Dead

Album of the Week: Jerry Garcia Band’s GarciaLive Volume Seven: November 8th 1976, Sophie’s, Palo Alto (2016)

June 3, 2024 — Leave a comment

A converted supermarket that still bore the signs of its former occupation, Sophie’s was [in 1976] a mainstay of the Garcia Band, a comfortable, funky venue that welcomed the band four times that year… And for Garcia, it was also familiar turf, a return to the town where he had first made his commitment to music.

-Nicholas G. Meriwether, liner notes

Today marks two years since I moved to Northern California, and what better way to celebrate than with a Jerry show? This recording of the Jerry Garcia Band in 1976 in Palo Alto was largely forgotten until the tapes were found in Donna Jean Godchaux’s storage in the 2010s. This lineup of JGB featured Donna on vocals, Keith Godchaux on piano, John Kahn on bass and Ron Tutt on drums. A familiar and winning quintet, they strike a nice contrast to later JGB lineups, which generally featured non-GD related keyboardists.

In 2021 I covered the slowness of ’76 Dead for my post on their 6/18 and 6/21 shows, and that rings true for most of this set as well. You can hear the “Row Jimmy” reggae tempo in “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” early on. The Godchaux’s presence is felt strongly (as it was with their tenure in the Grateful Dead) – Keith complements the expansive Garcia workouts on his piano and Donna adds another dimension to the vocals. She even takes lead, as on the highlight “Stir It Up”, a Marley classic that she does proud service to.

“Who Was John?” is a super bluesy turn from Jerry, and a jammer’s delight at over fourteen minutes. Speaking of which, this “Don’t Let Go” is a twenty-two minute beast. Jerry is given that floor around four minutes in, and what follows is the most deliberate, unhurried and collective improvisation of the night. Kahn has a bass solo around fourteen minutes that Jerry and Keith gently push up against before the whole group comes together at full volume. Rounding things out is a smoking “Mighty High”. This release is one of my absolute favorites of the GarciaLive series and an easy recommendation for a Garcia fan of any level.

Listen to GarciaLive Volume Seven here.

Album of the Week: Grateful Dead’s Download Series Volume 4: 6/18/76 & 6/21/76 (2005)

June 21, 2021 — 1 Comment

After nearly a decade of touring that only became bigger and bigger, the Grateful Dead took a then-indefinite hiatus in late 1974 that lasted approximately a year and a half. Their 1976 June tour was something of a low-key comeback. Instead of playing massive arenas, they sold mail-order tickets for shows at smaller theaters in only 7 cities. Thanks to the Download Series, which is easily streamed, you can hear great recordings of a couple of these shows. Volume 4 presents the 6/18/76 show at Passaic, New Jersey’s Capitol Theatre (which is now a Pizza Hut), as well as the show three days later at the Tower Theatre west of Philadelphia (which is still standing, about 25 blocks from my current apartment).

The 6/18 show is not their tightest night, but it has its highlights. The sound described in one word? Sloooowwww. The band seemed to be in reggae mode, which may be the reason AllMusic described it as a “low-energy… lazy stroll through a fairly familiar set list.” It sounds like they’re zonked off the honey slides that Neil Young cooked up a couple years earlier for On the Beach (and guessing they’re very, very stoned is not a bad bet). “Crazy Fingers” moves at a turtle’s pace, but it’s like, beautiful, man. I love this song, it’s a gem lyrically and musically. “Row Jimmy” is another total vibe.

The big highlight for the Capitol Theatre show is the super-rare Jerry tune “Mission in the Rain,” which was played by the Dead only 5 times! I find this version fantastic. This trifecta of slow-burners has made the show something of a go-to “mellow” Dead set for me. Later, a nice, jazzy “Eyes” with a long intro jam, and an almost nonexistent “Drums” (yay!) lead into “The Wheel”. Apparently “Tennessee Jed” was left off this reissue due to technical problems, although one Archive.org reviewer surmised it was just not a very good performance and thus cut.

I get the criticisms. They would improve on many of these performances (notably “St. Stephen” > “NFA” which sounds a little lackluster here) in 77. Mickey had joined the band on percussion for his first tour in 5 years, and the rhythm section sounds sluggish. I think the Dead were finding their sea legs again.

The Tower Theatre set, played 45 years ago on this very date, is tighter. The “Candyman” sparkles, and the “Playin'” jam is an exploratory treat. To round out the excerpt of this show we get a great version of “High Time”, one of my favorite Jerry ballads.

With 1000+ shows, millions of fans and an uncountable number of memories forged and formed over the past 56 years, there is sure to be an endless variation of interpretations on what the Dead did best, where they faltered, and everything in-between. I just like to, y’know, chill and jam out, man. This snapshot of June 1976 is nice for the Heads in no hurry.

Check out Download Series 4 on Spotify.