Got Jerry Garcia solo anyone?*

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Daedalus, Feb 18, 2015.

  1. Billy_Sunday

    Billy_Sunday ... formerly ThirdBowl

    Location:
    Santa Cruz, CA
    I think I like Cats Under The Stars a little more but Run for the Roses has some nice stuff on it. Valerie is indeed a great tune!
     
  2. Billy_Sunday

    Billy_Sunday ... formerly ThirdBowl

    Location:
    Santa Cruz, CA
    I've been on a bit of Jerry 'deep dive' lately -- ever since receiving vol 10 Hilo show, I've been digging into other shows from the era. Mostly 1992 at the moment, as I've been ripping CDs from a taper friend of mine. Jerry was pretty much on fire with the JGB in '92. There's a stretch of shows in late July & August that aren't so hot, but then the Halloween show in Oakland, and a couple more at the Warfield to close the year out, (right on the heels of the 5-night GD run in Oakland), he's back in fine form. Of course Jerry got "sick" right around the time of those July/Aug shows, with many upcoming Dead shows (entire Fall tour in fact) and another 3-night Warfield run having to be cancelled.
     
  3. ianuaditis

    ianuaditis Matthew 21:17

    Location:
    Long River Place
    I just came across this Ron Tutt interview, it seems to be from this year, as it talks about the 40th anniversary of Cats Under the Stars.

    Jerry Garcia Band Drummer Looks Back on 'Cats Under the Stars' Sessions

    Pretty illuminating.

    I also recently discovered a stash of Garcia solo cassettes I had, I've been mostly listening to the stuff from 75 and earlier. I didn't know enough about Jazz back then to realize that this was basically a rock/jazz hybrid setup.

    I put in one that was unlabelled, and there was a woman singing, so I assumed it was one of the Sarah Fulcher shows from early 73. Then the tape came around again and I realized they were playing "All Blues," which doesn't even show up in GarciaBase (included with Deadbase IX, depicted in my avatar.) Thankfully there's the internet, so I was able to find out the date is 6-4-74, and it featured Tony Saunders on bass rather than John Kahn. Pretty cool stuff, and nice to find out I had another Legion of Mary tape in my collection.

    All that jazz stuff on the side, first with Wales, and then Saunders, no doubt expanded Garcia's musical horizons during what's widely regarded as the peak of his abilities.
     
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  4. uzn007

    uzn007 Watcher of the Skis

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    Nice find, thanks. I'm a big Ron Tutt fan.

    I think Garcia said as much on more than one occasion. Ironically, I also recall reading (fairly recently) that playing with Merl taught Jerry how to play (in his words) "normal songs" or something like that.

    It had never occurred to me before that, but Jerry came from a bluegrass/folk straight into the Grateful Dead. Most of their early covers were blues and folksongs and then they're straight into the heavy psychedelia. With Merl, a lot of their material was basic rock/r&b bar band repertoire that Garcia had never really played before (at least in terms of performing it regularly).
     
  5. ianuaditis

    ianuaditis Matthew 21:17

    Location:
    Long River Place
    Yes, i've read that a couple of times, I think this was it:
    ‘He filled me in on all those years of things I didn’t do. I’d never played any standards; I’d never played in dance bands. I never had any approach to the world of regular, straight music. He knows all the standards, and he taught me how bebop works. He taught me music. Between the combination of Howard and Merl, that’s where I really learned music. Before it was sort of, ‘OK, where do I plug in?’ I picked up the adult version of a music attitude from those guys.’

    https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/merl-saunders-jerry-garcia/

    I always thought he was talking more about pop and jazz standards, in 65-66 they played all kinds of straight rock/R&B stuff that never made it onto recordings. Kreutzmann and Garcia both talked in interviews how when they were first starting out as a bar band they made their name as specialists in Rolling Stones covers, and looking over the setlists for some of the early Garcia-Saunders shows, there are a handful of tunes that the GD definitely played in the early days (One Kind Favor, Hi-Heel Sneakers,) and a lot of simple blues/R&B tunes. I can't find the quote now, but I believe he mentioned Expressway and Georgia on my Mind specifically as songs Merle brought in.

    You also see more jazz start to creep in as they morph into the Legion of Mary.

    I was thinking the other day, the hiatus and the rough state of financial affairs of GD records probably informed his decision to jettison merl and go more commercial in 75, which is a shame.
     
  6. sberger

    sberger Dream Baby Dream

  7. uzn007

    uzn007 Watcher of the Skis

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    Yes, you're correct, that's the quote I was thinking of and you're probably correct that he was more talking about jazz standards than R&B. (Although I don't think I've ever heard the Dead playing any Stones songs in the 60s... They did some of the same blues/R&B covers that the Stones did, like "King Bee", but I'm not sure how many actual rock & roll covers they did in the early days... I'd have to go back and look since I rarely listen to that era).
     
