FANS SHARE SPIRIT OF GRATEFUL DEAD
At a time when rock and pop performers are going through the motions of entertaining and departing 20 minutes later, the Grateful Dead's concert at the Mississippi River Festival last night was extraordinary.
They worked - not for a few songs - but for an evening of entertainment that lasted three hours.
Despite technical problems, the concert was a model of what an outdoor rock concert should be. The performers and the audience controlled the evening, and made it grow from a six-man performance into a cast-of-thousands orgy.
The Grateful Dead was the star at the beginning of the evening, when the group quietly played the countrified rock it does so well.
Rock and roll as a genre, a sound, a life force finished the program. The Grateful Dead was on stage, but its delivery of the frenzy the crowd demanded changed the audience from spectators to participants.
The Dead's reputation for integrity was upheld at Edwardsville last night.
The myths that surround the group led a number of ticketless young persons to believe that the Dead supported their plan to storm the gates at the start of the concert, and then donate their dollars to the Legal Defense Fund rather than to the Mississippi River Festival. They were confusing politics with music, something the Dead never does.
"We're not political at all," guitarist Bob Weir said. "We don't give free concerts for any reason or for anybody. We give them because we feel like it. It's just music for music's sake."
The Dead opposes the excessive commercialism in its industry. The group wants the audience to hear its music, whenever and wherever it can. So when the audience filled the $4.50 reserved seats area, after they had paid only for lawn seating, and blocked the tent aisles, despite frequent invocations by the fire marshals, and crowded the apron of the stage, the Dead brought on the music.
Each of the Dead takes a turn singing lead except the drummers. Each lead does a different style best.
When Jerry Garcia sings the blues, as he did with the acoustic guitars, he works his voice into a mood that is not black or white soul, but is pure blue. "Black Peter" and "High Time," from the "Workingman's Dead" album, were two long bluesy numbers that Garcia's easy vocal and sensitive guitar carried over.
Bobby Weir, in a high, simple voice, leads the country numbers. Both Bobby and Jerry handle the folk rock, and it becomes precisely what it should be - traditional tunes given vitality from complex guitar work and guts from a rock beat.
"Silver Threads and Golden Needles" suffered from the early technical problems. But "Cumberland Blues" and "Casey Jones" - "Drivin' that train, high on cocaine, Casey Jones you better watch your speed" - with a blues and folk subject, given the drive of rock and the easy humor of country music, was perfect.
The Dead's three guitars kept numbers like the bluesy "Deep Elem" moving. The rhythm guitar kept the repetitiousness of that and "Candy Man" from dragging while Garcia's inventive lead guitar broadened the songs. "Candy Man" had just the right dopey singsong from the instruments and bitter humor from the singers that it needed.
Ron McKernan sang lead on the hard rock, rhythm and blues, and San Francisco-sounding numbers. His "Good Lovin'," first of the electric numbers that the group did, made it clear that more had changed than instruments. His harmonica made pure rhythm and blues out of the old Junior Parker song that Weir did the vocal on.
One reason why the Dead's concert was so long was that it didn't stop for applause or breaks or a breath of air once it got going.
Each number flowed into the next. Garcia improvised, constructing his solos like a good jazz musician.
Occasional musical cues would lead the group into a line or two of a song, but that was only a brief landing. Most of the time it would take a song and fly.
The power of the clever improvisation grabbed the crowd and the crowd could not be held down. Ron took over the lead and the Dead gave what the kids who were dancing all over the tent and the grass wanted.
The spontaneity of the fever pitch finale was fine. It gave the crowd the freedom that the good sounds and the outdoors demanded. The Dead knew it and that's why the group finished the Concert that way.
But many groups can sing "shake it up Baby." In the wilderness of the last half hour there was the feeling that the crowd was not loving the Dead for itself. It is good that the Dead can do big, bad, raw rock. But the subtleties of its other work is what makes it superior.
(by Mimi Teichman, from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 9 July 1970)
Thanks to Dave Davis.
See also:
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2013/06/july-8-1970-mississippi-river-festival.html
Alas, no tape!
Oct 24, 2017
April 17, 1969: Quadrangle, Washington University, St. Louis
THE LIVING NOT GRATEFUL ABOUT GRATEFUL DEAD
The Grateful Dead gave a rock concert on the Washington University Quadrangle last night, but some county residents were not grateful.
The sound, they said, was enough to wake the dead.
Police in St. Louis County got several calls about midnight complaining that the amplified beat of the acid-rock group from San Francisco was audible a mile away.
About 300 young persons, many in hippie attire, were found grouped around a band shell on the quadrangle, listening to music played to the flashing of psychedelic lights. Police suggested the Grateful Dead stop living it up, and the concert ended.
(from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 18 April 1969)
Thanks to Dave Davis.
Released on Download Series vol. 12.
* * *
An announcement for the 4/18/69 Purdue University show:
GRATEFUL DEAD CONTINUE TO AMAZE
Original 'Acid Rock' Reaches Purdue
"The GRATEFUL DEAD? At Purdue? I don't believe it!" was the first reaction. The second, from another student, was "The GRATEFUL DEAD? Who are they?" Alas, the GRATEFUL DEAD. After all these years one might think that just about everyone knew who they were, if not by hearing them, then at least by reputation. They were the first of the big San Francisco bands, that's right, even before the Jefferson Airplane moved up from Los Angeles. And they probably invented the term "acid rock," for it was they who played at Ken Kesey's notorious "acid tests," wherein a punch bowl containing that nefarious substance would be served up with the music.
But that was years ago. Today, after two records on Warner's, and innumerable live appearances, coast to coast, they are considered by many to be the finest hard rock group in existence. Reviewer after reviewer has been captured by the power of their live performances; performances which, sadly, will probably never be really captured on record.
The reason for this is simple: a GRATEFUL DEAD performance, when they are going, may last for several hours, with absolutely no let-up, as songs merge completely into one another. They played continuously for four hours a few weeks ago in San Francisco, in a show which left everyone agape for weeks, and for which nobody could find the words to describe. And that is in San Francisco, where nothing surprises anybody anymore.
The GRATEFUL DEAD consist of Ronald McKernan ("Pigpen"), vocal; Jerry Garcia, lead guitar; Bill Kreutzmann, drums; Micky Hart, drums; Phil Lesh, bass; Bob Weir, rhythm guitar; and Tom Constanten, keyboards. "Pigpen" used to play the keyboards in the original group, but now has gone over strictly to vocals and snatches of harmonica. And now there are two drummers in the group, instead of one. Very powerful. Very powerful.
Jerry Garcia is one of the hardest and fastest lead guitarists in the business, with a technique comparable to masters such as Clapton and Bloomfield; he is also rumored to be a brilliant bluegrass banjo picker. The rest of the band members are all superb background singers and supporting musicians, and each will have his say before the night is over, if it ever gets to an end at all.
That's it. The GRATEFUL DEAD. At Purdue, FOR REAL. The dance-concerts will be held in the Union Ballrooms, from about 8 to 12 p.m., Friday. Tickets are $3 at the door and $2.50 in advance; they may be purchased under the mural in the center. The proceeds will go to the support of the boycott, and there may be some discussion of the boycott before the concert starts.
Also appearing will be Purdue's gadfly, George Stavis, who claims that his Vanguard record will be available "imminently." He sings and plays funny things on guitars and banjos which are sometimes compared, by people who should know better, to Indian music. A pleasant time is guaranteed for all.
