Friday, March 15, 2013

April 6, 1969, Avalon Ballroom: Grateful Dead/Flying Burrito Brothers/AUM (Wayne Ceballos)

On the weekend of April 4-6, 1969, the Grateful Dead headlined at the Avalon Ballroom, the last rock show at the Avalon for almost 40 years. The final night was broadcast on KPFA-fm, generating a tape that was one of the few good quality '69 tapes in early circulation. The two opening acts were also broadcast, and those tapes circulated as well, if less widely. Second on the bill were The Flying Burrito Brothers, not a particularly successful band at the time, but who ultimately became quite legendary. Burritos' sets from the first night (April 4) and the last night (April 6) were ultimately released as an archival cd set in 2009. The third band on the bill, AUM, from San Francisco, have remained generally unnoticed by Deadheads over the decades.

However, AUM and their leader, lead singer and lead guitarist, Wayne Ceballos, shared the stage with the Grateful Dead a number of times throughout the Spring and Summer of 1969. Intriguingly, Ceballos jammed onstage with the Dead a number of times, a very rare occurrence for an opening act. As part of my intermittent series on acts who opened for the Grateful Dead, I am going to look at Wayne Ceballos and AUM and consider why Ceballos had the opportunity to jam with the Dead when so many other fine opening acts did not. Ceballos joined the Grateful Dead on stage four times in June 1969, and while the first time may have been partially accidental, his subsequent appearances confirmed that he was a welcome guest.

AUM
AUM appears to have been pronounced "ohm," and seems to be a reference to the Buddhist chant and possibly to the electrical term for a unit of resistance as well. The name was capitalized, but I don't think it stood for anything. The group probably formed in early 1969. The earliest date I have been able to find for them is March 11-13, 1969 at The Matrix. Since this was a weeknight booking (Tuesday thru Thursday), and AUM shared the bill with two other groups (All Man Joy and Birth), that is a pretty clear sign of a newly formed or newly arrived group. AUM was a power trio that featured Wayne Ceballos on lead guitar, harmonica and vocals, Ken Newell on bass and Larry Martin on drums. They performed original material and a few blues covers.

AUM released their debut album Bluesvibes, on Sire Records (distributed by London), in 1969. I have not been able to determine when in 1969 it was released, so I don't know when it might have been recorded. The album isn't bad, although it has some typical 60s excesses. In any case, all of the evidence seems to suggest that the band was formed, and quickly got management and the opportunity to play high profile gigs. Although AUM may have "gotten it together" in some out of the way place, less than a month after their Matrix debut, AUM was opening for the Grateful Dead at the Avalon. The next weekend, April 11-12, they were opening for Blood, Sweat & Tears and Albert King at the Fillmore East (Savoy Brown played April 12 in place of King--both acts were replacing Jethro Tull).  Because AUM played Fillmore East in April, I have to think that AUM must have just released their debut album.

All signs point towards AUM as being a Bill Graham sponsored group. At the time, Graham was trying to branch beyond concert promotion, opening up different corporate branches for both Talent Management and Booking, and later starting a record company. I know that AUM was booked by Bill Graham's Millard Agency, just as the Grateful Dead were in early 1969. This accounts for the number of times that AUM shared the bill with the Dead, since they were booked by the same agency. I think Graham was also AUM's manager, through one of his various subsidiaries. Later in  1969, AUM released their second album, Resurrection, on Graham's own Columbia-distributed Fillmore label. They toured the East Coast a little bit, too, including another stint at Filmore East (October 20-26, 1969, opening for The Who and King Crimson)The band continued on until 1970, but eventually faded away. As far as I know, Wayne Ceballos is still touring and recording to this day.

June 6, 1969, Fillmore West: The Grateful Dead plus Wayne Ceballos minus Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia was never in a hurry to get to a show, and apparently that drove Bill Graham crazy. This was particularly true in the days when Fillmore shows went around the bill twice--the headliner would play the 3rd and 6th set of the night--and were thus tightly scheduled. Apparently, on Friday, June 6, 1969, when the Grateful Dead headlined over Junior Walker And The All-Stars and the Glass Family, Garcia was nowhere to be found. An angry Graham presumably told the Dead they were going to go on stage anyway. Ceballos was backstage, and Phil Lesh invited him to sit in until Jerry arrived. Obviously, there was an element of desperation, but clearly Phil thought Ceballos could handle it. The tape shows that he clearly could. There isn't any doubt about Ceballos' presence: Ceballos tells the story himself:
Seems to me "I" was playing guitar on "Beat It On Down the Line" that night. I was walking by the stage when Phil (Lesh) asked me to come up and sit in on guitar. I distinctly remember playing guitar on BIODTL. Things were so crazy that night- but I DO remember playing on BIODTL.

I can back up my statement up because Jerry (Garcia) himself states in Bill Graham's autobiography that

"...One night I came to the gig REAL late and there was this OTHER guy playing guitar with the Grateful Dead. This guy from AUM.(my band) He was a pretty good blues guitar player. I thought, 'Geez, Bill is gonna fuckin' kill me,' but he didn't say anything..." (P. 220- 222, I believe).

Photos of Wayne Ceballos' band The Sound Machine, from the 1966 SF Band ID Book
The Sound Machine
I have not been able to find out much about Wayne Ceballos career prior to AUM. However, Ceballos has said elsewhere that his friendship with the Dead went back to Warlocks days. The one firm trace I have been able to find of Ceballos was his band's picture in the 1966 Band ID book, dating from about Fall 1966. Some entrepreneur put together a little book of "hip" San Francisco bands in Fall 1966, with their pictures and management contact information (the Grateful Dead were part of it, too), and the odd little booklet has been a goldmine of source information for scholars ever since. Some of the groups are well remembered, and others are pretty obscure. I know absolutely nothing about The Sound Machine beyond the captions of the pictures (above and below). It appears that they were a trio with Ceballos on lead guitar, Ty Tolomei on organ and Lee Better on drums. The manager seems to have given the phone number of a bar on Powell Street for contact information.

Photos of Wayne Ceballos' band The Sound Machine, from the 1966 SF Band ID Book

An ad from the entertainment section of the SF Chronicle from August 6, 1966
update: I found an ad for The Sound Machine. There was an SF Chronicle ad in August 1966 for a joint called Lefty's, at 209 Powell Street. It says LEFTY'S Proudly Presents "The Sound Machine" Rock 'n' Roll Trio. I know nothing else about Lefty's. 209 Powell Street is near O'Farrell.

A late 60's ad for Lefty's, at 209 Powell. Francis "Lefty" was a San Francisco baseball legend
update II: Yellow Shark tracked down Lefty's. It turns out that it was the establishment of San Francisco baseball legend Lefty O'Doul. More
Ty Tolomei is the link to Lefty's. Lefty's at 209, Powell was a bar being run by his mother, Margaret Tolomei, and hosted seemingly only a very few musical performances. Mrs Tomomei was subject to violent robbery after returning home with the takings in mid December 1967 and the bar seems to have closed pretty soon after - being re-incarnated as Lefty O’Doul’s right around the corner (at it's current location) at 333, Geary in early 1968. The Geary location also hosts occasional performances including three featuring Joe and Barry. These included Lee Houskeeper's Birthday Roast and shared stages with the likes of Carol Doda, the Rowens and Joli Valenti.

The Millard Agency
Bill Graham opened the Millard agency in Fall 1968. The initial clients were the Grateful Dead, Santana, Cold Blood and It's A Beautiful Day. In short order, Millard signed other promising local bands, including Elvin Bishop Group, Sanpaku and AUM. One of Millard's strategies was to take bands who had some status at the Fillmore and find bookings for them in the suburbs and other parts of Northern California. There were a lot of teenagers who wanted to go to the Fillmore but couldn't, so Millard effectively brought the Fillmore to them. A unique feature of the Fillmore was that the posters were very famous, so groups like It's A Beautiful Day, Cold Blood and Santana, who had not yet released albums, were still familiar names to Northern California rock fans.

Throughout the first half of 1969, Millard found bookings for the Dead all over California, and they were regularly supported by the above named Millard names. When the Grateful Dead played the Avalon on April 4-6, 1969, the Avalon was no longer promoted by Chet Helms, but the venue was really too small to compete in the rock market. Nonetheless, Graham was more than willing to have his agency book shows with a competitor.

Based on the paucity of AUM shows prior to the April 6 KPFA broadcast, I think AUM recorded their debut album before they had played, or played much. Graham did not have a record company at this time, but I think part of the management deal was that AUM would be able to get good bookings on the heels of their release, which is why I assume Resurrection was released around April. Although AUM's name was on the April 4-6 '69 poster, I happen to know that the Millard band Sanpaku played the first two nights. Based on discussions with Sanpaku's road manager, I think Sanpaku took the first two dates, but AUM played the night of the broadcast.

AUM also opened a couple of shows for the Grateful Dead in May. AUM was one of many bands booked at the "Big Rock Pow Wow" at the Seminole Indian Reservation in Florida on May 23-25, 1969 (Ceballos has a few amusing comments in Blair Jackson's liner notes for the Grateful Dead's release of an archival cd from that weekend). A few days later, AUM played the People's Park Bail Fund Benefit on May 28 at Fillmore West. As a marker of Millard's strategy, the high-profile Wednesday night benefit featured three prominent Fillmore bands--Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead and Creedence Clearwater Revival--supported by three Millard acts: Santana, AUM and Elvin Bishop (Bangor Flying Circus were from Chicago, but had Graham connections). Since the show wasn't for-profit anyway, Graham's bands benefited from the exposure.

Given the Millard affiliation, it's not surprising that Wayne Ceballos was hanging out backstage on June 6, even more so if he had been friends with the Dead since the Warlocks days. It was serendipitous that he got the opportunity to sit in, but he acquitted himself well. Various archive commenters have observed that Ceballos sounds somewhat like Garcia, but as others have pointed out, he was playing with Garcia's rig. It's also worth considering that Ceballos does not seem to have been tied to any specific style of guitar playing. Playing live with AUM, Ceballos had a sound reminiscent of Cream. but he surfed through various styles on the two AUM albums. While Ceballos didn't have the distinctiveness of, say, Neil Young, his versatility made him a good candidate for sitting in. You don't have to take my word for it--the Grateful Dead invited him on stage for substantial jamming three more times in the next 8 days.

June 8, 1969 Fillmore West
In an event shrouded in confusion and mystery, on Sunday June 8, Owsley brought a strange new concoction to the Fillmore West. It did not help anyone perform better. A lot of musicians appear to have been backstage, both because they probably had nothing to do Sunday night and because their had been a big rock concert in Golden Gate Park that day. I have written about this event at great length, but it appears pretty clearly that June 8 was the day when Garcia was just too out of it to play, and he seems to have missed most of the second set (remember, there would have been a two hour gap between set one and set two, while the other bands played). Elvin Bishop and Wayne Ceballos stepped up to the stage, and joined Pigpen in an extended "Turn On Your Lovelight," Once again, Ceballos was the man on hand when an emergency arose.

