JGB at Queens College, October 30, 1975

Have barely had time to write a word about the Hopkins-era
JGB these last 4+ years of blogging and hiatuses. That remains true, so the
writeup will be short. Bottom line is that I think Nicky sounds really good
(i.e., reasonably sober). I sort of figure that the day off the day before had
done everyone some good. The tempos are upbeat. Pretty good tape of a pretty
good show.

Jerry Garcia Band

Colden Auditorium, Queens College

Kissena Blvd.

Flushing, NY 11367

October 30, 1975 (Thursday)

Cooper MAC 2496 shnid-124251

–set I (8 tracks, 85:02)–

s1t01. / Let It Rock [10:38] %

s1t02. Sugaree [8:09] [0:02] % 8-12-9:29

s1t03. That’s Alright Mama [11:35] [0:03] % [0:45] % [0:25]

s1t04. Catfish John [10:39] %

s1t05. /Pig’s Boogie [#6:54] % [0:23]

s1t06. I’ll Take A Melody [12:21] % [0:55]

s1t07. Money Honey [8:48] [0:02] %

s1t08. [0:23] (I’m A) Roadrunner [10:51] %

–set II (10 tracks, 98:15)–

s2t01. //It Ain’t No Use [9:54] [0:02] % [0:27]

s2t02. Russian Lullaby [8:36] % [0:10]

s2t03. That’s What Love Will Make You Do [10:47] [0:02] %
(1) [0:59]

s2t04. Friend Of The Devil [5:38] % [0:15]

s2t05. Lady Sleeps [5:09] [0:03] %

s2t06. [0:56] Mission In The Rain [5:49] [0:04] % [0:01]

s2t07. Mystery Train [13:01] [0:02] %

s2t08. [1:08] The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [9:11]
[0:05] % [0:03]

s2t09. Let’s Spend The Night Together [18:26+0:17] ->

s2t10. [-0:17] Edward The Mad Shirt Grinder [7:02] (2)
[0:03]

! Band: Jerry Garcia Band

! lineup: Jerry Garcia – el-g, vocals;

! lineup: Nicky Hopkins – piano;

! lineup: John Kahn – el-b;

! lineup: Ron Tutt – 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.

! Jerrybase: https://jerrybase.com/events/19751030-01

! band: Jerry Garcia Band #1 (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html).

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/124251
(this fileset), http://etreedb.org/shn/124248
(1644 fileset, same source), http://etreedb.org/shn/92780
(Gerry Moskal aud).

! map: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Colden+Auditorium,+Queens+College,+65-30+Kissena+Blvd.,+Flushing,+NY+&hl=en&sll=38.997934,-105.550567&sspn=7.374835,16.907959&t=h&hq=Colden+Auditorium,&hnear=Queens+College,+65-30+Kissena+Blvd,+Flushing,+New+York+11367&z=16&iwloc=A.
As of this date (11/9/2013), Google Maps locates Colden Auditorium on Reeves
Avenue. The [hard contemporary evidence] says “Kissena Blvd.” (no
number). JGBP gives street number 65-30, but I don’t quite know, so I am
sticking with the hardest contemporary evidence, for as far as it will go.

! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/09/colden-auditorium-queens-college-65-30.html

! R: field recordist: Jim Cooper

! R: field gear: Sony ECM-22P > Hitachi TRQ-232, Maxel
UD-C90, no NR

! R: transfer: Nakamichi Dragon > benchmark ADC1 24/96
> pc > adobe audition 2.0 > cd wave > flac. Transfer & seeded
by Rob Berger 3/13.

! R: seeder notes: “brilliant!”

! R: running slow? Reporting now during TWLWMYD, and it
sounds just fine.

! historical: $9,000 guarantee plus $1,500 lights and sound.
Staying 5 nights at the St. Moritz on Central Park South, so this was just a
drive to Flushing from Manhattan. Candace doing the lights.

! seealso: JGMF, “Bloody Hell,” http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2014/01/bloody-hell.html.

! P: s1t01 LIR Nicky some really nice runs at the start of
the song

! P: s1t02 Sugaree JG pretty nice solo over the 6-mark.

! P: s1t03 TAM sounds like After Midnight to start. Nicky
sounds great.

! R: s1t05 PB clips in

! P: s1t07 MH @ 5:30- JG guitar solo, starts off low and a
little fuzzy, then 5:45 he sharpens up with a jagged run that’s very, very,
nice. A little faster run 6:10-6:23, they pick up the energy a little bit,
swinging more now. Jerry playing very well. Fanning @ 6:45, Nicky errs late in
the 6-min mark, not letting the solo play, then he’s gone for awhile, until
Jerry settles back into the swooping hook that is really the trademark of
“Money Honey”. Still not hearing Nicky much until late in the 7-min
mark. Maybe he was cleaning his mirror?

