November 19, 2025 • 41 mins
From famous arenas to forgotten gems, author Harry Angus takes us on a journey through the awe-inspiring venues of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead's legendary performances.
Visit The Encyclopedia Of Jerry Garcia Music Venues website
Visit Jerry Garcia's Broken Down Palaces blog
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Visit The Encyclopedia Of Jerry Garcia Music Venues website
Visit Jerry Garcia's Broken Down Palaces blog
15% OFF Any Purchase At Old Glory For Booked On Rock Listeners! — Over 300,000 officially licensed items. Featuring legendary music artists like Bob Marley, The Beatles,
Grateful Dead, and more. Use the code "BOOKEDONROCK" or hit this link:
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Booked On Rock is part of The Boneless Podcasting Network
BookedOnRock.com
The Booked On Rock Store
The Booked On Rock YouTube Channel
Follow The Booked On Rock with Eric Senich:
BLUESKY
TIKTOK
X
Find Your Nearest Independent Bookstore
Contact The Booked On Rock Podcast: thebookedonrockpodcast@gmail.com
The Booked On Rock Music: “Whoosh” by Crowander / “Last Train North” & “No Mercy” by TrackTribe
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
For pizza parlors to express trains to the foot of
the Great Pyramid. I look back at the famous, the obscure,
and the on spiring venues where Jerry Garcia and The
Grateful Dead performed. Next, I'm booked on Rock Totally.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Rock and roll. I meant to leave you. You're reading.
Little Hands says it's time.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
To rock and roll, roll out, I totally booked. Welcome
back to Booked on Rock, the podcast for those about
to read and rock. We have a first time guest
on the podcast, Harry Angus. He is the author of
the Encyclopedia of Jerry Garcia music venues. Harry, Welcome to
(00:41):
the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Nice to meet you, Thanks for having me. Eric.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
This is but you got you got them right there.
See you are those both volumes there.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Right bought right Let people see what they look like.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Wow, beautiful nine by twelve right.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Hey by twelve three inches each Together they weigh about
your twenty two pounds.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Unreal nine x twelve golden boss hardcover, gold gilded pages,
and inside is the complete musical legacy of Jerry Garcia
and the history of each venue where he performed, and
not just with the Grateful Dead. Tell us how long
it took to put this book together, and then the
efforts that you went to in compiling all of this information.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Oh man, it's just been a real trip. Because I
actually I'm a self publisher. I don't have anybody financing
my what I've done. But over sixteen years, let's see,
I started with a blog. It was called Jerry's Broken
Down Palaces, which is still active, and that grew to
(01:43):
about four hundred venues. It was kind of loosely thrown
together and I was just having a lot of fun
with it. And then then the next thing I knew
it had over two million hits. So I thought, maybe
I create a book and encyclopedia with all the venue
used that Jerry performed in, recorded in, rehearsed, all the
(02:05):
rehearsal halls, and all the dates that are not readily available,
but they are if I as I did. I dug
pretty deep to find it all all kinds of all
his living spaces. I think they totaled somewhere around thirty
five different living spaces. Some scuba excursions are in here.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
I love to go scuba diving.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
That was this thing, you know, Other than just of
course all the music and a lot that hasn't been
seen in print that I know of. And I've been
digging in dead related books for the whole time i've
been doing this, and I've never seen some of the
(02:50):
things I've discovered.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Did you go to a lot of the locations? Did
you travel around? Because some of the photos and there
have your photo credit.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah. I think the greatest adventure, and that respect was
we took a red eye from I lived in California
at the time. We took a red eye and we
went to the New York State Hall of Records, which
was in downtown Manhattan, and we got there real early
in the morning so we could get first in line.
(03:17):
And that was a really old old building with all
these records and photographs and you know, everything's all dusty
and the floor's not you know, shiny, you know, really
ancient place. So we got in there and we ended
up getting about eighteen photos of venues where Jerry performed
(03:41):
in New York or places where he frequented. One of
those would be the Blues Brothers Bar, which was actually
called the Holland Tunnel Bar, and that was like an
after hours bar that the Blues Brothers own and they'd
(04:01):
go there after Saturday Night Live or after Dead shows
at the Garden.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Oh that was the famous place. Yeah, where all the
casts would go. Yeah, with some of the famous people, famous.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Friends, Jerry, Jim. There a couple of times I found
a couple of musicians. I'm not looking at that right now,
but yeah, one was a I believe a horn trumpet player.
I can't recall at the moment.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
But how far back do you go as a fan
of the Dead And Jerry, what was your first show?
How many shows have you gone to?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
My first? Jerry, My first Dead show was Roosevelt Stadium seven,
eighteen seventy two, and pig Pen was already too sick
to be there. And then let's see for Jerry, that
was a Merle Saunders and Friends at the bottom line,
July second, seventy two.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
How many shows total do you think you've gone to?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I never really counted them up, to be honest with you.
But I've moved around a lot. I grew up in
Ocean County, New Jersey, and then I moved to California
in the Bay Area, and I saw a lot of
shows at winter Land and the Keystones and the Stone
in San Francisco. We travel the Red Rocks, San Diego, LA.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
There are spots here, like you say, places where Jerry lived,
also locations like the junior high that Jerry went to.
There's an entry on the James Denman Junior High School
in San Francisco. Jerry attended school there from September nineteen
fifty eight to February nineteen fifty nine. Can you share
with us what Jerry had to say about those days?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, I actually quoted him in the book and where
I got the quote. There's an end note attached to that,
which means it's the same as a footnote, but in
the book this size. Rather than having somebody flip to
the end of the book to find out who Who's
number one footnote, you put it at the end of
(06:02):
the venue. So each venue has its own set of footnotes,
so to speak. What they're called endnotes in this respect. Anyway, Jerry,
we moved back to the city when I was about
thirteen or so, and I started going to Denham, a
good old San Francisco Rowty Roughneck School. I became a
hoodlum survival thing. You had to be a hoodlum, otherwise
(06:24):
you walk down the street and somebody beat you up.
I had my friends and we were hoodlums, and we
went out on the weekends and we did a lot
of drinking and all that. And meanwhile I was still
reading and buying books and going to San Francisco Art
Institute on the weekends, just short of leading this whole
secret life. Jerry said, that's awesome, and he was inducted
(06:47):
into the school's Denham Schools Hall of Fame in nineteen
ninety And since two thousand and five there's a Jerry
Garcia Guitar Club at the school.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
That's cool, hoodlum by day by night, gearing up for
his future life. Yeah, there's a location in Menlo Park,
California called the Magoo's Pizza Parlor. Tell us about this
and it's place in Jerry history. The Warlocks played their
very first gig there.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Well, not quite but the history that's what the history
books would say, But not quite because this is the
new history book. So to describe the atmosphere inside Magoos,
it was a pizza parlor, strictly pizza parlor, right overhead lights,
with long tables with ovens in the back, just like
most pizza places. And they had a fantastic juke box,
(07:41):
and I'm quoting someone I remember hearing Hendrix and the
Rolling Stones for the first time. We're at a very
young age. There there was also an upstairs area with
pool tables and quite often Hell's Angels, which I didn't
realize that they were in the picture in sixty five,
you know, right. That came a little bit later, but
(08:02):
I guess not. And then the band was set up
by the front plate glass window, confined to a rather
narrow area without a stage. Jerry Garcia was on the
audience's left, pig Pen on the far right. Those two
especially looked somewhat menacing, at least to a suburban fifteen
year old. They reminded me of outlaw bikers. Bob Weir,
(08:25):
Dana Morgan, and Bill Kritzman were clean shaven and looked
more like guys you might see in a high school band.
The music was stunning. I have never forgotten it, although
I cannot recall the specific set list. I think they
did some Stones covers, and I know that pig Pen
sang Little Red Rooster and few people know. But this
(08:47):
was not the first Warlocks gig. That was on April
Fool's Day of All Days nineteen sixty five in the
student dining commons at Menlo College. I'm sure Jim Newton
won't mind what I quoted some of that out of
the thing about the April Fools Day sixty five that
(09:07):
comes out of this book right here. Partner located this
at the local library and I've been going through it.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
That's a great book, right, Jim Newton here beside the
Rising Tide, Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead and an American Awakening.