June 13, 1969 Convention Center, Fresno, CA
AUM and Sanpaku opened for the Grateful Dead at the Selland Arena (Convention Center) in Fresno on Friday night. This was a typical Millard gig. The Grateful Dead, while not hugely popular, were Fillmore legends, and AUM and Sanpaku got a chance to build an audience out of town. Wayne Ceballos and Sanpaku flautist Gary Larkey were invited on stage for "Lovelight," and this time it wasn't an emergency, so Ceballos was obviously in good standing.

June 14, 1969 Gym, Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey, CA
On Saturday night, Millard had booked the Dead, AUM and The Bitter Seeds (a Monterey group) played the relatively small junior college gym in Monterey, yet another chance to bring the Fillmore to those who could not get there. Once again, Ceballos joined the Dead for "Lovelight," so clearly the band was enjoying playing with him.

Aftermath
AUM continued to tour throughout 1969, and released their second album Resurrection on Bill Graham's Fillmore label later in the year. They played Fillmore East in October, and continued to tour around. The only time I am aware of that AUM played with the Grateful Dead again was at the San Diego Convention Center on January 10, 1970, with the Sons Of Champlin (who had replaced Savoy Brown). I do not know the Grateful Dead's exact booking arrangements, but they had stopped using the Millard Agency, so they rarely played with all the Millard bands again.

By Spring 1969, Lenny Hart was asserting control over the Dead's finances, and that must have been critical to the separation with Millard. It also appears that the arrangement with Millard was a quid pro quo for when the Dead had had to borrow some money from Graham in late 1968. In any case, AUM and the rest of the Millard bands stopped playing much with the Dead, and Ceballos never seems to have had the opportunity to jam with the Dead again.

By 1970, the Grateful Dead were bringing the New Riders Of The Purple Sage on the road with them as an opening act. By 1972, the Dead pretty much stopped having opening acts. Thus the days when a friend might be in the opening band and be casually invited on stage for the final rave-up  were gone. Wayne Ceballos, while hardly a major name, seems to have a unique status in Dead history for the couple of weeks where he found himself backstage and then onstage with the Grateful Dead because they kept inviting him back.

AUM Discography
1969 Bluesvibes - Sire 97007 LP
1969 Resurrection - Fillmore 30002 LP
1970 Bye Bye Baby/Resurrection - Fillmore 7000 45
1970 Aum/Little Brown Hen - Fillmore 7001 45
  • Wayne Ceballos - Harmonica, Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards
  • Larry Martin - Drums, Vocals
  • Ken Newell - Bass, Vocals




Friday, March 1, 2013

Lost Live Dead Individual Show List

A contemporary map of Sir Francis Drake's voyages
In order to ease navigation, primarily for me, I am posting a list of my write-ups of individual shows. As long as I am making the list, everybody may as well benefit. Listed below are links to posts on Lost Live Dead and Hooterollin' Around that feature a specific show or run of shows. Of course, having gone that far, I listed just about everything else, too.

One goal of my blogs has been to identify Grateful Dead shows, or shows by band members, that are not part of any existing database. A related goal has been to contextualize shows that are known, but lack historical background. I have written about shows both individually, and in the context of a run of shows--usually for a given month. However, I have also included those itineraries in the list below. I have also included specialized lists, such as lists of shows for a given city or venue. Some posts are listed twice, if they have more than one reference. Shows that are only mentioned in a tour itinerary do not have an individual entry.

The shows listed below were either thoroughly unknown, canceled or lacked some meaningful historical context. I have made a few comments on this list, but in general you will need to read the posts to see what I am trying to add to the historical record. Since existing online databases which list Grateful Dead performances, such as Deadlists, Dead.net and Deadbase, have not been updated for some time, this list has also been designed to act as an overlay to the existing record. In the case of The Jerry Site, most of the shows listed here are linked to the main list there. Here and there, I have even included a few posts from other blogs, just for historical completeness.


Jerry Garcia, Top Of The Tangent, 117 University Avenue, Palo Alto 1963-64
Jerry Garcia's earliest advertised performances were at a tiny folk club above a pizza parlor.

January 25, 1964 College of San Mateo Folk Festival, Little Theater, CSM, San Mateo, CA: Black MountainString Band/others

May 1964, Non-Commissioned Officers Club, Tyndall Air Force Base, Panama City, FL: Jerry Garcia, Sandy Rothman and Scott Hambly
Garcia's first out-of-state show. Scott Hambly was stationed at Tyndall AFB at the time (for a slightly different take, see here).

January 16, 1965 Hootenanny, Peninsula YMCA, San Mateo, CA: Mother McRee's Uptown Jug Band Champions 

June 18, 1965 Frenchy's, Hayward, CA: Lords Of London
This was Phil Lesh's first show as the Warlocks' bass player.

Summer 1965 The Top Of The Tangent, Palo Alto, CA: The Warlocks
Not a typo.

September 1965 Dining Hall, Menlo College, Menlo Park, CA: The Warlocks

The Warlocks Tour Itinerary , May-December 1965

Grateful Dead Performance List December 1965-June 1966
Since online resources for Grateful Dead shows (such as Deadbase, Deadlists or Dead.net) are so faulty and out-of-date, I have started publishing lists of my own for certain periods. Unlike the more narrow Tour Itinerary series, these are just lists of shows, with very little commentary about them.

December 18, 1965 Acid Test, Big Beat Club, Palo Alto, CA
I have a picture of the building that housed the Big Beat club.

January 21-23, 1966 Trips Festival, Longshoreman's Hall, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Big Brother And The Holding Company/others

February 1, 1966: Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Great Society/Loading Zone
This was the Dead's audition for the Fillmore

Grateful Dead Performance History July-December 1966
Since online resources for Grateful Dead shows (such as Deadbase, Deadlists or Dead.net) are so faulty and out-of-date, I have started publishing lists of my own for certain periods. Unlike the more narrow Tour Itinerary series, these are just lists of shows, with very little commentary about them.

August 5, 1966 English Beach Bandstand, Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC: Grateful Dead/United Empire Loyalists
The Grateful Dead's first free concert in a public park

September 2, 1966 Ayn and Lyn Mattel Debutante Ball, La Dolphine, Hillsborough, CA: Grateful Dead/Al Trobe Orchestra

September 30-October 2 1966, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA: Whatever It Is
The Grateful Dead, The Merry Pranksters and many others join in a series of events over a weekend at San Francisco State.

October 15, 1966 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA: Big Brother And The Holding Company
Jerry Garcia made a guest appearance with Big Brother.

October 23, 1966 Las Lomas High School, Walnut Creek, CA: Grateful Dead

October 26, 1966 North Face Ski Shop, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead
The Dead played the opening of a hip winter-wear shop.

Fall 1966 American Legion Hall, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Grateful Dead

November 28-December 1, 1966 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Jerry Pond

December 2, 1966 Pauley Ballroom, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Grateful Dead/Country Joe And The Fish

December 9, 1966 Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Tim Rose
Tim Rose's current single at the time was "Morning Dew."

December 14, 1966 Gym, College Of Marin, Kentfield, CA: Grateful Dead

December 17, 1966 Ladera School, Ladera, CA: Grateful Dead
Ladera is an unincorporated area in the hills above Menlo Park. The Ladera School was a K-8 school, but some parents used the gym to put on dances for the Ladera teenagers. One Saturday night, they hired the Grateful Dead. This show was originally discovered on another blog, but no matter: it was lost, it was live and it was Dead, so it's listed here.

Grateful Dead Tour Itinerary , December 1966
Since online resources for Grateful Dead shows (such as Deadbase, Deadlists or Dead.net) are so faulty and out-of-date, I have started publishing lists of my own for certain periods. Unlike the more narrow Tour Itinerary series, these are just lists of shows, with very little commentary about them.

January 13-15, 1967 San Francisco Rock Weekend
A lot was going on during the weekend of the Human Be-I

January 14, 1967 Polo Grounds, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead with special guests
At the Human Be-In, the Dead were joined by two guests. I definitively identified one as harmonica player Marvin Boxley, and I'm hoping someone else can figure out the flute player.

January 20, 1967 Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA: Tim Leary with The Grateful Dead
Timothy Leary does his act in Los Angeles, and the Grateful Dead are there too, in this largely forgotten show.

February 5, 1967 Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/various (no-show)
The Dead were listed in the SF Chronicle, but it seems likely they did not make it back from their Los Angeles recording session.

March 5, 1967 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA: Moby Grape/Country Joe and The Fish/Big Brother and The Holding Company/The Sparrow/Grateful Dead

March 10-15, 1967 The Whisky A Go Go, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead
March 11, 1967 The Whisky A Go Go, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead
I had originally thought that these shows were canceled. However, thanks to a correspondent, I have absolute confirmation of the shows, including a photo from March 11. The March 11 post includes the strange, lost saga of the SF Whisky.

March 20, 1967 Club Fugazi, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead

March 26, 1967 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Grateful Dead/Quicksilver Messenger Service
Eric Burdon and The Animals show up and play a few songs on the Dead's equipment.

April 11, 1967 San Quentin, CA: members of the Grateful Dead and Country Joe and The Fish
Members of both bands and others played on a flatbed truck outside the prison.

April 14-15, 17, 1967 The Banana Grove, Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, CA: Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead/Canned Heat
The Dead/Airplane show at the new Kaleidoscope is blocked by the police, so the event is moved to a ballroom in the swanky Ambassador Hotel. It went well, but it wasn't to be repeated.

April 28, 1967 Stockton Ballroom, Stockton, CA: Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead Performance List January-June 1967
Since online resources for Grateful Dead shows (such as Deadbase, Deadlists or Dead.net) are so faulty and out-of-date, I have started publishing lists of my own for certain periods. Unlike the more narrow Tour Itinerary series, these are just lists of shows, with very little commentary about them.

Grateful Dead Tour Itinerary , January-April 1967

May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Rendezvous Inn, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/The Wildflower

May 12, 1967 Marigold Ballroom, Fresno, CA: Grateful Dead/Road Runners

May 30, 1967 Winterland: Jefferson Airplane/Big Brother And The Holding Company/Quicksilver Messenger Service/The Charlatans/Grateful Dead
I am alone in thinking that the Dead did not actually play the HALO Benefit.

June 1, 1967 Tompkins Square Park, New York, NY: Grateful Dead (free concert)

June 15, 1967 Straight Theater, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/The Wildflower
A private party to celebrate the opening of the Straight Theater. Jimi Hendrix was reputedly in attendance.

