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Quicksilver Messenger Service

 

Discographie / Discography

Quicksilver Messenger Service

Mes Matérialisés

1968Quicksilver Messenger ServiceQuicksilver Messenger ServiceCapitol RecordsST-2904LP
1969Quicksilver Messenger ServiceHappy TrailsCapitol RecordsST-120, ST 120LP
1980Quicksilver Messenger ServiceShady GroveCapitol RecordsSN-16094LP
2008Quicksilver Messenger ServiceLive At The Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, 9th September 1966Bear RecordsBEARVP105CDCD
2009Quicksilver Messenger ServiceLive At The Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, 4th April 1968Vinyl Lovers9007312xLP
2012Quicksilver Messenger ServiceWhat About MeCulture Factory850703003378CD

Mes Autres

Quicksilver Messenger ServiceBest OfM16017
1969Quicksilver Messenger ServiceHappy TrailsM22410

Allées O Venues

Quicksilver Messenger Service

1970

571970-03-29 The Old Mill Tavern, Mill Valley, CA, US01

Enregistrements

(57/1) Quicksilver Messenger Service, 1970-03-29, The Old Mill Tavern, Mill Valley, CA, US

Audio/wma, /, (?)

Quicksilver Messenger Service - The Old Mill Tavern,
Mill Valley, Ca, March 29th 1970. (Easter Sunday Jam)

Disc One.

1. Subway pt. 1 (fades out)
2. Subway pt. 2 (fades in)
3. The Truth
4. John Talks
5. Mona
6. Baby Baby (first time played)
7. Rain
8. Mojo
9. Blues Jam #1 (w/ James Cotton)

Disc Two.

1. Blues Jam #2 (w/ James Cotton)
2. Flip Flop (w/ James Cotton)

New source, never in circulation from
my master stereo soundboard.

Master reel to reel > eaqualizer > cd > eac > flac > wav.

Absolutely one of the best 1970 shows, and on this new source, besides "subway" that it was cut in 2 parts even on John's master tape, cause there were some recordings problems that day (they had some electricity problems, you can hear that during the show, sometimes the mics & guitars's plugs make a funny noise), the sound quality is really, really good.



p:629/500/3...D/16

Jefferson Airplane

 

Discographie / Discography

Jefferson Airplane

Mes Matérialisés

1967Jefferson AirplaneAfter Bathing At Baxter sRCA VictorLSO-1511, LSO 1511LP
1968Jefferson AirplaneCrown Of CreationRCA VictorLSP-4058LP
1969Jefferson AirplaneBless Its Pointed Little HeadRCA VictorLSP-4133LP
1969Jefferson AirplaneVolunteersRCA VictorLSP-4238LP
1970Jefferson StarshipBlows Against The EmpireRCA VictorLSP-4448LP
1971Jefferson AirplaneBarkGruntFTR-1001LP
1971Jefferson StarshipSunfighterGruntFTR-1002LP
1972Jefferson AirplaneLong John SilverGruntFTR-1007LP
1973Jefferson StarshipBaron Von Tollbooth & The Chrome NunGruntBFL1 0148LP
1973Jefferson AirplaneThirty Seconds Over WinterlandGruntFTR 0147, BFL1-0147LP
1974Jefferson AirplaneEarly FlightGruntCYL1-0437LP
1974Jefferson AirplaneJefferson Airplane Takes OffRCAINTS 1476, LSP 3584LP
1979Jefferson StarshipGoldGruntBZL1-3247, FB-11426LP
1983Jefferson StarshipPlanet Earth Rock And Roll OrchestraRCA VictorAFL1-4320LP
2008Jefferson AirplaneOriginal Album ClassicsSony Music88697313862CD
2011Jefferson AirplaneOriginal Album ClassicsSony Music88697854312CD

Mes Autres

1967Jefferson AirplaneAfter Bathing At BaxtersM16015
1967Jefferson AirplaneSurrealistic PillowM12817
1968Jefferson AirplaneCrown Of CreationM16015
1969Jefferson AirplaneBless It Pointed Little HeadM12810
1969Jefferson AirplaneVolunteersM21510
1971Jefferson AirplaneBarkM22811
1972Jefferson AirplaneLong John SilverM1289
1973Jefferson AirplaneThirty Seconds Over WinterlandM1287
1974Jefferson AirplaneEarly FlightW1299
1992Jefferson AirplaneLoves YouM19248
2000Jefferson AirplaneSounds PsychedelicM1602

Allées O Venues

Jefferson Airplane

1970

521970-10-04 Winterland, San Francisco, CA, US01

2005

997M+Spencer Dryden : 7 avril 1938 (New York, USA) / 11 janvier 2005 (Penngrove, USA)2005-01-11Mort de Spencer Dryden Penngrove, CA, US67

2013

996M+Joseph Edward Covington : 27 juin 1945 (East Conemaugh, Pennsylvanie, USA) / 4 juin 2013 (Palm Springs, California, USA)2013-06-04Mort de Joe Covington Palm Springs, CA, US68

2015

882015-05-09Jefferson Starship L Olympia, Paris, France01

2016

999M+Paul Lorin Kantner : 17 mars 1941 (San Francisco, California, USA) / 28 janvier 2016 (San Francisco, California, USA)2016-01-28Mort de Paul Kantner San Francisco, CA, US75

2018

998M+Martyn Jerel Buchwald : 30 janvier 1942 (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA) / 27 septembre 2018 (Tampa, Florida, USA)2018-09-27Mort de Marty Balin Tampa, FL, US76

Enregistrements

(52/1) Jefferson Airplane, 1970-10-04, Winterland, San Francisco, CA, US

Audio/wma, /, (?)

801052001a801052001b
Jefferson Airplane - October 4, 1970 - Winterland, San Francisco, CA (flac, fixed)

>>This is a fixed version which supersedes the version previously torrented with 2-second gaps between songs.<<

Source: KSAN FM broadcast
Sound Rating: A-

Lineage:FM>?>Trade CD-R>EAC (Secure)>WAV>TAO Gap Removal>FLAC Frontend 1.1>FLAC (8)

Two second gaps removed. Tracks fixed and renamed. Sector boundary alignment checked.
One 80 min Disc. Total Time: 76:12
Station ID hidden within. Uncensored comments by Grace.

Paul Kantner (vocals, guitars), Marty Balin (vocals), Jack Casady (Bass), Jorma Kaukonen (guitars, vocals), Joey Covington (percussion,vocals), Grace Slick (vocals).

Tracklist:

1. Have You Seen the Saucers?
2. Crown of Creation
3. Somebody to Love
4. Mexico
5. Up or Down
6. Whatever the Old Man Wants
7. Emergency
8. Wooden Ships
9. Bludgeon of a Bluecoat
10. Greasy Heart
11. You Wear Your Dresses Too Short
12. We Can Be Together
13. Volunteers




Notes edited from Ahuka's Choice Volume 6 (venue corrected): This is one of Jefferson Airplane's most visible live performances. On Sunday night, October 4, 1970, the Airplane played the first of two headlining evenings at Winterland, sharing the bill with The Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The New Riders of the Purple Sage (with ex-Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden), and of course, Hot Tuna. The concert was simulcast on KSAN-FM in stereo, and also televised on public television station KQED, with a quadrophonic signal broadcast on KQED-FM. It was to be an historic evening.

It had been an historic day. Janis Joplin had died the night before, in Hollywood, California, of a heroin overdose. Marty Balin, deep in mourning for her, wanted to cancel the performance but was a minority vote. Taking the stage with a full beard that made him look even more melancholy, Balin sounded distinctly out of place throughout the show. He steers a resplendent "Have You Seen The Saucers" toward a quiet place, but is abruptly overruled by the band, who proceed to turn it into a lacerating Grace Slick rave-up that seems to be fighting the spectre of Death itself off the stage. It only follows with musicians of this caliber that the concert packs some incredibly hot moments -- bassist Jack Casady powerfully upping the ante in the homestretch of "Somebody to Love", and a rare live performance of drummer Joey Covington's "Bludgeon of the Bluecoats" (an outcry against police brutality that the band later recorded in the studio with Little Richard, and never released) that is played with such superhuman speed and dexterity by lead guitarist Jorma Kaukonen that Covington actually begs him to slow down -- but this is definitely music born under a bad sign. The poignancy of "Wooden Ships" seems to weigh on Balin particularly, and even the good-natured sexual braggadoccio of his white soul number "Emergency" rings hollow. As an extended, chugging "Volunteers" threatens to keep him onstage longer than he can bear, Balin interrupts the jam with "Look what's happenin' out in the streets," forcing the wind-up. As the song careens to its sloppy, aggravated end, Balin sings what would be his last line as an active member of Jefferson Airplane until 1989: "Gotta revolution -- oh yeah, and I need a new band!"

Marty Balin would not sing again as an active member of Jefferson Airplane until their short-lived reunion album and tour of 1989. (He was coaxed onstage at the Airplane's final concert at Winterland in 1972 for an encore of "Baby You Wear Your Dresses Too Short.")

The simulcast of the concert ensured that high quality tapes were in circulationg the very next day, and it was not long before bootleg albums surfaced. Both ALMOST STARSHIPSHAPE (Ze Anonym Plattenspieler #ZAP 7855) and TALES FROM THE MOTHERSHIP (Mammary Productions #MM6) were prevented by vinyl limitations from using the entire concert; STARSHIPSHAPE sacrificed "Up or Down", "The Old Man" and "Bludgeon of the Bluecoat", and MOTHERSHIP dropped "Crown of Creation," "Somebody to Love," "Bludgeon" and "Greasy Heart."

The next night, Jefferson Airplane returned to Winterland without Balin. Joining them was a new member, electric jazz violinist Papa John Creach, recruited by drummer Covington. Black, bald, in his mid-fifties but comporting himself like a much older man, Creach was easy to mistake at first sight for the latest Airplane prank, but when he plugged in and sweetly sawed his way up the neck of his fiddle, it was impossible not to be astounded by his musicality and charmed by his stage presence.

No tapes have surfaced over the years of the band's first show with Creach, nor from the two week tour of the Midwest that immediately followed.


(88/1) Jefferson Airplane, 2015-05-09, Jefferson Starship, L Olympia, Paris, France

Audio/flac, ?/?, (?)

