8/21/71 setlist clarification

tape box courtesy Ned Lagin

There is a tape labeled 8/21/71 and some variation of "Mickey Hart's barn" that is a recording of an informal jam session that followed a radio (and possibly television) broadcast performance by the New Riders of the Purple Sage and Shanti, an Indian/rock "world music" band featuring Zakir Hussain.  An aud tape has been in circulation for a long time.  The first digital transfer has extensive notes and info, and a more recent transfer purports to be from John Cippolina's own sbd reels ("this comes straight from the John Cipollina's collection, i personally made a copy of his reel and his notes" [sic]), even though it's the same aud tape.  More recently (2018?), Ned Lagin shared a sbd reel of most of the performance on his website and added his recollections about the jam to the NedBase page.  There is considerable overlap, though not exactly, between Ned's tape and the aud tape, and I had patched together a composite for my own listening and shared it in a couple of places, so that may still be floating around out there somewhere.  In the interest of creating a definitive setlist, I am only now getting around to posting this fleshed out version of my notes.  I am not going to even attempt to parse out who is playing what, nor do I have any comments on the music itself.  It's a big ol' jam session -- and, um, Garcia doesn't play for most of it -- so don't go expecting transcendence exactly.  But, y'know, it's got a vibe.  To my ears, the long Wall Song jam is the best thing here, since Gar & Cros already had a really nice hookup happening on this tune (digression: see the Nash/Crosby album outtake version!  the Matrix Dec 1970 performance!  I'm stopping now).

Corry has laid out in depth what is known about the circumstances of the gig here:
http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/03/august-21-1971-mickey-harts-ranch.html

And, a few months ago, Sam Cutler shared a 44 second video clip of the NRPS performance, which we can see was on a stage setup outdoors before a small audience of folks relaxing on lawn chairs.  Nice dye, Jerry!  But, according to the taper who recorded the jam,

"When the taping was finished, some musicians meandered into Mickey's barn where he had a modest recording studio set up. When I walked in Jerry Garcia and David Crosby were trying some things out (Fresh Green Grass). I turned on my cassette recorder, lashed my mic to an open mic stand, and sat down to enjoy a remarkable early evening of music."

THE PERSONNEL is all over the place.  To aggregate what is out there: the following folks were pretty definitely involved, based on the Lagin's tape box that was notated by Phil Lesh (which Lagin says is not complete).

Jerry Garcia (partially)
John Cipollina
David Crosby
Phil Lesh
Ned Lagin - piano, organ
Mickey Hart
Robbie Stokes - guitar
David Freiberg - bass, organ

Less certain:

Jorma Kaukonen (Lagin's memory)
Barry Melton (Lagin's memory, though the taper doesn't remember him)
Paul Kantner (Lagin's memory)
Jack Casady (Lagin's memory)
Merl Saunders ("maybe" per Lagin's memory)
Frank Lupica - drums (from Shanti, per the taper's memory)
Spencer Dryden (possibly, per aud tape notes)

It looks like the Airplane was on the road on Aug 21 (there was even a planned Dead/Airplane festival show in St. Paul, MN that day that was canceled); so if that is the case, scratch Kantner, Kaukonen, and Casady... unless the date on the tape is incorrect.  Someone else's ears can determine if they hear Jorma or Jack anywhere in here.  Nicky Hopkins' name has also been attached to this jam, but Lagin doesn't remember him and is doubtful he was there (same with the aud tape notes). 


THE MUSIC on the two recordings overlaps, but not completely.  Here is what was played:

Jam #1 = "Fire On the Mountain theme."  On the aud tape only.  Garcia is present here.

Other One Jam > The Wall Song = The O1 jam is not on the aud tape, but is on Ned's tape.  It sounds like Ned's tapes starts at the beginning of the jam (or very close to) and after 1:50 or so, the jam segues into the Wall Song.  The aud tape cuts in a few minutes after the Wall Song has started (sorry, I don't have an exact time).  The "Cipollina tape" labels this "Wall Song > Fresh Green Grass Jam > Wall Song" but I have no idea what "Fresh Green Grass Jam" is, besides the cryptic reference to it in the taper's recollections (above) -- I don't hear anything in here that would warrant a separate label, fwiw.  Ned's tape has a cut that loses about a minute of music, which can be patched in seamlessly from the aud tape.