(by George Stavis, from the Purdue Exponent, 17 April 1969)
http://pex.stparchive.com/Archive/PEX/PEX04161969P23.php?tags=grateful%20dead
The Grateful Dead gave a rock concert on the Washington University Quadrangle last night, but some county residents were not grateful.
The sound, they said, was enough to wake the dead.
Police in St. Louis County got several calls about midnight complaining that the amplified beat of the acid-rock group from San Francisco was audible a mile away.
About 300 young persons, many in hippie attire, were found grouped around a band shell on the quadrangle, listening to music played to the flashing of psychedelic lights. Police suggested the Grateful Dead stop living it up, and the concert ended.
(from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 18 April 1969)
Thanks to Dave Davis.
Released on Download Series vol. 12.
* * *
An announcement for the 4/18/69 Purdue University show:
GRATEFUL DEAD CONTINUE TO AMAZE
Original 'Acid Rock' Reaches Purdue
"The GRATEFUL DEAD? At Purdue? I don't believe it!" was the first reaction. The second, from another student, was "The GRATEFUL DEAD? Who are they?" Alas, the GRATEFUL DEAD. After all these years one might think that just about everyone knew who they were, if not by hearing them, then at least by reputation. They were the first of the big San Francisco bands, that's right, even before the Jefferson Airplane moved up from Los Angeles. And they probably invented the term "acid rock," for it was they who played at Ken Kesey's notorious "acid tests," wherein a punch bowl containing that nefarious substance would be served up with the music.
But that was years ago. Today, after two records on Warner's, and innumerable live appearances, coast to coast, they are considered by many to be the finest hard rock group in existence. Reviewer after reviewer has been captured by the power of their live performances; performances which, sadly, will probably never be really captured on record.
The reason for this is simple: a GRATEFUL DEAD performance, when they are going, may last for several hours, with absolutely no let-up, as songs merge completely into one another. They played continuously for four hours a few weeks ago in San Francisco, in a show which left everyone agape for weeks, and for which nobody could find the words to describe. And that is in San Francisco, where nothing surprises anybody anymore.
The GRATEFUL DEAD consist of Ronald McKernan ("Pigpen"), vocal; Jerry Garcia, lead guitar; Bill Kreutzmann, drums; Micky Hart, drums; Phil Lesh, bass; Bob Weir, rhythm guitar; and Tom Constanten, keyboards. "Pigpen" used to play the keyboards in the original group, but now has gone over strictly to vocals and snatches of harmonica. And now there are two drummers in the group, instead of one. Very powerful. Very powerful.
Jerry Garcia is one of the hardest and fastest lead guitarists in the business, with a technique comparable to masters such as Clapton and Bloomfield; he is also rumored to be a brilliant bluegrass banjo picker. The rest of the band members are all superb background singers and supporting musicians, and each will have his say before the night is over, if it ever gets to an end at all.
That's it. The GRATEFUL DEAD. At Purdue, FOR REAL. The dance-concerts will be held in the Union Ballrooms, from about 8 to 12 p.m., Friday. Tickets are $3 at the door and $2.50 in advance; they may be purchased under the mural in the center. The proceeds will go to the support of the boycott, and there may be some discussion of the boycott before the concert starts.
Also appearing will be Purdue's gadfly, George Stavis, who claims that his Vanguard record will be available "imminently." He sings and plays funny things on guitars and banjos which are sometimes compared, by people who should know better, to Indian music. A pleasant time is guaranteed for all.
(by George Stavis, from the Purdue Exponent, 17 April 1969)
http://pex.stparchive.com/Archive/PEX/PEX04161969P23.php?tags=grateful%20dead
April 11, 1969: University of Arizona, Tucson
U OF A ACCUSED OF HALTING SHOW
TUCSON (AP) - The University of Arizona administration was accused yesterday by a member of the Student Peace Association of preventing the campus appearance of a California rock group.
Bruce Marshall, association president, charged that the administration had blocked his efforts to rent the school auditorium for a performance of the Grateful Dead since February.
Marshall said he filed a complaint with Steve Malkin, Associated Students president.
(from the Arizona Republic, 19 March 1969)
* * *
'GRATEFUL DEAD' TO MAKE MUSIC AT UA FRIDAY
The Grateful Dead, one of the earliest "San Francisco sound" rock bands, will appear in concert at the University of Arizona auditorium at 8 p.m. Friday.
Sponsored by the UA Student Peace Assocation... Tickets are priced at $2 and $3. They are available at Student Union Room 106 on the UA Campus.
(from the Arizona Daily Star, 10 April 1969)
* * *
GRATEFUL DEAD UNLEASH WILD SOUNDS AT UA
"We're gonna be here for a long time and just play any old thing," said Jerry Garcia. And the Grateful Dead proceeded to unleash some of the heaviest sounds and probably the most decibels the University of Arizona auditorium has ever held.
The San Francisco rock band moved a capacity audience of at least 2,600 to cheers and dancing in the aisles, assaulting them with a tidal wave of sound from a complex of 35 amplifiers and speakers.
The concert was sponsored by the UA Student Peace Assn. and was dedicated to draft resister Bradley Littlefield, now serving a sentence in the federal prison camp at Stafford.
The seven members of the Dead include Garcia on lead guitar, Tom Constanten on keyboards, Ronald McKernan (Pigpen) doing vocals, Phillip Lesh on bass, Robert Weir, rhythm guitar, and William Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart on drums.
Not to be overlooked is their sound engineer, who sat at a console adjusting each musician's volume so that any of them, including the vocalist, could be heard over the rest of the band.
It was as much a social occasion in its own way as a night at the opera; a large majority of the youthful audience showed up in bellbottoms, headbands, capes, beads, boots and other finery, and once intermission was over people drifted in and out continuously, stopping briefly to dance or talk.
The Dead were as tight musically as they were loose in between numbers; and even though there were four or five separate musical lines going on at once the result was cohesive. Especially outstanding were Garcia's fearsome guitar solos and Lesh's solo-like bass playing, although they, like much of the music, suffered from repetitiveness.
The bulk of their numbers were blues-based tunes extended with lengthy instrumental breaks, amazingly complex in spite of the speed and volume at which they were usually played. Occasionally they worked in a folk or country influence, as in "Walk Me Out in the Morning" or "Sitting on top of the World."
The climax of the almost three-hour concert was [a] visceral driving number that ended with the audience standing up screaming and crowding into the orchestra pit as the Dead called it a night.
(by Richard Saltus, from the Arizona Daily Star, 12 April 1969)
Thanks to Dave Davis.
https://archive.org/details/gd69-04-11.sbd.cotsman.15404.sbeok.shnf
TUCSON (AP) - The University of Arizona administration was accused yesterday by a member of the Student Peace Association of preventing the campus appearance of a California rock group.
Bruce Marshall, association president, charged that the administration had blocked his efforts to rent the school auditorium for a performance of the Grateful Dead since February.
Marshall said he filed a complaint with Steve Malkin, Associated Students president.
(from the Arizona Republic, 19 March 1969)
* * *
'GRATEFUL DEAD' TO MAKE MUSIC AT UA FRIDAY
The Grateful Dead, one of the earliest "San Francisco sound" rock bands, will appear in concert at the University of Arizona auditorium at 8 p.m. Friday.
Sponsored by the UA Student Peace Assocation... Tickets are priced at $2 and $3. They are available at Student Union Room 106 on the UA Campus.
(from the Arizona Daily Star, 10 April 1969)
* * *
GRATEFUL DEAD UNLEASH WILD SOUNDS AT UA
"We're gonna be here for a long time and just play any old thing," said Jerry Garcia. And the Grateful Dead proceeded to unleash some of the heaviest sounds and probably the most decibels the University of Arizona auditorium has ever held.