801088001b801088001f
JEFFERSON STARSHIP
France 2005

Taped and transferred by steve p
Flac'd and upped to DAD by boombox

LINEAGE:
Sony MZ-N910 MiniDisc with Sony Premium 80 Min MDs on
SP Mode with Manual Volume Control and CORE SOUND BINAURAL
MICS with Bass Roll-off Filter

Transfered from Minidisc's using a Hitachi RMD 100 > Creative
SB Live!Sound Card > Adobe Audition 1.5 > WAV files > CDR >
EAC > Wave > Flac (Level 8 SB aligned)

Artwork included (pictures from Swansea 2005)

DISC 1:

JEFFERSON STARSHIP
Le Vauban,
Brest, France
Tuesday 10th May 2005

1. Sunrise > Have You Seen The Saucers
2. White Rabbit
3. When The Earth Moves Again
4. Jane (Diana on vocals!)
5. Get Together
6. Banter
7. Eskimo Blue Day
8. Sketches Of China
9. While My Guitar Gently Weeps > Freeway Jam (Slick)
10. War Movie
11. Fast Buck Freddie
12. Sally Go Round The Roses
13. Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil (including Computers)

DISC 2:
1. //Somebody To Love
2. Encore Break
3. Crown Of Creation
4. Other Side Of This Life
5. Encore Break
6. Volunteers
7. Encore Break
8. Good Shepherd


JEFFERSON STARSHIP
Olympia Theatre,
Paris, France
Monday 9th May 2005

9. Volunteers
10. Fast Buck Freddie
11. When The Earth Moves Again
12. Jane 13. White Rabbit
14. DCBA-25
15. Lather
16. Sketches Of China

DISC 3:
1. Banter
2. Crown Of Creation
3. Sunrise > Have You Seen The Stars Tonite > Starship
4. Hyperdrive
5. Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil
6. Somebody To Love
7. Encore Break
8. E: Good Shepherd
9. E2:Wooden Ships

boombox's notes june 2005:

Bit of a monster set this - three very full discs. Received and seeded in the runnning order I got them from the taper.
Good, clear sound throughout - only noticeable flaw is the very beginning of STL on Disc 2 is cut. Other than that it's a very enjoyable set - Europe 2005 was a very loud tour with Paul back on the Rickenbackers, so levels here, as on some of the UK shows, went up and down a bit.

The Brest show appears to be one of the favourite Euro shows amongst those who caught most of the tour. It also features a few rarities - Diana singing Jane (David Freiberg hadn't arrived in Europe yet), War Movie, Sally Go Round The Roses and Get Together, which was to be sung again with DF on board.
Pooneil is also beginning to show some of the jamming potential which developed throughout the UK tour. And the Paris show isn't half bad either!!

NB: jst prefix to Disc 2 Tracks 09-16 is to ensure tracks load in correct order for burning/playback.

---------- ---------- *IMPORTANT NOTICE---------- ---------- **
PLEASE RESPECT THE TAPER'S WISHES AND DO NOT SELL THIS
RECORDING. PERMISSION TO TAPE AND SHARE RECORDINGS IS DEPENDENT
ON THEM NOT BEING SOLD ANYWHERE!!!
---------- ********


ON TV

merci a hardprog pour le partage de son titanesque travail : Rock on TV *

1967-01-29UsaBell Telephone Hour, Jefferson Airplane ,
1967-12-02FranceBouton Rouge, Jefferson Airplane ,
1968-12-28DutchToppop, Jefferson Airplane ,
1969-01-18NorwayVarious Norway Rock Tv Shows, Pink Floyd , Jefferson Airplane , The Mothers of Invention ,
1969-07-05AustraliaHitscene, Jefferson Airplane ,
1969-08-02AustraliaHitscene, Jefferson Airplane ,
1975-06-14FranceJuke Box, Jefferson Airplane ,
1975-07-05FranceJuke Box, Jefferson Airplane ,
p:630/500/4...D/16

Spirit

 

Discographie / Discography

Spirit

Mes Matérialisés

1968SpiritThe Family That Plays TogetherOde RecordsZ12 44014LP
1972SpiritFeedbackEpicKE 31175LP
1973Randy CaliforniaKapt. Kopter And The (Fabulous) Twirly BirdsEpicEPC 65381LP
1975SpiritSpirit Of 76MercurySRM-2-8042xLP
1977SpiritFuture Games (A Magical-Kahauna Dream)MercurySRM-1-1133LP
1978SpiritLive SpiritPotato RecordsPR 2001LP
1981SpiritThe Adventures Of Kaptain Kopter & Commander Cassidy In Potato LandRhino RecordsRNSP 303LP
1982Randy CaliforniaEuro - AmericanEggBEGA 36LP
1982Randy CaliforniaShattered DreamsEggRAN 17"
2000SpiritCosmic SmileHorizonsHZ 002/22xLP
2003SpiritSpirit Of 76Bgo RecordsBGOCD6052xCD
2005SpiritModel ShopSundazed MusicLP 5180LP

Mes Autres

1970Spirit12 Dreams Of Dr SardonicusM16016
1975SpiritSpirit Of 76M16025

Allées O Venues

Spirit

1997

999M+Randy Craig Wolfe, 20 février 1951 (Los Angeles, Californie) / 2 janvier 1997 (Molokai, Hawaii)1997-01-02Mort de Randy California Molokai, HI, US46

2006

997M+John Tilden Locke, 25 September 1943 (Los Angeles, California, USA) / 4 August 2006 (Ojai, California, USA)2006-08-04Mort de John Locke Ojai, CA, US63

2012

998M+May 4, 1923 (Harvey, Illinois, USA) / December 6, 2012 (San Jose, California, USA)2012-12-06Mort de Ed Cassidy San Jose, CA, US89
p:651/500/5...D/16

Country Joe McDonald

 

Discographie / Discography

Country Joe McDonald

Mes Matérialisés

1967Country Joe & The FishI-Feel-Like-I m-Fixin -To-DieVanguardSVRL 19029LP
1968Country Joe & The FishElectric Music For The Mind And BodyVanguardVSD•79244LP
1969Country Joe & The FishHere We Are AgainVanguardVSD-79299LP
1977Country Joe & The FishReunionBellaphonBBS 2534LP
1987Country Joe & The FishElectric Music For The Mind And BodyVanguardVMD 79244-2CD
2005Country Joe & The FishTogetherVanguardVMD 79277CD

Mes Autres

Country Joe, The FishElectric Music For The Mind And Body LpM32011
Country Joe, The FishI-feel-like-i M-fixin -to-dieM32010
1968Country Joe, The FishElectric Music For The Mind & BodyM25211
1969Country Joe Mcdonald19690328-institute Of Contemporary Arts#801082001F70715
1969Country Joe, The FishHere We Are AgainM32010
1971Country Joe McdonaldHold On, It S ComingM32010
1972Country Joe McdonaldIncredible! Live!M32011
1976Country Joe McdonaldLove Is A FireM32010
1981Country Joe McdonaldElixir PlomodiernF7185
1996Country Joe McdonaldParis SessionsM32010
1998Country Joe, The FishC.j. FishM32011
1998Country Joe, The FishTogetherM32011
p:634/500/9...D/16

PERRO

 


Jerry Garcia David Crosby Phil Lesh Neil Young

Discographie

Blows Against the Empire - Paul Kantner / Jefferson Starship, 1970
If I Could Only Remember My Name - David Crosby, 1971
Songs for Beginners - Graham Nash, 1971
Sunfighter - Paul Kantner / Grace Slick, 1971
Graham Nash/David Crosby - Graham Nash and David Crosby, 1972
Rolling Thunder - Mickey Hart 1972, studio
Baron Von Tollbooth & The Chrome Nun - Kantner / Slick / Freiberg, 1973
The Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra - Paul Kantner, 1983

Allées O Venues

PERRO

1970

911970-11Crosby, David-the Perro Sessions [discs 1] 01
921970-11David Crosby - Perro Sessions 01
931970-11If I Could Only Remember the Outtakes 01
651970-11The PERRO Sessions Wally Heider Recording Studio, San Francisco, CA, US01

Enregistrements

(65/1) PERRO, 1970-11, The PERRO Sessions, Wally Heider Recording Studio, San Francisco, CA, US

Audio/flac, ?/?, (?)

801065001f801065001b
Planet Earth Rock & Roll Orchestra
The PERRO Sessions
Wally Heider Recording Studio
San Francisco, Ca.
November 1970 - January 1971

Source: Master Soundboard Reels Recorded by Stephen Barncard 1970 - 1971
Transferred at A & M Tape Copy 01/23/1991 to DAT

Transfer: Panasonic SV-3700 M-Audio Audiophile 2496 at 48 khz 16 bit into Wavelab 5.0
Mastering with iZotope Ozone 3 dithered to 44.1 khz 16 bit > CDWAV1.9 > FLAC (level 8).
Transferred and mastered by Bill Koucky September 30, 2007
Seeded by Green Mountain Brothers


PERRO is:
David Crosby
Graham Nash
Jerry Garcia
Phil Lesh
Mickey Hart
Billy Kreutzmann
Paul Kantner
Grace Slick
Jorma Kaukonen
Jack Casady
David Freiberg
and others...

