board tape of the former from Ed Perlstein's master reel (thank you, Ed!). Go check it out and tell us [nick | JGMF] how to make sense of the two saxes one can periodically hear. The latter does not circulate, and we lack setlist for the first set. The 2/xx material could well be from this gig. But, see #2 above. We don't have enough tape for me to be confident that this is NOT the Music Hall, instead of Keystone, but there's nothing to suggest that it is.

4) There is also 2/7/74 at the Keystone, but we seem to have enough of a setlist that, if this stuff really is from one night, it's not from that one.

5) [contra] The GD Archives had a bunch of 2/74 material, including money reckonings, including notes on how the take from 2/16/74 was divvied up among band and crew, and also the 2/9/74 Rheem Theater contract. There was no evidence from 2/17 whatsoever. (I don't recall any from any of the other shows, though, either.) So the dog didn't not bark where it might have.

When I put all of this together, I conclude that we might as well call this stuff 2/17/74, unless and until new shit comes to light. Thoughts?

Listening notes for 2/16/74 and "2/17/74" below the fold.

LN jg1974-02-16.jgms.all-2.aud-falanga.8063.shn2flac
LN jg1974-02-xx.jgms.partial.aud-falanga.8654.shn2flac

Open-Air Vasseur: JGB at Shoreline, July 26, 1992

LN jg1992-07-26.jgb.all.aud-vasseur.141462.flac1644

Brief listening notes.

Vasseur Warfield tapes are incredible. Vasseur Shoreline tapes are ... incredible. So much air in this mics. Wow.

Jerry does some extra percussive stuff in a few places that I found noteworthy.

Guy who called out "Reuben!" and got it must have been pretty fired up. I would have been. I lament that Jerry missed the "Cherise was dressing as Pirouette in white" line, but whaddya gonna do? Did you ever notice that "Reuben And Cherise" sometimes touches on "Terrapin" territory? I heard it somewhat late in this version, let's say right around late 7 over 8. Nothing explicit, it just came to mind. I find Jerry three or four times trying to step out from the assigned chords of the song into some other space. He hits some interesting allusions, but he just can't see it through. I can *almost* here possibilities of hte song opening up a good deal more, what it might sound like.

Reuben, Gomorrah: that is definitely some "don't look back" thematic consistency there. Both Orpheus and the wife of Lot could have used the reminder.

Not bad, I'd say average for the period.

Jerry Garcia Band
Shoreline Amphitheatre
1 Ampitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
July 26, 1992 (Sunday) - 2 PM
Vasseur shnid-141462

--set I (7 tracks, 55:52)--
s1t01. (1) [0:29] Cats Under The Stars [9:01] [0:52]
s1t02. They Love Each Other [6:52] [0:37]
s1t03. Simple Twist Of Fate [11:30] [0:15]
s1t04. Let It Rock [6:10] [1:20]
s1t05. Run For The Roses [5:40] ->
s1t06. My Sisters And Brothers [4:08] [0:04]
s1t07. Deal [8:42] (2) [0:22]

--set II + encore (9 tracks, 75:18)--
--set II (8 tracks, 66:21)--
s2t08. [0:05] Stop That Train [7:50] [0:18]
s2t09. You Never Can Tell [5:28] [0:16]
s2t10. Lay Down Sally [8:59] [0:33]
s2t11. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [10:07] [0:31]
s2t12. (3) Reuben And Cherise [9:00] [0:38]
s2t13. Gomorrah [6:37] [0:12]
s2t14. Ain't No Bread In The Breadbox [8:58] [0:14]
s2t15. Midnight Moonlight [6:13] (4) [0:12] %
--encore (1 track, 8:54)--
s2t16. [0:10] What A Wonderful World [8:31] (5) [0:13]

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

JGMF:

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

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19920726-01

! db:

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/shoreline-amphitheater-1-amphitheatre.html

! Sue: 6,850 tix @ $22.50, 13,150 @ 18.50 (20,000 total capacity), GP $397,400, surcharge of 10%, so net gross potential of $357,660. Band guarantee $35,000 plus various percentage provisions.

! R: field recordist: Chuck and Janet Vasseur

! R: field recording gear: 2x Neumann KM54 > DAT

! R: Transfer: DAT Master > CDR (Kyle Porter)

! R: Extract: CDR clone > EAC > WAV > FLAC16 (Bill Shaw aka Shark)

! R: Source Notes: Sometime in the early 2000's, Chuck loaned Kyle all of his 92-95 JGB masters to transfer to CDR. Kyle "mastered" the DATs to CDR, fading in/out as needed, adjusting levels (as needed) and tracking. Kyle then gave Chuck his masters back, with nice CDR copies of all of it. Chuck offered to clone the entire set for me, so I gave him a spool of 100 blank MITSUI CDRs and the next time I saw him, he gave them back to me, filled with his JGB recordings. Many of the Chuck V. JGB recordings do circulate already, but probably not all of them, and those that do may not be the Kyle Porter transfers. So, Here they are! --Shark

! R: No audible bass for first four minutes, vocals low, but this is a really nice tape, simultaneously spacious and punchy. The guitar sounds incredible, the drums sound great.

