tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post4600520567502423666..comments2024-03-25T06:33:12.809-07:00Comments on Lost Live Dead: December 5, 1977: Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA Robert Hunter and Comfort (Alligator Moon-FM XIV))Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-26078561446464727012022-03-23T02:40:45.496-07:002022-03-23T02:40:45.496-07:00The unreleased album popped up recently on DIME mi...The unreleased album popped up recently on DIME minus the 3 tracks that were on the compilation. Details as follows<br /><br />Comfort with Robert Hunter<br />"Alligator Moon" unreleased album<br /><br />01 Jesse James<br />02 She Gives Me Love<br />03 Hooker's Ball<br />04 Drunkard's Lullaby<br />05 Promontory Rider<br />Alligator Moon Suite:<br />06 Arroyo Hondo<br />07 Domino Cigarette & Helena<br />08 Domino<br />09 Blue Note<br />10 East St. Louis Blues<br /><br />music - Kevin Morgenstern & Richard McNees<br />lyrics - Robert Hunter<br /><br />Robert Hunter: guitar, vocals<br />Larry Klein: 6-string bass<br />Kathleen Klein: vocals<br />Kevin Morgenstern: guitar, vocals<br />Pat Courenzano: drums<br />Richard McNees: keyboards<br />Rodney Albin: banjo, fiddle, etc.<br />Marlene Molle Albin: vocals<br /><br />Source: Cassette copied from a band member in 1989.<br />SIRMickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10719346023154724154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-74686009273239868332021-10-15T14:29:51.384-07:002021-10-15T14:29:51.384-07:00If not only greatly helpful, this has been much en...If not only greatly helpful, this has been much enlightening. I have had the first few lines of Mesa Linda (incorrectly) but indelibly etched into my brain in 1978 I guess. I can't remember the venue. I thought it was with Roadhog but clearly not, so I would guess it was the Shady Grove show.<br /><br />I went to a lot of Hunter back then and it's sort of blurry. I began downloading and listening to all I could from the Archive and finally caught up with Alligator Moon. Also been restoring some of it best I am able, the KPA tape got scrambled and had to be rearranged but it was a fun project.<br /><br />A short time ago I happened to locate most of the studio A.M. on YouTube, just listening to it provides further insight as to why it was never (and probably will never) released. But, while misdirected my enthusiasm remains unabated.<br /><br />https://fineartamerica.com/featured/alligator-full-moon-filip-schpindel.htmlpalealienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05014312433374131905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-53176719034964176592020-12-09T12:03:53.157-08:002020-12-09T12:03:53.157-08:00Thanks for this. I think all of the reasons you ci...Thanks for this. I think all of the reasons you cite were true, more or lessCorry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-61090603241793428162020-12-09T11:58:01.964-08:002020-12-09T11:58:01.964-08:00I ran in to Hunter at Bananas Music store in San R...I ran in to Hunter at Bananas Music store in San Rafael in 1996 and asked him why Alligator Moon was never released. His somewhat cryptic answer was that the band broke up due to what I interpreted to be personality problems. But he may have also meant that there was no longer financial support to put it out once the band had broken up - or that the band broke up because he was done financially supporting it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16929668825556566632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-81053436306645691682019-02-01T17:28:13.827-08:002019-02-01T17:28:13.827-08:00Wondering if anyone ever laid out chords and tab s...Wondering if anyone ever laid out chords and tab sheet for Hunter-Melton's "Jesse James?"Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04798045559082736196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-64637484510252437482013-04-12T02:54:21.146-07:002013-04-12T02:54:21.146-07:00No, I don't think Hunter ever played the Marqu...No, I don't think Hunter ever played the Marquee. The closest the Marquee ever got to the Dead milieu was a Kingfish show just after Bobby left. We turned up expecting him not knowing he'd left. That was a good show. <br /><br />The Marquee was a small, sweat running down the walls place. The Venue fancied itself as much more up market. There were tiers of tables with little candles on and you had to wait for a waitress (never a waiter) to occasionally come round before you could order an overpriced beer. It only lasted a few years but put on some good shows, Gil Scott-Heron and James Brown I remember impressing me. It might have lasted longer if they'd employed more waitresses.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-21218464249794946142013-04-11T18:51:44.628-07:002013-04-11T18:51:44.628-07:00guinness, this interview is completely fascinating...guinness, this interview is completely fascinating in the context of the Dec 5 '77 show. Richard McNees more or less confirmed Hunter's version of the story from his end--Rodney brought in Hunter to a pre-existing band, Hunter financed it, but it didn't happen.