Jerry Garcia Band, 3.1.80 Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ

Incredibly, the Grateful Dead's rigorous touring schedule wasn't enough for Jerry, and he would occasionally join up with a rotating stable of musicians (bassist John Kahn was indispensible) for mini-runs or even full tours as the Jerry Garcia Band. Over time, the lineups changed considerably, and the sound along with them (not to mention the band performed in both acoustic and electric formats, sometimes on the same night).

The material changed too, but was always well chosen. Jerry had great taste in music, and would often experiment with new styles, notably reggae, in the JGB and bring some of that experience to the Dead's live shows.

In this incarnation, captured for radio on March 1st 1980 at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey, Jerry fronted a tight 4-piece with Kahn, drummer Johnny de Fonseca and Ozzie Ahlers on keys. Ahlers was a great pickup for Jerry. Great synth sounds but a light touch that emerges from time to time with eloquent solo phrasing. The rhythm is rock solid, as always.

The band is in top form in this recording of the Early Show recorded directly from the radio. Not sure how the taper did it, but this sounds great. Especially notable, even in the MP3's is the strong and "full" bass sound. You get a good sense of the "scene" as well, with a boisterous audience that doesn't seem to mind the decidedly low-key setlist. We start out with a nice Sugaree (I like the best Dead versions better, but always a pleasure). Then Catfish John, one of my very favorite Jerry tunes with a great solo by Ozzie. For some reason I find these lyrics of a young boy's friendship with a kind-hearted "river hobo" very touching. Fine sentiments and a great keyboard solo to boot.

How Sweet It Is really shines in this crisp performance. You can hear in Jerry's voice how much he enjoyed this song. An always good Simple Twist of Fate follows and then a heartfelt version of Jimmy Cliff's Sitting in Limbo with great flamenco-inflected guitar work that launches right into a rollicking take on Elvis Prestley's classic "That's Alright Mama." Like I said, good tunes. A Good recording, too which showcases one of my favorite eras of the Jerry Garcia Band to its great advantage.

As you can see, the pics are from different shows, but same era and same state (New Jersey got a lot of Jerry love in early 1980, note the Kean College show below). What the fat man is ripping in the picture at left is unknown, but indubitably righteous.

Enjoy.

Listen to the Jerry Garcia Band 3-1-80 Early Show at the Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ

Buy "After Midnight," The Jerry Garcia Band Live at Kean College 2-28-80
Featuring a great version of the famous
"After Midnight > Eleanor Rigby Jam > After Midnight" sequence

The Grateful Dead, KQED Studios, 1970-08-30

I'm a big fan of The Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia. Had I been born 20 years earlier (or 40 years earlier for that matter), I probably would have been one of the roving mass of deadheads, following the band on its long, strang trip through time and space. Fewer shows than Bill Walton, probably, but maybe as many as Al Franken--or Anne Coulter.

However the amount of archival material available makes it possible for 'heads of any generation to enjoy the best of the Dead's music. The scene, for good and bad, exists only in fading memories. But much of the best music sounds just as fresh and exciting today as it did in 1969, 1974, or 1990 (my favorite vintages) or any of the years in between.

Almost all of the Dead recordings I have don't fit into the parameters of this blog, but I do have a couple of tasty selections. Part one is a studio gig from 1970 to promote the Dead's new studio album Workingman's Dead. The record remains, to my mind, the Dead's best studio effort and a uniquely powerful, dark, and eloquent statement.

For what it's worth (not much), Rolling Stone gave it #262 on it's 500 greatest albums list. Interesting after the Rolling Stone readers voted it the best album of 1970 over Van Morrison's Moondance (ranked #65 on the top 500). Workingman's Dead was a conscious departure from the more exploratory and ecstatic material of their earlier albums. Nothing wrong with Aoxomoxoa and Anthem of the Sun, but Workingman's Dead is a document of mature songwriting and polished studio skills, especially the vocal harmonizing the boys learned from David Crosby. It shows us the dark side of the sunny, acid-drenched American experience typically associated with (but let's look at their name) the Dead. Filled with women in red dresses, murder, pimps, hard labor, fear of death and fear of life, this is a hell of a dark album. But the tracks are performed and arranged beautifully. A great album for a rainy day.