The San Francisco rock band moved a capacity audience of at least 2,600 to cheers and dancing in the aisles, assaulting them with a tidal wave of sound from a complex of 35 amplifiers and speakers.
The concert was sponsored by the UA Student Peace Assn. and was dedicated to draft resister Bradley Littlefield, now serving a sentence in the federal prison camp at Stafford.
The seven members of the Dead include Garcia on lead guitar, Tom Constanten on keyboards, Ronald McKernan (Pigpen) doing vocals, Phillip Lesh on bass, Robert Weir, rhythm guitar, and William Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart on drums.
Not to be overlooked is their sound engineer, who sat at a console adjusting each musician's volume so that any of them, including the vocalist, could be heard over the rest of the band.
It was as much a social occasion in its own way as a night at the opera; a large majority of the youthful audience showed up in bellbottoms, headbands, capes, beads, boots and other finery, and once intermission was over people drifted in and out continuously, stopping briefly to dance or talk.
The Dead were as tight musically as they were loose in between numbers; and even though there were four or five separate musical lines going on at once the result was cohesive. Especially outstanding were Garcia's fearsome guitar solos and Lesh's solo-like bass playing, although they, like much of the music, suffered from repetitiveness.
The bulk of their numbers were blues-based tunes extended with lengthy instrumental breaks, amazingly complex in spite of the speed and volume at which they were usually played. Occasionally they worked in a folk or country influence, as in "Walk Me Out in the Morning" or "Sitting on top of the World."
The climax of the almost three-hour concert was [a] visceral driving number that ended with the audience standing up screaming and crowding into the orchestra pit as the Dead called it a night.
(by Richard Saltus, from the Arizona Daily Star, 12 April 1969)
Thanks to Dave Davis.
https://archive.org/details/gd69-04-11.sbd.cotsman.15404.sbeok.shnf
Oct 23, 2017
July 4, 1969: Kinetic Playground, Chicago
THE SOUND
WOW. What a terrible day! It was a hot humid Fourth of July, with too much traffic. I was tired and my hair was dirty. Worst of all, I was just beginning to realize that my boyfriend wouldn't be back in town for another month and a half.
Why did it have to be the day when both The Buddy Miles Express and The Grateful Dead were at the Kinetic Playground? I didn't want to go sit on the Playground's sticky floor, I wanted to go home and take a shower. I was in a pretty bad mood when I got there.
More trouble. I had a hard time getting in. The Coke I had was too sweet. I was sick of seeing the same slides and movies on the walls.
But I really like Buddy Miles, and he almost canceled out the resentment I was feeling - almost. He does the best things alone, singing and playing with his drums, with just a little accompaniment from the rest of the group. However, more than half of the set was spent with the five-man brass section overwhelming Buddy's voice. I'm not sure if this was the fault of the Playground's P.A. system or the group itself. Probably some of both.
Robb Baker, who wrote about Buddy's very poor reception at the Fillmore in New York two weeks ago, would have been happy about the response he got at the Playground. By the end of his set, the whole audience was on its feet, shouting and clapping, as Buddy cried, "Is it good for one more time?"
Several of the songs were from his recent album Electric Church, such as Otis Redding's "Cigarettes and Coffee" and "Wrap It Up." Live performance is always better, but at least on the album the brass section doesn't drown Buddy's voice out.
I was expecting a lot from The Grateful Dead, so naturally I was disappointed. Aside from liking their music, I was fond of them for being one of the few rock groups to make a habit of giving free concerts. They also have the reputation of having an excellent stage presence.
But the performance was nothing out of the ordinary. And while the music itself was excellent - somehow they have found a way to bring more country into their music without losing any of the old blues - it would have taken something more to get me out of myself that night.
(by Sally Simpson, from the Chicago Tribune, 8 July 1969)
Thanks to Dave Davis.
https://archive.org/details/gd69-07-04.sbd.sirmick.remaster.29294.shnf
WOW. What a terrible day! It was a hot humid Fourth of July, with too much traffic. I was tired and my hair was dirty. Worst of all, I was just beginning to realize that my boyfriend wouldn't be back in town for another month and a half.
Why did it have to be the day when both The Buddy Miles Express and The Grateful Dead were at the Kinetic Playground? I didn't want to go sit on the Playground's sticky floor, I wanted to go home and take a shower. I was in a pretty bad mood when I got there.
More trouble. I had a hard time getting in. The Coke I had was too sweet. I was sick of seeing the same slides and movies on the walls.
But I really like Buddy Miles, and he almost canceled out the resentment I was feeling - almost. He does the best things alone, singing and playing with his drums, with just a little accompaniment from the rest of the group. However, more than half of the set was spent with the five-man brass section overwhelming Buddy's voice. I'm not sure if this was the fault of the Playground's P.A. system or the group itself. Probably some of both.
Robb Baker, who wrote about Buddy's very poor reception at the Fillmore in New York two weeks ago, would have been happy about the response he got at the Playground. By the end of his set, the whole audience was on its feet, shouting and clapping, as Buddy cried, "Is it good for one more time?"
Several of the songs were from his recent album Electric Church, such as Otis Redding's "Cigarettes and Coffee" and "Wrap It Up." Live performance is always better, but at least on the album the brass section doesn't drown Buddy's voice out.
I was expecting a lot from The Grateful Dead, so naturally I was disappointed. Aside from liking their music, I was fond of them for being one of the few rock groups to make a habit of giving free concerts. They also have the reputation of having an excellent stage presence.
But the performance was nothing out of the ordinary. And while the music itself was excellent - somehow they have found a way to bring more country into their music without losing any of the old blues - it would have taken something more to get me out of myself that night.
(by Sally Simpson, from the Chicago Tribune, 8 July 1969)
Thanks to Dave Davis.
https://archive.org/details/gd69-07-04.sbd.sirmick.remaster.29294.shnf
Oct 19, 2017
September 27, 1969: Fillmore East
DEAD, 'NEW' FISH GIVE SOLID SETS
NEW YORK - Two pillars of the underground scene, the Grateful Dead and Country Joe & the Fish, gave strong solid sets at Fillmore East at the first show on Sept. 27.
Country Joe McDonald, with only lead guitarist Barry Melton left from his original group, stuck to music for the most part instead of the shock value obscenities that so often marked his unit's work in the past. There was still some clowning around, especially well into the set, as Melton played and sang while writhing on the stage. Later, McDonald did the same.
There still was some off-color material too, but this was more effective because the audience wasn't constantly beaten over the head with it. Vanguard recorded the weekend proceedings and the label should have much good material to choose from.
The three new members of the Fish all were excellent with Mark Kapner a standout on keyboards. Kapner also sang a camp number with ukulele, which he eventually burned. Kapner also joined McDonald, who sang the title song of a forthcoming Danish film, which will never hit radio. On this, and another selection from the film, McDonald accompanied himself only on acoustic guitar. Both McDonald and Melton will be featured on Vanguard albums as solo performers.
Rock of a vintage variety was offered by Buddah's Sha Na Na, a 12-man group composed mainly of Columbia University students, including three in gold lame. The unit's gentle satires of such numbers as "Teen Angel," "Silhouettes," "At the Hop," etc. are fun to watch as every gesture and pose in the book are used. But, as with really good satire, the numbers are sung and played so well, Sha Na Na may prove a disk surprise.