! s1t01 (1) taper, or neighbor: "Resplendent." Yell to stage: "Were's those ties, Jerry?"

! P: s1t01 CUTS a little lyrical uncertainty. Adjusting mix starts getting John, and he announces himself with a nice little run 4:03. Kemper bangs his way to the satin blouse break very assertively, leaving no doubt as to where the band needed to go. Effect to some feedback that Jerry nicely rides at 6. Love this tone!

! P: s1t02 TLEO @ 5:45 voice a little phlegmy.

! P: s1t03 STOF bass thing 6:10ish

! P: s1t04 LIR solo 2:30ff more percussive than fluent, but kind of interesting. Ol Jer did love him some rock n roll guitar. @ 3:13 he puts some sustain on it.

! P: s1t07 Deal excellent brief fanning action late 5.

! s1t07 (2) JG: "Be back in a few minutes."

! s2t12 (3) a crowd member yells "'Reuben And Cherise', Jerry!" and then Jerry drops into it. Good call, fella.

! P: s2t12 RAC he morphs the "Cherise was dressed as Pirouette in white" line into a "Reuben, Reuben", but he recovers. Muffs second verse start before "the breeze". Some reasonably interesting stuff, in the Terrapin space for a minute. He tries to explore some unusual spaces, changing key some, but can't quite get his ideas to extend, e.g., late 7 over 8. Goes around a little too long. @ 8:43 JG drops off for a measure to key in the close.

! P: s2t13 Gomorrah you can really hear his voice being gravelly to start this off.

! P: s2t14 ANBITB some really nice percussive stuff in the 6 minute range, never heard Jerry do it quite like this, Kemper also on it.

! s2t15 (4) JG: "Thanks a lot. See ya later."

! P: s2t16 WAWW bass feature 6ff.

! s2t16 (5) JG: "See y'all later."

Brief Encounters of the Weird Kind: JGB at Penn State, December 11, 1977

jg1977-12-11.jgb.all.sbd-sirmick.80773.flac1644

Again, listening notes may be briefer for awhile. Certainly, these are bullet-style.

David Gans once said something to the effect that Garcia exhibits the shortest distance between spirit and fingertip of any musician he knows. That's probably not quite right, but it was something like this. A reviewer from this last show of the Fall '77 JGB tour, Don Foster, sort of alludes to the same notion, in saying  "I'd swear if there was some way of putting a tracer into his vibrations you would see them travel through his body to his fingertips, out to his guitar, and then into the audience."

I also like Foster's take here: "The Mystery Cat banner in the background reminded me a lot of Donna Godchaux. She would leave the stage when she was not singing and like a cat reappear mysteriously for her next number." Very evocative. I'd say the show has a really sleek, unperturbed kind of feline energy to it. Smooth, pretty graceful.

Nice tape. Thank you for the work on it, sirmick. I didn't compare with other versions - all circulating sources are sbds, presumably from the same root tape. John sounds full and fat, as he would through 1978.

This is a rare Jerry-before-GD performance space.

Peppy "Sitting In Limbo". I like it. And "I Second That Emotion" finds some nice room that I also dug.

Turns out the "Close Encounters" theme in "Lonesome And A Long Way From Home," one of a few on the tour, and which I have mentioned before, is extremely brief. But there is more than one encounter here, as after "Love In The Afternoon" we hear some stage talk about aliens, and then, before "Russian Lullaby," Jerry and John noodle on the famous five-note theme for a good 30 seconds. And, because we focus on Garcia On The Side (GOTS) here, we are contractually obligated to note that this occurs before the Grateful Dead would grapple more fully and wildly with the theme on 1/22/78 in Eugene. Just sayin'.

Band got $12,500 + $2,500 sound and lights for the gig, which only grossed something like 16 grand. Gotta love those student activities budgets! Proft, schmofit, so long as the kids have a good time.

Jerry Garcia Band
Recreation Hall, Penn State University
Curtin Rd.
University Park, PA 16802
December 11, 1977 (Sunday)
sbd sirmick remaster shnid-80773

--set I (5 tracks, 54:22)--
s1t01. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [9:22] [0:06] % [0:03]
s1t02. Catfish John [10:04] % [0:07]
s1t03. Simple Twist Of Fate [12:33] %
s1t04. Sitting In Limbo [10:24] [0:07] %
s1t05. Mystery Train [11:31] (1) [0:04]

--set II + encore (8 tracks, 97:56)--
--set II (7 tracks, 79:31)--
s2t01. [0:03] Love In The Afternoon (2) [11:51] % [0:05]
s2t02. I Second That Emotion [14:12] % [0:06]
s2t03. Gomorrah [7:07] % [0:06]
s2t04. Harder They Come [11:32] [0:18] %
s2t05. (3) [0:54] Russian Lullaby [14:29] % [0:04]
s2t06. Tore Up Over You [9:12] [0:09] % [0:03]
s2t07. Mission In The Rain [9:12] % [0:08]
--encore (1 track, 18:25)--
s2t08. Lonesome And A Long Way From Home [18:21] (4) [0:04]

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

JGMF:

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

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19771211-01

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/80773 (this fileset), plus lots of other filesets presumably derived from the same root tape.

