Some years ago I came to the conclusion that the Garcia/Saunders tapes (er, filesets) labeled as 7/21/74 and 7/22/74 were mixed up and mislabeled -- it was pretty obvious that what circulates as 7/21/74 couldn't be from one show. I did some close listening to where the tape cuts were and came up with a convincing reassembly of these fragments that made more sense. I can't think of another way to reassemble these fragments that would work, so I just went ahead and reordered/retagged them and have been listening to my own modified version for a while, so I figured I would expand my usual listening notes with the full argument. JGMF has covered the unlikeliness of the tapes really being from
7/21 &
7/22/74, and it seems far more likely that the real dates are 1/21 & 1/22/75 at the Keystone in Berkeley. JGMF has also confirmed that the lineup on these nights was unusual:
Tony Saunders on bass (all of 19 years old, I believe) and
Gaylord Birch on drums, in addition to Martin Fierro, Merl Saunders, and Jerry Garcia.
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| Tony Saunders, from the back cover collage on Merl's s/t 1974 album |
The music on these tapes is phenomenal and, in a few instances, utterly unique, and I believe that the confused presentation of these filesets has caused this music to be overlooked by all but the most fervent Garcia fan (no knock on anyone who was part of the distribution chain of these tapes, of course). Maybe you are someone who hasn't given them close attention for this very reason. If that describes you, dear reader, then read on and listen anew and be wowed.
In the interest of saving the fine print until the end, I will dive into the music first and assume you're willing to buy my reasoning re: the dating and organizing of this music as closer to what was actually played.
On a contextual note: it is established that,
- Ron Tutt joined the band in December 1974, prompting the formal name change to Legion of Mary several months later. Even after LOM was formalized as a band, there were still occasional local listings for "Garcia & Saunders" gigs. This meant that Tutt was not present for whatever reason (more info; there was no Elvis conflict in Jan 1975, fwiw).
- In 1974-75, Merl Saunders was performing concurrently with his own band, Aunt Monk, including Tony on bass and Martin Fierro on sax. Garcia would occasionally show up at these shows as well, playing material both familiar and unfamiliar to him from the Garcia/Saunders repertoire (more info).
- Despite being two separate bands, there was the occasional overlapping of personnel between Garcia/Saunders and Saunders' own gigs. One such overlap were three remarkable shows in June 1974 where Tony replaced John Kahn on bass, which I have covered here.
- The musicians and repertoire on these tapes in question seem to live right in the middle of the venn diagram of Garcia/Saunders and Aunt Monk.
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| courtesy JGMF (surprise!) |
1/21/75
The Harder They Come - very fine, with an excellent groove and feel, especially compared with many 1974-75 performances that I often find more plodding. Interestingly, it sounds like Fierro is playing his usual tenor with lots of wahwah during the song itself, but soloing on a higher-pitched horn (a soprano maybe? I am sure it's him and not a guest, and you can hear him fiddling with his tenor again shortly after his solo is over). After a high energy finish, Jerry announces the set break.
When I Die - the reel cuts in at the beginning. This is funky! and arguably one of the best of the versions that we have (at least until the next night!). Merl & Tony play a cool little rhythmic figure that they keep up throughout most of the solos, and Birch absolutely nails this. There's a snafu near the end when Merl finishes his solo and Garcia jumps back in, not hearing that Merl has transitioned back into the bridge of the song. No harm done. Afterwards, someone (either Tony or Birch?) laughs,
"whoo! yeah, Jerry! what's up!" Garcia noodles around a bit and someone asks,
"wanna do it? you gonna do it?" which prompts:
Pennies From Heaven - They shift gears into classic organ combo mode for Garcia to serenade this standard from the 30's that is probably associated with
Louis Armstrong as much as anyone else, although Garcia's idol
Django Reinhardt is among the many who also recorded it. There are plenty of examples of Garcia hanging with Saunders on jazz material that was not his typical forte, but it's amazing to hear him taking the lead here in digging into a standard like this! He's clearly having a blast, even if he's chewing the scenery just a bit. Fierro solos next, then another quick chorus from Garcia, then Merl. Just as his solo is ending, the reel cuts off and cuts back in as they go into the head of the song, with very little missing. It sounds like folks are patting Garcia on the back when they're done: Merl says,
"that's good!", someone else adds,
"that's all right!" Then Garcia suggests,
"we could do Reggae Woman."