Disc 1

01-02-1971
1. Is It Really Monday
2. Under Anesthesia (false start)
3. Under Anesthesia
4. Crosby - 'I thought I'd try something original...
5. Loser # 1
6. Loser # 2
7. Over Jordan

01-03-1971
8. The Mountain Song # 1
9. The Mountain Song # 2
10. The Mountain Song # 3
11. The Mountain Song # 4

Time: 46:23

Disc 2

01-13-1971
1. Wild Turkey (or Leather Winged Bat)
2. Jerry & Jorma Jam # 1 (or Electric Bat) >
3. Jam # 10

12-13-1970
4. false start on tape
5. Wall Song
6. Wall Song - Acoustic

01-11-1971
7. Eep Hour (Rounds)
8. Dope Wrap w/ Piano

11-04-1970
9. Shuffle (Jam Slide II)

01-14-1971
10. Jorma & Jerry's Jam – 2 (Jam After Electric Bat)

Time: 63:46
----------
----------
----------
Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra Tape Story
(Bill Parry, Steve Rowland, and Steven Barncard *edited by Jen & Bret* - full story here)
Barncard: For the historical record, let's standardize the song titles.
These are the original rough mix reels,the only source.
I didn't make the transfers to DAT, so I don't know where the reel breaks are.
Below are the original Tape Box notations. () is the corrected name
ORIGINAL TAPE BOX NOTATIONS
Perro Ruffs
Recorded by S. Barncard
Transferred at A&M Tape Copy 1/23/91
DAT 120 (2 hours)
1/2/71
01. Mountain #5
02. Is it Really Monday
03. You Sit There /incomplete
04. You Sit There
05. Garcia's Tune (Loser)
06. Garcia's Tune (Loser)
07. Wayfaring Stranger *
1/3/71
08. Mountain #1 /ACCs/
-- wound Heads -- Garcia, Crosby, Kantner, Grace, Lesh
09. Mountain #2 /ACC's/ Little Slower
10. Mountain #3 /ACC's/ ** Organized (different mix of above take)
11. Mountain #4 Complete Set Of changes; Long Voiceless Jam
1/14/71
12. Leather Winged Bat /Slower/
13. Electric Bat
14. Jam #10
15. Wall Song - Electric 12/13/70 **
16. Wall Song - Acoustic - solo demo
1/11/71
17. Rounds (EEP Hour)
18. Dope Rap w/Piano /"Funny"/
19. Jam Slide II good parts 11/04/70
20. Jam R&B Riff /Long/
21. Jam After Electric Bat 1/14/71
abrupt end (two track runs out)
Steve Silberman Notes:
* I'm also not yet totally convinced that the name of that folk tune IS Wayfaring Stranger - it might be another tune. But Steve may be right.
** The Wall Song on this tape is not the track used for Graham Nash/David Crosby, the excellent out-of-print album on Atlantic.
It is an out-take. Another, better performance was used for the record, although sadly, the record fades out just before the jam. That's especially a shame because the band on both the PERRO tape version and the album version was: Garcia, Lesh, and Kreutzmann, plus Crosby and Nash. If a choice were to be made for the CD, I would definitely go with the album version WITH the extended jam. It's a lot hotter than the PERRO tape take, with a fiery Garcia & Nash driven peak with that ultra-sweet Garcia Strat sound of that era...
Barncard continues...
Obviously these tapes were not mixed in chronological order. As far as giving you some idea what will be on the CD, I don't know yet what I can use, and no, it won't be out for a couple of months....artwork and mixing, you know.....I have a lot of shit to do.... Soon I will get the 16 tracks, and I will have a better idea of what I can do with this, (and if it is worth it to remix all of it, or only parts..some of the two track mixes are pretty good -- first generation.)
At this early stage I cannot commit to any lineup. I might find <more> on the multis -- I haven't played those since '71 !!

DETAILS
On 8/23/91 a copy of the several PERRO reels were compiled onto a DT 120 DAT on request by Paul to Graham (since the tapes where kept in the latter's vault) for a copy.
When the Crosby, Stills & Nash box-set was being put together, some mystery reels were found.
All of the CSNY tape collection was brought in to one place for the first time, including personal collections of Barncard, Joel Bernstein, Nash and Stills. One of the PERRO tapes had a small pipe with weed in it and somebody smoked it! It was still good.
The material on the PERRO tapes was very interesting, but had nothing to do with CSNY. There were 4 reels of 2 track mixes made in 1971 during the sessions (obviously there is more that has never been mixed). The tapes were put into storage in Nash's vault.
Paul called Nash in 1992 and requested DATs of those tapes. This was the first time they had been outside of the CSNY organization. They were copied at
A&M Post Production audio and my personal DAT was made at that time.
The roots of PER&RO go back a lot further than 1971. 1 guess it had its inception in the early years of the '60s (prior to the Airplane, the Byrds et al) when Kantner, Crosby and Freiberg used to hang out, play music, get high and rap together around Venice Beach. That was the initial bond, the start of it all.
Later, when they were in bands of their own, there were occasional points of interaction - like Garcia sitting in on the 'Surrealistic Pillow' sessions, like Crosby giving "Triad" to the Airplane when he couldn't get the Byrds to record it, like Kantner, Crosby and Stills writing "Wooden Ships".
Then, as the '60s drew to a close, two sets of circumstances combined to bring the Planet Earth Rock And Roll Dream a whole lot nearer. One was the opening of Wally Heider's studio in San Francisco - because now the local SF musicians (Airplane, Quicksilver, Dead) had a place on their doorstep where they could record. This gave item freedom from the corporate studios to record and produce as they saw fit, to come and go more as they pleased and to invite the musical neighborhood in if they chose. (It hadn't been so easy when they were holed up at RCA's or Warner's studios in Hollywood.) The other catalyst was the state of flux that a lot of bands were falling into by 1969/1970, for Crosby had left the Byrds, the Airplane was a less cohesive force with Dryden out and Hot Tuna splitting off, and Dino Valenti's arrival had unsettled QMS.
Things had come pretty much full circle by the end of the decade. Kantner was again hanging out with Crosby (quite often on the latter's yacht) and with David Freiberg - and, when Paul came to assemble musicians to record 'Blows Against The Empire', it wasn't just to his Airplane cohorts that he turned but also to Crosby and Garcia and even Graham Nash - who'd just bought a house in Frisco and ended up producing the whole second side of the 'Blows...' album at Heider's studio. 'Blows..." was the first album by that collection of musicians whom Paul liked to term the Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra.

The fact that he billed the album as being by Jefferson Starship shouldn't mislead anyone. Kantner, Crosby, Slick, Freiberg, Nash, Garcia, Kaukonen, Lesh, Casady, Kreutzmann, Hart - these people were the Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra, supporting each other on key projects.

As Grace recalls, "These sessions were like 'Uh, do you wanna play guitar on this one?' 'No, man, I have to go to the bathroom.' 'Okay, David, you wanna play?' 'Sure'. Whoever felt like doing something did it. Parts interchanged, people interchanged."
Graham Nash says "They asked me my opinion and I just jumped right in. Grace, Paul, David - they let me do whatever I heard. I was searching for this kind of environment when I came to America and when I was mixing in the studio our imaginations were running rampant. We were creating virtual kingdoms with music."
The second such PER&RO project was David Crosby's debut solo album, 'If I Could Only Remember My Name', which features all of the above-mentioned Planet Earthers plus the likes of Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Greg Rolie and Mike Shrieve.

But enough of this preamble, and on to the tapes in question. They come from sessions at Wally Heider's San Francisco studios in 1971. Crosby had sailed his boat up to Sausalito harbor. Nash was resident in the Haight. Kantner and Slick had moved out to Bolinas and the Dead were in Mill Valley but they would all head for Wally's of an evening to work on PER&RO songs. Some of these things ended up on Crosby's solo, a couple on Garcia's solo, one on Grace's album, one on Paul's 1983 'Planet Earth...' album - and some have never seen the light of day, in which case we've had to guess at what they might be title. Roll the PER&RO tapes.

"Walkin' In The Mountains" (1' 47n): A Crosby composition featuring typically attractive chordings, but little in the way of finished lyrics. "All the words we got so far are just ideas of places we'd like to go,- he tells Garcia at the start of this...

> "I went walkin' out last summer
> Tryin' to find a breath of air.
> I went walkin' in the mountains
> A friend had told me I'd find you there"

comprises just about all the words he has, but the feel is so airy and open you can almost smell that mountain air. The sequence makes a surprise reappearance later in the tape, as an intro to version four of 'The Mountain Song'.
Barncard: Two of the versions are actually the same performance, the second remixed a little better.
"Is It Really Monday?" (4' 55"): Crosby again, and this one begins with his acoustic guitar and the composer scat-singing the abstruse melody. When the lyrics arrive, he asks:
> "Is it really Monday?
> I must have been here before.
> Is it really Monday?
> I think the walls begin to speak."

The tempo is very slow, in a country blues vein and Garcia adds some restrained picking. The lugubrious bass sounds like that of Phil Lesh.
"Under Anesthesia" (5' 14"): The timing includes a false start of about 45 seconds, after which Crosby calls a halt and announces 'No, that's not it. Started too slow, it's outta time and I didn't get the right words!" When he does, it's another hugely impressive song, the lyrical angle of which is to bemoan the inertia of the common man - who is portrayed as stupefied by beer and TV. At the conclusion, Crosby launches into a brief sequence on guitar and comments 'I thought I'd try something original...if I write another song in E Minor, man, I'm gonna get fired!'
*This song is actually called "You Sit There"
"Loser" (8' 41"): The timing includes several restarts and Jerry explaining - and indeed demonstrating - the chord progression to his colleagues, who could well be Crosby, Lesh and Papa John*. There's certainly a violin in here and it works especially well, counterpointing the three guitars most effectively.
*Papa John never hung out in PERRO sessions. David Freiberg on viola.
It's obviously an early run through the song as Jerry doesn't have much more than the first verse written. The second crack has more audible vocals, but Garcia still resorts to "da da das" from the second verse on. The bridge is there, at least intact musically, even if the only line Jerry seems sure about is the closing
"Don't let that deal go down" The genesis of a great song.
"Over Jordan" (3' 30"): Another Crosby song, replete with a beautiful structure, but short on completed lyrics. It begins with David's rippling acoustic guitar which is soon joined by that of Garcia for some impressive picking.

> "I'm only going over Jordan,
> Just a-goin" to my home"
sings the Cros, but after a couple of minutes he declares that he's forgotten the changes, so restarts the performance at the bridge. This is a delightful half-song which the composer should really have completed and recorded at some stage.
*Also called "Wayfaring Stranger"
"The Mountain Song - 1" (5' 11"): This is the first of several attempts at what would eventually become a slice of classic Airmachine. However, at this stage, the only fragment of the song they had to work with was the line "Gonna make the mountains be my home" and the chord-sequence that supported it, so it's quite amazing that from such a meager base Kantner, Slick, Crosby and Garcia (possibly with Casady and Hart) are able to conjure 23 minutes of undulating beauty. There's a banjo featured prominently, plus two acoustic guitars and Grace's distinctive piano. The banjo is Paul K.& the touches are so accomplished, it's Kantner on the five- string with Garcia and Crosby on guitars. Surprisingly, there's no trace of Paul's vocal - though the other three take care of that handsomely enough.
Early on, it's Jerry singing the line in orthodox fashion, while Grace embellishes with some improvised lyrics around the theme. Then Crosby takes Grace's place and scats around Jerry's vocal for a while. As you'd expect, the playing is loose and slightly tentative on this first version, but no less affecting for all that.
"The Mountain Song - 2" (5' 17"): Grace is back providing an improvised descant to Jerry's straight vocal at the start here, and she's singing about the sky and the river as he eulogizes the mountains. After a minute or so, Crosby introduces his scat and Grace leaves the chorus to concentrate on her keyboards. Her vocal chords are re-engaged towards the close.