[edit: "Fresh green grass" is a line in the Wall Song that Crosby sings at one point (he doesn't sing all the verses here, btw), so that's probably where that comes from.  This mega jam is mostly a long groove on the Wall Song's main vamp, but there is a section where they pick up the tempo and jam on just one chord for a bit, before returning to the Wall Song.  To label this Wall Song > Jam > Wall Song isn't inaccurate, but seems a little overly technical imho]

The music concludes and on Ned's tape, Garcia is heard saying, "I gotta go play."  The NRPS had a gig that night in Cotati, all of 20 miles away.

Jam #2 = this is on Ned's tape just labeled as 'Jam'.  The aud tape supplies the first 2:50, where Ned's tape cuts in.  The jam plays to completion on both the aud and Ned's tape.

"Noodle pt 1-2" = on the aud, but not Ned's tape.  "Pt 1" is 27 secs of guitar, piano, drums before the tape fades, and "Pt 2" continues after the cut for a few more seconds, then the musicians stop playing and other folks to tune up.

Jam #3 = on both aud tape and Ned's tape (apparently labeled "Blooz" on Ned's).  Both aud tape and Ned's tape have the same music here, with nothing missing.

Jam #4 = on both aud tape and Ned's tape (apparently labeled "R&R Jam" on Ned's).  Note that Ned's tape cuts after 5 minutes, while the aud tape contains 7 more minutes of music before fading.

Jam #5 = aud tape only; this cuts in and I think it's the conclusion of Jam #4 (albeit with a fair amount of music lost in the cut).  The music stops around 2:30, then the tape cuts.

Everything else that follows is only on the aud tape.  It's all pretty succinct in comparison with the expansive jams the preceded it.

"Carousel Song" = 44 seconds: this is the same melody as "Be Kind To Your Web Footed Friends" (or whatever it's called) that the Dead would sometimes play between songs, so I presume Bob Weir is to blame.

Ghost Riders in the Sky "Jam" = <3 min of the cowboy/surf standard "Ghost Riders in the Sky" played instrumentally, followed by some applause.

Winin' Boy Blues = the Jelly Roll Morton song (as done by Hot Tuna).  It sounds like Weir sings the vocal (it's not Jorma, another indication that he may not have been here at all).  It's about 3:40 total, and complete.

Bye Bye Blues = a <1 min fragment of a blues instrumental that sounds a lot like Les Paul's recording of "Bye Bye Blues."

Tore Down = a Freddie King tune.  Unknown vocalist, guitars, bass, piano, and drums.  About 6:45 total, and complete.

And then, according to the aud tape notes, that was the end of things.


So, I propose that the official record of this show look like this:

Jam (Fire On the Mountain theme)
Other One Jam >
The Wall Song (Crosby/Garcia vocal)
Jam
Jam ("Blooz")
Jam ("R&R Jam")
Ghost Riders in the Sky
Winin' Boy Blues (Weir vocal)
Bye Bye Blues
Tore Down (unknown vocal)

3/30/76: the first Don't Let Go meets Sugar Magnolia

4/1/76 by Jim Anderson

3/30/76 at the Calderone Concert Hall in Hempstead, NY is a show that probably doesn't get much airtime in our age of digital abundance: the aud tape of the early show is rough quality and the late show is even worse.  It's a little surprising that there is only one recording of a NYC-area Garcia show out there, but it's what we've got for now.  If the reward for braving a poor 76 JGB aud tape is something you need to be convinced of, then I direct you to this Don't Let Go, currently the earliest known performance.  Warning up front: there's a big ol' cut of death that truncates this one mid-jam (judging from later versions from this tour, they still had a while to go).  Blarg.

So why bother?  Because this version is the only time I've heard Garcia do this unusual thing: the jam, like all of them, begins with him grinding around the A blues scale, but at around 7 minutes, he shifts gears into A mixolydian.  For you non-modal types, that's a different scale that he used more frequently in more 'major' sounding jams.  There is plenty of stuff online about the modes and approaches that Garcia tended to favor in his improvisations, and I am not the person to go into depth about it.  But what struck me -- and what may strike you, even if you don't play or usually think about this stuff -- is how Garcia's decision changes the color and direction of the jam, giving it a flavor that sounds a lot like Sugar Magnolia, of all things.  Keith Godchaux picks up on it and, though I wouldn't quite label it a "Sugar Magnolia jam," it does sound like they are both thinking along those same lines.

