High Noon was a Bay Area club band featuring Merl Saunders, Norton Buffalo and Mickey Hart. Their first appearance, under the name “Norton Buffalo and Merl Saunders” was at a benefit on May 22, 1981 at the Fox-Warfield Theatre, in San Francisco. That performance was discussed at length here. In the interests of completeness, here are the balance of their shows.
High Noon
Mike Hinton-electric guitar
Jim McPherson-guitar, keyboards, percussion, vocals
Norton Buffalo-harmonica, vocals
Merl Saunders-organ, synthesizer, grand piano, vocals
Bobby Vega-electric bass
Mickey Hart-drums
Vicki Randle-congas, percussion, vocals
Update: Since this post was originally written, a posthumous cd of Jim McPherson's music has been released. High Noon was formed partially as a vehicle for McPherson's songs, but since McPherson died an untimely death in 1985, the material languished for some decades. The cd is called A Promise Kept. Two of the songs on the cd, "Left Out In The Cold" and "Cross The Bridge," feature High Noon.
McPherson was a talented musician from the South Bay who played and recorded with a number of groups, including The Trolls, Stained Glass, Christian Rapid, Copperhead (with John Cipollina), Roadhog (with Robert Hunter) and the Merl Saunders band. For more about Jim McPherson and his music, see here; for Blair Jackson's appreciation of McPherson's music, see his article here.
June 25, 1981 Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz
Jerry Garcia Band/High Noon
June 26, 1981 Fox-Warfield Theatre, San Francisco
Jerry Garcia Band/High Noon/Mike Henderson
July ?, 1981 "San Quentin Bike Show"
High Noon with Joan Baez
Lead guitarist Mike Hinton recalled this intriguing sounding event in the Comments, although I don't know exactly what it was. He recalls a number of other shows, as well. Due to gaps in the Grateful Dead's touring schedule, I have located them in July, but they could have been spread out at various times around the Summer of 1981.
July ?, 1981 The Oasis, Sacramento
High Noon
July ?, 1981 Cabo's, Chico
High Noon
July ?, 1981 The Golden Bear, Huntington Beach
High Noon
July ?, 1981 The Country Club, Reseda
High Noon/John Lee Hooker and The Coast To Coast Blues Band
July ?, 1981 The Belly-Up Tavern, Solana Beach
High Noon
July 25, 1981 Phoenix Theater, Petaluma
High Noon
July 28, 1981 The Stone, San Francisco
High Noon
Joan Baez sang “Diamonds and Rust”. I have a low quality audience tape.
July 29, 1981 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley
High Noon
July 30, 1981 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto
High Noon
A good audience tape circulates. Joan Baez sings several numbers.
August 6, 1981 Napa County Fairgrounds, Napa
Jefferson Starship/High Noon
August 9, 1981 Old Waldorf, San Francisco
High Noon
Joan Baez also performed at this show.
December 12, 1981 Fiesta Hall, San Mateo County Fairgrounds, San Mateo
Grateful Dead/Joan Baez/High Noon
High Noon had a different lineup for this show:
Mike Hinton-lead guitar
Jim McPherson-guitar, organ, vocals
Merl Saunders-organ, electric piano, piano, vocals
Chuck Rainey-bass
Mickey Hart-drums
with Bill Kreutzmann-percussion
Joan Baez-vocals
Chuck Rainey is a famous and excellent session musician. After a few numbers, Joan Baez and Bill Kreutzmann came out and the band backed her for a few of her well-known numbers. Later, Joan would be backed by the Grateful Dead, but that’s another post.
December 17, 1982 Pyramid Pins, Garberville
Mickey And The Daylights
This was a one-off, but it seemed to feature the High Noon crowd:
Barry Melton-lead guitar, vocals
Mike Hinton-lead guitar
Kathi McDonald-vocals
Merl Saunders-keyboards, vocals
Bobby Vega-bass
Mickey Hart-drums
As an odd footnote, the group seems to have begun working with Country Joe and ended working with Barry Melton.
