Category: Bob Menke
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Wabbit Hunting with Garcia and Kahn in Oakland and Guerneville, August 17-18, 1985
I shouldn’t be mean. But posterity might not recall that many characterized Jerry’s vocal sound in 1985 as resembling Elmer Fudd, so I am doing it for future generations. You can thank me later. Not much to report. While the Dunsmuir House and Gardens maybe have been a cool place to see Jerry on an…
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How about the Mouth on that Beast? JGB at the Stone, February 2, 1980, as recorded by Bad Bob Menke
LN jg1980-02-02.jgb.all.aud-menke-motb-0038.105635.flac1644 I recently revisited an old favorite, 2/17/80, and surprised myself by not noting anything about the “After Midnight -> Eleanor Rigby -> After Midnight” medley, to say nothing of an old favorite of another kind, “Positively 4th Street”. I have vowed to revisit these. Someone was also extolling old favorite 3/8/80 on its recent…
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Makes Up In Enthusiasm What It Lacks In Precision: JGB at Keystone Palo Alto, November 12, 1983
LN jg1983-11-12.jgb.all.mtx.141451.flac1644 update: d’oh! Already posted this one. Crispy clean but flat and unbalanced sbd meets in-your-face but unbalanced Menke aud to make for a sweet matrix. Thank you Andrew F. for your work! The show? It’s late ’83. The sets are getting shorter. The DLG is fucking killer, and the Deal makes up in enthusiasm…
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They Really Are a Scree-um: Legion of Mary at Keystone, Thursday, May 22, 1975
LN jg1975-05-22.lom.all.aud-menke-falanga-motb-0044.87156.flac2496 I just revisited 5/21/75, and it left me a little bit … whelmed. By contrast, at some point between downloading the files in 2011 and today, I listened to and noted the next night, and I *loved* it. The Bob Menke – Louis Falanga aud belongs in the freaking Smithsonian. This stands as…
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Take the Road Before Us and Sing a Chorus or Two: Legion of Mary at Keystone, May 21, 1975
jg1975-05-21.lom.all.mtx-tobin-motb-0050.87219.flac1644 I recently gave 6/16/82 a listen to evaluate whether it merited its lofty reputation, or whether it might be exhibiting a case of the Cornells. I decided it was as good as its reputation. Staying with that démarche, a week ago I spun 5/21/75, Legion of Mary at the Keystone, which has long circulated…
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Kabuki Acoustics
LN jg1982-08-23.jgjk.early-late.aud-menke-connor.12586.shn2flac LN jg1984-06-03.jgjk.all.sbd-unknown.81273.shn2flac Bill Graham ran the Kabuki Nightclub in Japantown for a few years in the early 1980s, and Garcia played twice, both times acoustic with ol’ buddy John Kahn. I am not a huge fan of the Garcia-Kahn acoustic duet, and these shows do nothing to move me from that basic position. Jerry still…
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Heresy Alert
Avert your eyes if you are sensitive to this sort of thing. Great tapes, but 2/2/80 set I does nothing for me. Discuss. Further hypothesis: it exhibits the “Cornell Effect”, whereby great sounding tape produces systematic and massive overestimation of performance quality. UPDATE: In March 2021 I revisited this show, and found it to be…
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Finders Keepers: JGMS with Jim Nelson on Drums, Keystone, October 5, 1974
LN jg1974-10-05.jgms.all.aud-falanga.8665.shn2flac I have no idea who Jim Nelson, the drummer, might be. There are some tempo issues all night long. I really like this period for JGMS. “La-La” and “Freedom Jazz Dance” are standouts to me. “Finders Keepers” is also pretty good. When these tapes came into the light, back before 9/11, they were…
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JGB: June 23, 1977: Benefit Concert for the Survival of the Forest Community of Camp Meeker
On Thursday, June 23, 1977, Jerry Garcia Band (JGB) out-of-pattern early and late shows at Santa Rosa High School. High school gigs were pretty unusual for Garcia at any point (beyond early Grateful Dead), but by the late 1970s it almost always meant that there was some personal connection, somehow, to Garcia. For example, Garcia-Kahn…
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The Tutt Rule: JGMS at the Keystone, June 22, 1975
LN jg1975-06-22.jgms.all.aud-menke-falanga-motb-0048.87236.flac1644 Update: 4/20/2020: I now refer to this as JGMS, because Ron Tutt is not drumming, and Greg Errico is. Less importantly, but not unimportantly, while all of the external materials refer to the group as Legion of Mary, Rex Jackson labeled his tape boxes Jerry & Merl. Sometimes I have a modest tendency…