! P: s1t08 IARR Jerry never quite settled on how he wanted
to present Roadrunner in terms of key, tempo, etc. In every iteration, it
reflects the idiosyncrasies of its human and pharmacological context. A temporal
cipher. In early ’74, it was young Jerry running a little too hot (e.g.,
2/9/74), with tons of color from Merl’s organ. With JGMS and LOM it really
benefited from Martin’s saxophone as well in terms of the overall palette. The
Garcia-Hopkins JGB was a lot more stripped down, of course. Especially on a
tape (night?) like this, where Nicky is really hard to hear, things are just
too percussive, or something. Nicky solos in the 5-min mark, the rest of the
guys chugging behind him. Sounds like Jerry practically had to write him an
engraved invitation to take a run. With that said, the Garcia-Hopkins tempos
are generally pretty good, still some juice like earlier, but not the swampy
dirges of 1976-1978. So, this is a pretty good tempo for IARR, even though I don’t
find this version to be very good. It just never really cooks.

! R: s2t01 IANU cuts in, not much missing

! P: s2t02 Russian Lullaby: Love this tempo! Very upbeat.
Such great Hot Club swing, Nicky providing some really nice saloon groove.
Coffee or whisky? Why not both? Jerry’s attack in the 2:30 mark is really
inventive, like he’s skipping two notes down instead of a more continuous
scale. In the late-5 over 6 minute mark Jerry has almost a Midi sound, very
interesting. It’s rather trumpet-like, his playing here. Nicky another solo
late-6 over 7 minute mark. NB that RL did not have the bass solo at this point.

! s2t03 (1) After John runs through the chord progressions
for FOTD, knowledgeable fans call it out. Good call!

! P: s2t04 Crowd clapping enthusiastically to the familiar
(because played by the GD) “Friend Of The Devil”. This tempo is
great, very upbeat. Nicky’s playing shows lucidity that was too rare during his
time with JGB. Jerry takes a fine solo over the 4-minute mark, compact but
reasonably dextrous. He’s getting warmed up, I hope.

! song: “Friend Of The Devil” (s2t04) [Jerrybase]: One of the rare
tunes Jerry played inside and outside of the GD with any regularity, this one,
like other switch-hitters such as “Sugaree” and “Deal”, a
Garcia-Hunter joint that Jerry just seemed to love.

! setlist: s2t05 was listed in this info file as
“Waltzing Matilda”, but it is “Lady Sleeps”.

! song: “Lady Sleeps” (s2t05) [Jerrybase]: Nicky wrote and
performed this pretty piano instrumental as a solo, spotlight piece during his
time with the JGB. In most live JGB renditions he segued it into the
unfortunate “No Time”, a forgettable nasal lament which also appeared
on Nicky’s 1975 release No More Changes
(Mercury SRM 11028). Here it stands on its own, and nicely, a velvety soft,
gentle feel sharpened by Nicky’s clean strokes.

! P: s2t06 MITR: These early versions of MITR are so great.
There was only really a brief window when he could truly handle the vocals,
including the opening lines. Here he flubs some lyrics in the mid-3 range.

! P: s2t09 LSTNT some nice fanning over the 10-minute mark.
Late in the 14-minute mark there appears to be some discord, not sure who
contradicts whom, but Jerry and Nicky don’t seem on the same page as one of
them returns hard to the LSTNT theme, the other stiff-arms. Now to mid-15
minute mark they are dueling vigorously, late 15-minute mark Tutt picks up the
tempo, and they get into a very tasty romp, a little bit to the tempo of
“Caution” for the GD fans, Jerry running around now, building to some
nice fanning @ 17:15, back to LSTNT theme 17:30, Tutt banging like an animal
late in the 17-minute mark, some great drumming, Jerry rises in response late
17-minute mark, now everyone digging in real deep, Jerry more theme then winds
down into Edward.

! R: s2t09 LSTNT a brief splice @ 16:46?

! P: s2t10 Edward is a tremendously exciting piece of music,
getting Jerry to sound like John Cipollina and David Gilmour in one song is no
mean feat. Tip o’ the cap to ya, Session Man.

! s2t10 (2) JG: “Thank you. See y’all later on.”

! Staying at St. Moritz, 30 Central Park South,
New York, NY, 10019 (http://goo.gl/maps/gQOgv),
five nights. Jerry’s the only one of the traveling party with a double room, so
I presume he’s with Deborah Koons or another woman not named Mountain Girl.
Players Nicky Hopkins, John Kahn and Ron Tutt, manager Richard Loren, and
drivers/’quippies Steve Brown, Kidd Candelario, Steve Parish, and B. Zachary
all get single rooms. The band members had hit the road on Tuesday the 21st,
the drivers probably a few days earlier, so everyone’s a week or more on the
road. Nine shows in seven consecutive nights, Wednesday (10/29) off in NYC,
then, starting this night, six shows on four consecutive evenings, flying home
the next day (Monday, November 3rd). “You’ve ‘ad yer fun … now pay fer
it!” Back to the old salt mines. Hop in the limo, dozen mile ride to
Queens, and play this long-ass gig.