"The Mountain Song - 3" (3' 44"): This version begins with Jerry and David singing the line and Grace gliding around them. Briefly, Crosby supersedes her in this role but soon the two of them are improvising around the structure as Jerry perseveres in the middle.
At the end of this effort, Paul is heard to remark "It sounds like everybody's going in and out of time" to which Crosby responds "No, no, no, it's all working - and it works perfectly." The listener is strongly inclined to agree with him.

"The Mountain Song - 4" (8' 20"): As you'll see, this is the longest version and undoubtedly the most satisfying of the four. This is where Crosby's embryonic "Walkin' In The Mountains" suddenly reemerges and he goes through the verse and various chord sequences as an introduction to "The Mountain Song," to which it bridges seamlessly and beautifully. It's a remarkable segue which makes the listener keenly aware of how the song could have developed in a very different direction had Crosby stayed to contribute throughout its evolution. Speculation aside, what we do have is a return to the familiar pattern of banjo, guitars, bass, piano and percussion. Crosby reverts to his scatted counterpoint before it slips into a stunning instrumental section. Herein, the music weaves a genuinely hypnotic spell as it rolls effortlessly along the bed of Paul's banjo and Grace's piano, with Garcia picking exquisitely. After several minutes of this, the vocal pattern is re-introduced, now in a more restrained vein against instrumentation which has become subdued, with Grace and the Cros gently dancing around Jerry to the finale of a wonderful excursion.
"Wild Turkey" (4' 20")(AKA "Leather Winged Bat"): An interesting improvisation with Jorma and Jack at the controls, this may or may not be an early styling of what became the dynamic duo's "Bark" instrumental. It certainly starts off that way, with Kaukonen roaring out some aggressive electric noise and Casady on a familiar rumble. But soon it settles into something much gentler, employing a more reflective chord progression. Jorma's playing rises and falls in a fairly relaxed manner - until the finale, when he stirs it back towards the "Turkey" structure with some more combative lead guitar. It could well be that Jack and Jorma decided the split-mood approach didn't work and restructured the number as the wholly aggressive strut we encountered on 'Bark'. Whatever, it's a nicely balanced piece and a pleasure to hear.
"Jorma & Jerry's Jam - 1" (14' 22"): If the previous outing was a pleasure, this jam is a sensation! As readers will be aware, there's little recorded evidence of Mr. Kaukonen and Mr. Garcia essaying their remarkable skills together, so this is a rare chance to hear the fruits of one such collaboration. Backed up by the supple bass of Jack Casady plus solid percussion (Mickey Hart?), this is a quarter-hour of incisive and responsive musicianship - intuitively structured and beautifully realized. Jorma leads it off on electric guitar, his playing funky and rich in wah-wah, whilst Jerry complements it with a more subdued style. Casady is well mixed and excellent, but it's Jorma's sprawling mass of notes which take center stage in this section; hot, handy and winding all over the soundscape in unfettered rampage. Having played a disciplined supporting role for the first half of the jam - his accomplished touches providing the perfect foil to Jorma's aggression - Jerry assumes control for the second phase. Initially calm after the Kaukonen storm, this movement gradually builds over several minutes into a fabulous jam, delightfully evolved and transfixing the listener as it develops. Jerry's playing gets less lyrical, more earthy, until it is stylistically much closer to his partner's earlier contribution. Naturally, Jorma then resumes the lead and steers the ensemble to a nicely judged conclusion. It would be perfectly reasonable to hail this example of superlative sparring as San Francisco jamming at its very finest.
"The Wall Song -1" (6' 00"): After a waggish intro from the composer, we're into a captivating version of a Crosby song which appeared in 1972 on the LP 'Graham Nash David Crosby.' On that take, the duo were backed by Garcia, Lesh and Kreutzmann and there's no reason to suppose that the same trio isn't in support here. The real distinction between the released version and this is the absence of Nash - though this is more than ably compensated for by the double-tracking of Crosby's wonderful voice, which provides an imaginative and memorable harmony. But there's a bonus. Just when listeners familiar with the 1972 record expect the track to finish, there's a lovely instrumental excursion with Garcia in winning form, shuffling percussion from Bill and a gentle ripple from Lesh. Really, this is so good it eclipses the official release by some distance - and should clearly have been included in the CS&N box of 1991.

"The Wall Song - 2" (4' 27"): Again, David is doubly tracked, but this time there's only his own acoustic guitar in support, and the performance is generally a little lazier than before.
"Eep Hour" (4' 44"): A very dissimilar reading from the one which appeared on 'Garcia' and which had keyboard and pedal steel dominating the sound. This is just the acoustic guitars and bass and has a very Spanish ambiance. Presuming that Jerry isn't multi-tracked and playing everything himself - as he did on his album - we might take the other participants to be Lesh and either Kantner or Crosby.
*Jack Casady plays bass on EEP HOUR
At the close, there's a whoop of triumph from somebody and what sounds like Kantner's voice saying 'everybody just have a little break from their guitar strings!'
"Shuffle" (2' 20"): Two guitars (one electric), bass and drums glide effortlessly down a four-chord structure for a couple of minutes. The drums shuffle effectively but nothing much happens and the piece sounds more like an intro to something more substantial than an entity in itself.
"Jorma & Jerry's Jam - 2" (14' 29"): This has a slightly longer introduction than its earlier incarnation (i.e. it starts a few seconds before) but is otherwise identical to the first version.
These tapes are a fabulous find, showing as they do the formative stages of some classic songs and hinting at others, notably by Crosby, that could have been among the best things he never recorded.


(91/1) PERRO, 1970-11, Crosby, David-the Perro Sessions [discs

Audio/mp3, ?/?, (?)

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David Crosby Sessions

Ha aparecido en Boot City un torrente con ese título.
Si eres coleccionista de David Crosby, es muy posible que te interese esta colección de 11 discos formada por:

- The "PERRO Sessions" version 1, 2 y 3,
- "If I Could Only Remember The Outtakes", y
- "Jam At Mickey's Barn".

Set nº 1 : Planet Rock n Roll Orchestra - PERRO Sessions (I) Part 1

David Crosby
Wally Heider Recording Studio, San Francisco (CA)
1970/12/??
con CSNY, Slick, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart.

Origen: SBD > ??? > SHN (de Bootcity)
Calidad: *****

01. Wooden Ships Jam
02. Walking In the Mountains
03. Is it Really Monday
04. Mountain Song #1
05. Loser #1, #2
06. Under Anesthesia (false start) - aka You Sit There
07. Under Anesthesia - aka You Sit There
08. Mountain Song #3
09. Wall Song #1
10. Over Jordan - aka Wayfaring Stranger
11. Wild Turkey - aka Leather Winged Bat
12. Loser #3, #4
13. Epp Hour aka Rounds
14. Wall Song #2
15. Mountain Song #4
16. Tamalpais High (at about 3) aka Kids and Dogs
---------- ---------- ---------- --------

Set nº 2 : Planet Rock n Roll Orchestra - PERRO Sessions (I) Part 2

David Crosby
Wally Heider Recording Studio, San Francisco (CA)
1970/12/??
con CSNY, Slick, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart.

Origen: ??? > FTP > SHN
Calidad: *****

01. Jorma and Jerry's Jam - 1
02. Dope rap w/piano
03. Solo piano
04. Jam Slide
Obtenido en gdlive.com.
---------- ---------- ---------- --------

Set nº 3 : Planet Rock n Roll Orchestra - PERRO Sessions (II)

David Crosby
Wally Heider Recording Studio, San Francisco (CA)
1970/12/??
con CSNY, Slick, Garcia, Lesh, Hart, Kreutzmann, Freiberg, Kaukonen, Casady y Kantner.

Origen: CD-Rs trueke > EAC > Flac
Calidad: *****


(92/1) PERRO, 1970-11, David Crosby - Perro Sessions

Audio/mp3, ?/?, (?)

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The PERRO Sessions – November 1970 to January 1971
Wally Heider Studios - San Francisco, CA

2 Disc version (1975) :

Disc 1 :
Is It Really Monday+
You Sit There
Loser #1+
Loser #2+
Loser #3+
Loser #4+
Wayfaring Stranger+
Walkin In The Mountains #1*
Walkin In The Mountains #2*
Walkin In The Mountains #3*
Walkin In The Mountains #4*
Leather Winged Bat%

Disc 2 :
Jorma & Jerry Jam #1%
The Wall Song #1@
The Wall Song #2@
Eep Hour%
Dope Rap With Piano%
Piano Cont'd%
Jam Slide II%
Jorma & Jerry Jam #2%

+ = 01-02-71 , * = 01-03-71, % = 01-14-71, @ = 12-13-70

Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzman, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Michael Shrieve, Greg Rollie, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, David Freiberg and Laura Allan.

4 Disc version (1991) :

***Studio outtakes from album sessions. Version Treed on 2400 Fulton St. 4/01***

(Disc 1 - November 1970)
Jam #1, Laughing, Jam #2, Song With No Words #1, Song With No Words #2, What Are Their Names, Orleans, Jam #3, Tamalpais High #1, Tamalpais High #2, Jam #4,

(Disc 2 - November 1970)
Wall Song #1, Wall Song #2, Pretty As You Feel, Eight Miles High, Alabama Bound, Cowboy Movie, Everybody Has Been Burned, Cowboy Movie Jam, Jam #5, Kids & Dogs, Motherless Children,

(Disc 3 - January 1971)
Mountain Song Intro (Correct title: Walkin' In The Mountains), Is It Really Monday, You Sit There, Loser #1, Loser #2, Wayfaring Stranger, Mountain Song #1, Mountain Song #2, Mountain Song #3, Mountain Song #4, EEP Hour, Dope rap w/piano, Piano, Leather Winged Bat, Electric Bat,

(Disc 4 - January 1971)
Wall Song #2, Rounds (Early version of EEP Hour), Electric Bat, Wall Song #1, Wall Song #3, Jam #6, Banjo, Wild Turkey, Wall Song #4, Jam #7,

The full story :

The PERRO tapes are the log of several days’ sessions with an incredible group of people creating music in a most serendipitous way. The time is late 1970 at Wally Heider Recording Studios in San Francisco, California, USA. This studio was built in 1969 to meet the demand of producers and artists alike in the bay area to have a full-service professional pop music recording facility that was up to the standards and quality of the big studios in Los Angeles. What better person than Wally should there be to meet the demand, for he was known to all as the most service-oriented studio owner in the business and his rooms and remote trucks were known throughout the world for their work. Wally loved San Francisco, and chose the location because the Blackhawk nightclub (where his company recorded 'Miles Davis Live at the Blackhawk') used to be located across the street. The studio is still operational today, as 'Hyde Street Studios'.

