Pure Jerry: Jerry Garcia Band, San Francisco Bay Area 1978 - Jerry Garcia

As the subtitle intimates, this release features the Jerry Garcia Band in and around the Bay Area circa 1978. In fact, the contents were extracted from four different shows. Chronologically these include the Marin Veteran's Memorial Auditorium on February 18, the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium the following evening, the Keystone in Berkeley on June 10, 1978, and then a week and a day later (June 18 ) at the Keystone in Palo Alto. During his infrequent downtime from the Grateful Dead, Garcia was heading up an impressive ensemble that included the talents of concurrent Grateful Dead members Keith Godchaux and Donna Jean Godchaux, alongside a rhythm section with John Kahn, and Buzz Buchanan. Plus, for a brief time,Maria Muldaur joined Donna Godchaux as one of the combo's soulful and unquestionably gospel-influenced support vocalists. Even though Garcia continued a fruitful composing collaboration with Robert Hunter, the Jerry Garcia Band more often than not filled their live sets with covers blending rock, R&B, and even the occasional gospel number. For a solid two-and-a-half hours, listeners are treated to ample evidence of all these styles -- often times combining with extraordinarily inventive results. Things get off to a funky start with a loose yet spirited rendition of the rockabilly staple "Mystery Train" that, among other things, establishes the bond between Garcia and Kahn. Comparatively laid-back is the slightly reggae lilt of "Catfish John" -- spotlighting the equally tranquil blend of Godchaux and Muldaur's harmonies. The Motown songbook gets a well-deserved nod with rousing and well-jammed updates of the Smokey Robinson-penned classics "I Second That Emotion" and "The Way You Do the Things You Do." Always a treat, the crystalline Hunter/Garcia ballad "Mission in the Rain," contains more than a few heartfelt passages from the guitarist. The radical overhaul of Roy Hamilton's "Don't Let Go" was designed as a platform, if not a springboard to allow the instrumentalists an opportunity for some serious sonic exploration. The half-hour reading captured here is certainly no exception. "Tore Up Over You" is given a rave-up befitting Hank Ballard's original and is chock-full of inspired top-shelf interaction. In Garcia's plaintive care, Bob Dylan's "Simple Twist of Fate" adopts an almost palpable reality, as if the singer is relating his own life experience. This Everyman trait served Garcia surprisingly well whenever he covered Dylan. Parties unfamiliar with the Garcia-fied version of Paul McCartney's "Let Me Roll It" might be in for a bit of a revelation from the languid and peripatetic treatment. The Hunter/Garcia biblically inspired premonitory ballad "Gomorrah" is note perfect and once again spotlights Godchaux and Muldaur's cherubic blend. The same sentiment definitely applies to their lead on the down-home, midtempo sacred selection "I'll Be with Thee." For the finale, the remake of Delaney & Bonnie's "Lonesome and a Long Way from Home" offers another opportunity for free-form instrumental exchanges -- which are taken full advantage of. Potential consumers should be aware of the superior fidelity throughout Pure Jerry: Jerry Garcia Band, San Francisco Bay Area 1978 as the performances were documented by the audiophile-friendly Betty Cantor-Jackson., All Music Guide