Twin Wonder Powers, Activate? JGMS, October 11-12, 1973 at Keystone Berkeley

Purchased in a storage auction in May 1986 along with the rest of the Betties, but lost to broader reckoning for around a decade before they became available to Rob Eaton for preservation in 1995-1996, some of these tapes still do not circulate. Fall ’73 Garcia-Saunders tapes came into the world relatively late: the Winterland Legal Aid Benefit from 10/2/73 (etreedb | JGMF) in 2007 via Alligator, 11/3/73 (etreedb | JGMF) on NYE 2012-2013, and these October 11-12 shows only in 2016, almost twenty years after they were first digitized. Remarkably enough, all of these tapes are now home where they belong, having been gathered together by the ABCD crew and returned to their owners at no profit (in the case of the GD tapes) and at no cost (in the case of the Jerry stuff) – that is, effectively, pro bono. Will Wonders never cease?

Stevie Wonder in the Garciaverse

Speaking of which, let me use the occasion of twin Stevie Wonder tunes on October 11, 1973 to pin down Garcia’s engagements with that legend’s compositions, all of which occurred in the company of Merl Saunders. Alphabetically, I identify the following, all of which except “Reggae Woman” were done as instrumentals in the Garciaverse.

“Another Star” (Allan | deaddisc | wikipedia)
A hotty from 1976’s double-sized Songs in the Key of Life, Garcia played it, hotly, with Reconstruction throughout that band’s eight-month run in 1979.

“Boogie On Reggae Woman” (Allan | deaddisc | wikipedia)
From Fulfillingness’ First Finale (1974), Merl sang this one very effectively starting on 11/2/74, on current reckoning (with Paul Humphrey drumming), appearing regularly until the demise of the Legion of Mary in summer 1975.

“Creepin’” (Allan | deaddisc | wikipedia)
Also from FFF, this one never lit me up during its 1975 Garciaverse appearances.

“I Was Made To Love Her” (Allan | deaddisc | wikipedia)
This 1967 title track, by contrast, almost always lit me up. It seems to have been one of the first songs in the Garcia-Saunders repertoire, showing up in setlists as early as Fall 1971, but also, regrettably, left relatively early, not making it past 1973. Indeed, the version I discuss below seems to represent its last known appearance in a Garcia setlist.

“Love Having You Around”
Garcia played this one, the first track from Stevie’s 1972 Music of my Mind, with Aunt Monk at a San Francisco bar called the Generosity on May 9, 1975. There is rumor of at least one other Garciaverse performance, but details remain hazy.


You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (Allan | wikipedia)

Of course, please let me know if I am missing anything!

As a final note, the 10/11 show here features two of these numbers, and it looks to me like, besides this night, Merl and Jer and others played two Stevie tunes three other times, on 2/14/75, 3/1/75 and 4/10/75a. Every one of those occasions paired “Creepin’” and “Boogie On Reggae Woman” (and Creepin’ only appeared once w/o BORW, 5/21/75).

This night, by contrast, we get the final JGMS version of “I Was Made To Love Her”, played more slowly than any other Garciaverse version, and the singleton “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life”, given a pretty spare and off-feeling 15-minute treatment.

What does this mean? Hell if I know. I am just pattern-matching.

On To The Music

The October 11-12, 1973 Garcia-Saunders performances at the Keystone strike me as, respectively, lackluster and about average. The first night proves especially disappointing, because look at that setlist, but boy is it low energy.

JGMS 10/11/73 reel #2, scan provided courtesy of ABCD. The handwriting is Rex Jackson’s, and the information is very typical for how he labeled the tapes, with personnel characteristically listed (Merle [sic], “Kawn” [a joke]), date, DOW, venue on the left, and, on the right, we have reel #, speed and recording info, including “Revox”, indicating that this was made on Rex’s deck rather than Betty’s Nagra. Oh yeah, one final note: those are mold stains along the bottom of the box. The Third Batch of Betties spent a long time in some pretty horrifying conditions, and Eaton worked heroically to preserve them.

“I Was Made To Love Her” – one of the great, poppin’ vehicles for this band, is played too slowly and never really gets going. It would be permanently shelved after this performance.