Two weeks after I was hired by Wally in the fall of 1969, I was assigned to be the assistant engineer on 'Deja Vu', the 1st CSNY and second CSN record. At the time, David was too overwrought with personal problems to pay attention to a lowly assistant engineer, and he did not have a high opinion of me, but after a year or so of other projects with Brewer and Shipley, Seals and Crofts, and the Grateful Dead and the urging of Jerry Garcia, David Crosby decided, in November 1970, that he really wanted me to record his solo album. He had just moved his boat up to Sausalito, and had decided to spend most of his time in the Bay Area.

I didn't want to work with him at first because of the way I was treated as an assistant engineer during the 'Deja Vu' sessions, but at his urging, I 'relented' and told him that I would do the project. As it turns out, we got along really well this time and have been great friends since then.

This was the project that eventually became 'If I Could Only Remember My Name'. The first session was on November 4, 1970, and the first song was 'Orleans'. We did the guitar first, then the vocals, then the second guitar harmony, all that first night. By 11pm he was out of the building with some beautiful woman and we were done for the night. Elapsed time : 4 hours.

At first these sessions were just with David and myself. After a few days, he started inviting his buddies, including Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Graham Nash, Michael Shrieve, Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, David Freiberg, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, Neil Young, Jorma Kaukonen, Joni Mitchell, Laura Allan, Jack Casady, and Greg Rollie. Not all these people were in the studio at the same time, mind you, and many times it was small groupings, except for the song 'What Are Their Names' where as many people from this group could get into Studio D did a sing-along chorus. We had so many people that I ran out of headphones, so we went to speakers instead, hence the 'boxy' quality of the vocals.

As I quickly learned from working with David, you never knew what might happen, and it might happen only once, so I got into the habit of rolling 2 inch tape whenever it seemed like something might happen. There were times I started the tape first and ran out and plugged more mics in while the tape was rolling! So every night was an adventure, and I got it all on tape! I'm sure it was Crosby who dubbed his gathering 'The Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra', but Paul Kantner later claimed that he invented it, and Crosby can't remember. I couldn't put that on a tape box very quickly (and we accumulated over 30 reels of 2 inch tape at $125/reel) so I put PERRO on the boxes for short. (I was also drinking a coffee substitute by that name at the time....).

In late January 1971, David and I had some time to go over the pile of tapes and in a 4 hour session reviewed what had happened as I made some rough mixes -- one pass, in most cases. These rough mixes were what was to become the PERRO tapes. I made David a cassette, and put the masters away. I never had made myself a copy at that time.

Move forward to spring 1975. David and Graham called me up and asked me to work on the next Crosby And Nash record. So through the summer of that year, we worked long and hard to make this classic album. After that record came out, there arose problems with Atlantic Records.

After "Wind On The Water", Graham and David asked me to go through not only all the studio master tapes that he had in his vault in SF, but compile a tape of all unrecorded songs, alternate takes and weirdness that would be used to complete some kind of "contractual obligation" deal that was to counter demands for more material from Atlantic Records. I really didn't press the details, anyway it sounded fun to do.

It took me about month to go through everything, up in SF at Graham's home studio in the Haight, Rudy Records. This collection of songs became the notorious "Dirty Thirty", of which the PERRO material is a subset. So for the first time, these songs were included with a collection, complete with references to the source tapes. Joel Bernstein was also involved, combing through his personal collection in his apartment next door.

First I started with listening to the outtakes of "Wind On The Water". Between takes, the C/N backup band, the jitters, would either jam or do funny shit. Most of that band consisted of Craig Doerge on piano, Tim Drummond or Lee Sklar on Bass, Russ Kunkel on Drums, David Lindley on electric viola and lap steel, and Danny Kooch on guitar. The basic Jitters Doerge, Kooch, Kunkel and Sklar were otherwise known as "the Section". Some very good jams there, but no songs we could use.

Then, there was Nash's and Crosby's earliest home tapes -- transferred to 15 ips 1/4 inch reels from old 7.5 ips half tracks. I did most of the transfers and mixes and Joel Bernstein kept score (and his own set of copies), and David and Graham came in and listened to some of it when we were done. Quite an extensive survey.

The PERRO tapes were included verbatim, sort of at the end of the collection so I not only organized and brought to the front the PERRO tapes but all unreleased material on about 10 or 12 10 1/2" reels and I ran off cassettes for C&N.

In the spring of 1991, I again revisited this Dirty Thirty resource as a place to look for rarities for the CSN Boxed Set. (And some made it there). Most of my DATS were made at this time except PERRO. On 8/23/91 a copy of the several PERRO reels were compiled onto a Sony 120 DAT on request by Paul to Graham (since the tapes where kept in the latter's vault) for a copy. At that time, I also had my DAT copy made, having not enough time during the Box Set to copy it. That is the only copy session to DAT that was ever done on those sessions.

When the Crosby, Stills & Nash box-set was being put together a couple of years ago*, three reels of 8-track tape labeled 'Kantner'** were uncovered and dusted off.

*Barncard : --- actually it was 1991. All of the Graham Nash tape collection was brought in to one place for the first time, including personal collections of Barncard, Joel Bernstein, Nash and Stills. One of the PERRO tapes had a small pipe with weed in it and we smoked it! It was still good.

**There were over 20 16 track reels and they were named "PERRO" on each (or D.C.) so it would fit when the reels were upright.

The tapes we worked with were never named "Kantner" although it is possible that Paul has a companion set of tapes from his RCA sessions during the same time period.

The 16 tracks were never remixed in 1991. The material on the PERRO tapes was very interesting, but had nothing to do with CSNY. There were 4 reels of 2 track mixes made in 1971 during the sessions (obviously there is more that has never been mixed). The tapes were put into storage in Nash's vault. Paul called Nash in 1992 and requested DATs of those tapes. This was the first time they had been outside of the CSNY organization. They were copied at A&M Post Production audio and my personal DAT was made at that time.

These were forwarded to the Doktor of Space for his consideration and in due course Holding Together was fortunate enough to get to hear two of the tapes. (Paul has decided that there's nothing of any great worth on the third. Maybe one day he'll let us have a listen to that one too?) The tapes in question are of excellent quality. They were recorded at Wally Heider's studio in the summer of 1971 with Stephen Barncard at the controls and they captured the Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra working on some material that would later surface on 'solo' recordings by David Crosby, Jerry Garcia, Paul Kantner and Grace Slick.

On Kantner's 'solo' album of 1983. entitled 'Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra', he dedicated 'Mountain Song' ...'to David C, Jerry G, Graham N, Grace S, David F, Billy K and Mickey H and to one summer when all of our schedules almost didn't conflict.' The title track from that record also contained the verse

'Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra,
Everybody Here Can Be In The Band,
Planet Earth Rock And Roll Dream '

and it is quite clear that Paul, with his Tribal/Hippy/SciFi orientation, was the keenest to engender the 'you can all join in' approach - maybe because the Airplane was never quite the extended family that the Grateful Dead became.

However, the roots of PERRO go back a lot further than the summer of 1971. 1 guess it had its inception in the early years of the '60s (prior to the Airplane, the Byrds et al) when Kantner, Crosby and Freiberg used to hang out, play music, get high and rap together around Venice Beach. That was the initial bond, the start of it all.

Later, when they were in bands of their own, there were occasional points of interaction - like Garcia sitting in on the 'Surrealistic Pillow' sessions, like Crosby giving "Triad" to the Airplane when he couldn't get the Byrds to record it, like Kantner, Crosby and Stills writing "Wooden Ships".***

***Barncard : My friend Spencer Dryden has video tapes of the early airplane, and Crosby sitting around describing the writing of wooden ships...

Then, as the '60s drew to a close, two sets of circumstances combined to bring the Planet Earth Rock And Roll Dream a whole lot nearer

One was the opening of Wally Heider's studio in San Francisco - because now the local SF musicians (Airplane, Quicksilver, Dead) had a place on their doorstep where they could record. This gave them freedom from the corporate studios to record and produce as they saw fit, to come and go more as they pleased and to invite the musical neighborhood in if they chose. (It hadn't been so easy when they were holed up at RCA's or Warner's studios in Hollywood.)****

****Barncard : It's true...I started there in August, 1969, right after "Volunteers" and just before CSNY "Deja Vu". I was the assistant on the latter, as well as "Blows" and "Have you Seen the Saucers".

The other catalyst was the state of flux that a lot of bands were falling into by 1969/1970, for Crosby had left the Byrds, the Airplane was a less cohesive force with Dryden out and Hot Tuna splitting off, and Dino Valenti's arrival had unsettled QMS.

Things had come pretty much full circle by the end of the decade. Kantner was again hanging out with Crosby (quite often on the latter's yacht) and with David Freiberg - and, when Paul came to assemble musicians to record 'Blows Against The Empire', it wasn't just to his Airplane cohorts that he turned but also to Crosby and Garcia and even Graham Nash - who'd just bought a house in Frisco and ended up producing the whole second side of the 'Blows...' album at Heider's studio. 'Blows...’ was the first album by that collection of musicians whom Paul liked to term the Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra.

The fact that he billed the album as being by Jefferson Starship shouldn't mislead anyone. Kantner, Crosby, Slick, Freiberg, Nash, Garcia, Kaukonen, Lesh, Casady, Kreutzmann, Hart - these people were the Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra, supporting each other on key projects.

As Grace recalls, "These sessions were like 'Uh, do you wanna play guitar on this one?' 'No, man, I have to go to the bathroom.' 'Okay, David, you wanna play?' 'Sure'. Whoever felt like doing something did it. Parts interchanged, people interchanged."

Graham Nash says "They asked me my opinion and I just jumped right in. Grace, Paul, David - they let me do whatever I heard. I was searching for this kind of environment when I came to America and when I was mixing in the studio our imaginations were running rampant. We were creating virtual kingdoms with music."

Paul's recollection of proceedings is that "The combinations that happened on these records will probably never happen again." Let's hope he's wrong - but the Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra was, for a couple of years, a freewheeling and quite radical musical concept.

The second such PERRO project was David Crosby's debut solo album, 'If I Could Only Remember My Name', which features all of the above-mentioned Planet Earthers plus the likes of Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Greg Rollie and Mike Shrieve.