Most of the songs on Workingman's Dead remained in the live repertoire for years. Some, like Uncle John's Band, Dire Wolf and Casey Jones became absolute staples. But I think all of them really stand alone as studio tracks, rare in my experience with the Dead. Check out the link below to download Workingman's Dead. Or buy yourself the sparkling remaster with 8 bonus tracks on an old fashioned CD.

Recorded in KQED's San Francisco studio on August 30, 1970 for a TV program called Calebrations (heady puns abound), we get five tracks from the album: starting with one of my favorite Pigpen tunes, Easy Wind. Pig still has his pipes here and steady drives us through this syncopated romp. This short set shows the transitional state some of the songs, especially Candyman, which is more fast-paced and folk-y on the album. I think the slower tempo really cuts deep with the lyrics of womanizing and murderous revenge. Then a straightforward Casey Jones, not yet the barn-burning encore staple of later years.

We close out with a Brokedown Palace, truly one of the finest songs the Garcia/Hunter duo cooked up. Amazingly, the lyrics to Brokedown Palace, Ripple, and To Lay Me Down were all written in one especially fruitful day by Hunter in London over a half-bottle of wine. The Brokedown Palace drops nicely in Uncle John's Band, which is the opening track on the album. You know it's new material because they actually remember the words. Beleive me, it proved to be an issue in future live performances. I'm not too happy about the audio quality on this mini-set, to be honest. The Brokedown Palace especially is a little static-y, and sounds like the audio was ripped from an old VHS source. But the instrumental channels and, especially, the vocal channels are nice and clear.

Footage from the TV broadcast still exists, and the Easy Wind and Candyman have been posted on YouTube. Links provided for your enjoyment. Some really cheesy psychedelic stuff, truly a period document and rare footage of the band in their younger days. Good camera angles actually, but pretty poor video quality. Worth 15 minutes, anyway. Good energy helped by an excited studio audience.

Filling out this week's package, even though it doesn't quite fit the criteria, is my favorite long-format version of Dark Star, from San Fran's Family Dog Ballroom November 2, 1969. This sprawling version has it all, a powerful intro to the first verse, sparkling, patient exploratory jams, great swirling percussion "space" and a smooth vamp of a second jam that puts a big smile on my face. All of what I'm looking for in a big stand-alone Dark Star. Even though it's the end of the tape, it's 30 minutes of all killer with no "filler."

Enjoy.

Download The Grateful Dead live at KQED Studios 1970-8-30 + 11/2/69 Dark Star

Watch "Easy Wind"

Watch "Candyman"

Download Workingman's Dead

Purchase Workingman's Dead CD

Jerry is gone but never forgotten. Phil and Bobby are keeping the dream alive with their respective solo outfits, both are touring this summer.

Go on Phil Lesh and Friends Tour

Go on Ratdog Tour

Steely Dan at the Record Plant, LA 03-20-74

I’ve always thought Steely Dan was a pretty boss outfit with an amazing song catalog. So I’m only a little surprised at how smokin’ this in-studio performance from March 20, 1974 is. Before they set out on their legendary Spring/Summer ’74 tour in support of the Pretzel Logic album, Steely Dan stopped by at the Record Plant in LA to record this brief set. Bootlegs from numerous stops on the Pretzel Logic tour are very similar, but the Pre-FM sound quality here is exceptional.

The core of Steely Dan is keyboardist/songwriter Donald Fagan and guitarist/bassist/songwriter Walter Becker. For this tour they filled it out with two guitarists, Danny Dias and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder, percussionist/vocalist Royce Jones and keyboardist/vocalist Michael McDonald. It’s a hot lineup, and seems especially dialed-in for this performance. (Near the end you can hear someone in the band say “doin’ great guys, let’s keep it up.”)

The two-guitar sound didn’t originate with Steely Dan, but the 80s bands that really pushed it as a sound clearly are echoing the open interval duets and trade-off shredfests of Davis and Baxter. However, good things often don’t last long. This was the last touring lineup for the band for over 20 years. Basically, Fagan didn’t want to be a “greatest hits” band and he didn’t think the audience was up for the more intellectually challenging jazz-fusion tunes he wanted to play. File this lineup under good while it lasted.

