Legion of Mary: never meant to last? (duh?)

The New York Times reported, on April 4, 1975, on the Legion of Mary's arrival in New York:

[Garcia's and Saunders's] current quintet... is fixed enough to be considered a real unit, Mr. Garcia reported the other day from San Francisco.

Mr. Garcia is very pleased by the quality of the current group. “We're more on the relaxed than the hurried side of the metronome,” he said. “We get a real nice conversational quality in our music.”

The East Coast swing lasts only three weeks, but Mr. Garcia said that Legion of Mary would make a longer tour later on, and that there are “tentative plans” for a record.
 

Almost a year later to the day (April 1, 1976), Garcia gave an interview to The Music Gig magazine:

Garcia's association with Merle Saunders last year [1975] produced many a sloppy concert and severely tested the endurance of the audience. "Yeah, we burned out on it too," he allows. "That was a very weird band it was never meant to go out and tour" [sic].

(note that this 1976 interview is the same one where Garcia praises the JGB's harmonious consonance, as opposed to the Dead's dissonance and divergent viewpoints)

 

No big revelations here, I guess?  The breakup of the Legion of Mary and the larger Garcia/Saunders partnership is still foggy (see JGMF on the precise-ish dating of their split and other thoughts), and it seems likely that the principals wouldn't necessarily agree on the real reason, even if we had firm statements on the record, which we mostly do not.  I don't see any real mystery: it had run its course, and Garcia wasn't interested in moving further with a band that played this particular hodgepodge of music: contemporary soul and funk, extended jazz instrumentals, and Garcia's own bag of favored Americana.  The comment about it being a band that "was never meant to go out and tour" belies his earlier 1975 plug for more touring and a record, but it is still probably true in the grander scheme of things: ultimately, it was the club band that was meant to work late at night in laid back local haunts, not up on big stages to crowds of hollering fans coast to coast.  It seems impossible to overstate the influence that Saunders had on his playing, and Garcia clearly had a great time working out on some unfamiliar material (that eventually became familiar and then, maybe, overfamiliar) in his downtime away from the dissonance of the Grateful Dead.  But that's not the same as making it a thing, as the kids say -- touring around, making records, all the attendant hassles.  Keeping with that old wife/mistress metaphor (used by Garcia himself, somewhere), I wonder if the Legion of Mary wasn't the mistress that started making more serious moves into the master bedroom after the wife left town for a bit.

Obviously Saunders and Fierro wouldn't have seen it that way, and to be honest, one thing I enjoy about all their music from 1974-75 is that Garcia isn't always the most comfortable sounding guy onstage, and that there are times when Fierro and Saunders just smoke him.  But no mystery why Garcia would at some point want to put that down, particularly when it became the Main Event.

But I do have to snicker at the idea that the JGB ca 1976 didn't indulge in a little bit of "severely testing the endurance of the audience" of its own (exhibit A).

Rockwell, John.  "The Pop Life."  The New York Times, April 4, 1975.  Online. 

Weitzman, Steve.  (unknown title).  The Music Gig, Aug 1976.
(clipping saved in Dick Latvala's scrapbook, Book 1, p. 31.  A later revision of this piece -- without this quote -- is at Dead Sources)

5/15/75: the soles of my feet / I swear they're burning

Rick Griffin's proposed but unused LOM logo; courtesy WorthPoint

JGMF recently revisited the 5/21-22/75 Keystone tapes, which I had earmarked as some of the best Legion of Mary shows.  But, like him, a cursory relisten left me a little underwhelmed, in spite of the fantastic quality of the recordings.  So I dug into another old favorite, 5/15/75 at the Great American Music Hall, and was happy to hear that it still held up as a contender for some of the best of LOM.*  The aud tape isn't as special as those Keystone recordings, but it's still a very solid pull by Bob Menke and Louis Falanga, "upfront but not onstage."  The sound is muddier, but also features the full band in a more natural balance, with Kahn's bass cutting through quite nicely in particular.