Boogie On Reggae Woman - Excellent again. At this point, there were only a small number of performances of this on tape (it became a staple for LOM in 1975), but they are all on top of it tonight. Check out after the last verse how they keep it going a little longer, verrry quietly. Nice touch!
Some inaudible off-mic talk follows. After Midnight and Mystery Train are mentioned. Merl and Tony play with the beginning of Creepin' (Stevie Wonder), until Merl suggests,
"why don't we just - you wanna do Wonderin'? Wonderin' Why?"
Wonderin' Why - sounds wonderful, if not all that different from many other wonderful versions. Then Garcia counts right into a stompin'
How Sweet It Is. This one is interrupted by another reel flip, missing a bigger chunk of music this time. He says good night, and the crowd sounds particularly appreciative and vocal with their thanks.
Well then. This was amazing. Top drawer Garcia/Saunders, in outstanding Bettyboard sound. What could be better?
1/22/75
After Midnight - this cuts in at the peak of Fierro's solo, so watch your eardrums. But it's really hot! High temperature stuff. Afterwards - Jerry:
"You wouldn't happen to have any matches, do you? ... but don't even worry, don't worry about it." Then, a guy in the crowd:
"Jerry, wanna hit man?" Jerry:
"Do I want a hit man? No thank you, I just had one." Merl calls the next tune.
When I Die - Betty's mix is a little hot, but so is the playing. As hot the last version was, this one is even better and also a few minutes longer. My goodness. This time, rather than jump right into the bridge out of Merl's final solo, they opt to keep jamming loosely for a little bit before wrapping things up. What a version! C'mon, deadheads, you all need to hear this.
You Can Leave Your Hat On - this takes things down a notch, perhaps inevitably given how high energy the first two songs were. But it ain't bad at all! There's another small reel flip in this one. Notice how during Merl's solo (after the flip), Garcia is messing around a bit with playing
octaves a la Wes Montgomery, something that he did occasionally in early 75 and another clue as to the dating of this tape. Afterwards, someone says
"we can only do one more" and Garcia counts off
That's What Love Will Make You Do - Birch's beat here is distinctive from other 74-75 versions and this feels a little stiff at first, but they loosen up as the solos gain momentum. Garcia's guitar volume drops @4:23, and I wonder if he blew a tube or something else, but he plays on without a hiccup. Nice near miss @11:02 when he catches them by surprise by repeating the "when you speak of beauty" break, but whoa, they all nail it anyway! Amazing.
"We're gonna take a break, we'll be back pretty soon."
Cucumber Slumber - the first of two tunes unique to this show. The oft-repeated story behind Weather Report's
Cucumber Slumber is that bassist Alphonso Johnson came up with its classic bassline in the studio and the tune was a spontaneous jam (although the album track is actually a second take made after some evident arrangement, including a melody played in unison by the sax and keyboards;
lots of info here) . The song moves back and forth between two distinct sections, one in Db7 (the band is playing this section as the album track fades in) and one in E7 (with Johnson's famous bassline), with a transition between the two. Weather Report spends more time jamming in the Db7 section, although the E7 section is probably what everyone remembers about the song. If you want a more technical explication, see
Mark Frandsen's analysis in his dissertation on Weather Report's bass players (which helped me in clarifying this info).
