Grateful Dead

It was a sunny, summer afternoon in the Finger Lakes region of NY State and the GD were playing for the large crowd that had gathered for the daylong festival. The band was firing on all cylinders, and the sound system had great fidelity for an outdoor venue. Over the years, I have heard comments from folks who think that the band "played it too safe; and didn't take any risks" in an artistic sense that day. The setlists drew heavily from the Europe '72 and Skull & Roses songbooks, as well as the solo albums Ace and Garcia. I think that the band judged the moment and the setting just fine. There is a big difference between a show at a Ballroom in SF or a Music Hall in Boston being played at night with a psychedelic light show; and an outdoor concert in the middle of the day with an attendance in the hundreds of thousands. I really enjoyed the music that the band played that day! At the end of the concert, after the encore of Sing Me Back Home, I remember Jerry Garcia waving to the crowd and saying "Thanks everybody!" in that distinctive, raspy voice of his. Later that afternoon, The Band took the stage. I had never seen The Band in concert before, but I was familiar with the songs on their first two albums. Their set of music was tight and gritty with a lot of punch, like a tough bar band. They played one song after another, without any extended solos or long jams. I remember Rick Danko pacing around the stage with his fretless bass, spinning in circles and swaying back and forth. It was fortunate that he didn't smack any of the other players with the headstock of his bass guitar! A summer thunder storm moved in about half way thru their set. Most of the band members sought shelter, but Garth Hudson stayed at the keyboard of his Hammond B-3 organ and continued to play music. I stuck around in the rain, because I didn't feel like making the half hour trek to the campsite and back. Listening to the swirling sounds of the organ in the middle of a storm was eerie! Kinda like being in church or listening to the musings of Thor. After The Band's performance, I headed back to the campground for some dinner and a change of clothes. I sat around with my friends smoking joints and sharing a couple bottles of wine, probably Almaden! I think that's what we drank back then. I hadn't done any drugs or drinking during the day because I was worried about passing out in the summer sun and missing the music. But now, in the cool of the evening, I was getting primed for the ABB. At the time, I was just as big a fan of the Allman Brothers as the Grateful Dead. It was time to head back down to the stage area. The crowd was beginning to thin after a long day, and again I was able to walk right down front and stand close to the soundboard. The ABB that played at the Summer Jam was a different band than the blues/rock outfit "At Fillmore East". With the deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, and the addition of new members, the sound and the vibe of the band had changed somewhat. Lamar Williams was more laid back on bass... right in the pocket, but smooth not aggressive! And piano player Chuck Leavell added a more melodic sound to the rhythm section. But most of all Dickey Betts was headed in a country/rock direction with songs like Rambling Man, Blue Sky and Jessica. Bill Graham introduced the band by saying "And now for the Filet Mignon!". The newly reconfigured ABB really shined under the lights that night and the two drummer lineup was as powerful and hard hitting as ever! Gregg Allman growling on the vocals with his southern accent and Dickey Betts ringing sweet tones out of his sunburst Les Paul guitar. I stuck around for the late night jam session... but it wasn't my favorite part of the concert.The jam session was significant mostly for the musicians who were onstage together, rather than the actual music that was being played. Rick Danko was the band leader for the first few songs, but he was pretty drunk. Finally, members of the GD and ABB began to drift onstage for Not Fade Away, Mountain Jam and Johnny B Goode. But the music was a little disorganized and without any solid arrangements to build instrumental solos upon. The respective band renditions of these songs from other shows (the GD on Not Fade Away; and the ABB on Mountain Jam) are much better performances. A funny moment happened during Johnny B Goode... Bob Weir had to lean over and tap Dickey Betts on the shoulder to let him know that Jerry Garcia would play the signature Chuck Berry double-stop riff as a feature of his guitar solo. Without the timely reminder, Dickey Betts would have missed the musical cue. Such is the nature of a jam session! Well, that's my story... and I'm sticking to it! Everybody was a little groggy and moving slowly the next morning. We packed up our gear, said good bye to new friends in our campsite area and started the long drive back home.

I was spending the summer visiting friends in Boston when we heard about the Summer Jam concert. We got a group together and headed out in a caravan of two vehicles (a VW Bus and a family station wagon). We left Boston in the evening on Thursday and drove all night. We stopped for breakfast at a friend's house in the lakeside town of Cazenovia, NY just outside of Syracuse. And then continued down thru Ithaca and then across to Watkins Glen. Because of the route we drove and our early arrival on Friday, we didn't experience any of the traffic hassle that some folks encountered. We drove straight into the Raceway grounds, found parking in one of the grassy areas and set up camp for the weekend. By late afternoon, we had the tents pitched with the camp stoves and coolers set up. Some of us decided to wander down to the stage area, maybe a fifteen minute walk. As we arrived, the GD were just beginning their soundcheck/evening concert. It really was a magical performance! The sun was beginning to set as the band started playing, the colored stage lights began to come up as the daylight faded out. It was a beautiful summer evening in upstate NY. The two set show was a relaxed, easy-going affair, with the band and the crowd enjoying themselves. The next morning we got up, made some breakfast and began to mill around restlessly, anticipating the day of music ahead. A group of us headed down to the stage area about 11:00 AM. Because I was willing to stand for the whole concert, I was able to walk up close to the stage... just to the right of the soundboard and a little behind. In the early afternoon the GD came onstage. I remember the drummer and piano player taking their places and the other members of the band walking out from the wings of the stage with their instruments. As Jerry Garcia walked onstage, I remember him looking up at the 600,000 people in the field and on the hillside. He raised up his hands and arms in defense, as if he was being hit by a wave of energy, and did a pantomime of stumbling backwards slightly. It was a very genuine moment and a spontaneous reaction to seeing such a great mass of humanity gathered together.

Nearly 4 years after my other post in 2012, I'll say it again, this show with the soundcheck event should be officially released, if all or most of the audio elements are there. That is, the soundboard recordings of the the Grateful Dead's portion of the 7/27/73 soundcheck and the full Grateful Dead 7/28/73 show, with the end of show jam of Not Fade Away Mountain Jam & Johnny B. Goode.