! band: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html. No Maria Muldaur.

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/recreation-hall-curtin-road-university.html. This is a rare Jerry-before-GD hall.

! historical: From Foster review I infer 3,200 attended and 8,600 capacity. But contract makes it clear that capacity is 5,000. Band got $12,500 guarantee, plus 70% over $21,500 (not triggered) plus $2,500 for sound and lights, on gross potential of $25k.

! ad: Daily Collegian, December 1, 1977, p. 17

! exante: "Jerry Garcia Band to perform," Daily Collegian (Penn State University), December 9, 1977, p. 3;

! exante: Clifford 1977;

! review: [positive] Foster 1977: "I'd swear if there was some way of putting a tracer into his vibrations you would see them travel through his body to his fingertips, out to his guitar, and then into the audience."

! expost: Wilson 1977

! seealso: JGMF, "JGB: November-December 1977 East Coast Tour Rarities"

! R: source: source: sdb > master reel > cassette > pcm > dat > cdr

! R: Seeder comments: - this is a remaster of shnid-6622 - Hiss reduction was attempted on this source once before but the results were not very successful.  I think that this is far more pleasing to the ear - remastered using iZotope Ozone and 4Front Sandbrush - hiss reduction with Waves X-Noise - SIRMick December 2006

! R: Nice tape. I haven't listened to this show in many years, and I don't think I have ever heard this sirmick version. It is buttah. The bass tone is as good as the '78 boards. Man. Later on, some more hiss comes onboard, and sometimes it overloads, but it's nice to have!

! P: s1t01 HSII the band comes in feeling absolutely groovy right out of the gate. John sounds so amazing, so it's hard to parse the capture from the playing, but I do think the playing is just wonderful - fluid, inventive, big, playful.

! P: s1t02 CJ nice version, but tempos are a little variable.

! R: s1t03 STOF more hiss

! P: s1t04 SIL done sprightly, maybe peppiest version I have ever heard. In the 7-minute mark it takes a really spare feeling, not much Keith, or he's way back, anyway. Lovely stuff.

! R: s1t04 SIL splice at 7:09

! s1t05 (1) JG: "We're gonna take a break for a little while. We'll be back in a little bit. Thank you."

! s2t01 (2) at around 7 minute mark, someone says something like "check out the aliens [inaudible]".

! P: s2t02 ISTE I am not always a big fan of this tune. But Buzzy does some splashing late 7 that really catches my ear, and maybe Jerry's, because Jerry puts on a little spacier tone and the band gives him a little more room. Just wonderful. 

! s2t05 (3) Jerry and John noodle on the "Close Encounters Theme" for a good 30 seconds here.

! P: s2t05 Russ Lull JK feature 7:58-11:15. Despite the fatter tone, this feature feels more like later ones, very fluttery and not very impressive. Buzzy trying to add some rhythm in the back, but he's swimming upstream.

! R: s2t07 MITR splice at 1:17

! R: s2t08 LAALWFH splice at 6:09

! P: s2t08 LAALWFH Close Encounters 15:30, but it's really just a few riffs here.

! s2t08 (4) JG: "Thank you. See y'all later on."

How Come History's Got to Take Such a Long, Long Time? JGB, Warfield, Sunday, May 3, 1992

LN jg1992-05-03.jgb.all.aud-lucien.106771.flac1648

I just don't always have a lot to say, but want to put these here to invite others to comment.

I enjoyed this. Some mumblyverse, but some real depth of feeling, too. I really enjoyed this version of "The Maker", with a little extra vocalization at the end that I can't quite make out --it's supposed to be "oh river, rise from your sleep" (h/t minches)-- and there's some real goodness in "Don't Let Go", as well.

RIP Danny Lucien.

Jerry Garcia Band

The Warfield

982 Market Street

San Francisco, CA 94102

May 3, 1992 (Sunday)

Lucien MAD shnid-106771

--set I (6 tracks, 50:57)--

s1t01. //Cats Under The Stars [#8:57] [2:02]

s1t02. Waiting For A Miracle [5:38] [1:27]

s1t03. Run For The Roses [5:24] [0:37]

s1t04. Struggling Man [6:22] [0:44]

s1t05. Mission In The Rain [10:32]

s1t06. Lay Down Sally [8:29] (1) [0:08]

--set II (7 tracks, 75:58)--

s2t01. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love [9:37] [1:10]

s2t02. Shining Star [12:35] [0:43]

s2t03. Tore Up Over You [7:46] [1:37]

s2t04. The Maker [8:05] [0:26]

s2t05. Don't Let Go [15:45] [0:17]

s2t06. That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day) [11:58] [0:05]

s2t07. Midnight Moonlight [5:50] (2) [0:04]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #21b

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

! lineup: John Kahn - el-b;

! lineup: Melvin Seals - keyboards;

! lineup: David Kemper - drums;

! lineup: Gloria Jones - vocals;

! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch - vocals.