Rumor has it that the third project was going to be another Kantner album entitled 'Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra'. Here at HT Towers we have a distant memory of Melody Maker announcing the impending release of such a work circa 1972. Of course, nothing answering to that name appeared for another ten years - by which time it was a different beast entirely...except for the concept and the inclusion of 'Mountain Song'. (it's just possible that the third project is what materialized as Grace's solo album 'Manhole'. Perhaps we shall never know).

---------- --------

But enough of this preamble, and on to the tapes in question. They come from sessions at Wally Heider's San Francisco studios in 1971. Crosby had sailed his boat up to Sausalito harbor. Nash was resident in the Haight. Kantner and Slick had moved out to Bolinas and the Dead were in Mill Valley but they would all head for Wally's of an evening to work on PERRO songs. Some of these things ended up on Crosby's solo, a couple on Garcia's solo, one on Grace's album, one on Paul's 1983 'Planet Earth...' album - and some have never seen the light of day, in which case we've had to guess at what they might be title. Roll the PER&RO tapes.

"Walkin' In The Mountains" (1' 47n): A Crosby composition featuring typically attractive chordings, but little in the way of finished lyrics. "All the words we got so far are just ideas of places we'd like to go,- he tells Garcia at the start of this...

Barncard : Two of the versions are actually the same performance, the second remixed a little better.

"I went walkin' out last summer Tryin' to find a breath of air. I went walkin' in the mountains. A friend had told me I'd find you there"

comprises just about all the words he has, but the feel is so airy and open you can almost smell that mountain air. The sequence makes a surprise reappearance later in the tape, as an intro to version four of 'The Mountain Song'.

"Is It Really Monday?" (4' 55"): Crosby again, and this one begins with his acoustic guitar and the composer scat- singing the abstruse melody. When the lyrics arrive, he asks:

"Is it really Monday? I must have been here before. Is it really Monday? I think the walls begin to speak."

The tempo is very slow, in a country blues vein and Garcia adds some restrained picking. The lugubrious bass sounds like that of Phil Lesh.

"Under Anesthesia" (5' 14"): The timing includes a false start of about 45 seconds, after which Crosby calls a halt and announces 'No, that's not it. Started too slow, it's outta time and I didn't get the right words!" When he does, it's another hugely impressive song, the lyrical angle of which is to bemoan the inertia of the common man - who is portrayed as stupefied by beer and TV.

Barncard : This song is actually called "You Sit There"

At the conclusion, Crosby launches into a brief sequence on guitar and comments 'I thought I'd try something original...if I write another song in E Minor, man, I'm gonna get fired!'

"Loser" (8' 41"): The timing includes several restarts and Jerry explaining - and indeed demonstrating - the chord progression to his colleagues, who could well be Crosby, Lesh and Papa John*****. There's certainly a violin in here and it works especially well, counterpointing the three guitars most effectively.

*****Barncard : Papa John never hung out in PERRO sessions
1997 Update from David Freiberg:


From: xxxxx@aol.com
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 12:30:23 -0400 (EDT)
To: sbarncar@earthlink.net
Subject: PERRO

Hey Steve:
Someone pointed me at this [expired URL] And I thought I'd add that I was guilty of the viola playing on " Loser". FYI. At least that's how I remember it. Someone sent me a tape and it jogged my memory.
hope all's well.
David Freiberg

Additional note : Papa John *did* take part in some of the PERRO sessions. Of course “Loser” features David Freiberg on viola, not Papa John on violin. But “Jam #3” and “Jam #4” on CD 1 of the 4 CD set definitely feature Papa John (with Grace Slick on piano, Greg Rollie on organ and most probably Jack Casady on bass on “Jam #3”, and with Greg Rollie on organ and most probably Phil Lesh on bass and Bill Kreutzmann on drums on “Jam #4”).
And obviously Papa John is also on “Pretty as you feel” on CD 2 of the 4 CD set. This take is a long version of the song featured on “Bark”. Both the album and the shorter single versions appear to be edits of this original 14-minute take. But it is more than likely that this one actually comes from the “Bark” sessions and doesn’t actually belong with the PERRO tapes.

It's obviously an early run through the song as Jerry doesn't have much more than the first verse written. The second crack has more audible vocals, but Garcia still resorts to "da da das" from the second verse on. The bridge is there, at least intact musically, even if the only line Jerry seems sure about is the closing

"Don't let that deal go down"

The genesis of a great song.

"Over Jordan" (3' 30"): Another Crosby song, replete with a beautiful structure, but short on completed lyrics. It begins with David's rippling acoustic guitar which is soon joined by that of Garcia for some impressive picking.

"I'm only going over Jordan, Just a-goin" to my home" sings the Cros, but after a couple of minutes he declares that he's forgotten the changes, so restarts the performance at the bridge. This is a delightful half-song which the composer should really have completed and recorded at some stage.

Barncard : It's an old folk song called "Wayfaring Stranger"

"The Mountain Song - 1" (5' 11"): This is the first of several attempts at what would eventually become a slice of classic Airmachine. However, at this stage, the only fragment of the song they had to work with was the line

"Gonna make the mountains be my home"

and the chord-sequence that supported it, so it's quite amazing that from such a meager base Kantner, Slick, Crosby and Garcia (possibly with Casady and Hart) are able to conjure 23 minutes of undulating beauty.

There's a banjo featured prominently, plus two acoustic guitars and Grace's distinctive piano. The banjo could be Jerry but I suspect that, because some of the acoustic touches are so accomplished, it's Kantner on the five-string with Garcia and Crosby on guitars. Surprisingly, there's no trace of Paul's vocal - though the other three take care of that handsomely enough.


Barncard : the banjo parts were played by Paul. Kantner only played banjo and sang BG vocals on these particular sessions.

Early on, it's Jerry singing the line in orthodox fashion, while Grace embellishes with some improvised lyrics around the theme. Then Crosby takes Grace's place and scats around Jerry's vocal for a while. As you'd expect, the playing is loose and slightly tentative on this first version, but no less affecting for all that.

"The Mountain Song - 2" (5' 17"): Grace is back providing an improvised descant to Jerry's straight vocal at the start here, and she's singing about the sky and the river as he eulogizes the mountains. After a minute or so, Crosby introduces his scat and Grace leaves the chorus to concentrate on her keyboards. Her vocal chords are re-engaged towards the close.

"The Mountain Song - 3" (3' 44"): This version begins with Jerry and David singing the line and Grace gliding around them. Briefly, Crosby supersedes her in this role but soon the two of them are improvising around the structure as Jerry perseveres in the middle.

At the end of this effort, Paul is heard to remark "It sounds like everybody's going in and out of time" to which Crosby responds "No, no, no, it's all working - and it works perfectly." The listener is strongly inclined to agree with him.

"The Mountain Song - 4" (8' 20"): As you'll see, this is the longest version and undoubtedly the most satisfying of the four. This is where Crosby's embryonic "Walkin' In The Mountains" suddenly reemerges and he goes through the verse and various chord sequences as an introduction to "The Mountain Song," to which it bridges seamlessly and beautifully. It's a remarkable segue which makes the listener keenly aware of how the song could have developed in a very different direction had Crosby stayed to contribute throughout its evolution.

Speculation aside, what we do have is a return to the familiar pattern of banjo, guitars, bass, piano and percussion. Crosby reverts to his scatted counterpoint before it slips into a stunning instrumental section. Herein, the music weaves a genuinely hypnotic spell as it rolls effortlessly along the bed of Paul's banjo and Grace's piano, with Garcia picking exquisitely.

After several minutes of this, the vocal pattern is re- introduced, now in a more restrained vein against instrumentation which has become subdued, with Grace and the Cros gently dancing around Jerry to the finale of a wonderful excursion.

"Wild Turkey" (4' 20"): An interesting improvisation with Jorma and Jack at the controls, this may or may not be an early styling of what became the dynamic duo's "Bark" instrumental. It certainly starts off that way, with Kaukonen roaring out some aggressive electric noise and Casady on a familiar rumble. But soon it settles into something much gentler, employing a more reflective chord progression. Jorma's playing rises and falls in a fairly relaxed manner - until the finale, when he stirs it back towards the "Turkey" structure with some more combative lead guitar.

Barncard : Actually I think this called "Leather Winged Bat"

It could well be that Jack and Jorma decided the split- mood approach didn't work and restructured the number as the wholly aggressive strut we encountered on 'Bark'. Whatever, it's a nicely balanced piece and a pleasure to hear.

"Jorma & Jerry's Jam - 1" (14' 22"): If the previous outing was a pleasure, this jam is a sensation! As readers will be aware, there's little recorded evidence of Mr. Kaukonen and Mr. Garcia essaying their remarkable skills together, so this is a rare chance to hear the fruits of one such collaboration. Backed up by the supple bass of Jack Casady plus solid percussion (Mickey Hart?), this is a quarter-hour of incisive and responsive musicianship - intuitively structured and beautifully realized.

Jorma leads it off on electric guitar, his playing funky and rich in wah-wah, whilst Jerry complements it with a more subdued style. Casady is well mixed and excellent, but it's Jorma's sprawling mass of notes which take centre stage in this section; hot, handy and winding all over the soundscape in unfettered rampage.

Having played a disciplined supporting role for the first half of the jam - his accomplished touches providing the perfect foil to Jorma's aggression - Jerry assumes control for the second phase. Initially calm after the Kaukonen storm, this movement gradually builds over several minutes into a fabulous jam, delightfully evolved and transfixing the listener as it develops. Jerry's playing gets less lyrical, more earthy, until it is stylistically much closer to his partner's earlier contribution.

Naturally, Jorma then resumes the lead and steers the ensemble to a nicely judged conclusion.It would be perfectly reasonable to hail this example of superlative sparring as San Francisco jamming at its very finest.

"The Wall Song - 1" (6' 00"): After a waggish intro from the composer, we're into a captivating version of a Crosby song which appeared in 1972 on the LP 'Graham Nash David Crosby.' On that take, the duo were backed by Garcia, Lesh and Kreutzmann and there's no reason to suppose that the same trio isn't in support here. The real distinction between the released version and this is the absence of Nash - though this is more than ably compensated for by the double-tracking of Crosby's wonderful voice, which provides an imaginative and memorable harmony.

But there's a bonus. Just when listeners familiar with the 1972 record expect the track to finish, there's a lovely instrumental excursion with Garcia in winning form, shuffling percussion from Bill and a gentle ripple from Lesh. Really, this is so good it eclipses the official release by some distance - and should clearly have been included in the CS&N box of 1991.

