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.

GSCBF update

I have updated a few GSCBF posts.

GSCBF3: I have reframed (and gained confidence in) my argument that the Debbie reels are basically a continuous record of Sunday afternoon.
GSCBF4:  I have new insight into the circulating "Frank Wakefield" set from this festival, which is actually the Greenbriar Boys  from Sunday ca. 15:00

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

updated 9/18/2010

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

The last post discussed the Sunday afternoon schedule, doing a poor job of laying out an idea that I am about 99% sure about, which is that the "Debbie reels" run more or less continuously across that part of the festival, from a ca. 3:30 p.m. set by "Frank Wakefield" 3:00 p.m. set by the Greenbriar Boys all the way through to the OAITW set that closed the proceedings.

Here I will lay out my notes for the "Frank Wakefield" Greenbriar Boys set from the Debbie reels.

Let me first address the billing. This is not "Frank Wakefield", as the circulating recordings are labeled, but The Greenbriar Boys (with Frank Wakefield). So, contrary to what I might have said elsewhere and/or in earlier drafts, Wakefield didn't play unbilled. He was billed and played with his band at the time.

The SF Examiner's Philip Elwood (19740509) says the Greenbriar Boys in this period were the following:

• John Herald (guitar, vocals)
• Frank Wakefield (mandolin)
• Brian Price (fiddle)
• Robbie Stoner (bass)
• Sandy Rothman (banjo)

By the way, the Greenbriar Boys were scheduled for 3 p.m., after Jim & Jesse and before Mac Wiseman. The recording makes it clear that the schedule went straight from GB to Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys. I can only speculate as to whether Mac Wiseman played on Sunday (he was scheduled for all three days). Perhaps his set was moved or canceled, I just don't know.

Recording, setlist and such follow. More information would be appreciated! I am sure that someone knowledgeable could identify the two songs that I couldn’t.

The Greenbriar Boys

Sunday, April 28, 1974 ca. 15:00

Source: "Frank Wakefield; 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 > FLAC, by Matt Smith.

(16 tracks, 37:41)

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t01. talk (1) & tuning [1:16]

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t02. Goodbye Old Pal [1:44]

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t03. talk (2), Jack Elliott [4:37]

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t04. song introduction [0:53]

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t05. Jesus Loves His Mandolin Picker #16 [3:24]

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t06. Chicken [2:47]

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t07. talk (3)

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t08. Sleepy-Eyed John [2:55]

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t09. song introduction [0:41]

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t10. Passenger Pigeons [3:25]

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t11. introduction of Jerry Garcia and Vassar Clements [1:10]

--w/ Jerry Garcia (banjo), Vassar Clements (fiddle), ??female backing vocalist, possibly Maria Muldaur or Donna???--

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t12. That's Alright, Mama [3:15] (4)

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t13. Rawhide (5), encore calls (6) [4:22]

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t14. Heartbreak Hotel [2:20] ->

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t15. Orange Blossom Special [3:56]

GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t16: Acknowledgement of Vassar (7) [0:09]

Notes:

! Rawhide and Heartbreak Hotel -> Orange Blossom Special also circulates from the WB reels and on the fileset circulated by Rob Berger from Jerry Moore's reels.

! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t01: (1) "We're gonna tease you for a few songs here before Jerry comes out"

! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t03: (2) pre-song talk that Elliott is backstage confirms that this is same day as Elliott set. Since that's connected to continuous tape and can be definitely dated, so can this.

! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t07: (3) "we want to really thank Judy Lammers for putting this festival on"

! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t12: (4) after song, from stage to sound guy: "We gotta hear Vassar"

! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t13: (5) speaker says "Number 6" just as the number starts. Before Neil Rosenberg identified this tune for me, I thought that could be the number of a Jesus Loves His Mandolin Player composition, but now I gather it was a mic/monitor check

! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t13: (6) the continuous tape is great here, showing that "Heartbreak Hotel" -> "Orange Blossom Special" is the encore of the Wakefield set.