Later Don't Let Go's made that modal shift a standard thing: versions from the 80's-90's start in the blues scale (or pentatonic, I guess) and then usually shift gears into a "jazzier" jam with Garcia centering on a different mode (paging any more experienced musicians here).  But he never did it like he does here, as far as I know.  All other 1976-78 versions that I know of either stick to that blues feel straight through, or jump ship at some point for freer spacey playing.  Which makes this debut version unique in my book.

The rest of the show is cool, too, if you're inclined to listen through the aud tape realities.  After Midnight has a hot jam, Who Was John is a good time as always, and there is some beautiful Keith/Jerry counterpoint (a 76 hallmark) happening in Sitting in Limbo.  If you're eying the text file suspiciously, fear not: Knockin' is not really 24 minutes, just a glitched file with some cuts and repeated sections (although the climax is excellent).  Plus, this is probably the best they ever pulled off the Stones' Moonlight Mile, with Tutt and Kahn thundering away before a nice vocal climax.  All in all: worth it for all you 76 JGB lovers.  All 11 of you.

improvisational music should not be recorded

Summertime.  Uncertain reassertion of degrees of normalcy in pandemic times.  While pondering my treatise on the merits of the JGB circa 1976, I was distracted by my record collection and, for no reason whatsoever, pulled out Miles Davis' Filles de Kilimanjaro to have a gander at it.  I looked at the liner notes on the back and did a doubletake when I saw that Ralph J. Gleason namechecks Dannie (sic) Rifkin, "longtime student of improvisational music" -- or, to you and I, manager and family member of the Grateful Dead.  Besides Danny Rifkin, Gleason quotes Gil Evans, André Gide, Edgard Varèse, and David LaFlamme in his assessment of Miles' latest directions in music.  I am not sure what to make of that.

Rifkin seems to have been slightly overshadowed by other personalities in the Grateful Dead story, but a cursory look at the literature reminded me that in addition to managing the band on and off through the decades, he was the guy who originally managed the house at 710 Haight-Ashbury, instituted the Dead's mail-order ticket service, and spearheaded the creation of the Rex Foundation.  But a manager of the Grateful Dead saying improvisational music should not be recorded but only heard once?  Say it ain't so.

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.

 

11/23/86: I know all the words

photographer unknown; I got these from thejerrysite (RIP)

I am doing some spring e-cleaning and found old listening notes for 11/23/86, the "Log Cabin Boys" show that beget the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band -- it's more just a transcription of whatever conversation I could make out.  Calling it a "show" is a stretch: David Nelson and Sandy Rothman had been playing some music with Garcia as he was in recovery from his coma, and they wound up playing together at the Dead organization's Thanksgiving party (the Sunday before Thanksgiving, actually).  The Dead hadn't played publicly yet, but Garcia had a couple of JGB and Garcia/Kahn gigs under his belt at this point (including a big Halloween show at the Kaiser) and had played a few songs with Weir and Hart at a benefit the night before this (video here).  In 2012, Rothman and Nelson talked about it:

DN: By November, Jerry was getting out and doing stuff again. When it came time for the annual Grateful Dead Thanksgiving party, it was decided to have it at the Log Cabin in San Anselmo, CA. It’s an American Legion hall kind of place, but really nice – designed like a log cabin. And the three of us were the “Log Cabin Boys” for the night.

SR: We were all just sitting around a table with all the other families and people milling around in typical party fashion. Everybody was doing what they were doing and occasionally listening to us. I guess we were providing ambient music in the room, but it wasn’t like a performance – just a lot of fun.

DN: Before the party, Sandy and I were saying to each other, “Jeez – Jerry’s just been to the ends of the universe and back; what’s he going to remember about those old tunes?” So the two of us tried to put our heads together: “Let’s try that song,” and, “I think I remember how that one goes.” By the end of the evening, we realized that Jerry remembered more of the words than we did! But that was the way Jerry always was: listen once; play it.

I pull this recording out maybe once a year and always get sucked into it: if you've never given it a close listen, it's about as fly-on-the-wall as you can possibly get, listening to Garcia sitting in a corner at a party, picking tunes, and shooting the shit.  The performances are all fine, but assessing them is missing the point: they're not really even performances, anyway.  It's amazing that someone even taped it (big thanks to Steve Marcus), but unlike the Garcia/Grisman/Tony Rice "Pizza Tapes" session, there's no audible sense of occasion here, and if Nelson or Rothman had any bigger ideas about the event, they keep it cool.  One big question I do have is about the note in the text file that Dan Healy adds guitar and vocals but "does not play on the last 4 or 5 songs" -- I wonder if it's the other way around (that he shows up for the last 4-5 songs).  He's right there in one of the pictures with a guitar in hand, but I don't hear a trace of him playing at all, and only a snatch of his voice (in conversation, not music) near the end.

