I first heard 12/13/83 in 2003, when Andrew Faintych sent me tapes from both shows recorded with Senn 421s from the 10th row by “Tom from Avon, NJ”. In 2005, Bu lent me his DAT of an unattributed aud, and minches and I did our transferring and lossless thing as shnid-31253. shnid-77710 came around in 2006, and I think I listened to it in 2009. shnid-133469 came by in 2015, and I must have listened to it because I have timings, although I have no performance notes. Most recently came 151810 of the late show. It’s a sign of my generalized appreciation for this show and tour that I have spun all of these, while countless hundreds of filesets, and probably a dozen or more from this very tour, sit unheard.
Given that weird batch of data, I thought I’d post all my listening notes, and present some extractions, maybe with rough datings, going in performance order. The listening notes comes last, the extractions of comments through the performance are in the middle, and the executive summary comes first.
1. What do we learn from this?
Probably not that much.
I am consistent in timing the blast-off of the early set Deal around 3:45 in, and I also note how it finds an open space at the end which I think is quite uncommon. Now of course I want to listen to the rest of the tour to see. But it’s cool and worth checking out.
The late show setlist draws my eye throughout time, but I may well find that the performance doesn’t quite live up to it (though my 2009 self raved).
One version of me called the late show “Catfish John” an all-timer, though others didn’t bother to make a single note. Similarly, on the most recent listen I found the TUIB pretty compelling, but not so much on earlier listens (to other filesets). 2021 me also raved about the Rhapsody In Red from the Nak 300s, while others did not. The Don’t Let Go gets similar notations re the vocal-instrumental doubling around 4 minutes in, and two mes also noted the sweet transition into Mid Moon. 2021 me made the particular note that DLG never returned to the song. On current thinking, that seems exceptionally rare. When did Garcia leave a song unfinished like that outside the Dead? Update: 12/4/83b DLG > Deal segue may be another case, need to double-check if DLG reprises.
2. Note Extractions
A. 1983-12-13 [Tue] Early Wilkins Theatre, Kean College, Union, NJ
Encore:
B. 1983-12-13 [Tue] Late Wilkins Theatre, Kean College, Union, NJ
Set 1:
Set 2:
2021: Mid Moon has an extra special galloping quality to signify not just the end of the show, but the end of the tour. I don’t know if it’s the fastest version ever, but it’s done really fast.
Listening notes below the fold.
3. Listening Notes
31253
Jerry Garcia Band
Wilkins Theatre, Kean College
1000 Morris Avenue
Union, NJ 07083
December 13, 1983 (Tuesday) –
Early and Late Shows
MAC Minches shnid-31253
-early show main set + encore (8
tracks, 69:06)–
–early show main set (7 tracks,
60:30)
e-t01. ambience [0:13]
e-t02. Mission In The Rain [11:07]
[0:06]
e-t03. /They Love Each Other
[#7:00] [0:36]
e-t04. Simple Twist Of Fate
[14:31] [0:04]
e-t05. Run For The Roses [5:07]
[0:07]
e-t06. I Second That Emotion
[9:48] [0:06]
e-t07. Deal [11:28] [0:12]
–early show encore (1 track,
8:36)–
e-t08. How Sweet It Is (To Be
Loved By You) [8:36]
–late show, set I (5 tracks,
54:23)–
l-s1-t01. Cats Under the Stars
[10:06] [0:04]
l-s1-t02. Catfish John [12:47]
l-s1-t03. Someday Baby [9:03]
[0:25]
l-s1-t04. Love In The Afternoon
[9:16] ->
l-s1-t05. Tangled Up In Blue
[12:35] [0:05]
–late show, set II (4 tracks,
40:09)–
l-s2-t01. Rhapsody In Red [11:41]
[0:06]
l-s2-t02. Gomorrah [6:03] ->
l-s2-t03. Don’t Let Go [15:25]
->
l-s2-t04. Midnight Moonlight
[6:48] [0:04]
! ACT1: JGB #21a
! lineup: Jerry Garcia – electric
guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn – electric
bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals –
keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper – drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch –
vocals;
! lineup: DeeDee Dickerson –
vocals.