! GSCBF-1974-04-28-1500-Greenbriar-t16: (7) "how about Vassar Clements, the man this festival is dedicated to"

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

Cryptical Developments

Just wanted to shout out a welcome to Cryptical Developments, which I know will be a wonderful addition to this neat little community that seems to be developing around GD-/ SF-related deep history/scholarship. Like the other blogs that I consider part of this group, this one is now in my links to the right.

GSCBF3: Sunday, April 28, 1974 afternoon schedule

Updated 9/18/2010

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!

I have mentioned that there are several flavors of soundboard tapes moving around in collectors' circles, and a few audience-recorded pieces as well. I will be working to build a narrative of the festival, using the following audio sources:

1. 29-minute Tom Moran audience recording of GASB on 4/26/74 (shnid 99532)
2. Tom Moran recordings of Maria Muldaur and Doc & Merle Watson sets from 4/26/74.
3. 32-minute Tom Moran audience recording of "morning workshop session, 4/27/74"
4. 4-CD set of "WB reels", with material dated 4/27 and 4/28/74; these are AKA the "soundman reels" in some circles.
5. 6-CD set of "Debbie reels" with material dated 4/27 and 4/28/74
6. 21-minute "OAITW 4/27/74 aud" recording (shnid 21525)
7. 4-CD set with the lineage as follows: "SBD REEL > DAT > CDR (playback:  Sony TC 765 reel > SBM1 > Sony D8 > Tascam CD-RW4U > Soundforge)", circulated from Jeff Korona to Mike Lai and from there via a now defunct FTP server called stellablue.etree.org.
8. 1-CD set "John Hartford and Friends, 4/28/74" set, with this lineage: "Source: SBD: MR > DAT > Echo Mia > Cool Edit > CDWave > Philips CDRW804. Recieved as CDA audio.  EAC > WAV > SHN (Gabriel Kuykendall)."
9. 4-CD set circulated by Rob Berger from Jerry Moore's reel copies. Given lineage is as follows: "source: sbd reel, exact gen unknown (Jerry Moore's copy); lineage: reel playback on Sony TC-765 > sbm1 > dat > cdr > soundforge > cdr > eac > flac, transferred by Rob Berger '99". As of right now I believe (suspect, really, since I haven't had time to check) that the Korona/Lai set is derivative of this one. But we'll see.

I'll have more to say about the different tapes, as I learn more and as time permits. It is going to be a fun story to unravel.

As a set, these tapes embody an improbable amount of conflicting information about the dates of the various performances. I have no idea why this would be, but there you go. But I think I have figured a bunch of it out and will eventually have been able to piece together a maximally complete picture of which acts played when, what and with whom.

For now, just quick note on something I think I have figured out. I am about 99.9% sure that the 6CD set of "Debbie reels" is the last piece of the festival, from late afternoon to late night on Sunday, 4/28. In other words, even though the first four CDs are labeled as "4/27/74", I believe all six are from 4/28. This obviously means that the identical chunks from other sources will need to be relabeled.

There are lots of ways to arrive at this conclusion (or one really, really comprehensive way!). In general, the fit between the published schedule (not set in stone, I know!) and the Debbie reels is just way too high to be a coincidence. Here's the correspondence:

What's more, the recordings tie this all together as a piece. Here are a few data:

• Debbie reels confirm that Greenbriar Boys set is followed by Jimmy Martin.
• Jack Elliott was backstage for the GB set; his only scheduled appearance was on Sunday.
• Jimmy Martin was also only scheduled for Sunday.
• Jimmy Martin says he'll be back on later with the Dirt Band, also only scheduled for Sunday.
• The soundman reels have OAITW's encore, "Hobo Song", continuous across the statement "it's been a great festival" and the end of a tape. That OAITW would have closed the show, rather than the "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" reunion, is consistent with the conjecture in GSCBF2, that things became rather Garcia-centric as the festival developed.

All of the foregoing leads inexorably to this conclusion: the Debbie reels are more or less continuous tape (of performances, anyway) from Sunday, April 28, 1974, about 3 p.m. - 11 or whenever the festival came to a close.