Otherwise, I have no comments on the music itself, other than to say that this is a delightful and priceless document of a pivotal moment in Garcia's latter day history.  There are some key pull quotes here, too, if that's your thing (I've put the really good stuff in bold).  Anyway:

d1t01.  The first thing you can hear is Jerry warming up and crowing:
JG: Fuck! So rusty, man!  My fingers, they don't know each other any more.
DN: Let's try a few and then we get in tune as we go.  That's the best way to get in tune, right?
JG: Good idea.  Let's start with something simple, Dave, and then we'll move onto something a little more difficult.
DN: OK, how about Freight Train Boogie?
And off they go.  Nelson sings lead.

They tune and chat for about 5 1/2 min - joking around about tuning up
@5:18-5:25: a really little kid is calling "Garcia!"
DN is taking a while to get in tune, prompting some wisecracks.
JG: Nelson, you're all fucked up!  
DN: Not yet, not yet.  Wait a sec, then I'll be all fucked up.
More joking around about tuning.  DN tells a story about one of Bill Monroe's bass players who would never tune.  Nelson tells a lot of stories over the course of this musical hang.

DN plays Rosalie McFall melody @9:27
JG: Ahh, great song, man. 
SR(?): Me too, that's one of my all time favorites. 
DN: Anybody know the words? 
JG: Sure I know all the words.
SR: You still know 'em? 
JG: I know all the words.  Play that sucker.

d1t02. Rosalie McFall
SR: [asks Jerry something inaudible]
Jerry: No, uh, that's "Little Glass of Wine."  That's also E or D.

d1t03. Little Glass of Wine - they just dive right in!  sweet.
JG: I love that song, I love that friggin' song. 
DN: yeah. 
JG: It's one of the world's greatest tunes. 
DN: It really is, one of the world's greatest tunes.
[they talk about some additional verses, tune some more, inaudible chatter.]
JG: --sing some more tunes if I can remember the words.  I love to sing bluegrass music.  Seems like the only chance to do it (?).  Oh, do "Drifting Too Far from the Shore"?

d1t04. Drifting Too Far From the Shore
They start, then stop to futz with the harmony arrangement, then do it for real.
JG: It's too bad one of us isn't a real tenor.
Someone hollers for "Wild Horses."
JG: I don't know if anybody here knows it.  I don't know the verses.  Pete Rowan knows them.  That's a great song, though.

dt05. Devil in Disguise - DN sings lead.
JG: Who's tune is that? 
DN: Graham Parsons.  I always liked that tune, one of the Burritos' first tunes from when the Burrito Bros first came out.
[inaudible talk about Parsons]
JG: --that motherfucker, boy, hearts would stop in the audience. It was beautiful.
[more talk about Parsons].

d1t06. Two Little Boys
JG: Yeah, that's a great little song. 
DN: Yeah.  Civil War song.
JG: [sings] "Can't you see, Jack, I'm all a-tremble."  That's a great verse.
party-goer: Ah, you guys, give it up! 
JG: Hey, dice(?) buddy! Who asked you?
DN calls Cold Jordan.  They pick a key and work out the harmonies. 

d1t07. Cold Jordan
JG: I love that, that's my favorite.  We need a quartet, not a trio.  We need a bass singer.  That's for Willie Legate.  [inaudible, laughing]
The same party-goer who heckled them before (is that Willie Legate?) comes and talks about the lyrics with them > long semi-audible conversation about Catholicism, Latin mass, other stuff.  Jerry mentions reading in the National Enquirer that Canadians are the dullest white people in the world?  I have no idea.

d1t08. On and On
JG: Boy, it's fun to sing bluegrass.   
DN: Bill Monroe.  Nothing like a good ol' Monroe song.
@3:32 JG: I'm gonna get me a drink, you guys want something to drink?  Just something wet? 

