Lost Jerry Garcia Jams (Meta-Jerry)

Jerry Garcia's history as an improvisational musician has been groundbreaking not just for his formidable talents, but also for the breadth of available recordings.  A few great 60s jazz artists like Miles Davis and John Coltrane have a fair number of live and studio recordings circulating, both official and unofficial, but even those legacies are dwarfed by available Garcia material. Not only did the Grateful Dead themselves and Deadheads tape relentlessly, Garcia toured far more than almost anyone else of his stature so there are literally mountains of Garcia tapes.

There are tapes of perhaps 2000 out of 2400 Grateful Dead shows, and about 1300 of 1600 Garcia shows. This doesn't count studio sessions, jams with various friends and who knows what else. I suspect there are few, if any, people who have heard them all. Nonetheless, Deadheads of all stripes rarely fail to marvel at the sheer breadth of Garcia's musical adventures: from spacey "Dark Star" to Bakersfield-inspired "Big River," from traditional bluegrass picking on "Pig In A Pen" to a reflective "Babe It Ain't No Lie," from playing steel guitar on the #1 hit "Teach Your Children" to processed guitar on Ned Lagin's electronic music. It is a true challenge to make a whole out of all Garcia's known musical parts.

Yet for all that, there are still undiscovered Garcia countries. These countries are so distant that we may never visit them, but we know from other travelers that they really existed. Most Garcia scholars focus on recordings that exist, to attempt to calculate the scope of the known universe. This post will be an attempt to expand the known Garciaverse itself by listing some of the known Garcia jams and guest appearances for which we appear to have no recordings, in order to contemplate the vastness of it all.

Missing Garcia Music
A few ground rules

• This is a list of untaped or unheard Garcia jams or guest appearances that expand our idea of Garcia's music. If we are ever lucky enough to uncover any of this material, whether good or bad it will expand our picture of what kind of music Garcia was trying to play, whether we like it or not.
• This is not a list of every untaped or undocumented Garcia jam. Someone ought to make that list, but that someone is definitely not me.
• This isn't even list of undocumented Garcia that contains known components. I'd love to hear a Blues For Allah rehearsal that had Ned Lagin playing electric piano on "Crazy Fingers" instead of Keith Godchaux, if it exists, but that's just a different combination of known elements.
• Nor is this a list of Garcia jams where we only have a slice of the pie. I'm sure the Rob Wasserman Trios session outtakes with Garcia, Wasserman and Edie Brickell are cool, but we have two album tracks, so for this post that counts as the known universe
• If you think I left something off that belongs in this list, please add it in the Comments

Searsville Lake, near Stanford University, in the early 60s. Jerry Garcia performed at parties here, playing electric bass with The Zodiacs

Troy Weidenheimer and The Zodiacs: Searsville Lake and elsewhere, ca 1963-64
Jerry Garcia was a folk musician in 1963, giving lessons at Dana Morgan Music in Palo Alto. He was also just a musician, and a broke one, too, so when store manager and guitarist Troy Weidenheimer had a gig and didn't have a bassist, Garcia filled in. Leaving aside the idea of live Garcia bass playing, itself unprecedented, Garcia himself identified Weidenheimer as a significant musical influence, and I am aware of no known tape recording of Weidenheimer's music, even without any famous friends.

The Zodiacs apparently played fraternity parties around Stanford University at places like Searsville Lake. The band had a floating membership, but Garcia would sometimes play bass, Bill Kreutzmann would sometimes play drums, and Pigpen would sometimes play harmonica. The band's membership could float because they had no songs and didn't rehearse. According to Garcia, Weidenheimer would just call out a key, stomp his feet in time and start to play some blues. At the time, Garcia was mainly a bluegrass musician, but the Zodiac approach to electric blues sure came in handy a few years later.

Big Brother and The Holding Company: Avalon Ballroom, October 16, 1966
Big Brother and The Holding Company were part of the same underground scene as the Grateful Dead, and bassist Peter Albin went all the way back to Garcia's folk days. The Dead and Big Brother had shared bills many times, so Garcia surely knew all their material. We think of the jagged, structured Big Brother sound as on a different plane than the free-flowing Grateful Dead. Yet on Sunday, October 16, 1966, the local fanzine Mojo Navigator reported that Jerry Garcia sat in with Big Brother for a few numbers at The Avalon Ballroom. He would have known the tunes--I wonder which ones they were?

The grounded ferry boat Charles Van Damme, in Sausalito, where it was a venue called The Ark in the mid-1960s

Jerry Garcia, Jerry Miller, Michael Brown, others: The Ark, Sausalito, CA ca October 1966
Guitarist Jerry Miller had been in a Tacoma group called The Frantics, who ultimately ended up in San Bruno, of all places. One late night Miller found himself in a pickup joint called The In Room in nearby Belmont, and found a very strange band playing there, and became friends with another guitar-playing Jerry.

Just a year later, Miller was in a band called Moby Grape, and rehearsing on an old paddleboat steamer in the Sausalito Harbor called the Charles Van Damme, which was better known for housing a nightclub called The Ark. The Wildflower, another local band, had formed at the California College Of Arts And Crafts in Oakland, and was also regular part of the underground scene. As the Grape were always rehearsing in anticipation of a November '66 debut, guitarists like Jerry Garcia and the Wildflower's Michael Brown regularly dropped by The Ark to jam with Miller and anyone else who wanted to play.

Jerry Garcia, Peter Green, Pigpen, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood: Novato, CA January 13, 1969
Most Deadheads are aware that Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green twice jammed on stage with the Grateful Dead (Feb 1 and Feb 11 '70), as fabulous Owsley tapes endure of both nights. What is less well known is that Green and Garcia had jammed a year earlier and the circumstances were quite different. In the 60s, it was expected that when English bands played the Fillmore, they would jam with whatever San Francisco bands were in town, not just to share music but to show that they were fearless gunslingers. Most of these jams were not recorded.

On Fleetwood Mac's second trip to San Francisco, the Dead were in town, so on an off day, the Mac went over to the Dead's rehearsal studio. According to Mac road manager and soundman Dinky Dawson, the lineup that day was Green, bassist John McVie, drummer Mick Fleetwood, Garcia, and Pigpen on piano. On the menu: Chicago blues, with Pigpen as Otis Spann. Wow. Don't stop thinking about tomorrow.

Rubber Duck (Joe McCord): various, mid-1970
The Rubber Duck>Garcia connection is a very odd one, which had largely been ignored until JGMF managed to unravel some of the story. Joseph McCord was a mime who performed in Berkeley and the Bay Area in 1969-70, backed by a floating contingent of rock musicians, generally using the name Rubber Duck. On several occasions, Rubber Duck opened for the Grateful Dead or related aggregations. It seems that much of the music for the performances was somewhat improvised.

Remarkably, on several occasions in 1970, Jerry Garcia was part of the ensemble improvising behind McCord. JGMF managed to pin down some dates at Mandrake's, in Berkeley, on June 2 and 3, 1970 (the lengthy comment thread, including comments from McCord, is quite informative), and it appears there were some others, too. I'm not certain who else played with Garcia when he backed McCord.

Later in 1970, McCord converted his performances into an off-Broadway show called Tarot, which played briefly in New York in early 1971. An album also called Tarot, apparently consisting of the backing music to the show was released on United Artists in 1972, although the show had long since folded. The record was credited to a group called Touchstone, and included organist Tom Constanten. Constanten had been one of the musicians backing McCord in Berkeley, though it doesn't appear that TC and Garcia backed him on the same dates.

Your mileage may vary with mimes, but Garcia's performances with McCord are not at all similar to his other endeavors, since he was in effect providing "soundtrack music" rather than making an exclusively musical presentation.

Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales were advertised as playing the Matrix in the Monday, June 22 edition of the SF Chronicle. In fact, Vince Guaraldi took over the keyboard chair for Wales.

Jerry Garcia, Bill Champlin, Vince Guaraldi, John Kahn, Bill Vitt: The Matrix, June 22, 1970
The principal Jerry Garcia side exercise, jamming R&B in nightclubs with a variety of keyboard players, got started in 1970 at The Matrix, first with Howard Wales, and then with Merl Saunders. Yet at least one night, when Wales was unavailable, the surprise guest was jazz legend Vince Guaraldi. Although Guaraldi was best known for his "Peanuts" piano theme, for this night he was playing a well-amplified Fender Rhodes.

So this is something else entirely, Garcia and his regular rhythm section of John Kahn and Bill Vitt, improvising with an amplified Vince Guaraldi. We figured out the date--June 22, 1970--and thanks to Guaraldi biographer Derrick Bang, we even have an eywitness. The eyewitness, the Head Son himself, Bill Champlin, was invited by his pal Bill Vitt to sit in, so we not only have Jerry and Vince, we have Champlin on rhythm guitar. Did I mention Vince Denham on saxophone? What did it sound like, and what tunes did they jam off? There's no tapes, of course. We'll just have to wonder.

Jerry Garcia, Vince Guaraldi, Seward McCain, Mike Clark: Pierce Street Annex, Summer '72
In the Summer of '72, Merl Saunders and John Kahn had departed to Woodstock, NY, to join the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Garcia was left with no side band. It turns out that for amusement, he played some fusion jazz on weeknights at a Fern Bar called The Pierce Street Annex--which happened to be the re-named Matrix. And he didn't play it with just anyone.

Once again, Garcia connected with Vince Guaraldi, but instead of playing "Linus And Lucy" on the piano, Gauraldi played a Fender Rhodes straddling two 150-watt amplifiers. Garcia had his usual array of amps, and on drums was the titan of Oakland funk, Mike Clark. There's no doubt about this, according to both bassist Seward McCain and Clark (saxophonist Vince Denham probably sat in at least once, too). The idea of Garcia, Vince and Clark playing "Bitches Brew" style music, as Clark described it, is mind-boggling.  Of course there's no tape. I speculate at length, elsewhere. Try and wrap your brain around this one.