How JGAB Ended

Can't believe I have never posted about the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band (JGAB), a.k.a. the "Black Mountain Boys" (1987 model), a.k.a., in a weird little Bill Graham marketing campaign, "Jerry Garcia: The Band Acoustic". This is the wonderful band consisting of Jerry (ac-g, vocals), John Kahn (ac-bass), David Nelson (ac-g, vocals), Sandy Rothman (dobro, mandolin, vocals), David Kemper (drums), and sometimes Kenny Kosek (fiddle). I won't get into the details of the configuration's origins and playing history here, though it's a neat story from a neat time in Jerry's musical life.

Instead, I just want to say one thing about how the JGAB ended, based on a just-completed read of a great Sandy Rothman interview from ca. 1989 (1).

Sandy says that the JGAB was supposed to do a studio album, but ended up with the live album (Almost Acoustic) instead because the planned studio time never materialized. This was "partly because Jerry was in high gear on a couple of other projects and partly because a certain enthusiasm about playing with these old buddies had cooled off ...” (1, p. 18).

This last phrase really intrigues me. It's never been clear how the JGAB ended, though like so many other Jerry configurations it may just have withered for inattention. There were a few super-fun shows in the summer of 1988 (early and late shows at the tiny Cabaret Cotati on July 7th, and a sweet show at the Frost Ampitheatre on July 9th), and then nothing more. Ever, AFAIK.

The way Sandy phrases this interests me, too. The phrase "a certain enthusiasm" and the use of the passive voice are both constructions that seem intended to obscure whatever agency lay behind the sentiments. We are not told whose enthusiasm this was that had cooled off, less still why..

So my simple question, almost certainly strictly rhetorical, is this: Jerry's, or the GD's?

REFERENCE:
(1) Juanis, Jimbo. 1989. Old and Even More in the Way: An Exclusive Interview with Sandy Rothman. Relix 16, 2 (April): 15-18.

GSCBF2: Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival: San Rafael, CA, April 26-28, 1974

I am going to probably do a series of posts on the Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival, which was held in San Rafael from April 26-28, 1974.

I have become rather obsessed with this festival. It barely gets mentioned in most Dead-/Jerry-ology, but I think it provides a fascinating glimpse into all kinds of things: 1974, bluegrass, rednecks-meet-hippies, hippie business practices, GD, Bay Area, Garcia, Northern California/SF in their relations to "America", etc. etc. Folks who have read Gans and Simon's still wonderful Playing in the Band [Amazon link, 1996 updated version] might recall the iconic picture by John Sievert of John McEuen, Steve Martin, and Garcia "pickin' and grinnin'" together at the festival (1):

I don't have a clear plan in mind for this series, which is probably really dangerous. It's been many years since I've written something of any length/continuity without a very tight outline, so this could meander. That's fine. I'll just kind of post things as they come, and since I have mentioned it once already I'll call this post GSCBF #2. I hope to at least make posts about the business side of things, the performers, and the recordings. This post is a quickie that mixes the first and third.

Let me just make five empirical observations.

1) The festival was to be recorded for an album release on a "major label" and there were plans for "a major motion picture company [to be] filming the Festival with the production of a theatrical feature being the objective" (2).

2) Judy Lammers, who organized the festival with her then-husband Paul, says that film was conferred on someone, unremembered, right after the festival, and has been lost to her since.

3) another person closely involved with the festival (3) says that things started to get organizationally crazy, especially surrounding recording and filming, when the GD organization took over these aspects. Another view might hold that cause and effect ran the opposite way - that things started falling apart, and existing instances mobilized.

4) I have been under the impression that a set of these tapes resides in Grisman's vault, and maybe that another resides in the GD (?Garcia?) vault.

5) There are various quite nice sbd recordings in circulation (i.e. among collectors) of many of the festival acts. At least one and maybe two very low gen sets of tapes, slightly different sbd tapes, are out and about a little bit. I will be analyzing the tapes and posting about them separately.

What's the point of this post?

Not quite sure, but let me spitball one or two speculations and other ideas.

