Top of the Tangent, Palo Alto CA
2/23/63
Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter, David Nelson, Norm van Mastricht
Setlist
1. Rolling In My Sweet Baby's Arms
2. Jerry's Breakdown
3. Standing In The Need of Prayer
4. Muleskinner Blues
5. Guitar Instrumental (Norm van Mastricht)
6. Pike County Breakdown
7. Come All Ye Fair And Tender Maide
8. We Shall Not Be Moved
Overall, this has been my favorite show that I've listened to so far. It's a really hopping show. Jerry is on banjo, and you can tell that he is getting good! Yikes is he quick! The speed with which he picks livens up the music immensely. You can start to hear a bit of the way he will play his electric guitar by the way he can speed through notes on the banjo.
Blair Jackson mentions in his Garcia biography, "It was in this group [WWB] that Garcia honed his bluegrass banjo chops... " (Jackson 51).
What attracted Jerry to the banjo, which can be clearly heard in his playing, was,
" just the sound of the instrument, and then the fire, you know; the speed and all that. I was attracted by the intensity of it, really. And I was drawn to that incredible clarity - when something is going along real fast and every note is absolutely clear. That, to me, was really amazing..." (Jackson 52).The song "Jerry's Breakdown" is an all instrumental song written by Jerry. I found it to be quite interesting, containing several layered parts where the players jump into and out of. It felt similar to a Viola Lee, where each part culminated immediately into it's partner's. It sounds as though it could have fit in very nicely as a jam with the Dead.
Like Jerry's other early shows, there is a lot of stage banter. There is also a tremendous amount of tuning, especially by Jerry. That actually gets a bit irritating.
Youtube has this show streaming in two parts. Please give it a listen! You'll like it if you like quick bluegrass!! Please leave a comment to let me know that you're here, and what you think of this show!!!
Part 2
UP NEXT: Jerry and Sara 5/4/63
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