Ned Lagin has released a fine new album, Cat Dreams

Jerry Garcia and Ned Lagin "electro acoustic" ca. 1972-73
Ned Lagin has a unique place in the history of the Grateful Dead. The musically trained keyboard player met the band at MIT in 1970, after having written them a letter. He sat in with the band on organ and electric piano various times in 1970 and '71, visited the band in the Summer of '72, and ultimately moved out to the West Coast in 1973. Deadheads recall his remarkable experiments with Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Jerry Garcia, collectively known as Seastones. Deadheads also recall Ned some 1974 performances where he bridged his modernist synthesized experiments between sets with Phil Lesh with some jazzy electric piano, as the Dead returned to the stage. There is plenty of recorded evidence, too, carefully curated in a wonderful website.

Yet buried in the list of Ned Lagin's many endeavors with members of the Dead are some unheard experiments. In particular, it seems that in both '72 and '73, Ned regularly played acoustic duets with both Jerry Garcia and David Crosby. Lagin probably played a clavichord. What music did Lagin play with Garcia (or Crosby, for that matter)? Even if they played old folk songs, and they very well may not have, Jerry and Ned playing "Dark Hollow" would be very different than, say, Garcia and David Bromberg doing the same thing. According to Lagin, he and Garcia had some kind of long-range plan for recording "electro acoustic music," whatever that might have been.

Jerry Garcia and David Bromberg: Grateful Dead Headquarters at 5th and Lincoln, San Rafael, ca. 1973
Esteemed scholars Blair Jackson and David Gans included too many amazing quotes to count in their wonderful oral history of the Grateful Dead, This Is All A Dream We Dreamed. One remarkable comment came from Grateful Dead Records employee Steve Brown, who casually mentioned that David Bromberg dropped by a few times to jam at the 5th and Lincoln HQ (1016 Lincoln in San Rafael), and Brown had wished there had been a tape recorder. The truly staggering talents of Mr Bromberg are too various to mention, but they idea of free jamming between him and Jerry--never mind the instruments, Bromberg plays 'em all, and he knows every old timey and blues song ever--is too much to contemplate (yes, I know Garcia and others played on a few Bromberg album tracks in 1972, but this is different).

Good Old Boys with Frank Wakefield, David Nelson and Jerry Garcia: various 1974-75
Garcia's bluegrass performances with Old And In The Way were both legendary and influential. It's far less well known that Garcia played a few shows in the Bay Area with banjo legend Frank Wakefield, along with David Nelson. The shows seem to have been from mid-1974 to early 1975. Unlike many other entries on this list, a reliable source claims to have actually heard a tape. So we may yet hear another side of Garcia's banjo playing, accompanying Wakefield, himself a bluegrass legend. This story is too long to tell here, but fortunately I have done it elsewhere.

Jerry Garcia, Tony Rice and David Grisman jammed in 1993, but not for the first time

David Grisman Quintet with Tony Rice and Jerry Garcia: Mill Valley, CA 1975
Garcia fans are familiar with the casual but brilliant acoustic collaboration of Jerry Garcia, David Grisman and guitarist Tony Rice, recorded on two evenings in 1993 at Grisman's garage studio, and released in 2000 as The Pizza Tapes. Rice, an acoustic guitar titan, had been the guitarist in the original David Grisman Quintet back in the mid-70s.

In the liner notes, however, Grisman skates over his complex history with Garcia by merely mentioning that Rice and Garcia had not played together since the time Garcia dropped into a DGQ rehearsal in Mill Valley in 1975. Think about it: one of the most important ensembles in American acoustic music, young and in their prime, rehearsing, and hey--the mandolinist's old bluegrass buddy drops in for a jam. I wonder what they played?

Jerry Garcia and Pete Sears: Mill Valley ca mid-1980s
By the mid-1980s, Jerry Garcia was touring pretty heavily with both the Grateful Dead and The Jerry Garcia Band. The shows were lucrative, and Jerry was an icon, so there was a lot less opportunity for him to just hang out and play music. Nonetheless, Garcia seems to have found time to jam regularly with Pete Sears, an Englishman who had spent a decade in Jefferson Starship, and would spend another decade in Hot Tuna. Sears lived in or near Mill Valley, and Garcia would apparently drop by and trade licks, blasting away on his electric guitar while the versatile Sears carried the day on his electric piano.

Garcia even introduced Sears and David Nelson, with the idea that maybe the two should form a band together. I couldn't help but think that maybe Garcia was setting the table for another group with which he could make guest appearances. We do have a few instances of Garcia and Sears playing together, but never as a free-form duo, without the pressure of a rocking crowd and heightened expectations. Ultimately, Sears joined the David Nelson Band, so Garcia got his way, but he wasn't around to sit in.

Once "Touch Of Grey" hit, Garcia was in a gilded bubble of his own making. It was hard enough to find places where he could just play music in peace,  which was one of the many attractions of hanging out in David Grisman's garage. But the opportunity to randomly stop by with an old friend or have a new one drop in out of the blue were pretty much gone. It remains remarkable, however, that for the thousands of hours of known Garcia tapes, there are still things we wish we would get to hear.

Who among us can ever forget the catchy tunes and lilting rhythms of Magma's second album, released in 1971, 1001 Degrees Centigrades?

Appendix: Everybody Else
The other members of the Grateful Dead got around, if not quite like Jerry, but for the most part their collaborations are either on tape or would not expand our perspective. However, there are still a few appearances that may cause us to think again about the band members' music.

Jimi Hendrix, Bob Weir, others: music pavilion, Monterey Pop Festival, June 17 or 18, 1967
At the Monterey Pop Festival, various equipment companies had displays backstage in little tent-like pavilions, to encourage musicians to try out different gear. Bob Weir was jamming away at one of them, with several other musicians, including a frizzy-haired black guitarist who could really play. On Sunday night at the Festival, Weir saw that same guy come onstage right after the Dead.

Cleanliness And Godliness Skiffle Band with Mickey Hart: The Matrix, San Francisco, Spring or Summer, 1969
The Cleanliness And Godliness Skiffle Band were not a major band, with only two albums to their name, but they played an important part in Berkeley rock history. Skiffle music is essentially jug music with a New Orleans beat, and eventually the group evolved from a folk ensemble to a full out rock band. In any case, a band member recalls two nights at The Matrix opening for a very loud Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady (before the name Hot Tuna was in use). Mickey Hart dropped by, probably to see Jorma and Jack, and was intrigued by the skiffle band. The next night Hart bought along a New Orleans style rubboard, and sat in with CGSB.

Sometime later, the CGSB opened for the Grateful Dead in Santa Rosa. On the first night (June 27) Mickey Hart was late, and CGSB drummer Tom Ralston sat in for several numbers. On the second night (June 28), as a sort of thank you, Jerry Garcia sat in with the CGSB on his new pedal steel guitar. You can decide for yourself if the Garcia/CGSB set would belong in the first list.

Jerry Granelli, Phil Lesh, members of Magma: Chateau D'Herouville, France, June 1971
In a little noticed passage in Phil Lesh's autobiography, he mentions that when the Dead went to France to play at Chateau D'Herouville (eventually performing on June 21, 1971), Lesh got a chance to jam in the studio with "drummer Jerry Granelli...and members of the French band Magma, who really stretched me out musically."

Jerry Granelli was a well-known Bay Area jazz drummer, who had played with Vince Guaraldi, among many others. But Magma, well--there's a tale. Let's just go straight to the Wikipedia introduction (remember, this is real, not some weird invented time travel fantasy-emphasis mine)

Magma are a French progressive rock band founded in Paris in 1969 by classically trained drummer Christian Vander, who claimed as his inspiration a "vision of humanity's spiritual and ecological future" that profoundly disturbed him. In the course of their first album, the band tells the story of a group of people fleeing a doomed Earth to settle on the planet Kobaïa. Later, conflict arises when the Kobaïans—descendants of the original colonists—encounter other Earth refugees. 

Vander invented a constructed language, Kobaïan, in which most lyrics are sung. 

Now, sure, there have been ensembles who suggested they weren't from Earth. Jazz pioneer Sun Ra (Herman Blount) was from Chicago via Birmingham, AL, but said he was from Saturn. George Clinton and the Parliament/Funkadelic gang funkified the Sun Ra vision, but it was the same idea. And there was a French progressive rock band called Gong, led by Australian David Allen, a truly great and very odd band, all of whose numerous albums told the story of aliens from the Planet Gong, known as Pothead Pixies, who arrived on earth in flying teapots. The music was brilliant but the interstellar lyrics were a joke, even if not everyone got it. Gong were label mates with Magma, on BYG/Actuel, but even Gong did not make up their own language. The leader of Magma was the sort of bandleader that made up their own language, and not as a joke. The Grateful Dead, from that point of view, were just another California country rock band. I wonder if they made Phil sing harmonies in Kobai-an?

Allman Brothers Band with Bob Weir and Ronnie Montrose: RFK Stadium, Washington, DC June 9, 1973
Back in the day, Bob Weir rarely made guest appearances, and almost never without Garcia. When the Dead played two nights with the Allman Brothers in 1973, members of the Allmans sat in with the Dead on the final day (June 10). It is somewhat forgotten that on the first day, the Allmans closed the show, and Bob Weir and Ronnie Montrose sat in for "Mountain Jam." Montrose, in fact, was a great, underrated guitarist. He played on Van Morrison's Tupelo Honey album, for example, even though he had the most success as a hard rocker with Edgar Winter ("Frankenstein" and "Free Ride") and his own band Montrose, featuring lead singer Sammy Hagar ("Bad Motor Scooter" and "Spaceage Sacrifice").

But how did Weir acquit himself with the Allman Brothers? There are a fair amount of Allman Brothers tapes around from the early 1970s, but I don't know if there is a circulating one from the end of the June 9, 1973. Weir playing rhythm for Dickey Betts and Ronnie Montrose was a pretty intriguing proposition.