Great book. Yeah, what are some of the favorite spots
in the book for you? Like ones that few if
any fans know about. Maybe the most obscure gig or
one you didn't realize yourself existed.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Oh, there's a few Warlock dates I discovered in old newspapers.
Here's an oddity, and I have yet to have anyone
disagree with me on it. On January eighth of sixty six,
the Dead played the fillmore as the Grateful Dead. Okay,
but on January seventh, the night before, and on April
(09:56):
sixteenth of sixty six, they played as the Warlocks at
the Whatsit Club in Santa Clara. Wow, they were like
kind of moonlighting as the Warlocks. I guess probably for
financial reasons, after they had already become the Grateful Dead.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Oh that's interesting.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Yeah. And then their next gig after the Whatsit Club
on four sixteen in sixty six was long Shoreman's Hall
the Trips Festival on January twenty first as the Grateful Dead.
So I kind of discovered a couple of things like that.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
So you learned just yourself, you learned some new stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I did process never heard of anyone ever came up
with the Whatsit Club before.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Right, there's a beautiful photo of the Orpheum Theater in
San Francisco, beautiful architecture at seats just over two thousand.
Jerry played some shows there in nineteen eighty nine, and
quotes in the book from those who were there they
talk about how great those shows were, and I always
thought Jerry have loved those gigs, especially at that point.
It's nice getaway for him, low key intimate. Can you
(11:08):
share some of the comments from those who were at
those shows.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I've got one, and I'm you know, I have the
EndNote numbers, but I don't want to give people's names out,
yeah or you know whoever I'm quoting here, But at
any rate in the book. It's all in there. I'm
truly impressed. On this particular night, Jerry's jamming was profound.
Each song from the second set is exceptional and shows
(11:33):
that Jerry's abilities were not in question. For many years,
I was of the opinion that Jerry just couldn't cook
in the late eighties through the nineties. On this particular
night January twenty eighth, nineteen eighty nine, Jerry provided all
the evidence I need to throw that opinion straight out
the window. On one, twenty eight, eighty nine, Jerry delivered
(11:56):
one of his finest performances ever. I can't wait to
hear the first set whenever it is released. Bravo to
Jerry for this truly special performance. The March third, eighty
nine show was the one with Clarence Clemens for the
entire show.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
That's cool. As a big Twilight Zone fan, There's an
entry that stood out regarding a twilight Zone session on
February fourteen, or No. February fifteenth of nineteen eighty five.
Tell us about this. This is at the Skywalker Ranch.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Yeah, Skywalker Ranch, George Lucases where he did a lot
of filming and he had a Technical Building. At that point,
that's what it was called. And I've got a couple
of quotes from that, and this one says, yes, this
place is amazing. In nineteen eighty five, crews began pouring
concrete for the one hundred and fifty five thousand square
(12:48):
foot technical building at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch. The sprawling,
twenty five acre working ranch was located far up a
winding road deep in the hills of Marin County. It
contains everything from guest houses in an overnight inn, to
an organic garden, a vineyard, a baseball diamond, a fitness center,
(13:08):
a firehouse, and its own general store. Over three hundred
and sixty thousand used bricks, sand blasted to look old.
We're used on the exterior, plus fifteen hundred tons of stone.
Where I worked for a large me I'm talking about
me now, worked for a large hotel company in San Francisco.
(13:31):
Had I worked in food and beverage in a banquet's
apartment and we had a George Lucas Christmas Skywalker Ranch
party at the hotel. He brought all the employees to
the hotel and we had to go out to the
ranch to pre plan this and he had a lunch
set up for us and no expense spared. You know,
(13:53):
we've movie stars. They came and picked us up in
a limo and drove us up there with Champagne and
the limo. So we were loose by the time we
got up there. But Garcia and the other band members
they recorded music and sound effects for a new version,
so it must have been the eighties. The late fifties
early sixties television series The Twilight Zone. The new series
(14:15):
producer Phil de Gear was instrumental in making of the
seventy two Grateful Dead concert film Sunshine Day Dream. De
Gear hired Merle Saunders, and with the Gear's approval, Merrell
brought in The Dead. Mickey Hart was hired as a
primary sound designer on the series, and he noted at
the time, we're using anything that fits the sound of rain, light,
(14:39):
bulbs breaking backwards at half speed, branches falling, car crashes,
wood breaking. It's kind of a twenty first century orchestra.
Heart worked on the series for most of the year,
whereas Garcia and the other band members involvement was much
more limited. Garcia also helped work up a collection of
(15:00):
music inserts called stings and bumpers, you know, little hunks
of nonspecific music, of various lens that have different moods.
He explains, one might be a mood don't open that door,
or don't go in the attic, or I'm going to work, honey,
Are you sure you'll be okay at home alone? They
(15:22):
go all the way from a sort of non committal
He makes a light, playful guitar noise to were real
ominous raw. They gave us a huge menu of those,
and then it's the music editor who actually fits them
into the show.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Harry Angus, the author of the Encyclopedia of Jerry Garcia
Music venues. There's one photo in the book of the
Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, taken by somebody in attendance,
and in the caption you write, note the guy in
the Rocks. Where did you find this photo?
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I actually came up with it from a guy named
His name is Michael Young, and the photo is actually
from August twelfth of seventy nine. I was actually at
that show. I don't remember that. I don't remember that
guy up there. When I originally found this photo, I
thought it was from June thirteenth, eighty four, when someone
(16:17):
fell off the rocks and died. But no, because the
dead didn't play there in eighty four, I don't think,
or maybe they did. I'm sorry a little mixed up
on that. Anyway. I've included it as a memorial as
many people as I could who had like a mishap
or a fall, or they jumped off a balcony and
(16:38):
it made the news. Any kind of word mishap like that,
doing before, during, and after a show. Adam Katz, I
have him in detail of his whole story. I'm sure
you've heard of them. Yeah, so, yeah, there's a bunch
of those kinds of stories.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Now, this guy is way way way up I mean
he is. If you were at that show, I guess
it's not surprising you didn't see him because he's so
far out of sight. You have to be way far back,
I guess to even see the guy.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Somebody did fall. Somebody did fall, but I don't think
it was from where the stage side is. I think
it was up on the wall.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
He is way up there, and somebody manages to get
a shot, and you can see the shot in the book.
Being from Connecticut in Connecticut as well. I want to
ask about the entry on the Bush and All Auditorium
in Hartford. It's still there. I used to work right
down the street from it. Yeah. Yeah, Jerry Garcia band
played there. How many gigs did he play there? And comments?
(17:44):
I guess on those shows that are in the bottom.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I'm not looking right at that, but that's one of
those historic venues that's like attracted my attention. It's gotten
a rich Art Deco interior, beautiful photo of the exterior
that I have in the book, and it also has
the largest hand painted ceiling mural of its type in
the US. It's painted by Barry Faulkner acause in nineteen
(18:11):
twenty nine. They spent fifty grand for that painting. So
and Joe, Oh, I'm here it is. I'm sorry, I
have it right in front of me. Jerry performed there
seven times.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Seven times. Yeah. By the way, that's part of the
book is the details that you offer on the construction
and the design and the art and all that stuff,
which is really cool. So again, a lot of research
went into these as far as the origins of the
building and when it went up. But yeah, Jerry played
seven shows there. Again, I'm sure a gig like that
(18:43):
he must have loved, because, especially as the Dead got
bigger and bigger, they're playing huge venues. Not that he
didn't enjoy those, but I think he must have just
just liked having those shows, just having some fun with it.
Spring of seventy seven legendary period and Dead History as
we know, what are some of the out shows for you?
And talk about the venues they played, including Cornell, which
(19:04):
is a legendary show. How many shows did you go
in May of seventy seven yourself?
Speaker 2 (19:10):
If I don't think I went to any in May
unless they were at Winterland or in seventy seven that's
where they were playing. So for the most part in
seventy seven, that's where I saw that in Winterland, and.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
I think they played new Haven, Connecticut in May of
seventy seven. I think so, Yeah, because that's the bootleg
that I get. My older brother gave me that bootleg.
That's really when I became a huge fan.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
I remember it well. I wasn't there, but I remember
listening to the sound is just incredible.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Incredible, really warm sound to it. Yeah, the base, everything
is crystal clear on that show and this book gives
you an idea of how massive the Dead audiences became.