Note the spelling is "Mickey and the Daylites" according to the posters. See
ReplyDeletehttp://artrock.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=7&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=614&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1
And it wasn't quite a one-off - a few years later there was another appearance of the band at Ranch Rock 86 on Sept 7, 1986. The lineup there was mostly the same. It had David Freiberg (keyboards and vocals) in place of Merl Saunders and added Dave Jenkins (guitar and vocals). On three songs, John Cipollina (guitar) also sat in. See
http://www.mail-archive.com/deadlists@nemesis.cs.berkeley.edu/msg02574.html
Good catch on the spelling of "Daylites." I was aware of the 1986 shows, but it seemed a stretch to connect it to the High Noon shows.
ReplyDeleteCorry
FWIW, just came across reference to a demo cut by High Noon at Prairie Sun Recording in Cotati sometime in the mid-1981 to mid-1982 time period.
ReplyDeleteJack McDonough, "Prairie Sun Plans Expansion," Billboard, May 8, 1982, p. 37.
High Noon also played : San Quentin Bike Show [Joan Baez also fronted band for a couple of songs];Napa County Fair [opened for Jefferson Starship]; Cabo's [Chico, CA.]; The Oasis [Sacramento, CA.]; The Golden Bear [Huntington Beach]; The Country Club [Reseda]*John Lee Hooker and the Coast to Coast Blues Band opened the show; The Belly Up [?][San Diego}. I don't have the dates for those shows handy but i was there and played them. I would sure appreciate the opportunity to get audio copies of any shows. I was the lead guitar player. michaelhinton1@comcast.net
ReplyDeleteMichael, thanks for all the great information. It does seem unfortunate that High Noon was such an interesting band and seems to have been left by the wayside. I've got to think there are a lot of tapes out there gathering dust, waiting to be digitized.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the Starship show in Napa (per Starshipbase) was August 6, 1981. The Belly Up is actually in Solana Beach, not too far from San Diego.
What was the San Quentin Bike Show? It sounds awfully intriguing.
I have unearthed a recording of the 12/12/81 High Noon set, recorded by Phil Jaret. It only has 2 songs. It is hard to believe that it is the entire set. The first song is (You Give Me) Fever. I do not know the name of the 2nd song but would be happy to provide someone with a copy to identify it.
ReplyDeleteyou’ll probably never see this because i found this 7 year old comment only now, but i thought it would be worth the slim chance that you’d be able to send any audio copy of this set, however short, i would be so grateful... my late father was on guitar, Mike Hinton. my email is kceline17@gmail.com if you or anyone else ever reads this and has ANY tapes of High Noon performances!!
Deleteunk, all the Comment threads are always alive here. Given that the blog effectively begins in 1965, what's seven years? I'm not a Tapes guy, but I know there are a lot of High Noon tapes out there. I saw High Noon a number of times, and heard a bunch of tapes (and Merl Saunders too)--your dad was a terrific guitar player. As you probably saw, he even left a comment on this thread, too (http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2009/07/1981-high-noon-with-mickey-hart.html?showComment=1270442252237#c4687556451564001947)
Deletethanks for being in on this enterprise. I hope you find a lot of cool tapes.
David I would check out the forums of a taper site like db.etree.org or Lossless Legs (shnflac.net) I'm sure someone would be more than happy to digitize the recording and get it circulating! I would love to hear that stuff!
ReplyDeleteDavid, I was at the Dec 12 '81 show, and the High Noon set was definitely longer than 2 songs. They played about five extended numbers (my notes don't include song titles, sadly), and then Joan Baez and Bill Kreutzmann joined the band (Bill on percussion) and they backed Joan Baez for several numbers (I only recall "Diamonds And Rust").
ReplyDeleteMichael Hinton posted this little vignette at Facebook: "Played all 3 [Keystone family] venues in 1981 w/Mickey Hart's band High Noon. Most memorable was when Jerry Garcia came backstage and shook my hand at The Stone. Mickey said "we actually got Jerry to leave his house!"" Based on your list, this had to have been 7/28/81.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteChuck Rainey, via Jake Feinberg's Facebook page:
ReplyDeletePlaying with Mickey Hart for that one little period there. I think his band was called "Full Moon." I played bass on a couple of live shows and did some rehearsing. Joan Baez was around a lot. My wife was in school so we were up in SF all the time. Mickey needed a bass player so Merl asked me to play. Just about 2 or 3 times a month.” https://www.facebook.com/jake.feinbergshow/posts/1199827166760479
He gets the band name wrong, but anyway, FWIW.