Jerry tells someone they're taking a break and will play more.  In the text file for the circulating fileset, this is noted as a "setbreak," but it's no longer than a lot of the other breaks between songs. 
Jerry comes back. 
JG: What do you wanna bet we could burn out everybody in this place?  No, they're gonna throw us out! 
Chatting about their beers seems to inspire the next tune.  They pick a key.

d1t09. Drink Up and Go Home
JG: I just love that song.  One of my favorite bar songs. 
[they joke around about the "blind man" line].
SR suggests Mystery Train.  They talk about it - inaudible, but they're talking about some particular version.  tuning.

d1t10.
JG: It's like Six White Horses.  -> they ease into Mystery Train
JG sings the verses, DN sings a verse from Six White Horses, JG ends with Mystery Train
JG: That's got a lot of good verses, but I don't remember 'em.
DN: Funny thing about that one is that the bluegrass verses are the same, they're pretty much the same. 
JG: It's all part of that same one song.  That blues song.
DG: Who was it, Clyde Moody? 
SR: I get the verses mixed up with Folsom Prison Blues.
JG: It's the same trip. [...]
DG: Elvis got it from-
JG: He got it from Big Boy Crudup. 
DG: Yeah, and the same words, the very same words come from the bluegrass guy who sang with Bill Monroe, Clyde Moody.  And it's the same thing: the train I ride, sixteen coaches long... 
-> semi-inaudible story that DN tells about a dream he had about Bill Monroe.  JG talks about seeing Bill Monroe on television.
More chatter and tuning for Life's Railway to Heaven: JG is talking about someone and how much he likes his singing and new album(?), they crack some jokes about Marlon Brando, then Jerry talks about what a good singer Robert Duvall is.
DN: I don't really know all the words to Life's Railway to Heaven.
JG: We'll blunder it.

d1t11. Life's Railway to Heaven
JG: I don't know the melody of that, really.
DN tells the story of how he learned Diamond Joe - hard to make out

d1t12. Diamond Joe
JG: Great song.
DN: Yeah, great song.  I love that song.
SR: It just comes out.
Jerry mentions that the New Lost City Ramblers played it.
DN: Let's do, uh--
JG: Remember that, oh jeez, I don't remember that at all.
SR: What were you going to say?
JG: I was thinking of, um, oops.

d1t13. banter
SR suggests a "A Little at a Time" and sings a bit of it.
JG: I remember that, it's cool ... Remember that Buzz Busby tune "Gone, Gone, Gone?" [sings] ...it's just an amazing tune.
SR: Not "Lost"?
JG: Yeah, "Lost."
SR: Oof, that's like as far into it as you can get. 
JG: [sings] "Lost in a world without you."  It's a great fucking song.  Great record, amazing record.  The solo on that is so soulful, it's so great.  Really, one-of-a-kinder. They don't get no better than that. 
SR: Or deeper.  
JG: Yeah, or deeper.
[more talk about Buzz Busby and then someone else]
JG: They're so many great songs, I wish I knew some of 'em. 
They chat about "A Voice From On High."  Jerry's trying to remember another song.
JG: We used to do it, too, as a quartet, you, me, and Weir, and Marmaduke. 
DN: Yeah, Voice From on High and, uh, let's see.
JG: The other ones we did, besides Jordan. 
DN: Yeah, it wasn't "Find Me Lifted Up."
JG: "Find Me Lifted Up" is a nice one, but it's that other one -- Swing Low Sweet Chariot.

d2t01.  Swing Low Sweet Chariot
They talk about other verses and keys. 
David tunes more.  Then not much chatter here.
DN: How about that one, that Willie(?) song.