A photo from nineteen ninety three at the Sam Boyd
Silver Bowl aka Sam Boyd Stadium, capacity forty thousand, a
(20:01):
massive stage. And there's another gig in Vermont at Frankly
County Airport that had sixty thousand. What was the biggest
audience the band played to, do you know?
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I think it would be the one that I went to.
That would be Watkins Glen for sure. That was six
hundred thousand people there. Unforgettable, although I don't remember anything,
but it was unforgettable, I'm sure. Six friends and I
rented a U Haul van. I lived in Bricktown, New
(20:36):
Jersey at the time, and I was in high school.
We rented a U haul van with no AC and
no windows and drove it from the Jersey Sure, and
we abandoned the van and started walking in the dark
about eight miles to the site. And when we got
to near the site, you could hear the Dead were
on stage doing that now famous sound check that they
(20:56):
did in the middle of the night.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
That is awesome.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
The biggest memory of it really because in the daytime
it was just mass confusion. Yeah, just so many people,
so many people.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Wl I R Studios in Long Island, New York makes
the book. What's the significance of that location?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Yeah, there's a gentleman. I guess he was probably a
DJ programmer, Ray White. I'm not familiar with his name,
but he interviewed Jerry On. I think it was probably
the same night that Dead performed at Nassau Coliseum.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
A photo included for the entry on the Woodstock Free
Stage aka hog Farm Camp.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yeah, that was known as the free stage area. It
was originally envisioned as a place for those who came
without tickets who could still enjoy a show. When it
became a free festival, the free stage became a rallying
point for local bands and a forum for those who
felt the need to express political views. The free stage,
across the forest and down the hog Farm Camp had
(21:58):
its own music and audience. Some of these groups and
some of the crew never even saw the main stage.
The trail through the woods was called Groovy Way, a
quarter mile half hung with Christmas lights. Hog Farm Camp
had nine days to set up the free stage. They
also ran the lighting for the stage, medical tents, free
(22:22):
food kitchen serving boosts, and information centers and to set
up the trip tents for those who having to partaken
of mind expanding drugs and need to escape the noise
lights people in rain the dead plate next to further
further the bus which is also in the book, and
three other buses up on the hill near where the
(22:44):
hog farm fed huge amounts of warm oatmeal. One morning
near the police station, there was a tepee where people
were talked down if overtripping. The dead set up in
a corner of buses with a few dancing all around.
There were about fifty people. I think I remember them
doing this twice. That's Those are a couple different people's quotes,
(23:07):
four different people.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
People who were there. Yeah, that was not a gig
that the Grateful Dead were really proud of.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
No.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Beautiful shot of the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.
Some really interesting shows took place there. One on April
eleventh of seventy five, and the band known as Legion
of Mary. For those who may not know who is
Legion of Mary and can you share this story in
the book from the fan who snuck out to see
this show and his parents showed up. We'll start with
(23:39):
Legion of Mary. That was a side gig, Was that
one of Jerry's side it was?
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Yeah, it was with Ron Tutt, Elvis's drummer.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yeah. While Elvis was still using him thet He would
bounce back and forth at points of their time together.
It was really short period of time. But as for
the name, John says, it was my idea, but it
backfired on us. This is him talking Blair Jackson about it.
We played our first gig under that name at the
(24:09):
Keystone Berkeley, and these people showed up who were really
part of this religious group called the Legion of Mary.
I thought I'd made it up. John con came up
with that name, the Legion of Mary, and he wanted
to start a new entity and other than the Garcia band.
He decided to call it that. We all came down
and he talked to everybody who was at the Keystone,
(24:33):
and sure, Jerry said, what the fuck, change the name,
you know, call it that. So the next time, about
a month later, we'll be back to the Keystone Berkeley
in the back room there and we're ready to go on,
and here comes to really wonderful sisters, these two nuns,
and they came to the back and they're in the
midst of this den of iniquity. We were smoking pot
(24:55):
and doing other stuff and biker's all over, a wild
scene and they walked in there, Sister Mary, Margaret and
Sister Rose, and they sat down with me and Jerry
and they said, look, we are the Legion of Mary.
You cannot use that name. And it was true. This
is the true story of the Legion of Mary us
(25:16):
M A. R. I us some bay, very functional thing
related to the church. And so we dropped it after that,
but it was the thing where John came up with it.
We did a few gigs around I think we did
even a tour on it, so it lasted for a
short while. There was a little bit of a reverence
to it, but John was like that, he just joke
(25:37):
about all that kind of stuff, and so he didn't
mean any harm. But I knew it offended them. They
wouldn't have come here, and they were so nice about it.
You couldn't refuse them anything if you were there. They
were sweet and it wasn't Jerry's way to offend anybody
with this stuff. And you know, as I was just
reading that, I just realized at the back of the
(25:57):
Keystone double album. You open it up and they're all
sitting back there with two nuns on a bench.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Oh, well, those are the nuns.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
And I just realized that that story connects up to
that record.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
On That's Awesome.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
No.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Onto the guy, the fan who snuck out to see
the show because he was not allowed out of the
house that he was in high school.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Yeah, his parents showed up. This Garcia show will live
in infamy for me as I was in my last
year of high school and my mother was trying to
punish me and said I couldn't go, so she sent
me out for cigarettes. I met my friends and I
basically ran away. My mom was so pissed she knew
where I was and actually came to the Tower Theater
(26:41):
to get me. I came out of the first show
ready to get in line, and someone I knew in
line for the late show said, dude, your mom is here.
I grab my buddy Vicious car Keys and waited in
his car until the second show started like a half
hour and I thought they would have hit left. I
(27:02):
hit the lobby and they were in the lobby.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Yeah. I think the dad showed up too.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
That both the parents took me home and my dad
on the way home said that was really good jazz.
They watched the first show as they explained the situation
to the box office guy and they let him in.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
It's really good jazz. But it's funny because I know
my dad, he was born in nineteen thirty nine, and
we used every now and then, we would go for
rides together and I'd maybe played, you know, poping some
music that I think, you know, that he would like,
and he really liked Pink Floyd and the Dead. I
got him into the Dead, and it's actually not all
that surprising because the roots of the Dead are really
(27:44):
in jazz, and there's some blues and folk and things
that it's like the it's like the band for all
generations in America. Yep, Hey guys, we'll get back to
the show, but first I want to tell you about
an exclusive deal for booked on Rock listeners get fifteen
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a link in this episode show notes, or just go
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The Festival Express train is in the book. Now tell
us why this is important to Jerry Garcia and Grateful
Dead history.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Oh man, this thing I wish I was on that
train for five glorious days. In the summer of nineteen seventy,
a customized train rocked its way across Canada's heartland, delivering
its talent and passengers and all star lineup of musicians
today long mega concerts in Toronto, Winnipeg and Cape Calgary,
(29:00):
only captured in the documentary Festival Express. You should check
that out if you have it. The train hauled the
Grateful Dead the band with Janice and dozens of other
musicians as a jammed and party round the clock, stopping
only to perform, occasionally, sleep and make a special layover
in Saskatoon to restock the alcohol. The musicians traveled by
(29:23):
chartered Canadian National Railways train at a total of fourteen cars,
two engines, one diner at five sleepers, two lounge cars,
two flat cars, one baggage car and one staff car.
The event, initially billed as a transcontinental pop festival, was
being promoted by Eaton Walker Associates, consisting of Thor Eaton,
(29:46):
George Eaton and Ken Walker and the Industrial and Trade
Shows of Canada division of McLean Hunter Publishing Company. In
nineteen seventy, with seemingly every North American city of any
size holding a rock festival after the success of Woodstock,
Ken Walker and Thor Eaton, and a pair of Canadian
(30:07):
entrepreneurs and music buffs had an idea instead of setting
up one massive show with a bunch of top nay
max but why not stage a series of them across
the country. Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter was on the
trip and soon after I wrote might as Well, a
song filled with imagery from the legendary trip that was
(30:27):
often played live by the Grateful Dead but released as
a studio tune on the seventy six Garcia solo album Reflections.