June 16, 1967 The Hullabaloo, Hollywood, CA: Grateful Dead/Yellow Payges/The Power
June 16, 1967 The Cheetah, Santa Monica, CA: Grateful Dead (superseded)
The Dead played the night before Monterey Pop, and it took me awhile to find out where.

July 2, 1967 Be-In, El Camino Park, Palo Alto, CA: Grateful Dead/Anonymous Artists Of America/New Delhi River Band/Solid State/Good Word 
I had originally thought that this show was on Saturday, June 24, but in fact it was Sunday July 2 (per the Stanford Daily).

Grateful Dead Tour Itinerary , May-June 1967

Grateful Dead Performance List July-December 1967

August 19, 1967 American Legion Hall, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Grateful Dead

August 25-26, 1967 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA: Grateful Dead/The Creators

September 2, 1967 Cabrillo College Football Field, Aptos, CA: Grateful Dead/others (canceled)
Sadly, it seems that this advertised rock festival was never held

August 19-September 4, 1967 (Forces Tear Loose From The Axis)
An interesting couple of weeks in Grateful Dead history. The five shows they played were almost incidental to the remarkable events that occurred inbetween

September 16, 1967 Convention Center Rotunda, Las Vegas, NV: Grateful Dead
This appears to have been Tom Constanten's live debut with the band.

October 13, 1967 [unknown venue], Modesto, CA: Grateful Dead
Some plausible speculation about a missing Grateful Dead date.

Grateful Dead Tour Itinerary, November-December 1967

December 2, 7 or 16, 1967 Atwood Hall, Clark University, Worcester, MA: Grateful Dead
This post also includes a December 1967 tour itinerary.

December 8-9, 1967 Psychedelic Supermarket, Boston, MA: Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead Performance History, January-June 1968

Grateful Dead Tour Itinerary , January 1968

March 2, 1968 The Looking Glass, Walnut Creek, CA: Grateful Dead
This probably didn't happen, but where or what was The Looking Glass? Nascent psychedelia in Walnut Creek?

March 1-2, 1968 Clifford's Catering, Walnut Creek, CA: Grateful Dead
The Dead didn't play the Looking Glass, they played Clifford's. JGMF has the whole story.

March 11, 1968 Sacramento Civic Auditorium, Sacramento, CA: Cream/Grateful Dead
The Dead open for the mighty Cream on a Monday night.

March 9, 1968 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA: Buck Owens and The Buckaroos
The last booking at the Carousel Ballroom before the Grateful Dead took over was, appropriately enough, for Buck Owens.

March 18, 1968 Pier 10, San Francisco, CA: Traffic with Jerry Garcia
March 18, 1968 Green Street, San Francisco, CA: Traffic with Jerry Garcia
Two posts about the KMPX strike (Pier 10 isn't far from Green Street).

March 20, 1968 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Kaleidoscope/Clover/others
A KMPX strike benefit.

April 3, 1968 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Moby Grape/Electric Flag/others
Another KMPX strike benefit.

April 12-14, 1968 Thee Image, Miami, FL: Grateful Dead/Blues Image

April 14, 1968 Love-In, Greynolds Park, Miami, FL: Grateful Dead/Blues Image
A free concert between shows at Miami's Thee Image.

May 7-9, 1968 The Electric Circus, 23 St. Mark's Place, New York, NY: Grateful Dead
The Dead play a now-legendary venue in Greenwich Village.

Grateful Dead Tour Itinerary , March-April 1968

June 1, 1968 The Panhandle, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Charlie Musselwhite/Petrus

June 9, 1968 Speedway Meadows, San Francisco, CA: Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead (canceled)

June 14-15, 1968 Fillmore East Grateful Dead/Jeff Beck Group/Seventh Sons
Not a "lost" show exactly, but a different perspective from a different blog.

July 1968, Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, HI: Grateful Dead (canceled)

August 2-3, 1968, The Hippodrome, San Diego, CA; Grateful Dead (Next Phase)
The Grateful Dead return to action in San Diego with their newly-rehired soundman, one Mr Owsley Stanley. We know almost nothing about this concert, as the 60s scene in San Diego isn't that well-known.

September 21, 1968, Pacific Recording, San Mateo, CA: The Jam with Vic and David
On an unbooked Saturday night, the Grateful Dead invite Vic Briggs and David Crosby to jam with them in the studio, and they don't invite Bob Weir.

September 22, 1968 Del Mar Fairgrounds, Del Mar, CA: Quicksilver Messenger Service/Grateful Dead/others

Grateful Dead European Tour, October 1968 (canceled)

October 5, 1968 Sacramento Civic Auditorium, Sacramento, CA: The Turtles/Grateful Dead/Youngbloods/Initial Shock/Sanpaku/Family Tree
Bob Segarini, lead singer of opening act Family Tree, gets an invitation to join the Grateful Dead. He declines.

October 19, 1968 Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV: Grateful Dead
A fellow scholar discovers a long-lost Dead show in Vegas. As part of the State Fair, no less.

November 15, 1968 Gill Coliseum, Oregon State U., Corvallis, OR: Grateful Dead/Mint Tattoo/City Blue

November 16, 1968 ERB Ballroom, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR: Grateful Dead
A fellow scholar not only tracked down this show, he found a newspaper article that showed there was a bogus bomb threat that halted the show. The sixties, baby--it's not like that now.

November 29-30, 1968 Hyde Park Teen Center, Cincinnati, OH: Grateful Dead/Lemon Pipers
The Dead play a tiny place in the Queen City on Thanksgiving weekend.

December 31, 1968 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Quicksilver Messenger Service/Santana/It's A Beautiful Day

January 2-5, 1969 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Blood, Sweat & Tears/Spirit
Four nights at home at the Fillmore West, on a weekend, and somehow we know nothing.

January 12, 1969 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA: Country Joe And The Fish/Led Zeppelin/Taj Mahal
Country Joe and The Fish are at the end of an era, and Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Jack Casady, Jorma Kaukonen and Steve Miller show up to send them off. No one notices.

January 13, 1969 rehearsal space, Novato, CA: members of Fleetwood Mac and the Grateful Dead

February 19, 1969 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: High Country with Jerry Garcia and David Nelson

February 19, 1969 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Golden Toad
This post is about the Golden Toad, an interesting (if completely obscure) group lead by Bob Thomas, a close friend  of Owsley's and the artist who made the Grateful Dead "Lightning Bolt" logo.

February 24 and 26, 1969 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Mickey Hart and The Hartbeats

February 27-March 2, 1969 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Pentangle/Sir Douglas Quintet 

February 28, 1969 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Pentangle/Sir Douglas Quintet/Shades Of Joy
Martin Fierro's band Shades Of Joy opened for the Dead, although neither Fierro nor Garcia seeemed to have remembered it.

Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia Tour Itinerary February 1969

March 17, 1969 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead/Sons Of Champlin
The local heroes played a last second Monday night show after the Rancho Olompali mansion burned down, leaving the commune homeless.

I summarized my March 17, 1969 efforts here.

Grateful Dead Tour Itinerary , March-April 1969

Grateful Dead Tour Itinerary , March 1969
I had learned a lot more about March, 1969, so I did another post updating the previous one for March of that year.

March 22, 1969 Thee Experience, 7751 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA: The Grateful Dead
After a show at the Rose Palace in Pasadena, the Dead went and played at the new club of their old Miami friend, Marshall Brevetz.

April 4-6, 1969 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Flying Burrito Brothers/AUM
First I wrote about my perception that the sound of Sneeky Pete Kleinow's pedal steel guitar on an Owsley sound system may have been an inspiration for Garcia to buy another one for himself.

April 4-6, 1969 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Flying Burrito Brothers/AUM
It turned out there was an eyewitness (Burritos road manager Jimmi Seiter) and I was right. As if that weren't enough, in a different post, I wrote about Wayne Ceballos and AUM.

May 10, 1969 Rose Palace, Pasadena, CA: Farewell Cream movie/Grateful Dead/Kaleidoscope

May 16, 1969, Gym, Campolindo High School, Moraga, CA: Grateful Dead/Frumious Bandersnatch/Velvet Hammer

Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia Tour Itinerary, May 1969

Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia Tour Itinerary, June 1969

June 6 and 8, 1969 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Junior Walker And The All-Stars/Glass Family

June 13, 1969 Convention Center, Fresno, CA: Grateful Dead/AUM/Sanpaku

June 27, 1969 Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa, CA: Grateful Dead/Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady and Joey Covington/Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band 

June 28, 1969 Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa, CA: Grateful Dead/Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady and Joey Covington/Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band

June 29, 1969 The Barn, Rio Nido, CA: Grateful Dead
I had originally wondered if this show was canceled, but now I think the Dead played, but without the opening acts, as Rio Nido Dance Hall was much smaller than the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds.

July 3, 1969 Reed's Ranch, Colorado Springs, CO: Grateful Dead/Alice Cooper/Zephyr/Holden Caulfield Blues Band
Guest scholar Dr Beechwood has an amazing post on the lost history of Reed's Ranch, the brief flowering of psychedelia in Colorado Springs. As if that wasn't enough, the actual promoter of the show contacted him and filled in many of the blanks.

July 6, 1969 Grande Ballroom, Detroit, MI: Grateful Dead/Pentangle
A fellow scholar found out that this show was advertised, and while it hasn't been confirmed, it's very plausible.

July 16, 1969 Longshoreman's Hall, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Marmaduke & Friends/Cleveland Wrecking Company
The debut of the as-yet unnamed New Riders Of The Purple Sage.

August 1, 1969 The Bear's Lair, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Marmaduke with Jerry Garcia

August 1, 1969 Family Dog on The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Albert Collins/Ballet Afro-Haiti --canceled
The Light Show Guild pickets the show, so Garcia doesn't show up (since he has a gig at the Bear's Lair).

August 2-3, 1969 Family Dog on The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Albert Collins/Ballet Afro-Haiti (Saturday-Sunday) [FDGH '69 X]
The Grateful Dead finish out the weekend.

August 3, 1969 Family Dog On The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Ballet Afro-Haiti/Albert Collins [FDGH I]

August 6-9, 1969 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: New Riders Of The Purple Sage
The first use of the New Riders name comes at this four night stand at The Matrix.

August 12, 1969 Family Dog on The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: New Lost City Ramblers/New Riders of The Purple Sage (Tuesday or Wednesday) [FDGH '69 XII]
Includes the August 14 jam with the New Lost City Ramblers and Mickey Hart and The Hartbeats

August 13, 1969 Family Dog On The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: New Riders Of The Purple Sage/New Lost City Ramblers
I now think this show was August 12 (discussed above). This was an earlier look at it.