Garcia seems a little more fired up than usual.  I have had the sense while listening to 74-75 era Garcia/Saunders/LOM that Garcia occasionally sounds like he was -- well, I don't want to say along for the ride, but perhaps not quite as committed as Fierro or Saunders.  But that is not the case tonight.  When I Die and Every Word You Say are strong but unremarkable warm-up numbers, and the first song that really finds a groove is I Feel Like Dynamite.  Even though Garcia seems to fudge the bridge more often than not, and there's a bit of trainwreck at the end, the energy during his solo is sizzlin' (nice climax!) and the groove is undeniable.  This Wicked Messenger is a rightfully well-known version and is off the charts: this sounds like it was a beast to sing, but the slowed-down arrangement with that monstrous never-ending riff lets Garcia get really down 'n dirty, and his relentless playing here is as nasty as it gets.  Day By Day from the musical/movie Godspell (and a charting single in 1972) is quite a change in mood; this must be from the Aunt Monk songbook, and Garcia doesn't sound super confident with it (this is the first of three known LOM performances).  It's got a vibe, but to be honest, I am not sorry they didn't develop this one much further.  But it's back to the bakery for a killer Mystery Train, with Tutt* effortlessly nailing down the groove and everyone else in fine style -- they bring the dynamics way down for Garcia's last solo chorus, which is a nice touch.

* big edit: JGMF has raised the question of the drummer's identity, and a minute of reengaging with Mystery Train has me convinced that the drummer tonight is not Ron Tutt.  Tutt always played a very distinctive beat on Mystery Train that emphasized the sixteenth notes on the high-hat (fwiw, this is well-illustrated on 4/6/75, 4/12/75, and 4/20/75, if you'd like to compare), and that is not at all what this drummer is playing.  This drummer also lets Garcia and Kahn establish the tempo and waits a few bars before coming in, which is not what Tutt ever does.  And listen to the "well I went down to the station" breakdown: Tutt always lets the dogs out here, whereas this drummer leaves much more space.  And the documentation supports this: Jerrybase notes that both the advertisements and Betty/Rex's tapes list the band as Garcia & Saunders, not Legion of Mary, which is further indication that Tutt was not present, and was not planning to be.  We now return you to this post:

The second set delivers the goods from top to bottom.  I'll Take a Melody is as good as any of these early versions, and You Can Leave Your Hat On cooks up a voodoo soul stew of the highest order; Saunders and Kahn are stirring up something outrageous under Garcia's solo.  I love this one!  Freddie Hubbard's Little Sunflower gets its first of six known LOM airings (it's also on the Aunt Monk w/Garcia 5/9/75 show as well) and Garcia soars on this one, sounding way more on top of things, and gobbles up his two solos.  Neighbor Neighbor is pumping, and Boogie on Reggae Woman ends the set with Saunders and Fierro showing some signs of a long night's work -- but not Garcia, who still sounds rarin' to go.

So: a top-notch Legion of Mary show.  Melody and Wicked Messenger were released on the patchwork Jerry Garcia Collection, Vol. 1: Legion of Mary set, but the whole show (or 5 reels of it anyway) were part of the "third batch" of Bettyboards returned to the vaults, and I would humbly submit this one to the powers-that-be as a good candidate for a full release.

Interesting/frustrating side note: after this show (a Thursday night) the band spent an unusual out-of-town weekend in St. Louis, MO (Friday) and Austin, TX (Saturday-Sunday)... of which no tapes are known to exist.

 

2/14/75: as sweet as a love note

Aunt Monk, 1975, courtesy bay-area-bands.com

No deep dive here, but I wanted to see how this next show compared with the previous ones: this is one of two circulating Aunt Monk gigs with Garcia sitting in.  Even though it's fully Merl's gig, Garcia is as prominent as he is on Garcia/Saunders shows, right down to the same typical order of solos (Fierro, Garcia, Saunders, and usually Garcia again).  JGMF has some context re: Aunt Monk in his post on the other circulating Generosity show.