That is a very extensive entry the festival express Train
because Jerry did a lot of jamming on there with
a whole bunch of different people, and I dug it
all out.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Let's say Yeah, it's been a while since I've seen
the documentary. Yeah, but it's definitely I must see. I
wanted to finish with some of the shows that The
Dead played in Egypt in seventy eight. There's a colorful
of the Sound in Light Theater in Giza, Egypt. There
are some great stories in there, and one about Jerry
climbing to the top of a pyramid. There's another one
(31:10):
if you could share the story that Bob Weir talks
about when The Dead played at the foot of the
Great Pyramid and he describes the scene and what he sees.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Yeah, this is the gig where mosquitos starts swarming around
the band that starts flying in the full moon's rising
and the pyramid is lit up with badoans on camels
with guns. It's great story. I don't have it in detail,
but I'm gonna read what I have in the book
of it. I'm sure there's more than I'm gonnaware of.
(31:42):
But the night before The Grateful Dead's first show at
Giza Sound in Light Theater at the foot of the
Sphinx and the Great Pyramid, singer guitarist Bob Weir took
a stroll around the open air venue. During sound check,
some of the Egyptian drummers we played with were rehearsing
where he calls. And I got to a point where
the head of the Sphinx was lined up at the
(32:03):
top of the Great Pyramid, all lit up. All of
a sudden, I went to this timeless place. The sounds
from the stage they could have been from any time,
and it was as if Weir says, I went into eternity.
So you got to think back to that tune into
eternity or under eternity, And I don't know, to me,
(32:25):
that sounds like that's where he started that though. Anyway,
there's a little bit more. One moment stands out from
Bob Weir and I don't know why it's coming to
me now, But we were in Egypt the first night
of three. We were playing on an amphitheare at the
foot of the Sphinx, in the foot of the Great Pyramid.
They lit it up really nice. There was a light
show and all that kind of stuff. It was pretty spectacular.
(32:47):
We were not that far from the Nile River. But anyway,
the sun was going down and we start playing. Lights
came on and I hear a mosquito buzz in my ear.
One lands on my arm, and as we're playing, I
realized it's dusk, and I look around and there's mosquitos everywhere.
I'm figuring, Okay, this is going to be a welcome
to Hell and I'm not going to be able to
(33:09):
play a note. I'm starting the swat at mosquitoes and
I'm like, how the hell am I going to do this?
And just as I'm thinking that, a shape goes by
my head real fast in the full moon starting to rise.
Now it's going to be an eclipse pretty soon. Backlit,
you can see on the bluffs on either side of
the theater there's these sand dunes, and these bluffs are
(33:31):
now ringed with badoons on their horses and camels with
their rifles over their shoulders, hundreds of them on either side.
They had heard that this was going on and came
to check it out. Meanwhile, back on the stage, we've
got a cloud of mosquitoes, and as it turns out
that shape that flew by my head, another one flies by,
(33:52):
and then another. I look around again and there are
these bats about a foot and a half across, big fellas,
lots of them going after the Mosquitoes. So if you
back off from this, what you see is the Great
Pyramid lit up golden magenta, whatever color it was at
that moment, and the Sphinx also lit up, and the
(34:13):
theater surrounded by these bedoons. And on the stage is
the band all lit up, surrounded by a cloud of bats.
It had to be one of the most sublime moments
that ever occurred. I left my body he laughs. If
I had to freeze a moment in time, this is it.
Take me, Lord, this is how I want to remember it.
(34:35):
And then there's a little Jerry one that was really
a mind blower. I can honestly say I was a
different person before and after those shows. It was a
really profound experience. Wow, playing right in the middle of
the pyramids. What a totally beautiful things like a psychedelic
dream man.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Yeah, to have been at those shows, Yeah, that must
have been like. That was in seventy eight and the
Dead played in Egypt.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
I went to the Red Rock shows right before that.
But did you ran out of finances by the time
I heard about it.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
You know, Hey, guys, thanks so much for checking out
the Booked on Rock podcast. If you've just found the podcast. Welcome.
If you've been listening, thank you so much for your support,
and make sure you tell a friend, a family member,
share on social media and let people know about Booked
on Rock. And if you do like the podcast, make
sure you subscribe give a five star review. Wherever you
(35:35):
listen to the Booked on Rock podcast, run Amazon, Apple, iHeart, Spotify, Spreaker,
tune in, and on YouTube music. You can check out
the full episodes on video, along with video highlights from
episodes on the Booked on Rock YouTube channel. Find it
at Booked on Rock. Thanks again for listening. Now back
to the show. So tell the fans where they can
(35:56):
get this two volume set.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
Oh sure they can get as a two volume set.
Here it is right here. Here's the front of it.
I'm sorry I can't show you.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Oh dad man, that's beautiful. If you're just listening to
the audio version, head the YouTube and you'll see it's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
There's a volume one and a volume two. It is
really nicely crafted, is what I would call it.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
I'm kind of proud of it because I did it
all myself. I am a self publisher. I had some
professional help to put the book on you know a
book designer to help me. Her name. She's excellent. By
the way, That's really part of my story about the
book is my Originally I had a book designer from
(36:42):
San Francisco and he passed away after working on it
for two years, and he had my files, and I
didn't know how to get in touch with him. He'd
never answered his emails or anything for a couple of
months because he died, but I didn't know that at
the time. And then all of a sudden, his brother
(37:03):
contacted me from out of nowhere and said, I found
these files of yours in his computer. Do you want them?
And I was like, Oh my god, are you kidding? Yeah,
So then I had, you know. After that I got
the files back, I started searching for another book designer
who was going to complete the job, which took another
(37:25):
two years, and I found this person, Kelly Badough. She's
in Arizona and she's a dead head, so she understands
what's going on in here, and she really caught on
to what I wanted it to look like. Inside. I
wish I could I wish the screen was bigger, I
could open it up and give people a better idea.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Well, you could see it. We could see it. I'm
seeing both pages there. Yeah, okay, Yeah, if you want
to flip through some of those sixteen years in the
making this book.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Over eleven hundred venue photos in here, there's only I
think maybe just two pictures of Jerry. Yeah, because it's
not it's about Jerry, but it's also more about the
venues where my idea came from. So I've always had
a a thing for historic buildings. The book arrived at
(38:21):
the Port of Miami on Friday, okay, and I should
be receiving it hopefully by this Friday.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
All right, So where can people go. There's a website
they can go to to order this right there is.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
It's called It's Jerry Garcia Music Venues dot Com. Okay,
as simple as I could make it.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Now, there's a third volume on the way.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
There is. I've been working on that for a couple
of years also, and it's all on paper other than
an update, because I haven't worked on it probably in
the past year or so because of this.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Yeah. So this is on his instruments.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
All of his instruts, about one hundred and twenty five
or so. He had a whole banjo collection on top
of all his electric stuff and acoustic instruments. And that
one's a little bit less ambitious. It's about three hundred pages, okay.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
And what can you tell us about a release date?
You know when that's going to come out? I do not, Okay.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
I'm hoping sometime in mid twenty six, that's my goal.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
But people should go to the website.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
And you know that's where the all the information is
also about that book, and it also it kind of
like connects up to this volume one and two, and
that's going to be volume three with the same kind
of artwork and cover work by the same artist.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
It's amazing artwork.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Yeah, the globe won't be there. He'll be holding a guitar, okay,
and it'll say Jerry's musical instruments up here, all right.
And I have another guy he help me do this.
His name is Tom Wright. You can see him down
at the bottom. Oh no, he's on.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
This one, so I don't see him there. Yeah, your name.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
He's on the instruments book. He was the okay, expert,
I'm the researcher, and he's he pops things right out
of his head. He has the answers to all kinds
of musical stuff. Oh, the only way the artist for
the book for the book cover is zeb Love. Well
known poster artists actually, and did a bunch of Dead
Dead Company posters. So yeah, he did a great job.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
Jerry Garcia Music Venues dot Com.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
I didn't get the chance to tell you. Before I
moved to Florida, I was a radio programmer for km
UD and Garberville well Redway, California, Okay radio station, and
I did that for thirteen years. Afternoon Dead Show.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
A fellow radio guy. Okay, very cool, you did an
Afternoon Dead show. Jerry's you know, he's he's been gone
since ninety five, but he really hasn't been gone because
his music just continues. It's like he's a part of
part of everybody's lives every day. Right.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
There's so many jam bandits that one that playing know
it so well.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
Yeah, there's some great Dead tributes out there too.
