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Don't Let Go
Theatre 1839
Warner Th. 3/18/78
After Midnight
Jerry On Broadway
Merriweather 1989
Jerry Garcia Band (Live)
How Sweet It Is
Shining Star
Live At Shoreline DVD
Coliseum Hampton VA
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| After Midnight |
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| 2/28/80 |
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Pure Jerry - The
Jerry Garcia vault series
After Midnight review
After
Midnight contains the complete performances of the Jerry Garcia
Band on 2/28/80, at Kean College in Union, New
Jersey, both the early and late shows. Jerry's back-up band for this tour was a short lived
ensemble that performed from October 1979 through November 1980 and
had one drummer change during that time. Certainly this is not
Garcia's strongest line-up. The benefit, Jerry more than makes up for it with his guitar playing and singing. It's not that the band is bad, but Ozzie is no Keith Godchaux or Nicky Hopkins. Ozzie holds down the background, but his
solos are ordinary. The rhythm is held down nicely and is dominated with John Kahn thumping way.
The early show takes up the first two discs and is fantastic. They hit on the typical
cover versions common to a Garcia concert and one original. The show
starts with "Sugaree," which was performed frequently in 1980 and typically offers outrageous guitar solos and this
version is true to form. During "Catfish John," right when one's attention begins to drift Garcia fires some precise machine gun like notes
out of nowhere (at least I wasn't expecting them) to lead back into the vocals. The extended rendition of Bob Dylan's "Simple Twist Of Fate" really captures Jerry's singing perfectly; the emotion just
oozes out of the speakers.
J. J. Cale's "After Midnight" closes the set in stunning fashion. It's a long
song with an instrumental take of "Eleanor Rigby" sandwiched within. The song is tracked on the CD in three sections. The first part of "After Midnight" is the warm-up with Jerry eventually building up to "Eleanor
Rigby" jam, the second sequence. Initially the verses of the Beatles classic are melodically played. Then, the band ups the tempo. But the best part of the song is when they go back into "After Midnight" as Jerry, playing at lightning
speed delights his listeners. He eventually brings the song to an explosive conclusion.
The late show is much shorter, but it too offers plenty of great
music. One aspect the listener takes away is that the band is relaxed and in no hurry taking their time with each song,
and with each instrumental solo. Take for example "Tore Up"; after a lengthy
instrumental was surely concluded, Jerry decides he has one more thing to say changing the dynamics from
a note attack to a chordal approach, as the band runs through of the verses one last time. The only
average material are the two songs that Robert Hunter joins the band
for, as well as the reggae style adoption of "Knocking On Heavens Door."
Conversely, the rendition of "I'll Take A Melody" is
nearly perfect, and "Mission In The Rain" is quite good
too.
The year 1980 was a good year indeed for the Jerry Garcia Band, and After Midnight offers all the proof one needs.
High volumes increase the listening experience. Barry Small©
Grade A
+
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| Track List |
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Disc One (Early Show)
Sugaree
Catfish John
That's What Love Will Make You Do
Simple Twist of Fate
Disc Two (Early Show)
How Sweet It Is
After Midnight
Eleanor Rigby
After Midnight
Disc Three (Late Show)
I'll Take A Melody
Tore Up Over You
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
The Harder They Come
Tiger Rose (Robert Hunter vocals)
Promontory Rider (Robert Hunter vocals)
Mission In The Rain
Midnight Moonlight
Bonus Disc
An extra disc; available
only with orders made directly at the Jerry Garcia website, JerryGarcia.com.
WAY AFTER MIDNIGHT,
runs a full 56 minutes and will include:
Dear Prudence (2/29/80 late
show)
When I Paint My Masterpiece (2/29/80 late show)
Russian Lullaby (2/29/80 late show)
That's All Right, Mama (3/1/80 early show)
Deal (2/29/80 early show)
2/29/80 ~ Calderone Concert
Hall in Hempstead, NY
3/01/80, ~ Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ |
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| Bob
Dylan - Blood on the Tracks |
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| Jimmy
Cliff Anthology |
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| Musicians: |
Top of Page |
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Jerry
Garcia - guitar, vocals
John Kahn - bass
Ozzie Ahlers - keyboards, vocalist
Johnny De Foncesca - drums
Robert
Hunter - vocals on two tracks. |
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| Notes: |
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Label - Rhino | JGCD
HDCD
The "Pure Jerry" series will be selected from the substantial
and remarkably diverse library that makes up Jerry's entire independent
live archive. After Midnight is the second installment in the
series.
Robert
Hunter opened the show.
From 24
track master reel tape.
Mixed by Tom Flye from and mastered by Joe Gastwirt
Liner
Notes - Robert Hunter
Tape Research - David Lemieux
A t-shirt
was made to coincide with this Pure Jerry performance.
From jerrygarcia.com
"This 3 CD set, to be released September 28 by Jerry Garcia
Estate LLC and Rhino Records, comprises the Jerry Garcia Band's
complete performances on 2/28/80, at Kean College in Union, New
Jersey, both the early and late shows.
....
When we launched the Pure
Jerry series of live concert recordings, we asked fans to write with
suggestions for future releases. An overwhelming number requested
the legendary "After Midnight"-> "Eleanor
Rigby" jam. The popularity of this jam is surprising since
there are only nine documented performances! We dug into the vault
and found pristine 24-track tapes of the Kean College performance.
As great as the 2/28/80
performance of this sequence is, the entire show is remarkable.
Mixed by Tom Flye from and mastered by Joe Gastwirt, this set has
impeccable audio fidelity, featuring Garcia in top form. Clocking in
at around 2 hours and 45 minutes, AFTER MIDNIGHT finds Garcia backed
by keyboardist/vocalist Ozzie Ahlers, bassist John Kahn, and drummer
Johnny De Foncesca. Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, who
contributes liner notes, takes lead vocals on a pair of his songs,
"Tiger Rose" and "Promontory Rider," backed by
the Garcia band.
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