Thanks for this. The most interesting detail is that Rainey seems to recall having played more than one show. I only know Chuck Rainey playing on the Fiesta Hall Show (Dec 12 '81), but maybe there was another unknown gig around that time, or he filled in for Vega on some occasion.
DeleteRainey is a session dude, but an amazing player. If you can dig up a vinyl-only album called Fairyland by Larry Coryell (it hasn't been released on cd for some contractual reason), it will melt your brain. Just Coryell and Rainey playing in an electric power trio (with Bernard Purdie on drums), absolutely mind bending. I couldn't believe it when he was announced on stage with High Noon in San Mateo.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThe Archive has the San Quentin News. Here is what they have about the San Quentin Bike Show.
ReplyDelete" SCOOTER STAMPEDE
Annual Bike Show Held At
By EZ Williams and Robert Endy
After a lot of work, several setbacks and the inevitable
headaches of planning such an event, the powerful rumble
of Harleys created an awesome sound rolling through the
sallyport gate Nov. 8 to kick off the annual San Quentin
Bike Show.
And if the 30-or-so Southern California bikes sitting on
the lower yard were not a wonder in themselves, consider
the accompanying entertainers: Joan Baez, Norton Buf-
falo, Nightfood, and High Noon — all here to help make a
special day for San Quentin cons. "
https://archive.org/stream/san_quentin_news_1981/san_quentin_news_1981_djvu.txt
The transcription is sketchy but here is what i can find of the review...
Delete"...time to get the sound equip-
ment ready for use. As a result,
many frustrated cons left be-
fore the music ever started.
San Quentin’s own rock-
and-roll band, Fat Cat, was
scheduled to open the show, but
due to the lockdown, only three
members of the band could
make it.
guitar and Bob Varricchio on
keyboards.
The cons on hand then got a
real treat when Norton Buffalo
introduced a special guest.
Donning her acoustic guitar
and flawless voice, Joan Baez
took center stage and pro-
ceeded to envelope the lower
yard in a blanket of warr^
JOAN BAEZ, "WELL I'll BE DAMNED. . .'
The music finally got under-
way shortly past noon with
Mickey Hart’s band, High
Noon, jumping into some
dynamite rhythm and blues.
High Noon is a composite of
top bay area musicians,
brought together from well-
known bands.
Norton Buffalo again made
magic with his harp, while
Grateful Dead drummer Mic-
key Hart supplied the beat.
Just back from tour with
George Benson, Vicki Randall
helped out on percussion and
vocals. Rounding out this
multi-talented band was Merle
Sanders on keyboards, Mike
Hinton and Jim McPherson
each on guitar, and Bobby
Vega held the pace on bass
guitar.
mellow sounds.
Baez did three songs, in-
cluding the popular
“Diamonds and Rust,” to an
overwhelmingly enthusiastic
crowd. She seemed unbothered
by the typical verbal abuses
she received from a few cons in
the audience, singing her heart
out to the large majority of
very appreciative spectators.
She finished with a colorful
little tune called “Do Right
Woman,’’ then turned the stage
back over to High Noon— who
boogied on into their final jam
of the day.
There was about an hour in
between bands, as cons, cops
and freepeople all chipped in to
ready the stage for the next
group of performers. The News
took this opportunity to rap
the roar crescendoed to a point
of uncompromising force.
Then, as if someone some-
where dropped a checkered
flag, clutches were released
and the 1981 Bike Show ended
amid the roar that marked its
beginning some six hours ear-
lier.
Year in and year out, the bike
show consistently provides the
cons with some of the best en-
tertainment and socializing
possible. This year was no ex-
ception and plans are already
in full swing to insure that next
year’s show keeps up the trad-
ition.
