Tag: Merl Saunders

Weekly Live Stash Vol. LXXI, August 11, 2023

Every Friday at 5 pm ET, nugs.net founder Brad Serling hosts “The Weekly Live Stash” on nugs.net radio, nugs.net radio – SiriusXM channel 716. Tune in to hear his selections of the best new live music, and check out this week’s playlist below featuring professionally mixed recordings from Gov’t Mule (covering Pink Floyd), The String Cheese Incident, Leftover Salmon and more. Subscribers can stream this week’s tracks from the #WeeklyLiveStash, only in the mobile app. The Phish track is only available in the LivePhish app.

  1. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
    Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders
    5/21/71 San Francisco, CA
  2. Mike’s Song
    Phish
    8/4/23 New York,NY
  3. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)
    Gov’t Mule
    8/7/23 Morrison, CO
  4. Colorado Bluebird Sky
    The String Cheese Incident
    8/1/23 Nampa, ID
  5. Eyes Jam
    The String Cheese Incident
    8/1/23 Nampa, ID
  6. Franklin’s Tower
    The String Cheese Incident
    8/1/23 Nampa, ID
  7. Midnight Moonlight
    The String Cheese Incident
    8/1/23 Nampa, ID
  8. Colorado Bluebird Sky
    The String Cheese Incident
    8/1/23 Nampa, ID
  9. Todd’s Tots
    Spafford
    7/10/23 Morristown, NJ
  10. Better
    Leftover Salmon
    7/19/23 Omaha, NE
  11. Happy Hour Hero
    moe.
    8/4/23 Atlantic City, NJ

Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders at Keystone Berkeley, 11/2/74

LISTEN: Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders perform live in Berkeley, CA.

This post is excerpted from Garcia Family Provisions.

GarciaLive Volume 18: November 2nd, 1974 Keystone Berkeley presents the complete and previously uncirculated two-set Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders performance originally recorded to 1/4” analog reels by Betty Cantor Jackson.

Is there a more iconic venue for Garcia/Saunders than the Keystone Berkeley? The Bay Area haunt was the setting for the performances contained on the legendary Live at the Keystone releases and yielded at least a half-dozen other celebrated official live releases. Be it the quaint, unassuming setting or the proximity to home, magic never seemed to be in short supply — and this evening in November was no different.

In addition to the ever-present John Kahn on bass, the rhythm section this evening was bolstered by one of the most in demand session drummers of his day, the great Paul Humphrey whose credits range from Marvin Gaye and Joe Cocker to the Lawrence Welk Show. Future Legion of Mary bandmate Martin Fierro rounds out the ensemble.

The performance itself is nothing short of exceptional, particularly the monstrous 1st set combination of “Valdez in the Country,” The Harder They Come,” and “You Can Leave Your Hat On” which destroy any notion of genre as Garcia, Saunders & co somehow fuse seemingly disparate originals by Donny Hathaway, Jimmy Cliff & Randy Newman into a sound all their own. After a brief set-break, the group returns for a super-charged 2nd set highlighted by extended versions of “Freedom Jazz Dance” and Merl’s own “Wondering Why” before closing the evening with a fiery “Mystery Train.” Always ones to stretch the bounds, you get the sense they would’ve gone all night if not for the venue’s pesky 2am curfew.

Set One

  1. Neighbor, Neighbor
  2. Valdez In The Country
  3. The Harder They Come
  4. You Can Leave Your Hat On
  5. That’s The Touch I Like

Set Two

  1. Freedom Jazz Dance
  2. Tough Mama
  3. Wondering Why
  4. People Make the World Go Round
  5. Mystery Train

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