That warmish-dampish-Motel-6-towel feeling, without the hygiene – JGB at Keystone Palo Alto, February 4, 1982

LN jg1982-02-04.jgb.all.aud-CC.xxxxxx.flac2448

I have always found early 1982 to be an exceptionally weak period for the Jerry Garcia Band. Jerry’s opiate use has really picked up, but in his side band he didn’t seem able to get back up with blow or whatever. Indeed, to tell the truth I think January, February and March JGB shows are pretty dreadful between 1982-1987. I’ll be checking out some March ’83 soon, I think, partly as a test of the proposition.

Anyway, this show is lethargic. Here’s a great point of contrast: compare this version of “Tangled Up In Blue” with the version from exactly one year prior, 2/4/81 [Jerrybase]. Now, granted, the ’81 show was the first night of an east coast tour, at the Warner in DC. There would have been extra juice, and it’s probably a totally unfair comparison to an off-the-beaten-path, off-night, haven’t-played-in-a-few-weeks show. But the second solo on 2/4/81 (around 5:40) shredded *my* sinuses, after it worked my ears and speakers. 2/4/82’s is more of the warmish-dampish-Motel-6-towel feeling, without the hygiene.

Jerry Garcia Band
Keystone Palo Alto
260 South California Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94306
February 4, 1982 (Thursday)
CC aud flac1644

–set I (5 tracks, 40:52)–
s1t01. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) [7:58] %
s1t02. Mississippi Moon [10:46] [0:07] % % %
s1t03. Mystery Train/ [8:21]
s1t04. Valerie -> // [6:35] %
s1t05. //Deal [#7:03] [0:02]

–set II (5 tracks, 49:42)
s2t01. I Second //That Emotion [8:#33] %
s2t02. Sugaree [11:30] % [0:13]
s2t03. Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [7:58] ->
s2t04. Dear// Prudence [11:#15] ->
s2t05. Tangled Up In Blue [9:53] (1) [0:20]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia Band #14c
! lineup: Jerry Garcia – el-g, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn – el-b;
! lineup: Jimmy Warren – electric keyboards;
! lineup: Melvin Seals – organ;
! lineup: Bill Kreutzmann – drums;
! lineup: Julie Stafford – vocals;
! lineup: Liz Stires – vocals.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; … = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [x:xx] = 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/19820204-01

! jerrgarcia.com: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1982-02-04-keystone-palo-alto-palo-alto-ca/

! db: http://etreedb.org/shn/4426 (MSC shnf); http://etreedb.org/shn/83952 (MSC flac1644). No aud in circulation as of 1/25/2014.

! map: http://goo.gl/maps/mog23

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

! band: 14c (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html);

! 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).

! R: not great, not terrible. Vocals are quite low.

! P: s1t01 HSII Jerry really starts not sounding good during this period. He sounds tired when he’s singing. Late 2 min mark he solos, but sounds like they are trying to get mix together. Electric piano after 3-minute mark. Some big PA sharts. He turns up around 4-minute mark and tries again. Guitar is a little louder.

! P: s1t03 MT Jerry usually started the vocals up right away, but here he misses it and they have to go ’round the bases. The tempos aren’t quite together, in general. Kreutzmann with JGB during this period.

! R: s1t03 MT clips out

! R: s1t05 Deal cuts in on goes to show you don’t ever know

! P: s1t05 Deal late 5-min mark Jerry is playing some nice chords with nice tone, but he doesn’t sound very potent.

! R: s2t01 ISTE tape flip splice @ 5:46, unknown missing.

! P: s2t02 Sugaree is flaccid, and s2t03 vocals sound so weak and fragile. Blech.

! historical: here’s a little color for you. The only real piece of between song tape we have (s2t02, after Sugaree) has a guy yell out for “The Wheel” from Garcia’s first solo album. The taper and his friends give a Spiccoli laugh and say something like “fat chance”. Here’s what I hear (which is imagined, but may nonetheless be true): The tapers are locals. Sound like college-age men. Maybe the “Wheel” guy is an out-of-towner, or anyway not a regular. They sound like regulars, sharing an inside joke – they know Garcia’s not gonna play “The Wheel” … they are initiates, while he’s a novitiate. Tribalism.

! R: s2t03-s2t04 taper was going to pause between songs, clipped the segue from TNTDODD to Prudence a little bit.

! s2t05 (1) taper: “That was ‘Dead Air’, February 2, 1982,  Keystone Palo Alto. Weird. Stuff.” Indeed. So weird that you got the date wrong. They played Catalyst on 2/2/82. This was 2/4. But who can really keep track, after all? #methodological point: we would normally give great credience to this kind of evidence. In fact, it should be solid gold. But it’s contradicted by multiple other facts. First, 2/2/82 is known from the Catalyst – there are master tapes and everything. Second, dude is more likely to lose track of date than location. I may not know what day it is, but I generally have a pretty good sense of where I am. Third, this same show circulates from master soundboard cassettes (part of the Kreutzmann soundboard tapes, I gather, but that could be wrong), dated 2/4/82 KPA. The guy was clearly confused: there’s not very much weird about this show at all. It’s pretty bland. (I keed: I know he seems to have had a surreal time this night.)

! 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!

! URL: http://jgmf.blogspot.com