Greg Errico Career Overview 1965-1983

Greg Errico drumming in Sly And The Family Stone around 1968, laying it down for people who only need a beat

Grateful Dead fans have seen drummer Greg Errico's name over the years, sitting in on the odd album track here and there, or listed on tape boxes. Errico played on some projects with Mickey Hart, and periodically he was the drummer for the Jerry Garcia Band as well. Once he even played drums for Bob Weir. Some Deadheads are certainly aware that he was the drummer for Sly And The Family Stone, and some of them are aware that Errico has done more than that.  Like many musicians associated with members of the Grateful Dead, Errico in fact has a long and fascinating musical history with a wide variety of musicians and a panoply of musical styles.

Interspersing some of Errico's music history with his participation with the Dead gives a nice overview of how Errico was so much more than just another drummer. It will not provide an exhaustive list of all of Errico's music, since that post would be too long. However, despite his low-key presence, Errico has had a fascinating musical career, and the music he has participated in offers some surprising contrasts to the music he has played with members of the Dead.

A photo of San Francisco's VIPs, performing in the 1960s, from the site of saxophonist Donald DeWitt (Greg Errico is not the drummer in this photo).

The VIPs
Greg Errico went to Mission High School in San Francisco, and one of the hottest bands in town was a dance band called the VIPs, featuring lead singer Leon Patillo. The VIPs were a popular group, probably playing R&B hits of the day, and making decent money. Errico was still in high school, but starting in about 1964, when the regular drummer couldn't make a gig, Errico would deputize for him. So even before he had left school, Errico had played some relatively big shows for the time, and obviously acquitted himself well.

This post is as good a place as any to clear up some confusion about the first Bill Graham show at the Fillmore on December 10, 1965, (the second Mime Troupe Benefit), when the Grateful Dead were billed as "Formerly The Warlocks". Due to a mistake in Ralph Gleason's review of the show, the VIPs were credited with performing at the show. However, it was actually a Palo Alto group called The Vipers (a predecessor of Mt. Rushmore and Phoenix), so there's no chance that Errico actually played the Fillmore that night, since the VIPs didn't play. The VIPs were a popular local group, and Leon Patillo went on to sing with Santana in the 70s, so it seems logical that they would play the Mime Troupe show at the Fillmore, but in fact it was The Vipers.

Freddy And The Stone Souls
Sometime after leaving high school, probably in mid-1965, Greg Errico joined a group with guitarist Fred Stewart, later to become famous as "Freddie Stone." The group was mostly known as Freddy And The Stone Souls, and apparently mostly played R&B covers. They were a very popular group locally (they played the Fillmore on Sunday evening, April 3, 1966, with the VIPs and The Invaders). They played around the same circuit as Freddie's brother Sylvester, then known locally as the popular DJ Sly Stone on KSOL-am ("K-Soul") out of Oakland. Sly's band was known as Sly And The Stoners, but they did not play around as as much, In early December 1966, Errico went to a Stone Souls rehearsal, only to find Freddie and Sly hanging out, and plans afoot to start an entirely new band.

Sly And The Family Stone, early 1967. Drummer Greg Errico is back row, middle

Sly And The Family Stone
Joel Selvin, quoting saxophonist Jules Broussard, said "there was Black Music before Sly, and there was Black Music after Sly" (Sly And The Family Stone: The Oral History. 1997: Dell Books). It couldn't be said better. Sly And The Family Stone were one of the most essential groups of modern music, not just the sixties. They merged all the virtues of sixties rock and sixties soul. They were a self-contained writing  and performing unit, they were stylish and hip, and they could make any crowd dance to the music. Sly And The Family Stone's music still sounds great today, a fact we know because we hear it constantly on commercials and oldies stations.

Sly And The Family Stone began performing very quietly, in December 1966. Initially they only played one venue, a new joint called The Winchester Cathedral, on El Camino Real in Redwood City, a few miles North of Palo Alto. They played what were then called "Breakfast Shows," from 2-6am on Saturday and Sunday mornings (Friday and Saturday late night). In California, the bars close at 2am, so all the musicians would come to the Breakfast shows to hang out. Officially, liquor was not served at Breakfast Shows, but I'm sure some turned up somewhere. In any case, Errico played drums for the band. Brother Freddie Stone played guitar, cousin Larry Graham played bass, friends Jerry Martini (saxophone) and Cynthia Robinson (trumpet) were the horns, and Sly himself played keyboards and was the principal singer (sister Vaetta "Rose" Stone didn't join on vocals and piano until the end of 1967).

One of the many musicians who saw the formative Sly And The Family Stone at Winchester Cathedral in the early days was Mickey Hart. At the end of 1966, Hart was managing a drum store in San Carlos, with his father. Whether or not Mickey had any drum gigs at the time--a subject that has been elided over the years--like other musicians he found his way over to Winchester Cathedral for the Breakfast Show. Joel Selvin has written a great book about Sly And The Family Stone, full of eyewitness accounts, and Hart is quoted at length describing how powerful the original lineup was, a full year before the world found out.

According to an interview for a Jerry Garcia Band retrospective release that David Gans was kind enough to share with me, Hart and Errico became friends in about 1968. Hart simply invited himself over to Errico's house in Mountain View and introduced himself. They were both drummers, both in major Fillmore bands, and clearly had a lot in common, so they hit it off. In those days, both of them were constantly on the road, so they may not have had too many opportunities to spend time together, but the connection was made.

Rolling Thunder, Mickey Hart's solo album, released on Warner Brothers in September 1972

1971 The Barn, Novato, CA: Rolling Thunder sessions
Greg Errico left Sly And The Family Stone in 1971.  Although the band was more popular than ever, there were numerous financial and chemical problems swirling around Sly, and Errico decided to step aside. Having toured non-stop for years, Errico chose to focus on studio work, as both a producer and session musician. Around 1970, Errico had spent some time living on Mickey Hart's ranch in Novato. Hart and Errico already went back a ways, but this brought Errico more directly into the Grateful Dead orbit. Errico worked on some projects and appeared on a few albums throughout 1971-72, but mostly he kept a low profile.

Errico is credited with performing on the track "Blind John," on Hart's '72 Warner Brothers album Rolling Thunder. The song was written by "Curly Jim" Stalarow (who introduced Bob Weir to the song "Me And My Uncle") and Peter Monk (nee Zimmels) who would later write the lyrics to "Passenger" with Phil Lesh. Members of the Jefferson Airplane played on the track, and the Airplane even performed it live a few times in 1972.

The credits for "Blind John" were:

• Steven Schuster - flute
• Grace Slick - piano, vocals
• Mickey Hart - field drums, tympani
• Greg Errico - drums
• Tower of Power Horns
• Barry Melton - guitar, vocals
• David Freiberg - guitar, vocals
• Paul Kantner - vocals

Thus the track included members of The Grateful Dead, Sly and The Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Tower of Power and The Fish--a true SF All-Star lineup.

Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles Live!, recorded in Hawaii on New Year's Eve 1971, and released on Columbia in 1972. Santana and a few members of his band sat in with the Buddy Miles Express, while Errico played drums.

The 1970s
By the end of 1972, Santana, another legendary San Francisco band, was falling apart as well. Santana guitarist Neal Schon teamed up with Errico and expatriate bassist Pete Sears and they informally had a kind of band. San Francisco had a thriving recording industry at the time, and the original idea was that the trio would become the SF version of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, a recording unit for visiting artists. It was a good idea, but it never came to fruition in the way the members expected.

The Schon/Sears/Errico band played at least one show, on January 27, 1973, which was broadcast on FM radio.Whatever their plans, Pete Sears moved on, and seems to have been "replaced" by former Sly bassist Larry Graham. Graham had also left the Family Stone, and had agreed to produce a local funk band called Hot Chocolate (no connection to the British group of the same name). However, Graham liked the group so much, he ended up joining the band, and they changed their name to Graham Central Station.

However, before Graham Central Station became well known, they would play gigs at Keystone Berkeley, co-billed with Schon and Errico. It appears that Graham Central Station would play a set, and Schon, Graham and Errico would play some sort of funky jam set as well. Graham went on to huge success with Graham Central Station, and Errico faded away from working with Schon. Schon found other players, and they went on to form the monumentally successful Journey. Thus, Errico seems to have had opportunities to work with two hugely popular 70s bands in their infancy, and appears to have happily let them both pass by.

The debut album by Betty Davis, released in 1973 on Just Sunshine Records, produced by Greg Errico

Betty Davis
Betty Davis, though not a well-known singer in her day, has a considerably higher historical profile now. Greg Errico produced her debut album, now an influential record that is widely sampled. At the time, Davis was known as being Miles Davis' ex-wife (she was pictured on the cover of Davis' 67 album Filles De Kiliminajaro). In fact, Davis was a remarkable composer and artist, years ahead of her time. Errico recorded her debut album at Wally Heider's studio in San Francisco in 1972 and 73, with a variety of San Francsico heavies. Musicians included Errico and Larry Graham from The Family Stone, Doug Rauch and Neal Schon from Santana, Pete Sears, Merl Saunders and numerous other hot players.