JGMF:
! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / =
clipped song; // = cut song; … = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [m: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 [m:ss] 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/19831213-01
(early); https://jerrybase.com/events/19831213-02 (late)
! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/31253 (MAC early late, this
fileset); https://etreedb.org/shn/77710 (Newberger early-late);
https://etreedb.org/shn/133469 (Newberger early alt path to lossless);
https://etreedb.org/shn/151809 (Nak 300s late).
! map: https://goo.gl/maps/lhE48
! JGBP:
http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/wilkins-theatre-kean-college-1000.html
! band: JGB #21a http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html
! On the tour itinerary, see JGMF, “On the Bus with the
Garcia Band,” URL
http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2016/02/on-bus-with-garcia-band.html.
! R: MAC (unknown taper & gear) > Nakamichia CR7A
playback > Panasonic 3700 DAT > Tascam DA-30 > Digital Domain VSP-P
> Digital Audio Labs Card Deluxe soundcard > hard drive > Cool Edit
2000 > Shntool > FLAC. Transfer
and FLAC encoding by David Minches, minor editing and info by jjoops.
! R: Nice tapes. A little
bit of hiss, tightly edited, some rough tape transitions, but basically really
good.
! P: from ca. 2009:
Great setlists (especially the late show), and really terrific
performances. The vocals are a little
rough, but there is some sparkling late ’83 guitar work here, lots of
energy. I found the early show Deal
(check out the solo @ 3:45!) and How Sweet particularly hot. The late show
Catfish John is an all-time version of that song, tight all the way through and
then really cooking from about the 10-minute mark. The second set of the late show is maybe just
a touch disappointing, but probably only because the setlist raises
expectations so much.
! R: I used an alternate aud (Taped by “Tom from Avon,
NJ”, Senn 421s [hand-held, about ten rows back in front of the backup
singers] > Sony D5 MAC [MX-90s] > 1st gen cassette [MA-90s] > Tascam
CD-R44 master CDs > subsequent CDs > EAC > wav) to patch the clipped
end of Mission in the Rain (basically the crowd) and the start of Second That
Emotion (until 5.532 with a .5s crossfade). These and other minor edits
(smoothing a few tape transitions, smoothing a glitch @ 4:59 of TUIB), were
done using Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 7.0. Thanks to Marcus Buick for the
source DAT!
~~~~~~~~~~
77710
Jerry Garcia Band
Wilkins Theatre, Kean College
1000 Morris Avenue
Union, NJ 07083
December 13, 1983 (Tuesday) –
Early and Late shows
Newberger MAC shnid-77710 renamed
to show-set
–early show set + encore (7
tracks, 70:01)–
–early show main set (6 tracks, 61:01)–
a-t01. [0:40] Mission In The Rain
[11:11] % [0:05]
a-t02. [0:04] % /They Love Each
Other [#7:07] [0:06] %
a-t03. [0:06] Simple Twist Of Fate
[14:40] [0:02] %
a-t04. Run For The Roses [5:12]
[0:03] %
a-t05. /I Second That Emotion
[9:51] [0:05] ->
a-t06. Deal [11:43] (1) [0:04] %
–early show encore (1 track,
9:01)–
a-t07. [0:08] How Sweet It Is (To
Be Loved By You) [8:46] (2) [0:07] %
–late show, set I (5 tracks, 56:53)–
b-s1t01. [0:16] Cats Under The
Stars [10:13] [0:05] %
b-s1t02. Catfish John [13:03]
[0:08] %
b-s1t03. [0:06] Someday Baby -9:18
-9:26 %
b-s1t04. [0:15] Love In The
Afternoon 9:28] -> // [0:03]
b-s1t05. /Tangled Up In Blue
[#13:54] (3) [0:03]
–late show, set II (4 tracks, 32:38)–
b-s2t01. [0:05] Rhapsody In Red
[12:00] [0:04] % [0:06]
b-s2t02. Gomorrah [6:10] ->
b-s2t03. Don’t Let Go // > ~
9:50 (cut)
b-s2t04. Midnight Moonlight // ~ 4:22 (cut)
! ACT1: JGB #21a
! lineup: Jerry Garcia – electric
guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn – electric
bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals –
keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper – drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch –
vocals;
! lineup: DeeDee Dickerson – vocals.
