For GarciaLive Volume 20 Cape Cod June 18th, 1982, the curators of the ongoing archival series wisely choose to change things up. In terms of cosmetics alone, the cover images are markedly different from the last few editions, graced with the late musical icon’s own artwork, but the content itself is something else altogether too.
These shifts in perspective are direct reflections of the music and the ever-changing lineups of groups dubbed ‘the Jerry Garcia Band.’ As the ever-so astute (and discreet) author Blair Jackson points out in his liner notes–before engaging in the usual track-by-track such essays contain–the JGB was an ever-evolving cast of characters. Yet even in its constantly-altered forms, all those involved invariably sang and played as all the participants do here, that is, with all the urgency and commitment of the group’s namesake.
No one is in a hurry, however, anywhere on the complete, previously unreleased performance in The Bay State’s vacationland. But the leisurely pace introduced on the overall opener, “How Sweet It Is To Be Love by You,” also reveals a level of affection in the song as addressed to the audience in greeting for the performance.
With an all-too-similar shuffling pace, “Valerie” doesn’t build upon the inaugural ten minutes, at least instrumentally speaking. Nevertheless, as was Garcia’s wont during his solo performances, the song written with the late poet Robert Hunter would appear to carry some personal meaning for him, especially as it precedes the cover of the Beatles’ “Dear Prudence.”
With mainstay Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann in tow, there’s a bounce to this performance accentuated by Melvin Seals’ and Jimmy Warren’s keyboards The funk is there, even if it’s almost indiscernible, especially in contrast to the deeply slinky likes of “They Love Each Other” on the appearance on the co-bill with Bobby (Weir) and the Midnites (some of whom who sit in, but remain inaudible on the ‘tape’).
By his precise placement of notes within the rhythmic pattern, Garcia’s lead guitar renders the groove evident, particularly as the ever-present John Kahn on bass further emphasizes those instrumental elements. Most fittingly, multiple images of tigers inside and out of the Volume 20 package allude to the custom guitar most in use around this time in Jerry’s career (the color front illustration an imposing picture by Christopher Capotosto, and the other a drawing imprinted on the instrument itself).
In using such a design, the producers implant this release with a significance it might not otherwise command (at least on cursory view or listen). For instance, the languorous reading of “Mississippi Moon” is more than just passing homage to Jerry’s frequent collaborator in Old & In The Way, Peter Rowan, the author of the song. And Howie Reimer’s photos of interstellar space inside the double-fold digi-pak correspond to the depths of space Garcia leads the band, seemingly out of nowhere, with some fast fingering on the fretboard, on “Don’t Let Go.” It’s a move rendered all the more deft with the quiet, mournful take on Bob Dylan’s “Simple Twist of Fate” that follows.
However woefully vulnerable Jerry may sound there, he’s chirpy and upbeat on “Run For The Roses,” helped along on his upbeat way by the sonorous harmony singing of Liz Stires and Julie Stafford. Those breezy moments, however, hardly compare to the hard-charging sixteen and a half minutes of “After Midnight” from The Stone in Frisco, Within this portion of the forty-five minutes of additional uncirculated recordings captured on June 1st, 1981, lies an intensity unusual in the canon of JGB and by extension, the GarciaLive archive series itself (as is the very inclusion of a partial performance in addition to the customary complete one).
The visceral impact of the musicianship is all the more remarkable as the band rebuilds it on “Deal,” then carries it over, in slightly modified form, via the leaps and bounds by which the quintet moves within “Tangled Up In Blue.” It’s here the Fred Kevorkian mastering is most useful as means to track the drum work of Daoud Shaw (who was with Van Morrison circa His Band and the Street Choir).
It’s not quite fair to say Jerry Garcia made a profound statement with each and every appearance he made, with whomever he made it. But as a slightly revamped conceptual entry in GarciaLive, June 18, 1982 Cape Cod suggests that declaration is not too far off the mark.
One Response
This “After Midnight” is the most intense, upbeat, and IMO, best JGB has ever sounded.