Weather Report
In mid-1973, Errico was asked to join the groundbreaking fusion band Weather Report. This was a real departure for both Weather Report and Errico. At the time, Weather Report was playing very forward-looking music, picking up where Miles Davis had left off with Bitches Brew. The hiring of Errico was the first whiff that Weather Report's founders had any funky interests. Errico toured with Weather Report for the balance of 1973. Though the band never released any material with Errico, some fine live tapes of Errico and Weather Report can be found at Wolfgang's Vault. Weather Report's late 1973 lineup was:

Wayne Shorter-soprano and tenor saxophones
Joe Zawinul-electric piano, synthesizers
Miroslav Vitous-electric and acoustic bass
Greg Errico-drums
Dom Um Romao -percussion

Weather Report played electric jazz in a very open style, quite a departure for Errico at the time. Errrico had more or less replaced drummer Eric Gravatt, who was an excellent straight ahead jazz player. Head Weatherman Joe Zawinul recalled Errico's playing fondly, particularly on the song "Boogie Woogie Waltz"

Zawinul has called “Boogie Woogie Waltz” “a hip-hop in 3.” Long before “hip-hop” entered the vernacular, he described its structure to Jazz Forum magazine. “There are only five sentences. There is an introduction, an interlude and a dance at the end. And in between, everything is free.” [JF76]

He has also said that former Sly And The Family Stone drummer Greg Errico played ‘Boogie Woogie Waltz’ better than anybody. [DB01] Errico manned the drum chair for Weather Report between Sweetnighter and Mysterious Traveller, but never recorded with the band. He told Glasser, “[Zawinul] still tells me that to this day! He was talking about that song ‘Boogie Woogie Waltz.’ He said, ‘I finally stopped playing that song because I could never get someone to play it like that once you left the group!’ It was in 3/4, but not in the traditional way. I mean, it was in three but I would play four against it, and played it aggressively.” [IASW, 157]

David Bowie "Diamond Dogs" September 1974 tour
The ever-restless David Bowie had released the hit album Diamond Dogs in April of 1974, anchored by his classic song "Rebel Rebel." After an initial tour in the Summer, Bowie returned to the road for 12 dates in September of 1974, all in the Southern California area. His band included Errico on drums and Santana's Doug Rauch on bass. Guitarists Earl Slick and Carlos Alomar, and pianist Mike Garson headed up the front line, and there was an army of backing vocalists (including Luther Vandross). The tour continued on in October of 1974, but Rauch and Errico did not participate.

The July 1975 Keystone Berkeley calendar. When Ron Tutt was drumming, the band was billed as Legion Of Mary (such as on Sunday July 6

June 22, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Garcia/Saunders
Errico's first known live appearance with a member of the Grateful Dead was on June 22, 1975 at the Keystone Berkeley, with Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders. It is not impossible, however, that Errico had already subbed at an occasional Garcia/Saunders show as far back as 1974.

At the time, shows billed as Legion Of Mary had to include Ron Tutt on drums, along with Garcia, Saunders, John Kahn and Martin Fierro. If there was a different drummer, as there was on occasion, the show was billed as Garcia/Saunders, even if the repertoire was the same. Errico was as high-class as you can get for a fill-in. Think about it for a minute: Jerry Garcia wasn't able to get Elvis Presley's drummer for a night, so he got Sly's instead, replacing the drummer for one American musical giant with another.

The Keystone Berkeley calendar for December 1975. Note that this is a revised calendar, which advertises the Garcia Band's performance on Wednesday, December 1975. If Ron Tutt had been booked, it would have been a contractual obligation to advertise it, but he is not listed for either the 17th or 31st

December 17 and 31, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band with Nicky Hopkins
When the Grateful Dead were off the road in 1974 and '75, Jerry Garcia did not play New Year's Eve for Bill Graham. Instead, he played quiet shows for Freddie Herrera at the Keystone Berkeley both years. The Jerry Garcia Band did headline a weekend of shows for Graham at Winterland on December 19 and 20, supported by Kingfish, Keith and Donna Band and Clover. These were well attended, but not sold out. Per Graham's standard contract, the Garcia Band New Year's Eve could not be publicized prior to the 19th and 20th, but that was alright. Keystone tickets were only sold at the door, the place would be packed anyhow, and neither Herrera nor the City of Berkeley wanted a false rumor around that the Dead might be playing there on New Year's Eve. The Garcia Band New Year's Eve show was only publicized the regular way, by flyers on Berkeley telephone poles and notices in the regular newspaper listings of local papers like the Oakland Tribune.

However, on New Year's Eve, the JGB drummer had a conflict: his other employer, Elvis Presley, was playing the Pontiac Silverdome, to a crowd of 60,00 or so. Thus Garcia needed a substitute for that night, and Errico got the call. Bob Weir and Matt Kelly played guitars (and harmonica by Kelly) for the second set, and Mickey Hart joined in on cowbell, per Errico's interview . New Year's Eve 75 was Nicky Hopkins last show with the JGB, as his unreliability made him an impossible fit for the professionals in the Garcia Band. The entire show was released as an archival cd in 2014, and you can hear it for yourself (incidentally, both Jerry and Elvis played "CC Rider" that night). Errico has a different style than Tutt, but he handled the chair admirably.

It has recently come to light, via a Keystone Berkeley calendar (above), that the Jerry Garcia Band played the club on Wednesday, December 17, with Errico on drums. This was generally confirmed by Errico in the interview, although he didn't remember the exact date. Technically, listing Garcia on a Keystone Berkeley calendar was a violation of the band's proximity clause with Graham, but the Keystone calendar was just on Berkeley telephone poles, and a small mailing list, so even Graham would not have fussed about it. The Garcia Band's contract at the time required that Hopkins, Kahn and Tutt had to be named as performers along with Garcia, in type at least 75% the size of Garcia's name. Since Tutt isn't listed for either date, it is proof that he was not booked.

June 23, 1977 Santa Rosa High School Auditorium, Santa Rosa, CA: Maria Muldaur and Special Guest [Jerry Garcia Band] Benefit for Camp Meeker
[update] Commenter Nick reports that Errico sat in with the Jerry Garcia Band for a benefit show at the Santa Rosa High School Auditorium on June 23, 1977. JGMF has determined that the gig was probably added late, and since Ron Tutt was engaged with Elvis Presley in Des Moines, IA, Errico got the call.

War harmonica player Lee Oskar's 1978 Elektra album Before The Rain, produced by Greg Errico

Before The Rain-Lee Oskar (Elektra 1978)
In 1978, Errico produced a solo album for Lee Oskar, the harmonica player for the popular band War ("Why Can't We Be Friends," "Cisco Kid" and numerous other hits). Mickey Hart played on the record. Oskar actually had a variety of Bay Area connections from the '60s, but I believe the connection between Oskar and Hart came from the 1970s, possibly from Errico. The album was almost entirely instrumental, and covered a variety of jazz and funk styles. Of course, it was hardly the sort of hit that inspired a follow-up. However, since Errico produced the album, that seems to have been the connection that got Lee Oskar on stage with the Grateful Dead a few times at Winterland in late 1978.

December 31, 1978 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead
In the Fall of 1978, starting at the October 1978 "From Egypt With Love" shows, it became common for various people to join Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann during their drum duet. Errico joined in on some occasions. Certainly, Errico was onstage during the drum solo on December 31, 1978, as captured by the Closing Of Winterland video (from the KQED-tv broadcast). 

1979 Le Club Front, San Rafael, CA: Apocalypse Now sessions
In 1979, director Francis Ford Coppola invited Mickey Hart to create soundtrack music for his Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now. Hart created a mainly percussion ensemble that improvised music to footage for the movie that was shown on a giant screen. Some of the music was edited into the movie, and a larger portion of the music was used on the 1980 album on Passport Records, The Rhythm Devils Play River Music. The sessions went on for some days.

The recording ensemble was:

• Mickey Hart - percussion
• Bill Kreutzmann - percussion
• Airto Moreira - percussion
• Michael Hinton - percussion
• Jim Loveless - marimba 
• Greg Errico - drums
• Jordan Amarantha - congas
• Flora Purim - vocals
• Phil Lesh - bass

February 13-14, 1981 Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium, San Rafael, CA: Rhythm Devils
Hinton was a former drum student of Hart's. Hinton, Loveless and Amarantha had played with the Diga Rhythm Band. In 1980, music from the Apocalypse Now soundtrack sessions was released as an lp on the jazz label Passport Records. To publicize the album release, Micky Hart organized a concert of musicians playing in the style of the album, although of course the music was mostly improvised. The ensemble played two nights at the Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium in San Rafael, on February 13-14, 1980, billed as The Rhythm Devils. The shows were very well received. Musicians included Hart, Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh (on fretless bass), Airto Moreira and Flora Purim and Mike Hinton. Other musicians also joined in, and I wouldn't be surprised if Greg Errico had been one of them.

The Trio: Cochran/Bogert/Errico
Instrument manufacturers played a big, if hidden, role in the rise of rock music throughout the 1970s and '80s. Guitarist Bobby Cochran was a consultant for Ibanez guitars, and through Ibanez rep Jeff Hasselberger he met Bob Weir. Weir and Cochran initially performed together at some NAMM (National Association of Music Manufacturers) conventions in 1979. Cochran also had some bands that mostly played NAMM events, including a trio with bassist Tim Bogert from Vanilla Fudge and  Errico on drums.

In Atlanta in the Summer of 1979, Bob Weir had played with Cochran and his other NAMM trio, featuring Alphonso Johnson on bass and Billy Cobham drums. They had such fun that they conceived of the idea of Bobby And The Midnites. However, it took a few years for the band to come together. In the interim, Cochran played a few dates with Kingfish. On at least one of these dates (possibly the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach, CA on June 30-July 1, 1980), "The Trio," with Cochran, Errico and Bogert, opened for Weir, Cochran and Kingfish.

January 13, 1980 Oakland Coliseum Arena, Oakland, CA: Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead headlined a benefit organized by Joan Baez for the relief of Cambodian Refugees. The show was broadcast on FM radio, and also featured Jefferson Starship, The Beach Boys and guest appearances by Carlos Santana. A telethon raised money between acts. Djs mentioned that Greg Errico joined the Grateful Dead on percussion for their encore of "U.S. Blues."

July 18-August 9, 1980 member, Jerry Garcia Band (11 dates)
Greg Errico's first regular drumming assignment with a Grateful Dead member was with the Jerry Garcia Band for their Summer 1980 tour. Errico played 11 dates in total, including a few Keystone shows and a brief East Coast tour (Jerry Garcia Band #11b). The Garcia Band was in a transitional state at the time. They had reformed as a stripped-down four piece, with keyboardist Ozzie Ahlers and drummer Johnny d'Fonseca. Sadly, d'Fonseca had died in a car accident in the Spring, so Errico got the call to fill in. Ultimately Ahlers went off to focus on his own band (The Edge, with Lorin Rowan), and Garcia and Kahn probably knew that the configuration was short-time. Thus Errico was a perfect fit. A friend and a proven professional, Errico would not be looking for a permanent slot in the Garcia Band.