Speaker 2 (41:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
Yeah. Have you got a chance to see Debt and Company?
Speaker 2 (41:22):
I have several times. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
What do you think of it?
Speaker 2 (41:26):
I missed, Jerry?
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Yeah, but still great. Just that they're keeping that music alive.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Okay, but it's not It doesn't have anything to do
with this, Nope, this is the roots of that.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
That's the roots of it, all right, Harry, thanks so much, man,
this was great pleasure talking to you, and congrats on
the book.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
Thanks very much. That's it.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
It's in the books.
For pizza parlors to express trains to the foot of
the Great Pyramid. I look back at the famous, the obscure,
and the on spiring venues where Jerry Garcia and The
Grateful Dead performed. Next, I'm booked on Rock Totally.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Rock and roll. I meant to leave you. You're reading.
Little Hands says it's time.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
To rock and roll, roll out, I totally booked. Welcome
back to Booked on Rock, the podcast for those about
to read and rock. We have a first time guest
on the podcast, Harry Angus. He is the author of
the Encyclopedia of Jerry Garcia music venues. Harry, Welcome to
(00:41):
the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Nice to meet you, Thanks for having me. Eric.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
This is but you got you got them right there.
See you are those both volumes there.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Right bought right Let people see what they look like.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Wow, beautiful nine by twelve right.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Hey by twelve three inches each Together they weigh about
your twenty two pounds.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Unreal nine x twelve golden boss hardcover, gold gilded pages,
and inside is the complete musical legacy of Jerry Garcia
and the history of each venue where he performed, and
not just with the Grateful Dead. Tell us how long
it took to put this book together, and then the
efforts that you went to in compiling all of this information.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Oh man, it's just been a real trip. Because I
actually I'm a self publisher. I don't have anybody financing
my what I've done. But over sixteen years, let's see,
I started with a blog. It was called Jerry's Broken
Down Palaces, which is still active, and that grew to
(01:43):
about four hundred venues. It was kind of loosely thrown
together and I was just having a lot of fun
with it. And then then the next thing I knew
it had over two million hits. So I thought, maybe
I create a book and encyclopedia with all the venue
used that Jerry performed in, recorded in, rehearsed, all the
(02:05):
rehearsal halls, and all the dates that are not readily available,
but they are if I as I did. I dug
pretty deep to find it all all kinds of all
his living spaces. I think they totaled somewhere around thirty
five different living spaces. Some scuba excursions are in here.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
I love to go scuba diving.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
That was this thing, you know, Other than just of
course all the music and a lot that hasn't been
seen in print that I know of. And I've been
digging in dead related books for the whole time i've
been doing this, and I've never seen some of the
(02:50):
things I've discovered.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Did you go to a lot of the locations? Did
you travel around? Because some of the photos and there
have your photo credit.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah. I think the greatest adventure, and that respect was
we took a red eye from I lived in California
at the time. We took a red eye and we
went to the New York State Hall of Records, which
was in downtown Manhattan, and we got there real early
in the morning so we could get first in line.
(03:17):
And that was a really old old building with all
these records and photographs and you know, everything's all dusty
and the floor's not you know, shiny, you know, really
ancient place. So we got in there and we ended
up getting about eighteen photos of venues where Jerry performed
(03:41):
in New York or places where he frequented. One of
those would be the Blues Brothers Bar, which was actually
called the Holland Tunnel Bar, and that was like an
after hours bar that the Blues Brothers own and they'd
(04:01):
go there after Saturday Night Live or after Dead shows
at the Garden.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Oh that was the famous place. Yeah, where all the
casts would go. Yeah, with some of the famous people, famous.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Friends, Jerry, Jim. There a couple of times I found
a couple of musicians. I'm not looking at that right now,
but yeah, one was a I believe a horn trumpet player.
I can't recall at the moment.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
But how far back do you go as a fan
of the Dead And Jerry, what was your first show?
How many shows have you gone to?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
My first? Jerry, My first Dead show was Roosevelt Stadium seven,
eighteen seventy two, and pig Pen was already too sick
to be there. And then let's see for Jerry, that
was a Merle Saunders and Friends at the bottom line,
July second, seventy two.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
How many shows total do you think you've gone to?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I never really counted them up, to be honest with you.
But I've moved around a lot. I grew up in
Ocean County, New Jersey, and then I moved to California
in the Bay Area, and I saw a lot of
shows at winter Land and the Keystones and the Stone
in San Francisco. We travel the Red Rocks, San Diego, LA.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
There are spots here, like you say, places where Jerry lived,
also locations like the junior high that Jerry went to.
There's an entry on the James Denman Junior High School
in San Francisco. Jerry attended school there from September nineteen
fifty eight to February nineteen fifty nine. Can you share
with us what Jerry had to say about those days?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, I actually quoted him in the book and where
I got the quote. There's an end note attached to that,
which means it's the same as a footnote, but in
the book this size. Rather than having somebody flip to
the end of the book to find out who Who's
number one footnote, you put it at the end of
(06:02):
the venue. So each venue has its own set of footnotes,
so to speak. What they're called endnotes in this respect. Anyway, Jerry,
we moved back to the city when I was about
thirteen or so, and I started going to Denham, a
good old San Francisco Rowty Roughneck School. I became a
hoodlum survival thing. You had to be a hoodlum, otherwise
(06:24):
you walk down the street and somebody beat you up.
I had my friends and we were hoodlums, and we
went out on the weekends and we did a lot
of drinking and all that. And meanwhile I was still
reading and buying books and going to San Francisco Art
Institute on the weekends, just short of leading this whole
secret life. Jerry said, that's awesome, and he was inducted
(06:47):
into the school's Denham Schools Hall of Fame in nineteen
ninety And since two thousand and five there's a Jerry
Garcia Guitar Club at the school.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
That's cool, hoodlum by day by night, gearing up for
his future life. Yeah, there's a location in Menlo Park,
California called the Magoo's Pizza Parlor. Tell us about this
and it's place in Jerry history. The Warlocks played their
very first gig there.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Well, not quite but the history that's what the history
books would say, But not quite because this is the
new history book. So to describe the atmosphere inside Magoos,
it was a pizza parlor, strictly pizza parlor, right overhead lights,
with long tables with ovens in the back, just like
most pizza places. And they had a fantastic juke box,
(07:41):
and I'm quoting someone I remember hearing Hendrix and the
Rolling Stones for the first time. We're at a very
young age. There there was also an upstairs area with
pool tables and quite often Hell's Angels, which I didn't
realize that they were in the picture in sixty five,
you know, right. That came a little bit later, but
(08:02):
I guess not. And then the band was set up
by the front plate glass window, confined to a rather
narrow area without a stage. Jerry Garcia was on the
audience's left, pig Pen on the far right. Those two
especially looked somewhat menacing, at least to a suburban fifteen
year old. They reminded me of outlaw bikers. Bob Weir,
(08:25):
Dana Morgan, and Bill Kritzman were clean shaven and looked
more like guys you might see in a high school band.
The music was stunning. I have never forgotten it, although
I cannot recall the specific set list. I think they
did some Stones covers, and I know that pig Pen
sang Little Red Rooster and few people know. But this
(08:47):
was not the first Warlocks gig. That was on April
Fool's Day of All Days nineteen sixty five in the
student dining commons at Menlo College. I'm sure Jim Newton
won't mind what I quoted some of that out of
the thing about the April Fools Day sixty five that
(09:07):
comes out of this book right here. Partner located this
at the local library and I've been going through it.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
That's a great book, right, Jim Newton here beside the
Rising Tide, Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead and an American Awakening.
Great book. Yeah, what are some of the favorite spots
in the book for you? Like ones that few if
any fans know about. Maybe the most obscure gig or
one you didn't realize yourself existed.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Oh, there's a few Warlock dates I discovered in old newspapers.
Here's an oddity, and I have yet to have anyone
disagree with me on it. On January eighth of sixty six,
the Dead played the fillmore as the Grateful Dead. Okay,
but on January seventh, the night before, and on April
(09:56):
sixteenth of sixty six, they played as the Warlocks at
the Whatsit Club in Santa Clara. Wow, they were like
kind of moonlighting as the Warlocks. I guess probably for
financial reasons, after they had already become the Grateful Dead.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Oh that's interesting.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Yeah. And then their next gig after the Whatsit Club
on four sixteen in sixty six was long Shoreman's Hall
the Trips Festival on January twenty first as the Grateful Dead.