The Grateful Dead, a pioneer of the San Francisco sound, have added country to their blues and psychedelic elements and the blend worked well. The Warner Bros.-Seven Arts septet has not developed a visual act, but, when things are working well, as they did during the set, the Dead has a euphoric effect that has drawn the unit a legion of devoted fans.
The set ranged from straight country as in "Mama Tried" to the blues encore "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," the former with bass guitarist Phil Lesch producing a good country vocal sound, and the latter with Ron (Pig Pen) McKernan at his vocal best. Lead guitarist Jerry Garcia also had [a] good set as did organist Tom Constanten and rhythm guitarist Robert Weir. The dependable work of drummers William Kreutzman and Mickey Hart was ideal in the country tunes.
(by Fred Kirby, from Billboard, 11 October 1969)
https://archive.org/details/gd1969-09-27.early.aud.warner-jupillej.12064.sbeok.shnf
See also this review and the extensive comments:
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2012/02/september-27-1969-fillmore-east.html
* * *
DYLAN IN N.Y.? WELL, WHY NOT
NEW YORK - Bob Dylan is alive and well and living in (would you believe?) Greenwich Village. Or so last week-end's best rumor has it - that he's bought two adjacent houses in the same neighborhood where he got his start back in the beatnik-folk-singer days.
Dylan as a New Yorker comes as quite a surprise, but he's been showing up everywhere around there lately, from the Fillmore to Washington Square (where they have the outdoor folk jams).
One keeps wondering what change Dylan will put his followers thru next. There aren't many folksingers turned protester turned rock poet turned recluse turned country balladeer turned pop-schlock jukebox fodder around, you know.
But he told reporters after his appearance at the Isle of Wight festival that he planned to get back into the personal appearance circuit. And New York's as good a place as any to get started again.
A couple of other performers who had dropped from the scene in recent months also showed themselves very much alive and well in appearances here last week.
Country Joe MacDonald reappeared at the Fillmore with a new set of Fish, retaining only guitarist Barry Melton from the old group. Joe is, thank heavens, making music again instead of his protest gibberish, which had gotten just too smug to be believed.
But there's no group around capable of laying down such driving, melodic lines as the Fish when they're really together. And they were Friday night.
But being "together" and being relaxed aren't always the same thing, as evidenced by former Lovin' Spoonful member John Sebastian's solo gig at the Bitter End. Sebastian put on a low-key, folksy show, dressed in bleached-out psychedelic-splattered denims, but it wasn't exactly the kind of performance (as a visiting friend from Chicago put it) that would make you want to go out and buy John Sebastian records.
He said things like "I feel about as local as a fish in a tree," and the audience laughed a lot. But musically the show just wasn't there.
Equally as jagged and sloppy was the new country sound of The Grateful Dead, also on the bill with the Fish at the Fillmore. After about an hour they finally got things together, returning to their old driving, hard rock bag. But that first hour.
There's no excuse for a group as talented as The Dead are to dish out such an amateurish start to a show - and this is the third time I've seen them do it. If it takes them an hour to warm up, they'd better find a loft someplace down the block in which to do so.
Unfortunately a lot of garbage is being sanctioned under the label of "country-rock." At least we have a few first rate groups like the Flying Burrito Bros. (also in town last week-end, for concert with the not-so-good Byrds in Carnegie Hall) and Crosby-Stills-Nash-Young (who had a brilliant New York debut the week-end before at the Fillmore) to prove that it doesn't have to be disconnected slop.
(by Robb Baker, from the Chicago Tribune, 30 September 1969)
Thanks to Dave Davis.
NEW YORK - Two pillars of the underground scene, the Grateful Dead and Country Joe & the Fish, gave strong solid sets at Fillmore East at the first show on Sept. 27.
Country Joe McDonald, with only lead guitarist Barry Melton left from his original group, stuck to music for the most part instead of the shock value obscenities that so often marked his unit's work in the past. There was still some clowning around, especially well into the set, as Melton played and sang while writhing on the stage. Later, McDonald did the same.
There still was some off-color material too, but this was more effective because the audience wasn't constantly beaten over the head with it. Vanguard recorded the weekend proceedings and the label should have much good material to choose from.
The three new members of the Fish all were excellent with Mark Kapner a standout on keyboards. Kapner also sang a camp number with ukulele, which he eventually burned. Kapner also joined McDonald, who sang the title song of a forthcoming Danish film, which will never hit radio. On this, and another selection from the film, McDonald accompanied himself only on acoustic guitar. Both McDonald and Melton will be featured on Vanguard albums as solo performers.
Rock of a vintage variety was offered by Buddah's Sha Na Na, a 12-man group composed mainly of Columbia University students, including three in gold lame. The unit's gentle satires of such numbers as "Teen Angel," "Silhouettes," "At the Hop," etc. are fun to watch as every gesture and pose in the book are used. But, as with really good satire, the numbers are sung and played so well, Sha Na Na may prove a disk surprise.
The Grateful Dead, a pioneer of the San Francisco sound, have added country to their blues and psychedelic elements and the blend worked well. The Warner Bros.-Seven Arts septet has not developed a visual act, but, when things are working well, as they did during the set, the Dead has a euphoric effect that has drawn the unit a legion of devoted fans.
The set ranged from straight country as in "Mama Tried" to the blues encore "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," the former with bass guitarist Phil Lesch producing a good country vocal sound, and the latter with Ron (Pig Pen) McKernan at his vocal best. Lead guitarist Jerry Garcia also had [a] good set as did organist Tom Constanten and rhythm guitarist Robert Weir. The dependable work of drummers William Kreutzman and Mickey Hart was ideal in the country tunes.
(by Fred Kirby, from Billboard, 11 October 1969)
https://archive.org/details/gd1969-09-27.early.aud.warner-jupillej.12064.sbeok.shnf
See also this review and the extensive comments:
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2012/02/september-27-1969-fillmore-east.html
* * *
DYLAN IN N.Y.? WELL, WHY NOT
NEW YORK - Bob Dylan is alive and well and living in (would you believe?) Greenwich Village. Or so last week-end's best rumor has it - that he's bought two adjacent houses in the same neighborhood where he got his start back in the beatnik-folk-singer days.
Dylan as a New Yorker comes as quite a surprise, but he's been showing up everywhere around there lately, from the Fillmore to Washington Square (where they have the outdoor folk jams).
One keeps wondering what change Dylan will put his followers thru next. There aren't many folksingers turned protester turned rock poet turned recluse turned country balladeer turned pop-schlock jukebox fodder around, you know.
But he told reporters after his appearance at the Isle of Wight festival that he planned to get back into the personal appearance circuit. And New York's as good a place as any to get started again.
A couple of other performers who had dropped from the scene in recent months also showed themselves very much alive and well in appearances here last week.
Country Joe MacDonald reappeared at the Fillmore with a new set of Fish, retaining only guitarist Barry Melton from the old group. Joe is, thank heavens, making music again instead of his protest gibberish, which had gotten just too smug to be believed.
But there's no group around capable of laying down such driving, melodic lines as the Fish when they're really together. And they were Friday night.
But being "together" and being relaxed aren't always the same thing, as evidenced by former Lovin' Spoonful member John Sebastian's solo gig at the Bitter End. Sebastian put on a low-key, folksy show, dressed in bleached-out psychedelic-splattered denims, but it wasn't exactly the kind of performance (as a visiting friend from Chicago put it) that would make you want to go out and buy John Sebastian records.
He said things like "I feel about as local as a fish in a tree," and the audience laughed a lot. But musically the show just wasn't there.