To get the blood flowing, the band launches into a speedy and intricate Bodhisattva. Great guitar work and some tight drumming on this live standard. Next up is a great performance of the lesser known “Boston Rag.” A rousing performance, especially as the slow mid-section blues breakdown with great guitar distortion melds in to a final chorus urging “Bring back the Boston rag.” I wish somebody would. This song’s hot. The familiar “Do It Again” gets the speed treatment, but is still rock solid. Priceless hook obviously.

One of my favorite tracks here is “Any Major Dude will Tell You” from the Pretzel Logic album. The bittersweet delivery of Royce Jones is perfect for the lyrics, basically a cheer-up job that isn’t quite convincing. (Any major dude with half a heart surely will tell you my friend/ any minor world that breaks apart falls together again). Great rhythmic contrast. This one always puts a smile on my face. King of the World features great synth work, I believe from McDonald, and awesome guitar crunch and wah-wah effects.

Some of the coolest stuff in the set comes next, with an excellent rendition of the tune “Pretzel Logic.” Great piano-driven jams and a neat McDonald vocal bust out in the “where did you get those shoes” chorus. The instrumental “My Gold Teeth (II)” Jam indicates somewhat the direction that Fagan thought the band was heading in. Interesting stuff. We close out with a solid rendition of the standard “Reelin’ in the Years” followed by “This All Too Mobile Home” with more great dueling guitar work.

Top to bottom, this set is phenomenal. I’d love to have a “My Old School,” but the track selection is solid, the performance is on point and enthusiastic, and the sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Download Steely Dan Live at the Record Plant, LA 3-20-74

Purchase Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic

Steely Dan is touring, check dates near you

Next Week: Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia Band compilation

Addendum: Duane Allman Studio Sampler

Given how much I fluffed Duane Allman in last week's entry, I thought it would be appropriate to back up my claims with some evidence. So, for your enjoyment and edification, here are some choice examples of Duane's virtuosity.

First, some diverse tracks from Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. The first is the classic blues tune Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out. Duane's addition to the track is a spare slide line that adds just the right emotional intensity. It's almost as valuable in it's absence as in its presence. Great lyrics on this track as well, and a convincing vocal delivery.

Contrast this with the absolutely incendiary guitar interplay with Clapton on Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad and the syncopated strut of Anyday. Taken all together, they illustrate some of the strength of Duane's technique as well as how stacked the Layla album is. It's got 14 cuts, and Layla itself is about my 8th favorite. If you're not familiar with the rest of the album, do yourself a favor and download it. This is desert island-level material here.

We also have Livin' On the Open Road, a Delaney and Bonnie and Friends tune. Just good solid slide guitar playing on this one from Duane. Delaney and Bonnie and Friends is notable mostly because Clapton stole the "Friends" backing band to form Derek and the Dominos. It's hard to overestimate the skills of these guys, especially Jim Gordon on drums. The guy lays down amazingly smooth fills. And with the rock solid bass of Carl Radle the rhythm is all good.

Derek and the Dominos also wouldn't have worked without Bobby Whitlock, whose vocal sparring with Clapton is part of what makes the record so unique, and great. Serviceable organ work too. Both have written that their vocal models were the legendary soul duo Sam and Dave, who would keep crowds spellbound by trading off verses and coming together for rousing choruses. Combine that with the production talents of the legendary Tom Dowd and you really have lightning in a bottle. For these guys, it was a Johnny Walker bottle with a speedball chaser (Radle and Gordon met tragic fates from their drug abuse, Clapton chose life - eventually), but we're here to remember the good times.

From the Layla album outtakes, there's Mean Old World, which gives a nice taste of Duane's acoustic chops. Finally, we have Dreams, an Allman Brothers tune which generally shows Duane off to his best advantage, especially live. This is a studio version but you'll get the point. Beautiful tune.

Also, I took Greg Allman's advice and checked out King Curtis' Live at the Fillmore West. I have to say it's a ton of fun, and King Curtis can really blow. Creative, rock solid interpretations of classic tunes and some great originals. It's ideal party music in that it's instrumental (I find lyrics distracting to conversation), familiar, yet novel. Plus a full "Memphis horns" section to get the tail feathers shaking.