While waiting for the show to
begin, the News talked with one
of the chief convict organizers,
Tortuga, who said he and fel-
low convict Silver did most of
the leg work — with a lot of help
from other convicts who
wanted the show to come off.
Tortuga also said that Lenard
Barela did most of the coor-
dinating on the streets with the
other outside bikers who came
to the show.
Tortuga and the rest of the
inside organizers extended a
special thanks to Lt. Brown,
Activities Coordinator Clar-
ence Wilson and the other staff
members who helped this
year’s show become a reality.
After three foot-stomping
renditions, the band made
room for three members of Fat
Cat, who joined in one whale of
a jam session. The 10-minute
jam was thunderously
applauded by the many rock
fans present. Helping out High
Noon were Phil Burdick on
drums, Bill Faught on lead
CONS MIX WITH BIKES AND MUSIC
with some of the musicians and
get their feelings about the
music they shared with the
cons.
Ms. Baez, who commented
that she couldn't remember if
she's played here before,
explained to the News how dif-
ficult it is to get professional
quality musicians to play for
seemed to lift the crowd with
every song. "
"Nightfood,a Bolinas-based
Deleteband, featured the beautiful
harmonizing of Carol Joy Har-
ris and Cici Dawn, which was
accented by the radical
saxaphone sounds of Tony
Della Valle. Dave Murray and
Brant Shenkarow provided the
1 t
NORTON BUFFALO
ATASTEOFNIGHTFOOD
free, anywhere.
When asked what inspired
her to come in and sing for a
bunch of cons, she stated that
Norton Buffalo casually in-
vited her to join in the fun, and
she gladly accepted.
When Norton was asked what
keeps bringing him back to the
bastille, he jokingly replied,
“The drugs are better in here."
He then explained realisit-
cally , “Listening to good music
takes my mind away from all
the jive. For me it's an escape,
an escape that I try to get ac-
ross to the cons.’’
Closing the musical fes-
tivities for the day,
Nightfood— last here for the
Labor Day Show— took the
stage in front of an increas-
ingly growing audience. This
band filled the air with their
whimsical style of mellow
country-rock- jazz tunes, which
beat on bass and drums, re-
spectively, while Brian Lemco
provided the steely sounds of
lead guitar.
As the band worked their
way through their first couple
of songs, a Della Valle sax solo
with some smokin’ riffs,
brought cheers from the
crowd.
When asked how they would
describe the style of music the
band plays, Carol and manager
Bob Dill came up with “a ver-
satile mixture of rhythm and
blues, country rock, Motown,
reggae, swing and good old
rock and roll. '’
Judging from the cheers of
the crowd, it might safely be
said that the cons were even
more receptive to this band.
The presence of their two
lovely lead singers, Carol Joy
and Cici, could have had
something to do with it.
It seemed the fun had just
begun, then it was over.
The stage was cleared; per-
formers chatted casually as
they made their way up the in-
dustries ramp towards the exit
gate; bikers and ol’ ladies
mounted their chrome ponies.
Then came the thunder.
It started as a mild roar, but
as more engines kicked over..."
This is the direct link to the original scans. Instead of the wonky transcript. Plus pictures!
ReplyDeletehttps://archive.org/stream/san_quentin_news_1981#page/n81/mode/2up
David, thanks so much for this amazing historical research.
