February 3, 1970 Family Dog on The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead (Lost and Found) [FDGH VII]

The KQED-tv Special A Night At The Family Dog, recorded in February 1970, was released in 2007

 

February 4, 1970 Family Dog on The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA:  Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead/Santana/Kimberly "A Night At The Family Dog" (Wednesday)
Most of the concrete information we have about the Family Dog on The Great Highway comes from Grateful Dead scholarship. Almost all of the surviving live tapes from the Dog are from the Grateful Dead, or are associated with the band. Of the non-Dead, non-Garcia tapes that exist, many were recorded by either Owsley or Alembic (Bob Matthews et al), each affiliated with the Dead. On top of that, what press coverage there was on the Family Dog was often anchored by reporting about the Dead or Jerry Garcia. 

For the wider audience of rock fans, and even of Deadheads, the most prominent knowledge of the Family Dog on The Great Highway was the Public Television special A Night At The Family Dog, recorded at a special concert for an invited audience on Wednesday, February 4, 1970. The show was initially broadcast on PBS-tv affiliate stations nationwide on April 27, 1970, and re-broadcast various times. With only three commercial networks and the occasional independent station, Public Television shows were widely watched in a way that would be unfathomable today. I assure you that the PBS Night At The Family Dog special was watched by young people nationwide in large numbers, and was probably influential in suggesting that events like this went on in San Francisco all the time. Certainly, if you were in cold Des Moines or windy El Paso and saw Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead and Santana sharing the stage, everybody dancing and a big jam afterwards, it would make you believe that San Francisco was the promised land indeed.

I have looked into this event at some length, starting a decade ago when I discovered a contemporary San Francisco Chronicle article about the Wednesday night filming of the KQED special by Ralph Gleason. Although Gleason was disingenuous about his role--he was co-producer of the TV special--it was a striking description, and our only source of information up until that time. It seems, however, that there was a lot more to the story. At least some of the music from the special was likely recorded the night before. Now, that may mean that there was a dress rehearsal the night before, with professional video and audio, some of it seems to have been used in the TV special. Alternately, it may mean the date of February 4 was incorrect.

So: while we might have the date wrong, we might actually be missing a show. There could be audio, and there could even be video. Let's look at what we know today.

The Grateful Dead's performance at Chet Helms' Family Dog on The Great Highway on February 4, 1970 is fairly well known today. The hour-long video of concert highlights, originally broadcast on Public Television, has since been released in 2007 on DVD as A Night At The Family Dog. In 2005, the Grateful Dead released the recording of their entire set from that night. Thus both the audio and some video are available from the show, a rare and potent combination. However, while the music is well-covered, and video is available, very little has been recalled about the circumstances of the actual event itself. Even the Dead's cd release is scarce on details. Still, you can watch the video, play the cd, light one up--legally, in most states--and get a feel for what it might have been like Back In The Day.

Grateful Dead scholarship never rests, however, and it seems that the video and cd may have been somewhat more of a pastiche than we originally thought. One of the best sources of the era has been Sally Mann Romano, the ex-wife of the late Jefferson Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden. Her 2018 book The Band's With Me is a must-read for anyone interested in California rock history in the late 60s and early 70s. In a Twitter exchange, Romano recalled that the filming of the TV special was actually two nights at the Family Dog, on Tuesday and Wednesday (February 3 and February 4). The first was probably conceived as a rehearsal and sound check, prudent considering that filming live rock concerts was still in its infancy. Some very good evidence, however, suggests that at least some--and perhaps all?--of the TV special and the subsequent Archival cd release was actually from February 3.

Owsley Stanley's tape box for the recording at the Family Dog on February 3, 1970. The sticker says "Probably really 2/4/70"--I disagree.

What About Tuesday, February 3?
The Owsley Stanley Foundation has a long-term project of preserving Owsley's live recordings, even when the tapes themselves may not yet be released. Recently the Foundation announced that an Owsley 2-track recording of the February Family Dog had been preserved. The tape box itself says "See 16-track," an indicator that Owsley's recording was different than the Bob Matthews/Alembic recording that would have been the basis of the PBS video special. Owsley, always scrupulous about dates, has marked the box "Dead #2/Airplane #1, 3 Feb 70 Family Dog." A sticker on the box, in different handwriting, says "Probably really 2/4/70," since February 4 was the known date of the live recording of the special.

As I have documented in the previous post in this series, the Family Dog on The Great Highway had re-opened the previous weekend with a comparatively stealthy appearance by the Jefferson Airplane on Friday and Saturday, January 30 and 31. When I asked Sally Mann Romano about this on Twitter, however, she specifically did not recall that weekend's shows, and her recollections are uniformly precise. She plainly recalled going to the Family Dog for two days, presumably February 3 and 4 (Tuesday and Wednesday), and she understandably said that she surely would have remembered spending 4 out of 6 nights at the Dog. Mann Romano's recollection was the first indication of a rehearsal filming on the night before the official event. 

Now, the most-likely explanation for Mann and Dryden not going to the Dog on the prior weekend is in the only-the-Jefferson-Ariplane category. The most likely reason was that the Airplane were thinking about firing Dryden, and were trying out drummer Joey Covington, all without telling Spencer or his wife. Indeed, Dryden would be pushed out of the band a month later, and Covington took over the drum chair in March. The actual dating of Covington's arrival is confusing, and not a rabbit hole I will go down here, but suffice to say inviting Covington to a secret gig and not telling the current drummer was just another day in Jefferson Airplaneville. 

What we are left with, however, is the knowledge that there may have been a rehearsal at the Family Dog the night before the official PBS taping. Today, even small venues are set up for live video with synchronized sound--we can all do it ourselves on our phones now anyway--but this was new stuff in 1970. Video cameras were giant at the time, and needed their own locations. Separate trucks were needed for the video feed and the sound recording, and cable snakes would have been laid everywhere. It's not surprising that a full tech rehearsal was in order. And it's also likely that the entire rehearsal was filmed and the music recorded, if only to ensure that there was backup material in case the "official" event on Wednesday (Feb 4) had technical problems.

If there was a full rehearsal the night before, it would not be at all surprising to find out that the official video may have been a pastiche of both nights. At the time, the entire industry considered live recording another way to create product, not an historic record of an event. One track on the Woodstock movie soundtrack album, for example, was actually recorded at Fillmore East (CSNY's "Wooden Ships"). The Grateful Dead released the Family Dog show as part of their Download Series in 2005, but that series was poorly curated and had almost no recording information. The date was listed as February 4, but that was probably based on an assumption. The cd has 9 tracks. The final six are the same as the ones on Owsley's tape (above). I don't think the Dead repeated six songs--either there was only one show, or I think the Dead played better the first night rather than the second, and three of those tracks were used for the PBS video{see the Appendix below for track listings].

What About The Grateful Dead on February 4, 1970? First Hypothesis
If in fact, the existing audio and video recordings of the Grateful Dead were from February 3, not February 4, what did the Grateful Dead play on February 4? It raises the tantalizing possibility that there would have been existing professional recordings of the Dead from the "official" night that were never used. Since there was an invited crowd on Wednesday night, probably there were plenty of crowd shots, but the Dead's actual performance would have been different. My guess is that the Santana and Airplane sets were used from the 4th, as was the jam.

According to the Owsley Stanley Foundation, the tape with the Grateful Dead from February 3 includes two Jefferson Airplane tracks, "The Other Side Of This Life" and "Somebody To Love." Neither of those are on the Family Dog video. There's also some implications from the numbering--since there is a "Grateful Dead #2" and a "Jefferson Airplane #1" it follows there are additional tapes with the Dead and the Airplane. As far as a soundcheck goes, my assumption is that the Dead and the Airplane showed up for the soundcheck, and the Dead are famous for using soundchecks as an opportunity to play as long as they felt like it. Now, granted, we can hear some audience after "Hard To Handle," but it's not unlikely a few friends and family were around. 

Santana was a hotter band than the Dead or the Airplane at the time, and less likely to show up for the soundcheck the previous night. It's just an assumption on my part, but it's plausible. Kimberly, I should add, who opened the show, appear not to have been recorded. Kimberly were associated with Santana management, which suggests the privileged part accorded to Santana's presence.

