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Garcia, Kaukonen, Casady, Hart, Dryden, Getz Jefferson Airplane House, San Francisco 10/21/68 MSR > ? > C > C > D jam #1 (Hart, left channel; Dryden, right; Getz out): 40:04 jam #2: (Dave Getz of Big Brother replaces Dryden): 33:30 jam #3: (Kaukonen, Casady, Dryden) 28:38 [drop outs circa 1:24:16, 1:25:05, 1:39:52, 1:42:30, 1:42:57, 1:43:14, 1:43:27, 1:43:53] jam #4: (Kaukonen, Casady, Dryden, Garcia 4:26 jam #5 (Kaukonen, Casady, Dryden, Garcia, Hart, left) 9:40 I acquired my original copy of the first two jams of this tape in the early 80s as sides A & B of a cassette well-known at the time in the SF area among people interested in tape of early Grateful Dead. This tape was always labeled "Jefferson Airplane House 10/21/68" -- referring to the house the Airplane had at Fulton & Arguello in SF. It sounds like it was mastered on 2-track reels in 1968. More attention to micing & mix is audible than on the Matrix 10/68 tapes (10/8/68, 10/9/68, 10/30/68), consistent with a 'studio' setting, but the applause of a small audience audible thru the drum mics at the end of each jam suggests to some the Matrix as a likelier venue, although the tape has never circulated labeled that way. Jams #3, #4 & #5 came into circulation about 1990, as a single cassette side and probably never circulated widely. My best copies of jams #1, #2, and #3-5, came from three different sources, each with the lineage MSR > ? > C > C. Noise is low & separation excellent for all three tapes. My guess is the "?" represents one reel generation; I strongly doubt it represents more than two analog generations for the first two tapes. The copy of jams #3-5 is somewhat more degraded, with a string of drop outs in jam #3, though still decent listening on the whole. It's necessary to remember that 'recent' copies of these tapes are now 20 years old, and the master is pushing 36. It's time to digitize. The information with the original cassette names personnel as Garcia, Kaukonen, Casady, Hart, Dryden, Getz and specifies the drummers channels. All three jams sound very like the performances we have from the Matrix in October '68, only further out and more focused & intent. Jam #2 begins with a transformed Dark Star riff but launches off for points unknown very quickly. This is the only hint of 'Dead' material. Much of the first two jams is really a duo between Garcia & Casady, plus the drummers; Kaukonen is subdued or absent. In jams #3-5 Jorma gets his own. The first two jams are very fluid, shifting among riffs and spaces without precise boundaries. Jam #3 is more schematized into three riffs with distinct passages between, and the material is (to a deadhead, anyways) more suggestive of the Airplane's. Jams #4 and #5 are basically one riff each. This is the same month Hendrix blew the roof off Winterland, 6 shows in 3 nights (Casady sat in for Killing Floor and Hey Joe on the 10th) and the Dead (minus Weir & Pigpen, plus various guests) played their experimental workshops at The Matrix. The focus & inspiration throughout this music is obvious and incredible. |
Title: Jeffersone Airplane House jams 10/21/68
