Pennies From Heaven: Listening to the Tape Known as JGMS 7/21/74

Disc One (3 tracks, 47:22)
–end set I–
d1t01. The Harder They Come [18:09] (1) [0:14] %
–set II–
d1t02. //When I Die [12:33#] (2) [0:28]
d1t03. Pennies From Heaven// [15:41#] % dead air [0:14]

Disc Two (4 tracks, 46:02)
–set II (con’t)–
d2t01. //After Midnight [#10:33] (3) [1:59]
d2t02. When I Die [17:10] [1:29]
d2t03. You Can Leave Your Hat On// [11:28#] % dead air [0:04]
d2t04. //How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [#2:56] (4) [0:17] % dead air
[0:04]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
! lineup: Jerry Garcia – el-g, vocals;
! lineup: Merl Saunders – keyboards, vocals;
! lineup: Martin Fierro – saxophone;
! lineup: Tony Saunders – el-bass;
! lineup: Gaylord Birch – drums.

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.

! TJS: http://www.thejerrysite.com/shows/show/1074

! db: none.

! FYI: http://dead.net/show/july-21-1974

! R: given lineage: “MSR > PCM > DAT > ZA2 > CDR (xx) > EAC > flac1644″. At Lossless Legs, user JerryRocks has identified the digital history of this recording, passing from Dougal Donaldson (PCM) to Ryan Shriver (DAT) to Andy Lemieux (DAT) to jjoops (CD) and thereafter out and about.



! This recording may not be what it purports to be. The Grateful Dead were at
Hollywood Bowl on 7/21/74, though Garcia could have flown up for a late Bay
Area set with Merl after that show ended ca. 9 pm. All available sources also
point to Earthquake and Moby Grape playing the Keystone Berkely this night (Berkeley
Barb, July 12-18, 1974, p. 28; Hayward Daily Review, July 19, 1974,
p. 36). Tony Saunders is playing bass here, which works well with the 7/21
dating since John Kahn was down in Hollywood, having opened for the GD as part
of Maria Muldaur’s band, and he may not have wanted to fly north right away.
The room sounds too big to be a tiny place like the Sand Dunes, which I had
earlier conjectured. I also think it goes along well with the material dated
7/22/74 (also featuring Tony S. on bass). My working argument is that we might
as well call it 7/21/74, Keystone Berkeley. update: nope.

! We cannot know how much of a show, or how many pieces of shows, this
represents. I have conjectured before that this represents bits and pieces of
tape. It’s so cut up, we really can’t tell what might go with what except for
the ca. 40-minute piece of continuous tape from After Midnight to Leave Your
Hat On. HTC is definitely the end of a first set, and HSII is definitely the
end of a show, but beyond that we don’t have much to go on.

! Personnel: Tony Saunders is on bass, which only really happened when Kahn was
unavailable or when the gig was more of a Merl gig than a Jerry-and-Merl gig. As noted just above, this lends some credence to a 7/21/74 dating.
I do not know who is drumming. The guy is really good. Possibilities include
Bill Kreutzmann, Paul Humphrey or Gaylord Birch, all of whom Tony Saunders
remembers playing with in the Saunders-Garcia band. E.W. Wainwright apparently
played with Aunt Monk at the Generosity (timeframe uncertain) and also sat in
at least once with Garcia-Saunders (3/14/74, Keystone Berkeley). Larry Vann and
Bob Stellar both also drummed with Aunt Monk and could be possible here. update: it’s Gaylord.

! R: this is a really sweet sounding recording. First fucking rate. It’s maybe
a little bright, as if maybe the PCM gen put some pre-emphasis in that never
got decoded out. But Betty Cantor-Jackson is a true genius. This recording came
from “Batch One” of the Betty tapes, which explains the PCM gen.

 P: d1t01 HTC the drummer is really hot. Now, of course, Betty knows how
to mic him perfectly. The snap is fantastic. But that’s also because the dude
is *hitting. Merl also sounds really nice. Jerry gets a nice metallic sound for
his solo in the 12-minute mark, extremely electric.

! d1t01 HTC In the 8-min mark is that alto sax? Martin is keeping it nice and
tight here.

! venue: crowd sounds too big to be the Sand Dunes. Maybe 7/21 and 7/22 go
together, and are actually from the Keystone.

! (1) JG: “We’re gonna take a break for a little while. We’ll be back a
little bit later.”

! P: d1t02 WID when they drop into the jam around 2:30, it’s really nice, with
Tony Saunders supplying the big bottom end and Merl cooking around and through
him. Tony does some nice ascending runs at the start of the 3-min mark. Martin
misses the return to the ‘1’ about 11 minutes in, but treats discretion as the
better part of valor, stops, andjoins the rest of the band.

! R: d1t02 When I Die cuts in, not much missing;

! d1t02 (2) Tony Saunders can be heard talking to Jerry from 12:41 to the end
of the track.

! setlist: d1t03 Pennies From Heaven is the Arthur Johnston/Johnny Burke
composition (1936). Thanks to Tony Saunders for identifying it.

! R: d1t03 Pennies From Heaven cuts out;

! R: d2t01 After Midnight cuts in, substantially underway in the middle of a
loud Martin solo.

! P: d2t01 AM Tony picks some really big notes about 5-minutes in. Merl is doing
his tasteful Jimmy Smith thing as we approach the 6-minute mark, his son
thumping along underneath. @ 6:12 the drummer makes himself heard with some
nice cymbal work. It’s grooving now.

! d2t01 (3) @ 11:52 someone asks “Jerry, you want a hit, man?” Folks
on and near stage laugh, Garcia asks back “‘Do, I want a hit, man?’ I just
had one.” And it’s true that just previous to this, Jerry can be heard
asking Tony or someone for a match.

! P: d2t02 WID is much faster than the version that appears earlier in this
fileset. The drummer is a monster at the start of this version (though, again,
there’s always the fact of Betty’s amazing tapes to factor in).

! P: d2t03 YCLYHO Merl is a little confused about the vocals at the start.

! R: d2t03 YCLYHO Vocals are very low in the mix, come in better after about a
minute and a half.

! P: d2t03 YCLYHO Martin does some ear-splitting stuff @ 5:55.

! R: d2t03 YCLYHO cuts out, unknown amount missing.

! R: d2t04 How Sweet It Is cuts in, almost entirely missing

! d2t04 (4) JG: “See y’all later.”