A few years ago Corry uncovered a whole trove of previously unknown NRPS shows in 1969. Among others, these included gigs in their old Palo Alto stomping grounds, playing the Poppycock (135 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA, 94301) on consecutive Thursdays in November (November 13, 1969 and November 20, 1969). I am still hiatus, so I don’t have time to contemplate these guys playing Palo Alto in 1969 at the Poppycock —about which, of course, Corry is also authoritative– for very long. But it sure does have a lot of intuitive appeal.
So, this new to The List is for him: a Wednesday night NRPS gig at the Poppycock. The night before Thanksgiving. November 26, 1969.
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| entertainment listings, Good Times vol. 2 no. 45 (November 20, 1969), p. unknown. |
Recall that the NRPS reprised the night-before-Thanksgiving gig the next year, 11/25/70 at the Keystone Korner. That, of course, would be an auspicious occasion: the first booking with Freddie Herrera, who would be the second cornerstone of Garcia’s non-GD professional musical life (after John Kahn, the rock of the church) until Garcia left for Bill Graham and a bigger room in 1987. But gigging with friends around Thanksgiving does seem to have been a nice little tradition. Sure wish I could have been around to hear them on this night, on well-trod ground, in 1969!
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