August 20, 1969 El Roach, Ballard, WA: Grateful Dead/New Riders of The Purple Sage/Sanpaku

August 21, 1969 Aqua Theater, Seattle, WA: Grateful Dead/New Riders Of The Purple Sage/Sanpaku

August 26, 1969 Family Dog on The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: The Great SF Light Show Jam (Vintage Dead: Found and Lost)
Some light shows did their thing to some '66 Avalon tapes. Save for a few tracks on Vintage Dead, released in 1970, the tapes disappeared and were probably destroyed (a shorter version is here).

August 28, 1969 Family Dog On The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Mickey Hart and The Hartbeats

August 28-30, 1969, Family Dog at The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Hartbeats/New Riders of The Purple Sage/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen/Rubber Duck (Archaeology) [FDGH II]

Grateful Dead Tour Itinerary , July-August 1969

September 6, 1969 Family Dog On The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead
For an earlier look at this weekend, see here  . For the Family Dog on The Great Highway perspective, see here.

September 11, 1969 Family Dog On The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead and a more current discussion of the same date is Part XX of the Family Dog series (Sep 12-14 '69)

September 26-27, 1969 Flushing Meadows Pavilion, New York, NY: Grateful Dead (canceled)
The Dead ended up playing at Fillmore East, but they were originally advertised at Flushing Meadows (in Queens) that weekend.

Grateful Dead/New Riders Tour Itinerary , September 1969

Grateful Dead/New Riders Tour Itinerary , October 1969

Halloween Weekend 1969: Loma Prieta Room, San Jose State and Family Dog on The Great Highway (Oct 31-Nov 2 '69) [FDGH V]
The Grateful Dead Halloween was held at San Jose State (along with an October 17 NRPS show) in San Jose, while the Hells Angels had some sort of party at the Dog. The Dead returned to the Dog for the balance of the weekend (a version of the post another blog can be seen here).

 November 9, 1969 Oakland Coliseum Arena, Oakland, CA: Rolling Stones
The Stones end up borrowing most of the Dead's sound system for the late show, and rock history is irrevocably changed.

November 13, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto New Riders Of The Purple Sage 

November 19, Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA: Steve Miller Band/New Riders of The Purple Sage/Big Brother and The Holding Company Benefit for the Family Dog [FDGH '69 XXVII]
Including Family Dog NRPS shows from November 18, November 22-23 and November 27 '69.

November 23, 1969 Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA: Grateful Dead/Country Joe and The Fish/Pacific Gas & Electric (canceled)

November 26, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto New Riders Of The Purple Sage
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving. 

November 29, 1969 Rehearsal Space, Novato, CA: Jerry Garcia and Dave Davies
Dave Davies of The Kinks tweeted out that he jammed with Garcia. It had to be this weekend.

Grateful Dead/New Riders Tour Itinerary , November 1969

December 4-7, 1969 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/The Flock/Humble Pie (x-Altamont)
The Grateful Dead don't make it back on Saturday night, December 6, and Humble Pie has to hold down the fort at Fillmore.

December 19-20, 1969 New Old Fillmore, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Rhythm Dukes/Osceola/Jef Jaisun

December 22, 1969 Napa Valley Sports Camp, Napa, CA: Grateful Dead/Quicksilver Messenger Service/Loading Zone/Rejoice/People!
This was a revision of a much earlier post (which can be seen here)

December 31, 1969 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Grateful Dead/Livingston Taylor/The Proposition
The Grateful Dead played one New Year's Eve outside of the Bay Area. It was in Boston, a huge rock town where the Dead had had surprisingly little traction.

Grateful Dead Tour Itinerary , December 1969

Grateful Dead Tour Itinerary , January 1970

January 30-31, 1970: Grateful Dead/Family Dog Merger (Not To Be) [FDGH VI]
The Grateful Dead and the Family Dog nearly merged, one weekend in January 1970, before Chet figured out that Lenny was stealing (for a different version of this saga, see here).

February 4, 1970 Family Dog On The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead/Santana/Kimberly
A KQED-tv special is filmed on a Wednesday night at the Dog.

February 3, 1970 Family Dog on The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead (Lost and Found) [FDGH VII]
It now appears that the Dead and the Airplane played the Family Dog on February 3. Was this a rehearsal for the PBS Special on February 4--in which case there were two shows--or was the date wrong? (for a different version of the saga, see here).

February 12, 1970 Ungano's, New York, NY Grateful Dead/Creedmore State
It remains in question whether the Dead actually played this show between Fillmore East dates, for which they were advertised. My current view--always subject to change--is that they did not play it, but that they had already played a different show at Ungano's (the subject of an unwritten post).

Grateful Dead Tour Itinerary , February 1970

Grateful Dead Equipment Truck Tour Itinerary , January-February 1970
This itinerary attempted to analyze how much the Grateful Dead equipment truck had to drive during this period. I don't think it was that accurate, but it was still an intriguing exercise.

February 27-March 1, 1970, Family Dog on The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
The last stand of the electric Grateful Dead at the Family Dog.

Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia Tour Itinerary, March 1970

March 12, 1970 Inn Of The Beginning, San Francisco, CA: New Riders Of The Purple Sage
I now believe this show was never played. The post has a good Comment thread, however.

March 12-14, 1970 Inn Of The Beginnnig and New Orleans House, New Riders Of The Purple Sage (canceled shows)
I now think that these advertised shows were never played because the New Riders had no bass player.

March 24, 1970 Pirate's World, Dania, FL: Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia Tour Itinerary , March 1970
For a fuller picture of the initial meetings of Garcia and John Kahn at The Matrix this month, see the John Kahn Performance History 1970 post.

April 17-19, 1970 Family Dog On The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Mickey Hart and The Hartbeats/Bobby Ace And The Cards Off The Bottom Of The Deck/Charlie Musselwhite/New Riders Of The Purple Sage
Some reflections on the context of a newly discovered acoustic Dead tape (for the Family Dog series view of this weekend, see here).

New Riders, June 69-March '70 [New Riders Bassist]
As part of my obsession with the bass players for the early New Riders, I summarize the known touring schedule of the band during that period.

March 18, 1970 Family Dog on the Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Rolling Thunder/Hot Tuna/New Riders of the Purple Sage  [Benefit for the Sons of Thunder] [FDGH '70 X]

April 15, 1970 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead/Quicksilver Messenger Servce

April 26, 1970 Sound Storm Festival, York Farm, Poynette, WI: Grateful Dead/others

April 28, 1970 Peninsula School, Menlo Park, CA: New Riders Of The Purple Sage

May 1, 1970 Gymnasium, Alfred State College, Alfred, NY: Grateful Dead/New Riders Of The Purple Sage
About 250 people end their college term by seeing the Grateful Dead. I did that a few times, but there were a lot more than 250 people. 

May 2, 1970 West Gym, Harpur College, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY: Grateful Dead/New Riders Of The Purple Sage
It turns out that the famous Binghamton show was just one of four great shows at the college that week.

May 3, 1970 Wesleyan College, Middletown, CT Grateful Dead
One of the great Lost Live Dead posts, except for the minor fact that's it not on my blog nor written by me.

May 17, 1970 Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT: Grateful Dead
It remains mysterious as to whether the Dead actually played this show, but it appears they probably didn't.

June 4-7, 1970 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/New Riders of The Purple Sage/Southern Comfort
The New Riders open for the Grateful Dead at a Bill Graham Presents show for the very first time. And the opening act was Southern Comfort, who had just released their debut album on Columbia, produced by one John Kahn.

June 21, 1970 Pauley Ballroom, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Grateful Dead/New Riders Of The Purple Sage/others

June 22, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia with Vince Guaraldi
The world's leading Guaraldi scholar is all over this one, complete with an eyewitness account from Bill Champlin, who played rhythm guitar that night.

July 8, 1970 Mississippi River Festival, Edwardsville, IL: Grateful Dead

October 3, 1970 Washoe County Fairgrounds, Reno, NV: Grateful Dead/Hot Tuna
This show did not occur.

July 1, 1970 Winnipeg Stadium, Winnipeg, MB: Grateful Dead/others (Festival Express tour)

July 30-August 1, 1970 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Acoustic Grateful Dead/New Riders Of The Purple Sage
A largely forgotten acoustic Dead show in Marin, all but unpublicized. Not from my blog, but it has to be on this list.

August 28-29, 1970 Thee Club, 8409 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles: Grateful Dead/New Riders Of The Purple Sage/Roxy
Once again, the Dead played--probably--for their pal Marshall Brevetz, this time at his new "upscale" rock club. Since Alembic was on tour with the Medicine Ball Caravan, the Dead played acousic.

September 16, 1970 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Golden Toad/High Country/JJ Mad/Potter's Wheel (Lost Horizon VII)
Not a Grateful Dead show, but this may be one of the most Dead-adjacent bookings ever, and for just 50 cents on a Wednesday night.

October 26, 1970 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Grateful Dead/others
This was Janis Joplin's wake. I had thought it was November 1 or 2, but I am now persuaded it was October 26.

November 9-10, 1970 Action House, Island Park, NY Grateful Dead

November 11-14, 1970 46th Street Rock Palace, Brooklyn, NY Grateful Dead

November 15, 1970 The Armory, Albany, NY: Grateful Dead/Buddy Miles Express (no-show)

November 22, 1970 Middlesex County Community College, Edison, NJ: Grateful Dead/New Riders of The Purple Sage
The Dead play a junior college dance.

Grateful Dead Tour Itinerary , November 1970

December 9, 1970>March 24, 1971 The Matrix and Keystone Korner, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders and the New Riders of The Purple Sage
JGMF finds nine (count 'em, nine) lost Garcia dates in a four month span.

December 15, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia And Friends with David Crosby

December 21, 1970 Pepperland, San Rafael, CA: Acoustic Grateful Dead/New Riders Of The Purple Sage/Howard Wales/Jerry Hahn Brotherhood
Not my post, but a true "lost" show, and a great blog post, complete with photos. The Dead didn't even play acoustic, but David Crosby was there--quite a night.

December 23, 1970 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Acoustic Grateful Dead/Hot Tuna/New Riders of The Purple Sage/Lizard
The Grateful Dead are billed as the Acoustic Dead, and the post speculates on the various reasons they were billed that way and yet did not play acoustic at all.

February 27, 1971 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA: New Riders Of The Purple Sage/Boz Scaggs/James And The Good Brothers 
Jerry Garcia played banjo with James And The Good Brothers.

March 5, 1971 Oakland Auditorium Arena, Oakland, CA: Grateful Dead

March 19, 1971 The Syndrome, Chicago, IL: Grateful Dead (canceled)

April 2, 1971 Kent State University, Kent, OH: Grateful Dead (canceled)

April 17, 1971 Dillon Gym, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ: Grateful Dead

April 22, 1971 Bangor Municipal Auditorium, Bangor, ME: Grateful Dead/NRPS
First trip to Maine, but not the last.

