@Dr. Robert, regarding Sanders/Garcia, and the GD, @runonguinness posted this on the GD guide: "Relix: Tell me about your first meeting with Ron? Merl: I had just come back from New York in 1970 to the Haight-Ashbury where I used to live. I started to do some sessions with this guitar player named Jerry [Garcia]. I started hanging out at this club with Jerry and that is where I first met Pigpen. We only lived four blocks from each other. I had heard about Pigpen but I had never met him. My father [laughter] knew more about the Grateful Dead then(sic) I did. I was into Jimmy Smith and the Hammond Organ sound. Jerry and I started playing The Keystone in Berkeley and Ron and the rest of the guys would come down. Ron would sit in with us and I was always trying to get him to play keyboards. He would say “No, I just want to play my harmonica behind your organ playing.” That is how we got it going. We had actually discussed doing a thing together with piano, organ and harmonica. There was a little club off of Broadway in North Beach that was going to hire us, but unfortunately it never happened. We liked playing together. Ron was responsible for me playing the organ on “Bertha.” He was truly a dear, soulful musician. He was the root of the band, playing the blues the right way. He was a very sweet guy. Very earthy and bluesy. Relix: In the very early days, most people agree the Grateful Dead was Ron’s band. As time progressed, Garcia stepped into the spotlight. Do you think Ron was pushed into the background, or that the band was heading in a musically different (non-blues) direction? Merl: Jerry would never push Ron into the background. He has great charisma and the people put him in the role of a leader or a takeover person. I think anything those guys did they would succeed in. Yes, I think the band was looking into new musical directions." The whole article is really good, as usual: Grateful Dead Guide: The Grateful Dead & Merl Saunders at the New Monk, June 1971
Been listening to the Garcia album a lot these days. Is it weird that it's a strong contender for my favourite Grateful Dead studio album? I absolutely love the two "bakersfield Dead" albums from 1970, and this album sounds like a natural extension of that, with even better songs (side one is absolutely flawless!) and fantastic arrangements. It's a shame it isn't a "real" Dead album, because had they cut the charming, but weird Eep Hour suite and added the songs they had available while the album was being recorded (July '71), it would easily be my favourite album of theirs.
Thanks for that! A pretty interesting read, didn't know about that Pigpen/Saunders/Garcia project, would be interesting to see!
I mean, besides the Garcia tunes, here's what they had written by July: Bertha - debuted 2/18/71 Playing in the Band - debuted 2/18/71 Wharf Rat - debuted 2/18/71 Greatest Story Ever Told - debuted 2/18/71 Mr. Charlie - debuted 7/31/71 If you take that, and remove The Wheel (it was written in the studio and wouldn't have happened had this been a Dead record) and the instrumental tunes, you've got this masterpiece: Bertha Bird Song Sugaree Loser Playin' in the Band (4-minute arrangement from Skull ****) - Deal To Lay Me Down Mr. Charlie Greatest Story Ever Told Wharf Rat (probably shortened a bit) The last of the pre-Keith Godchaux studio albums, and the nice final third of a Hillbilly Dead trilogy with Workingman's and American Beauty. Not bad!
This sent me on a mini-quest to find a '70 (or possibly '71) KSAN FM broadcast I had on a tape in college. It might be 10/4/70 which I'm listening to now. The tape was the first time I'd heard "Cold Rain And Snow." If I could hear the KSAN radio bumper, then I'd know it's probably the tape I had.
Good luck, there are quite a few KSAN sources. Could be 2 July 1971, or 7 Nov 1971, or 31 Dec 1971, 0r...
Only 7/18 has the mentioned Truckin’ > Dark Star Seems like Weir was in quite a mood that night from reading all his banter in the comments section. “We're experiencing another modern miracle of the technical age. That being the occasional glimpse of a working piano over here.“
I know, I've attempted this before. NEVER THROW OUT ANYTHING DEAD RELATED JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE MOVING AND HAVEN'T USED IT IN YEARS AND YEARS. No reason to turn a cassette you once had into friggin' Rosebud, know what I'm saying Mr. Blues? I'd know the network bumper right away. But how many years was it in use? How many broadcasts does it appear on? CR&S is on now. Is this the one? Maybe. I'd seriously have to listen to every SF FM broadcast from '70 and '71 featuring CR&S, which is probably not that big a task for the like of me, us, warewolf95. It was definitely a Winterland show. I'm 99 percent sure. Phil is coming through in copious amounts. edit: Just read this on the Archive: "Phil is massive in this show, really ferocious. I can imagine that he considered this tone to be over-distorted; not really, Phil, it's a long way from Jack Bruce and Tim Bogert sub-sonic flatulence."
I know; I just think of every show by date, not by venue or by release name. Of course, bzfgt syndrome complicates that approach.
A typical example would go something like this: "That Playing in the Band from 9/27/73 is excellent!" " I think you must mean 9/27/72; they didn't play a show on 9/27/73." "Actually, I meant 5/25/74!"
Classic. I'm simpatico with creating that sort of confusion, e.g., my references to Dave's as Dick's, etc.
Sometimes you have to zoom out and just be happy the music is being enjoyed. Man, the Archive is a beautiful thing. Listen, like and download, boom.
Did I really just read that? That version of H>S>F is text book. Well rehearsed and just ripped note for note. Couldn't disagree more with that above comment.
1977 and 78 were wondrous for many Dead fans, including myself. I know I had my baptism by Jerry on 5/13/78. A rush of Uniquely discrete, sounds, smells, colors and blisssful sensations gave me chilly goosebumps. I was packed in down on the area floor, without being hassled or feeling threatened. Never had a bad time at a mediocre dead show. Phil's base would put you in sonic suspension, viscerally...
Now listening to 5/26/77[Baltimore Maryland]on TIGDH on SiriusXM's Grateful Dead channel via the webstream now playing The Music Never Stopped.
Now listening to something to demonstrate my encyclopedic gnosis of all things Good Old Grateful Dead music that nobody except myself really cares about.
Enjoying March 17, 1993 at Capital Centre, Landover, MD 2nd set: Picasso Moon Crazy Fingers > Playing in the Band > Dark Star > Drums > Space > Jam > The Other One > Days Between Good Lovin' Where headless horsemen vanish With wild and lonely cries