JGMF:

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

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19920503-01

! db:

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/ZW52vfHTbjs

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2013/02/warfield-982-market-street-san.html

! venue: http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2011/11/september-25-1980-fox-warfield-theater.html

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

! R: field recordist: Danny Lucien

! R: field recording gear: 2x Schoeps MK4 > Rbox > Panasonic SV250

! R: field recording location: Drink Rail

! R: Transfer: SV3700 -> RME Hammerfall DSP (SPDIF) 16/48 -> Nuendo

! R: s1t01 CUTS cuts in

! P: s1t01 CUTS too many go 'rounds, way too many. Way, way too many.

! P: s1t02 WFAM lots of little lyrical flubs and whatever. I do like how he says "how come history gotta take such a long long time" instead of "the future" - feels Rodney King relevant, though that's pretty surely projection.

! P: s1t03 RFTR some more lyrical irregularity

! P: s1t06 LDS he starts with the chorus.

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

! P: s2t01 ENSTL the crowd seems very stoked to hear this one, special cheer at 0:49 for not-sure-what. Love the tone and the notes in 5. Great playing.

! P: s2t04 Maker he is singing in a different key than usual. Lyrical issues. Some interesting lyrical improv at the end, 6:20 "run rabbit [?] run way from yo [space]"

oh oh still waters

dark and cold like the night

I stand with arms wide open

I run the twisted mile

I'm a stranger in the eyes of The Maker

I could not see for the fog in my eyes

I could not feel for the fear in my life

across the great divide

in the distance I saw a light

Jean-Baptiste walking to me with The Maker

My body is bent and broken

[mumble] and dangerous sleep

I can't work the fields of Abraham

turn my head away

I'm not a stranger in the hands of The Maker

Brother John have you see the homeless daughters?

standing there with broken wings

I've seen the flaming swords

there over east of Eden

burning in the eyes of the Maker

oh burning in the eyes of the Maker

whoa burning in the eyes of the Maker

run [] run ... away from your [??]

! P: s2t05 DLG nice low vocalizations 4, starts doubling after 4:30 or so, with some interesting variations before stepping back from mic 5:02. He lets things go to a big orchestral melt around 9:25, then he starts doing a swing march that is really wonderfully groovy, now minor allusion 10:20, John modal, Melvin light and Kemper glue holding it together. Faster flurrying late 10 over 11. Return to tune late 13.

! s2t07 (2) JG: "Thanks a lot. See ya next time."

Don't judge a tape by the gear: JGB at Stages, East St. Louis, May 23, 1983

The only tape circulating for the Garcia Band show at Stages in East St. Louis, May 23, 1983, was recorded using the built-in mics of a Sony D6 by one Steven Shayman. Looks like it entered circulation in June 2004 as a shn fileset put together by Dr. Chris Ladner (neo_levo) as part of the MisSHN in the Rain offshoot of the The Music Never Stopped (TMNSP) project to canonically archive and circulate, well, everything.

I have always loved that tour, and consider 5/31/83 to be an all-time great Garcia Band show. There are lots of great tapes from known tapers using fancy gear, in venues we know and love such as the Cap, from the back end of the tour. The band plays encores the last eight shows of the tour, and eleven of the last twelve -- and not always "Midnight Moonlight", but some killer "Rhapsody In Red"s and other stuff. It's hot.

The early part, by contrast, wobbles a little bit. I know the Saturday Rainbow show in Denver was a late-add and didn't sell out, though I like it pretty well. The next night north of K.C. was canceled for reasons unknown --I presume that ticket sales were just too slow for a room that was much too large-- and the gig at the incredible Shea's Theatre in Buffalo on the 25th gets a "meh" from me, though that may be because the tape is kinda rough.

Anyway, for all of these reasons, I suppose, I have utterly neglected little ol' 5/23/83. And I was wrong to have done so.

The tape is actually quite a delight. It sounds really fresh and nice. Shayman must have found a good spot, and the D6's built-in mics pick everything up. As any taper will tell you, location > gear. There's plenty of the sellout crowd, and everyone seems to be having a great old time. Jerry hadn't played St. Louis outside the GD since 1976, and everyone seems enthused to have hime come through. A review from unidentified publication (Durrwachter 1983) captures the vibe nicely, invoking a happy crowd packed onto the club floor, dancing a vital, lively, tight band. All of that comes through on the tape.

He even looks pretty good!

