Maria ‘Shaking Her Substantial Booty’ at Waterbury’s ‘Decrepit Palace Theater’: JGB 11/23/77, Commander aud

LN jg1977-11-23.jgb.all.aud-commander-berger.123904.flac1644

I have always had big love for this show. On this listen, the only song that really lights me up is TWLWMYD. (ed.: Blair Jackson points out Mission in the Rain, which is indeed stellar, deep and heartfelt. Good call.) Not sure if that’s because I am not in the mood, or this tape doesn’t move me the way Jerry Moore’s does, or something else. Anyway, not much to report.

Reviewer “Leapin” (see scan) drops some color: “The JGB packed Waterbury’s decrepit Palace Theater on the eve of Turkey Day … upon arrival to CT on Wednesday, Mr. Garcia was rather ill, according to several close friends of the attending physician.” (That doctor would be in big trouble today, I think.) Leapin makes special repeated mention of Maria Muldaur, who is prone to “shaking her substantial booty”, and seems generally to have enjoyed the show.

Jerry Garcia Band
Palace Theater
100 East Main Street
Waterbury, CT 06702

November 23, 1977 (Wednesday)
Commander MAC Berger 1644 shnid-123904

–set I (6 tracks, 61:03)–
s1t01. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [7:30] [0:21] % [0:14]
s1t02. Catfish John [8:37] [0:07] % [0:53]
s1t03. That’s What Love Will Make You Do [10:33] [0:04] %
s1t04. I’ll Take A Melody [13:46] %% [0:27]
s1t05. Simple Twist Of Fate [10:14] %
s1t06. Mission In The Rain [7:41] (1) [0:02] %

–set II + encore (8 tracks, 68:53)–
–set II (7 tracks, 57:15)–
s2t01. [0:20] Let It Rock [7:20] %% [0:16]
s2t02. They Love Each Other [7:03] [0:05] %
s2t03. Mystery Train [9:30] [0:01] % [0:46]
s2t04. Love In The Afternoon [8:31] [0:03] % [0:26]
s2t05. Reuben And Cherise [6:13] [0:04] % [0:34]
s2t06. Gomorrah [5:52] [0:04] %% [0:20] [-0:04]
s2t07. Midnight Moonlight [0:04+9:36] (2) [0:05] %
–encore (1 track, 11:38)–
s2t08. [0:15] Lonesome And A Long Way From Home [11:06] [0:17] %

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band
! lineup: Jerry Garcia – el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn – el-b;
! lineup: Keith Godchaux – ac-piano, el-piano;
! lineup: Buzz Buchanan – drums;
! lineup: Donna Jean Godchaux – vocals;
! lineup: Maria Muldaur – vocals.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; … = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [ ] = recorded event time. The recorded event time immediately after the song or item name is an attempt at getting the “real” time of the event. So, a timing of [x:xx] right after a song title is an attempt to say how long the song really was, as represented on this recording.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19771123-01

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/4447 (shn, probably Moore master and deprecated); http://etreedb.org/shn/16204 (shn, Moore master, deprecated); http://etreedb.org/shn/25622 (uncertain aud, shn); http://etreedb.org/shn/123904 (this fileset); http://etreedb.org/shn/123905 (Moore master, flac2496).

! map: http://goo.gl/maps/n5Kvy

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/08/palace-theater-100-east-main-street.html

! review: review: Leapin. 1977. In Concert: Jerry Garcia Band. unknown publication ca. December 1977.

! R: field recordist: The Commander

! R: field recording equipment: Audio Technica condensor mics > Sony TC-153SD, Dolby B on

! R: field recording media: 1x Maxell XLII-90, 1x TDK SA-C90, 1x Maxell XLI-90 (low bias, encore).

! R: transfer: Nakamichi BX-300 (Dolby B) > Tascam HD-P2 24/96 > PC > Adobe Audition 2.0 > cd wave > flac. organic pitch correction, transfer by taper Chuck (tc3) & Rob Berger feb. 2013.

! R: seeder notes: “good aud from the balcony and has the Lonesome encore that Jerry Moore’s (killer) source is missing. Thanks to TC3 for his help and efforts on this one and to the Commander of course.”

! R: I have retracked for sets rather than discs.

! P: s1t03 TWLWMYD this version just totally grooves.

! P: s1t06 STOF This is nice. The crowd really hears what it is and gives a reaction at the first chorus, and especially the titular line. Like so much Dylan, this song could be an imprint of New York, more the cover of “Freewheelin’” than the “Hard Times In New York Town”
(http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/hard-times-new-york-town). It’s not perfect. Is Keith playing electric piano at any point here, yes, I believe he is!

! P: s1t06 MITR I will say that Maria is off-key. Ouch.

! s1t06 (1) “We’re gonna take a break for a little/”

! P: s2t01 LIR not a good start. Keith is way out front, and it’s not clear that the tempos are where people want them. Jerry finally starts laying out the tempo of the song, Buzzy wisely gets behind him. Why they had the new guy setting the tempos to start, I dunno … I guess he’s the drummer, but whatever it is, they don’t have their tempos together to start the song, and many songs on this night and during this period. Keith is so heavily percussive. Garcia takes a solo late 4-minute mark and you can hear him really having to dig in (not necessarily a bad thing!) to be heard over Keith.

! R: s2t06-t07 I would have tracked differently, as noted by timings.

! s2t07 (2) JG: inaudible

! P: after hearing the whole show, the second set underwhelms me a little bit. On this listen, only TWLWMYD really lights me up. Funny.


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2 responses to “Maria ‘Shaking Her Substantial Booty’ at Waterbury’s ‘Decrepit Palace Theater’: JGB 11/23/77, Commander aud”

  1. Corry342 Avatar

    A characteristic of the JGB's 77-78 touring was that on a number of occasions they played venues that the Grateful Dead had played some years earlier. In this case, the Dead had played The Palace Theater on September 23-24, 1972. I don't think this had any impact on Garcia or the Godchauxs, but local fans would have been acutely aware of it.

    In 1977-78, JGB played the Palace in Waterbury, Capitol in Passaic, the Tower in Upper Darby (Philly), Boston Music Hall and some Northwestern venues. The Dead had played all of them in the several years prior, and were far too big to play them by '77. Yet Garcia kept up relations with the promoters by playing those venues again, and certainly for fans in those areas his appearance was like a Dead show.

  2. Fate Music Avatar

    Yeah, a whole study could be made of how the bands, GD and JGB, moved up the venue chain, and of the remarkable continuities (in promoters more than rooms, but even there) across the decades.

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