Unfortunately, however, video tape and 16-track recording tape were expensive. If it was determined that the Dead's February 3 set was superior, then the Dead tapes for the 4th would simply have been erased. Owsley seems to have taped the rehearsal night, but it seems less likely he would have been allowed to tape the "official" performance, if only because space at the mixing board would have been at a premium. There remains the remote hope that some fragments exist, somewhere, or perhaps some production notes. It's a little more complicated since Bob Matthews recorded 16-track tape for Alembic, but it's entirely plausible that the existing recording was either from February 3 or an edit of the two nights.

Since no one had asked Sally Mann Romano, the existing Owsley tape was casually indicated (by the sticker) as incorrectly dated, when in fact I suspect it was accurate. Any missing Dead tape from the 4th has likely disappeared. Sic Transit Gloria Psychedelia. But here's to hoping some undated audio and video fragments of the Dead's performances on February 3 and 4 1970 can be identified and resurrected. I trust Owsley to have gotten the date right. 

An Alternative Hypothesis: Maybe The Date Was Wrong?
Of course, there's another possible explanation for the dating confusion. Maybe the date of the concert really was February 3, not February 4. February 4 has been accepted as the proper date for decades, but it's not supported by an advertisement or announcement, because there weren't any. Ralph Gleason's article was Friday, February 6, which suggests that he saw the bands on Wednesday, February 4. But the Chronicle was a morning paper, so if he went on Tuesday (February 3) he still could not have published until Friday.

It's true that Sally Mann Romano, my most reliable witness, remembers two nights, which is why that is my preferred hypothesis. But there are other possible explanations for her memory (the Airplane were not coming in off the road, unlike the Dead, for example). In any case, the context of her memory was that she and her husband were definitely not there four nights out of six (January 30-31, February 3-4). I'm still inclined to thinking that the Dead played two nights, but I am at least acknowledging another possibility.

[update: legendary scholar David Kramer-Smyth found a link (see the Comments) to a Good Times review of the event. It isn't very informative, but it does indicate the event was on Wednesday (February 4), so that points toward performances on Feb 3 and Feb 4]

"Hard To Handle"
Even casual poking around will lead you to online comments from people who recall seeing the public tv special in April of 1970 and being absolutely floored by the Dead. We did not have direct access to the video until it was released in the 21st century (I don't know if it floated around in collector's circles previously). The Dead performed three songs on the video: "Hard To Handle," "China Cat Sunflower" and "I Know You Rider." Only one of those songs was on a previously released album ("China Cat" was on Aoxomoxoa). "Hard To Handle" would not be officially available until Bear's Choice in early 1973, and the "China Cat>Rider" medley did not come out until October '72 (on Europe '72). So numerous teenagers got on the bus hearing songs that would not circulate officially for a few more years. Now, it turns out we didn't even have the date correct.

Appendix 1: A Night At The Family Dog TV show
Broadcast on Public Television stations on or about April 27, 1970
Produced by Ralph J. Gleason and Bob Zagone for National Educational Television (NET)

A Night At The Family Dog DVD
with Grateful Dead/Jefferson Airplane/Santana
Eagle Vision: released 2007

• Incident At Neshabur - Santana
• Soul Sacrifice - Santana
• Hard To Handle - Grateful Dead
• China Cat Sunflower - Grateful Dead
• I Know You Rider - Grateful Dead
• The Ballad of You And Me And Pooneil - Jefferson Airplane
• Eskimo Blue Day - Jefferson Airplane
• Super jam featuring members of Santana, Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane

 A Night At The Family Dog audio
Grateful Dead Download Series
Grateful Dead Records: released 2005

• Hard To Handle
• Black Peter 
• Me and My Uncle 
• China Cat Sunflower > 
• I Know You Rider 
• St. Stephen > 
• Not Fade Away > 
• St. Stephen > 
• In The Midnight Hour
  

 (plus bonus tracks from other 1970 shows)

The Family Dog on The Great Highway, at 660 Great Highway, ca. 1969

The Family Dog on The Great Highway, 660 Great Highway, San Francisco, CA
The Family Dog was a foundation stone in the rise of San Francisco rock, and it was in operation in various forms from Fall 1965 through the Summer of 1970. For sound historical reasons, most of the focus on the Family Dog has been on the original 4-person collective who organized the first San Francisco Dance Concerts in late 1965, and on their successor Chet Helms. Helms took over the Family Dog in early 1966, and after a brief partnership with Bill Graham at the Fillmore, promoted memorable concerts at the Avalon Ballroom from Spring 1966 through December 1968. The posters, music and foggy memories of the Avalon are what made the Family Dog a legendary 60s rock icon.

In the Summer of 1969, however, with San Francisco as one of the fulcrums of the rock music explosion, Chet Helms opened another venue. The Family Dog on The Great Highway, at 660 Great Highway, on the Western edge of San Francisco, was only open for 14 months and was not a success. Yet numerous interesting bands played there, and remarkable events took place, and they are only documented in a scattered form.

660 Great Highway in San Francisco in 1967, when it was the ModelCar Raceway, a slot car track

The Edgewater Ballroom, 660 Great Highway, San Francisco, CA
As early as 1913, there were rides and concessions at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, near the Richmond District. By 1926, they had been consolidated as Playland-At-The-Beach. The Ocean Beach area included attractions such as the Sutro Baths and the Cliff House. The San Francisco Zoo was just south of Playland, having opened in the 1930s. One of the attractions at Playland was a restaurant called Topsy's Roost. The restaurant had closed in 1930, and the room became the Edgewater Ballroom. The Ballroom eventually closed, and Playland went into decline when its owner died in 1958. By the 1960s, the former Edgewater was a slot car raceway. In early 1969, Chet Helms took over the lease of the old Edgewater.

One of the only photos of the interior of the Family Dog on The Great Highway (from a Stephen Gaskin "Monday Night Class" ca. October 1969)

The Family Dog On The Great Highway
The Great Highway was a four-lane road that ran along the Western edge of San Francisco, right next to Ocean Beach. Downtown San Francisco faced the Bay, but beyond Golden Gate Park was the Pacific Ocean. The aptly named Ocean Beach is dramatic and beautiful, but it is mostly windy and foggy. Much of the West Coast of San Francisco is not even a beach, but rocky cliffs. There are no roads in San Francisco West of the Great Highway, so "660 Great Highway" was ample for directions (for reference, it is near the intersection of Balboa Street and 48th Avenue). The tag-line "Edge Of The Western World" was not an exaggeration, at least in American terms.

The Family Dog on The Great Highway was smaller than the Bill Graham's old Fillmore Auditorium. It could hold up to 1500, but the official capacity was probably closer to 1000. Unlike the comparatively centrally located Fillmore West, the FDGH was far from downtown, far from the Peninsula suburbs, and not particularly easy to get to from the freeway. For East Bay or Marin residents, the Great Highway was a formidable trip. The little ballroom was very appealing, but if you didn't live way out in the Avenues, you had to drive. As a result, FDGH didn't get a huge number of casual drop-ins, and that didn't help its fortunes. Most of the locals referred to the venue as "Playland."

The Family Dog In 1969
Chet Helms had opened the Family Dog at 660 Great Highway to much fanfare on June 13, 1969, with a packed house seeing the Jefferson Airplane and The Charlatans. One of the goals was that the Dog would feature mostly San Francisco bands and a variety of smaller community events and groups. Since so many San Francisco bands were successful, and had record contracts, this didn't confine the venue to obscurity. A lot of great bands played the Family Dog in 1969, but the distant location and the gravitational pull of major rock events hosted elsewhere in the Bay Area kept the Family Dog isolated. We know only the most fragmentary bits about music played, events and audiences throughout the year.  Despite the half-year of struggle, Helms had kept the Family Dog on The Great Highway afloat. He had entered the new year of 1970 with a new plan.He had new backers, and he would merge his operations with the Grateful Dead's. It didn't happen, however, and the Family Dog on The Great Highway ws closed by the end of the Summer of 1970.

