Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions

[lumpy]

Hey folks, I just made this mediafire download for a friend, but thought I'd share the URL here too.

It's an mp3 encoded show of an early Jerry Garcia group, Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions in 1964 at a cafe called The Tangent near Stanford.

It was broadcast on the radio, which leaves us with a great recording 43 years later.

http://www.mediafire.com/?4n4zzyndnf3

[Phrazz]

This is friggin' amazing! Thanks for the upload! This site is also lightning fast -- I downloaded the whole show in about 30 seconds!!!

-Phrazz

[hoby]

Wonderful!

In the interest of historical accuracy, for them what cares a whit, I'll point out that Mother Mcree's was not technically Garcia's first real group.

That honor might belong to "Bob and Jerry", 2 duet gigs he played with Hunter in 1961. Then there was the Wildwood Boys and the Sleepy Hollow Hog Stompers in '62 and a number of other revolving door acoustic bands he played in between 62 and 64 including the Hart Valley Drifters, the Badwater Valley Boys, the Thunder Mountain Tub Thumpers. And let's not forget "Jerry and Sara" - his duet with his first wife.

But Mother Mcree's is very important in Dead lore because it's the first onstage collaboration of players who would later form the Warlocks and then the Dead: Garcia, Weir, and Pigpen. Also, Mother Mcree's played tunes that would later appear in the Dead set lists: Cold Rain and Snow, Been All Around This World, Viiola Lee BLues, Big Railroad Blues, On The Road Again, and Beat It On Down The Line.

(None of which has any impact on the enjoyability of this recording, but typing this passes the time until the download finishes. )

If you want to learn more about this most amazing of truly american musicians, I highly recommend Blair Jackson's bio titled Garcia: An American Life.

So thanks, lumpy, for this most excellent musical treasure.

h

[lumpy]

Thanks Hoby! I certainly didn't mean to spread historical inaccuracies

This show is a real fun one to listen to - I'm glad you two enjoy it too.

[hoby]

Thanks Hoby! I certainly didn't mean to spread historical inaccuracies

No worries, lump.

It would be unfair to expect everyone (or anyone) to have the same obsessive interest in this particular musician that I do. That many people do is one indication of his impact, but it probably works best if just a few of us get all geeky on any one artist and we then all share info as needed using the power of the internet.

Distributed music-wonkiness!! The wave of the future!!!!

h

[putty]

this is some fun music.

i think i'm going to get a kazoo today.

[drewry]

holy shit this is cool. i cant believe it sounds so good too. thanks for sharing

[iandigstheslip]

Amazing quality!
Thank you!

[Phrazz]

Wonderful!

In the interest of historical accuracy, for them what cares a whit, I'll point out that Mother Mcree's was not technically Garcia's first real group.

...

And let's not forget "Jerry and Sara" - his duet with his first wife.

...

(None of which has any impact on the enjoyability of this recording

...

If you want to learn more about this most amazing of truly american musicians, I highly recommend Blair Jackson's bio titled Garcia: An American Life.

...

h

Hey Hoby, I have to disagree with your "any impact" comment. I for one like the music so much better when I know about the history of the piece as well as the musicians themselves. I think it adds texture to our musical understanding and helps us develop better ears in the process.

Thanks for the book recommendation...I'll work on this after Bob Woodward is done with me.

Oh, and my pal Black Peter scored me a recording of Jerry and Sara on the roof of some coffee house in Stanford (I think)...I'll try to dig this up somewhere. I had thought it might have predated this 1964 show (maybe 1963?) but I doubt as early as '61. Wasn't Jerry playing in the late 50s? I'll have to dig up some more bio...maybe he was in a high school band back then.

Regardless, for 1964 in a coffee shop, it's a pretty amazing recording and is now one of the gems in my own music library. Thanks again lumpster!

-Phrazzlestiltskin

[Non-Fiction]

this is amazing, so much fun! Thanks so much lumpy

[lumpy]

I'm glad you all are enjoying it so much. It always brings smiles to my face when listening - and makes me really appreciate the pure joy that can go into creating music.

[hoby]

Hey Hoby, I have to disagree with your "any impact" comment. I for one like the music so much better when I know about the history of the piece as well as the musicians themselves. I think it adds texture to our musical understanding and helps us develop better ears in the process.