In the interest of relative brevity:

• This is a lovely quality aud by Robert Castelli.  I am eternally grateful for his work here.  It's a little muffled, comparatively speaking, but with no crowd interference and excellent clarity, and I quite like the feel of it.  There's a nice moment of color just as the music is beginning when a female right next to him says, "just keep it low!" (the mics? the bowl?) and laughs.
• The Generosity was... a bar?  I am not finding any info.  But it was probably tiny.  There are no vocals, so maybe there wasn't even a PA system, and Merl only plays electric piano here, taking up far less space than a full Hammond B3 + Leslie speaker.
• This show is on par with the Jan 75 Keystone shows in terms of quality, although I personally prefer what Gaylord Birch brought to the mix at those shows.  But ye gods, they just bite down hard on just about everything here.  Merl's rarely played (as far as we know) original A Little Bit of Righteousness gets a high spirited run-through with the rhythm section lifting them all a few feet off the ground.
• Pennies From Heaven again!  The drummer, Bob Stellar, gives this more a straight-down-the-middle beat like a 6/8 R&B ballad.  Garcia is all over it and sounds more comfortable here than on 1/21/75, imho.  Incredible.
• When I Die also has a different feel than the Jan 75 versions, again largely due to Stellar at first.  But both Garcia and Saunders sound noticeably edgier in their attack here, and they're really both going off by the end of this.  Wow!  
• The most magical moment of the set, to my ears, is the verrry extended treatment of People Make the World Go Round, which Garcia/Saunders played only as a shorter instrumental without any solos, more like a kind of coda to another instrumental.  This one goes for 21 1/2 minutes, and the playing is the most interactive and "jammy" of the night.  There are still solos, but they seem to blend into each other more freely and there's a lot more interplay between Garcia, Fierro, and Saunders than in most other songs.  You'll have to hear it to believe it.
• Stevie Wonder's Creepin' sounds like it might be a new number for them (it's not an easy tune!), but Garcia does not sound like the weakest link.  He eats it up, and iirc this is better than any of the few later Legion of Mary versions.
• This show was Merl's 41st birthday.  Garcia was 32 and Fierro had just turned 33.

Simply amazing that this happened, that it sounds so goddamn good, and that we have a tape of it.

Jan 21-22, 1975 - or, the case of "7/21-22/74"

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. 

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.

 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 little 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!" and someone else adds, "that's all right!"   [edit 2025: Legion of Mary also played Pennies From Heaven on 2/28/75! please oh please, someone circulate this tape!]  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?  Glad you asked:


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, want a hit, man?"  Jerry: "Do I want a hit, man?  No thank you, I just had one."  Classic.  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 most listeners 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 clarified all this info for me).

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.

What good is spilling blood? It will not grow a thing

I would never argue with anyone who says Workingman's or American Beauty, but my favorite Dead studio album for personal listening has always been Blues for Allah.  I feel very at home within the sound of this record.  This afternoon I was feeling at home with it in my Listening Cave (on an LP passed on by a college roommate who did not own a turntable; thanks, Obie) when I noticed that the inner sleeve helpfully provides Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian translations of the title lyric:

Just in case you needed to know. 

Who knows all the lyrics to "Blues For Allah" off the top of their head?  Like nobody, I'll bet.  There are some real Hunter gems are buried in there, though: Let's see with our heart / these things our eyes have seen / and know the truth will still lie / somewhere in between, and so on.

I also had forgotten and/or never knew that the songwriting credits for the instrumental portions of the album are more finely sliced than most heads (or me, at least) probably think:

Every instrumentalist but Mickey got a credit for Slipknot, but it's nice to see that Donna got one for Sand Castles & Glass Camels -- there's a good one for GD Trivia Night.

The thousand stories have / come round to one again.

Urobouros Deedni Mublasaron (Jerry Week 2018)

Commence Jerry Week!  I eased into a bleary-eyed morning with 9/11/76 (one of the best later 70's JGB shows), but a moment of satori while listening to this next show inspired me to post:

8/13/75 is my "Barton Hall" show: an early acquisition that's cemented in my mind as the platonic ideal of what the Dead sound like.  Make Believe Ballroom '75 was in the first batch of tapes I owned as a young teenager, full of cuts but magical nevertheless, and One From the Vault was likely the first live release I bought after Live Dead and Europe 72.  I am of the opinion that this is the single best played show the band ever did and, unlike Barton Hall, it's spotless from start to finish.  You probably don't need me to tell you any of this: unlike Barton Hall, I can't recall seeing any argument over the quality of the Great American Music Hall show.