 

Appendix 2: Excerpts from Ralph Gleason's San Francisco Chronicle column, February 6, 1970

"Do you have a set schedule for what's going to happen?" the technician asked Bob Zagone of KQED. "We don't have a set schedule for anything, Zagone said. 'We have a loose schedule."

They were in the KQED mobile video tape recording truck outside the Family Dog. Several other trucks and a generator, roaring away like a power drill, were set up in the parking lot. Zagone and the KQED crew were getting ready to videotape a Jefferson Airplane party at the Family Dog for National Educational Television.

There's a young band called 'Kimberly' going on stage starting in a few minutes," Zagone said. "The it will be Santana. After that I don't know what's going to happen."

The cables were strung all along the sidewalk and into the hall and the huge TV cameras on dollies were rolling back and forth through the place in the wild assembly of San Francisco hip society.

On stage the musicians were plugging in their guitars and tuning. In a little while Kimberly, a neat, melodic band, began. Light men experimented with different combinations. Rock critics wandered through the hall. "It has the right feeling tonight," Mike Goodwin of Rolling Stone said. And poet Lew Welch pointed out that it was one of the few times in recent memories that you could actually get close to a band and not be jammed by the press of a crowd.

After Kimberly, Santana took over and the rhythms of the drums and the bass melded with the guitar and conga drum and rose to an incredible [something]. It ended with Santana almost leaning over backwards, hitting the guitar strings and bassist David Brown, his eyes squeezed shut, flailing away at the guitar. The crowd screamed. Out in the truck, Bob Zagone complained "we're not getting that audience noise" and Bob Matthews, who was doing the sound, whipped out a mike and set it up taping the audience.  

"We'll go dark as they start their set and bring the light up gradually," Zagone said and the Grateful Dead began. In the truck the multiple images on the little screens made a fascinating montage. Jerry Garcia's face silhouetted but still clear, approached the mike on the screen and he began to sing. The little screens that showed the pictures [of] the various cameras were registering, flicked from one to another. "Gimme a two shot," Zagone said, "Let's see both those guitars."

Out in the crowd, which was dancing or sitting on the floor and around the sides of the stage, John Carpenter of the L.A. Free Press said "when is it going to be aired?" and hoped a definite date could be set. The man from N.E.T said probably in April. "It's a good night," Carpenter said. "I had forgotten what San Francisco was really like. I've seen people I haven't seen in years."

On stage the sound was into those rhythmic phrases that make the Dead such groovy dance music and several guests were dancing behind the band and on the stage. Still photographers leaped up from the audience and shot pictures like the paparazzi in "Z."

Then the Airplane came on and Grace smiled and Marty sang "Do you want to know a secret, just between you and me," and the lights flickered off the sweat on his forehead as he sang and Spencer drove into the drums with a fierce concentration and Jorma sang "Good Shepherd" and the crowd gyrated and the cameras rolled back and forth.

It was a great evening. San Francisco within a week had two TV specials shot here. Both on rock. There will be more and if they end up on the screen as good as they are in person, the rest of the country will see something unique.

 

Halloween Weekend 1969: Loma Prieta Room, San Jose State and Family Dog on The Great Highway (Oct 31-Nov 2 '69) [FDGH V]

 

The Grateful Dead: Halloween Weekend, October 31-November 2, 1969
Over the years, it seemed like a Law Of Nature (or a Federal statute) that the Grateful Dead had to play on Halloween. Skeleton iconography attracts skeleton iconography, and a Dead concert on Halloween always seemed like a good idea. 

A close look at Halloween 1969 poses a paradox for the band. They were booked for the weekend at the Family Dog on The Great Highway, where they could draw 1500 or 2000 fans each night at $3.50 a head. Yet they only played the Dog on Saturday and Sunday, leaving the actual Friday night of Halloween for a campus event at San Jose State College. The newly-opened Student Union Ballroom held, at most, 700 people. Even if it was oversold, since student admission was only $2.00, the payday wasn't going to be the same as at the Dog.

What were the Grateful Dead and their management thinking? This post will take a look at the different threads in play for the Grateful Dead over the weekend of October 31-November 2, 1969.

Grateful Dead Economic Status Report, Fall 1969
In late 1969, the Grateful Dead were hurting for cash. They had spent so much money on Aoxomoxoa that they weren't earning anything back on royalties. Live/Dead would be a kind of success, but it wouldn't be released until November, so royalties wouldn't show up until later. The Dead, being the Dead, of course, were always spending too much money on equipment, and keeping a lot of friends and girlfriends on the payroll. This took cash, and the Dead didn't make that much.

Of course, the Dead's cash flow problem was greatly aggravated by the fact that manager Lenny Hart was absconding with a significant amount of the band's money. Hart's management "strategy" was dubious, at best, and in hindsight some of it may have been oriented towards bookings that facilitated Hart's greedy fingers, rather than the band's best interests.

The Family Dog on The Great Highway had a capacity of something around 1500 (the Fire Department capacity may have been a bit lower). Some contemporary comments in the Examiner suggest that a full house at the Dog approached 2000. Whether that meant they oversold the house, or people came and went throughout the night, it gives us an idea that the gate was about $6500 per night (assuming paid attendance of about 1850). Assuming costs for expenses, opening acts and profits, figure that the Dead could clear $4000 on a great night. 

The Student Union Ballroom at San Jose State held, at most, 700 patrons. Students would only pay $2.00, and they would have been the bulk of the audience. So even assuming a little bit of overselling and a few non-student admissions (at $3.00), and the possibility that a lot of students might come and go throughout the evening (allowing for more ticket sales), the realistic gate would be around $2000. The catch here was that San Jose State would have had an entertainment budget, and that ticket sales were meant to only defray the cost, not cover it. It's reasonable to assume that the Dead would have cleared $2500 or even $3000 for the Friday night show, which was still less than the Dog.

The difference in the two bookings was that San Jose State, though likely cheaper, was a sure thing. San Jose State was not going to go out of business. The Family Dog on the Great Highway, conversely, was always in a precarious financial situation. A band who booked a future show at the Dog had no guarantee the venue would be in business by that time. On top of that, rock concerts, like any live entertainment venture, were inherently risky ventures. The Grateful Dead, by what little evidence we have, had drawn well when they had played at the Family Dog for two weekends in August, and there was every reason to think they would do so again. 

There was one hangup, however: the Family Dog wouldn't be able to advertise the Dead show until that very week. Bill Graham Presents had booked the Dead with Jefferson Airplane for the prior weekend, and the contract would have required that the Dead could not advertise a show within 50 miles until their booking was complete. Now, it wasn't that Dead fans wouldn't want to see the band again--that was never a problem. It's just that concert attendance takes planning, and if you don't know there's a Dead concert on Halloween weekend, what if you've got something else going on? What if your sister already got the family car and you've got no way to get there?

Also, on any given night, anything could happen--rainstorm, earthquake, fire in the venue, riots in the neighborhood--that would lead to a financial debacle at the Dog. This risk was magnified by the prohibition on advertising until the previous Monday. Now, sure, the same things could happen at San Jose State. My guess, however, was that some part of the San Jose State concert booking was guaranteed, and that would be paid regardless, and very possibly paid in advance. The Dead were hurting for cash, and Lenny Hart was hungry for it, so a smaller, ensured payday on Halloween took precedence over a potentially larger one at the more uncertain Family Dog. So the Dog had a ghost of a show on Halloween without the Dead, and the Dead turned up for the balance of the weekend. Although non-musical details are scant, it seems that the Dead did well both nights at the Dog, so it was a financially sound weekend in the end.