“When I Paint My Masterpiece” – not a favorite of mine, but it was rare and Dylan is always interesting. Not much of note happens here, quite subdued, and ol’ Jer puts it on the shelf until 1/20/80.

“One Kind Favor” – one of my very favorites, the version from the Cap in Passaic a month earlier, in the band’s first out-of-state show, absolutely slays me. This one, again, never reaches any kind of boil.

“You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” – John is totally on this, but Garcia doesn’t really know how it goes, maybe not in the right key? This sounds kind of like piano lounge stuff.

Even the “Harder They Come” from the 11th holds lots of flubbing and falling apart.

An off night, I guess. Probably the dullest ’73 Garcia-Saunders show in circulation, despite the sexy setlist. What are you gonna do?

The next night comes out with more juice and sounds stronger overall to my ears on this listen, but After Midnight quickly returns things to the languid pace of the previous evening. “Train To Cry”, very much not a favorite of mine, has perhaps never been played more slowly by anyone, ever. “My Funny Valentine” sounds great to my ears, and Jerry really lets it melt for awhile – probably the highlight to my ears. But, overall, and of course IMO (YMMV), 10/12/73 pales in comparison to every other show in circulation from the year, except the night before. Two weeks later, on 11/3/73, the band sets my hair on fire. Here? Well, not so much. And, somehow, the first 40 minutes of reel #1 turn up blank. Hm. Every night can’t be amazing, I guess.

All of that said, and perhaps especially because it doesn’t knock me out, I am inexpressibly grateful to all involved in getting these recordings into our ears: Betty and Rex, RE, Alligator and the rest, and to ABCD for doing the right thing by these precious artifacts.

Listening notes below the fold.

LN jg1973-10-11.jgms.all.sbd.136639.flac1648

Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
October 11, 1973 (Thursday)
MSR > D post-Alligator shnid-136639

–set I (5 tracks, 53:31)–
s1t01. //Someday Baby [#8:16] [1:53]
s1t02. I Was Made To Love Her [12:15] [1:34]
s1t03. When I Paint My Masterpiece [10:44] [1:06]
s1t04. Mystery Train [10:23] [1:08]
s1t05. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [5:54] %

–set II (4 tracks, 53:44)–
s2t01. //I Second That Emotion [#11:22] [1:14]
s2t02. One Kind Favor [9:57] [1:24]
s2t03. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life [15:19] [1:57]
s2t06. Harder They Come [12:08] (2) [0:23]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
! lineup: Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals
! lineup: Merl Saunders – keyboards, vocals
! lineup: John Kahn – bass
! lineup: Bill Vitt – drums

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; … = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [mm:ss] = 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/19731011-01

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1973-10-11

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/136639 (this fileset)

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/LDc43

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html

! R: MSR (2x 10″ Scotch 207 @ 7.5ips 1/2 trk on Rex’s Revox) > DATx > ?? > flac1648.

! R: seed notes: this version has been provided by an anonymous source – this (most excellent sounding) show has never circulated in any form – “Sunshine Of My Life” – performed once by Garcia/Saunders – “I Second That Emotion” is missing a couple notes at the start of set 2 – lots of level adjustments have been made – various artifacts have been removed and a number of other repairs have been done – a light hum and crackle removement [sic] has been performed between some tracks  – all files have been tagged.

! R: for some reason, the set II files were labeled starting 3-4-5-6, rather than 1-2-3-4 or even 6-7-8-9.

! R: God, Betty, you amazing woman. Great tape, but for a persistent buzz.

! P: I am listening to the 11th and 12th in proximity, as a set. This one brings a weird sound and vibe, extremely lethargic. IWMTLH never takes off. Garcia sounds subdued for Masterpiece. Overall, a huge disappointment, and the second night just a little better.

! R: s1t01 Someday Baby enters in progress. No vocals in the mix, unless he hasn’t tried singing or we missed the verse, until about 3 minutes in.

! setlist: s1t02 was originally labeled Honey Chile, but it is IWMTLH.

! P: s1t02 IWMTLH – I take second place to no-one in my love for this song, but this version just never tears it up.