JGMF:
! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / =
clipped song; // = cut song; … = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [m: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 [m:ss] 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/19831213-01
(early), https://jerrybase.com/events/19831213-02 (late)
! JGC:
http://jerrygarcia.com/show/1983-12-13-wilkins-theatre-kean-college-union-nj/
! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/32210 (MAC Minches
early-late); https://etreedb.org/shn/77710 (Newberger early-late this fileset);
https://etreedb.org/shn/133469 (same source tape, early show, added gen but
less NR); https://etreedb.org/shn/151810 (late show, Nak 300).
! map: https://goo.gl/maps/lhE48
! JGBP:
http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/wilkins-theatre-kean-college-1000.html
! band: JGB #21a
http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html
! On the tour itinerary, see JGMF, “On the Bus with the
Garcia Band,” URL
http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2016/02/on-bus-with-garcia-band.html.
! historical: Tuesday night to end the tour. This must have
been right after semester finals?
! R: field recordist: John Newberger, info per cassette
source Craig Eggar ca. 1/31/2008 to shnid-77710.
! R: field recording equipment: 2x Nakamichi 300 > Sony
D6;
! R: source tape: GoodBear cassettes (“late 1990s
thanks to Craig Eggar”);
! R: transfer: GoodBear Computer (“perhaps minor editing”)
> GoodBear CDs > EAC > FLAC.
! R: “Seeded 8/31/2006 by Teddy “GoodBear”
Selby – A Teddy “GoodBear” Production ~ www.goodbear.com
:wave:”.
! R: If you have ever had the perfect seat in an
acoustically perfect small theater, where cool breeze sound meets clear sight
lines in a plush chair, you get some sense of what this tape sounds like. This
is a beautiful representation of ambient recording in a great little room,
fulll and open and comfy-spacious. It’s too upfront to be an album quality
release, vocals too low, some PA problems, that sort of thing. But the tape
imparts a room-feel that no purely verbal and/or visual representations could,
that’s for sure. A pleasure for me to listen to this tape. Thank you, Mr.
Newberger.
! P: a-t01 the start of MITR is very off sounding. What a
weird sounding tape. Where is John Kahn? It’s a little cringeworthy for me, as
MITR could sometimes be – once he lost the fall 1975 voice with which he
originally sang it, it took him years to find an arrangement that really worked
– probably not until 1987. I am really enjoying the raindrop notes Garcia’s
painting on the ceiling of the room, and, 8:20 and a nice note 8:40. Some
excellent liquid playing. It’s much better to play than sing, sometimes. Melvin
stepping up a little bit early 9. I need to check how long this has been
instrumental, and how much lyric this covers. Great instrumental break! @ 9:51
“all the things I planned to do I only did halfway … tomorrow will be
Sunday born of rainy Saturday”
! R: a-t01 MITR is there a blown drum or something 4:44?
Something overloading somewhere, maybe in the PA, the bass not being presented
distortion-free.
! P: a-t02 TLEO wanna hear what Kemper can do for you? Check
out 3:04-3:08 of this TLEO. He just does a great driving run to enthuse Melvin
for his feature, which sounds fine. Sounds like his fast hard start to TWLWMYD,
but in a totall different context. Great drumming, looking way ahead and
navigating the whole band to the ‘1’, everyone gets comfortable.
! P: a-t03 STOF my God you understand exactly why Garcia
loves this song. He is giving this great Dylan a great treatment. Carefully
phrasing himself. John takes a lead ca. 6:50. Still leading early 9, Garcia has
been playing an ethereal bowing sound behind John, who’s still fluttering
around until Jerry takes over 9:56. That was maybe a little abrupt on poor ol’
John, but Jerry has something to say. John is still doing his lead style
through 10:30, so a very nice dual thing from them. Good for John not to take
getting cut off lying down, but I, for one, vote that it’s Jerry’s turn. John
had stayed very forward into early 11, by 11:30 he drops back into his normal
STOF swing. I think that, overall, this is an excellent STOF.
! R: a-t03 STOF bad crackling and issues 6-minute range,
loose mic cable or something.