Loma Prieta Room, Student Union, San Jose State University, 211 S 9th St San Jose, CA 95112
San Jose State College (now Cal State San Jose University) was the oldest college in California, first established as a Teacher's College in 1857. After various name changes, it became San Jose State College in 1935. After World War 2, thanks to the GI Bill and the Baby Boom, San Jose State expanded enormously. By 1969, it probably had 15,000 students or more (currently it has over 33,000, with 3/4 of them as undergraduates). The school is right at the center of downtown San Jose, which itself was expanding in the 1960s. The Student Union building at 211 9th Street had just been built in 1969. The main ballroom was on the third floor, and depending on the configuration, was either called the Ron Barrett Ballroom (capacity 588) or the Loma Prieta Room (capacity 700). The new ballroom had only opened on Tuesday, October 13, 1969. The very first rock concert at the Student Union Ballroom was held on the first Friday it was open. On October 17th, the New Riders of The Purple Sage played with a jazz-rock band called The Fourth Way.

 

The Daily Spartan of Thursday, October 16 reported on the upcoming dance the next night at the Student Union Ballroom

Two Bands To Appear For Dance
"Riders of the Purple Sage with special guest appearances by Jerry Garcia and Mickey Hart of the "Grateful Dead" will be one of the two bands playing tomorrow night in the new College Union on Ninth Street

A dance sponsored by the College Union Program Board will feature "Sage" and "The Fourth Way," with guest appearances by members of the Charles Lloyd Quartet and John Handy's group.

The dance will be held from 9 pm to 1 am in The BALLROOM on the third level of the College Union. Admission will be $1.50 for students and $2 for the general public. There will be no pre-sale; all tickets will be sold at the door.

By October 17th, the Grateful Dead would have already booked their Halloween show at the same venue. In this instance, besides booking a paying gig for the New Riders, it seems like the Dead were checking out the venue in advance. It was a very odd feature for the New Riders to headline a venue on a Friday night, and then for the Dead the same venue two weeks later. This suggests to me that the Dead booked the Halloween show, and then realized they could book another show two weeks earlier. 

The Fourth Way was an interesting electric jazz-rock band. There were a lot of bands in the Bay Area fusing rock, jazz and electricity, but Fourth Way did it in a less frantic style than Miles Davis or the Tony Williams Lifetime. Fourth Way did release three albums on Capitol, now long out-of-print. Bandleader Mike Nock, formerly pianist with Yusef Lateer, Steve Marcus and many others played electric keyboards. The lead soloist was electric violinist Mike White, best known for playing with the John Handy Quintet. Bassist Ron McClure had played with Handy, and then with a Charles Lloyd Quartet lineup when it was based in San Francisco (along with Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette). Drummer Eddie Marshall rounded out the quartet.

We don't know what happened at this show. Was it well attended? Who knows? In the peculiar way of Dead history, however, while we don't have an eyewitness account, we have a tape. The Owsley Foundation was kind enough to transcribe the setlist for us. We can see that Bob Weir showed up for a few numbers, so there was a taste of Bobby Ace and The Cards Off The Bottom Of The Deck.
    Crossover
    Hello Trouble
    Long Black Limousine
    Six Days on the Road
    Next In Line
    Games People Play
    To Have the Hurting End
    Whatcha Gonna Do
    The Race Is On (w/Bob Weir)
    Cathy's Clown (w/Bob Weir)
    Saw Mill (w/Bob Weir)
    Mama Tried (w/Bob Weir)
    Me & My Uncle (w/Bob Weir)
    Fair Chance to Know

In any case, Owsley and the crew probably had a chance to figure a few things out about the room setup, and that had to help for Halloween.

October 31, 1969 Loma Prieta Room, San Jose State College, San Jose, CA: Grateful Dead/South Bay Experimental Flash (Friday)
We know the Grateful Dead played the Student Union Ballroom on Halloween, because we have a tape. It's around 90 minutes, and my guess is that it's the entire Grateful Dead performance.  We don't really know anything about the show itself.

There were two articles previewing the event in The Spartan Daily

GRATEFUL DEAD BRING LIVE MUSIC TO LIVELY SJS HALLOWEEN FLING

This Friday evening SJS is having its own “trick-or-treat,” when it brings out The Grateful Dead to play in the College Union Ballroom. 

The Grateful Dead, pioneers of the San Francisco sound, will be making their first appearance at SJS Halloween night.

“The Dead” have added a little country to their blues and psychedelic elements, and the blend works well, according to people who saw them last weekend at Winterland.

“The Dead,” whose music has what many people term a euphoric effect, will play two sets, a total of one and a half to two hours. It is hoped that they will play some of their more famous sets which range from straight country, as in “Mama Tried,” to the blues encore, “Good Morning Little School Girl.” In the former, bass guitarist Phil Lesch produces a good country vocal sound, and in the latter, Ron (Pig Pen) McKernan is at his vocal best. 

Lead guitarist Jerry Garcia also has a good set as does organist Tom Constante and rhythm guitarist Bob Weir. The dependable work of drummers William Kreutzman and Mickey Hart is ideal in the country tunes. 

Accompanying “The Dead” will be the far out sounds of the “Experimental Flash.” In addition, two color horror films will be shown, “Billy the Kid vs. Dracula” and “Godzilla vs. The Thing.” Both films will be shown silently behind the bands. 

The dance will be held from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. and admission is $2 for students and $3 for the public. Tickets are on sale in [the] Student Affairs Business Office, located on the second level of the College Union.

(by Marty Pastula, from the Spartan Daily, San Jose State College, 29 October 1969)

BANDS TO PLAY AT MASKED BALL IN COLLEGE UNION

The Grateful Dead and Southbay Experimental Flash will perform at 9 p.m. tonight in the College Union to a masked audience.

In keeping with the theme of Halloween, the College Union Program Board (which is sponsoring the dance) has asked that all those attending tonight’s dance wear masks.

It is hoped that the debut of The Grateful Dead at SJS will be a pace-setter for future “name groups,” according to [the] CUPB student director.

The CUPB will provide masks for those who “forget their disguises.”

Tickets are still available in the Student Affairs Business office. [...]

[The] CUPB director added that in case it gets too warm, there will be “bobbing for apples” as refreshing but perhaps “ghostly” fun.

(from the Spartan Daily, 31 October 1969)

Setlist
Casey Jones, Dire Wolf, It Hurts Me Too, Cryptical Envelopment-> Drums-> The Other One-> Cryptical Envelopment, China Cat Sunflower-> I Know You Rider, Mama Tried, High Time, Sitting On Top Of The World, Next Time You See Me-> Easy Wind, Turn On Your Love Light

South Bay Experimental Flash
The South Bay Experimental Flash were a jazz-rock quintet from San Jose, although by 1969 they actually lived in Richmond. The main soloist was flautist David Ladd, well known over later decades in the South Bay as a session man and music teacher, along with organist Harry Critchfield and drummer Kirk Harwood.

The Poster
There is a relatively well-known poster associated with the San Jose Halloween concert (at the top of the post). I am no poster expert, by any means, but it does raise a few questions:

• Why was there a poster? This was a student show, subsidized by the college, and not intended to turn a profit. Why authorize a color poster, since it's a needless expense?
• I can understand some hippies on the "Entertainment Committee" who wanted to commission a poster because it was cool. But why print it? Why print hundreds of copies at real cost? For one thing, even by 1969, any Fillmore or Fillmore-type poster accessible on a telephone pole was immediately removed and put up in someone's dorm room. So posters were not only a cost, they didn't help sell tickets.
• I can see one poster for display outside the Student Union ticket office. But why print more? Do they circulate? Some part of this doesn't add up, although it may be that the posters were reprinted later because they were appealing.

Loma Prieta Room: Aftermath
The brave comment in the Spartan Daily about the Grateful Dead being the "pace-setter" for future name groups at the Loma Prieta Room turned out to be outrun by events. There were some more rock concerts at the Loma Prieta Room in Fall '69, the biggest name of which was Lee Michaels. Rapidly, however, the rock business got way bigger than any tiny 700-seat room on a campus, so while I'm sure there were occasional events, the Grateful Dead were far and away the biggest band ever to play the Student Union Ballroom.

The Loma Prieta Room was remodeled, and thus while the building is still in use, the Ballroom is not the same as when the Dead played there. During November 5-8, 2014, Cal State San Jose University held So Many Roads : The World in the Grateful Dead, A Conference & Symposium  in the Student Union building (though not the Loma Prieta Room, then under re-construction).