1) I have already posted about how Garcia was half-owner --with Ron Rakow his equal partner ... yikes!-- of Round Records. It makes sense to imagine that a festival recording might be a Round release. Hardly a "major label", but I wouldn't put it past the promotional materials to be willing to gild the lily just a tiny bit.

2) Re the filming, we know Jerry would eventually do the GD movie. He might have liked the idea of doing the festival film. What's more, this is music he loved in the area he loved, bluegrass in Marin County. I can see how portraying that combination would have been especially rewarding for Jerry.

3) If #1 and #2 are true, this might explain why the "GD organization" came in on the festival - not per se, but various of its many subsidiary operations such as the sound folks. It became something of a Garcia/GD production, despite the facts that 1) every living bluegrass icon (less Bill Monroe) and many of the hottest folk and country acts were present (and, coincidentally, playing their asses off); and b) others had worked long and hard on planning this thing. If Round was involved, Garcia had a tremendous personal stake in making any release a commercial success.

4) Putting all of this together, I would suppose that the tape and film is all in GD-family hands, and that an eventual release could be foreseen. I rarely get normative, but he's a hope: How's about a festival film and soundtrack, David Lemieux! And while they are at it, I am sure the Lammers would love to see some fruits of their labor of love in putting this thing together, after dealing with financial ruin at the time. Win-win-win: fans and historians get to see some presumably great footage of some incredible music and musicians, we all get to hear great music in the best possible sound, and the people who deserve to might see some much-deserved reward.


REFERENCES:

(1) Gans, David, and Peter Simon. 1985. Playing in the Band: An Oral and Visual Portrait of the Grateful Dead. New York: St. Martin's Press, p. 147. Updated memorial version, with new last chapter, published 1996.

(2) "The Hills Around the Bay to Resound With Music: Country Music, Bluegrass Music, Old-Time Music, and Much More American Folk Music; The Bay Area's First Bluegrass Festival -- Last Weekend in April." Jewell Productions and Communications Assistants, April 11, 1974. Southern Folklife Collection Festival Files, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, folder 54; 8 pp., information from p. 4.

(3) Lest anyone draw the wrong inference, this is not Paul Lammers. I haven't spoken to him, though I would very much like to.

Where was Garcia on July 26 or 29, 1973?

My previous post contemplated where Garcia was on July 4, 1973, based on ads published in a bluegrass magazine. This post does precisely the same thing for July 26 or 29, 1973.

As you can see, Jerry Garcia is listed among the acts appearing at the First Annual West Virginia Peace, Love, Blues and Bluesgrass [sic] Folk Music Festival (hereafter FAWVPLVVFMF), to be held at Aunt Minnie's Farm and Country Road Park, Rt. No. 33 and 119 (Stumptown) in Glenville, WV on July 26-29, 1973.

Note the pitch to the young/"freak" crowd with the framing, and presumably also through the booking of such acts as the New Riders of the Purple Sage (who would appeal to that sort). There's a lot to say about that, but this is not the place.

Garcia is also billed (as is Vassar Clements) on a handbill held in the Southern Folklife Collection Festival Files (#645) at UNC Chapel Hill.

Did Garcia play this festival, presumably with Old and in the Way?

The 26th and 29th are possible dates, on either end of the GD's performances at Watkins Glen on the 27th and 28th. I'll address them in reverse order.

Re the 29th, Blair Jackson's Garcia ((1), p. 244) says that Jerry appeared in the Burlington County Court (Mount Holly, NJ) on the 29th, in connection with his March 17, 1973 drug bust on the NJ Turnpike (2). But the 29th was a Sunday, and a contemporary article (3) published on the 31st says that he was in court on the 30th. It also says that "Garcia was brought to the hearing … in a helicopter from the Watkins Glen site", which confuses me a little bit unless the GD stayed over at Watkins Glen on the 29th. I doubt they did that, so the record seems a little conflicted. My hunch is that Sunday the 29th would have been an open day for Garcia to play a bluegrass festival, still on the east coast, and indeed that if he had a court date on the 30th it might be a perfect opportunity for him to do so. So I consider the 29th possible.