I am exactly the same way, Phrazz.

My comment was more of a pre-emptive defensiveness of a sort. Said defensiveness comes from my sad familiarity with "Deader-than-thou" (DTT) syndrome: Deadheads who behave as if you can't possibly enjoy the music as much as they do since you don't have the same knowledge and experience.

[I have one good tour friend whose symptoms are as follows: If you mentioned enjoying a particular show, performance, or tape, he would immediately steer the conversation to some show, performance, or tape you hadn't heard/been at and then his telling you about that would become the conversation. "Well, yeah, that version of <fill in song title> was ok, but it doesn't hold a candle to <fill in version you haven't heard or show you weren't at >."]

I was afraid my correction of Lumpy's statement and subsequent info would make it appear as if I was suffering from DTT syndrome. In fact, my problem has been diagnosed as "Too-Much-Dead-Information" [TMDI] syndrome. My quest to understand and learn everything I possibly could about the Dead over the decades leaves me with all this stuff in my brain that I love to share. Unfortunately it has also resulted in other (sometimes important) info being crowded out of my brains and dribbling out my ears. (EEEWWW!)

Anyway, I didn't want readers to think my offering was coming from DTT territory.

Thanks for the book recommendation...I'll work on this after Bob Woodward is done with me.

Be warned: It is not an entirely happy tale.

Oh, and my pal Black Peter scored me a recording of Jerry and Sara on the roof of some coffee house in Stanford (I think)...I'll try to dig this up somewhere. I had thought it might have predated this 1964 show (maybe 1963?) but I doubt as early as '61. Wasn't Jerry playing in the late 50s? I'll have to dig up some more bio...maybe he was in a high school band back then.

According to my sources (he said mysteriously)...

OK, hold it! The "sources" in question is in fact Volume 1 of The Deadheads' Taping Compendium. The first of a 3-volume reference tome which, in conjunction with Deadbase, creates a nearly bottomless pit of Dead music information.

...ahem, yes, well to continue. <Straightens tie and tugs at bottom of vest>.

According to the compendium (the 1998 edition - so this info might be outdated), the only known tape of Jerry and Sara is from 5/4/63 at the Top of the Tangent - the same venue as the treasure Lumpy gave us.

The setlist: Deep Ellem Blues, The Weaver, I Truly Understand, All Good Times Are Past, Long Black Veil, The Man Who Wrote Home Sweet Home, Keno, Foggy Mountain Top.

This tape is sometimes mis-dated 5/1 or 5/3.

If you can find that recording, that is quite a treasure in its own right.

As for Garcia playing in the '50s, he was certainly playing, but maybe not in public yet. So far, the earliest recordings are dated '61.

Regardless, for 1964 in a coffee shop, it's a pretty amazing recording and is now one of the gems in my own music library. Thanks again lumpster!

AMEN!!!

hoby

[hoby]

OK, so I need to bring this up.

A friend pointed out to me this weekend that this Mother McCree's recording is an official commercial release.

http://www.vidkid.com/McCree.html

You would think I would have recognized this immediately, but the old memory really is starting to show some signs of wear and tear.

In fact my friend had lent this to me a while back and I had completely forgotten it!!

Now the good news is that if you love this recording you can purchase an uncompressed version.

But it also raises the ethical question of ripping and distributing an mp3 version of a commercial release.

I went back and reread the thread and don't see any mention of the origin of Lumpy's recording. I'm not here to acuse Lumpy or anyone else of wrongdoing. Hell, I'm the one spouting all the history, but I didn't bother to check sources and gleefully downloaded the thing!

I just wanted to say that even if you feel it's OK to distribute copies of a commercial release because it's MP3s (I would say not but that's a discussion for another thread), I think it's fair that the source should be mentioned so that people are aware of what they've got and can make their own decisions accordingly.

Do you agree?

Embarrassed but coming clean,

hoby

[lumpy]

I had no idea folks!

I ended up with the recording the same way that I spread it - a post and link on a message board a while back.....

Great to know that an even *better* sounding copy exists, is easily accessible, and hopefully comes with some photos and words.

Thanks Hoby!