Jerry at Stages, East St. Louis, May 23, 1983. Picture credit: Madeline Dames, via https://www.gdao.org/items/show/826463

I don't have a ton of @@wowwowwowwowwows in my notes. I hear some fanny goodness in "Catfish John," a rockin' "Let It Rock," and some of the period's chacracteristic beautiful spirraling guitar figures in both "Harder They Come" and "Dear Prudence". Not a lot of the metallic, hair-on-fire burn here, even in "Deal", at least not that I noted. The show has a cooler, smoother, sweeter vibe than we'd hear after another week-plus on the road. It's just a really nice listen from both a recording and a performance standpoint. Don't make the same mistake I did and leave it neglected for 17 years.

Tour table follows, then listening notes.

Table xxx. Spring '83 JGB tour 

Date	Venue	JGMF
1983-05-20 [Fri] Early	Rainbow Music Hall, Denver, CO
1983-05-20 [Fri] Late	Rainbow Music Hall, Denver, CO
1983-05-21 [Sat]	Rainbow Music Hall, Denver, CO	Errico is a monster
1983-05-22 [Sun]	Civic Arena, St. Joseph, MO
1983-05-23 [Mon]	Stages, East St. Louis, IL	don't judge a tape by the gear
1983-05-25 [Wed]	Shea's Theatre, Buffalo, NY	meh
1983-05-26 [Thu]	Auditorium Theatre, Rochester, NY
1983-05-28 [Sat]	Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth, MA	average for the tour
1983-05-29 [Sun]	Bushnell Auditorium, Hartford, CT
1983-05-30 [Mon]	Bushnell Auditorium, Hartford, CT
1983-05-31 [Tue]	Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY	Mamma mia, what a show
1983-06-01 [Wed]	Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY
1983-06-03 [Fri] Early	Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ
1983-06-03 [Fri] Late	Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ
1983-06-04 [Sat] Early	The Chance, Poughkeepsie, NY
1983-06-04 [Sat] Late	The Chance, Poughkeepsie, NY	pretty strong
1983-06-05 [Sun] Early	Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA	swan song for JGB #15c
1983-06-05 [Sun] Late	Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA	swan song for JGB #15c

Expressway Day: Garcia-Saunders at the Golden Bear, Huntington Beach, December 29, 1974

I woke up this morning with "Expressway (To Your Heart)" playing in my head.

Not just any Expressway, mind you. But the one played by Jerry and Merl and crew (possibly calling themselves Legion of Mary backstage and such) at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach on December 29, 1974, to end (or just about) the late show. And not just any generic representation of it, but the one  captured by "Flashback" Charlie DiSalvo using 2x Shure Unidyne IVs (spaced ca. 15') > into his Uher 4400, little 5" reels @ 3.75ips.

You see, way back when my digital home was DeadNetCentral (DNC), and especially the Garcia folder there (shocker). And someone with whom I have just been reconnected, but whose name is eluding my brain right now, either encouraged or brought over legendary East Coast taper Jerry Moore, who brought over his ol show-going pal Flashback Charlie. Or something like that. We also had the great Jimmy Warburton over there at times as I recall, Harvey Lubar maybe on occasion, and other folks. Again, I am foggy on the details, but somehow I got connected with all of those guys. Jerry and I got quite close, and I was lucky to work up the info files for the systematic state-of-the-art digital transfers a group was doing under the "Moore's Masters" moniker.

Charlie had made a tape that made a huge impact on me, and that was this 12/29/74b. Someone, maybe Jerry but not sure, had transferred the tape to DAT, from there it went to CD, from there it came to me, maybe via Sean Cribbs. (At some point Charlie sent me a sweet print of Bob Minkin's pic of the Jerry Band at the Cap, 11/26/77, and a print of his picture of Jerry Garcia and Friends from the Music Hall, 3/25/72, which IIRC Charlie got into by climbing up a fire escape), and I extracted the audio (using EAC with offsets corrected, etc., natch), tracked it using WavMerge and CDWav (guaranteed to cut on sector boundaries, important to us back then), and losslessly compressed it to .shn format using mkwACT. Looks like I forget to make the shn files seekable, which is a major blunder, and someone came along and re-encoded them to make them more usable. I submitted the fileset to the etree database on May 7, 2002 (I presume semester had just ended), where it still lives today as shnid-8643. I assume I circulated it in various ways, and certainly at some point uploaded it to the tol.etree.org FTP server, from where it became forever part of the arcHIVE, the brilliant, massively redundant decentralized repository of bit-perfect clones comprised by all of our collections.

Charlie became unwell, and as far as I know he is still alive, but is not reachable for me. I hope he is OK, because he was a sweet wonderful guy in my experience with him. Jimmy has told me that Charlie's tapes ended up with an ex in a divorce, may still exist, but it's not known how to get a hold of them. If anyone here has any notion of that, please drop me a line!

Charlie said this about taping these shows (DNC Garcia folder post by Sean Cribbs, April 3, 2002):

That machine was a bitch to run! ... I placed one mic in front of Jerry and the other one was passed down to total strangers in front of Martin Fierro. The stereo effect was amazing, almost like setting up in a studio. You can hear the drums go from the left to the right.