! P: a-t06 Deal @ 3:55 this one had been dragging for me a
little, then to trigger the frenzy, David Kemper just hammers down the drums
and forces Jerry into action. Jerry snaps to a higher level, immediately
dialing in some fuzz and juice. That piece right from late 3 over 4 is pretty
smokin’. @ 5:13 Jerry writes a nice sentence, everyone is playing well. The
drummer is a freaking MONSTER. Band is active but indistinct, perhaps recording
or PA issue. Organ big and full in all of the spaces, painting in every
contour. Jerry very high to frets 6:20. This Deal goes to a totally unique
space 10 min mark, almost letting it breathe … very rare for JGB to enter
this space. They find the ‘1’ and come back 10:50. John Kahn sounds lost, or is
just not available. Not sure this is entirely successful, a little strange
sounding. Unusual.
! a-t06 (1) JG: “Thanks a lot. See ya later on.”
! a-t07 (2) JG: inaudible, something like see ya later.
! R: b-s1t04 LITA there is some kind of buzz really
bothering me 3-min mark, not sure what it is (or if it even is).
! P: s1t05 TUIB and this whole set, Jerry sounds a little
tired to me. Kemper picks up the tempo 1:30ff. Pretty good TUIB.
! b-s1t05 (3) JG: “We’re gonna take a break for a few
minutes. We’ll be back in a little while.”
~~~~~~~~~~
133469
JERRY GARCIA BAND
Wilkins Theatre, Keane College
1000 Morris Avenue
Union, NJ 07083
December 13, 1983 (Tuesday) – 8 PM
early show
69:33)–
–main set (7 tracks, 60:38)–
a-t01. crowd [0:40]
a-t02. Mission in the Rain [11:04]
[0:13] %
a-t03. They Love Each Other [7:04]
[0:06] %
a-t04. Simple Twist of Fate
[14:39] [0:03] %
a-t05. Run for the Roses [5:09]
[0:12] %
a-t06. I Second That Emotion [9:54]
[0:02]
a-t07. Deal [11:36] (1) [0:06] %
–encore (1 track, 8:54)–
a-t08. How Sweet It Is (To Be
Loved By You) [8:51] [0:04]
! ACT1: JGB #21a
! lineup: Jerry Garcia – electric
guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn – electric
bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals –
keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper – drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch –
vocals;
! lineup: DeeDee Dickerson – vocals.
JGMF:
! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / =
clipped song; // = cut song; … = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [m: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 [m:ss] 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/19831213-01
! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/31253 (MAC early late);
https://etreedb.org/shn/77710 (Newberger early-late);
https://etreedb.org/shn/133469 (Newberger early alt path to lossless, this
fileset).
! map: https://goo.gl/maps/lhE48
! JGBP:
http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/wilkins-theatre-kean-college-1000.html
! band: JGB #21a
http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html
! On the tour itinerary, see JGMF, “On the Bus with the
Garcia Band,” URL
http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2016/02/on-bus-with-garcia-band.html.
! R: field recordist: John Newberger
! R: field recording gear: 2x Nakamichi CM300 > lead
decks(?) > Sony WM-D6
! R: source: Low-gen cassette copy kindly provided by
Seaweed1010.
! R: Transfer: Maxell XLIIS > Nakamichi CR-5A > Edirol
FA-66 > Wavelab 2448 > R8Brain > CD-Wave > TLH > FLAC 1644
tagged, by Andrew F. 06/2015
! R: seeder note: “Lineage as reported in shnid-77710.
This tape derives from the same root MAC as shnid-77710, however this version
does not have the phase-flip issue nor the aggressive noise reduction that was
applied to that tape. Patch from shnid-31253 for the first two seconds of I
Second That Emotion.”
! P: a-t04 John feature 6:45ff.
! a-t07 (1) JG: “Thanks a lot. See ya later on.”