<br /><br />Did we know that Hunter co-wrote "Night Of The Vampires?" Thanks also for identifying the Hunter shows in London--everyone seems to forget that he played there (did he play the Marquee also, or am I conflating that with "The Venue"?)Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-22095467711908063872013-04-11T16:48:35.268-07:002013-04-11T16:48:35.268-07:00More Hunter, this time on the song Jesse James, fr...More Hunter, this time on the song Jesse James, from part 1 of the same Ken Hunt interview (which was conducted shortly after The Venue, Victoria, London November 1979 shows) published in “Dark Star” Vol 23 p 29-30 for April 1980. After discussing Mickey Hart’s recordings and Fire On The Mountain (Hunter prefers the “the gutsy version that we’d done years and years before” to the Dead’s Shakedown version)…<br /><br />KH “Jesse James was supposed to be on that album (Fire On The Mountain), wasn’t it, if I recall?”<br /><br />RH “Oh, possibly… Maybe it was…”<br /><br />KH “Have the Dead ever done Jesse James?”<br /><br />RH “No, I wrote it around the time of Workingman’s Dead and my melody was different. I gave it to Barry (Melton) to work with. It used to be my best song with bands like Roadhog. I was able to get my best audience response with it and really throw myself into it, and then I finally retired it. I don’t do it any more. It wilted on me after a couple of years. I stopped investing myself so heavily in it. What I do is that I’ll have some song that I’m hotter about than any other one.”<br /><br />KH “Barry Melton played on some of those tracks (Fire On The Mountain) and he subsequently recorded Jesse James (on The Fish).”<br /><br />RH “It was about that time and I had just finished Rumrunners and we were just all fired in the studio. We just churned out stuff hand over fist! God! We stacked so many tracks away and Mickey’s got the vaults of all that stuff. It was a very, very creative time.”<br /><br />KH “It seems a shame that it never saw a release on, say, Round or something like that.”<br /><br />RH “He got the one out, but the sales weren’t too hot on it (Rolling Thunder). It got remaindered. You can get your chance, but you’ve got to sell well. He got the other one together, but he couldn’t get it out. He had to spend too much on it and he was on some kinda budget on it, something like that, and by the time, I think, the record company saw what he had in mind… it was a phenomenal record – they didn’t have faith in it!”<br /><br />KH “What else was going to be on it?”<br /><br />RH “Marshmallow Road and something like Night Of The Vampire, which Melton and I wrote together… I’m doing a memory feat here… there’s a lot I want to forget and some things I’d like to remember.”<br /><br />The topic then moves on to Pigpen. There’s no follow up questions on Hunter’s own studio version of Jesse James for Alligator Moon until it's mentioned much later in what I posted earlier but I hope you find it relevant none the less. You have to treat Hunter’s memory of dates with caution obviously.<br /><br />I think this is the first occasion I’ve seen the word vault used to describe old tapes but I could well be wrong.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-1419287203267564612013-04-11T08:14:27.712-07:002013-04-11T08:14:27.712-07:00Hunter discussed Comfort and Alligator Moon with K...Hunter discussed Comfort and Alligator Moon with Ken Hunt in his interview (part 3 of 3) in "Dark Star" Vol 25 p 43 from Dec 1980/Jan 1981. He certainly was serious about it but it seems we have Barry Melton to thank for its non-release.<br /><br />At the end of answering questions about his time with Roadhog and the Barry Melton Band, he says<br /><br />"... so I quit. I got out of the business for nine months or so. And then (resignedly), Rodney (Albin) had another band after a while, Comfort, and they were such a good band. He told me that they were going to break up unless I joined them, 'cause they couldn't afford to stay together any longer. So back to a life of music."<br /><br />KH "You recorded an album, Alligator Moon. Alligator Moon was on one side and for the other I've only got three tracks: Jesse James, Promontory Rider and Drunkard's Carol. Were there any others?"<br /><br />RH "Oh yeah. She Gives Me Love and Hooker's Ball - Walking The Block was the subtitle of that."<br /><br />KH "Why didn't it ever come out?"<br /><br />RH "The real reason is because Barry (Melton) came over after I'd spent all this time and money and the other half of my psyche in this thing. I played the record for him and he went to sleep! And I didn't put it out. It was as simple as that."<br /><br />KH "Are you sure he didn't go to sleep for other reasons?"<br /><br />RH "No, no, no. He was just sitting there like (leans head to one side)... and he's one of the people that I can use as a sounding board to see if I'm fooling myself about something like that. It put Barry to sleep, so I wasn't going to put it out."<br /><br />KH "Shame, because it means that people over here are never going to hear it."