Tony
commented at etree,
"that was a song we played with Aunt Monk and Jerry liked it so we played it together." Their arrangement is looser and emphasizes the E7 section almost entirely, with Tony holding on to that bassline for all its worth. Like Weather Report, they begin playing in Db7 briefly (it sounds maybe like Fierro is alluding to Weather Report's melody, though they never play it), but once they get into the E7 section, they stay there for a long time: both Fierro and Garcia solo, and when Merl's turn comes, he leads everyone into the Db7 section briefly (this is around 9:15) and then back into E7 for his extended solo, and then another turn for Garcia. During Garcia's second solo, things get looser and the playing becomes more interactive and "jammy" (Tony abandons the bassline for a little while as well). They shift back to the Db7 section in the final few minutes, and wrap it up by playing the transition figure at the end. Wow! Given that they're mostly jamming out on one chord, everyone has plenty of room to flex and they all sound comfortable digging in.
The Harder They Come - a little looser in spots, but this is still great and like When I Die from this show, it sounds like they're pushing a bit further than the prior version. Check out how they get real quiet at 12:16 for the end of Garcia's solo -- he's playing the melody and Martin creates a guitar-like effect by tapping the keys of his horn while working the wahwah, which leads right back into the vocals. Very cool, and something I don't recalls ever hearing in THTC before.
What's Going On - the second unique song. I'm sure plenty of folks with gigs like Merl's were playing this tune in the early 70's; one way to approach it was to have everyone solo over the form of the entire song, like
this version by organist Johnny Hammond Smith. But Merl also must have heard Donny Hathaway's
incredible live version which features both vocals and a keyboard solo over just the
instrumental bridge of the song. Notably, Hathaway also made a minor but pretty hip adjustment to this part by adding some additional changes (hear it
in his solo). Merl opts to have it both ways: Fierro plays the tune on flute, and then he, Garcia, and Merl take a turn soloing over the entire song form, which imho makes for some unavoidably long-winded solos. Everything glides along well enough but a bit sloppily, with the tempo wavering and speeding up as it goes. But after Merl's solo ends (at 16:20 into the song) he shifts gears and solos again, this time just over the instrumental bridge, like in Hathaway's version. Everyone goes for
another round of solos, but now it sounds like they're finally taking flight, since no one has to follow the contours of the actual song and can just dig in and blow. The cut at the end is negligible, just a fraction of a second. Wow! Overall it's a little shaky, but is redeemed by the funkier second half. And given what a unique performance this is, it's hard to be too critical.
How Sweet It Is - another high-energy set closer, with no cut this time. The last 50 seconds of dead air as they break down is a nice touch:
"awright, Jerry, cut that shit out!"
I am out of superlatives. Much like the June 74 shows with Tony, these performances are both unique and, despite a few looser-than-usual moments, feature some incredibly high caliber playing. Mid 70's solo Jerry doesn't get much better than this, and if you haven't spent time getting up close and personal with these tapes, you really should.
THE RATIONALE
If you've made it this far, I am sure you cannot wait to hear how I came up with this order for the songs. These are the digital filesets for these tapes as they circulate:
"7/21/74" =
jg1974-07-21.jgms.93mins.sbd-Betty.117653.flac1644
"7/22/74" =
jg1974-07-22.jgms.146mins.sbd-GMB.86198.flac1644
And if you split the filesets into reels, based on the tape breaks (the tape runs continuously between songs unless noted), you get this:
7/21/74 d1t01 [18:24] Harder They Come > "we're gonna take a break"
7/21/74 d1t02 [13:01] /When I Die
7/21/74 d1t03 [15:56] Pennies From Heaven//
7/21/74 d2t01 [12:32] /After Midnight
7/21/74 d2t02 [18:40] When I Die
7/21/74 d2t03 [11:32] You Can Leave Your Hat On//
7/21/74 d2t04 [3:18] //How Sweet It is > "see y'all later"
7/22/74 d1t01 [3:30] //"instrumental" (actually the ending of Pennies From Heaven)
7/22/74 d1t02 [22:34] Boogie On Reggae Woman
7/22/74 d1t03 [17:21] Wondering Why
7/22/74 d1t04 [5:06] How Sweet It Is//
7/22/74 d1t05 [6:16] //You Can Leave Your Hat On
7/22/74 t1t06 [13:07] That's What Love Will Make You Do > "we're gonna take a break"
7/22/74 d2t01 [21:27] /Cucumber Slumber
7/22/74 d2t02 [19:43] Harder They Come
7/22/74 d2t03 [26:26] What's Going On (tape cuts the last second)
7/22/74 d2t04 [10:32] How Sweet It Is > "thank you, we'll see you all later on."