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  8. great song timestamped at 3:58

     
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  9. sberger

    sberger Dream Baby Dream

  10. NorCal

    NorCal Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Just picked up Pure Jerry volume 9 (1978 Bay Area). Super stoked to complete my Pure Jerry collection. Have had the iTunes files for a couple of years (?), but happy to have the CDs to play on the big system. Will report back with my impressions next week when it arrives.
     
  11. searing75

    searing75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western NY
    Buffalo ‘77 TMNS solo I’d phenomenal. But, you must listen to the best audience recording you can get because the soundboard master tapes went whack right at the peak of the jam!
     
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  12. tededfred

    tededfred Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alabama
    You'll love it - one of my favorite Jerry releases. Enjoy.

    And $137.34 was a good price too.
     
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  13. Bossyman

    Bossyman Forum Resident

    Wow. Awesome price. I lucked out out and got a great deal last month, but rarely see a mint copy for less than $300.
     
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  14. uzn007

    uzn007 Watcher of the Skis

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    It's a stupid thing, but I really regret not picking up more of the Pure Jerry series when they were new. I was single, no kids, basically listening to music all day long, but I was like "I don't really need to spend the money on that when there are so many live tapes available for free..."
     
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  15. vegafleet

    vegafleet Forum Resident


    I got vol 9 a few years ago new sealed on ebay for $175.00. Can't complain as I got vols. 1-8 from the JG website at a good price. I remember I got 1 thru 6 or 7 as a bundle with a wooden mini crate for display. Vol 9 came and went really fast and I missed it on its initial release. A pity since it is still one of the better JGB release from the 1970's.

    It remains a rarity today as a physical release but it is there on Spotify now.

    I play it on a OPPO 103 with HDCD decoding and it has a nice thick fat bass where the bass guitar and drums just groove in a way no other JGB release have before or after.
     
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  16. BurtThomasWard

    BurtThomasWard Guided by Loke In Memoriam

    Location:
    Norge
    Possibly my favorite. Great purchase.

    On a sadder note, I haven't gotten my Garcia Live 10 yet :shake:
     
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  17. DrLunchbox

    DrLunchbox Forum Deadhead #1604

    Location:
    Hillsborough, NC
    I'm still hoping for a re-print of this one. It's the only one in that series I don't have the physical discs for. I bought the FLACs from nugs.net when they were having a sale last fall though.
     
  18. adamos

    adamos Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southeastern PA
    Currently enjoying 8/29/87 Eel River via the new CM transfer from last month
     
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  19. adamos

    adamos Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southeastern PA
    Cool quote about recording Cats Under The Stars in the Reddit AMA with Donna:

    Hey y’all it’s Donna Jean, I’ll be over here at 6:00 pm (central) to chat with everyone! So ask me anything :) • r/gratefuldead

    “Thanks Donna - any stand-out memories of making Cats Under The Stars?

    Yes! It was about 4 o'clock in the morning, and Jerry and I were singing the duet on Palm Sunday, and we had the microphone on omni, so we were facing one another singing this song. It was probably the most soulful singing experience I ever had. It was a beautiful thing. I cannot say enough about how soulful that was singing four inches from one another and singing that song. It's something I'll never forgot.”
     
  20. Crush87

    Crush87 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    Wow.
    For obvious reasons, I just listened to that song the other day and you can hear what she's talking about.
     
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  21. Crush87

    Crush87 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    It's amazing how little thought people put into AMA's. Seems most every question is some version of "what's your favorite song?" and "what show was most memorable?" Oh well, worth having that Cats nugget.
     
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  22. ianuaditis

    ianuaditis Matthew 21:17

    Location:
    Long River Place
    That's funny, I also listened to it the other day, (actually it was monday, I'd completely forgotten Palm Sunday was the previous day,) and that's just a beautiful song,

    I 'forgot' a copy of 'Compliments' at my mom's once, she ended up really liking it, I was thinking of doing the same with Cats Under the Stars.

    And yeah, it's lame when people ask something trite at the AMA, or something everyone already knows and google could have told you in a minute.

    My question would have been:

    Hello, could you please get together with the Garcia people and reiusse the Keith and Donna album on CD?
     
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  23. adamos

    adamos Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southeastern PA
    I was reading the Cats chapter in the book from the All Good Things box set this morning, and there’s a similar quote about Palm Sunday:

    “Recently I was remembering the vibe around the recording of the vocals on Palm Sunday,” Donna Jean said. “I think it was about 3:30 in the morning, and Jerry and I were wiped out, but still kind of hyped up. You can hear some of the tiredness in our voices, but that’s what the song called for. I remember we were singing together at a single mike - he on one side, me on the other - and sort of singing it to each other. And I remember the love and sparkle in his eyes as we sang it. I remember how sweet it was.”
     
  24. highway

    highway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    Interested in listening to this. What song are we talking about? Thanks.
     
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