Equally as jagged and sloppy was the new country sound of The Grateful Dead, also on the bill with the Fish at the Fillmore. After about an hour they finally got things together, returning to their old driving, hard rock bag. But that first hour.
There's no excuse for a group as talented as The Dead are to dish out such an amateurish start to a show - and this is the third time I've seen them do it. If it takes them an hour to warm up, they'd better find a loft someplace down the block in which to do so.
Unfortunately a lot of garbage is being sanctioned under the label of "country-rock." At least we have a few first rate groups like the Flying Burrito Bros. (also in town last week-end, for concert with the not-so-good Byrds in Carnegie Hall) and Crosby-Stills-Nash-Young (who had a brilliant New York debut the week-end before at the Fillmore) to prove that it doesn't have to be disconnected slop.
(by Robb Baker, from the Chicago Tribune, 30 September 1969)
Thanks to Dave Davis.
July 11, 1969: New York State Pavilion, Flushing Meadow Park, Queens
COCKER SHAKES, ROCKS & SOULS; 'DEAD' ALIVE
NEW YORK - The Pavilion, an outdoor rock ballroom that is really a remnant of the 1964 World's Fair, opened July 11 with a large crowd cheering through several hours of heavy rock played by Tribe, Joe Cocker and the Grease Band, and the Grateful Dead.
The former New York State Pavilion is a unique place to listen to music, with the multi-million-dollar unisphere in plain view and a huge map of New York State painted on the floor of the "ballroom" creating a surrealistic atmosphere. Despite acoustics which made hearing a problem in some parts, the Pavilion offers a relaxed atmosphere which facilitates moving around, dancing, or hanging out, making it a kind of East Coast, outdoor Fillmore West.
The musical highlight of the evening was Joe Cocker and the Grease Band. Cocker is one of the top rock personalities around today. With a presence that dominates and a voice that can really wail, he goes through the most well-known material, leaving the listener stunned with the freshness and excitement that he returns to it. The A&M artist takes Dylan songs, Beatles songs, and Ray Charles songs and makes them all sound like they were written just for him. Writhing his arms, twisting around the stage, and making every note that he sings come alive, he exudes a quality that could only be described as soul, while creating the sexual excitement that is what good rock is all about.
Cocker is a hard act to follow, but the Grateful Dead were up to the task. Bringing the crowd to its feet, the underground favorites were at their best when playing their recent country-flavored numbers like "Dupree's Diamond Blues," which is from their current Warner Bros. LP, "Aoxomoxoa." They also did quite a bit of their old blues-influenced material like "Hard to Handle" and, of course, "Sittin' on Top of the World," but it sounded stale compared with their newer work.
Also on the bill was Tribe, a jazz-blues group from the Bronx. With Tom Miller on sax, Craig Justin on drums, Dion Grody on guitar, and Lanny Brooks on bass, they produce a polished sound which will undoubtedly attract a record company.
(by Dan Goldberg, from Billboard, August 2, 1969)
https://archive.org/details/gd1969-07-11.127258.sbd.kaplan.flac16
See also other reviews:
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2015/04/july-11-1969-new-york-state-pavilion.html
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2017/07/july-11-1969-pavilion-flushing-meadow.html
NEW YORK - The Pavilion, an outdoor rock ballroom that is really a remnant of the 1964 World's Fair, opened July 11 with a large crowd cheering through several hours of heavy rock played by Tribe, Joe Cocker and the Grease Band, and the Grateful Dead.
The former New York State Pavilion is a unique place to listen to music, with the multi-million-dollar unisphere in plain view and a huge map of New York State painted on the floor of the "ballroom" creating a surrealistic atmosphere. Despite acoustics which made hearing a problem in some parts, the Pavilion offers a relaxed atmosphere which facilitates moving around, dancing, or hanging out, making it a kind of East Coast, outdoor Fillmore West.
The musical highlight of the evening was Joe Cocker and the Grease Band. Cocker is one of the top rock personalities around today. With a presence that dominates and a voice that can really wail, he goes through the most well-known material, leaving the listener stunned with the freshness and excitement that he returns to it. The A&M artist takes Dylan songs, Beatles songs, and Ray Charles songs and makes them all sound like they were written just for him. Writhing his arms, twisting around the stage, and making every note that he sings come alive, he exudes a quality that could only be described as soul, while creating the sexual excitement that is what good rock is all about.
Cocker is a hard act to follow, but the Grateful Dead were up to the task. Bringing the crowd to its feet, the underground favorites were at their best when playing their recent country-flavored numbers like "Dupree's Diamond Blues," which is from their current Warner Bros. LP, "Aoxomoxoa." They also did quite a bit of their old blues-influenced material like "Hard to Handle" and, of course, "Sittin' on Top of the World," but it sounded stale compared with their newer work.
Also on the bill was Tribe, a jazz-blues group from the Bronx. With Tom Miller on sax, Craig Justin on drums, Dion Grody on guitar, and Lanny Brooks on bass, they produce a polished sound which will undoubtedly attract a record company.
(by Dan Goldberg, from Billboard, August 2, 1969)
https://archive.org/details/gd1969-07-11.127258.sbd.kaplan.flac16
See also other reviews:
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2015/04/july-11-1969-new-york-state-pavilion.html
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2017/07/july-11-1969-pavilion-flushing-meadow.html
April 15, 1969: Music Box, Omaha
SLIPPED DISC
We skipped the light fandango
And turned cartwheels across the floor
I was feeling kind of seasick
But the crowd called out for more
The room was humming harder
As the ceiling flew away
- Procol Harum
Another great night at the Music Box in Omaha thanks to RFO and the Grateful Dead, Liberation Blues Band, and a very receptive audience.
Lincoln's one and own genuine original blues band turned on Tuesday and turned in their best performance to date. The entire group clicked harmoniously without squelching the opportunity for the individuals to do their own thing. The crowd was receptive as they listened to a program which ranged from the well-worn "Spoonful" to the more recently favored "Mule."
Following this primer by the Liberation Blues Band and a brief intermission, the Grateful Dead, all seven performers, complete with at least a half dozen sound and equipment men, plugged in the culturally deprived Nebraskans to three hours of solid sound.
Two sets of drums, three guitars, an organist, a congo drummer, and various and sundry percussion instruments comprise the Grateful Dead. But, there is more to it than this. A reverb man and a bevy of other knob twisters are responsible for the sound which this group puts forth.
Audience participation is an integral part of the Dead's presentation. When they broke into "Turn on Your Love Light" the audience stood, danced, jumped, clapped, and sang along for almost thirty minutes. The extra twenty-seven minutes of this song can never be done the same way twice, and the crowd enthusiasm was unequalled.
An hour-long version of "Anthem" combined with "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" closed the program. The group's newest drummer played an assortment of percussion instruments ranging from tambourine to xylophone. A giant firecracker even exploded on the stage, in perfect rhythm with the rest of the song.
All in all, those of us who care are extremely grateful to the Dead, for their talent, colorful personalities, and a great show.
(by J.L. Schmidt, from the Daily Nebraskan, Lincoln, 17 April 1969)
https://archive.org/details/gd1969-04-15.aud.sbd-patch.komar.miller.31939.sbeok.flac16
See also his review of the previous Music Box show:
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2017/10/february-4-1969-music-box-omaha.html
We skipped the light fandango
And turned cartwheels across the floor
I was feeling kind of seasick
But the crowd called out for more
The room was humming harder
As the ceiling flew away
- Procol Harum
Another great night at the Music Box in Omaha thanks to RFO and the Grateful Dead, Liberation Blues Band, and a very receptive audience.