Anyway, that tape BLEW MY MIND. It is burned into my DNA. Especially the 16+ minute version of "Expressway (To Your Heart)", which is a great Philly soul number in its own right, but which Garcia and Saunders made into a soul-jazz-funk extravagaganza (typo, but I'll keep the extra syllable in there for fun) that burns, drives, hops and grooves, and makes me want to boogie. I had listened to it a few more times over the years, then in January 2021 the GEMS crew polished it up a little bit, put it together with the early show, and circulated it anew as shnid-151373. This invited --no, practically obligated-- me to revisit the ol' favorite and I did so over a few different sessions earlier this year. 

And man does it stand up.

I lack the understanding and vocabulary to do it justice, beyond "jeepers, mister, this is really strong" and whatnot. Here are my real-time listening notes:

I really hear the bassist SHREDDING, e.g., in the 4-minute range and I ask myself if this is really John. Not that he couldn't shred in this period - he could. But man is he on fire here. Martin has been laying pretty low this version so far. There he is, stepping up at 6:25. Tutt is hammering, BTW. Man, this is so good. Revisiting some months later: 4:39 it's just hot hot hot, and this is John all right. Man is this hot. 4:57 inpsired little slide. Hangs a big pull 5:18. John is *feelin' it* to 5:29!!! Listen to Tutt in the 9 min mark! MAN. Martin doing "Red Clay" 10:56, Kahn giant response 11:10, Tutt KILLING, all behind Garcia absolutely tearing it up. Down low and quiet 12:37, such a nice contrast with the preceding insanity. More "Red Clay" over 15.

Anyway, here on the show's 47th anniversary, I invite you to get a killer audio setup to enjoy the big stereo separation from the spread mics, settle in with your cuppa coffee or whatever, listen to Jerry and Merl and KAHN and TUTT and Martin absolutely tear it up. Kahn is especially unbelievable here, but I also find Tutt just slaying over and over again. I am not saying this would be the first 16 minutes of Jerry and Merl I would bring to the proverbial desert island, but if I got 5 such chunks it'd be in the running. Two big snaps up.

Let's all give a big shoutout to Flashback Charlie for pulling a masterpiece out of the fog. As self-appointed mayor of my imaginary Garciaville, I hereby decree December 29th to be Expressway Day in his honor. Turn it up!

Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
Golden Bear
306 Ocean Avenue
Huntingon Beach, CA 90740
December 29, 1974 (Sunday) Early and Late Shows
shnid-151373 GEMS Remaster and Packaging of SHNIDs 8643 and 93978

 --early show (7 tracks, 5 tunes, 83:41)--
e-t01. [0:03] That's A Touch I Like [10:54] [0:07] % [0:16]
e-t02. Favela [16:22] [0:22]
e-t03. ambience [1:35]
e-t04. You Can Leave Your Hat On [16:58] [0:35]
e-t05. Sitting In Limbo [16:26] [0:14] %
e-t06. ambience [1:07]
e-t07. I Second That Emotion [18:32] (1)

--late show (9 tracks, 6 tunes, 93:54)--
l-t08. Mystery Train [14:20] %
l-t09. ambience [1:14]
l-t10. La-La [16:47] ->
l-t11. People Make The World Go Round [428] [0:10] %
l-t12. (I'm A) Roadrunner [15:14] [0:11] %
l-t13. ambience [1:17]
l-t14. Going, Going, Gone [22:07] [0:20] %
l-t15. ambience (2) [1:15]
l-t16. Expressway (To Your Heart)// [16:32#]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
! lineup: Jerry Garcia - electric guitar, vocals;
! lineup: Merl Saunders - keyboards, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn - electric bass;
! lineup: Martin Fierro - saxophone, flute, percussion;
! lineup: Ron Tutt - drums;
! guest: Maria Muldaur - vocals (e-t05).

JGMF:

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

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19741229-01 (early); https://jerrybase.com/events/19741229-02 (late)

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/8643 (late show, same source tape, shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/17019 (same as shnid-8643, seekable shn); http://etreedb.org/shn/93978 (early show, same source tape, but via taperpat's 1st gen reel); http://etreedb.org/shn/151373 (this fileset).

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/1bJXKA6b1Kv

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/12/golden-bear-306-ocean-avenue-huntington.html

! listing: Los Angeles Free Press, December 20, 1974, p. 19;

! personnel: the female singer was long identified (e.g., in "Odds and Ends," Dead Relix 2, 1 [January-February 1975], p. 21) as Donna Jean Godchaux, but in seeding this years back I thought it sounded more like Maria. Listening to this again, definitely Maria.