So I kind of discovered a couple of things like that.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
So you learned just yourself, you learned some new stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I did process never heard of anyone ever came up
with the Whatsit Club before.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Right, there's a beautiful photo of the Orpheum Theater in
San Francisco, beautiful architecture at seats just over two thousand.
Jerry played some shows there in nineteen eighty nine, and
quotes in the book from those who were there they
talk about how great those shows were, and I always
thought Jerry have loved those gigs, especially at that point.
It's nice getaway for him, low key intimate. Can you
(11:08):
share some of the comments from those who were at
those shows.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I've got one, and I'm you know, I have the
EndNote numbers, but I don't want to give people's names out,
yeah or you know whoever I'm quoting here, But at
any rate in the book. It's all in there. I'm
truly impressed. On this particular night, Jerry's jamming was profound.
Each song from the second set is exceptional and shows
(11:33):
that Jerry's abilities were not in question. For many years,
I was of the opinion that Jerry just couldn't cook
in the late eighties through the nineties. On this particular
night January twenty eighth, nineteen eighty nine, Jerry provided all
the evidence I need to throw that opinion straight out
the window. On one, twenty eight, eighty nine, Jerry delivered
(11:56):
one of his finest performances ever. I can't wait to
hear the first set whenever it is released. Bravo to
Jerry for this truly special performance. The March third, eighty
nine show was the one with Clarence Clemens for the
entire show.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
That's cool. As a big Twilight Zone fan, There's an
entry that stood out regarding a twilight Zone session on
February fourteen, or No. February fifteenth of nineteen eighty five.
Tell us about this. This is at the Skywalker Ranch.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Yeah, Skywalker Ranch, George Lucases where he did a lot
of filming and he had a Technical Building. At that point,
that's what it was called. And I've got a couple
of quotes from that, and this one says, yes, this
place is amazing. In nineteen eighty five, crews began pouring
concrete for the one hundred and fifty five thousand square
(12:48):
foot technical building at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch. The sprawling,
twenty five acre working ranch was located far up a
winding road deep in the hills of Marin County. It
contains everything from guest houses in an overnight inn, to
an organic garden, a vineyard, a baseball diamond, a fitness center,
(13:08):
a firehouse, and its own general store. Over three hundred
and sixty thousand used bricks, sand blasted to look old.
We're used on the exterior, plus fifteen hundred tons of stone.
Where I worked for a large me I'm talking about
me now, worked for a large hotel company in San Francisco.
(13:31):
Had I worked in food and beverage in a banquet's
apartment and we had a George Lucas Christmas Skywalker Ranch
party at the hotel. He brought all the employees to
the hotel and we had to go out to the
ranch to pre plan this and he had a lunch
set up for us and no expense spared. You know,
(13:53):
we've movie stars. They came and picked us up in
a limo and drove us up there with Champagne and
the limo. So we were loose by the time we
got up there. But Garcia and the other band members
they recorded music and sound effects for a new version,
so it must have been the eighties. The late fifties
early sixties television series The Twilight Zone. The new series
(14:15):
producer Phil de Gear was instrumental in making of the
seventy two Grateful Dead concert film Sunshine Day Dream. De
Gear hired Merle Saunders, and with the Gear's approval, Merrell
brought in The Dead. Mickey Hart was hired as a
primary sound designer on the series, and he noted at
the time, we're using anything that fits the sound of rain, light,
(14:39):
bulbs breaking backwards at half speed, branches falling, car crashes,
wood breaking. It's kind of a twenty first century orchestra.
Heart worked on the series for most of the year,
whereas Garcia and the other band members involvement was much
more limited. Garcia also helped work up a collection of
(15:00):
music inserts called stings and bumpers, you know, little hunks
of nonspecific music, of various lens that have different moods.
He explains, one might be a mood don't open that door,
or don't go in the attic, or I'm going to work, honey,
Are you sure you'll be okay at home alone? They
(15:22):
go all the way from a sort of non committal
He makes a light, playful guitar noise to were real
ominous raw. They gave us a huge menu of those,
and then it's the music editor who actually fits them
into the show.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Harry Angus, the author of the Encyclopedia of Jerry Garcia
Music venues. There's one photo in the book of the
Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, taken by somebody in attendance,
and in the caption you write, note the guy in
the Rocks. Where did you find this photo?
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I actually came up with it from a guy named
His name is Michael Young, and the photo is actually
from August twelfth of seventy nine. I was actually at
that show. I don't remember that. I don't remember that
guy up there. When I originally found this photo, I
thought it was from June thirteenth, eighty four, when someone
(16:17):
fell off the rocks and died. But no, because the
dead didn't play there in eighty four, I don't think,
or maybe they did. I'm sorry a little mixed up
on that. Anyway. I've included it as a memorial as
many people as I could who had like a mishap
or a fall, or they jumped off a balcony and
(16:38):
it made the news. Any kind of word mishap like that,
doing before, during, and after a show. Adam Katz, I
have him in detail of his whole story. I'm sure
you've heard of them. Yeah, so, yeah, there's a bunch
of those kinds of stories.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Now, this guy is way way way up I mean
he is. If you were at that show, I guess
it's not surprising you didn't see him because he's so
far out of sight. You have to be way far back,
I guess to even see the guy.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Somebody did fall. Somebody did fall, but I don't think
it was from where the stage side is. I think
it was up on the wall.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
He is way up there, and somebody manages to get
a shot, and you can see the shot in the book.
Being from Connecticut in Connecticut as well. I want to
ask about the entry on the Bush and All Auditorium
in Hartford. It's still there. I used to work right
down the street from it. Yeah. Yeah, Jerry Garcia band
played there. How many gigs did he play there? And comments?
(17:44):
I guess on those shows that are in the bottom.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I'm not looking right at that, but that's one of
those historic venues that's like attracted my attention. It's gotten
a rich Art Deco interior, beautiful photo of the exterior
that I have in the book, and it also has
the largest hand painted ceiling mural of its type in
the US. It's painted by Barry Faulkner acause in nineteen
(18:11):
twenty nine. They spent fifty grand for that painting. So
and Joe, Oh, I'm here it is. I'm sorry, I
have it right in front of me. Jerry performed there
seven times.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Seven times. Yeah. By the way, that's part of the
book is the details that you offer on the construction
and the design and the art and all that stuff,
which is really cool. So again, a lot of research
went into these as far as the origins of the
building and when it went up. But yeah, Jerry played
seven shows there. Again, I'm sure a gig like that
(18:43):
he must have loved, because, especially as the Dead got
bigger and bigger, they're playing huge venues. Not that he
didn't enjoy those, but I think he must have just
just liked having those shows, just having some fun with it.
Spring of seventy seven legendary period and Dead History as
we know, what are some of the out shows for you?
And talk about the venues they played, including Cornell, which
(19:04):
is a legendary show. How many shows did you go
in May of seventy seven yourself?
Speaker 2 (19:10):
If I don't think I went to any in May
unless they were at Winterland or in seventy seven that's
where they were playing. So for the most part in
seventy seven, that's where I saw that in Winterland, and.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
I think they played new Haven, Connecticut in May of
seventy seven. I think so, Yeah, because that's the bootleg
that I get. My older brother gave me that bootleg.
That's really when I became a huge fan.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
I remember it well. I wasn't there, but I remember
listening to the sound is just incredible.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Incredible, really warm sound to it. Yeah, the base, everything
is crystal clear on that show and this book gives
you an idea of how massive the Dead audiences became.
A photo from nineteen ninety three at the Sam Boyd
Silver Bowl aka Sam Boyd Stadium, capacity forty thousand, a
(20:01):
massive stage. And there's another gig in Vermont at Frankly
County Airport that had sixty thousand. What was the biggest
audience the band played to, do you know?
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I think it would be the one that I went to.
That would be Watkins Glen for sure. That was six
hundred thousand people there. Unforgettable, although I don't remember anything,
but it was unforgettable, I'm sure. Six friends and I
rented a U Haul van. I lived in Bricktown, New
(20:36):
Jersey at the time, and I was in high school.