The Family Dog on The Great Highway, at 660 Great Highway, ca. 1969

The Family Dog on The Great Highway, 660 Great Highway, San Francisco, CA
The Family Dog was a foundation stone in the rise of San Francisco rock, and it was in operation in various forms from Fall 1965 through the Summer of 1970. For sound historical reasons, most of the focus on the Family Dog has been on the original 4-person collective who organized the first San Francisco Dance Concerts in late 1965, and on their successor Chet Helms. Helms took over the Family Dog in early 1966, and after a brief partnership with Bill Graham at the Fillmore, promoted memorable concerts at the Avalon Ballroom from Spring 1966 through December 1968. The posters, music and foggy memories of the Avalon are what made the Family Dog a legendary 60s rock icon.

In the Summer of 1969, however, with San Francisco as one of the fulcrums of the rock music explosion, Chet Helms opened another venue. The Family Dog on The Great Highway, at 660 Great Highway, on the Western edge of San Francisco, was only open for 14 months and was not a success.

One of the only photos of the interior of the Family Dog on The Great Highway (from a Stephen Gaskin "Monday Night Class" ca. October 1969)

The Great Highway was a four-lane road that ran along the Western edge of San Francisco, right next to Ocean Beach. Downtown San Francisco faced the Bay, but beyond Golden Gate Park was the Pacific Ocean. The aptly named Ocean Beach is dramatic and beautiful, but it is mostly windy and foggy. Much of the West Coast of San Francisco is not even a beach, but rocky cliffs. There are no roads in San Francisco West of the Great Highway, so "660 Great Highway" was ample for directions (for reference, it is near the intersection of Balboa Street and 48th Avenue). The tag-line "Edge Of The Western World" was not an exaggeration, at least in American terms.

The Family Dog on The Great Highway was smaller than the Bill Graham's old Fillmore Auditorium. It could hold up to 1500, but the official capacity was probably closer to 1000. Unlike the comparatively centrally located Fillmore West, the FDGH was far from downtown, far from the Peninsula suburbs, and not particularly easy to get to from the freeway. For East Bay or Marin residents, the Great Highway was a formidable trip. The little ballroom was very appealing, but if you didn't live way out in the Avenues, you had to drive. As a result, FDGH didn't get a huge number of casual drop-ins, and that didn't help its fortunes. Most of the locals referred to the venue as "Playland." 

October 31, 1969 Family Dog on The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Danny Cox/Alan Watts/Golden Toad/Hells Angels Own Band (Friday)
The Family Dog had opened to great fanfare on June 13, 1969, but since then it had lurched through October with little to show for it. The venue had been open almost every night of the month, mostly with a variety of community-oriented events that only charged $1.00 admission on weeknights. While in retrospect we can see that some of the weekend acts would have been playing some good music (Kaleidoscope or Brewer And Shipley, for example), they weren't really good draws. The Dead were taking the sure payday in San Jose on Halloween, but they would be back at the Family Dog on Saturday and Sunday (November 1 and 2).

So for Halloween at the Family Dog, the putative headliner was the Golden Toad and folksinger Danny Cox, both of whom would be opening for the Dead on the subsequent nights. The unexplained billing was "Hells Angels Own Band." Who were they? What did it mean? We kind of know it wasn't the Dead, since they were playing in San Jose. I guess you could claim they were going to show up late, but geography doesn't favor that, and in any case, why invoke the Hells Angels? I wouldn't go to any public event today that advertised anything to do with the Hells Angels, and this was Halloween 1969. Also, the Hells Angels never took kindly to anyone using their name satirically, so the usage must have had some kind of informal approval. 

Was this a biker party? Maybe--but why advertise it to the public? Also, bikers are bikers--were they going to look forward to a Renaissance Fair quintet playing 15th century melodies on hand-built replicas of medieval pipes (which is what Golden Toad did)? Sure, Golden Toad founder Bob Thomas was a personal friend (and sometime roommate) of Owsley, but would a bunch of cranked-up bikers care? Danny Cox was an enjoyable folksinger, but he was a big African-American guy, and the Hells Angels were never an advertisement for diverse inclusion. 

Nothing about the Friday night booking made any sense. I have one tiny clue: I had a clever, but inaccurate, theory that Owsley Stanley had made a tape of Danny Cox that would become the album Danny Cox Live At The Family Dog. The Owsley Stanley Foundation looked into it, and it turned out that Cox's manager would not let Owsley tape his act. Family Dog soundman Lee Brenkman thinks that Cox was recorded on Halloween. Brenkman referred to the event as the "Hell's Angels Halloween party", and added that "it was the last calm thing that occurred that night." Intriguing. Anyone with insight, rumors or clever speculation, please post in the Comments.

November 1-2, 1969 Family Dog on The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Grateful Dead/Danny Cox/Golden Toad (Saturday-Sunday)
The Grateful Dead headlined the Family Dog on The Great Highway on Saturday and Sunday night. Thanks to Owsley Stanley, we have tapes of both nights. The playing on both nights is magical. The existing tapes are both two hours, and seem to be complete shows with a few minor snips. So Golden Toad and Danny Cox must have each done sets, capped by a two-hour blast by the Grateful Dead in their early prime. David Browne, in his great Dead reflection,  So Many Roads, reviews the November 2 (Sunday) tape, with its 30-minute "Dark Star" in its larger context, and it is well worth reading (as is the rest of the book). Whatever the commercial flaws of the Family Dog on The Great Highway, and they seemed to be many, the Dead played fabulously there. In early 1970, manager Lenny Hart would make plans to merge the Grateful Dead's operations with Chet Helms and the Dog, and it had to be at least in part because the band played so well in the room.

The Golden Toad had nothing to do with rock, of course. But they resolutely followed their own musical course, in a manner clearly aligned with the Grateful Dead's own single-minded mission. The Toad mostly played outdoors in at Renaissance Fairs (in Los Angeles and Marin) or in Berkeley, and usually only played indoors at Berkeley's Freight and Salvage or with the Grateful Dead. The Golden Toad were known to have a rather flexible membership, so they may have had numerous people on stage augmenting the root quintet (supposedly they had performed with up to 23 members) [see here for more about the Golden Toad].

Danny Cox's 3rd album was Birth Announcement, a double-LP released on Together Records in 1969 and produced by Gary Usher

Danny Cox was from Cincinnati, but he had relocated to Kansas City in 1967. Cox, a large African-American man, defied rather shallow 60s expectations by singing folk music instead of blues. His current album was his 3rd, Birth Announcement, a double-lp on Together Records produced by Gary Usher. Cox sang folk classics along with Beatles and Dylan songs, lightly backed.

Cox shared management with Brewer And Shipley, and like them he would record an album for ABC/Dunhill in San Francisco with producer Nick Gravenites. Recorded at Wally Heider Studios, it was released in 1971. Both John Kahn and Merl Saunders played on that album. During demo sessions for the record in 1970, Kahn introduced Merl Saunders to Jerry Garcia, who was recording in another room. Some weeks later, when Howard Wales didn't want to come jam at the Matrix, Kahn recommended Merl and the Garcia/Saunders partnership began.

In between 1969 Birth Announcement and his 1971 ABC/Dunhill albums, Sunflower Records released a 1970 Danny Cox album called Live At The Family Dog. Sunflower, associated with MGM, was a fringe label that had released the legal-but-unauthorized Vintage Dead and Historic Dead albums in 1971. Danny Cox only played the Family Dog this weekend and the next weekend in 1969, so assuming that the material was really recorded at the Family Dog--that's no sure thing--they could very well have been recorded this weekend. I speculated that Owsley might have recorded the tape, but it turned out not to be the case. Cox's manager, Howard Wolf, wouldn't allow Owsley to tape his act. As mentioned, soundman Lee Brenkman thinks that Cox was recorded on Halloween. (Scholarly readers will be interested to know that on the Family Dog lp, Cox records "Me And My Uncle," and it is credited to "Trad.--arranged Danny Cox.") 

