Category: members

  • GD19710903-4: Harding Theater, SF, CA

    Here’s another one that puzzles me. This scan from the Berkeley Tribe v.6 n.4 (issue #110) (September 3-9, 1971), p. 13 advertises a benefit for Marin County Head Start featuring Grateful Dead, Howard Wales and Shades of Joy on Friday-Saturday, September 3-4, 1971 at the Harding Theater in San Francisco. Why post? A few reasons.…

  • Punch in, mail it in for 90 minutes, punch out and party some more: JGB at the Cap Passaic, 11/26/77b

    LNjg1977-11-26.jgb.late.anderson.85051.flac1644 Something told me I wanted to listen to something from the Cats Under the Stars– era sextet of Garcia, Kahn, Buzz Buchanan, Keith and Donna Godchaux, and Maria Muldaur, and I wanted it to be a recording I hadn’t made notes on. So, here’s what I found: 11/26/77, late show. psilo.com This is a…

  • JGB “1st Northern California Tour”: August 6-8, 1981

    One of the oddest little jaunts you’ll find the in Garcia On The Side histories is one billed as the “1st Northern California Tour”, comprising the following three off-the-beaten-path gigs: Wednesday, August 6, 1981, Sherwood Hall, 940 North Main Street, Salinas, CA Thursday, August 7, 1981, Freeborn Hall, UC Davis, Davis, CA Friday, August 8,…

  • When did Melvin Seals begin with JGB?

    Edited 20110216 The Jerry Garcia Band show listed as Saturday, December 20, 1980, Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA, has always struck me odd. I argue here that (1) “12/20/80” is a “phantom” listing, a mislabel of 12/20/79. Along the way (2) I argue that “1/18/81” is also a phantom, a mislabel of 1/18/83. This…

  • Reasonably Good Voice and Superb Guitar: JGB on the Russian River, May 31, 1982

    jg1982-05-31.jgb.all.aud-GEMS.95427.flac1644 So, this show came up a few days ago as one at which Liz Stires and Julie Stafford were probably singing backing vocals. Part of an interesting occasional discussion on personnel issues in which the early 80s JGB backup singers and drummers have been the matter of some focus (see also here on the…

  • The River Theatre (Guerneville, CA) 1982 Liz and Julie Conundrum, Resolved

    In my previous post on the JGB’s early 1980s drummers and backup singers, I grappled with the puzzle of the backup singers on 10/24/82 at the River Theater, 16135 Main Street, Guerneville, CA, 95446-8301: an eyewitness to the 10/24/82 River Theater (Guerneville, CA) show, which we know featured the return of female vocalists after the…

  • JGB: early 1980s drummers and backup singers

    I posted some listening notes from the 10/13/82 JGB show at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz, CA. A priori, two things are particularly interesting about that show. First, it’s the public debut of drummer Greg Errico with the Jerry Garcia Band in this particular stint (he had done a mini-tour with them in July 1980).…

  • The Debut of the Last Quartet: The Catalyst, 10/13/82

    The Debut of the Last Quartet was “Listening Notes: JGB, Wednesday, October 13, 1982, The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA” –http://etreedb.org/shninfo_detail.php?shnid=110792 Some listening notes for this recording. See show and recording notes below. Jerry Garcia Band The Catalyst Santa Cruz, CA October 13, 1982 (Wednesday) Recorded live and mastered to CD by N. Hoey with: 2x…

  • JGB: female vocalists, late 1983 east coast tour

    update 2016: there is overwhelming evidence that DeeDee Dickerson took part in the late ’83 JGB tour. She is on the band’s tour documents. As of 2/19/2019, I believe DeeDee was present until at least 5/19/84; the earliest confirmed reference I can find to Gloria Jones dates to 8/11/84. update 2020: Gloria’s first show appears…

  • When did Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders first play together?

    One of Garcia’s most enduring, important and original musical partnerships outside the Grateful Dead was with Merl Saunders. From about Fall of 1970 through mid-1975, Merl and Jerry played steadily in various configurations that began as loose jam sessions with fluid personnel at the Matrix to the more institutionalized (named! east coast touring!) 1975 outfit…