We rented a U haul van with no AC and
no windows and drove it from the Jersey Sure, and
we abandoned the van and started walking in the dark
about eight miles to the site. And when we got
to near the site, you could hear the Dead were
on stage doing that now famous sound check that they
(20:56):
did in the middle of the night.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
That is awesome.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
The biggest memory of it really because in the daytime
it was just mass confusion. Yeah, just so many people,
so many people.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Wl I R Studios in Long Island, New York makes
the book. What's the significance of that location?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Yeah, there's a gentleman. I guess he was probably a
DJ programmer, Ray White. I'm not familiar with his name,
but he interviewed Jerry On. I think it was probably
the same night that Dead performed at Nassau Coliseum.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
A photo included for the entry on the Woodstock Free
Stage aka hog Farm Camp.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yeah, that was known as the free stage area. It
was originally envisioned as a place for those who came
without tickets who could still enjoy a show. When it
became a free festival, the free stage became a rallying
point for local bands and a forum for those who
felt the need to express political views. The free stage,
across the forest and down the hog Farm Camp had
(21:58):
its own music and audience. Some of these groups and
some of the crew never even saw the main stage.
The trail through the woods was called Groovy Way, a
quarter mile half hung with Christmas lights. Hog Farm Camp
had nine days to set up the free stage. They
also ran the lighting for the stage, medical tents, free
(22:22):
food kitchen serving boosts, and information centers and to set
up the trip tents for those who having to partaken
of mind expanding drugs and need to escape the noise
lights people in rain the dead plate next to further
further the bus which is also in the book, and
three other buses up on the hill near where the
(22:44):
hog farm fed huge amounts of warm oatmeal. One morning
near the police station, there was a tepee where people
were talked down if overtripping. The dead set up in
a corner of buses with a few dancing all around.
There were about fifty people. I think I remember them
doing this twice. That's Those are a couple different people's quotes,
(23:07):
four different people.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
People who were there. Yeah, that was not a gig
that the Grateful Dead were really proud of.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
No.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Beautiful shot of the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.
Some really interesting shows took place there. One on April
eleventh of seventy five, and the band known as Legion
of Mary. For those who may not know who is
Legion of Mary and can you share this story in
the book from the fan who snuck out to see
this show and his parents showed up. We'll start with
(23:39):
Legion of Mary. That was a side gig, Was that
one of Jerry's side it was?
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Yeah, it was with Ron Tutt, Elvis's drummer.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yeah. While Elvis was still using him thet He would
bounce back and forth at points of their time together.
It was really short period of time. But as for
the name, John says, it was my idea, but it
backfired on us. This is him talking Blair Jackson about it.
We played our first gig under that name at the
(24:09):
Keystone Berkeley, and these people showed up who were really
part of this religious group called the Legion of Mary.
I thought I'd made it up. John con came up
with that name, the Legion of Mary, and he wanted
to start a new entity and other than the Garcia band.
He decided to call it that. We all came down
and he talked to everybody who was at the Keystone,
(24:33):
and sure, Jerry said, what the fuck, change the name,
you know, call it that. So the next time, about
a month later, we'll be back to the Keystone Berkeley
in the back room there and we're ready to go on,
and here comes to really wonderful sisters, these two nuns,
and they came to the back and they're in the
midst of this den of iniquity. We were smoking pot
(24:55):
and doing other stuff and biker's all over, a wild
scene and they walked in there, Sister Mary, Margaret and
Sister Rose, and they sat down with me and Jerry
and they said, look, we are the Legion of Mary.
You cannot use that name. And it was true. This
is the true story of the Legion of Mary us
(25:16):
M A. R. I us some bay, very functional thing
related to the church. And so we dropped it after that,
but it was the thing where John came up with it.
We did a few gigs around I think we did
even a tour on it, so it lasted for a
short while. There was a little bit of a reverence
to it, but John was like that, he just joke
(25:37):
about all that kind of stuff, and so he didn't
mean any harm. But I knew it offended them. They
wouldn't have come here, and they were so nice about it.
You couldn't refuse them anything if you were there. They
were sweet and it wasn't Jerry's way to offend anybody
with this stuff. And you know, as I was just
reading that, I just realized at the back of the
(25:57):
Keystone double album. You open it up and they're all
sitting back there with two nuns on a bench.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Oh, well, those are the nuns.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
And I just realized that that story connects up to
that record.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
On That's Awesome.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
No.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Onto the guy, the fan who snuck out to see
the show because he was not allowed out of the
house that he was in high school.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Yeah, his parents showed up. This Garcia show will live
in infamy for me as I was in my last
year of high school and my mother was trying to
punish me and said I couldn't go, so she sent
me out for cigarettes. I met my friends and I
basically ran away. My mom was so pissed she knew
where I was and actually came to the Tower Theater
(26:41):
to get me. I came out of the first show
ready to get in line, and someone I knew in
line for the late show said, dude, your mom is here.
I grab my buddy Vicious car Keys and waited in
his car until the second show started like a half
hour and I thought they would have hit left. I
(27:02):
hit the lobby and they were in the lobby.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Yeah. I think the dad showed up too.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
That both the parents took me home and my dad
on the way home said that was really good jazz.
They watched the first show as they explained the situation
to the box office guy and they let him in.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
It's really good jazz. But it's funny because I know
my dad, he was born in nineteen thirty nine, and
we used every now and then, we would go for
rides together and I'd maybe played, you know, poping some
music that I think, you know, that he would like,
and he really liked Pink Floyd and the Dead. I
got him into the Dead, and it's actually not all
that surprising because the roots of the Dead are really
(27:44):
in jazz, and there's some blues and folk and things
that it's like the it's like the band for all
generations in America. Yep, Hey guys, we'll get back to
the show, but first I want to tell you about
an exclusive deal for booked on Rock listeners get fifteen
(28:04):
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many more. Go to Old Glory dot com. Make sure
to use the promo code. Booked on Rock. Also find
(28:26):
a link in this episode show notes, or just go
to booked on rock dot com and click on my deals.
The Festival Express train is in the book. Now tell
us why this is important to Jerry Garcia and Grateful
Dead history.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Oh man, this thing I wish I was on that
train for five glorious days. In the summer of nineteen seventy,
a customized train rocked its way across Canada's heartland, delivering
its talent and passengers and all star lineup of musicians
today long mega concerts in Toronto, Winnipeg and Cape Calgary,
(29:00):
only captured in the documentary Festival Express. You should check
that out if you have it. The train hauled the
Grateful Dead the band with Janice and dozens of other
musicians as a jammed and party round the clock, stopping
only to perform, occasionally, sleep and make a special layover
in Saskatoon to restock the alcohol. The musicians traveled by
(29:23):
chartered Canadian National Railways train at a total of fourteen cars,
two engines, one diner at five sleepers, two lounge cars,
two flat cars, one baggage car and one staff car.
The event, initially billed as a transcontinental pop festival, was
being promoted by Eaton Walker Associates, consisting of Thor Eaton,
(29:46):
George Eaton and Ken Walker and the Industrial and Trade
Shows of Canada division of McLean Hunter Publishing Company. In
nineteen seventy, with seemingly every North American city of any
size holding a rock festival after the success of Woodstock,
Ken Walker and Thor Eaton, and a pair of Canadian
(30:07):
entrepreneurs and music buffs had an idea instead of setting
up one massive show with a bunch of top nay
max but why not stage a series of them across
the country. Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter was on the
trip and soon after I wrote might as Well, a
song filled with imagery from the legendary trip that was
(30:27):
often played live by the Grateful Dead but released as
a studio tune on the seventy six Garcia solo album Reflections.
That is a very extensive entry the festival express Train
because Jerry did a lot of jamming on there with
a whole bunch of different people, and I dug it
all out.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Let's say Yeah, it's been a while since I've seen
the documentary. Yeah, but it's definitely I must see. I
wanted to finish with some of the shows that The
Dead played in Egypt in seventy eight. There's a colorful
of the Sound in Light Theater in Giza, Egypt. There
are some great stories in there, and one about Jerry
climbing to the top of a pyramid. There's another one
(31:10):
if you could share the story that Bob Weir talks
about when The Dead played at the foot of the
Great Pyramid and he describes the scene and what he sees.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Yeah, this is the gig where mosquitos starts swarming around
the band that starts flying in the full moon's rising
and the pyramid is lit up with badoans on camels
with guns. It's great story. I don't have it in detail,
but I'm gonna read what I have in the book
of it. I'm sure there's more than I'm gonnaware of.