October 13, 1982-June 5, 1983 member, Jerry Garcia Band (36 Dates)
Errico's brief stint with the Garcia and must have been successful, because he got a return engagement. Once again, the Garcia Band was in transition after June 1982. Both female harmony vocalists (Julie Stires and Liz Stafford) had left the band, as had electric pianist Jimmy Warren. Errico played a few dates with the JGB as a quartet (Jerry Garcia Band #15a) and he also played the first shows with the new vocalists, who had been chosen by Melvin Seals (Jerry Garcia Band #15b). Errico played 36 shows in all.

Once again, Errico seems to have been intended as a fill-in player. We know that John Kahn was calling Los Angeles producers, asking who was a good drummer. Eventually his old friend Michael Stewart suggested David Kemper, who debuted on July 20, 1983 and Kemper stayed in the JGB for 10 years (Jerry Garcia Band #21a and #21b). So Kahn and Garcia knew they were looking for a permanent drummer, and Errico did not seem to have any such aspirations.

March 10, 1983 Perkins Palace, Pasadena, CA: Bob Weir And Friends
Errico's last known performance with a member of the Grateful Dead was with yet another member, Bob Weir. Weir played a benefit for Medical Aid To El Salvador, and while he had most of his band on board, drummer Billy Cobham and bassist Alphonso Johnson were seemingly not available, so the band was billed as Bob Weir And Friends rather than Bobby And The Midnites. The show was put on at an 1800-seat venue called The Perkins Palace, on 129 N. Raymond Ave in Pasadena. Originally built in 1921 as The Raymond Theater, the building had an interesting music history (it was Van Halen's rehearsal hall from 1976 to 1978, before they were famous). However, the building was sold to developers in 1985.

On the hotline, Greg Errico was announced as the drummer, along with lead guitarist Bobby Cochran, bassist Tim Bogert and pianist Nicky Hopkins. Bogert had been in the Midnites in 1980-81, when Alphonso Johnson had not been available, and of course Cochran, Bogert and Errico had played as The Trio. A tape eventually surfaced, broadcast by David Gans on the KPFA 1986 Marathon (Jan 28 '06). The band rocked through mostly standard numbers that would not have needed much, if any, rehearsal. It turned out that Midnites member Dave Garland also played tenor sax and piano, and a few other guests sat in (complete details are below in the Appendix 2).

Coda
Greg Errico had a unique musical relationship with the members of the Grateful Dead. As a certifiable rock legend of the same vintage as them, he was a personal as well as a musical peer. Since his primary focus was on production rather than performing, he was only interested in part-time work, which suited the structure of Garcia's bands until the arrival of David Kemper. Unlike most of Garcia's other part-time associates, Errico had an ongoing relationship with Mickey Hart and thus performed onstage with the Dead on occasion, making him a singular contributor to the kaleidoscope of associates in the band's musical universe.

Appendix 1: Released Recordings with members of The Grateful Dead and Greg Errico
Rolling Thunder-Mickey Hart (1972 release on Warner Brothers, recorded ca. 1971)
Errico played drums on the track "Blind John"
Garcia Live, Vol. 5: December 31st, 1975, Keystone Berkeley-Jerry Garcia Band with Nicky Hopkins (2014 release on ATO, recorded Dec 31 '75)
Errico played drums for the Jerry Garcia Band on December 31, 1975. Both sets were released on an archival cd. Guests Bob Weir, Matthew Kelly and Mickey Hart (on cowbell) joined in for some numbers.
Closing Of Winterland-Grateful Dead (2003 release on Rhino/Grateful Dead, recorded Dec 31 '78)
Errico joined Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann for the "Rhythm Devils" percussion jam on this 4 cd set. The concert was also released on DVD.
The Rhythm Devils Play River Music-Rhythm Devils (1980 release on Passport, recorded 1979)
Errico joined in Mickey Hart's percussion ensemble to help create soundtrack music for the movie Apocalypse Now.

Appendix 2: Bob Weir with Greg Errico
A Commenter sent in some details about the Weir show with Hopkins and Errico in Pasadena:

March 10, 1983, Perkins Palace, Pasadena, CA: Bob Weir and Friends with Nicky Hopkins Benefit for Medical Aid To El Salvador

d1t01 Minglewood

d1t02 Big Iron

dit03 Feel So Bad

d1t04 CC Rider

d1t05 Dance On Baby

d1t06 Youngblood

d1t07 Brother Bill

d1t08 Easy To Slip

d1t09 Book Of Rules

d1t10 I Found Love

d1t11 Women Are Smarter -> Drums//

d1t12 Josephine

Notes: 

-This show was also broadcast as part of the KPFA Marathon on Jan 28 '06.

Personnel:

Bob Weir - Guitar, Vocals

Bobby Cochran - Guitar, Vocals

Nicky Hopkins - Piano

Dave Garland - Keys, Sax

Tim Bogert - Bass

Greg Errico - Drums

Graham Smith - Harp

Freebo - Tuba

Mike Rogers - Steel Drums

Richard Greene-violin (career snapshot 1964-1974)

A Dixon Smith photo of Bill Monroe and The Bluegrass Boys performing in 1966. (L-R) Richard Greene, Lamar Grier, Bill Monroe, Peter Rowan, James Monroe.

Violinist Richard Greene is rightly regarded as a giant in American acoustic music of the last few decades. Greene started playing professionally in 1964, and the first decade of his career had some critical intersections with Jerry Garcia. Greene and Garcia had met back in 1964, and in 1973 Greene was invited to join the seminal bluegrass group Old And In The Way. Greene left the group for financial reasons, but the next year he and David Grisman began the Great American String Band. Jerry Garcia was the group's initial banjo player, and that band evolved into the David Grisman Quintet, a seminal ensemble in American acoustic music. Richard Greene isn't usually seen as a major contributor to Jerry Garcia's acoustic music, but he deserves a bigger place than he is usually accorded.

Greene's career has been full of so many recordings and performances that it has been hard to get a handle on it. Greene's role in Old And In The Way is usually glossed over as well, since his place was taken by the great Vassar Clements, and Vassar played on the group's seminal album. However, a recent interview with Richard Greene by scholar and radio personality Jake Feinberg unravels some interesting threads in the Greene story, particularly in his first ten years as a performer. Thus, with accurate information from Greene himself, it's possible to put his career with Old And In The Way and The Great American String Band in its proper context. This post will look at Richard Greene's musical history from 1964 to 1974, with a special emphasis on Greene's musical connections to Jerry Garcia during that time.

In the Feinberg interview, Greene says that he was asked to join Old And In The Way because Jerry Garcia wanted him in the band. Of course, it's most likely that Greene's old pal Peter Rowan recommended him, but Garcia had known Greene back in his bluegrass days. What is intriguing about Richard Greene's early career was not his formidable bluegrass experience, but the fact that an historic stint with Bill Monroe was followed by jug band, jazz and rock groups. In that respect, Greene had more or less replicated Garcia's experience of having been grounded in bluegrass and using that discipline to play a wide variety of music.

Richard Greene On The Jake Feinberg Show
Jake Feinberg, formerly the play-by-play man for the Knoxville Tenneseeans AA baseball team, has a unique show on 1330 KWFN-am in Tucson. Feinberg has weekly interviews with interesting musicians, mostly from the 1960s and 70s. His interviews are up to 2 hours long, and he focuses on the intersection of jazz, rock and world music during that time, particularly in Northern California. Feinberg focuses on the type of musicians who worked with a wide variety of players, often crossing over various genres. The names are not always huge, but they are very familiar to anyone who has spent time looking at the backs of albums--George Duke, Ron McClure, Bob Jones, Emil Richards, Mike Clark, The Jazz Crusaders and Gary Bartz, to name just a few. There are many names that are familiar to Deadheads, too: Howard Wales, Bill Vitt, Melvin Seals, Tony Saunders and Bobby Cochran, for example.

Feinberg has a particular ability to get musicians to talk about their approach to music, and a particular interest in who they played with back in the day. Feinberg's persistence in asking each subject where and with whom they played back in their professional beginnings is invaluable to the likes of me. The Richard Greene interview goes on for nearly two hours (here and here), and is well worth the time to listen to. My quotes from the interview are rather casual transcriptions from my notes.

The Coast Mountain Ramblers (Ken Frankel, Richard Greene and Dave Pollack) at the Ash Grove in 1963

Richard Greene, 1964
The typical thumbnail sketch of Richard Greene has been that he was a classically trained violinist who discovered bluegrass, and his classical training gave him a huge advantage over more casual players.  Greene himself considers the story an exaggeration. According to him, he had taken violin lessons but did not consider himself "trained." Now, I think Greene is being a bit modest--he got so good so fast as a bluegrass player that he was obviously pretty talented, but I take his point that he was no prodigy as a teenager.

Greene discovered bluegrass and old-time fiddle more or less by accident. The guilty party was Ken Frankel. Some readers may recognize the name, as Frankel played bluegrass with Jerry Garcia, David Nelson and others off and on from 1962-1964. The story from Ken Frankel:

Coast Mountain Ramblers - Old Timey Band with Dave Pollack and Richard Greene

I had played music in high school with Dave, who is as good a musician as I have ever met. In 1960 we were undergraduates at Berkeley, and were trying to put together an old-timey group. We put a few notices up looking for a third person, but couldn't find anyone. Richard was an excellent classical violinist from our high school, living in the same place as Dave (the co-op). Out of desperation, we decided to try to teach Richard how to play fiddle. He was a little resistant in the beginning, and made fun of the music. We put a few songs together and played them on a folk radio show (the Midnight Special on KPFA). Much to our surprise, and especially to Richard's surprise, everyone went crazy for us. All of a sudden, Richard was hooked. In the early 1960's, we played on the Midnight Special radio show often, and in small concerts and clubs. In 1963 we won the Ash Grove talent contest, which was a year long event. (Ry Cooder came in second). Our prize was to play for a week at the Ash Grove. We were so successful they held us over for a second week. Shortly after that, Dave and I graduated from Berkeley and went on to other types of endeavors. Richard made fiddle his career, which was a good thing for his many fans.