<br /><br />RH "I think I will release it at some point. I've got it tied up with terrible vocals right now. People are on about why don't I put some decent vocals on the thing? Maybe I could recoup some of the losses on that, I don't know. Christie was in it, we did ballet with it, fully choreographed. We did The Hooker's Ball and the whole Alligator Moon suite with the ballet. It was quite impressive! I hear there are video tapes of it somewhere, but I have to get a hold of them. We did it down at Santa Cruz Auditorium with the Jerry Garcia Band. We also did it at Marin Civic Centre and Ranch Nicasio. I guess we played it four times. That was some production. I had thirteen people in my crew, plus the three ballerinas. We were sixteen people and Daddy here was footing the bill for all of this. Daddy's record royalties for the next two years went down the tubes. Well spent, I might add."<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-43795984296788844022013-04-10T19:05:03.420-07:002013-04-10T19:05:03.420-07:00I was fortunate enough to hear from former Comfort...I was fortunate enough to hear from former Comfort keyboard player Richard McNees, who had a variety of interesting insights. Most of them have now been inserted in the post above.<br /><br />The most fascinating detail was that the members of Comfort were on salary, with checks signed by the Grateful Dead. Many years later, Hunter grumbled to McNees about how much money he lost on Comfort, so the whole Comfort/Alligator Moon process was no lark, but a serious effort by Hunter to have conventional rock success. The music was there, as the Keystone tape attests,but the other pieces never fell into place.Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-43204072929996588742012-09-14T20:53:59.873-07:002012-09-14T20:53:59.873-07:00Corry,
I have the 12/6/77 fm recording, on cassett...Corry,<br />I have the 12/6/77 fm recording, on cassette, here's the setlist<br /><br />Robert Hunter and Comfort<br /><br />Jessie James<br />Walkin The Block<br />We Can Work It Out<br />Rumrunners><br />Roses<br />It's All The Same To Me<br />Alligator Moon<br />Promintory Rider<br /><br />encore<br />Boys In The Barroom<br /> <br />Can't recall what was played after that...I was also at the Keystone Palo Alto KFAT Fat Fry Peter Rowan and the Free Mexican Airforce with Ozzie Ahlers and David Bromberg fm live show, 10/1/79 and have that recording also. Jerry's Brokendown Palaceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06451361448230329754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-19320730621528795512011-10-10T14:14:16.615-07:002011-10-10T14:14:16.615-07:00Well, I just discovered that Joe recorded the song...Well, I just discovered that Joe recorded the song in Summer 73, so it had to already have been written. I am trying to sort out the song over on Hooterollin, as I am interested in the recording history of The Fish album. It appears it was recorded twice, once in Novato with Bob and Betty, and then again (and released) in Rockfield with Dave Charles.Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-43812298361137518912011-10-10T14:05:19.854-07:002011-10-10T14:05:19.854-07:00It dates to the 73-74 window and Barry does have a...It dates to the 73-74 window and Barry does have a story about it - but my brain is soft enough at the moment not to recall the story. I will make an effort to dig it up.The Yellow Sharkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17001772238662274893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-20395517638977394192011-10-10T06:42:33.910-07:002011-10-10T06:42:33.910-07:00I had no idea about the Joe McDonald connection t...I had no idea about the Joe McDonald connection to the song. Hunter and Melton must have written it considerably earlier than I thought. Perhaps they collaborated on it when Country Joe And The All-Star Band (with Barry) came through Europe in 1973-74?Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-70497060827504964342011-10-10T00:15:27.048-07:002011-10-10T00:15:27.048-07:00I recall that the song "Jesse James" was...I recall that the song "Jesse James" was written in London. Although Robert Hunter wrote the song originally with Barry Melton, it was Joe McDonald who first released it - on 1974 "Country Joe" release. McDonald modified the lyrics and subsequently both Hunter and Melton performed the song using a mix of the original lyrics and those changed by Joe. Barry Melton performed the song in England as recently as 2010 with an alternate mix of lyrics. I recall Joe and Barry playing the song together as early as January 1975. Variants of the lyrics can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/6ekg8ad listsThe Yellow Sharkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17001772238662274893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-34821732554825670952011-10-09T10:23:32.066-07:002011-10-09T10:23:32.066-07:00JGBP, there was a second set, wasn't there?JGBP, there was a second set, wasn't there?Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-69795384501555723772011-10-09T09:27:46.591-07:002011-10-09T09:27:46.591-07:00Not much to add except that I was at this show.Not much to add except that I was at this show.Jerry's Brokendown Palaceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06451361448230329754noreply@blogger.com