! R: field recordist: [early show] Charlie Disalvo

! R: field recording gear: [early show] 2x Shure Unidyne IVs (spaced ca. 15') > Uher 4400, 3.75ips master reels

! R: source tape: [early show] taperpat's 3.75ips 1st gen reel

! R: transfer: [early show] A > D by Matt Smith: Akai GX 625 playback > Apogee Mini ME (@24/96) > Apogee Mini DAC (monitoring) > Wavelab 5.0 (dithered to 20/44) > CD

! R: lineage 1 (ca. 2003): [early show] Track & FLAC (jj): EAC > CD Wave > Sony Sound Forge Studio 7.0 (d1t01 fade-in, d2t01-d2t02 fade-out/in, d2t03 fade-out) > Trader's Little Helper (FLAC8 encoding).

! R: lineage 2 (2020): [early show] speed corrections by Jason Chastain per request of JGMF. Mastering by Jamie Waddell. Track FLAC and Pack by Steve Gravel. Note - Multiple moments of digistatic repaired, most are undetectable but a few major spots were damaged beyond invisible repair, but are much more listenable now. seeded to www.shnflac.net January 4, 2021 16 bit 44.1 kHz FLAC8

! R: recollex: Taper "Flashback" Charlie Disalvo says this about taping these shows (DNC Garcia folder post by Sean Cribbs, April 3, 2002): "That machine was a bitch to run! ... I placed one mic in front of Jerry and the other one was passed down to total strangers in front of Martin Fierro. The stereo effect was amazing, almost like setting up in a studio. You can hear the drums go from the left to the right."

! P: e-t02 Favela Martin takes the first feature, good. Jerry steps in around 6:15 and it's his turn, Martin now shaking some percussion. JG only goes three minutes, now Merl 9:15ff. Merl didn't really do much with his turn. 11:46 some muddle as to who's doing what.

! P: e-t05 SIL Garcia plucks ethereally 10.

! P: e-t07 ISTE I am not a big fan of this tune, and this version captures why, at least up to the 11 minute mark. Garcia just doesn't have much place to go with it. Martin quotes "The Entertainer" at 11:10, a second time. Silly.

! e-t07 (1) JG: "Thanks a lot. See y'all later on."

! metadata: Late show was previously believed to be set II of a two set show, but the taper confirms that this is the late show.

! R: field recordist: [late show] Charlie Disalvo

! R: field recording gear: [late show] 2x Shure Unidyne IVs (spaced ca. 15') > Uher 4400, 3.75ips master reels

! lineage 1 (ca. 2003): [late show] MAR > ? > D > CD. Extraction using EAC, slight re-tracking using WavMerge and CD Wave, and .shn compression using mkwACT.  Proper sector boundaries verified using shntool. Seeded by jjoops@attbi.com.

! R: lineage 2 (2020): [late show] speed corrections by Jason Chastain per request of JGMF. Mastering by Jamie Waddell. Track FLAC and Pack by Steve Gravel. Note - Multiple moments of digistatic repaired, most are undetectable but a few major spots were damaged beyond invisible repair, but are much more listenable now. seeded to www.shnflac.net January 4, 2021 16 bit 44.1 kHz FLAC8

! R: The late show tape sounds much smoother than the early show.

! P: l-t10 La-La JG steps up 6:40 or so.

! l-t15 (2) Member of the crowd is asking "Who's on the bass?" And at least a few people recognize Expressway as it starts.

! P: l-t16 ETYH of course, having been primed by the question in note #2, I really hear the bassist SHREDDING, e.g., in the 4-minute range and I ask myself if this is really John. Not that he couldn't shred in this period - he could. But man is he on fire here. Martin has been laying pretty low this version so far. There he is, stepping up at 6:25. Tutt is hammering, BTW. Man, this is so good. Revisiting some months later: 4:39 it's just hot hot hot, and this is John all right. Man is this hot. 4:57 inpsired little slide. Hangs a big pull 5:18. John is *feelin' it* to 5:29!!! Listen to Tutt in the 9 min mark! MAN. Martin doing "Red Clay" 10:56, Kahn giant response 11:10, Tutt KILLING, all behind Garcia absolutely tearing it up. Down low and quiet 12:37, such a nice contrary with the preceding insanity. More "Red Clay" over 15.

! R: l-t16 ETYH cuts out, probably not too much missing, though knowing Jerry I might imagine it dropping into a sweet little How Sweet to wrap up the evening's proceedings.

The WSJ piece

It's interesting how a thing in such a high profile place generates so much feedback, and a much wider range of feedback than I am used to from here or the Dead blogosphere/Twittersphere. I just want to sit at my desk and listen to tunes and parse data and think and write.

Let me just bullet a few things.

A lot of this was just off hand shit I say in conversation. Like, I don't think I am some kind of Einstein or anything. I certainly didn't lead with Steve by saying I was the world's greatest expert. I led by introducing myself, telling him I was working on a book about Garcia beyond the GD, and expressing interest in talking to him. In terms of being the "world's greatest expert", I would first qualify myself as an external expert, and even then, of course, there's Blair and Dennis and Gans and lots of other people in that mix. The big point is that such a claim is not meant seriously. I am known to quip that anyone who does a PhD becomes the world's greatest expert in a piece of a slice of a fraction of next-to-nothing. All of the professional incentives, or most of them, drive us to this kind of specialization, which to outsiders can look like -- maybe rightly!-- obscurantism, emphasis on the trivial, and so forth. What's more, I am a huge believer in Popper's notion that "in our infinite ignorance, we are all equal". I could get all metphysical and whatnot about that, but I'll just cop right now to the fact that the depth of my ignorance, even around stuff like the EU or Garcia On The Side (GOTS), is no less than the depth of anyone else's ignorance on these or any other topic. So it's all off-hand, and falsely immodest to try to sharpen the very real (often self-deprecating) circumspection I bring to my own ability to understand anything.