Then rearrange the reels like this to make the pieces fit together. I can't think of any other way to arrange the music that makes sense:
"reel #1"
7/21/74 d1t01 [18:24] Harder They Come > "we're gonna take a break"
7/21/74 d1t02 [13:01] /When I Die
7/21/74 d1t03 [15:56] Pennies From Heaven//
"reel #2"
7/22/74 d1t01 [3:30] //"instrumental" (actually the ending of Pennies From Heaven)
7/22/74 d1t02 [22:34] Boogie On Reggae Woman
7/22/74 d1t03 [17:21] Wondering Why
7/22/74 d1t04 [5:06] How Sweet It Is//
"reel #3"
7/21/74 d2t04 [3:18] //How Sweet It is > "see y'all later"
"reel #4"
1st set:
7/21/74 d2t01 [12:32] /After Midnight
7/21/74 d2t02 [18:40] When I Die
7/21/74 d2t03 [11:32] You Can Leave Your Hat On//
"reel #5"
7/22/74 d1t05 [6:16] //You Can Leave Your Hat On > "do one more"
7/22/74 t1t06 [13:07] That's What Love Will Make You Do > "we're gonna take a break"
"reel #6"
7/22/74 d2t01 [21:27] /Cucumber Slumber
7/22/74 d2t02 [19:43] Harder They Come
7/22/74 d2t03 [26:26] What's Going On (tape cuts the last second)
"reel #7"
7/22/74 d2t04 [10:32] How Sweet It Is > "thank you, we'll see you all later on."
This means that the actual shows would look like this:
one show:
end of 1st set:Harder They Come (7/21) [18:24]
complete 2nd set:When I Die (7/21 d1t02) [13:01]
Pennies From Heaven (7/21 + 7/22) [15:56+3:30]
Boogie On Reggae Woman (7/22) [22:34]
Wondering Why (7/22) [17:21]
How Sweet It Is (7/22 + 7/21) [5:06 + ? + 3:18]
the other show (nearly complete?):
1st set:After Midnight (7/21) [12:32]
When I Die (7/21 d2t02) [18:40]
You Can Leave Your Hat On (7/21+7/22) [11:32+6:16]
That's What Love Will Make You Do (7/22) [13:07]
2nd set:Cucumber Slumber (7/22) [21:27]
Harder They Come (7/22) [19:43]
What's Going On (7/22) [26:26]
How Sweet It Is (7/22) [10:32]
I believe that the two sets from the latter show are from 1/22/75, because these versions of When I Die and The Harder They Come are better than the ones from the other show: both are played longer and with more apparent ease. They are all more careful when ending When I Die, and THTC has some unusual interplay that seems more likely to have happened when they were more comfortable with the tune and each other. I know that doesn't prove anything, but that's how I am choosing to label each show.
Why 1/21 & 1/22/75? It can't be 7/21-7/22/74, but the provenance of the tapes is pretty good and those dates had to come from somewhere. I know that when I write 1's, they usually look like 7's
[edit: JGMF sent a pic of the tape reel boxes and yup, Rex Jackson wrote 1/22/74]. And I am usually still writing last year's date when it's only three weeks into a new year. The existence of G/S gigs on those dates plus some stylistic details all point in the same direction.
edit: Just to make sure I am giving credit where it is due, the understanding that these tapes couldn't be from July 1974 is all JGMF's work and research. I came to the Jan 75 theory on my own, although I know others have arrived at that same conclusion, likely all stemming from JGMF's blog. The reel re-ordering was from my own listening.