June 1971 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: The Grateful Dead with Merl Saunders
A fellow blogger pieces together some long-obscured facts and figures out the Grateful Dead showed up for a Garcia/Saunders gig at the New Monk. It's also possible, even likely, that they played again in March, 1972, by which time the venue had changed its name to Keystone Berkeley.

July 2, 1971 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/New Riders Of The Purple Sage/Rowan Brothers (FM IV)
The blueprint for future Grateful Dead live FM broadcasts, more or less.

August 6, 1971 Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA: Grateful Dead/New Riders Of The Purple Sage/Rowan Brothers
One of the great Dead bootleg lps was recorded at this show.

August 14-15, 1971 Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley, CA: Grateful Dead/New Riders of The Purple Sage
Ned Lagin makes his Bay Area debut.

August 21, 1971 Mickey Hart's Ranch, Novato, CA: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Shanti
A long lost and never seen TV special of some kind. A tape circulates from later in the day, recorded at Mickey's studio at the ranch.

August 21, 1971 Midway Stadium, St. Paul, MN: The Who/Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead (canceled)

September 9, 1971 Gold Street Club, San Francisco, CA: Pigpen
Was this show even played? The fact that it was advertised is quite fascinating in its own right.

February 5, 1972 Keystone Korner, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia-Merl Saunders

February 6, 1972 Pacific High Recorders, San Francisco: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders live on KSAN-fm (FM V and 1/4)

March 5, 1972 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Yogi Phlegm with Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh

Summer 1972: Pierce Street Annex, San Francisco, CA: Vince Guaraldi/Jerry Garcia/Mike Clark
A long-lost Garcia ensemble, where he played fusion music with Vince Guaraldi, Mike Clark and others at a San Francisco fern bar.

June 30, 1972 Memorial Auditorium, Kansas City, KS: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Loggins & Messina
It appears that Betty Cantor was on tour with the Riders, probably doing the sound, and thus came to tape Loggins & Messina's opening set. It seems likely that Betty's tape was how Jerry Garcia heard Kenny Loggins' cover of "Friend Of The Devil" as a slow ballad.

July 18, 1972 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Grateful Dead

August 18, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia-Merl Saunders

September 19, 1972 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Grateful Dead/New Riders Of The Purple Sage

September 26-28, 1972 Stanley Theater, Jersey City, NJ: Grateful Dead

October 1, 1972 Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, MA: Roberta Flack
Jerry and Owsley use their night off to check out Dinky Dawson's state-of-the-art sound system.

October 21, 1972 Alumni Lawn, Vanderbilt U., Nashville, TN : Grateful Dead
The last free concert in unconquered territory.

December 10-12, 1972 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/various
The last time the Dead played Winterland with opening acts (Sons Of Champlin, High Country and the Rowan Brothers replaced the originally scheduled Allman Brothers).

February 1973, unnamed bar, Stinson Beach, CA: Old And In The Way
There seems to have been a few unattributed Old And In The Way shows in Stinson Beach.

March 18, 1973 Felt Forum, New York, NY: New Riders Of The Purple Sage/Ramblin Jack Elliott
Garcia, Weir and Keith and Donna Godchaux join in with the New Riders. This was a revision of an earlier post, that can be seen here  (March 18, 1973 Felt Forum, New York, NY: New Riders of The Purple Sage)

April 27, 1973 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Old And In The Way/Banana And The Bunch

May 1, 1973 Ahmanson Theater, Los Angeles, CA: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show/Bruce Springsteen
Columbia Records books a week of shows at LA's premier theater, the showcase all their bands. The New Riders headline Wednesday, and both Bob Weir and the Godchauxs sit in. Oh yeah--a new, unknown Columbia songwriter opened the show. 

May 27, 1973 Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA: Allman Brothers Band/Grateful Dead/Waylon Jennings/Jerry Jeff Walker Bill Graham Presents--canceled
The day after Kezar Stadium, and two months before Watkins Glen, Bill Graham books the Allmans and The Dead at Ontario Motor Speedway, near Los Angeles. It was canceled with a week to go. What happened?

June 15, 1973 Nippert Stadium, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH: Grateful Dead (canceled)
The Dead almost had a stadium date after RFK. The stage got built, but it didn't happen.

Grateful Dead/Old And In The Way/Garcia-Saunders Tour Itinerary , September 1973 [The Horn Tour]

October 17, 1973 Tarrant County Convention Center, Ft. Worth, TX: Grateful Dead (canceled)

December 15, 1973 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: New Riders of The Purple Sage
Jerry Garcia and Sandy Rothman join in for a few numbers.

December 31, 1973 Cow Palace, Daly City, CA: Allman Brothers Band/Marshal Tucker Band/Charlie Daniels Band
Jerry Garcia and Bill Kreutzmann were among the many after-midnight guests at this show.

February 2, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: New Riders Of The Purple Sage
Jerry Garcia makes his last appearance with the Riders.

March 9-10, 1974 Great American Music Hall: Great American String Band
The birth of the Great American String Band. Not my post, but well worth including on this list.

June 8, 1974 Oakland Coliseum Stadium, Oakland, CA: Grateful Dead/Beach Boys/New Riders of The Purple Sage/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen

July 1-3, 1974 Bottom Line, New York, NY: Jerry Garcia-Merl Saunders
The listing for July 4 was probably a phantom.

July 19-20, 1974 Los Angeles Coliseum Stadium, Los Angeles, CA: Eric Clapton/Grateful Dead (canceled shows)

December 31, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia-Merl Saunders

December 31, 1974 Stanford Music Hall, Palo Alto, CA: Kingfish/Osiris
Osiris was a Palo Alto band that included Pigpen's younger brother, Kevin McKernan.

February 25, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Good Old Boys/Soundhole
Jerry Garcia joins Frank Wakefield and David Nelson for a little weeknight bluegrass in Berkeley (and Marin, too)

March 23, 1975 SNACK Concert, Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/others
Only the Grateful Dead would play music from their unfinished album on FM radio, and nothing else.

May 11, 1975 Kresge Town Hall, Kresge College, UCSC, Santa Cruz, CA: Keith And Donna and Friends

May 30, 1975 Marx Meadows, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA: Jefferson Starship/Sons Of Champlin/Diga Rhythm Band
Jerry Garcia and David Freiberg joined Diga for the first public "Fire On The Mountain"

August 9, 1975 Frost Amphitheater, Stanford U., Palo Alto, CA: Eric Clapton/Kingfish

August 13, 1975 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead

August 20, 1975 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Keith And Donna with Jerry Garcia

August 24, 1975 Trenton Speedway, Hamilton, NJ: Aerosmith/Poco/Kingfish/Slade/Nils Lofgren/others

September 19, 1975 Crabshaw's Corner, Sacramento, CA: Jerry Garcia Band with Nicky Hopkins

October 11-12, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band with Nicky Hopkins
The mysterious Tim Hensley joins the group on electric piano for both these shows.

December 27-28, 1975 La Paloma Theater, Encinitas, CA: Jerry Garcia Band with Nicky Hopkins

December 31, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA; Jerry Garcia Band with Nicky Hopkins

January 9-10, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia Band with James Booker
Garcia and Kahn try a brief experiment with New Orleans legend James Booker, but they barely make it through the weekend.

April 4, 1976 Page Auditorium, Duke University, Durham, NC: Jerry Garcia Band
There is video of this in the Duke Library Archives, although they are in an inaccessible format.

July 12-18, 1976 Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead
The Dead return to the road, and never leave it again.

August 7, 1976 Wembley Stadium, London, England: Santana/Grateful Dead/New Riders Of The Purple Sage (canceled)

October 9-10, 1976 Oakland Coliseum Stadium: The Who/The Grateful Dead

December 21-22, 1976 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band
Who was John Rich? This post interrogates the mystery of pedal steel guitarist John Rich, a band member for this weekend only. The mystery is solved when Rich himself joins in the Comment thread.

December 5, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Robert Hunter and Comfort

January 15, 1978 Selland Arena, Fresno, CA: Grateful Dead
A snapshot of the Dead's only "California Tour" in the 1970s, as well as a January 1978 tour itinerary.

Grateful Dead Tour Itinerary, January 1978

Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia Band/Bob Weir Band/Comfort Tour Itinerary , February 1978

March 12, 1978 Suffolk Forum, Commack, NY: Jerry Garcia Band/New Riders of The Purple Sage/Robert Hunter and Comfort
The three members of the Wildwood Boys find themselves, 16 years later, playing at a hockey arena in Long Island.

March 22, 1978 Veterans Hall, Sebastopol, CA: Jerry Garcia Band
Ozzie Ahlers recalls subbing for Keith Godchaux in Sebastopol--was it this show?

June 4, 1978 County Bowl, Santa Barbara, CA: Grateful Dead/Elvin Bishop Group/Wha Koo

October 2-3, 1978 Shady Grove, San Francisco, CA: Merl Saunders and Friends with Jerry Garcia
Garcia makes some surprise appearances with Merl at a tiny place on Haight Street.

October 26, 1978 Paramount Theater, Portland, OR: Jerry Garcia Band/Bob Weir Band
Jerry hears Bob's keyboard player and says to him "this guy might work."

November 3, 1978 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia Band
"So What."

January-February/August-September 1979 Reconstruction Itinerary
Reconstructing Reconstruction.

February 6, 1979 Fairgrounds Pavilion, Tulsa, OK: Grateful Dead
On a snowy Tuesday night, the Dead played the second largest arena in Tulsa. No tape survives. It's the latest show for which this is true.

May 19, 1979 Old Waldorf, San Francisco, CA: Reconstruction/Horslips

August 4-5, 1979 Oakland Auditorium Arena, Oakland, CA: The Grateful Dead
Home court advantage.

January 13, 1980 Oakland Coliseum Arena, Oakland, CA: Grateful Dead/Jefferson Starship/Beach Boys/Joan Baez/Carlos Santana

March 17, 1980 Masonic Hall, Seattle, WA: Robert Hunter And The Ghosts
A long lost tape reveals that not only did Robert Hunter play a few shows with Keith and Donna Godchaux after they quit the Dead, he sang some Dead songs too.

September 20, 1980 The Stone, San Francisco, CA: Bobby And The Midnites
The San Francisco debut of Bobby and The Midnites.

October 30, 1980 St. Michael's Alley, Palo Alto, CA: Robert Hunter
Palo Alto roots.

February 13-14, 1981 Marin Veteran's Memorial Auditorium, San Rafael, CA: Rhythm Devils

April 25, 1981 Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann (SEVA Sing Out For Sight Benefit)

May 22, 1981 Fox-Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart/Country Joe McDonald/Norton Buffalo and Merl Saunders/Kate Wolf

June 26, 1981 Fox-Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia Band with Phil Lesh/High Noon/Mike Henderson
Where was John Kahn?