Deletemy husband and I (SUAVE SOUND) did the sound for the San Quentin show. one of the most memorable in my career. It was odd from the start. First they did not tell us in advance that we could not wear jeans because the inmates did and if a riot broke out the guys with the guns aimed for the jeans. So after a delay they found me a damn orange caltrans jumpsuit to wear. Great as if I wasn't feeling nervous enough and trying to just blend in with the guys, now I was going to stick out like a sore thumb! Then we drive our truck into a courtyard where the guards proceed to unload everything and go through EVERY piece of gear, even as precise as opening up a Roland space echo that belonged to Norton Buffalo. In one item one guard found what looked like a little piece of dirt, brought it to another guard's attention, mentioned it looked like a piece of hash. "Is that all you found?" "Yes, what should i do with it? The other guy took it from him and through it in the dirt. Apparently, a sound crew coming in for a recent show there got busted with cocaine and had the entire truck and contents confiscated and crew arrested so they were on "High Alert" It took them forever to go through our sound gear, then THEIR crew (inmates I believe) loadewd our stuff onto one of their flatbed trucks and took it into the yard. Next thing, we needed to get our wrists stamped with a special stamp that could only be read by some reader. It took awhile fro them to bring the stamp to the gate. SO most of the delays setting up the sound mentioned actually were delays BEFORE we even started setting it up! There was nothing except for a set of stanchions like you find in a bank separating the stage from the inmates. I remember the daunting sight if the sharpshooters walking up on the catwalk, but it did not make me feel any less nervous. If I needed to talk to Bill and he was out front by the mixing board I would make him come to me, i wasn't leaving that stage! When Joan Baez showed up at least I felt slightly less nervous, not being the only female in that yard. While the show was going on an inmate struck up a conversation with me and showed me a t-shirt he had made and it seemed like he wanted to give it to me, i thought as a gift, but then i realized he wanted to SELL it to me, I told him I didn't have any money, (they kept our wallets at the gate) but he gave it to me anyway After the show when we were trying to leave, there was a long delay at the gate while they scrambled to find the stamp reader to let us out of the yard. By the time we had our van reloaded with the sound gear and drove to the gate, they were going to make us unload it completely because they did not have anybody watch while we loaded it to make sure we were not transporting any hidden inmates in the van. We explained how tightly packed the van was that nobody could possibly fit in there, they took a look inside and let us go. What a day!! I would post a picture of the T-shirt but can't seem to.
ReplyDeleteA couple of studio cuts of them playing Fire on The Mountain and a song called Mad have circulated on Lossless Legs today.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHere is what I have for the High Noon dates
ReplyDeleteMay 22, 1981 Fox Warfield Theatre San Francisco CA Grateful Dead/Holly Near/Proto High Noon
June 25, 1981 Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz CA JGB/High Noon [Thursday]
June 26, 1981 Fox-Warfield Theatre, San Francisco JGB/High Noon/Mike Henderson [Friday]
July 18, 1981 Phoenix Theatre Petaluma CA High Noon [Saturday]
July 28, 1981 The Stone, San Francisco CA High Noon [Tuesday]
July 29, 1981 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley CA High Noon [Wednesday]
July 30, 1981 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto CA High Noon [Thursday]
August 5, 1981 Oasis Ballroom, Sacramento CA High Noon [Wednesday]
August 6, 1981 Napa County Fairgrounds, Napa CA Jefferson Starship/High Noon [Thursday]
August 7, 1981 Next Stage Saloon Hayward CA [Friday]
August 9, 1981 Old Waldorf San Francisco CA High Noon/Ramblin Jack Elliott [Sunday]
November 8, 1981 "San Quentin Bike Show” High Noon with Joan Baez [Sunday]
November 13, 1981 Sebastopol Vet Memorial Aud Sebastopol CA High Noon/W.B.B.H./Billy C Farlow [Friday]
November 14, 1981 Cabos Chico CA High Noon [Saturday]
November 15, 1981 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley CA High Noon [Sunday]
November 17, 1981 The Country Club, Reseda CA High Noon/John Lee Hooker [Tuesday]
November 18, 1981 The Golden Bear, Huntington Beach CA High Noon [Wednesday]
December 12, 1981 Fiesta Hall, San Mateo County Fairgrounds, San Mateo Grateful Dead/Joan Baez/High Noon
No sign of a Belly Up Tavern date that I can find
Deletei was at the following shows:
ReplyDeleteDecember 12, 1981 Fiesta Hall, San Mateo County Fairgrounds, San Mateo Grateful Dead/Joan Baez/High Noon
May 22, 1981 Fox Warfield Theatre San Francisco CA Grateful Dead/Holly Near/Proto High Noon
June 26, 1981 Fox-Warfield Theatre, San Francisco JGB/High Noon/Mike Henderson [Friday]