Feinberg's interview picks up the story in late '63 or so. Greene's breakthrough experience came when he dropped out of college around that time (alluded to in Frankel's story above). Greene had taken a job at a real estate agency. Across the street was The Ash Grove, the legendary folk club at 8162 Melrose Avenue (now The Improv, a comedy club). One day on his lunch break, Greene went over to the Ash Grove. Legendary fiddler Scotty Stoneman was playing for a very few people in the club. Solo fiddle performances are rare, but Stoneman was a rare fiddler indeed. Greene was transfixed hearing Stoneman play what amounted to an endless fiddle solo, hearing the High Lonesome Sound in one of its purest and most imaginative forms.

A Stoneman Family album from the 1960s

Scotty Stoneman had been the fiddler in the Stoneman Family band, and according to Greene he had gotten fired for excessive drinking, and thus was apparently more or less stranded in Los Angeles. Think for a moment how drunk he had to have been to be fired and left behind by his own family? (Although the actual story seems far more complex). Nonetheless, Stoneman was a phenomenal player. According to Greene, he was so transfixed by Stoneman's playing that Greene invited him back to stay at Greene's apartment. Greene effectively took bluegrass fiddle lessons from Stoneman for the next several weeks, although Greene said that the term "lessons" was misleading, since the very un-sober Stoneman just sat around Greene's apartment and played. How influential was Scotty Stoneman's fiddle playing for other musicians? Let Jerry Garcia tell the story (via Blair Jackson's biography)

I get my improvisational approach from Scotty Stoneman, the fiddle player. [He's] the guy who first set me on fire — where I just stood there and I don’t remember breathing. He was just an incredible fiddler. He was a total alcoholic wreck by the time I heard him, in his early thirties, playing with the Kentucky Colonels… They did a medium-tempo fiddle tune like ‘Eighth of January’ and it’s going along, and pretty soon Scotty starts taking these longer and longer phrases — ten bars, fourteen bars, seventeen bars — and the guys in the band are just watching him! They’re barely playing — going ding, ding, ding — while he’s burning. The place was transfixed. They played this tune for like twenty minutes, which is unheard of in bluegrass. I’d never heard anything like it. I asked him later, ‘How do you do that?’ and he said, ‘Man, I just play lonesome.’  

Soon after Greene rescued Stoneman, Stoneman hooked up with Clarence White and the Kentucky Colonels. Garcia was already friends with Clarence and his brothers, so he would have heard Stoneman play many times. Indeed, there is a famous Kentucky Colonels live album recorded in 1964 (Living In The Past, originally released in 1976 on Sierra Records), where Garcia introduces the band during a Palo Alto performance (November 15, 1964 at the Comedia Del'larte Theater on Emerson Street).

The combination of having had fun in college with the Coast Mountain Ramblers and hearing the musical possibilities of bluegrass fiddle from Scotty Stoneman seems to have set Richard Greene on a new musical path. He wasn't interested in college, nor in real estate, but he got serious about bluegrass. Since he was based in Southern California, he played a little with the Pine Valley Boys, a Berkeley bluegrass band who had relocated South. At the time, the Pine Valley Boys included David Nelson on guitar. Greene had probably already met Garcia from his Berkeley days, but if not, he would have likely met him in 1964, through either the Pine Valley Boys or the Kentucky Colonels, as the California bluegrass world was quite tiny[update: Commenter Nick found an interview with Greene which says he met and played with Garcia around 1964].

In the second half of 1964, Greene was also a member of another band, The Dry City Scat Band. Bluegrass bands aren't like rock bands, in that much of the material was and is traditional and shared, so it isn't so hard to be a member of more than one bluegrass band. Also, there isn't much work for bluegrass bands, so conflicts are sadly rare. The Dry City Scat Band had evolved out of a Claremont, CA group called The Mad Mountain Ramblers, whose main gig in 1963-64 had been at the "Mine Train" in Disneyland, dressed in Old West gear (one of the few paying bookings for string bands).

The Mad Mountain Ramblers evolved into The Dry City Scat Band, who played mostly bluegrass with the occasional old-time string band number, a good match for Greene's experience. Dry City featured two other players besides Greene who went on to have substantial careers, namely banjoist David Lindley and mandolinist Chris Darrow, who both went on to have significant professional careers in the Los Angeles studios. Greene's easy transition into the studio scene in the 1970s was probably eased by having played with such established players many years earlier. The Dry City Scat Band mostly just played the Ash Grove, particularly two long runs: June 30-July 19 and September 22-October 11, 1964. Yet out of these thin connections, Greene somehow became a member of the first and most important bluegrass band, Bill Monroe And His Bluegrass Boys.

Bill Monroe And His Bluegrass Boys
Bill Monroe was a popular country singer prior to 1940, often performing as a duo with his brother Charlie. However, late in 1940 he made a conscious effort to create a new style of music, an effort that succeeded completely. At a time when music was moving forward but rural life in the South was changing, Monroe invented bluegrass, a style that had traditional harmonies and acoustic instruments like "old-time" music, but played at a breakneck pace in a sophisticated style, like be-bop. Bluegrass became a popular style, appealing particularly to people from the Appalachians who had relocated to big cities for factory work.

There were many other bluegrass bands besides the Bluegrass Boys, but Bill Monroe was the godfather. He also became a regular performer on the Grand Ole Opry. However, by the late 1950s, while Monroe remained a country music legend, he was no longer a popular artist on the radio, and he was reduced to being able to tour only by using a pickup band of local musicians. They would know his material--it was famous--but they wouldn't be rehearsed and they weren't his band. What saved Bill Monroe and bluegrass was the folk revival. Young kids in the suburbs, like David Grisman (Hackensack, NJ) and Jerry Garcia (Menlo Park, CA) went from hearing Joan Baez and the Kingston Trio to hearing bluegrass, and they were hooked. Monroe's star rose again, and he started having a regular band, tight and rehearsed in his trademark High Lonesome sound.

By the early 1960s, thanks to the folk revival, a new breed of suburban teenager had gotten interested in Bill Monroe and bluegrass, and Monroe had started playing for suburban "folk" audiences as well as his traditional Southern fans. In 1962, Monroe had his first "Northern" band member. Bill Keith was a banjo player from Amherst, MA, and had initially learned bluegrass from records. Keith was a phenomenal, revolutionary, banjo player, however, and a huge influence on the likes of Jerry Garcia. No small part of Keith's impact on the likes of Garcia was the fact that he had come from a suburban college town, just like Garcia had.

The cover of Bill Monroe's 1967 MCA album Bluegrass Time, when Richard Greene and Peter Rowan were members of the Bluegrass Boys

Bill Monroe And The Bluegrass Boys, 1964-1967
Although Monroe had a more fluid approach to bands than some performers, since his arrangements were fairly fixed, he still generally had a core band that he worked with. From the end of 1964 until the middle of 1967, Monroe had a quintet that was largely "Northern" save for himself and his son

Bill Monroe-mandolin
Peter Rowan-guitar [Wayland, MA]
Richard Greene-fiddle [Los Angeles, CA]
Lamar Grier-banjo [suburban Maryland]
James Monroe-bass

Peter Rowan had been a folk musician in the Martha's Vineyard area in Massachusetts, but he too had discovered bluegrass. Rowan is well-known to Deadheads, of course, but Rowan and Greene started playing together in late '64 in the Bluegrass Boys. I am not sure how Greene got hooked up with Monroe. It is interesting that the Summer of '64 is when Jerry Garcia and Sandy Rothman made their pilgrimage to the bluegrass festival in Brown County, IN, in the hopes of getting into Monroe's band. Garcia supposedly hovered around Monroe, waiting for an opportunity to meet him, in the hopes of becoming his banjo player, but no such opportunity arose. Ironically, some months later Rothman ended up in Monroe's band for a few weeks. Had either of them stuck around, they might have connected with Rowan and Greene in the Bluegrass Boys lineup that was to follow.

The Rowan/Greene/Grier configuration of the Bluegrass Boys worked on one contemporary album, Bluegrass Time, released on Decca Records in 1967, after Greene and Rowan had left the band. Greene and Rowan also appear on a few tracks on some archival live material. Rowan jumped ship to form a rock band called Earth Opera in Cambridge, MA with another young, suburban bluegrasser from Hackensack, NJ, mandolinist David Grisman. (This topic will be the subject of another post entirely). Richard Greene, meanwhile, seems to have stayed on the East Coast, eager to expand his musical horizons.

The August, 1967 Reprise album Garden Of Joy, by The Jim Kweskin Jug Band. Richard Greene had joined the Cambridge, MA based group by the end of the band's tenure.

Jim Kweskin Jug Band
The Jim Kweskin Jug Band had been a popular act on Vanguard Records since 1963. In fact, Garcia and others had gone to see the Kweskin band in Berkeley (at the Cabale on March 11, 1964), since they had already formed a jug band, and the Kweskin crew were the leading practitioners. By 1967, the Kweskin Jug Band had been through a number of personnel changes, but while sounding a bit outdated they were still a draw. They were based in Cambridge, MA, and Greene and banjoist Bill Keith played on their final album, Garden Of Joy, released on Reprise in August of 1967. Geoff and Maria Muldaur were the singers (joined by Kweskin on guitar and Fritz Richmond on bass). The disintegration of the Kweskin band is too strange to discuss here (google "Mel Lyman"), but suffice to say Greene and the others had to move on.