September 7, 1981 Concord Pavilion, Concord, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/The Edge/Queen Ida
On Labor Day 1981, the Jerry Garcia Band played the 9,000-capacity Concord Pavilion in the afternoon with two other bands. For a dollar.

December 12, 1981: Fiesta Hall, San Mateo County Fairgrounds, San Mateo, CA: Grateful Dead/Joan Baez/High Noon

March 7, 1982 The Saddle Rack, San Jose, CA: Jerry Garcia Band
Jerry Garcia's final non-Dead FM broadcast is a Fat Fry for KFAT-fm in Gilroy, CA.

September 5, 1982 Glen Helen Regional Park, Devore, CA: The US Festival

December 31, 1982 Oakland Auditorium Arena, Oakland, CA: Grateful Dead/The Dinosaurs
December 31, 1982 Oakland Auditorium Arena, Oakland, CA: Grateful Dead/The Dinosaurs
Two posts on this show--one on the Dinosaurs, and one speculating about an unnamed guest percussionist during the Dead's third set.

March 10, 1983 Perkins Palace, Pasadena, CA: Bob Weir And Friends

August 28, 1984 Wolfgang's, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia And John Kahn/The Dinosaurs/Country Joe McDonald and Friends/others Rodney Albin Memorial Benefit
Rodney Albin's untimely death brought out his many friends for a memorable show.

September 19, 1984 Julia Morgan Theater, Berkeley, CA: Tom Constanten/Electric Guitar Quartet
A pretty singular event.

October 31, 1986 Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, Oakland, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Kingfish with Bob Weir

January 23, 1988 Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, Oakland, CA: Carlos Santana and Friends/Tower of Power with Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir
Jerry still had it, for this night at least. All hail.

May 27, 1989 Oakland Coliseum Stadium, Oakland, CA: John Fogerty with Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir
Jerry Garcia gets to be just another guy in the band, perhaps for the last time, when he and Bob Weir help back John Fogerty at a high-profile benefit. 

City and Venue Lists
The Top Of The Tangent, 117 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA

The Grateful Dead and Menlo Park

Jerry Garcia, The New Riders of The Purple Sage and Peninsula School, 1961-71

Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia South Bay Landmark Guide (So Many Roads I)
In honor of the So Many Roads Grateful Dead Conference at San Jose State, I compiled a list of addresses and buildings from Dead and Garcia history in San Jose and surrounding cities.

Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Stanford Landmark Guide (So Many Roads II)
A compilation of addresses and buildings in Dead and Garcia history in Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Stanford University.

The In Room, Swiss Chalet, 635 Old County Road, Belmont, CA 1965
The In Room opened in February 1965 and did not last a year. Yet an 8-week booking for the Warlocks made the band. 

Palo Alto Psychedelic Rock Shows 1965-1966 (Palo Alto I)
It began on December 18, 1965, at the Big Beat.

Palo Alto Psychedelic Rock Shows  1967 (Palo Alto II)

Palo Alto Psychedelic Rock Shows 1968 (Palo Alto III)

Palo Alto Psychedelic Rock Shows January-June 1969 (Palo Alto IV)

Palo Alto Psychedelic Rock Shows July-December 1969 (Palo Alto V)

Palo Alto Rock Concerts 1970-73 (Palo Alto VI) 

Sophie's, 260 South California, Palo Alto: 1976 Performance List (Palo Alto VII)
Jerry Garcia started playing the Keystone Palo Alto when it was initially called Sophie's

Palo Alto Rock History Landscape and Navigation
A summary of my numerous posts about rock music history in 1960s Palo Alto, Menlo Park and nearby towns.

60s and 70s Rock Nightclub Navigation
A summary of my numerous posts about different rock nightclubs, mostly (but not always) in California.

Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead in Santa Cruz County

Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Landmark Guide: Oakland

San Jose Civic Auditorium, 135 W. San Carlos St, San Jose, CA 1965-1972

The Barn and Santa Cruz Rock Concerts, 1965-66 (Santa Cruz and Monterey I)
The history of psychedelic rock concerts in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. Part I focuses on The Barn in Scotts Valley  

The Barn and Santa Cruz Rock Concerts, 1967 (Santa Cruz and Monterey II)
Part II describes the demise of The Barn and the Monterey Pop Festival

How Dead Is Chico?
Some fellow scholars look into the history of Grateful Dead performances in Chico, CA, North of Sacramento. The Dead were known to have played there on November 1, 1968, but there seems to be good reason to think that they played Chico as early as Fall 1966.

Lake Tahoe 60s Rock Venues

Lake Tahoe Rock Concerts Summer 1967-Winter '68 (Lake Tahoe I)

Lake Tahoe Rock Concerts 1968-'69 (Lake Tahoe II)

Lake Tahoe Rock Concerts Summer 1967-Winter 1968 (Lake Tahoe I)

The Rock Garden, 4742 Mission Boulevard, San Francisco, CA March 21-May 2, 1967
A little-known venue in the Excelsior District, near one of Jerry Garcia's childhood homes

The Grateful Dead at the Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles 1967-68
The Shrine Expo Hall is always underrepresented in 60s iconography. I also made a complete (to my knowledge) list of all Shrine Expo Hall rock shows in 1967-69. 

The Grateful Dead in Oregon 1966-76 (Country Home)
The Grateful Dead has a long and fruitful relationship with the state of Oregon.

Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W. Burnside, Portland, OR

Oregon Rock Concerts 1967-68
The Grateful Dead's legendary shows in Oregon did not occur in a vacuum.

Cafe Au Go Go, 152 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 1965-69
The Dead played the legendary Greenwich Village club twice, in 1967 and near the end in 1969.

The Psychedelic Supermarket, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 1967-1968
The Psychedelic Supermarket had a great name, but few performers and not many audience members have a fond memory of the place.

The Electric Factory, 2201 Arch Street Philadelphia, PA 1968-69
July-December 1969 (Philadelphia IV)
January-June 1969 (Philadelphia III)
July-December 1968 (Philadelphia II)
February-June 1968 (Philadelphia I)
The Electric Factory was Philadelphia's link in the psychedelic chain. The Dead played for the Electric Factory promoters until the very end.

The Grateful Dead, The Electric Factory and The Philadelphia Spectrum 1968-77
A close look at how the Grateful Dead and the Electric Factory made the band a Philly institution.

Thee Image and The Miami Rock Scene, March 1968-April 69
Miami, too, had a great venue that is largely lost in the mists of time, and the Dead played a part there as well.

The Bank, 19840 S. Hamilton Avenue, Torrance, CA 1968

The Kinetic Playground, 4812 N. Clark St, Chicago, IL 1968-69
April-December 1968
1968-69
The Kinetic Playground was Chicago's Fillmore West, and a legendary stop on the circuit.

The Kaleidoscope, 6230 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 1968

The Ark, 15 Landsdowne St, Boston, MA January-July 1969 (Boston V)
My series on Boston psychedelic rock shows paradoxically begins with Part V, with a review of performers at The Ark (the Dead played The Ark on April 21-23, 1969).

Boston Psychedelic Rock Concert Chronology, January-June 1967 (Boston I)
The Boston story starts here, although the Dead don't show up until later. 

Boston Pyschedelic Rock Concert Chronology, July-December 1967 (Boston II)
The Dead finally show up in Boston.

The Dream Bowl, Vallejo, CA February-April 69
Two Grateful Dead tapes from the Dream Bowl, some posters and some memories are all that remain.

Inn Of The Beginning, 8201 Old Redwood Highway, Cotati, CA

Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, CA 1967-69

The Grateful Dead in St. Louis 1968-71
Grateful Dead Guide blog proprietor LightIntoAshes and St. Louis veteran John Ellis have the definitive story of the first years of the Grateful Dead in St. Louis.

Springer's Ballroom, W. Powell Blvd at SE 190th AVe, Gresham, OR 1969-72
I'm the only person who even attempts to try to piece together this long-gone venue

The Grateful Dead in Upstate and Central New York, 1969-79
From Woodstock to points West, South and North

The Matrix, 3138 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA: Performers List January-June 1970     (Matrix I)
Every artist who played the The Matrix in the first half of 1970. Including many casual appearances by Jerry Garcia. Howard Wales and Bill Vitt invite him to jam and he likes it. So they invite John Kahn, too.

The Matrix, 3138 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA: Performers List July-September 1970 (Matrix II)
Merl Saunders joins Garcia and Kahn.

The Matrix, 3138 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA: Performer Listing October-December 1970 (Matrix III)
The Matrix is in decline a club, but it is all the more fascinating for having become Jerry Garcia's hangout.

Roosevelt Stadium, Danforth Ave and NJ Rte 1 [NJ440], Jersey City, NJ 1972-76 (Jersey City Story)

Crumbling old Roosevelt Stadium and Jersey City played a far more prominent role in the history of The Grateful Dead than most people think.

Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Concert History 1972-74 (Stadium Rock I)
A look at the complete concert history of Roosevelt Stadium, the first stadium to have regular rock shows all summer.  

Lion's Share, 60 Red Hill Avenue, San Anselmo, CA: Performance Listings April-June 1971
The Lion's Share was just a local musicians hangout, but since it was in Marin County, it was a happening place for a while. 

Keystone Berkeley, 2119 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA
Jerry Garcia played this nondescript beer joint in downtown Berkeley over 200 times, so it's a critical part of the Garcia legacy.

Keystone Berkeley 1972 Performers List
A complete list of 1972 performers at the Keystone Berkeley, its first year of existence. I revisited the club for January through April 1975.

Keystone Overview
Jerry Garcia played the four clubs in the Keystone "family" (Keystone Korner, Keystone Berkeley, Keystone Palo Alto and The Stone) over 400 times.

Sophie's, 260 South California, Palo Alto: 1976 Performance List (Palo Alto VII)
Sophie's opened up outside of downtown. It would later evolve into the Keystone Palo Alto.

Keystone Palo Alto, 260 South California, Palo Alto, CA: Performers List, January-July 1977 (Palo Alto VIII)
Freddie Herrera extended his Keystone empire to Palo Alto, but survival was initially a close call. 

Keystone Palo Alto, 260 South California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA: Performance List, August-December 1977 (Palo Alto IX)

The Grateful Dead at The Oakland Coliseum Arena and Stadium 1974-95

 Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market Street, San Francisco, CA
The Dead returned to the road here in Summer '76, and Garcia had a brief return in 1988.

Theatre 1839, 1839 Geary Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Although there were not many concerts here, the temple next to the Fillmore was still an interesting story.

The Fox Warfield Theater and The Warfield, 982 Market Street, San Francisco, CA
The Warfield not only hosted some legendary Grateful Dead concerts, it became home court for the Jerry Garcia Band after he graduated from the Keystones.