~~~~~~~~~~
151810
Jerry Garcia Band
Wilkins Theatre, Kean College
1000 Morris Avenue
Union, NJ 07083
December 13, 1983 (Tuesday) – Late
Show (10 PM, supposedly)
Nak 300s via JJ Hance and
Joebeacon shnid-151810
–set I (5 tracks, 52:57)–
s1t01. [0:07] Cats Under The Stars
[9:47] % [0:04]
s1t02. Catfish John [12:24] %
[0:02]
s1t03. /Someday Baby [#8:49]
[0:16] % [0:06]
s1t04. Love In The Afternoon
[9:02] ->
s1t05. Tangled Up In Blue [12:#16]
(1) [0:04]
-set II (4 tracks, 39:10)–
s2t06. /Rhapsody In Red [#11:23]
[0:02] %
s2t07. Gomorrah [5:57] ->
s2t08. Don’t Let Go [15:05] ->
s2t09. Midnight Moonlight [6:39]
(2) [0:05]
! ACT1: JGB #21a
! lineup: Jerry Garcia – electric
guitar, vocals;
! lineup: John Kahn – electric
bass;
! lineup: Melvin Seals –
keyboards;
! lineup: David Kemper – drums;
! lineup: Jacklyn LaBranch –
vocals;
! lineup: DeeDee Dickerson – vocals.
JGMF:
! Recording: symbols: % = recording discontinuity; / =
clipped song; // = cut song; … = fade in/out; # = truncated timing; [m: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 [m:ss] 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/19831213-01
(early); https://jerrybase.com/events/19831213-02 (late)
! db: https://etreedb.org/shn/31253 (MAC early late,);
https://etreedb.org/shn/77710 (Newberger early-late); https://etreedb.org/shn/151809 (Nak 300s
late, this fileset).
! map: https://goo.gl/maps/lhE48
! JGBP: http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/07/wilkins-theatre-kean-college-1000.html
! band: JGB #21a
http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcia-band-personnel-1975-1995.html
! On the tour itinerary, see JGMF, “On the Bus with the
Garcia Band,” URL http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2016/02/on-bus-with-garcia-band.html.
! R: field recordist: unknown
! R: field recording gear: 2x Nakamichi 300 > Sony D5
! R: transfer: Sony UX Pro 90 Cassette > Nak Dragon >
Korg MR1000 DFF @5.6mhz > Audiogate @ 24/88.2 Wave > Wavelab 6 > Ozone
Rx7A > 24 Bit Files > Adobe Audition
> Traders Little Helper. Editing by John Jay Hance & Joe D’Amico
”AKA” Joebeacon.
! R: seeder notes: (tape archaeology) Justin Kreutzman Gave
A Box Of Tapes To A Guy Named Rudy. Rudy Lent The Box To Pete Jaeger In The Box
Were All Master Recordings And JGB 1983 Soundboards. This Recording Came Off
The Master Recording. Taper For This Recording Is Unknown But The Box Came From
Harry Popic Who Ran Monitor Board Who Gave Box To Justin. Most Likely This Was
Recorded With Nak 300 Mics > Sony D5 On A Stand At The Board. Joebeacon :
All I Did Was Tracked, flac’d And Tagged Files.
! R: s1t03 Someday Baby clips in
! P: s1t03 Someday Baby a big ol yikes on the vocal clam on
the first “worry my mind”. He slows down and girds himself for the
second one and it’s a little better.
! P: s1t05 TUIB is on fiyah, notes flying all over the
place, spraying around indiscriminately at moments, but with laser focus at
others. Around 9:30 Jerry takes TUIB a little out! Whoa, this is pretty bonkers.
! R: s1t05 TUIB splice @ 4:51, probable tape flip
! s1t05 (1) JG: “Thank you. We’re gonna take a break
for a little while [inaudible]”
! R: s2t06 RIR clips in
! P: s2t06 RIR HUGE chordal approach 5ff. The ladies tried
to sing the chorus and Garcia just bulldozed, now 5:47 doing that syncopated
galloping. Loud. Screaming again 9:34. John sounding strong here, too.
! P: s2t08 DLG nice vocal-guitar doubling 4. Steps out into
a mode at 4:53. Man I dug this DLG. Garcia just put his head down and played
with total determination for like 8 straight minutes. Melvin did some nice
chunky stuff relatively early on, everyone else did their thing, but this
version just found Jerry having a lot to say, and saying it. And then,
fascinating true segue to Mid Moon – he never did reprise DLG, which is very
rare indeed.
! P: s2t09 Mid Moon has an extra special galloping quality
to signify not just the end of the show, but the end of the tour. I don’t know
if it’s the fastest version ever, but it’s done really fast.
! R: s2t09 Mid Moon last 8 seconds spliced in from unknown
source.
! s2t09 (2) JG: “Thanks a lot. See y’all later.”
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