Summary

• The Grateful Dead played a tiny ballroom for 700 or so people on a college campus on Halloween Friday in 1969.
• What went down on Halloween '69 at the Family Dog? Why book a Renaissance Fair pipe band and a folksinger and advertise Hells Angels Own Band? What was that?
• The Grateful Dead played Saturday and Sunday night at the Family Dog. They played great music, and ticket sales were probably pretty good, because they usually were.
• Opening act Danny Cox may have had his Halloween show recorded and released on Sunflower Records as Live At The Family Dog
  

May 30 1975, Marx Meadows, Golden Gate Park: Jefferson Starship/Diga Rhythm Band (Jerry and Owsley Fin De Seicle?)

The Stanford Daily Entertainment Listings for May 30, 1975. The Jefferson Starship free concert in Golden Gate Park was listed, a sign that the concert was not only approved but not expected to overwhelm the park

The Diga Rhythm Band put out an album on Round Records in March 1976, but they only had three known public performances under that name, all in May 1975. All three of them were opening for the Jefferson Starship and The Sons Of Champlin. Diga opened for the Starship on a Friday and Saturday night at Winterland, on May 16 and 17. While in the middle of a national tour supporting their new album Red Octopus in a very San Francisco fashion, the Starship played a free concert in Marx Meadows in Golden Gate Park on the afternoon of Friday, May 30. There is no doubt of the dater in Starship's performance, as it was publicized in the papers. However, it is not generally noticed that not only did The Diga Rhythm Band open for the Starship and The Sons at Marx Meadows, but that they were joined by David Freiberg on bass and Jerry Garcia on guitar for a 14 minute version of "Fire On The Mountain." For some years I was not certain of Garcia's presence, but the entire 33-minute has surfaced, and there is no doubt.

There may be another lost piece of significance to Garcia's jam with the Diga Rhythm Band at Golden Gate Park on May 30, 1975. There is a reasonably high probability, though not a certainty, that the Jefferson Starship's soundman may have been manning the board for Diga. Since the Starship's soundman was one Owsley Stanley, it would have been fitting that Jerry was mixed by Owsley one last time, at a free concert in Golden Gate Park.

Ustad Alla Rahka and his son Zakir Hussain

Mickey Hart and The Ali Akbar College Of Music
All the members of the Grateful Dead were constantly exploring new music, but Mickey Hart was the only one who made a specific effort to actually receive any kind of formal training. Master indian tabla player Ustad Alla Rakha had moved to the Bay Area in about 1963. Rakha was responsible for the foundation of both The Center For World Music, based in San Francisco and then Berkeley (and now San Diego), and also The Ali Akbar College Of Music, first in Oakland and then in San Rafael.

The Ali Akbar College Of Music was established in Oakland in 1967. Mickey Hart started studying at the school with tabla master Shankar Gosh in 1968, taking what he learned in the school back to Bill Kreutzmann and hence to the Grateful Dead. The College was based in a house in the Oakland hills, at 6024 Ascot Drive. The school outgrew the house however, and thanks to the timely intervention of Rhoney Stanley, the lease was taken over by Owsley Stanley, and the house passed into Grateful Dead legend. At different times, Owsley and Rhoney's roommates included Bob Weir, Bob Thomas, Bob Matthews, Ramrod and Betty Cantor.

In return for letting Owsley and Rhoney take over the lease on 6024 Ascot, Alla Rakha got Rhoney to arrange for his drumming students, including Mickey, to take part in a Grateful Dead concert. True to her word, Rhoney arranged for a special drumming session at the Berkeley Community Theater on September 20, 1968, when Gosh and Vince Delgado joined Mickey and Bill for some high-end percussion. The event was not only an early rock band experiment with "World Music"--not an extant term at the time--but also the first inkling of the "Rhythm Devils" section of Grateful Dead concerts that would arise 10 years later. The Ali Akbar College Of Music then moved to San Rafael, where it remains today.

Shankar Gosh returned to India in 1969, and he was replaced at the school by Zakir Hussain. Hussain was just 21, but he was Alla Rakha's son and had been training since he was 8, In 1970, when Hart and Zakir Hussain met, Mickey would have only been 26 and he had been a drummer since childhood as well, so although from different continents and musical traditions, they appear to have had many parallels. I do not know whether Hart was formally a student of Hussain, but clearly they were friends and Hart presumably played regularly with him. Hussain had an Indian/Rock fusion group called Shanti, who released an album on Atlantic Records in 1971, and Hart had hosted a party and probable FM broadcast at his ranch (August 21, 1971), with Jerry Garcia and the New Riders playing as well. Hart and Hussain also produced an album called Sarangi, The Music Of India, by Ustad Sultan Kahn, in 1974.

The entertainment listings from the Hayward Daily Review of May 16, 1975 list the Diga Rhythm Band opening both nights at Winterland for Jefferson Starship and The Sons of Champlin

Diga Rhythm Band and Jefferson Starship
The roots of the Diga Rhythm Band itself was explained in  the 1976 Round Records Newsletter:

In 1971 Zakir began to select some of his advance students for a school orchestra of only rhythm instruments. This was called Tal Vadyum Rhythm Band and they performed once a quarter at the Ali Akbar Kahn Collect of Music. This was the beginning of the Diga Band. In April, 1975 the Jefferson Starship asked them to play a concert with them and the Sons of Champlin. The band decided to play and also to change their name for public performance. The name chosen was Diga Rhythm Band.

We don't know how often Hart played with the Tay Vadyum Rhythm Band at their quarterly shows, but Hart was not touring at the time, so he would have been regularly available. 

The Jefferson Starship, of course, and risen from the ashes of the Jefferson Airplane, and were on their way to selling even more records than the Airplane had done. When Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen refused to leave Hot Tuna to return to the Airplane, Paul Kantner organized the Jefferson Starship as a touring entity in early 1974. After some live success, the Starship released the well-received Dragon Fly album in September, 1974. It got excellent FM airplay and sold very well, going Gold and reaching #11 on the Billboard album charts. The Jefferson Starship emphasized the harmonies and sharp songwritng side of the Airplane, rather than their looser, rebellious edge. In anticipation of their subsequent album, Red Octopus, Marty Balin had returned to the aircraft, and in May they had released his song "Miracles," which was a huge AM hit. "Miracles" peaked at #3, higher than any Jefferson Airplane single. Red Octopus was going to be released in June, and it was going to be huge.

By mid-decade, financial realities had moved the Jefferson Starship towards mainstream rock and away from psychedelic rabble rousing. In the late 60s, riding high, the Airplane had struck a deal with RCA for their own label imprint (Grunt Records) and an unlimited recording budget at Wally Heider's studio in San Francisco. Of course, the cost of that recording was paid out of future Airplane royalties. Paul Kantner and others took to recording at Heider's rather than touring, and the recording often included Jerry Garcia, David Crosby, Graham Nash and other members of the San Francisco rock scene. When members of the Airplane and their friends recorded at Heider's it appears that they got paid session fees as well, so the so-called PERRO sessions gave everyone walking-around cash, always welcome for musicians.

As the Airplane faded, Paul Kantner and Grace Slick had put out a series of solo-type albums, some under the name Jefferson Starship. Garcia and Betty Cantor were heavily involved. By the fourth of these however, sales had dropped off considerably (the albums were Blows Against The Empire, Sunfighter, Manhole and Baron Von Tollbooth & The Chrome Nun) and royalties no longer adequately funded the excess. The Jefferson Starship went on tour in Spring 1974, with young guitarist Craig Chacuiqo and Jorma's brother Peter Kaukonen on bass. Peter Kaukonen was replaced by Pete Sears (doubling on keyboards and bass with David Freiberg), and the band had released Dragon Fly to great acclaim. Marty Balin rejoined the band and the Starship took flight.

Nonetheless, socially the Jefferson Starship were still good friends with the Grateful Dead, not the least because they were among the last organizations still standing from the old Fillmore days. After all, Dragon Fly had included a song by Robert Hunter, saxman Stephen Schuster worked with both Jefferson Starship and the Godchauxs, most Starship members still lived in Marin, all but one of the current members had at least played the Fillmores, if not with the Airplane, and Alembic still consulted with them on sound and equipment. However, the most important connection was even older than that. At some point, I think by about early 1975, the Jefferson Starship had hired one Owsley Stanley as their soundman.