d2t02.  Drifting with the Tide - DN sings lead. 
JG: That's a really good song.
DN: I love that song.
SR: This one?  You can do it. 
JG: Real high but we can do it. 
SR: Low and loathsome. 
JG: (laughs) Low and loathsome.  That's a great name for a band.  (they all crack up). 
DN: The low loathsome sound.
JG: Well shit, we oughta get together and play some bluegrass sometime. 
DN: I'd love to do that.
SR: Me too. 
DN: I'd find some other guys to--
JG: --sure, that'd be fun.
DN: Yes. I've finally gotten down to learning the words and everything to a bunch of songs.
JG: [sarcastic] I can do that too, Nelson (laughs). 
DN: I used to avoid it like the plague, y'know. 
JG: It's really easy to learn words, shit, I've been learning like pages and reams of words for years, I'm not real good at it.  Bluegrass tunes only have 3 or 4 verses. 
DN: Yeah.  I'm starting to think of pneumonic devices.
JG: I mean, I've just started to understand singing too.  It's like one of those things, if it gets to you late, y'know what I mean.  Singing's one of those things that'll really flash on you [inaudible]
[lots more chatter about learning songs and singing - hard to make out and transcribe]
It's one of those things, you flash on it and all of a sudden it's like Oh Man ... hearing your voice in that context where it sounds good, the room sounds good, the accompaniment sounds good ... it's really a special thing, I mean, the power of the voice... 
[Healy?]  The rooms where voices work make it really easy to do that.
[Nelson starts talking about playing here before?]
JG: We've got to get together and work some bluegrass out ... I would love it.  I love the music, and I hate being rusty.  And it don't take too long, y'know, just one of those things that a couple of times a week [?] and you just have it.  We'd get it, we have enough experience and shit.  ... The whole thing is working up a book, that's the cool thing about bluegrass is-
DN: There's always some version way back there in your head. 
JG: It's amazing, when you get back there, it's like [inaudible] like Little Glass of Wine,  hey it's been like 12 years since I've even thought of that song ... and a lot of them are like that, like imprints.
[inaudible].

Healy (I thinnk?) starts telling a story about a room he plays in, but then it sounds like a woman physically bumps into Jerry and offers him something.
JG: Aw no, you're gonna make me smoke it?
woman: You don't have to.
JG: Yeah, I'd just as soon save it, okay?  You can set my nose on fire.
woman: No, I--
JG: Thanks, actually not.  All right, this is enough.  (laughs)
//tape cuts here.


Hmm.  At the risk of editorializing, this seems like there's a lot you can read into this little exchange.  The burden of being Jerry and all that.



d2t03.  Angel Band - Rothman lead vocals
JG: Yes boys.  That's a great song.
SR: (singing) "oh the cry from the cross"  [sounds of approval]  Nobody knows that.
JG: I know, that's another great song [sings some of it]
SR: Do you know any words to that?
JG: I think I might.
SR: Really? I can follow, I don't know 'em.

d2t04.  The Cry from the Cross
They give the words a shot, then pick a key. Jerry sings lead, they stop and change keys and try again.
JG: That's a great song!  What's that other song, that Stanley Brothers gospel song... 
DN: Yeah, same record, [inaudible]
SR: That's a great song, too.  
DN: It's got Orange Blossom Special on it, and it's got Voice From On High.  [the record he's talking about, fwiw, is Country Pickin' and Singin' from 1958]
JG: Voice From On High.

d2t05.  A Voice From On High
Nelson sings lead
JG: That's a great freakin' song!  Those inversions are a bitch.  Oh shit!  How did they do it all those years?  [sings some of it again].
SR starts playing a mandolin run,
DN: Yeah, play that one.

d2t06.  Shady Grove/In Despair
This is the fast bluegrass version, not the same as Garcia/Grisman's.
Nelson & Garcia swap verses, then forget the words.  SR sings "In Despair" lyrics instead. 
and they segue right into

d2t07.  Love Please Come Home
JG sings first verse, SR sings second, it's too high for DN.
applause after this (for this first time). 
DN: Why thank you everybody. [all laugh]
[DN & SR talk about some tune that Jerry can't remember.]

JG: Hey, I gotta take the gang home ... 
girl: Jerry, I was telling them you were gonna teach me how to play right now.
JG: [laughs] Oh sure, you got five minutes? I'll teach you everything I know.

And the tape ends a few seconds after that.  Time to go sleep off those post-turkey blues!

10/29/73: contrasting modes and keys

10/27/73, dead.net

I had a fine time revisiting 10/29/73 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, MO this past week.  An investigation into what exactly was going on in a particularly thrilling passage in the Other One exhausted my limited resources, and I had to call in reinforcements.

"Energetic" is always relative when it comes to certain eras of the Dead, but this first set feels a little more energetic than was typical for this period.  A Cold Rain & Snow opener is always a plus, and the whole initial run of songs feels to me like it has that extra something.  Don't Ease Me In, of all things, feels like the moment when the sparks catch.  Garcia is crackling on Mexicali, and Keith Godchaux sounds divine on Rhodes in Black-Throated Wind and on Steinway in The Race Is On.  The corker is a unusually placed Eyes of the World in the end-of-first-set-jam spot where Weather Report Suite or Playin' usually sat.  It's taken at a brisker tempo than most, and they hit it with a full tank of gas, taking every tight turn with precision.