Lincoln's one and own genuine original blues band turned on Tuesday and turned in their best performance to date. The entire group clicked harmoniously without squelching the opportunity for the individuals to do their own thing. The crowd was receptive as they listened to a program which ranged from the well-worn "Spoonful" to the more recently favored "Mule."
Following this primer by the Liberation Blues Band and a brief intermission, the Grateful Dead, all seven performers, complete with at least a half dozen sound and equipment men, plugged in the culturally deprived Nebraskans to three hours of solid sound.
Two sets of drums, three guitars, an organist, a congo drummer, and various and sundry percussion instruments comprise the Grateful Dead. But, there is more to it than this. A reverb man and a bevy of other knob twisters are responsible for the sound which this group puts forth.
Audience participation is an integral part of the Dead's presentation. When they broke into "Turn on Your Love Light" the audience stood, danced, jumped, clapped, and sang along for almost thirty minutes. The extra twenty-seven minutes of this song can never be done the same way twice, and the crowd enthusiasm was unequalled.
An hour-long version of "Anthem" combined with "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" closed the program. The group's newest drummer played an assortment of percussion instruments ranging from tambourine to xylophone. A giant firecracker even exploded on the stage, in perfect rhythm with the rest of the song.
All in all, those of us who care are extremely grateful to the Dead, for their talent, colorful personalities, and a great show.
(by J.L. Schmidt, from the Daily Nebraskan, Lincoln, 17 April 1969)
https://archive.org/details/gd1969-04-15.aud.sbd-patch.komar.miller.31939.sbeok.flac16
See also his review of the previous Music Box show:
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2017/10/february-4-1969-music-box-omaha.html
Oct 12, 2017
July 9, 1970: Fillmore East
HAIL THE DEAD!
The Grateful Dead blew everyone's minds at the Fillmore East, where they appeared four consecutive nights, beginning at midnight and playing until 6 in the morning.
The Dead, composed of Jerry Garcia on lead guitar and vocals, Bob Weir on rhythm guitar and vocals, Pigpen McKernan on organ and vocals, Phil Lesh on bass and vocals, and both Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzman on drums, were one of the first components of the San Francisco sound. However, unlike many of the groups who quickly became successful then, they've lasted.
The Dead is perhaps the best rock band in the country. They can play everything from country to acoustic love songs to rock 'n' roll to ear-shattering psychedelic rock - and all of it well. Highly accomplished musicians, they've won themselves a devoted following unequalled in rock music.
They may be the most revolutionary band as well, for without any political rapping or harangue, they create such good vibes that their fans feel truly liberated. The Fillmore crowd was no exception. The entire audience was almost constantly on its feet each night, dancing till dawn.
The Dead build up their set very carefully, first playing a lot of soft, acoustic numbers, many from their current album, "Workingman's Dead." Then the New Riders came on stage, with some members from the Dead. Jerry Garcia was on steel guitar and Marmaduke, who also sat in on several songs with the Dead, on vocals and guitar.
They played some country and two spectacular versions of Rolling Stones songs, "Connection" and "Honky-Tonk Women." Garcia's steel guitar on Honky-Tonk was spectacular.
After another brief intermission, the Grateful Dead, with both drummers this time, returned, accompanied by on-stage flares and a huge neon sign that spelled the group's name. They played "Casey Jones" from their new album, and songs they've performed before from other recordings, including "Dark Star" and "St. Stephen." They wrapped up at 5:30 a.m. with "Uncle John's Band," the audience still wanting to hear more.
(from the Journal News, White Plains NY, 1 August 1970)
Thanks to Dave Davis.
Alas, no tape!
See also:
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2012/07/july-9-12-1970-fillmore-east.html
The Grateful Dead blew everyone's minds at the Fillmore East, where they appeared four consecutive nights, beginning at midnight and playing until 6 in the morning.
The Dead, composed of Jerry Garcia on lead guitar and vocals, Bob Weir on rhythm guitar and vocals, Pigpen McKernan on organ and vocals, Phil Lesh on bass and vocals, and both Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzman on drums, were one of the first components of the San Francisco sound. However, unlike many of the groups who quickly became successful then, they've lasted.
The Dead is perhaps the best rock band in the country. They can play everything from country to acoustic love songs to rock 'n' roll to ear-shattering psychedelic rock - and all of it well. Highly accomplished musicians, they've won themselves a devoted following unequalled in rock music.
They may be the most revolutionary band as well, for without any political rapping or harangue, they create such good vibes that their fans feel truly liberated. The Fillmore crowd was no exception. The entire audience was almost constantly on its feet each night, dancing till dawn.
The Dead build up their set very carefully, first playing a lot of soft, acoustic numbers, many from their current album, "Workingman's Dead." Then the New Riders came on stage, with some members from the Dead. Jerry Garcia was on steel guitar and Marmaduke, who also sat in on several songs with the Dead, on vocals and guitar.
They played some country and two spectacular versions of Rolling Stones songs, "Connection" and "Honky-Tonk Women." Garcia's steel guitar on Honky-Tonk was spectacular.
After another brief intermission, the Grateful Dead, with both drummers this time, returned, accompanied by on-stage flares and a huge neon sign that spelled the group's name. They played "Casey Jones" from their new album, and songs they've performed before from other recordings, including "Dark Star" and "St. Stephen." They wrapped up at 5:30 a.m. with "Uncle John's Band," the audience still wanting to hear more.
(from the Journal News, White Plains NY, 1 August 1970)
Thanks to Dave Davis.
Alas, no tape!
See also:
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2012/07/july-9-12-1970-fillmore-east.html
Oct 11, 2017
June 19, 1970: Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis
This article was written in 1995, but I'm posting it because it includes excerpts from 1970 newspaper accounts and eyewitness quotes on this lost show.
THE NIGHT THE DEAD PLAYED MEMPHIS [excerpt]
A lot of people - including the band members themselves - don't realize it, but the Grateful Dead has been to the Bluff City before.
Many people will tell you that it never happened - that it's not on The List, that they don't remember it, that such a thing could not have happened in the first place - but the Grateful Dead did play in Memphis once before, on June 19, 1970, at the Mid-South Coliseum.
More than likely, the show is so largely forgotten because it wasn't a big deal in the first place - it drew only 2,054 people, according to The Commercial Appeal - and by most standards the evening wasn't exactly a smash success. Plus, since we're talking about 1970, you can safely say everyone's memory is a victim of both time and the times.
But there it is, in the newspapers of the day and in the memories of the few who saw it. Back then the Grateful Dead was a 5-year-old band that would take about any gig it could get; now it's a 30-year-old institution, probably the biggest touring act in rock-and-roll history...
So let's find out why rock-and-roll's most prolific touring act waited a quarter of a century to return to the birthplace of rock-and-roll.
[ . . . ]
At the time, there was a thriving hippie community along the Highland Strip and in Midtown, and some big-name musical acts came through in and around 1970: Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Jethro Tull, and a "Cosmic Carnival" that included Grand Funk Railroad, Chicago, Mountain, and Rare Earth.
But when the Grateful Dead, that "hippie band from San Francisco," signed for a date at the Coliseum that summer, the announcement ran under a picture of Country Joe McDonald, who shared the bill, and a later story showed a photo of the third band on the card, The Illusion. (The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock has no mention of The Illusion, but they did have a hit song, "Did You See Her Eyes?")
Though most of the dozen or so attendees whom the Flyer tracked down said they had fun that night (some said that's exactly why they can't remember much), the night was in many ways forgettable.