The back cover of Planned Obsolecsence by The Blues Project, originally released on Verve in 1968 (this is actually the cd released on One Way in 1996)

The Blues Project, 1968
The Blues Project had been founded in Greenwich Village in 1965, and they had been a seminal band on the early psychedelic circuit. The Blues Project had shown that a bunch of white suburban guys could play funky blues in an imaginative way. They put out some great albums on Verve Records and were influential everywhere they played, not least in San Francisco. When the group had disintegrated in mid-1967, organist Al Kooper and guitarist Steve Katz had gone on to form Blood, Sweat and Tears, who had become hugely successful. Kooper had then in turn split from BS&T, but he had gone on to fame as a producer and performer in his own right, so the Blues Project name definitely had some hip cred.

Two members of the Blues Project, bassist Andy Kulberg (b.1944-d.2002) and drummer Roy Blumenfield, had moved to the Bay Area by early '68. They formed a new band, and they called themselves The Blues Project, presumably because it helped them get gigs. The other members of the group were guitarist John Gregory and saxophonist Don Kretmar, both San Francisco musicians. However, Kulberg and Blumenfield seemed to have realized that trying to live up to the first Blues Project was never going to be a winning proposition, and they evolved into a band called Seatrain. Richard Greene, no doubt friends with Kulberg and Blumenfield from the East Coast folk scene, returned to California to join the group.

However, it appeared that the former members of the Blues Project still owed an album to Verve, so they couldn't record as Seatrain. Thus the members of Seatrain, including Greene, made an album called Planned Obsolescence, credited to the Blues Project, which was released on Verve in 1968. The same band members then recorded the first Seatrain album for A&M, which was released later in 1968. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Planned Obsolescence album had little to do with the original Blues Project, and that only the most trivial material was used for the album. Such was the 60s. It was hardly the strangest thing in the recording history of the Blues Project, who would go on to reform and release various albums over the years.

A Berkeley Barb ad from February 14, 1969 for Berkeley's Freight And Salvage. High Country was booked for Thursday February 20. Richard Greene may have played with the band (David Nelson definitely did).

High Country, 1969
Greene had returned to California in 1968, apparently to play in an electric rock band in Marin County. Nonetheless, he found some time to play a little bluegrass on the side, while still playing with Seatrain. Thus Greene was a sort of adjunct member of a Berkeley bluegrass band in early '69. Butch Waller, formerly of the Pine Valley Boys, had returned to the North and he had formed High Country in 1968, initially as a duo. Their home base was Berkeley's Freight And Salvage. Various members came and went throughout 1969. When Greene did play with High Country, he often played with David Nelson, another old pal of Waller's (I have addressed this murky subject elsewhere).

The first Seatrain album, released on A&M Records in 1969

Seatrain, 1969
Sometime in early 1969--or possibly in late 1968--A&M Records released the first Seatrain album, called Seatrain, according to the practices of the time. Seatrain included all the five players who had been on the Planned Obsolescence album (Gregory, Kretmar, Greene, Kulberg and Blumenfield). However, lyricist Jim Roberts, Kulberg's songwriting partner, was also listed as a full member. The album wasn't bad, and a lot of care had been taken in the writing and recording of the songs, but the first Seatrain album had a sort of stiff, baroque feel. It appears that in the Spring of '69, Seatrain relocated again, this time from Marin County to Cambridge, MA. 

The 1969 Gary Burton lp Throb, on Atlantic Records, with Richard Greene guest starring on electric violin

Throb-Gary Burton
When Seatrain relocated, it gave Richard Greene a chance to play some real jazz with Gary Burton. Gary Burton is too fascinating a tangent to go into here, but--just to give you a taste--Burton was a groundbreaking vibraphonist who grew up in Nashville, TN, enjoying country and rock along with jazz. The first Gary Burton Quartet, with Larry Coryell on electric guitar, formed in New York in 1967, was a crucially important jazz-rock fusion band. The Quartet could play the Fillmore as well as the Village Vanguard, and shined in both places.

By 1969, Jerry Hahn had taken over the guitar role from Coryell, but the Gary Burton Quartet was still a great band. Greene played amplified violin with them on occasion. When Gary Burton recorded an album at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 20, 1969, in Newport, RI, Greene sat in. As a result, Greene appeared on the album Throb, along with Burton, Hahn, Bob Moses (drums) and Steve Swallow (bass). It's a terrific album, but it has never been released on cd, so it is hard to hear [update: a commenter tells me Throb was released as extra tracks on the Keith Jarrett/Gary Burton cd]. In any case, Seatrain went on tour right after the festival, and Hahn left the group, so although Burton continued (and continues) to have a stellar jazz career, the jazz side of Greene's violin career was left by the wayside.

The second Seatrain album (1970), but the first on Capitol, also called Seatrain, like the one on A&M. Peter Rowan had joined up with old bandmate Richard Greene for this one.

Peter Rowan and Seatrain, 1969-70
When Seatrain returned to the East Coast, they underwent a variety of personnel changes, not all of which I am certain of (and in any case too tangential even for this post). However, the principal change was that Peter Rowan joined the group on guitar and vocals, replacing John Gregory. With Rowan and new keyboard player Lloyd Baskin joining Greene, Kulberg and a drummer, Seatrain's sound became less baroque and more soulful country. However, as an East Coast band, they did not fall into the country rock bag of the Flying Burrito Brothers and The Grateful Dead, even if they shared some musical roots.

Richard Greene and Peter "Panama Red" Rowan at the Freight And Salvage on February 18, 1970

Panama Red with Richard Greene
It seems that Seatrain returned to Marin County for the Fall of 1969 and the Winter of 1970. Besides regular rock gigs, however, some of the members of Seatrain played some bluegrass shows at the Freight And Salvage with various Berkeley musicians. In February, March and April 1970, Peter Rowan and Richard Greene played three shows at the Freight under the billing "Panama Red and Richard Greene." The ad for one month actually indicated that Rowan was 'Panama Red', so it wasn't particularly a secret. Nonetheless, it is very interesting to see that the Rowan's Panama Red persona was in place as early as 1970, even if it seems that the song was probably not written until later.

I would love to know what songs Rowan and Greene did as a duo, and what it sounded like. I assume it was a forum for Rowan's own songs and some choice covers, but it would be intriguing indeed if a tape or even a setlist turned up.

The 1971 Capitol album Marblehead Messenger, by Seatrain

Seatrain, 1970-71
After April 1970, there were no more weeknight bluegrass gigs at the Freight for any members of Seatrain. All signs point to the band having relocated the East Coast again. Capitol laid it on pretty thick, a clear sign that the company had high hopes for the band. The 70-71 lineup was the "classic" lineup of Seatrain that everyone remembers:

Peter Rowan-guitar, vocals
Richard Greene-electric violin
Lloyd Baskin-keyboards, vocals
Andy Kulberg-bass, flute, vocals
Larry Autamanik-drums
Jim Roberts-lyrics

Seatrain carved out an interesting niche. They sang in a country rock style, with a little bit of R&B overtones. Yet they had no lead guitarist, so most of the lead lines were played by Greene on the electric violin. With his classical training, bluegrass chops and jazz experience, Greene was uniquely positioned to be a lead player, even if he played "lead violin" rather than lead guitar.

In the Feinberg interview, Greened describes himself as having been heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix. He used a wah-wah pedal on stage, probably one of, if not the, first electric violinists to do so. In that respect, Greene followed something like Garcia' arc, taking the music and discipline he learned from bluegrass, electrifying it, and playing at high volume in a rock band. Greene describes himself as "the first electric violinist" in rock. That isn't quite true (I think a guy named Eddie Drennon was first, who played in Bo Diddley's band, and members of the group Kaleidoscope also played electric violin from 1966 onwards), but it's certainly true that Greene was playing electric violin with no road map, and was blazing new trails as he did so.

Seatrain recorded two albums for Capitol in 1970 and 1971, Seatrain and Marblehead Messenger. Both were recorded in London with George Martin. The first Seatrain album on Capitol, released in 1970--rather unfathomably also called Seatrain, just like the '69 A&M album--was the first album George Martin had produced since The Beatles. Capitol would not have sent Seatrain to London to record with Martin if they had not rated them highly.

There is some nice material on the two Capitol albums, and they are very well recorded, but the albums are not exceptional. Seatrain has a nice cover of Lowell George's "Willin'," and Marblehead Messenger has a nice version of Rowan's "Mississippi Moon," but there were no classic FM tracks. Some live Seatrain tapes circulate, on Wolfgang's Vault and elsewhere, and Greene's unique role as lead violinist is well represented. Seatrain opened for a lot of famous bands, at the Fillmore East and elsewhere, and seems to have acquitted themselves well. Greene and Rowan did not lose touch with their bluegrass roots, as their typical show closer was a rocking version of "Orange Blossom Special."

By mid-72 or so, however, Seatrain seemed to have kind of run its course. A fourth Seatrain album, Watch, was released by Capitol in 1973, but it seemed to be made up of old tracks. Rowan played on a few of them, and Greene co-wrote one song, but the album was an afterthought. Rowan, with few options on the table, moved to Marin County, where his brothers were making a record with David Grisman and Richard Loren. Richard Greene appears to have returned to Southern California.

A 1998 cd of the original live broadcast of the impromptu bluegrass group that became known as "Muleskinner."