Barncard : we ran out of room -- we had to put the full-length "Almost Cut My Hair" in there..

"The Wall Song - 2" (4' 27"): Again, David is doubly tracked, but this time there's only his own acoustic guitar in support, and the performance is generally a little lazier than before.

"Eep Hour" (4' 44"): A very dissimilar reading from the one which appeared on 'Garcia' and which had keyboard and pedal steel dominating the sound. This is just the acoustic guitars and bass and has a very Spanish ambiance. Presuming that Jerry isn't multi-tracked and playing everything himself - as he did on his album - we might take the other participants to be Lesh and either Kantner or Crosby.

Silberman : For what it's worth, I'm also pretty positive it's Jack Casady playing bass on EEP HOUR

At the close, there's a whoop of triumph from somebody and what sounds like Kantner's voice saying 'everybody just have a little break from their guitar strings!'

"Shuffle" (2' 20"): Two guitars (one electric), bass and drums glide effortlessly down a four-chord structure for a couple of minutes. The drums shuffle effectively but nothing much happens and the piece sounds more like an intro to something more substantial than an entity in itself.

"Jorma & Jerry's Jam - 2" (14' 29"): This has a slightly longer introduction than its earlier incarnation (i.e. it starts a few seconds before) but is otherwise identical to the first version.

"Banjo Instrumental" (6' 31"): This begins with the musicians already in full flow but soon collapses and they begin afresh. The slightly startling proposition of a banjo taking the lead throws the listener at first but it becomes apparent that this is actually the reflective segment of "Wild Turkey" again. Confirmation is given after a few minutes when Jorma appears to add a brief burst of the aggressive electric movement before the banjo takes it back. The five-string player could be Jerry or Paul - it's hard to tell because the figures played are rather routine and not particularly distinguished.

When the track ends, rather precipitously, so does the recording - and that's it.

These tapes are a fabulous find, showing as they do the formative stages of some classic songs and hinting at others, notably by Crosby, that could have been among the best things he never recorded.

It's a mild disappointment thal there isn't more of Paul Kantner's material on here - what I wouldn't give to hear that third secreted tape - but the reproduction is so good and the quality of the playing so exceptional that the whole thing is an aural treat and one feels both excited and honoured to be able to eavesdrop in this way.

Barncard No guarantee that that there is more Paul on these tapes, but I should find out when all the tapes are located and we can find backing for the project....

One can only hope that these musicians will reconvene at some point (preferably in the studio so we can all legitimately enjoy the results) and that the Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra hasn't run its course. The recent SEVA benefit (see Carry The Fire) and Paul's (still-) projected 'Blows' extravaganza suggest that it's not a hopeless dream, that it could happen again if all of their schedules can be made to almost not conflict one more time! Here's to that day when the members of the Orchestra will meet again and see each other's minds, turn up the band and start another story...

Bill Parry and Steve Rowland


---------- --------


Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra Tapes Story
(Bill Parry, Steve Rowland, and Steven Barncard *edited by Jen & Bret* - full story here)

Barncard : For the historical record, let's standardize the song titles. These are the original rough mix reels,the only source. I didn't make the transfers to DAT, so I don't know where the reel breaks are. Below are the original Tape Box notations. () is the corrected name

ORIGINAL TAPE BOX NOTATIONS

Perro Ruffs
Recorded by S. Barncard
Transferred at A&M Tape Copy 1/23/91
DAT 120 (2 hours)

1/2/71
01. Mountain #5
02. Is it Really Monday
03. You Sit There / incomplete
04. You Sit There
05. Garcia's Tune (Loser)
06. Garcia's Tune (Loser)
07. Wayfaring Stranger *

1/3/71
08. Mountain #1 /ACCs/
-- wound Heads -- Garcia, Crosby, Kantner, Grace, Lesh
09. Mountain #2 /ACC's/ Little Slower
10. Mountain #3 /ACC's/ ** Organized (different mix of above take)
11. Mountain #4 Complete Set Of changes; Long Voiceless Jam

1/14/71
12. Leather Winged Bat /Slower/
13. Electric Bat
14. Jam #10
15. Wall Song - Electric 12/13/70 **
16. Wall Song - Acoustic - solo demo

1/11/71
17. Rounds (EEP Hour)
18. Dope Rap w/Piano /"Funny"/
19. Jam Slide II good parts 11/04/70
20. Jam R&B Riff /Long/
21. Jam After Electric Bat 1/14/71
abrupt end (two track runs out)

Steve Silberman Notes:

* I'm also not yet totally convinced that the name of that folk tune IS Wayfaring Stranger - it might be another tune. But Steve may be right.

** The Wall Song on this tape is not the track used for Graham Nash/David Crosby, the excellent out-of-print album on Atlantic. It is an out-take. Another, better performance was used for the record, although sadly, the record fades out just before the jam. That's especially a shame because the band on both the PERRO tape version and the album version was: Garcia, Lesh, and Kreutzmann, plus Crosby and Nash. If a choice were to be made for the CD, I would definitely go with the album version WITH the extended jam. It's a lot hotter than the PERRO tape take, with a fiery Garcia & Nash driven peak with that ultra-sweet Garcia Strat sound of that era...


Barncard continues...
Obviously these tapes were not mixed in chronological order. As far as giving you some idea what will be on the CD, I don't know yet what I can use, and no, it won't be out for a couple of months....artwork and mixing, you know.....I have a lot of shit to do.... Soon I will get the 16 tracks, and I will have a better idea of what I can do with this, (and if it is worth it to remix all of it, or only parts.. some of the two track mixes are pretty good -- first generation.) At this early stage I cannot commit to any lineup. I might find <more> on the multis -- I haven't played those since '71 !!


DETAILS (mostly repeat of above version) :

On 8/23/91 a copy of the several PERRO reels were compiled onto a DT 120 DAT on request by Paul to Graham (since the tapes where kept in the latter's vault) for a copy.

When the Crosby, Stills & Nash box-set was being put together, some mystery reels were found.
All of the CSNY tape collection was brought in to one place for the first time, including personal collections of Barncard, Joel Bernstein, Nash and Stills. One of the PERRO tapes had a small pipe with weed in it and somebody smoked it! It was still good.

The material on the PERRO tapes was very interesting, but had nothing to do with CSNY. There were 4 reels of 2 track mixes made in 1971 during the sessions (obviously there is more that has never been mixed). The tapes were put into storage in Nash's vault.

Paul called Nash in 1992 and requested DATs of those tapes. This was the first time they had been outside of the CSNY organization. They were copied at A&M Post Production audio and my personal DAT was made at that time.

The roots of PER&RO go back a lot further than 1971. 1 guess it had its inception in the early years of the '60s (prior to the Airplane, the Byrds et al) when Kantner, Crosby and Freiberg used to hang out, play music, get high and rap together around Venice Beach. That was the initial bond, the start of it all.

Later, when they were in bands of their own, there were occasional points of interaction - like Garcia sitting in on the 'Surrealistic Pillow' sessions, like Crosby giving "Triad" to the Airplane when he couldn't get the Byrds to record it, like Kantner, Crosby and Stills writing "Wooden Ships".
Then, as the '60s drew to a close, two sets of circumstances combined to bring the Planet Earth Rock And Roll Dream a whole lot nearer. One was the opening of Wally Heider's studio in San Francisco - because now the local SF musicians (Airplane, Quicksilver, Dead) had a place on their doorstep where they could record. This gave item freedom from the corporate studios to record and produce as they saw fit, to come and go more as they pleased and to invite the musical neighborhood in if they chose. (It hadn't been so easy when they were holed up at RCA's or Warner's studios in Hollywood.) The other catalyst was the state of flux that a lot of bands were falling into by 1969/1970, for Crosby had left the Byrds, the Airplane was a less cohesive force with Dryden out and Hot Tuna splitting off, and Dino Valenti's arrival had unsettled QMS.

Things had come pretty much full circle by the end of the decade. Kantner was again hanging out with Crosby (quite often on the latter's yacht) and with David Freiberg - and, when Paul came to assemble musicians to record 'Blows Against The Empire', it wasn't just to his Airplane cohorts that he turned but also to Crosby and Garcia and even Graham Nash - who'd just bought a house in Frisco and ended up producing the whole second side of the 'Blows...' album at Heider's studio. 'Blows..." was the first album by that collection of musicians whom Paul liked to term the Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra.

The fact that he billed the album as being by Jefferson Starship shouldn't mislead anyone. Kantner, Crosby, Slick, Freiberg, Nash, Garcia, Kaukonen, Lesh, Casady, Kreutzmann, Hart - these people were the Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra, supporting each other on key projects.

As Grace recalls, "These sessions were like 'Uh, do you wanna play guitar on this one?' 'No, man, I have to go to the bathroom.' 'Okay, David, you wanna play?' 'Sure'. Whoever felt like doing something did it. Parts interchanged, people interchanged."

Graham Nash says "They asked me my opinion and I just jumped right in. Grace, Paul, David - they let me do whatever I heard. I was searching for this kind of environment when I came to America and when I was mixing in the studio our imaginations were running rampant. We were creating virtual kingdoms with music."

The second such PER&RO project was David Crosby's debut solo album, 'If I Could Only Remember My Name', which features all of the above-mentioned Planet Earthers plus the likes of Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Greg Rollie and Mike Shrieve.

But enough of this preamble, and on to the tapes in question. They come from sessions at Wally Heider's San Francisco studios in 1971. Crosby had sailed his boat up to Sausalito harbor. Nash was resident in the Haight. Kantner and Slick had moved out to Bolinas and the Dead were in Mill Valley but they would all head for Wally's of an evening to work on PER&RO songs. Some of these things ended up on Crosby's solo, a couple on Garcia's solo, one on Grace's album, one on Paul's 1983 'Planet Earth...' album - and some have never seen the light of day, in which case we've had to guess at what they might be title. Roll the PER&RO tapes.

"Walkin' In The Mountains" (1' 47n): A Crosby composition featuring typically attractive chordings, but little in the way of finished lyrics. "All the words we got so far are just ideas of places we'd like to go,- he tells Garcia at the start of this...

> "I went walkin' out last summer
> Tryin' to find a breath of air.

> I went walkin' in the mountains
> A friend had told me I'd find you there"

comprises just about all the words he has, but the feel is so airy and open you can almost smell that mountain air. The sequence makes a surprise reappearance later in the tape, as an intro to version four of 'The Mountain Song'.

Barncard : Two of the versions are actually the same performance, the second remixed a little better.