Now, the Starship did not have a permanent touring operation, like the Grateful Dead, so Owsley would have been hired per tour. However, once the Dead had stopped touring at the end of 1974, Owsley would have no longer been on the Dead's payroll. In any case, Owsley had not had a specific role in the Dead's touring scheme, as his time in jail (1970-72) had allowed for Alembic and Dan Healy to take over the sound and crew. So while outwardly the Jefferson Starship had swung towards a more commercial sound, they still had the retired Acid King himself as their soundman, so psychedelic rebellion was never out of the question.

With a big hit single and a hugely anticipated album coming out in June, the Jefferson Starship had been touring nationally for Red Octopus.  The Starship headlined two shows at Winterland on May 16 and 17, 1975. The Sons Of Champlin, also old Marin friends, were invited to open the shows, and just to give it the old Fillmore flavor, the Starship also invited Mickey Hart's percussion orchestra. The unheard and unprecedented ensemble hearkened back to the mixed bills of the old Fillmore, when a Russian poet once opened for the Jefferson Airplane (Apr 7 '66). The Starship were going for the gold ring, yes, but they were still doing it in San Francisco style. The Sons Of Champlin and The Grateful Dead were just about the only intact bands from the old Fillmore days, so along with the Airplane crew, it was as close as they could get to Old-Timers Day.

Marx Meadows in relation to other famous parts of Golden Gate Park

Live From Marx Meadows
Since the Jefferson Starship were still a proud San Francisco band, mainstream or not, they were going to go about things Fillmore-style. By all accounts, their headline shows at Winterland came off well, and I believe the Diga Rhythm Band got good notices too, even if they were hard to fit into a slot. At the time, there was no public concept of the idea of "World Music," although of course musicians were aware of it, and an intercultural percussion ensemble was unheard of. So the booking of the Diga Rhythm Band was an enjoyably weird thing for the newly-commercial Jefferson Starship, and a definite whiff of the old days.

There is a circulating tape from Winterland, misdated as May 25, although it must be May 16 or May 17. The tape is 40 minutes long, and seems only slightly cut off at the beginning. 45 minutes would be about right for the opening act at Winterland in those days. Diga plays two long numbers, "Tal Mala" and "Magnificent Sevens." Between numbers, Zakir Hussain introduces the band. He tells the crowd that the first number was by Mickey Hart, and "you know him as the drummer from the Grateful Dead," to a big roar from the crowd.

Diga Rhythm Band, May 1975
Zakir Hussain-tabla
Mickey Hart-trap drums
Jordan Aramantha-congas
Jim Loveless-marimbas
Ray Speigel-vibes
Arshad Syad-duggi ("imported specially from India")
"Ali Akbar College of Music sub-line" (Zakir says "behind us," presumably referring to additional drummers providing a basic pulse) 

The Starship national tour had started in May, but to end this leg the band decided to play a free concert in Golden Gate Park. The Starship had played a similar free concert in Central Park in New York City's Central Park back on May 12 (broadcast on WNEW-fm). These free shows were definitely a nod to the olden days. The San Francisco show was no stealth arrangement, and was approved and booked with the city for Friday, May 30. The Starship could not have admitted the show prior to playing the Winterland bookings--Bill Graham wouldn't have allowed the publicity--but once the weekend was over it was no secret. So much so, that the concert was noted in the Stanford Daily performer listings for the day (see the clip up top). It is a sign of the status of the Jefferson Starship that though they had a hit single on the charts ("Miracles") and were a descendant of San Francisco legends, they could still actually publicize a free show in Golden Gate Park and not overwhelm it. Admittedly, it was a Friday, not a weekend, but the Starship were not going to get mobbed.

When you google around, some notes put the free show in Marx Meadows, and others in Speedway Meadows (now called Hellman Hollow), but I found an eyewitness who confirmed that it was Marx Meadows. The previous Garcia free show in Golden Gate Park, with Merl Saunders, had been in Marx Meadows (Sep 2 '74 with Garcia/Saunders), and the Grateful Dead would play a free show in Speedway Meadows on September 28 '75. However, my recollection of the September Dead show was that the Jefferson Starship had openly booked a show for Speedway Meadows with themselves and "other bands", and the Dead were essentially snuck in. I think the May show was booked, and went successfully, so the Starship could say with a straight face "we will have other bands" and the city just figured it would be the Sons or something. So, in that respect, the mainstream Starship still had some old Airplane rabble-rousing left in them.

The Diga album, released on Round Records in March 1976

Diga Rhythm Band Live
I'm not sure what time the concert started, presumably around noon or something, which is pretty early for most musicians. Diga Rhythm Band opened the show. The tape seems complete, and including stage announcements, it is 33 minutes long. The group is introduced somewhat tentatively as "The Diga Rhythm Band." Zakir Hussain tells the crowd that they are all musicians from the Indian Music college,  The Ali Akbar School Of Music in Marin, and "they play music all night and day." He explains that the Diga Rhythm Band is "The Rhythm Band Of The World." Remember, at this time, there was no term like "World Music," even though a few groups like Kaleidoscope and Shanti had done such things.

Rather uniquely, Zakir Hussain then introduces all the drums on stage, like the trap drums (which he calls "The American Drum"), and the congas from Cuba and Africa, and so on, but he does not introduce the actual band members. The group then plays a 13-minute piece, apparently called "Sweet Sixteen" that seems to have a certain basic structure but appears to include plenty of improvisation, as well. Then, Zakir announces that they have a few friends who will join them for the next number. The subsequent roar leaves no doubt as to who one of those friends is (punctuated by people shouting "Jerry!!!" of course). Although he is not announced, and it is hard to be certain from the audience tape, my eyewitness confirmed that David Freiberg played bass along with Jerry. In any case, Jerelyn Brandelius published a photo with Freiberg on bass with Diga from Golden Gate Park [update: Commenter ruppi43 points out that Garcia can be seen in the linked photo]. I'm not aware of a photo of Jerry on stage with Diga [update: Commenter ruppi43 links to a Ron Draper photo of Jerry on stage, playing the Wolf] , although there may be one of him waiting to go on stage. Also, the Grateful Dead Archive has a photo of some members of the Sons of Champlin "backstage" at Golden Gate Park in 1975, and I suspect that it is from May 30, as well.

Zakir Hussain then announces that the next composition is called "The Fire On The Mountain." Diga, Jerry and Freiberg launch into a percussionized version of the "Fire On The Mountain" theme that we are all familiar with, and then launch into a lengthy jam that is loosely based on the rhythms, but there is no singing nor anything resembling a verse structure. At the end, after about 15 minutes, the group comes back for a reprise of the theme, and then they end the song. Zakir Hussain thanks the crowd and says, "The Sons Of Champlin will be coming on shortly."

It's important to remember that while Garcia loved to play, and had more time on his hands during 1975 than any other year in his Grateful Dead career, he did not like to "hang out," nor did he like casual jamming on inferior or borrowed equipment. Any Jerry Garcia appearance in 1975 was planned, even if only Jerry and a roadie knew of that plan. So here are some facts to consider:

• Garcia was in town. While Garcia was playing around with his own band, he wasn't playing with the Dead, of course, so he was far more likely to look for opportunities to sit in with other bands
• Whether or not Garcia had played with The Tal Vydum Rhythm Band--probably not--he had jammed with Hart and Zakir Hussain at Hart's barn, so he was comfortable with that style of music
• David Freiberg was present with the Starship, and his equipment would have been on stage. Freiberg had played with Garcia many times, so he was no untried stranger who couldn't handle the curveballs.
• If Hart was bringing equipment over, Garcia's amp could be put on the truck as well. This too would have been no small thing to Garcia, who wouldn't have wanted to play difficult music on some borrowed Fender that he hadn't broken in.