For the performers involved, the trouble started upon arrival at the venue. Country Joe's band almost didn't make it in time, and when they got there, according to the next day's Commercial Appeal, the police thought they were just some more freaks trying to get in without tickets. The paper said Coliseum officials and six cops entered the band's station wagon through the back door - not what you'd call a warm welcome.
For the Grateful Dead, the whole scene must have looked unpleasantly familiar. Less than five months before, they had been busted by the New Orleans narcotics bureau (an event which inspired a verse in their song "Truckin"), and now here they were again, surrounded by cops in an uptight Southern city. To make matters worse, a thunderstorm was raging outside, and there were tornado warnings all over town. (Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir announced at one point that if a tornado developed he would quit playing and go watch it, but the next day's Press-Scimitar tells us that "the tornado spirits hovering over the city never took bodily form.")
Consider this exchange from an interview that lead guitarist Jerry Garcia and a revolving host of others did with the underground paper Tennessee Roc that night: Roc: "What do you think of our town?" Garcia: (laughter) "I'm scared to death. I can't wait to get out." Roc: "Are you serious?" Garcia: "Have you dug the cops here? The cops here act like the cops do in other parts of the world when there's something horrible happening. When we first came here, we thought somebody was getting beaten up or something and then we suddenly realized that's just the way they are."
Later in the interview, Country Joe wandered in, sporting a new haircut which earned him some abuse from the others sitting around, and announced that the cops had just said that if the fans approached the front of the stage, the power would be cut (something which the interviewer said had happened to Sly and the Family Stone in Memphis). Country Joe later said, "I'm gonna play horrible tonight so the crowd won't get excited."
That much he apparently accomplished. Country Joe and the Fish played two tunes, lasting all of 20 minutes: "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine" and another which the Press-Scimitar's next-day review referred to as "just a long jam."
Sally Graflund says she and her sister Betsy, who had gone to the show just to see Country Joe and the Fish, even confronted McDonald about it after the show, only to be told the problem was a "contract dispute."
"I was so bummed out," she says. "I remember some great concerts from back then, but that was not one of them."
There were problems out in the crowd, too. The police turned on the house lights so they could see people they thought needed busting. One of the folks removed from the premises that night (along with most of her section, she says) was Pam McGaha, now a waitress at the Half Shell and a staffer at the Crossroads Music Festival.
McGaha, whom you may recognize around town because of her 1970 VW bus covered with Dead stickers, said that during Country Joe's set, "There was this guy up front acting real, well, you could tell he was high. The cops turned on the lights and dragged the guy out. Somebody jerked him away, and then the cops started just pulling people out of the crowd. They told us we were arrested for 'inciting a riot,' and they made us leave. We spent the rest of the night riding the Pippin [local rollercoaster]."
By the time the Dead hit the stage, much of the crowd had apparently left. John Leland Braddock, who was only 15 at the time and has the clearest memory among people interviewed by the Flyer, says with varying degrees of certainty that they played "Casey Jones," "China Cat Sunflower," "Hard to Handle," "Me and My Uncle," "Attics of My Life," "Candyman," "Uncle John's Band," and "Good Lovin'." Unless somebody out there taped the show, we will probably never know exactly what they played that night, but each of those tunes was a standard of the day.
Harry Nicholas, who now runs Harry's On Teur on Madison, says that even though the crowd wasn't into it, "The Dead was on. Country Joe and the Fish just did the least that they had to do, but the Dead were warmer."
When it was over, musician Randy Haspel, who had seen the Dead a few times before in much more comfortable environments, sought out the band backstage because he felt the need to apologize to them for Memphis' "unresponsive crowd."
"[Dead bassist Phil] Lesh said Memphis was the most soul-less place they had played," Haspel says. "There were more people there that were curious than were Grateful Dead fans, and I don't think the audience knew how to take their extended jams. They sat on their hands, and the band seemed real frustrated. The cops were pretty bad, too."
In a Tennessee Roc review headlined "Memphis Flunks the Acid Test," Pat Rainer wrote, "the majority of Memphis still isn't ready for anything like real freaks who were 'hippies' before the word was coined. Memphis once again cheated itself out of a truly psychedelic experience. It seems like it just can't happen here."
All in all, 6-19-70 is not a red-letter date in Grateful Dead history - in fact, up until now it wasn't recognized at all. It's listed as a cancelled show in Deadbase, a quasi-official but amazingly complete record of the band's 2,500 or so concerts. When the Dead's publicist, Dennis McNally, was asked last week in Charlotte if any of the original band members could be queried about the 1970 trip to Memphis, he said, "No, because they won't remember it. They're the last people who would, in fact."
But even though Garcia told Tennessee Roc in 1970 that "there isn't gonna be a next time in Memphis," in fact [the Dead are returning] this weekend at The Pyramid...
(by Paul Gerald, from the Memphis Flyer, 29 March 1995)
http://www.auburn.edu/~vestmon/memphis700619.html
Alas, no tape!
THE NIGHT THE DEAD PLAYED MEMPHIS [excerpt]
A lot of people - including the band members themselves - don't realize it, but the Grateful Dead has been to the Bluff City before.
Many people will tell you that it never happened - that it's not on The List, that they don't remember it, that such a thing could not have happened in the first place - but the Grateful Dead did play in Memphis once before, on June 19, 1970, at the Mid-South Coliseum.
More than likely, the show is so largely forgotten because it wasn't a big deal in the first place - it drew only 2,054 people, according to The Commercial Appeal - and by most standards the evening wasn't exactly a smash success. Plus, since we're talking about 1970, you can safely say everyone's memory is a victim of both time and the times.
But there it is, in the newspapers of the day and in the memories of the few who saw it. Back then the Grateful Dead was a 5-year-old band that would take about any gig it could get; now it's a 30-year-old institution, probably the biggest touring act in rock-and-roll history...
So let's find out why rock-and-roll's most prolific touring act waited a quarter of a century to return to the birthplace of rock-and-roll.
[ . . . ]
At the time, there was a thriving hippie community along the Highland Strip and in Midtown, and some big-name musical acts came through in and around 1970: Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Jethro Tull, and a "Cosmic Carnival" that included Grand Funk Railroad, Chicago, Mountain, and Rare Earth.
But when the Grateful Dead, that "hippie band from San Francisco," signed for a date at the Coliseum that summer, the announcement ran under a picture of Country Joe McDonald, who shared the bill, and a later story showed a photo of the third band on the card, The Illusion. (The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock has no mention of The Illusion, but they did have a hit song, "Did You See Her Eyes?")
Though most of the dozen or so attendees whom the Flyer tracked down said they had fun that night (some said that's exactly why they can't remember much), the night was in many ways forgettable.
For the performers involved, the trouble started upon arrival at the venue. Country Joe's band almost didn't make it in time, and when they got there, according to the next day's Commercial Appeal, the police thought they were just some more freaks trying to get in without tickets. The paper said Coliseum officials and six cops entered the band's station wagon through the back door - not what you'd call a warm welcome.
For the Grateful Dead, the whole scene must have looked unpleasantly familiar. Less than five months before, they had been busted by the New Orleans narcotics bureau (an event which inspired a verse in their song "Truckin"), and now here they were again, surrounded by cops in an uptight Southern city. To make matters worse, a thunderstorm was raging outside, and there were tornado warnings all over town. (Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir announced at one point that if a tornado developed he would quit playing and go watch it, but the next day's Press-Scimitar tells us that "the tornado spirits hovering over the city never took bodily form.")