David Nelson, David Torbert and The New Delhi River Band played at The Yellow Brick Road in Fremont (with the Wakefield Loop) on the weekend of the Monterey Pop Festival (June 16-17, 1967)

Performance Histories
I have made efforts to create complete Performance Histories for certain bands who were connected to the Grateful Dead, and also for John Kahn.

GD Spinoff Band (non-JG) Overview and Navigation
I made a Navigation post just for the Spinoff bands (not counting Garcia). All of the links are contained in this larger post, but I needed a new page for footnoting purposes.

The Good News Performance History, 1966
The Good News, from Redwood City, featured Dave Torbert and Chris Herold, both future members of The New Delhi River Band and Kingfish.

New Delhi River Band Performance History, Summer 1966
David Nelson and Dave Torbert were in the New Delhi River Band, a Palo Alto-based psychedelic blues band.

New Delhi River Band Performance History, Fall 1966

New Delhi River Band Performance History, January-June 1967

New Delhi River Band Performance History, July 1967-February 1968

David Nelson Musical Activities February 1968-May 1969
After the demise of the New Delhi River Band, Nelson lays fairly low.

New Riders Of The Purple Sage Tour History May 1969-April 1970 (NRPS Itinerary I)
Includes existing setlists from the Owsley Stanley Foundation, plus other supporting information.

The Flowers 1966-68

One of the few other Palo Alto area psychedelic bands from back in the day.

Hofmann's Bicycle>Bycycle1968-69 (The Secret Life Of Dan Healy)
Dan Healy played bass in a band in 1968, and maybe 1969. He hasn't mentioned it since.

Shango, Horses and Matt Kelly 1968 (Matt Kelly I)
The New Delhi River Band story continues, as it evolves into the beginning of Matt Kelly's professional career.

Gospel Oak, Mountain Current, 33 1969-73 (Matt Kelly II)
The Matt Kelly story continues

The Smokey Grass Boys, 1966-67
Even by the standards of this blog, the Smokey Grass Boys were obscure. David Grisman, Rick Shubb and Herb Pedersen had a bluegrass band after Jerry Garcia and almost every other young bluegrass musician had "gone electric."

John Kahn Performance History, 1967-68

John Kahn Performance History 1967-68 II

John Kahn Performance History 1969

John Kahn Performance History 1970
This post includes a detailed analysis of the Monday night jams at the Matrix, with Howard Wales, Bill Vitt, Jerry Garcia and John Kahn, which ultimately led to Garcia/Saunders and then the Jerry Garcia Band.

James And The Good Brothers: Overview and Performance Listings, 1970-71 (Next Riders I)
The Canadian trio of James Ackroyd and Bruce and Brian Good met the Grateful Dead on the Festival Express, and Jerry Garcia invited them to San Francisco. For about a year, the band was part of the extended Grateful Dead family.

John Kahn Performance History 1971

John Kahn Performance History 1972

Muleskinner/Old And In The Way Timeline 1972-73

New Riders of The Purple Sage Tour History January-April 1972 (NRPS I)
Although Jerry Garcia had been replaced in the New Riders by Buddy Cage in the Fall of 1971, they were still part of the Grateful Dead family. Jon McIntire helped manage the band, and Sam Cutler booked their tours. Many of the Dead's critical relationships with promoters had their roots in New Riders tours from this era. This series reviews the Riders tour history throughout the Cutler era of 1972 and '73. 

New Riders of The Purple Sage Tour History May-August 1972 (NRPS II)
The New Riders meet the Grateful Dead in Europe.

New Riders of the Purple Sage Tour History September-December 1972 (NRPS III)

New Riders of The Purple Sage Tour History January-April 1973 (NRPS IV) 

New Riders of The Purple Sage Tour History May-September 1973 (NRPS V)

Good Old Boys 1974-75
Jerry Garcia's performances with Frank Wakefield, David Nelson and the Good Old Boys remain murky, but they definitely happened.

Lonesome Janet: The Kingfish Origin Story--1974 (Kingfish Part Zero)
Kingfish was formed by Matthew Kelly from a band called Lonesome Janet, and Bob Weir joined in late 1974.

Kingfish Performance History, Fall 1974

Kingfish Performance History, January-June 1975

Diga Rhythm Band May 1975

Kingfish Performance History, July-December 1975

Keith And Donna Performance History, April-December 1975

Kingfish Performance History, January-August 1976

Robert Hunter and Roadhog Performance History, May-October 1976

Robert Hunter and Comfort Performance History, May 1977-May '78

High Noon Performance History, May-December 1981

Bob Weir Band and Bobby And The Midnites, 1977-84
This isn't really a performance history, but rather an overview of the personnel of the various configurations of Weir's bands. However, for my research it is part of the same project, so I am including it here.

Robert Hunter and The Dinosaurs 1982-84
Robert Hunter's last stand as an electric performer was with some fellow fossils from Days Past.

Bill Kreutzmann's All-Stars 1984
I am nothing if not thorough.This obscure group played 4 shows in 1984. David Nelson played guitar for the band.

Kingfish with Bob Weir, 1984-87
This post lists every performance of Kingfish that featured Grateful Dead members during this period, though it is not an attempt to make a complete list for either Kingfish or Bob Weir.

Kokomo Performance History, 1985 (Brent Mydland I)
Kokomo featured Bill Kreutzmann and Brent Mydland.

Go Ahead Performance History 1986 (Brent Mydland II)
Go Ahead featured Brent Mydland, Bill Kreutzmann and others.

Go Ahead and Bob Weir Performance History 1987-88 (Brent Mydland III)
For the last iteration of Go Ahead, Bob Weir joined the group as well.


Jerry Garcia's Musical Associates
Jerry Garcia and Perry Lederman, 1962-1994

Rodney Albin 1940-84 (Folk Headwaters)
Without Rodney Albin, everything would have been different, and probably not as good.

Richard Greene-Violin (Career Snapshot 1964-74)
Richard Greene knew Garcia back in the early 60s, and was the first fiddler in Old And In The Way, but he had a very broad career in between.

Greg Errico Career Overview 1965-83
The drummer for Sly And The Family Stone also played with Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart and Bob Weir.

Merl Saunders Late 60s Highlights (Stairway To Jerry)

May 23, 1968 The Trident, Sausalito, CA: Merl Saunders Trio
Merl is reviewed (by Oakland Tribune jazz critic Russ Wilson) with no reference whatsoever to Jerry Garcia, since they hadn't yet met.

Merl Saunders, Far Eastern Tour, Summer 1968
Merl got around. That summer he toured Manila, Bangkok and Tokyo with guitarist Jimmie Daniels and drummer Eddie Moore.

Chesley Millikin (1934-2001)
Though not well-known, Millikin should be famous in Grateful Dead circles. He played a crucial role in Grateful Dead history several times, just as he did for David Lindley, Terry Reid, Jackson Browne and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

"Lost" Jerry Garcia Bands, 1968-93
Jerry Garcia made a lot of choices in his non-Dead career, and here are some roads not taken.

Riders Of The Purple Sage: Old, New and Resurrected (Who Was Bobby Ace?)
2019 archival releases for the New Riders tell us not only about the genesis and evolution of the band, but give us a glimpse of some other plans that may have been afoot.

Summer 1972: Pierce Street Annex, San Francisco, CA: Vince Guaraldi/Jerry Garcia/Mike Clark
A long-lost Garcia ensemble, where he played fusion music with Vince Guaraldi, Mike Clark and others at a San Francisco fern bar.

Excalibur-Tom Fogerty (Jerry Garcia-guitar)
Tom Fogerty's 1972 album on Fantasy, with Garcia, Saunders, Kahn and Vitt.

Sarah Fulcher-vocals (1972-73)
The mysterious Sarah Fulcher--there's even a picture of her.

George Tickner-Guitar (Spring 1973)
Future Journey guitarist George Tickner played a little bit with the Garcia-Saunders group in 1973.

John Hartford-fiddle, Old And In The Way
Hartford was a member--everyone says so--but it's hard to say when exactly he played with them.

Paul Humphrey-drums (1974)
"Feeling alright?"

Frank Wakefield, David Nelson and The Good Old Boys
Not just an album on Round Records, but a series of low-key performances as well

Ron Tutt-backing vocals (1974-77)
Well, and also drums, but only in the Garcia Band was Tutt a harmony vocalist.

Nicky Hopkins and His Giant Mirror
No one remembered this but me.

Gaylord Birch-drums (1979)

Johnny De Foncesca Jr-drums (1979-80)
A look at the brief but interesting career of Johnny D

Jimmy Warren-electric piano (1981-82)

David Kemper-drums: Highlights

Album Overviews
 Hooteroll--When Was It Recorded?
Inquiring minds wanted to know.

Grateful Dead Solo Album Contracts 1970-1973
Nothing is as it seems.

August 26, 1969 Family Dog on The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: The Great SF Light Show Jam (Vintage Dead: Found and Lost)
Some light shows did their thing to some '66 Avalon tapes. Save for a few tracks on Vintage Dead, released in 1970, the tapes disappeared and were probably destroyed. 

Danny Cox Live At The Family Dog November 1969 (Lost Owsley-FDGH III)
Together Records released the album Danny Cox Live At The Family Dog at the same time they released Vintage Dead. I make the case that the source tape for the Cox album was an Owsley recording.

Album Economics: Contemporary Live Albums From 1971 (Skull & Roses)
A survey of other live rock albums from 1971

Pigpen Solo Projects 1969, '71, '73
An overview of Pigpen "projects" that were never going to happen

Fillmore: The Last Days (lp and movie, 1972)

Excalibur-Tom Fogerty (Jerry Garcia-guitar)
Tom Fogerty's 1972 album on Fantasy, with Garcia, Saunders, Kahn and Vitt.

Album Economics: Bear's Choice-The History Of The Grateful Dead, Vol. 1
Why did the Dead let Owsley produce an album of the least interesting tracks from one of their greatest concert stands at the Fillmore East?

Bob Weir produced an album for guitarist David Rea, and it featured numerous members of the Grateful Dead family. This album triggered the reunion of childhood pals Matt Kelly and Bob Weir. Rea formed the band Slewfoot afterwards.

Album Economics: Skeletons From The Closet
What's the best-selling Grateful Dead album prior to Touch Of Gray (and maybe after)? You'd be surprised...

Jerry Garcia Album Economics 1973-74
A look at the finances that appear to be behind Live At Keystone and Compliments Of Garcia

Album Economics: Round Records 1974-76
An overview of Jerry Garcia's intriguing and ultimately failed experiment at having his own label.