Today it occurred to me that Crazy Fingers from this show is one of the best exemplars of what makes Garcia so special both as a singer and a guitarist.  The whole show, of course, is filled with these, but what stands out about this song in particular is that it's not an expansive, extended improvisation.  His solo here is etched in the purest stone, a perfect jewel of gentle, effortless melodic invention within the four corners of the tune's structure.  The spiraling jam at the end would be taken in different directions in 1976 and beyond, but this one serves more as an extended coda and is a perfect contrast to the solo: Garcia at the center of a kaleidoscopic ensemble wave that could only have been created by the Grateful Dead.

under eternity blue

an unrelated musical event, but a good observation nonetheless

LOM 7/4/75 Great American Music Hall

Man, it's been a nice, long summer, and my work ethic is clearly on vacation.  But I've got some ideas trying to gell into a postable state, and this one was the easiest to wrassle into shape.  I've been on a bit of a Legion of Mary kick (a good soundtrack to match my work ethic) and had been paging through Howard Weiner's new-ish book Positively Garcia.  It's not without its problems, but it's still currently the only book devoted to the non-Dead side of Garcia, and it's also not trying to be any kind of in-depth history: Weiner picks his 13 favorite Garcia shows and reviews them in depth.  He's an early 80's man all the way, and only three 70's shows make the cut: 2/6/72, 6/30/72, and 7/4/75.  The first two get no argument from me, but the '75 pick surprised me (particularly because Weiner doesn't seem to much like Legion of Mary very much in the first place).  I knew it, but hadn't ever given it a critical listen, so what the heck?

a month earlier, in Palo Alto.  Not many LOM pics out there!

We are lucky to have two great sources, a Bettyboard and a fantastic Reinhart Hohlwein aud tape (which sounds like a stage mic recording, like those great Falanga/Menke tapes).  There's also a matrix, but personally I'd go with either of the pure sources in this case (an overview of the different available sources is here).  I listened to the sbd and was most satisfied.

Like most LOM shows, this one has its up and downs, but I do think this is more consistent than most.  The first set starts strong, but doesn't really hit it's stride until midway through.  I'll Take a Melody is a nice opener (it's missing from the sbd, though), then we get a slooow paced Feel Like Dynamite, even slower than most others.  Tutt and Kahn keep it tight and grooving, but it's still really slow and lagging a bit energy-wise.  This kind of deliberate extreme slowness is something I wonder about, but will save for a future post -- I know it's off-putting to many folks, but I'm fascinated by it even when it doesn't particularly work for me.  Someday Baby is one of those tunes that always seems like a good sign: not a staple of the repertoire, and not a real rarity, either, but it seems to me that it tended to make an appearance when Garcia was feeling a little spunky.  Then we get some lift-off: That's All Right Mama wasn't a common LOM tune (only one other version circulates, from two weeks earlier), but this really sizzles: unlike most other Garcia performances, Tutt and Kahn give this one a funkier rhythm, more akin to "That's What Love Will Make You Do," and less of the usual chugging rockabilly "train" rhythm.  Mississippi Moon is a song that I feel was done much better by later Garcia groups, but this one might be the best Saunders-era performance I've heard: it floats along just like it should, and Tutt throws in these nice snare rolls that remind me of Levon Helm on "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down."  Boogie On Reggae Woman finishes up the set on a high note: unlike Merl's first slowed down selection of the evening, this one is actually played a little more uptempo than usual.  They're cooking now!  I particularly like Martin Fierro's sax solo, which sounds pitched up higher than a tenor sax (he's playing through a Varitone or some other electric effect, I think; I'm pretty sure it's Fierro and not a guest).  The saxophone is another thing some folks don't appreciate about this era of Garcia, but I think Fierro was usually a good stylistic fit, and this is an A+ example of that.  It sounds like we lose a chunk of Saunders' solo in a reel flip, but this is still a top drawer version of BORW before Garcia announces the break.