! song: “When I Paint My Masterpiece” (s1t03): As far as we know, Garcia wouldn’t play this again until 1/20/80. It had seemingly formed a staple of the mach II JGMS band, the one that emerged in summer 1971, featuring Garcia singing some tunes, as opposed to the out and open instrumental weirdness that I theorize had characterized the repertoire from fall 1970 through spring 1971. There is so little tape, we just don’t know, but that’s my hunch.

! s1t05 (1) JG: “Thanks a lot. We’re gonna take a break for a little while, be back in a little bit.”

! R: s2t01 ISTE Betty missed the head again.

! P: s2t01 ISTE about 1:30 Garcia asks for more monitors.

! song: “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” (s2t03): This 1973 single released by Stevie Wonder represents a Garciaverse singleton. The song became Wonder’s third #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and his first #1 on the Easy Listening chart. It won Wonder a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. This song was the second single released from the 1972 album entitled Talking Book (Tamla T 319 L, October 27, 1972).

! P: s2t03 YATSOML Garcia doesn’t really know how it goes, not in the right key? John is right on it, natch.

! P: s2t04 HTC drummer loses the beat about 3:35 for a bit. This fell apart again late 11. Bad version.

! s1t06 (2) JG: “See y’all later.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LN jg1973-10-12.jgms.s1ps2.sbd-alligator.136779.flac1648

Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
Keystone
2119 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
October 12, 1973 (Friday)
MSR > D post-Alligator shnid-136779

–set I (2 tracks, incomplete [end of set], 24:25)–
s1t01. //That’s Alright Mama [#10:43] [0:15]
s1t02. After Midnight [12:21] (1) [0:12] % pre-set II (2) [0:54]

–set II (4 tracks, 60:26)–
s2t03. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry [9:07] (3) [0:30]
s2t04. Someday Baby [15:17] [0:17]
s2t05. My Funny Valentine [23:31] [0:53]
s2t06. Harder They Come [10:37] [0:15]

! ACT1: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
! lineup: Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals;
! lineup: Merl Saunders – keyboards, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn – bass;
! lineup: Bill Vitt – drums.

JGMF:

! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / = clipped song; // = cut song; … = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [mm:ss] = 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/19731012-01

! JGC: http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1973-10-12

! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/136779 (this fileset)

! map: https://goo.gl/maps/LDc43

! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/02/keystone-2119-university-avenue.html

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html

! venue: URL http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html

! R: MSR (2x 10″ Scotch 207 @ 7.5ips 1/2 trk on Rex’s Revox) > DATx > ?? > flac1648. The first 40 minutes of reel #1 were blank.

! R: seed notes: – this version has been provided by an anonymous source – this (most excellent sounding) show has never circulated in any form – obviously a couple tunes are missing from the first set, but it’s all that’s available – lots of level adjustments have been made – various artifacts have been removed and a number of other repairs have been done – all files have been tagged.

! P: I am listening to the 11th and 12th in proximity, as a set. Right out of the gate with TAM, this show is bringing bigger, cleaner energy than anything they did the night before. I found the 11th to be pretty draggy and dreadful, actually. Yet, this show ends up disappointing me, too.

! R: s1t01 TAM cuts in

! P: s1t01 TAM good energy

! P: s1t02 AM languidly paced, and Garcia falls out of tune, with the band out of step, in the 10-range.

! t02 (1) JG: “Thank you. We’re gonna take a break for a little while. We’ll be back in a little bit. Thanks.”

! t02 (2) JG: “Hey Mr. PA man, don’t ride the levels on the instruments … please.”

! P: s2t03 ITALTL, ITATTC this may be the slowest pace at which this tune has been played, by anyone, ever. zzzzzzzzzzzz

! s2t03 (3) Some dude asks for “Lonely Avenue”, almost gets Garcia’s attention. He requests it again before MFV.

! P: s2t04 Someday Baby he sort of strains on the “worry” in the 9-min range and it seems to throw him off his game a little bit.

! P: s2t05 MFV gets extremely melty, totally out for a while, e.g., in 17-min mark. Garcia returns to head 18:35ish, but then noodles away from it 18:45.