Keith & Donna, Round Records RX-104
I take a stab at defending the logic behind the release of this album

'Reflections' Reflections 1976 (RX-107)

Howard Wales, Rendezvous With The Sun, What Next Records, 1976/99
More Hooteroll.

Alligator Moon-Robert Hunter and Comfort (unreleased)
What happened?

Album Economics: February 1978
Cats Under The Stars, Heaven Help The Fool and the unreleased Alligator Moon drove the activity for this month.

Lists
Grateful Dead Rehearsal Spaces 1965-1995

Mystery Shows 1965-1970
An attempt to put all the rumors and maybe/maybe-not shows in one place

First Time Seeing The Grateful Dead (Band Edition)
I look at the first time future band members saw the Grateful Dead in concert.

First Free Concert in Every City
A look at the economic impact of playing a city for free, as the Dead did so often.

Opened Twice For The Grateful Dead
Individual musicians who opened for the Dead in two different bands.

Jerry Garcia Recording Studio History November 1965-January 1967 (JG Studiography I)
A review of Jerry Garcia's history in recording studios, from the perspective of the different studios that he worked at.

FM Broadcast Series
My FM Broadcast series analyzes the history of Grateful Dead FM broadcasts. Posts about individuals shows also appear in the appropriate places in the above sections. The strange numbering is a byproduct of my non-serial approach to history. All the blanks will eventually be filled in.
Jerry Garcia Live On KZSU-am and fm, Stanford University 1963-64 (KZSU I and FM Part Zero)
Grateful Dead Live FM Broadcasts 1968-69 (FM I)
Grateful Dead Live FM Broadcasts-KSAN Re-broadcasts (FM II)
Grateful Dead Live FM Broadcasts 1970 (FM III)
July 2, 1971 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/New Riders Of The Purple Sage/Rowan Brothers (FM IV)
Grateful Dead Live FM Broadcasts 1971 (FM V)
February 6, 1972 Pacific High Recorders, San Francisco: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders live on KSAN-fm (FM V and 1/4)
Old And In The Way FM Broadcasts 1973 (FM XI)
March 18, 1973 Felt Forum, New York, NY: New Riders Of The Purple Sage/Ramblin Jack Elliott (FM VI and 1/2)
December 31, 1973 Cow Palace, Daly City, CA: Allman Brothers Band/Marshal Tucker Band/Charlie Daniels Band (FM VII)
March 23, 1975 SNACK Concert, Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/other (FM VII)
August 13, 1975 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead (FM IX)
June-July '76 Grateful Dead Summer Tour (FM X)

 December 5, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Robert Hunter and Comfort (FM XIV)

Jerry Garcia live on KZSU-fm 1973-88 (KZSU II and FM XV)

 
March 7, 1982 The Saddle Rack, San Jose, CA: Jerry Garcia Band (FM XIX)
Jerry Garcia's final non-Dead FM broadcast is a Fat Fry for KFAT-fm in Gilroy, CA.


New Riders Bassist, 1969-70
New Riders Bassist 1969-70 (yet again)
March 1970 New Riders Shows--Did They Happen?
Who played bass for the New Riders? I never tire of this subject, although everyone else does.

New Riders Of The Purple Sage Personnel 1969-81

"Lost" Jerry Garcia Bands 1968-1992
There were a few Garcia ensembles that were planned, but didn't happen. It tells us something about Garcia's thinking, but you can decide for yourself what that was.

October 1968 Grateful Dead European Tour (canceled)
Canceled--more's the pity.

The Grateful Dead in North Carolina and Virginia 1968-1995
The Dead built a bridge to the New South.

The Grateful Dead in Texas 1968-88
Miles and miles of Texas.

Grateful Dead Performances At Race Tracks 1969-88
Nothing says "rock and roll" like "land use."

Grateful Dead New Year's Eve Opening Acts 1970-79

Album Projects Recorded at Mickey Hart's Barn, Novato, CA 1971-76

Lyrics-Robert Hunter/Music-David Freiberg (1972-75)

Keystone Calendar March 1973
A sort of Grateful Dead LinkedIn.

Keith And Donna Godchaux with The New Riders Of The Purple Sage (1973)
More often than you think.

Jerry Garcia Band Personnel 1975-95

Jerry Garcia>1978>Keyboards
A much more important year than it may appear.

Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders Band Members 1971-75
A trickier subject than it may seem

Jerry Garcia Band Personnel 1975-1995
An attempt at a definitive list

Bob Weir Band and Bobby And The Midnites, 1977-84

Jerry Garcia Band Opening Acts, Greek Theatre 1987-90

Jerry Garcia Drummers Top 10 List
A subjective look at the amazing hit singles that feature drummers who played with Jerry Garcia.

Studio Recordings By Bob And Betty
An overview of known studio recordings (released or not) by Bob Matthews and Betty Cantor.

Grateful Dead/Pac-10 Home Court Analysis
Groundbreaking research or a pointless tangent? You decide.

Miscellaneous Stuff
Jerry Garcia's Automobiles 1960-70
The most enduringly popular Hooterollin' post. I initially wrote it as a kind of joke, but it has taken on a life of its own.

Jerry Garcia Concert Attendance 1961-1994
An attempt to identify every concert that Jerry Garcia saw, separate from events where he was billed. The Commentariat made some amazing additions that really fleshed this list out.

Rodney Albin 1940-84 (Folk Headwaters)
Without Rodney Albin, everything would have been different, and probably not as good.

Lost Jerry Garcia Jams
What don't we have?

Warlocks Resumes 1965 (pre-Grateful Dead employment)
A great Comment thread adds a lot to this post

The Warlocks At Palo Alto High School (Not)
Debunking some persistent South Bay mythology.

Hart Music, 1966
An ad for Lenny Hart's Music Store in San Carlos, where Mickey worked prior to his chance meeting with Bill Kreutzmann

June 10-11, 1966 Avalon Ballroom Grateful Dead/Quicksilver Messenger Service/New Tweedy Brothers
This was part of a different series entirely, but it seems appropriate to put it on this list anyway.

Grateful Dead Contribution To The Space Program (Avalon Ballroom 1966)
Yes, the Grateful Dead apparently really did contribute to the Space Program.

August 17, 1966 The Fillmore Jefferson Airplane
What became of Owsley's original PA for the Dead? He sold it to Bill Graham and it stayed at the Fillmore.

Who Was Curly Jim?
Curly Jim taught "Me And My Uncle" to Bob Weir in 1966, but who was he?

"Me And My Uncle" and The Folk Tradition 1966-95
More on Curly Jim and "Me And My Uncle."

South Bay Landmarks Guide (So Many Roads I)
A look at the exact locations of various sites in Grateful Dead history in San Jose and surrounding cities in Santa Clara County.

Sons And Daughters Film Soundtrack, October 1966 (Jon Hendricks with The Grateful Dead)
Jazz singer Jon Hendricks recorded some soundtrack material for a documentary about Vietnam War protests, and the Dead backed him. The music was released as a single on Verve Records.

December 9-11, 1966 The Fillmore Grateful Dead/Tim Rose (Morning Dew)
Tim Rose had a sort of hit with "Morning Dew" at the time, and afterwards the Dead started playing the song, but there's more to it than that.

Pre-August 1967 Mickey Hart
Who was Mickey Hart playing with before he joined the Grateful Dead?

Donna Jean Thatcher Godchaux-Vocals
Donna Jean was a musician with a history, too, even if she was, y'know, like--a girl.

Russian River To McHenry Library
The mysterious connection between "Alligator" and the Grateful Dead Archive at UC Santa Cruz

Fall 1968 Pacific Recording, San Mateo, CA Marmaduke Demo

Poster By Jim Parber
Jim Parber was a Merced teenager who never met the Grateful Dead. Read the post to find out why that's interesting.

Jerry Garcia and Gary Brooker (Robert Hunter and Keith Reid)
Supposedly Garcia liked Gary Brooker's voice. It seemed plausible to me.

January 13, 1969, rehearsal space, Novato, CA: Grateful Dead and Fleetwood Mac

Bobby Ace And The Cards Off The Bottom Of The Deck
Nobody noticed, but they were left out of the historical narrative. Also early New Riders...

Jerry Garcia and The Banjo, 1969-72

January 4, 1970 interview on WUHY-fm, Philadelphia
Jerry said a bad word.

Grateful Dead Bootleg LPs (East And West
A critical part of the rise of taper culture was its predecessor, the bootleg lp.

Howard Roberts, Jerry Garcia and "The Twilight Zone"
Jerry learned his 70s chops from someone, and that was probably Howard Roberts

June 30, 1972 Memorial Auditorium, Kansas City, KS NRPS/Loggins And Messina
Jerry got the slow arrangement of "Friend Of The Devil" from a Kenny Loggins tape, probably of this show.

Boston, April 2, 1973 Robert Hunter and David Nelson 
The backstory of "Crooked Judge."

February 24, 1974 "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" encore Winterland

April 10, 1974 Record Plant, Sausalito Peter Rowan with Jerry Garcia and David Grisman
A Rowan demo session where his former Old And In The Way mates help out

Jerry Garcia Roots And Branches
An early effort at analyzing social networks. I look at the May 5, 1974 Oakland Tribune Keystone Berkeley ad.

The Fish-Barry Melton, Produced by Bob and Betty
Barry Melton recorded an album at Mickey Hart's Barn around 1974, but it was never released, and the music was re-recorded in Wales in late 1975

Interstices of Grateful Dead Performance, July 19 & 21, 1974
A friend of mine has a peculiar chance encounter with Phil Lesh.

Spring 1976, Lower Sproul Plaza, UC Berkeley: Merl Saunders and Aunt Monk with Martin Fierro, Chris Hayes and Bill Vitt
No Jerry, but still a great way to start the school day.

Formation of The Bob Weir Band Fall 1977 (Enter Brent)
Brent Mydland joined the Bob Weir Band, and then the Grateful Dead. But how did he even get there? No one has looked into it, so I did.

December 31, 1977, Winterland New Riders Of The Purple Sage with Spencer Dryden
Everyone, including the New Riders, forgets that they had two drummers for a night.

The Grateful Dead and the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 (Intersections)
The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 played a critical part in the history of the Grateful Dead. Really.


"Antwerp's Placebo"
Some insight into how income from song publishing really works

Jerry Garcia Band Keystone Scheduling Overview
A look at how the Keystones (Berkeley, Palo Alto and The Stone) scheduled shows

unknown percussionist, 3rd Set: December 31, 1982, Oakland Auditorium, Oakland, CA
Ruminations on a forgotten guest

Phil Lesh-slide bass (Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, February 20, 1985)

On Tour 1986: David Nelson And Bob Dylan 

Grateful Dead Hiring Practices (Ian McLagan edition)
Ian McLagan turned down an audition for the Grateful Dead.

2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Grateful Dead Bracket Analysis
No better or worse than any other method.