Here is the latest news from David Gans, producer and host of the Grateful Dead Hour.
Bay Area Music Day 1983
Press conference held February 25, 1983 in the office of San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein to announce “Bay Area Music Day” in honor of the Bay Area Music Awards, to be held a month or so hence. The event was organized by BAM Magazine to benefit the Bay Area Music Archive. Left to right: Bill Graham; producer and BAMA board member David Rubinson; Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead; Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, musician Huey Lewis; BAM publisher and BAMA board member Dennis Erokan; Mayor Diane Feinstein.
Help send Mark Karan to Commonweal
I just had a nice long conversation with Mark Karan and his wife, Maile Hatfield. Mark has made it clear in his CarePages posts that he is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances, and I was very happy to hear personally how positive and upbeat his tone is.
When my wife was undergoing chemo a few years back, she spent a week in Commonweal’s Cancer Help Program, a week-long retreat in Bolinas specifically for people with cancer. We suggested to Mark and Maile that they take a look at it, and when they expressed an interest in attending, I decided to make it my mission to raise the money to send them both.
Another thing that our community did for Rita and me during her chemo was to get us a gift certificate from Jessie et Laurent, a Marin County-based company that delivers high-quality meals to the home, ready to be heated up as needed.
So what I’d like to do is raise $5000 from the people who love and admire Mark and want to assist him in his journey. This will cover the cost of sending both of them to Commonweal (spouses are encouraged to attend) and a healthy-sized Jessie et Laurent gift certificate.
If you would like to make a contribution of any amount, please contact me directly. I’ll receive the funds and handle matters with both Commonweal and Jessie et Laurent. Or you can make a donation (NOT tax-deductible!) in any amount via PayPal.
No contribution is too small, and of course none could be too large. Insurance covers a lot of the medical stuff, but there are always plenty of related expenses, and additional comforts to make things easier for Mark and his family will be most welcome.
Email david@trufun.com for more information.
Thank you.
– DG
Sirius preview update
I cribbed this info from a post on the Eurotraders list:
Sirius are now running previews and they can be found on the Jam On Channel [17]. The previews end on 9 August. You can sign up for a free 3 day account at sirius.com . You need to wait for a confirmation email which will include your password.
The audio quality on the free account isn’t the best but who cares!
ON THE PREVIEW
We’re playing full-length concert recordings from The Grateful Dead’s vaults, four times a day: at 9 am, 3 pm, 9 pm and 3 am ET. Here’s what’s coming up:
8/2 3 am 2/19/71 Port Chester, NY – Capitol Theater
8/2 9 am 9/20/90 New York – Madison Square Garden
8/2 3 pm 7/16/88 Berkeley, CA – Greek Theater
8/2 9 pm 3/2/69 San Francisco – Fillmore West
We will also be interviewing members of the band and those closest to them. Tune in to catch these interviews.
8/2 Phil Lesh with David Gans Part 1
8/3 Phil Lesh with David Gans Part 2
8/4 David Nelson with David Gans
8/5 Bob Weir & Phil Lesh with Marty Martinez and David Gans
Sirius GD channel sneak preview is on the air!
The Sirius Satellite Radio GD Channel “test drive” went live at noon EDT on Jam_On Channel 17.
We led off with a totally uncirculated tape from the GD Vault: 5/3/77.
This concert will be repeated eat least once during the nine-day run. I believe the plan is to play four complete shows each day.
I’ve been a busy boy, getting material ready. There are 18 live concerts, some of which are commercially available but most of which are unreleased shows. And other treats, including:
- “This Week in Grateful Dead History” with David Lemieux, this week featuring a nice piece of 8/4/71 at Terminal Island in San Pedro CA.
- Two interviews with David Nelson. One is the story of the writing of “Friend of the Devil” and how it was originally meant to be a New Riders song but became a Grateful Dead song; the other is David’s wonderful story of how the New Riders of the Purple Sage came to be. “Jerry wants to be a sideman!”
- A new interview with Donna Jean Godchaux-Mackay and two unreleased studio tracks by Donna Jean and the Tricksters
- An October 1989 interview with Bob Weir by Bonnie Simmons, portions of which were used on an Arista Records interview disc to promote Built to Last but most of which you’re hearing here for the first time.
- And more…
If you’re not already a Sirius subscriber, visit siriusradio.com for info on how to hear it. The “sneak preview” runs from now through August 9, and the GD channel itself launches later this month.
Grateful Dead Hour #984
Week of July 30, 2007
Part 1 19:02
Grateful Dead 6/20/87 Greek Theater, Berkeley CA
SPACE->
IKO IKO
Steve Mann, Alive and Pickin’
TROUBLE IN MIND (with Janis Joplin)
ELEPHANT SONG
EAST COLORADO (aka Spike Driver Blues)
Part 2 35:53
Grateful Dead 6/20/87 Greek Theater, Berkeley CA
LOOKS LIKE RAIN->
DEAL->
DRUMS->
SPACE
June 20, 1987 was the first time the Grateful Dead played Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” in concert. You’ll hear that in next week’s program.
Steve Mann’s CD Alive and Pickin’ was brought to my attention by Berkeley folk legend Janet Smith, who compiled these 1960s recordings and released the disc on her own Bella Roma Music label. This CD includes three songs with Mann accompanying Janis Joplin, recorded in 1964 in San Francisco. You can read Mann’s story of his collaboration with Janis here.
As the liner notes say, Steve’s story is “both dark and colorful.” My friend Rik Elswit, who was a member of Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, knew Steve Mann in southern California back in the day. “There was a time when he was the most amazing white guitar player any of us had ever seen,” Rik told me recently. According to Mann’s own web site, he had a mental breakdown in 1967; that’s why he isn’t a great deal better known today.
Rik Elswit:
My favorite Steve Mann story is from ’67, when he was backing Gale Garnett at the Troubadour. Gale had just had a hit with “We’ll Sing in the Sunshine”, which was almost a shame because it made her a one-hit-wonder on a piece that gave no hint of how talented she actually was. But the place was packed, and she was on.
So towards the end of her set, she launched into this blues, and let Steve solo for a couple of choruses. At least, that was the plan. Steve cut loose in the second chorus and forgot where he was and what he was doing. He just played his ass off for about a minute. Gale just let him go. In fact, she went over to the side of the stage and sat down and watched like the rest of us. Finally Steve came back into his body, but he still didn’t know where he was or what he was doing, so he just stopped.
Gale, with perfect timing, spoke into the stunned silence… “God DAMN!!!” And the place went nuts. She sized up the situation, thanked everybody, and took a break.
I’ve been enjoying Alive and Pickin’; you can get a copy here.
Support for the Grateful Dead Hour comes this week from:
The Sleeping Bear Dunegrass and Blues Festival August 2-5 in Northern Michigan on the shores of Lake Michigan, with Dark Star Orchestra, Particle, Yonder Mountain, Keller Williams, David Grisman Quintet, Railroad Earth, Peter Rowan, and dozens more.
Gathering of the Vibes August 9-12 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with Bob Weir and Ratdog, Mickey Hart Band, Donna Jean and The Tricksters, Zero, Keller and The Keels, Dark Star Orchestra, Railroad Earth, Los Lobos, David Gans, and dozens of additional acts.
Paradise Jam Music Festival August 17-19 near Pensacola, Florida, featuring Keller Williams, Galactic, Zero, The Radiators, Junior Marvin and The Allstar Reggae Band, JJ Grey and MOFRO, Dread Clampitt, Atlanta Rhythm Section, The Lee Boys, and more, on alternating stages. Tickets include three days of on-site camping with VIP packages also available.