"Muleskinner" 1972-1973
On February 13, 1973, a KCET-TV program was scheduled to feature Bill Monroe and The Bluegrass Boys. The hour long program planned to feature a live half-hour of Monroe, with an opening live "tribute" set by younger musicians. The group assembled became the basis of what is now known as the "Muleskinner" group (because of the 1974 album), but they didn't actually use the name Muleskinner. As it happened, Monroe's bus broke down in Stockton, and the openers played the entire hour instead. The band for this show was

• Peter Rowan-guitar, vocals
• Clarence White-lead guitar
• David Grisman-mandolin, vocals
• Richard Greene-violin
• Bill Keith-banjo
• Stuart Schulman-bass

Its important to recognize that the musicians went to great lengths to perform at this show. Clarence White was a member of The Byrds at this time, and according to Christopher Hjort's definitive chronology (So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star, Jawbone 2008), The Byrds were at Cornell University on February 10 and Rockland Community College in Suffern, NY on February 16. so  White had to log some serious air miles to make the broadcast. Grisman and Rowan lived in Northern California, as probably did Greene, and they would have had to drive down. Keith usually lived on the East Coast, so he most likely had to make a special effort as well. Its a sign of how much respect they had for Bill Monroe and each other that they all made that effort.

The impromptu performance was so satisfying that the musicians played a week at The Ash Grove (March 17-22), the very same club where Greene had first heard Scotty Stoneman. They also made plans to record an album. According to Greene (in the Feinberg interview), the plan was that this ensemble would co-exist with Old And In The Way. An album was recorded, with the idea that it would be a sort of rock-bluegrass hybrid, and John Kahn played bass, with John Guerin on drums. The album Muleskinner-A Potpourri Of Bluegrass Jam was released in 1974, but after Clarence White's death on July 29, 1973, any serious plans for the group were dropped.

Part of the March, 1973 Keystone Berkeley calendar, showing Old And In The Way playing March 12 and 13.

Old And In The Way, 1973
I have also written at length about the genesis of Old And In The Way and Muleskinner, so I won't recap it all. Suffice to say, Jerry Garcia was living at the top of the hill in Stinson Beach, and David Grisman and Peter Rowan were living at the bottom of the hill, and they started to play bluegrass together. Garcia got his long-dormant banjo chops together, John Kahn was added on bass, and in March of 1973 the quartet started playing some bluegrass gigs at rock clubs (and possibly at some tiny place in Stinson Beach). There is a whiff that John Hartford was tried out as a member, but he played few, if any shows, possibly only working on a still-unreleased recording, but I have to assume Hartford's schedule did not allow him to be a member of a part-time band.

Greene's first performance as a member of Old And In The Way was on April 12, 1973, at the Granada Theater in Santa Barbara. Greene went on to play fiddle at most, though not all, of the Old And In The Way shows for April and May. At the time, the band was just a curiousity: Garcia had surprised the rock world by playing as a sideman in the New Riders Of The Purple Sage on a secondary instrument (pedal steel guitar), and here he was doing it again on yet another instrument. Very few California rock fans even knew what bluegrass was. FM broadcasts of Old And In The Way were often the first bluegrass fans that many rock fans had ever heard.

Old And In The Way helped re-invigorate bluegrass in many ways. The most important way, of course, was the fact that Jerry Garcia's presence caused people to actually listen to it. Peter Rowan's original songs made bluegrass sound contemporary, instead of like a museum piece. Finally, unlike most typical bluegrass bands, Old And In The Way had relatively lengthy instrumental breaks that flirted with jazz. This was directly modeled on the style of Scotty Stoneman. Stoneman had influenced Garcia's guitar playing, and now Garcia had a bluegrass band with a fiddler who had actually taken lessons--of a sort--from Stoneman himself.

The free-flowing style of Old And In The Way owed a lot to Richard Greene. Ironically enough, when Greene had to leave the band, Greene was replaced by the even more incredible Vassar Clements, himself a true legend. Clements took flight in Old And In The Way's format, and the other musicians in the band all thought that Vassar was the best soloist in the band. Greene had established the template, however, and it was the critical need to replace him with someone good that caused the band to seek out Clements.

Loggins And Messina, 1973-76
Why did Richard Greene leave Old And In The Way? He was playing great music with friends, and he was able to merge bluegrass with jazz, and the band was rising in popularity. Greene explained the answer in the Feinberg interview: he got offered serious money to go on tour with Loggins And Messina. Old And In The Way gigs paid a little bit, by bluegrass standards, but they were only going to play occasional shows around the Grateful Dead and Garcia/Saunders touring schedule. Old And In The Way wasn't really going to pay Greene's way, and Loggins And Messina would.

Jim Messina had originally been Kenny Loggins' producer, but their initial collaboration went so well that they became a duo. By 1973, they had hit singles and were becoming hugely popular. Loggins And Messina would go on to sell something like 15 million albums in six years. Loggins And Messina were a pop group, but a very musical one. One of the cornerstones of their success was a country music sensibility without all the twangs and songs about trains. They already had a fiddle player in the band, Al Garth, but he also played saxophone and flute. By bringing in Richard Greene, it allowed Loggins And Messina to have a sort of Western Swing sound on stage, with either twin fiddles or fiddle and saxophone.

Interestingly, Greene's connection to Loggins And Messina was through Seatrain. Seatrain had played a number of shows with Poco, back in 1970 when Jim Messina was their lead guitarist. Although apparently they hardly spoke at the time, Messina was definitely listening, and when they needed a versatile violinist, Greene got the call.

According to Greene, Loggins And Messina made so much money touring, they traveled in not one but two jets. One was for Loggins and Messina, and the other was for the band. Obviously, Greene was getting a pretty good wage besides. Greene toured with Loggins And Messina for three years, until the duo finally broke up in 1976, while they were both still friends. Greene may not have played on every tour, but I think he played on most of them. He appears on some tracks on the 'posthumous' Loggins And Messina live album, Finale, releases in 1977. (Unfortunately, as far as I know, Loggins and Messina never did the slow version of "Friend Of The Devil" after '72, so Greene never got to play it).

An ad from the Sunday, May 5, 1974 Oakland Tribune, listing the Great American String Band's upcoming performance at the Keystone Berkeley that night

Great American String Band, 1974
In 1974, although Greene was making his living by touring with Loggins And Messina, he still had time for other music when they were off the road. David Grisman had precipitated the end of Old And In The Way because he wanted to go in a different direction than Peter Rowan. I'm not sure that Greene and Grisman had really played together prior to the 'Muleskinner' show in February 1973, and then Old And In The Way a few months later. Certainly, most of the younger bluegrass players all knew each other, so Greene and Grisman had surely picked a little, but they hadn't been in a band with each other.

By March of 1974, Grisman and Greene had hatched a new band, called The Great American String Band. It was initially based at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. The goal of the Great American String Band was to play all American music on acoustic instruments. Not just bluegrass, but jazz, folk, blues, swing and pretty much anything else, sometimes all at once. This was a pretty audacious goal, but the remarkable thing about the band was that it ultimately succeeded, and in so doing helped revolutionize American music. Whether you read about "New Acoustic" music, or see a couple of guys in a pizza parlor doing a swinging version of a blues song on mandolin and guitar, that can be traced back directly to the Great American String Band.

The Great American String Band debuted at the Great American Music Hall on March 9-10, 1974. The first night's lineup was Grisman, Greene, David Nichtern on guitar and Buell Niedlinger on bass. For the second night, Jerry Garcia joined them on banjo. Although there were some occasional adjustments to the lineup, Garcia and Greene were in the GASB  through June of 1974. Garcia stopped playing with them after June, mainly due to having too many other commitments. Greene and Grisman continued to play in the GASB through the Fall of '74 (the band was sometimes billed as The Great American Music Band).

However, the Great American String Band ultimately stopped playing, I believe because Greene had too many commitments with Loggins And Messina. The Great American String Band evolved into the David Grisman Quintet, and it was the DGQ that really opened everyone's ears to the possibilities of acoustic music. It did not hurt that the Old And In The Way album was released in February 1975--a mere 16 months after it was recorded--and David Grisman's name became better known in Deadhead circles.

If Richard Greene had been on the Old And In The Way album, it would have been his name that was associated with progressive bluegrass fiddle and the Grateful Dead. If he had stuck with the Great American String Band, then the David Grisman Quintet (under whatever name) would have had two former members of OAITW. Whether that would have been good and bad would be impossible to say, but the fact was that Greene had to make a living, and making Loggins And Messina swing a little on stage was a pretty musical way to make a living, if hardly revolutionary.

Richard Greene's presence in Old And In The Way was not accidental, even if it was only for six weeks or so. Greene represented a straight line from Scotty Stoneman, and he had played with Bill Monroe, so his bluegrass pedigree was all that Jerry Garcia could ask for. And yet in the years before Old And In The Way, Greene had played old-time music, in a jug band, electric jazz and high volume rock and roll.  In that respect, Greene came back to bluegrass in a very similar way that Jerry Garcia did, proud of the tradition and steeped in it, yet eager to enrich it with other kinds of music. Greene's breadth was essential to the foundation of The Great American String Band as well, and yet he departed both seminal groups long before they became famous.

Happily, many years later, the music world has caught up with Richard Greene and he is rightly revered as a master of violin and fiddle, crossing boundaries in a wide variety of ensembles. He may not be using a wah-wah pedal any more, but Greene's wide tastes inform his music in a variety of powerful ways. His presence in Old And In The Way and The Great American String Band was no accident, even though it took several more years for everyone to catch up with what Jerry Garcia and David Grisman already knew.


Richard Greene Discography 1967-76
[this discography is limited to bands where Richard Greene was a member]

Bluegrass Time-Bill Monroe (Decca Spring '67)
Garden Of Joy-Jim Kweskin Jug Band (Reprise August '67)
Planned Obsolescence-Blues Project (Verve 1968)
Seatrain (A&M 1969)
Throb-Gary Burton (1969)
Seatrain (Capitol 1970)
Marblehead Messenger (Capitol 1971)
A Potpourri Of Bluegrass Jam-Muleskinner (Sierra 1974, recorded 1973)
Old And In The Way (Round 1975,  recorded Oct 8 '73)
Finale-Loggins And Messina (Columbia 1977, recorded live mid-70s)
Muleskinner Live: Original Television Soundtrack (Micro Werks 1998, recorded Feb 13 '73)

[For a more complete discography of Greene's work, including many of his session appearances, see the page on his own site]