The second set begins with a less remarkable stretch of music, though heads up for a white-hot Greatest Story and a spot-on Brokedown Palace before the main event.  Truckin' glides along with hints of the Other One, but they turn a corner around 8:30 and lands in a spacious "here comes Dark Star" kind of zone.  But then both Garcia and Weir take a break, leaving the rhythm section to explore for a bit.  Rather than one of those noodly Phil solos, however, the bass, piano, and drums explore a musically jazzy space for a few minutes, and when the guitarists return, the vibe is strong enough that they keep going in this direction for a little while longer.  I find this to be totally divine, psychedelic in the gentlest kind of way.  Kreutzmann solos, and then the Other One itself sticks pretty close to its usual path at first.  After the verse, it drops immediately into a long atonal Space that takes its time building up to the Tiger-ish peak. 

Then the second really interesting thing happens.  At around 15 minutes, Garcia seems to push everyone back into the Other One a little forcefully, but Godchaux decides to assert himself as well.  [Warning: music theory as described by an untrained musician ahead].  Garcia pulls them back into the Other One theme, zipping around (as he typically does) in the Dorian mode.  More or less, of course.  What's unusual here is that Godchaux decides to do something else: rather than follow and complement what Garcia is doing (i.e. playing pretty typical Other One stuff), Godchaux pushes in a different direction, playing in a very different mode.  What does that mean if you're not a musicologist?  It means that Godchaux is playing quite a bit that is further away from the usual Other One stuff that Garcia is playing, sounding a lot more "major," and although what they're doing is different enough to sound unusual, it's not so different that it sounds "wrong."  There certainly are other jams where Godchaux is at forefront, but I cannot think of another one where he is asserting his own contrasting harmonic ideas as strongly as he is here.  And it's not a fleeting moment: they keep this tension going for almost six minutes, until they finally get back in the same lane for the second verse. 

If you're an actual musician and are slapping your forehead at me, here's how my pal John explained it to me [Warning: music theory as described by an actual trained musician ahead]:

me: Talk to me about what Keith is playing relative to the key/mode Jerry is in.
JT: Major, then Phyrgian.  But Jerry’s in dorian.  It’s bi-modal at least, sometimes bi-tonal, but mainly in E.  At times Jerry was in E dorian, and Keith (et al.) were in E Ionian (major).
me: They’re playing in separate modes, but mainly in the same key?
JT: I’d say that’s fairly common that they did the bi-modal thing (combining both thirds and/or sevenths, for example, happened all the time and gives you Mixolydian and Dorian) ...but that this is an extremely outlier example; I can’t recall them playing in such widely contrasting modes before, and/or duking it out between them for so long.

And then John was nice enough to expand further:

For me, the most interesting harmonic stuff is in the first minute. At around 15:00, we emerge from the atonal space into an implied E Dorian (Jerry, playing TOO theme), but this conflicts with the E Ionian/Mixolydian and then Phrygian that Keith layers in. Jerry sounds like he jumps into Phrygian pretty quickly (15:20), and he remains there ca. 15:37 while Keith has shifted to A Ionian/Mixolydian. Phil goes there too, so for a while the band is in A while Jerry’s crunching along in a contrasting mode and key. At ca. 16:04, Keith begins planning (basically moving step-wise up or down; Debussy does this a lot in his piano music, and the technique was adopted by later pianists (I’m thinking of like My Favorite Things-era Tyner [hey now]) who wrote in fourths and who obscured conventional key centers). This recalls Phrygian and leads us by 16:10 to (what sounds like) Keith playing mostly in G and Jerry in E Aeolian/natural minor. By 16:30, everyone has recoalesced around E dorian and we have some “standard” TOO-type playing for a minute+.

By 18:02, Jerry’s playing a pedal point high E while Keith et al. seem to be in A below him. It’s just pretty.

One take away I had hearing this again: Jerry really remains locked into E Dorian then Phrygian then Dorian; even while the others are altering the modes and key centers around/under him, he doesn’t venture too far harmonically from where we end up landing on when the more conventional TOO-type jamming resumes

Or, if now you're just scratching your head, just take Dick Latvala's word for it:

On 10/29/73, there is a pretty long jam that is concerned with The Other One... the playing is spectacular.  The jam from the 10/29 show has simply outstanding jamming around the songs and the songs themselves are examples of the 'best versions' category, especially The Other One..."

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.