Sometimes a quiet weekend in the mountains is just about perfect. I was recently reminded of this and how time away from the phone, email and internet, etc. can be pretty darned refreshing. Sometimes there is nothing better than simple homemade food and entertainment. On our recent weekend into the mountains we weren't without media, however, as there is a substantial video and DVD collection of classic Hollywood films. We watched Fred & Ginger in Top Hat, Cary & Audrey in Charade, and The Snows of Kilimanjaro for the 'umteenth time. We listened to AM news broadcasts on an old radio and enjoyed the lively art of conversation. It was perfectly relaxing.
There were lots of stone walls and moss.
Making toast the old fashioned way. Toaster was broke. This was better.
Fresh tomato & basil bruschetta on toast. Breakfast of Champions.
Old oxford cloth and khakis.
There was time for refreshing beverages,
and for hanging out with the dog on the deck.
Of course, as always, there was some Grateful Dead and other recordings along for the ride. I had time to revisit the Grateful Dead's live 1980 acoustic recording Reckoning, and was reminded of Jerry Garcia's fluency in a number of musical genres: Bluegrass, country, rock, psychodelia, blues, reggae, even jazz. This reminded me of Jerry's other solo work outside of the Grateful Dead - the Jerry Garcia Band. "JGB," in shorthand, encompassed a wide variety of incarnations from his collaboration with Merle Saunders in Garcia & Saunders, to Old & In The Way, The Great American Music Band, Legion of Mary, Reconstruction, Jerry Garcia Band, Garica & John Kahn, Garcia and David Grisman, and The Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band.
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1980 was a bit of a landmark year, as the Grateful Dead released a new album, Go to Heaven in April and celebrated 15 years with some anniversary shows at Folsom Field in Boulder, CO in June. In September and October there were two legendary runs at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco and Radio City Hall in New York. Garcia was on the top of his form in 1980, not only with the Grateful Dead, but also with his own band. Garcia often covered songs in a way that was both faithful to the original while making it uniquely his own. A wonderful example of this is the pairing of the two songs, 'After Midnight' written by J.J. Cale, and 'Eleanor Rigby' written by The Beatles. Garcia did this only nine times between late January and early March 1980. The first time was at the Keystone, Palo Alto on 1/20/80 and the last was at The Stone, San Francisco on 3/8/80. Five shows on the West Coast in small venues, and four shows on the East Coast in college auditoriums. The combination of these two songs went like this: 'After Midnight' jammed into 'Eleanor Rigby' which was reprised back into 'After Midnight' (After Midnight>Eleanor Rigby>After Midnight). Years ago, I tracked them all down and on our recent trip to the mountains had the desire to compare them again.
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After some rummaging in the HTJ Archives, which involved nearly standing on my head and shifting heavy boxes, the recordings were all located. Now, I realize that there is only so much of this kind of music review that some folks can take, so I will try to be brief and stick to the point. Which is this: some of these are bloody great performances. I've made some notations below with links to some places where you can listen to some of these for yourself. The 2/28/80 Kean College, Wilkens Theatre show is the only one to have been officially released.
The JGB lineup for this tour: Jerry Garcia, Guitar; John Kahn, bass; Ozzie Allers, keyboards; Johnny de Foncesca, drums.
01/20/80 JGB Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA (Soundboard)
The first time for this pairing of songs. This version doesn't have a very lengthy Eleanor Rigby jam, and sounds a bit tentative in some spots. Recording quality: A. Total time: 18:55.
01/24/80 JGB Rio Theatre, Rodeo, CA (Soundboard)
Four nights later, this combination was played very well. Nothing tentative here, After Midnight and Eleanor Rigby are both well played and jammed, but there is better to come. Recording quality: A. Total time: 19:53.
01/27/80 JBG Keystone, Berkeley, CA (Audience recording)
After the two warmups above, Garcia and his cohorts really nailed this. Very nice from 3:00 onward. After Midnight and the jam are about 14:30 minutes long before the start of Eleanor Rigby. Recording quality: B+ for some crowd chatter and 3-4 generations removed from the master. One wonders what this would sound like if it were from the master tape. Again, there are still better things to come. Total time: 24:23.
02/02/80 The Stone, San Francisco, CA (Audience & Soundboard)
Apart from the Kean College show, this is is the only show for which both a soundboard and an audience recording circulate (and the Kean College soundboard only circulates as the official release). However, the 2/2/80 soundboard recording only circulates with the After Midnight>Eleanor Rigby triplet. The audience recording of 2/2/80 is, however, the complete show. Further, apart from the official release version of the Kean College show, this is probably the best sounding soundboard (A+). Jerry is on fire, and if you like the envelope filter "wah" sound you're gonna' love this. Jerry switches from fuzztone to the envelope filter and it is wonderful. The playing is fast, confident and very fluid. The audience recording lineage is Nakamichi CM-700 mics>Sony TC-D5 cassette master. This is an excellent audience recording, a solid A, with almost no crowd chatter, with more ambience than the soundboard. Total time: 25:00.