Mickey Hart and Robert Hunter had written "Fire On The Mountain" back around 1972, and the song was intended to be the title track to Hart's second solo album. Warner Brothers rejected the album in 1973, not least because the Dead had not re-signed with Warners, so the label had no desire to release what they would have considered a money-losing vanity album by their former clients' former drummer. So the song was known to Garcia and Hart, but not to anyone but the most connected Deadheads.

The album Diga, by the Diga Rhythm Band, was released on Round Records in March of 1976. Recording had probably begun by Spring 1975, but any chance to complete and release the album was delayed until the next year, as Round Records had one of their perpetual cash crises. One of the tracks is titled "Happiness Is Drumming," and it appears to be the basic pattern of "Fire On The Mountain," with Garcia on guitar. So Hart, Garcia and Diga may have already been working on this. On the album, the composition is credited to Diga Rhythm Band, rather than Hart. Since there was no singing, Hunter did not need to credited. Still, Zakir Hussain's mention of the song title would have been it's first public usage.

Owsley Stanley, after being busted in Orinda, CA on December 23, 1967. This SF Chronicle photo was one of the few photos of Owsley that were published in the 20th century

Owsley?
The final question is whether Owsley was the soundman. I don't know when Owsley was hired by the Starship, but I think it was definitely by Spring '75, and possibly the Fall before that. If the Starship were going to play in Golden Gate Park, they were going to try out their setup, so they would want their regular touring soundman. So I think he was there. That doesn't mean that Dan Healy or Betty Cantor wasn't on the board for Diga instead, and maybe I am thinking wishfully, but it's a worthwhile consideration. If anyone went to the show and recalls who was on the board, please let us know in the Comments.

I think Owsley's presence would have been significant. Garcia liked to jam with other musicians, and just be part of the band, but by 1975 he only wanted to do it in controlled, professional situations. The Sons Of Champlin might have brought their own soundman, but who would Diga have used? Owsley sure seems like a likely choice, since he would have been there with Starship. Owsley also seems like someone who would have directly invited or indirectly enticed Garcia to play with Diga, since he could guarantee the sound in his own inimitable fashion.

If Owsley did mix Jerry with Diga on May 30, 1975, it was the last go-round. I don't know who mixed the sound for the Speedway Meadows Dead set on September 28, but it wouldn't have been Owsley. Owsley was probably mixing the sound for the Starship set in September, but Dan Healy and the rest of the crew had their issues with Owsley and would have actively insured that his hands were not on the board for the Dead's set. So it may be that a largely forgotten Garcia appearance in Golden Gate Park in someone else's band was the the formal end of the musical partnership between two giants of late century psychedelia.

Appendix 1: Diga Rhythm Band album

Diga

Diga Rhythm Band

Initial release : March 1976

Round Records RX 110 / RX-LA600-G

Percussion based album from Mickey Hart and friends. Garcia plays guitar on two tracks.

Tracks

• Sweet Sixteen (Diga Rhythm Band)
• Magnificent Sevens (Diga Rhythm Band)
• Happiness Is Drumming (Diga Rhythm Band)
• Razooli (Diga Rhythm Band)
• Tal Mala (Diga Rhythm Band)

Musicians

Diga Rhythm Band;

• Jordan Amarantha - congas, bongos
• Peter Carmichael - tabla
• Aushim Chaudhuri - tabla
• Vince Delgado - dumbek, tabla, talking drum
• Tor Dietrichson - tabla
• Mickey Hart - traps, gongs, timbales, tympani
• Zakir Hussain - tabla, folk drums, tar
• Jim Loveless - marimbas
• Joy Shulman - tabla
• Ray Spiegel - vibes
• Arshad Syed - duggi tarang, nal

Guests;

• Jerry Garcia - guitar (on Razooli and Happiness Is Drumming)
• Jim McPherson - vocals (on Razooli)
• Kathy McDonald - vocals (on Razooli)
• David Freiberg - vocals (on Razooli)

Credits

• Produced by Mickey Hart
• Associate producer - Vince Delgado
• Production assistant and arranging associate - Zakir Hussain
• Engineers - Dan Healy, Bill Wolf, Betty Cantor
• Assistant engineer - Brett Cohen
• Recorded at the Barn, Novato
• Remixed in 1988 :
• Engineer (1988) - Tom Flye
• Assistant engineer (1988) - Tom Size
• Digital mastering (1988) - Joe Glaswirt
• Cover art - Jordan De La Sierra
• Package design - Steven Jurgensmeyer
• Photograph - Onehart
• Liner notes - Frederic Lieberman

The Winter 1976 Round Records newsletter provided a history of the Diga Rhythm Band.

In 1968 Mickey Hart was studying at the Ali Akbar College of Music with Tabla Master Shankar Gosh. Mickey would work on compositions with Shankar which included Rhythmic Cycles of 4, 6, 16, 5 & 7 and take these teachings to Bill Kreutzmann. Mickey and Bill were instructing Shankar on traps in exchange for Tabla lessons and would combine their knowledge in compositions of East and West.

In September of 1968 the Grateful Dead played a concert at Berkeley Community Theater. Before the concert the drummers had planned a surprise for the audience. During part of "Alligator", the G. D. amps rolled apart and two risers rolled on stage between Mickey and Bill. On them were Shankar Gosh and Vince Delgado, a fine dumbec player and a student of Shankar's. The four men sat and fixed compositions together, taking a rhythmic journey through many "Tals" or time cycles. Ali Akbar Kahn composed the closing composition for them and when they were finished, the applause was deafening. Shankar left Ali Akbar College in 1969 and returned to India, at this time Mickey also left to pursue electronic music.

In 1970 Mickey was introduced to Zakir Hussain, son of Mickey's mentor, Alla Rakha. Mickey met Alla Rakha in 1967 and had given himself over to the teachings of Indian rhythms during their first meeting. He subsequently became Shankar's student in California. Zakir had come from India to replace Shankar as Ali Akbar's personal drummer as Tabla instructor for the school. Quite a job for a man of 21, but Zakir had been studying since 8 years of age, he came well prepared.

In 1971 Zakir began to select some of his advance students for a school orchestra of only rhythm instruments. This was called Tal Vadyum Rhythm Band and they performed once a quarter at the Ali Akbar Kahn Collect of Music. This was the beginning of the Diga Band. In April, 1975 the Jefferson Starship asked them to play a concert with them and the Sons of Champlin. The band decided to play and also to change their name for public performance. The name chosen was Diga Rhythm Band. The concerts at Winterland in San Francisco on May 16 & 17, 1975 were successful, Alla Rakha was there both nights and was very pleased. Bill Graham was elated and the musicians from the other groups were very receptive to the music.

Diga is currently recording an album for Round Records, to be distributed by United Artists, in April. The band also plans to tour maybe in the Spring of '76.

Appendix 2: Jefferson Starship circa 1975
Grace Slick-vocals
Marty Balin-vocals
Craig Chaquico-lead guitar
Paul Kantner-rhythm guitar, vocals
Papa John Creach-electric violin
David Freiberg-keyboards, bass, vocals
Pete Sears-bass, keyboards
John Barbata-drums

Fillmore notes:

• Slick, Balin and Kantner had played the original Fillmore and both Fillmores West and East with the Jefferson Airplane
• Papa John Creach had played Fillmores West and East with Hot Tuna
• David Freiberg had played all the Fillmores with Quicksilver Messenger Service
• John Barbata had played the Fillmore with the Turtles, and Fillmore East with CSNY (June 2-7 '70)
• Pete Sears had played Fillmore West with Silver Metre (May 28-31 and July 9-12 '70)
• Craig Chacuiqo, the youngest member of Starship, had never played the Fillmores

Here is the setlist for the Starship's free concert in Central Park earlier in May. The Golden Gate Park set was probably similar.
May 12 1975 Central Park, New York, NY: Jefferson Starship (WNEW-fm broadcast)
Ride the Tiger, Fast Buck Freddie, The Witcher, Devil's Den, Caroline, Driving Me Crazy, Papa John's Down Home Blues, Play on Love, Better Lying Down, Have You Seen the Saucers, Come to Life, Sweeter than Honey incl. drum solo, Somebody to Love, White Rabbit, Volunteers