Garcia Live Volume Seven

Garcia Live Volume Seven is a two-disc live album by the Jerry Garcia Band. It was recorded at Sophie's in Palo Alto, California on November 8, 1976. It was released on August 19, 2016.[1][2][3][4]

Garcia Live Volume Seven
Jerry Garcia's Travis Bean TB500 guitar
Live album by
ReleasedAugust 19, 2016
RecordedNovember 8, 1976
VenueSophie's, Palo Alto, California
GenreRock, rhythm and blues
Length149:39
LabelRound / ATO
Jerry Garcia Band chronology
On Broadway: Act One – October 28th, 1987
(2015)
Garcia Live Volume Seven
(2016)
Garcia Live Volume Eight
(2017)
Jerry Garcia chronology
Garcia Live Volume Six
(2016)
Garcia Live Volume Seven
(2016)
Folk Time
(2016)

From January 1976 to August 1977 the members of the Jerry Garcia Band were Jerry Garcia on guitar and vocals, Keith Godchaux on keyboards, Donna Jean Godchaux on vocals, John Kahn on bass, and Ron Tutt on drums.[5]

Provenance edit

The master recording of the November 8, 1976 concert was recovered by Donna Jean Godchaux. While moving in 2015, she found the reel-to-reel tapes in a box in her possession.[6][7]

In a 2016 interview, Donna Jean talked about being in the Jerry Garcia Band. "It was very different from the Grateful Dead in that everything was so scaled back to where we could play theaters instead of hockey rinks. It was very enjoyable on that level because these places were built for music to be played in. It was just a really unique situation to be as popular as Jerry Garcia was and still be able to be in a band that could do what we did in a smaller setting than the Grateful Dead. It was kind of like a home away from home for Jerry, in that he got this different expression of what he was feeling musically than the Grateful Dead."[6]

Critical reception edit

On AllMusic, Timothy Monger wrote, "Mixing their mid-'70s cocktail of rock, soul, gospel, and reggae, the JGB runs through spirited versions of "The Way You Do the Things You Do", "Mission in the Rain", "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", and a 22-minute rendition of "Don't Let Go"."[8]

On All About Jazz, Doug Collette wrote, "The openness and vulnerability within Jerry Garcia's singing voice is an often-overlooked virtue among all the others for which he's distinguished, including his ever-so-precise (acoustic and electric) guitar playing as well as his songwriting collaborations with lyricist Robert Hunter. Nevertheless, those vocal qualities also resonate in the best of his solo work and Garcia Live Volume Seven is a prime example."[9]

On Grateful Web, Dylan Muhlberg said, "The band had transitioned away from the horn-accompanied rave-ups of the Merl Saunders accompanied years to a refined multifarious ode of Garcia's many musical muses. Motown, soul, rhythm and blues, gospel, jazz, disco; basically anything that Garcia felt more confident developing away from the instrumentation of his other band. With his own band, Jerry felt free taking his favorite tunes to elaborately explore, lengthen, and jam."[10]

Track listing edit

Disc 1
First set:
  1. "The Way You Do the Things You Do" (Smokey Robinson, Bobby Rogers) – 9:00
  2. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan) – 14:14
  3. "After Midnight" (J. J. Cale) – 13:50
  4. "Who Was John?" (traditional) – 14:28
  5. "Mission in the Rain" (Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter) – 8:20
  6. "Stir It Up" (Bob Marley) – 12:21
Disc 2
  1. "Midnight Moonlight" (Peter Rowan) – 9:25
Second set:
  1. "Tore Up over You" (Hank Ballard) – 10:43
  2. "Friend of the Devil" (John Dawson, Garcia, Hunter) – 7:54
  3. "Don't Let Go" (Jesse Stone) – 22:23
  4. "Strange Man" (Dorothy Love Coates) – 6:10
  5. "Stop That Train" (Peter Tosh) – 11:44
  6. "Ride Mighty High" (Dave Crawford, Richard Downing) – 9:02

Personnel edit

Jerry Garcia Band
Production
  • Original recordings produced by Jerry Garcia
  • Recording: Betty Cantor-Jackson
  • Mastering: Fred Kevorkian
  • Art direction, design, illustration: Ryan Corey
  • Photos: Ed Perlstein, James Anderson
  • Associate producer: Kevin Monty
  • Curator: Marc Allan, Kevin Monty
  • Project coordinator: Lauren Goetzinger, Robby Sandy
  • Liner notes essay "Little Keys to Big Doors" written by Nicholas Meriwether

Charts edit

Chart (2016) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[11] 193

References edit

  1. ^ Browne, David (August 1, 2016). "Hear Jerry Garcia Band's Jubilant Live "Mighty High" from 1976", Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  2. ^ "Garcia Live Volume Seven to Feature Rare Jerry Garcia Band Show", jambands.com, July 19, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  3. ^ "Song Premiere: Jerry Garcia Band "After Midnight" (from Garcia Live Vol. 7: November 8, 1976 Sophie's Palo Alto)", Relix, July 19, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  4. ^ "Garcia Live Volume Seven Announced", Grateful Web, July 19, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  5. ^ Scott, John W.; Dolgushkin, Mike; Nixon, Stu. (1999). DeadBase XI: The Complete Guide to Grateful Dead Song Lists. Cornish, NH: DeadBase. pp. 407–409. ISBN 1-877657-22-0.
  6. ^ a b Budnick, Dean (July 20, 2016). "Donna Jean Godchaux Talks Unearthing Long Lost Jerry Garcia Band Recording", Relix. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  7. ^ Bernstein, Scott (July 19, 2016). "Donna Jean Godchaux Find Leads to Jerry Garcia Band Garcia Live Volume Seven", JamBase. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  8. ^ Monger, Timothy. "Garcia Live, Vol. 7: November 8th, 1976 Sophie's Palo Alto". AllMusic. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  9. ^ Collette, Doug (September 4, 2016). "Garcia Live Volume Seven: Sophie's, Palo Alto, November 8, 1976". All About Jazz. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  10. ^ Muhlberg, Dylan (August 11, 2016). "Garcia Live Volume 7 – 11/8/76 – Review". Grateful Web. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  11. ^ "Jerry Garcia Band Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 30, 2016.