First Night Out for Kemper: Keystone Palo Alto, 7/20/83 (WED)

LN jg1983-07-20.jgb.all.aud-CC.xxxxxx.flac2448

First night out for drummer David Kemper and Gloria Jones. (See also “Second night out for Kemper: The Stone, 7/21/83“.)

This was conventionally considered the first show for vocalist Gloria Jones, but the late ’83 Garcia Band tour still featured DeeDeeDickerson, and as of 2020 I am quite sure that DDD was around until 5/20/84, and Gloria came in on 7/28/84.

Kemper, of course, was an absolute rock for Garcia for 10+ years. So much to say, so little time.

Jerry Garcia Band
Keystone Palo Alto
260 South California Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94306
July 20, 1983 (Wednesday)
83 min CC aud

–set I (6 tracks, 36:33)–
s1t01. crowd and tuning [0:32]
s1t02. Cats Under The Stars [6:47] [0:08] %
s1t03. Catfish John [9:36] [0:14] %  [1:06]
s1t04. That’s What Love Will Make You Do [6:04] [0:02] %
s1t05. Mississippi Moon [7:04] ->
s1t06. Run For The Roses [4:40] (1) [0:19] %

–set II (6 tracks, 46:48)–
s2t01. crowd and tuning [0:11]
s2t02. I’ll Take A Melody [14:35] [0:07] % [0:03]
s2t03. Love In The Afternoon [8:05] [0:04] %  [0:06]
s2t04. Gomorrah [5:50] [0:05] % [0:07]
s2t05. Dear Prudence [10:50] ->
s2t06. Tangled Up In Blue// [6:44#]

! Band: Jerry Garcia Band #21b
! lineup: Jerry Garcia – el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn – el-b;
! lineup: Melvin Seals – keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper – drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch – vocals;
! lineup: DeeDee Dickerson – 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.
! TJS: http://www.thejerrysite.com/shows/show/1710. Note that my set II list doesn’t match.

! db: none as of 12/22/2012. Now shnid-137756 via Andrew F.’s correct transfer.

! map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=260+South+California+Avenue,+Palo+Alto,+CA&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x808fbae5ae350fad:0x6c804e95a91a9587,260+S+California+Ave,+Palo+Alto,+CA+94306&gl=us&ei=OELhTsmSKIX10gG1iNWxBw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CB0Q8gEwAA

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/11/keystone-sophies-260-s-california-ave.html

! personnel: David Kemper’s understood public debut with the Jerry Garcia Band, replacing Greg Errico. It’s not clear how or why the switch was made.

! personnel: Previously understood as Gloria Jones’s understood public debut with the Jerry Garcia Band, replacing DeeDee Dickerson, but this seems to be wrong.

! historical: the primary historical interest here lies in the JGB debuts of David Kemper on drums (who would play continuously until early 1994, except October 7, 1985-December 22, 1985, when Gaylord Birch beat the skins) and Gloria Jones on vocals (who would stay with JGB continuously until the end). There are a few hiccups here and there around the drumming and vocals, but overall the group seems reasonably well together. The next night is even better. NB that, as was habitual, Garcia broke in his new players off the beaten path (Palo Alto) and midweek (Wednesday) before unleashing the hometown crowds (SF and Berkeley) on them.

! R: 2nd gen aud (Maxell XLII90, no Dolby) > Nakamichi BX-300 playback (no Dolby) > Pyle Pro cables > WaveTerminal 2496 > Samplitude 10.1 Download Version (record @ 24 bits/48kHz) > CDWave 1.9.8 (tracking) > Adobe Audition 3.0 (cross-fades, etc.) > Traders Little Helper 2.4.1 (FLAC encoding, level 8) (flac2448).

! setlist: TJS set II goes MITR, LITA, DP > TUIB. The basis of the setlist is not clear –it’s just an old “ftp.gdead.berkeley.edu” reference– and that’s too short. The setlist here seems more plausible.

! R: may run fast

! R: s1t01 CUTS muffling first minute of CUTS

! song: Cats Under The Stars (s1t01): took a hiatus 3/22/78. TJS says it came back http://www.thejerrysite.com/songs/show/897 1/8/83 at The Stone, for which there is no known tape. Then JGB plays it six times in three nights out east (June 3-5, 1983, early and late shows), then this version. It definitely sounds a little raw.

! P: s1t01 CUTS I said it sounds a little raw, which is true. But it’s also hot as hell.

! R: s1t02 CJ is brickwalled with significant distortion. This is fatiguing to listen to.

! P: s1t02 CJ 7-minutes in Jerry and Melvin do some nice call and response.

! P: s1t04 TWLWMYD has some some nice bursts of honey guitar playing right at the start.

! P: Garcia’s voice is definitely on the downhill slide to Elmer Fuddsville. It’s not there quite yet, but it’s losing diaphragm and gaining scratchy sinus and throat – not a good tradeoff.

! R: s1t05 MM missing first few notes, badly oversaturated

! R: s1t06 RFTR anomaly right at track transition, but it was on the source tape.

! s1t06 (1) JG, breathless and rushed: “Thanks a lot. We’re gonna take a break for a little while and we’ll be back in a few minutes.”

! P: a good solid show.

! Disclaimer: This is part of a “Closet Call” project aimed at making missing Garcia dates available for study. These are “warts and all” … straight transfers of the source cassettes with editing only of the most offensive tape transitions and such. If you don’t like hiss, possible speed problems, etc., etc., then move along. And, to anticipate a FAQ: no, I don’t plan on doing 16/44s of these. Thanks to wk for supplying these tapes!