Consider this exchange from an interview that lead guitarist Jerry Garcia and a revolving host of others did with the underground paper Tennessee Roc that night: Roc: "What do you think of our town?" Garcia: (laughter) "I'm scared to death. I can't wait to get out." Roc: "Are you serious?" Garcia: "Have you dug the cops here? The cops here act like the cops do in other parts of the world when there's something horrible happening. When we first came here, we thought somebody was getting beaten up or something and then we suddenly realized that's just the way they are."
Later in the interview, Country Joe wandered in, sporting a new haircut which earned him some abuse from the others sitting around, and announced that the cops had just said that if the fans approached the front of the stage, the power would be cut (something which the interviewer said had happened to Sly and the Family Stone in Memphis). Country Joe later said, "I'm gonna play horrible tonight so the crowd won't get excited."
That much he apparently accomplished. Country Joe and the Fish played two tunes, lasting all of 20 minutes: "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine" and another which the Press-Scimitar's next-day review referred to as "just a long jam."
Sally Graflund says she and her sister Betsy, who had gone to the show just to see Country Joe and the Fish, even confronted McDonald about it after the show, only to be told the problem was a "contract dispute."
"I was so bummed out," she says. "I remember some great concerts from back then, but that was not one of them."
There were problems out in the crowd, too. The police turned on the house lights so they could see people they thought needed busting. One of the folks removed from the premises that night (along with most of her section, she says) was Pam McGaha, now a waitress at the Half Shell and a staffer at the Crossroads Music Festival.
McGaha, whom you may recognize around town because of her 1970 VW bus covered with Dead stickers, said that during Country Joe's set, "There was this guy up front acting real, well, you could tell he was high. The cops turned on the lights and dragged the guy out. Somebody jerked him away, and then the cops started just pulling people out of the crowd. They told us we were arrested for 'inciting a riot,' and they made us leave. We spent the rest of the night riding the Pippin [local rollercoaster]."
By the time the Dead hit the stage, much of the crowd had apparently left. John Leland Braddock, who was only 15 at the time and has the clearest memory among people interviewed by the Flyer, says with varying degrees of certainty that they played "Casey Jones," "China Cat Sunflower," "Hard to Handle," "Me and My Uncle," "Attics of My Life," "Candyman," "Uncle John's Band," and "Good Lovin'." Unless somebody out there taped the show, we will probably never know exactly what they played that night, but each of those tunes was a standard of the day.
Harry Nicholas, who now runs Harry's On Teur on Madison, says that even though the crowd wasn't into it, "The Dead was on. Country Joe and the Fish just did the least that they had to do, but the Dead were warmer."
When it was over, musician Randy Haspel, who had seen the Dead a few times before in much more comfortable environments, sought out the band backstage because he felt the need to apologize to them for Memphis' "unresponsive crowd."
"[Dead bassist Phil] Lesh said Memphis was the most soul-less place they had played," Haspel says. "There were more people there that were curious than were Grateful Dead fans, and I don't think the audience knew how to take their extended jams. They sat on their hands, and the band seemed real frustrated. The cops were pretty bad, too."
In a Tennessee Roc review headlined "Memphis Flunks the Acid Test," Pat Rainer wrote, "the majority of Memphis still isn't ready for anything like real freaks who were 'hippies' before the word was coined. Memphis once again cheated itself out of a truly psychedelic experience. It seems like it just can't happen here."
All in all, 6-19-70 is not a red-letter date in Grateful Dead history - in fact, up until now it wasn't recognized at all. It's listed as a cancelled show in Deadbase, a quasi-official but amazingly complete record of the band's 2,500 or so concerts. When the Dead's publicist, Dennis McNally, was asked last week in Charlotte if any of the original band members could be queried about the 1970 trip to Memphis, he said, "No, because they won't remember it. They're the last people who would, in fact."
But even though Garcia told Tennessee Roc in 1970 that "there isn't gonna be a next time in Memphis," in fact [the Dead are returning] this weekend at The Pyramid...
(by Paul Gerald, from the Memphis Flyer, 29 March 1995)
http://www.auburn.edu/~vestmon/memphis700619.html
Alas, no tape!
July 1970: Warner Brothers Promotion
WARNERS GOES ALL OUT ON GRATEFUL
BURBANK, CALIF. - Three weeks after release, sales of "Workingman's Dead" by The Grateful Dead on the Warner Bros. label have reached 200,000 albums. With the re-soliciting of Warner's distributors throughout the country lately, the total was raised to 400,000 records shipped.
Backing up this album, Warner Bros. Records Inc. is directly involved in the most wide-spread advertising campaign in its history. The bulk of the emphasis is in radio time buys on the top 40 level throughout the country, with $50,000 being spent directly from Burbank headquarters of the company, and another $50,000 coming from Warner's distributors. The distributors are also matching funds with major retailers for a co-op ad campaign, which is set to break during the final week in July for maximum impact across the country.
Warner Bros. Records also bought a billboard on the Sunset Strip, and the largest outdoor advertising space in San Francisco, home of the Dead, a billboard above the Fillmore West. This is the first time a record company has used the latter space to advertise.
Additionally, Warner Bros. has set an extensive space advertising program. National ads are being placed in trade magazines, underground news media, and mid-road consumer publications. The company is merchandising the album with Grateful Dead posters, stickers, and buttons.
(from Cashbox, 25 July 1970)
Thanks to Dave Davis.
http://concertposterauction.com/detail.asp?id=4630#img
"Tour blank concert poster for a proposed Warner Brothers-sponsored series of (canceled) free concerts to be held over the summer of 1970, featuring the Grateful Dead, along with Crazy Horse (without Neil Young) and Sal Valentino... Since the tour was canceled (it actually sort-of morphed into the 1970 "Medicine Ball Caravan" tour, with different participants), most of the posters were remaindered and never made it out of the print shop."
BURBANK, CALIF. - Three weeks after release, sales of "Workingman's Dead" by The Grateful Dead on the Warner Bros. label have reached 200,000 albums. With the re-soliciting of Warner's distributors throughout the country lately, the total was raised to 400,000 records shipped.
Backing up this album, Warner Bros. Records Inc. is directly involved in the most wide-spread advertising campaign in its history. The bulk of the emphasis is in radio time buys on the top 40 level throughout the country, with $50,000 being spent directly from Burbank headquarters of the company, and another $50,000 coming from Warner's distributors. The distributors are also matching funds with major retailers for a co-op ad campaign, which is set to break during the final week in July for maximum impact across the country.
Warner Bros. Records also bought a billboard on the Sunset Strip, and the largest outdoor advertising space in San Francisco, home of the Dead, a billboard above the Fillmore West. This is the first time a record company has used the latter space to advertise.
Additionally, Warner Bros. has set an extensive space advertising program. National ads are being placed in trade magazines, underground news media, and mid-road consumer publications. The company is merchandising the album with Grateful Dead posters, stickers, and buttons.
(from Cashbox, 25 July 1970)
Thanks to Dave Davis.
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| Billboard 7/25/70 ad - see http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2009/12/gd-1970-caravan-of-love-tour.html |
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| Fillmore West, early August 1970 |
"Tour blank concert poster for a proposed Warner Brothers-sponsored series of (canceled) free concerts to be held over the summer of 1970, featuring the Grateful Dead, along with Crazy Horse (without Neil Young) and Sal Valentino... Since the tour was canceled (it actually sort-of morphed into the 1970 "Medicine Ball Caravan" tour, with different participants), most of the posters were remaindered and never made it out of the print shop."
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