Tough Mama splices in to begin the second set and things are still riding high: this version was released on the Legion of Mary official release, and I'd be hard pressed to find a better one (though TM fans should check the "4/12/75 early show" version, too).  Little Sunflower is good, but not great; I appreciate the diverse nature of this group, but I don't think jazz was really their strong suit.  Tutt and Kahn could really work wonders as a rhythm section, but not always on the jazz material.  This one, at least, finds a groove and floats along pleasantly, so no complaints.  Garcia gets everyone's priorities back in order with a strong Tore Up Over You, breaking out his slide for a little bottleneck action near the end that sounds pretty strong; then he eases back into a wonderful Every Word You Say, really shooting flames in that excellent final solo.  Merl's My Problems Got Problems is a solid one, not quite stirring up the the voodoo soul stew like the best 74-75 versions, but plenty satisfying.  I've never been a huge fan of It's Too Late but Garcia breaks out the slide once again and this one may be as good as they got on this tune.  Similarly, I also don't have a lot of love for these Tutt-era Harder They Comes, which tend to plod along and never get off the ground.  As tight as they are tonight, this one didn't feel much different -- it's a little bit of an anticlimax, perhaps, but they do kick up the energy for a flashy loud finish, which I appreciate.

Ups, downs, definitely more than just another night at the office for this band, but I don't know that it makes it into my own imaginary list of the greats.  For my money, Legion of Mary doesn't get much better than 5/21/75, and 5/15/75 is up there as well.  Still, 7/4/75 is a strong one and it's held up to a few repeat listens over the past few days.  Unfortunately, this July 4th weekend run of shows (the 4th, 5th, and 6th) was also the last stand for this group: Saunders and Fierro were left aside, apparently with little warning or explanation, and Garcia, Kahn, and Tutt began the first official Jerry Garcia Band a few months later.  This has always been a blurry spot in Garcia's history (and not one that reflects well on Garcia), but from a musical standpoint I think it makes a good amount of sense: without speculating too much, I don't think it's a stretch to presume that lumbering funk jams and jazz tunes weren't what Garcia wanted to play anymore, and I suspect he didn't see the band as ever going in a substantially different direction.  Weiner asserts in his book that Saunders' tunes don't "successfully co-exist" with Garcia's, and that Saunders and Fierro hold back the x-factor that flows freely whenever Garcia steps up for a solo.  I don't buy that explanation myself: there are nights, particularly in some of the fall '74 Garcia/Saunders shows, where Saunders and Fierro are totally on it while Garcia seems like he's treading water, and I tend to side more with the JGMF school of thought that Garcia playing challenging and unusual material tended to bring out more positive dimensions to his playing.  On the other hand, it could feel at times like Garcia was more like a sideman in the Saunders/Fierro band, though, and I can see why that would have naturally ran its course.  Other reasons (economic ones certainly) certainly came into play, but I don't see much mystery in why Garcia parted company from Saunders for the time being.  They did go out on a high note, at least.


Some final thoughts:

Check your hard drives and see if you agree, but I think the fileset circulating as 6/18/75 is a duplicate of this show: it's a different, lower quality aud recording and is clearly incomplete, but what's there sounds identical to the 7/4/75 performances, minus the instrumentals.

Amazingly, Garcia played the GAMH 30 times between 1973-1976.  Corry at lostlivedead did an excellent post on the Dead's famous 8/13/75 Great American Music Hall show, with some excellent background color on the venue:
http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2014/08/august-13-1975-great-american-music.html

Also, during this same 4th of July weekend, Bob Marley was playing only a few blocks away at the Boarding House, with an additional show on Monday the 7th (broadcast on KSAN, circulating widely, and currently available here if you're interested).  We have tapes dated July 7 of the Dead working at Weir's studio -- I wonder if Garcia & co. crept on down to the Boarding House afterwards to, um, let off some smoke after a busy few days? (figuratively speaking, obviously)