update 20170710: Here the show doesn’t light me up, yet my CC aud listening notes from a month before this post include this:
The show is quite hot, IMO. MITR ends in a manic flurry. Tore Up, my
notes tell me, is “ridiculous”. Jerry is *really* into this Dixie Down.
RIR is absolutely fantastic, with some interesting (if cheesy) vocal
work by the ladies over the first guitar break and Jerry going
absolutely nuts after 5:45 or so. The scratchy blow-vibe of his voice is
the only mitigating factor here.
Different tapes, a month apart, very different inferences about the show.
Bullet points.
- It’s amazing that such a tape should come into the light at this late date. There are more tapes in more closets waiting to be listened to!
- Does anyone know the status of the video tapes that were said to have been made by John Scher at the Cap?
- Love the tour, love the setlist, some good moments, but the show doesn’t light me up the way it should.
Jerry Garcia Band
Capitol Theatre
326 Monroe Street
Passaic, NJ 07055
March 17, 1978 (Friday) Late Show – 11PM
70 min (all-1) sbd via Bershaw
–late show (7 tracks, 69:52, missing first song)–
–main set (6 tracks, 62:31)–
[MISSING: The Harder They Come]
t01. Mission In The Rain [10:34] [0:26] %
t02. Russian //Lullaby [11:35] [0:29]
t03. Tore Up Over You [8:40] [2:57]
t04. Love In The Afternoon [10:25] [1:39]
t05. I’ll Be With Thee [5:12] [0:19]
t06. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [10:00] (1) % [0:15]
–encore (1 track, 7:21)–
t07. Rhapsody In Red [7:08] [0:13] %
! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band
! lineup: Jerry Garcia – el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn – el-b;
! lineup: Keith Godchaux – piano;
! lineup: Buzz Buchanan – drums;
! lineup: Donna Jean Godchaux – vocals;
! lineup: Maria Muldaur – vocals.
JGMF:
! R: 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.
! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/123184 (this fileset); https://etreedb.org/shn/138358 (CC aud).
! venue: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/09/capitol-theater-monroe-st-and-central.html
! map: http://goo.gl/maps/nwnV8
! R: I noted a CC aud copy of this show just recently, and now a pristine sbd tape emerges. Amazing. And where are the Passaic videos, I wonder?
! R: Source: mono SOUNDBOARD cassette (copied from linear VHS videotape on June 14, 1978).
! R: Lineage: Closed Circuit In House Videotape > linear (mono) VHS Tape > Alan Bershaw’s Maxell UDXL2 cassette with Dolby B (playback on Nakamichi Dragon with Dolby B in) > Lexicon Lambda > Logic (track indexing and amplifying levels only) > Wav 16/44.1-> FLAC. Transfer by Rob Nolan on September 7, 2012: Alan’s CDR-> Wav 16/44.1 > FLAC.
! R: seeder notes: The only notable flaw on this recording is a glitch at 8:32 into Russian Lullaby, during John Kahn’s bass solo with an unknown amount missing.
! R: seeder notes: This is a mono soundboard recording that is very clean considering the lineage.
! P: t01 MITR reminds me again of the very distinctive vocals from this tour. They are gackshredded, which of course isn’t uncommon for ca. 1978. What’s really different is Garcia’s phrasings. Think about the care early Dylan took with his phrasings … this Garcia is in that same conceptual space. Partly, first, it’s just managing an otolaryngological system that is getting torn to shreds by blow, among other things. (I am not sure what smoking persian would do to one’s throat.) But I’d add a second piece: having just come out of the studio, and just made a record that he felt was his finest, I think he is just in an articulate-the-words kind of space. The vocals on Cats Under the Stars are stellar, and beautifully recorded by Betty in the custom-built space at Club Front. Jerry would only learn later, to his profound pain, that the album would be a commercial failure.
! P: t01 MITR there are some nice pyrotechnics here, but for whatever reason this one doesn’t kick me in the crotch. I should try to listen again and see how I feel.
! R: t01 fade to splice at end of track
! P: t02 RL Kahn bass solo from about 6:55-9ish
! R: t02 glitch @ 8:32 reported by seeder. I didn’t hear it.
! P: t06 TNTDODD time stops at 6:20 while everyone in the band nods off for just a second or two.
! t06 (1) JG: “Thank you. Thank you. See y’all later on.” He is really, really hoarse (of course).
! song: t07 Rhapsody In Red is a special song selection. Listen to Donna Jean and Maria doing their album backing vocals after the 2:30 mark. So clear on this tape. They wouldn’t do it very often with this precision, and this is a very good reprsentation of the genre.
! P: t07 Rhapsody In Red: John’s run downs at 4:40ff are just ridiculously well-recorded. At 5:30 I want to say “rudimentary, but well-recorded”, but then around 5:40 Garcia starts smashing glass with his guitar, up to 6:08. I am supposed to fall over from the fanning he just did, real rock star stuff, but, on this listen, it’s doesn’t cut me the way smashing glass should.
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