02/12/80 Lisner Auditorium, GWU, Washington, D.C. (Audience recording)
This was the first East Coast show and it is definitely a keeper. The recording lineage is Shure SM-57 mics >Sony TC-158 cassette master. Back in the early 1980s there was an album by the band The Minutemen titled "Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat." If you listen to 2/12/80 GWU you can hear just that - a crowd buzzing and howling under the influence of some heated playing by Jerry. Quite impressive to hear with headphones. The After Midnight jam is heavy, and when the crowd recognizes the opening notes of Eleanor Rigby it responds very positively. It's a great recording with that often difficult to capture feeling of "being there." One of my 'top three' favorites. Recording quality: A. Total time: 20:24. If you would like to listen, go here. 02/15/80 late show JGB Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA (Audience recording)
This is another great sounding recording captured with Nakamichi CM-700 mics>Sony TC-D5 master cassette setup. If you like the envelope filter sound, you will again like this recording. This version may have the longest Eleanor Rigby section with the fullest jam, though as a whole it doesn't have the same energy as 2/12/80, 2/17/80 or 2/28/80, but I am getting ahead of myself. Sound quality: A. Total time: 18:42.
02/17/80 JGB Laker Hall, SUNY, Oswego, NY (Audience recording)
This is a truly inspired version. I have a couple different versions originating from this master cassette. Taped by the legendary taper, Keith Gatto (Nakamichi CM-300 mics >Sony TC-D5 cassette master). Bassist John Kahn is is fine form and clear in the mix, which is always a good thing. Jerry's guitar has plenty of fuzztone which is masterfully overdriven during the peak of the After Midnight jam. From 7:00 onwards is it pure Jerry. This is in the desert island 'top three'. Total time: 22:56.
02/28/80 JGB Wilkens Theatre, Kean College, Union, NJ (Audience and official release)
This entire show has been released officially as After Midnight. The audience recording was captured using Sony ECM-280 mics >Sony TC-D5 cassette master. This version is very fluid and bluesy with some very fast playing by Garcia. John Kahn is again in very good form complementing Garcia's playing. The band may have definitively nailed it at Kean College. Sound quality: A. Total time: 23:03. It can be heard on various places, one of which is here. 03/08/80 JGB The Stone, SF, CA (Audience recording)
There has been some discussion over the years about this recording. It is so kitchen clean that one might be forgiven for thinking it to be a soundboard. Unfortunately, there is no known lineage for this recording. Sonically, it is quite simply the best audience recording of the batch. The whole show is well played and 'Catfish John' and 'That's What Love Will Make You Do' are about as good as it gets. Jerry's playing is very relaxed and fluid as it tended to be at West Coast shows, not quite as high energy as some of the East Coast dates, but very smooth. His handling of the Eleanor Rigby jam, though brief, is inspired. Sound quality: A+. Total time: 19:32. This recording can be heard here. This is the final performance of these two songs played as a triplet. ![]()
I have some photos of Jerry Garcia above taken at Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt, Germany in April 1972 and to me, the one above epitomizes Garcia as a guitar player - concentration and mastery of his discipline. There is one version of After Midnight from 1972 worth listening to that was probably played on the above Stratocaster: 12/28/72 The Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA. It can be heard here.
Eight years later in 1980, Garcia had undergone many changes musically, and also in terms of technology. In 1980, Garcia no longer played a Stratocaster, but was playing the guitar below, named "Tiger" and built by luthier Doug Irwin. The photo below is from the 2/17/80 SUNY show.
Jerry Garcia may not be for everyone, but if you are interested in classic rock and inspired guitar playing, I hope that you might give one of these versions a listen. My own personal favorites are: 2/12/80 Lisner Auditorium, GWU; 2/17/80 Laker Hall, SUNY; and 2/28/80 Wilkens Theatre, Kean College. These versions are huge and would be taken to the proverbial desert island if electricity were provided. If I could only take one? 2/12/80 Lisner Auditorium - it's the "buzzing and howling under the influence" thing.
I don't stay up after midnight much these days, but this kind of sound works for me just about anytime of the day, especially hanging out on the deck on a lazy weekend afternoon with ankles, almost, but not quite as white as the dog's.