In the same vein, the fancy words like "cliometrics" are just offhand things that live in my brain. In engaging any Garcia event, I first want to pin down the who, the where, and the what. So I want the sociometric, geometric, and the chronometric particulars. (I prefer chrono- to clio-, truthfully.) If I can pin down those three pieces about any given event with reasonable certainty, I feel like it "exists" in a way I can work with. This is not some kind of fancy scientism. It's certainly not an ontological position. It's just what my brain needs to know so it can settle in to try to understand at a deeper level, in a more humanistic, qualitative, Verstehen kind of way, and also more broadly, trying to figure out implications for how Jerry (and, generalizing, all of us) try to manage our creative drives, marry passion and practicality, pursue a meaningful life within the constraints of late modern America, and so forth.

I also joke self-deprecatingly about being obsessive with this stuff, and this one is a little trickier. I almost certainly qualify as such on any reasonable denotation of the word. But beyond joking about it, the word "obsessive" holds a  negative connotation which I don't feel necessarily applies to my experience with this kind of intellectual / creative urge or drive. I prefer the word "passionate", which of course has positive connotations. But I challenge anyone to offer definitions of these words that differ denotatively, rather than merely insofar as one is negative or problematic or pitiable and the other is positive or productive or laudable. I think the best attempt would equate obsession with some kind of other pathology, or bad outcomes. As they say with addiction, if the thing starts getting in the way of other things in your life.

So then we get into whether my "passion" has been negative or positive. One guy on Facebook, projecting all kinds of his own issues it seems to me, seemed to think that I was wasting my life, that I had destroyed my personal relationships, that my kids would be scarred for life. On the first point, I consider myself to be living my life, and quite fully at that. I don't even know what someone would mean by "wasting" your life. It's just your life, you are living it. We have so many breaths, we take them, and we're done. I have an amazing day job, an amazing hobby, I meditate and exercise and try to be a good person and listen to lots of tunes and read good books and all of that. Could I have gotten more political science research done if I had spent these hours doing that? Maybe, but probably not as meaningfully. I like to work deeply, not churn stuff out. I think honesty does require that I acknowledge the possibility, though.

In terms of my personal relationships, I concede that the one alluded to in the piece probably suffered for my passion for researching GOTS. But, conversely, my passion for GOTS was partly product of avoidance of interpersonal unpleasantness. That's not a good thing, but it does reverse the causal arrow. In any case, 29 years is a good long run, and it wasn't going to last much longer, Jerry or no Jerry. In terms of my kiddos, you'd have to ask them, of course. But I can say that the EU and GOTS are only in second place (2A and 2B, if you'd like) in my hierarchy of passions. My children are #1 by a country mile. And I think they'd report that their dad is wildly in love with them, wildly devoted to them, has modeled for them how to live a life full of joy and enthusiasm, how to trust and follow one's own lights, and that the Garcia stuff was a quirky, fun, weird, interesting, unique thing about him that was a net positive. Again, though, one would have to ask them.

Some people think it's crazy, insane, pointless, a waste, stupid to do this work trying to figure out, e.g., who the Garcia Band backing vocalists were from October 24, 1982 to November 15, 1982. I get it. It's not gonna end world hunger. But art, literature, poetry, love, dance, music itself, birding, icthyology, space exploration, learning a dead language, and infinite numbers of other pursuits could be subject to the same evaluation. My question is - so what? Who cares what someone's passion is? Who cares if it "matters" in some broader sense? I always say that I make a difference in the world in the classroom and at the dinner table. That's where I create the kinds of positive externalities, certainly endeavor to, that will leave the world better off than I found it. So who cares if my 11 year old mind liked sorting baseball cards by number, then by team, then by position, then alphabetical by last name, only to do it over again the next day? Who cares if my teenaged self pored over Deadbase and tried to collect a tape of every single Dead show? Who cares if my adult self likes to read about how the EU legislative sausage gets made, or how cognition is classification, or how institutions form our puny attempts at forming outposts of local order to move forward through time and cirumstances which churn at a much higher rate around them, buffeted by the most fundamental "force" in the universe, entropy? And, similarly, who cares if I want to spend my leisure hours making spreadsheets about Jerry? No-one is hurt in the making of this work. It's a hobby, it keeps me off the streets, and it's good clean fun.

I guess I'll pause there for now. Hope you and yours are all well and that your lives can be full of joy and curiosities indulged.