(31:42):
But the night before The Grateful Dead's first show at
Giza Sound in Light Theater at the foot of the
Sphinx and the Great Pyramid, singer guitarist Bob Weir took
a stroll around the open air venue. During sound check,
some of the Egyptian drummers we played with were rehearsing
where he calls. And I got to a point where
the head of the Sphinx was lined up at the
(32:03):
top of the Great Pyramid, all lit up. All of
a sudden, I went to this timeless place. The sounds
from the stage they could have been from any time,
and it was as if Weir says, I went into eternity.
So you got to think back to that tune into
eternity or under eternity, And I don't know, to me,
(32:25):
that sounds like that's where he started that though. Anyway,
there's a little bit more. One moment stands out from
Bob Weir and I don't know why it's coming to
me now, But we were in Egypt the first night
of three. We were playing on an amphitheare at the
foot of the Sphinx, in the foot of the Great Pyramid.
They lit it up really nice. There was a light
show and all that kind of stuff. It was pretty spectacular.
(32:47):
We were not that far from the Nile River. But anyway,
the sun was going down and we start playing. Lights
came on and I hear a mosquito buzz in my ear.
One lands on my arm, and as we're playing, I
realized it's dusk, and I look around and there's mosquitos everywhere.
I'm figuring, Okay, this is going to be a welcome
to Hell and I'm not going to be able to
(33:09):
play a note. I'm starting the swat at mosquitoes and
I'm like, how the hell am I going to do this?
And just as I'm thinking that, a shape goes by
my head real fast in the full moon starting to rise.
Now it's going to be an eclipse pretty soon. Backlit,
you can see on the bluffs on either side of
the theater there's these sand dunes, and these bluffs are
(33:31):
now ringed with badoons on their horses and camels with
their rifles over their shoulders, hundreds of them on either side.
They had heard that this was going on and came
to check it out. Meanwhile, back on the stage, we've
got a cloud of mosquitoes, and as it turns out
that shape that flew by my head, another one flies by,
(33:52):
and then another. I look around again and there are
these bats about a foot and a half across, big fellas,
lots of them going after the Mosquitoes. So if you
back off from this, what you see is the Great
Pyramid lit up golden magenta, whatever color it was at
that moment, and the Sphinx also lit up, and the
(34:13):
theater surrounded by these bedoons. And on the stage is
the band all lit up, surrounded by a cloud of bats.
It had to be one of the most sublime moments
that ever occurred. I left my body he laughs. If
I had to freeze a moment in time, this is it.
Take me, Lord, this is how I want to remember it.
(34:35):
And then there's a little Jerry one that was really
a mind blower. I can honestly say I was a
different person before and after those shows. It was a
really profound experience. Wow, playing right in the middle of
the pyramids. What a totally beautiful things like a psychedelic
dream man.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Yeah, to have been at those shows, Yeah, that must
have been like. That was in seventy eight and the
Dead played in Egypt.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
I went to the Red Rock shows right before that.
But did you ran out of finances by the time
I heard about it.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
You know, Hey, guys, thanks so much for checking out
the Booked on Rock podcast. If you've just found the podcast. Welcome.
If you've been listening, thank you so much for your support,
and make sure you tell a friend, a family member,
share on social media and let people know about Booked
on Rock. And if you do like the podcast, make
sure you subscribe give a five star review. Wherever you
(35:35):
listen to the Booked on Rock podcast, run Amazon, Apple, iHeart, Spotify, Spreaker,
tune in, and on YouTube music. You can check out
the full episodes on video, along with video highlights from
episodes on the Booked on Rock YouTube channel. Find it
at Booked on Rock. Thanks again for listening. Now back
to the show. So tell the fans where they can
(35:56):
get this two volume set.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
Oh sure they can get as a two volume set.
Here it is right here. Here's the front of it.
I'm sorry I can't show you.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Oh dad man, that's beautiful. If you're just listening to
the audio version, head the YouTube and you'll see it's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
There's a volume one and a volume two. It is
really nicely crafted, is what I would call it.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
I'm kind of proud of it because I did it
all myself. I am a self publisher. I had some
professional help to put the book on you know a
book designer to help me. Her name. She's excellent. By
the way, That's really part of my story about the
book is my Originally I had a book designer from
(36:42):
San Francisco and he passed away after working on it
for two years, and he had my files, and I
didn't know how to get in touch with him. He'd
never answered his emails or anything for a couple of
months because he died, but I didn't know that at
the time. And then all of a sudden, his brother
(37:03):
contacted me from out of nowhere and said, I found
these files of yours in his computer. Do you want them?
And I was like, Oh my god, are you kidding? Yeah,
So then I had, you know. After that I got
the files back, I started searching for another book designer
who was going to complete the job, which took another
(37:25):
two years, and I found this person, Kelly Badough. She's
in Arizona and she's a dead head, so she understands
what's going on in here, and she really caught on
to what I wanted it to look like. Inside. I
wish I could I wish the screen was bigger, I
could open it up and give people a better idea.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Well, you could see it. We could see it. I'm
seeing both pages there. Yeah, okay, Yeah, if you want
to flip through some of those sixteen years in the
making this book.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Over eleven hundred venue photos in here, there's only I
think maybe just two pictures of Jerry. Yeah, because it's
not it's about Jerry, but it's also more about the
venues where my idea came from. So I've always had
a a thing for historic buildings. The book arrived at
(38:21):
the Port of Miami on Friday, okay, and I should
be receiving it hopefully by this Friday.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
All right, So where can people go. There's a website
they can go to to order this right there is.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
It's called It's Jerry Garcia Music Venues dot Com. Okay,
as simple as I could make it.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Now, there's a third volume on the way.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
There is. I've been working on that for a couple
of years also, and it's all on paper other than
an update, because I haven't worked on it probably in
the past year or so because of this.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Yeah. So this is on his instruments.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
All of his instruts, about one hundred and twenty five
or so. He had a whole banjo collection on top
of all his electric stuff and acoustic instruments. And that
one's a little bit less ambitious. It's about three hundred pages, okay.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
And what can you tell us about a release date?
You know when that's going to come out? I do not, Okay.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
I'm hoping sometime in mid twenty six, that's my goal.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
But people should go to the website.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
And you know that's where the all the information is
also about that book, and it also it kind of
like connects up to this volume one and two, and
that's going to be volume three with the same kind
of artwork and cover work by the same artist.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
It's amazing artwork.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Yeah, the globe won't be there. He'll be holding a guitar, okay,
and it'll say Jerry's musical instruments up here, all right.
And I have another guy he help me do this.
His name is Tom Wright. You can see him down
at the bottom. Oh no, he's on.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
This one, so I don't see him there. Yeah, your name.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
He's on the instruments book. He was the okay, expert,
I'm the researcher, and he's he pops things right out
of his head. He has the answers to all kinds
of musical stuff. Oh, the only way the artist for
the book for the book cover is zeb Love. Well
known poster artists actually, and did a bunch of Dead
Dead Company posters. So yeah, he did a great job.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
Jerry Garcia Music Venues dot Com.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
I didn't get the chance to tell you. Before I
moved to Florida, I was a radio programmer for km
UD and Garberville well Redway, California, Okay radio station, and
I did that for thirteen years. Afternoon Dead Show.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
A fellow radio guy. Okay, very cool, you did an
Afternoon Dead show. Jerry's you know, he's he's been gone
since ninety five, but he really hasn't been gone because
his music just continues. It's like he's a part of
part of everybody's lives every day. Right.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
There's so many jam bandits that one that playing know
it so well.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
Yeah, there's some great Dead tributes out there too.
Speaker 2 (41:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
Yeah. Have you got a chance to see Debt and Company?
Speaker 2 (41:22):
I have several times. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
What do you think of it?
Speaker 2 (41:26):
I missed, Jerry?
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Yeah, but still great. Just that they're keeping that music alive.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Okay, but it's not It doesn't have anything to do
with this, Nope, this is the roots of that.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
That's the roots of it, all right, Harry, thanks so much, man,
this was great pleasure talking to you, and congrats on
the book.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
Thanks very much. That's it.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
It's in the books.
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