"Is It Really Monday?" (4' 55"): Crosby again, and this one begins with his acoustic guitar and the composer scat-singing the abstruse melody. When the lyrics arrive, he asks:
> "Is it really Monday?
> I must have been here before.
> Is it really Monday?
> I think the walls begin to speak."

The tempo is very slow, in a country blues vein and Garcia adds some restrained picking. The lugubrious bass sounds like that of Phil Lesh.

"Under Anesthesia" (5' 14"): The timing includes a false start of about 45 seconds, after which Crosby calls a halt and announces 'No, that's not it. Started too slow, it's outta time and I didn't get the right words!" When he does, it's another hugely impressive song, the lyrical angle of which is to bemoan the inertia of the common man - who is portrayed as stupefied by beer and TV. At the conclusion, Crosby launches into a brief sequence on guitar and comments 'I thought I'd try something original...if I write another song in E Minor, man, I'm gonna get fired!'

*This song is actually called "You Sit There"

"Loser" (8' 41"): The timing includes several restarts and Jerry explaining - and indeed demonstrating - the chord progression to his colleagues, who could well be Crosby, Lesh and Papa John*. There's certainly a violin in here and it works especially well, counterpointing the three guitars most effectively.

*Papa John never hung out in PERRO sessions. David Freiberg on viola.

It's obviously an early run through the song as Jerry doesn't have much more than the first verse written. The second crack has more audible vocals, but Garcia still resorts to "da da das" from the second verse on. The bridge is there, at least intact musically, even if the only line Jerry seems sure about is the closing "Don't let that deal go down" The genesis of a great song.

"Over Jordan" (3' 30"): Another Crosby song, replete with a beautiful structure, but short on completed lyrics. It begins with David's rippling acoustic guitar which is soon joined by that of Garcia for some impressive picking.

> "I'm only going over Jordan,
> Just a-goin" to my home"

sings the Cros, but after a couple of minutes he declares that he's forgotten the changes, so restarts the performance at the bridge. This is a delightful half-song which the composer should really have completed and recorded at some stage.

*Also called "Wayfaring Stranger"

"The Mountain Song - 1" (5' 11"): This is the first of several attempts at what would eventually become a slice of classic Airmachine. However, at this stage, the only fragment of the song they had to work with was the line "Gonna make the mountains be my home" and the chord-sequence that supported it, so it's quite amazing that from such a meager base Kantner, Slick, Crosby and Garcia (possibly with Casady and Hart) are able to conjure 23 minutes of undulating beauty. There's a banjo featured prominently, plus two acoustic guitars and Grace's distinctive piano. The banjo is Paul K.& the touches are so accomplished, it's Kantner on the five- string with Garcia and Crosby on guitars. Surprisingly, there's no trace of Paul's vocal - though the other three take care of that handsomely enough.

Early on, it's Jerry singing the line in orthodox fashion, while Grace embellishes with some improvised lyrics around the theme. Then Crosby takes Grace's place and scats around Jerry's vocal for a while. As you'd expect, the playing is loose and slightly tentative on this first version, but no less affecting for all that.

"The Mountain Song - 2" (5' 17"): Grace is back providing an improvised descant to Jerry's straight vocal at the start here, and she's singing about the sky and the river as he eulogizes the mountains. After a minute or so, Crosby introduces his scat and Grace leaves the chorus to concentrate on her keyboards. Her vocal chords are re-engaged towards the close.

"The Mountain Song - 3" (3' 44"): This version begins with Jerry and David singing the line and Grace gliding around them. Briefly, Crosby supersedes her in this role but soon the two of them are improvising around the structure as Jerry perseveres in the middle.
At the end of this effort, Paul is heard to remark "It sounds like everybody's going in and out of time" to which Crosby responds "No, no, no, it's all working - and it works perfectly." The listener is strongly inclined to agree with him.

"The Mountain Song - 4" (8' 20"): As you'll see, this is the longest version and undoubtedly the most satisfying of the four. This is where Crosby's embryonic "Walkin' In The Mountains" suddenly reemerges and he goes through the verse and various chord sequences as an introduction to "The Mountain Song," to which it bridges seamlessly and beautifully. It's a remarkable segue which makes the listener keenly aware of how the song could have developed in a very different direction had Crosby stayed to contribute throughout its evolution. Speculation aside, what we do have is a return to the familiar pattern of banjo, guitars, bass, piano and percussion. Crosby reverts to his scatted counterpoint before it slips into a stunning instrumental section. Herein, the music weaves a genuinely hypnotic spell as it rolls effortlessly along the bed of Paul's banjo and Grace's piano, with Garcia picking exquisitely. After several minutes of this, the vocal pattern is re-introduced, now in a more restrained vein against instrumentation which has become subdued, with Grace and the Cros gently dancing around Jerry to the finale of a wonderful excursion.

"Wild Turkey" (4' 20") (AKA "Leather Winged Bat"): An interesting improvisation with Jorma and Jack at the controls, this may or may not be an early styling of what became the dynamic duo's "Bark" instrumental. It certainly starts off that way, with Kaukonen roaring out some aggressive electric noise and Casady on a familiar rumble. But soon it settles into something much gentler, employing a more reflective chord progression. Jorma's playing rises and falls in a fairly relaxed manner - until the finale, when he stirs it back towards the "Turkey" structure with some more combative lead guitar. It could well be that Jack and Jorma decided the split-mood approach didn't work and restructured the number as the wholly aggressive strut we encountered on 'Bark'. Whatever, it's a nicely balanced piece and a pleasure to hear.

"Jorma & Jerry's Jam - 1" (14' 22"): If the previous outing was a pleasure, this jam is a sensation! As readers will be aware, there's little recorded evidence of Mr. Kaukonen and Mr. Garcia essaying their remarkable skills together, so this is a rare chance to hear the fruits of one such collaboration. Backed up by the supple bass of Jack Casady plus solid percussion (Mickey Hart?), this is a quarter-hour of incisive and responsive musicianship - intuitively structured and beautifully realized. Jorma leads it off on electric guitar, his playing funky and rich in wah-wah, whilst Jerry complements it with a more subdued style. Casady is well mixed and excellent, but it's Jorma's sprawling mass of notes which take center stage in this section. Hot, handy and winding all over the soundscape in unfettered rampage. Having played a disciplined supporting role for the first half of the jam - his accomplished touches providing the perfect foil to Jorma's aggression - Jerry assumes control for the second phase. Initially calm after the Kaukonen storm, this movement gradually builds over several minutes into a fabulous jam, delightfully evolved and transfixing the listener as it develops. Jerry's playing gets less lyrical, more earthy, until it is stylistically much closer to his partner's earlier contribution. Naturally, Jorma then resumes the lead and steers the ensemble to a nicely judged conclusion. It would be perfectly reasonable to hail this example of superlative sparring as San Francisco jamming at its very finest.

"The Wall Song -1" (6' 00"): After a waggish intro from the composer, we're into a captivating version of a Crosby song which appeared in 1972 on the LP 'Graham Nash David Crosby.' On that take, the duo were backed by Garcia, Lesh and Kreutzmann and there's no reason to suppose that the same trio isn't in support here. The real distinction between the released version and this is the absence of Nash - though this is more than ably compensated for by the double-tracking of Crosby's wonderful voice, which provides an imaginative and memorable harmony. But there's a bonus. Just when listeners familiar with the 1972 record expect the track to finish, there's a lovely instrumental excursion with Garcia in winning form, shuffling percussion from Bill and a gentle ripple from Lesh. Really, this is so good it eclipses the official release by some distance - and should clearly have been included in the CS&N box of 1991.

"The Wall Song - 2" (4' 27"): Again, David is doubly tracked, but this time there's only his own acoustic guitar in support, and the performance is generally a little lazier than before.

"Eep Hour" (4' 44"): A very dissimilar reading from the one which appeared on 'Garcia' and which had keyboard and pedal steel dominating the sound. This is just the acoustic guitars and bass and has a very Spanish ambiance. Presuming that Jerry isn't multi-tracked and playing everything himself - as he did on his album - we might take the other participants to be Lesh and either Kantner or Crosby.

*Jack Casady plays bass on EEP HOUR

At the close, there's a whoop of triumph from somebody and what sounds like Kantner's voice saying 'everybody just have a little break from their guitar strings!'

"Shuffle" (2' 20"): Two guitars (one electric), bass and drums glide effortlessly down a four-chord structure for a couple of minutes. The drums shuffle effectively but nothing much happens and the piece sounds more like an intro to something more substantial than an entity in itself.

"Jorma & Jerry's Jam - 2" (14' 29"): This has a slightly longer introduction than its earlier incarnation (i.e. it starts a few seconds before) but is otherwise identical to the first version.
These tapes are a fabulous find, showing as they do the formative stages of some classic songs and hinting at others, notably by Crosby, that could have been among the best things he never recorded.


(93/1) PERRO, 1970-11, If I Could Only Remember the Outtakes

Audio/flac, ?/?, (?)

801084001f801084001b
09/27/2007

The following came to LL through MalFrie, who got it as a torrent someplace. I reencoded it back to .flac, and IMHO there has been enough demand in the Forums for this material to warrant the extra step. If I could only remember their names. . . . :)

Enjoy yerselves.

~ Richard Starlight




If I Could Only Remember The Outtakes

David Crosby
Wally Heider Recording Studio, San Francisco (CA)
1970/11/??

Studio sessions from Nov 1970 thru Spring 1971

Lineage: ??? > FLAC
Quality: ***

/
01. Song With No Words
02. Tamalpais High
03. What Are Their Names
04. Song With No Words
05. Orleans
06. I`d Swear There Was Somebody Here
07. Music Is Love
08. Laughing
09. Laughing
10. Traction In The Rain
11. Traction In The Rain
12. Traction In The Rain
13. I`d Swear There Was Somebody Here
14. I`d Swear There Was Somebody Here
15. Music Is Love

//
01. Music Is Love
02. Laughing
03. Laughing
04. Song With No Words
05. Song With No Words
06. Tamalpais High
07. Tamalpais High
08. Tamalpais High
09. Orleans
10. Orleans
11. Cowboy Movie
12. Cowboy Movie
13. Cowboy Movie
14. Slide Jam

Original notes:
If I Could Remember My Name outtakes were usually mixed up with so called PERRO tapes, The Dorks rehearsals or Mickey's Barn, although basically totally different material were involved.
It was usually traded as a single disc, bur here are all IICORMN outtakes that ever circulated in probably the best quality around.
Pink Robert

Liens/Links