The 26th also seems possible, though my instinct tells me that it would have been less likely for him to have played a Thursday just prior to Watkins Glen than a Sunday just after it. Not sure why, but there it is.

All of that said, I just don't think this happened, for roughly the same reasons as were adduced against a July 4th festival appearance.First, ads from the next month in Bluegrass Unlimited no longer list Garcia - they show, as did later ads for the 4th, Don Reno and Bill Harrell in that spot. So it seems awfully likely that the Reno-Harrell billing was lined up when Garcia/OAITW dropped out, and this for both July events.

Second, the same eyewitness, who was involved with organizing festivals, doesn't recall Garcia or OAITW at the late July Festival, either. He suggests that these festivals organized by Jim Clark in the summer of 1973 were chaotic and that OAITW may have felt burned after the June 8, 1973 Culpeper-Warrenton Festival. (Yes, I want to know more about that, too. I hope to learn what I can and post.)

As far as I know, there's just no evidence other than some advertisements that this ever happened. And I suspect that the ads promised something that didn't materialize. Getting to the titular question, then: I highly doubt that Garcia was playing a peace, love, blues and bluegrass festival in West Virginia in late July of 1973.

Let me make a macro point about this. The standard histories of OAITW say that they played a couple of east coast dates, and that's it. Like so many of the historical "truths" that surround Garcia, there seems to be more (or even different) to say, at least potentially. Even if they didn't play on July 4th, July 26/29, Labor Day in Camp Springs, or Harpers Ferry on September 7, 1973, that possibility was at least under discussion - so much so that ads were printed in the leading bluegrass magazines. It may not ultimately matter - the most relevant truth may just be that they only played a few of these gigs. But it's also possible that why these gigs were never played --if indeed they weren't-- might be worth knowing as we ponder the too-short history of Old and in the Way.

REFERENCES
(1) Jackson, Blair. 1999. Garcia: An American Life. New York: Penguin Books.
(2) Rolling Stone, 4/26/73, p. 14.
(3) "Bye-Bye, Don’t Come Back," Washington Post, July 31, 1973, p. B2.

Where was Garcia on July 4, 1973?

I don't really know. I have him with the GD at the Universal Ampitheatre in Universal City, CA on June 29 - July 1, and then at the Lion's Share on July 5 with Merl.

July 4 was a Wednesday, but Garcia seemed like a vaguely patriotic guy (in a U.S. Blues sort of way!) who might want to gig on the 4th.

Now consider the following two scans:

According to a May 1973 ad in Bluegrass Unlimited, Old and in the Way and "Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead)" were listed as scheduled to appear at the 1st Annual Pennsylvania Old Time Mountain-Country Gospel-Bluegrass & Blues Folk Music Arts Festival. I'll call that the 1APOTMCGBBFMAF for short. Based on fliers held in the archives of the Southern Folklife Collection Festival Files at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Folder #506), this seems to have been held in Valley View Park, York, PA ("off I-83").

Now, this scan is from the next month's issue of the same magazine. It no longer lists Garcia (Don Reno and Bill Harrell have been subbed in), but it does list Old and in the Way for the 4th. Vassar Clements is also billed for that day (with Doug Dillard), as he had been the month previous.












There are two fliers in the SFC collection, both undated. One lists "Jerry Garcia from Grateful Dead" (underneath "Peter Rowan from Seatrain" -- think they were trying to appeal to the youth/rock audience?). The other does not, and makes no mention of OAITW, either.

Someone who was involved in the bluegrass festival scene at this time says that he doesn't remember seeing Garcia at this 4th of July festival. Combined with the printed materials, this seems to suggest that OAITW/Jerry were originally scheduled to play, or at least discussions were happening, but it didn't come to fruition.

This still leaves open the question of what Jerry was doing on Independence Day 1973, but I do doubt that he attended the 1APOTMCGBBFMAF.

The summer of 1973 bluegrass festival scene certainly warrants a post on its own.

Fall is Going to be Busy

I have a strong feeling that this fall is going to be very, very busy from next week through, well, fall. Probably won't have much time to post, but will try to do so. Here's hoping!