So for a bonus, included in the Duane Allman sampler here are two tunes from King Curtis' Live at the Fillmore West: his original version of Soul Serenade and a cool instrumental take on a great 60's tune, Procul Harum's Lighter Shade of Pale.

Good stuff if I may say so myself. Enjoy.

Click here to download the Duane Allman Studio Sampler

Here's a bunch of info about Duane's gear and technique. Most of it is Greek to me, but anybody with knowledge of the instruments would find it interesting. It's certainly comprehensive.

Click here to purchase Derek and the Dominos Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

Click here to purchase King Curtis Live at the Fillmore West

The Allman Brothers Band 08-26-71, A&R Studios, NYC

In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked Duane Allman #2 in its all-time best guitarists list, behind Hendrix. I tend to agree, noting that they couldn't be more different. Hendrix was Hendrix: raw, overwhelming, explosively original, unprecedented and unequaled. Duane was simply the best slide guitar player of all time and one of the great lead ax men as well. And not just because of his work with the Allman Brothers Band.

Duane Allman was a legendary session musician who added a sparkling top layer to dozens of tracks, many uncredited. His best known session work was with Derek and the Dominos on the Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs album, notably on the title track and, a personal favorite from the album, Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad.

But anytime someone recording at Muscle Shoals, Criteria, or later at A&R in New York needed some technically flawless yet improbably soulful lead or slide work, Duane was the man they called. Since he loved music more than anything else, Duane unfailingly obliged.

This particular short in-studio gig sounds the best of the Allmans bootlegs I have from the era. It's a stellar recording, if a little compressed (Duane comes through perfectly in the left channel). The setlist and performances are generally straightforward, probably because the 1hr format precluded two of their most expansive live staples: Whipping Post and Mountain Jam. Most of this material is "borrowed" from established blues musicians, with the notable exception of Dickey Betts' gorgeous In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.

But by straighforward, I mean nothing other than the finest blues-rock ever perpetrated.

The exception is a 20 minute exploration that melds the classic You Don't Love Me with variations on Soul Serenade by bandleader King Curtis. Curtis, a noted tenor saxophonist and friend of the Allmans, was killed only a few days before in Harlem by deranged drug addicts.

Then, time for the home state instrumental homage Hot 'Lanta, and even before they can be introduced, they're gone. In October, only a couple of months after this performance, we lost Duane forever in a motorcycle accident at age 25 (Jesus!). How much we lost we'll never know.

But the music he did leave behind is legendary and will live on forever. Hope the fishing is good up there Duane. Thanks.

Enjoy.

The Allman Brothers Band:

Gregg Allman - organ, vocals
Duane Allman - guitar, vocals
Dickey Betts - guitar, vocals
Berry Oakley - bass, vocals
Butch Trucks - drums
Jai Johanson - drums

Click here to download The Allman Brothers Band Live at A&R Studios 08-26-71

Click here to buy The Allman Brothers at Fillmore East (one word: classic)

Click here to buy the Duane Allman Anthology (some great non-ABB tracks)

Click here for Allman Brothers Tour Info (Derrick Trucks ain't bad)


Next Week: Steely Dan 03-20-74 Live at the Record Plant, Los Angeles

Welcome to Tesla Coils

I have decided to re-enter the "blogosphere" after an abortive attempt at a "general interest" blog last year. I've decided that the blogs I like have something to do with music, and live music in particular. Most of my favorite things to listen to are bootleg live shows. Unfortunately, the audio quality on bootlegs is generally spotty, especially if an audience mike is picking up every stray "woooooooo" and rambly conversation from the peanut gallery.

This weekend, listening to our first entry, I was struck by an interesting thought: many of my most cherished bootlegs were in-studio performances broadcast over the radio. The performances make up in polish what they lack in "spontaneity" and the recording quality is usually a fine mix of a multi-track recording that was meant for stereo home listening - not mixed for a PA system like most soundboard recordings.

I felt it was a good idea to share the music and some of my thoughts on the performers for each week and each particular performance.

So, I present Tesla Coils. The energy of live performances with the sound quality of studio recordings. Look for about one a week. Suggestions are more than welcome.