Jerry Garcia Band
Warner Theatre
Washington D.C.
March 18, 1978

Download FLAC: Amazon Drive

Source 1 (Early Show Only)

Early Show:

1. I Second That Emotion
2. They Love Each Other
3. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
4. That’s What Love Will Make You Do
5. Love In The Afternoon
6. Mystery Train

Late Show:

1. Crowd/Tuning 00:00 02:50 02:49.61
2. Harder They Come 11:57 01:54 13:51.48
3. Mission in the Rain 10:56 00:54 11:49.58
4. Simple Twist of Fate 08:50 01:27 10:17.08
5. Midnight Moonlight 10:52 02:04 12:56.10
6. Gomorrah 06:18 02:19 08:36.56
7. Cats Down under the Stars 07:28 00:25 07:52.57
8. I’ll be with Thee 05:30 00:45 06:15.40
9. Lonesome and Long Way from Home > 03:55 00:00 03:54.53
10. Jam > 12:16 00:00 12:16.43
11. Lonesome and Long Way from Home 02:58 02:33 05:31.37
12. Palm Sunday (encore)

Source 1:
This is flac encoded & tagged version of shnid: 9465
source: Master Audience Cassette (Nak CM700s>cassette deck)>DAT>CDRs>EAC>SHN (seekable)

Source 2: (Late Show Only)
shnid: 007326
SBD > FM PRE-BROADCAST MASTER RTR > FM CASS. MASTER (Dolby B encoded) > SSSB (Dolby B decoded)

Yes, I know it’s been a short time since this show was originally released, but the radio station sent me a slightly better copy to work with, for which I’m thankful. Not as “compressed and limited”, and with the original Dolby B left encoded.

This version was a direct-to-cassette of the “re-broadcast” FM radio station’s RTR of the show. While the actual show took place on 3/18/78, this re-broadcast was done on the next day (Sunday) starting at 1 PM EST. This show’s reels were directly recorded onto the cassette, and I as told that the two “missing songs” (Mystery Train and I Second That Emotion) were NOT played during the rebroadcast (DAMN!). On the master I received, there is NO splice/edit/gap/etc. between Simple Twist Of Fate and Midnight Moonlight. The applause, the 3 idiots yelling for songs, etc. were continuous, and as much as I tried, I could not find anywhere where these 2 songs would have “gone”. I may be wrong, but when you hear this show, I think you will agree!

Ok, so why did I release this show? Given the fact that my Marin County source sent me the MASTERS of the 3/19 show of the following night, I thought it would be nice to release these as a “pair”, because of the run involved.

There isn’t any of the diginoise I encountered on the original copy I received, so editing was a snap. The only problem is there is a slight amount of low-volume “tick” noise about once per song. I chalk this up to poor storage of the original master reels of the show at the FM station (it’s a small station, and doesn’t have a “proper storage facility”.

Enough of the technical stuff. You know what to expect (it’s not 100% perfect, but it’s 95% excellent, and that’s very good in any engineer’s book!) as far as the “sound quality” goes, so let’s move on to the show itself.

Donna Jean Godchaux: sometimes that name sends shivers down the spines of many a Deadhead, and mental visions of these people “cringing in fear” of her “singing” is hilarious. I’m sure you’ve all heard shows she’s sung on where, in my favorite term, she scream like “a mad cow in heat”. But she actually DID (and still does from what I’m told) have a very good voice, great dynamic range, and a wonderful tone to her voice, if she could hear herself through the onstage monitors or in a studio. Well, fear not, she is WONDERFUL in this show. Not a “howl or scat” anywhere!

Keith Godchaux: again, visions of him having to be woken up on stage (I personally was at a few shows this happened at) spring up, when he was “declining”. Yet he was an excellent piano player, and during most Dead shows, he filled in quite nicely. Keith had a good ear for knowing what to play, when to play it, and how loud or soft. He was a great “fit” in the Dead’s overall sound. And in this show, HE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT! He has a few small solos here and there, and it was great to hear him tinkle the ivories. His fills in each song were right on the money, he never tried to overshadow anyone, he never “hung in the background” afraid to play either, he was just always there. Unless you listen for him, he’s not “out front”, but you know if he wasn’t playing, that there really would be a big piece of the music missing. He was just that good in my opinion. With the Dead or with Jerry, I think he was the “best balanced” of all the Dead’s keyboard players. Keith was never a show-off, he kept his solos to a minimum, but again, his keyboard playing and his rather unique way of filling in the music earned my respect from the very first time I heard him.

Maria Muldaur: Most everyone thinks of her as the “Midnight At The Oasis” girl, as that’s her only “hit”. But I best remember her for her Dan Hicks & His Lot Licks days. She has a voice that is easy to pick out from any other female singer, and she’s also an excellent vocalist overall. At one show I was at, my then fiancee (now wife) and I were sitting less than 3 feet from her at this little venue in Evnaston, IL when we saw Dan Hicks play (and yes, I tried to sneak a peek up her skirt, but it was almost floor-length… I’m a bad boy!). Maria and Donna, in this show, really played off each others’ vocals. They had non-harmony as well as harmony parts, both in background vocals on most songs, but she shined when the song “I’ll Be There With Thee” was sung. A gospel song by nature, Maria and Donna were the lead vocalists, and JERRY did the fill-in parts during the choruses. A bit out of the ordinary, but it worked, and worked very nicely. Lonesone and A Long Way from Home showed the harmony these two ladies could do so well, and it was wonderful and quite enjoyable to listen to.

Jerry… what can one say?!?!? He was UP for this show, no doubt about it. Even though it was the 2nd show of the day, he never lost the energy he’s noted for. Crisp vocals, you can almost picture him SMILING when he sang most of the songs. His riffs, solos, fills, are were just right on the money, and the entire band was in sync for this show. Upbeat, full of life, he really meant it when he thanked the audience, not just giving the crowd a “mandatory” salutation at the end.

BONUS: THIS SHOW FEATURED THE ONLY “PALM SUNDAY” EVERY PLAYED. It’s a very short song, about 3 minutes in length, akin to what “And We Bid You Good Night” would be like. Not accapella, but full-band, and I believe this show WAS done the night before Palm Sunday (I don’t have a calendar that goes back that far, sorry!! It’s a song I wish he would have kept in his repertoire and worked on a little more, as it could have been a very nice, mid-length song. But, it was only a one-off, and we have to accept that.

I really enjoyed the very long “Lonesome And A Long Way From Home”… it was short enough to start with, and then it slowed down a bit… the band went into “Space” for a short time (only about 4 minutes), then a very energetic Lonesome Jam” came in, with no “signs” of the “Lonesome” song in it for a while. That went on for a LONG time. And, no Donna Jean “scat singing”, just the musicians playing very nicely together and off of each other. Then you began to hear little “hints” of the Lonesome in Jerry’s riffs, and you knew it was coming back around for a good reprise. And then it wound down, and Jerry went back into “Lonesome…”. Wonderfully done, and there was no “muddled” segue. It was just perfect! And the song itself, it holds a lot of meaning for Jerry, and for a lot of us in the “community”. It almost could be a “sister song” for “I’ll Be With Thee”.

Jerry, no matter what incarnation of his band, always knew how to take a great Gospel song, and make it enjoyable, making sure it wasn’t sacreligious in how it was playede, but yet not being a “preaching song” either. He was simply making “statements” when he thought the time was right”. He had a wonderful of doing this, and I am forever greatful that we are blessed with these recordings of his.

Technically, I wish the show was mixed a little better, as it’s close to being mono, but there is separation. Keith is in the left channel, Donna in the right, Maria in the left, and Jerry (as always), center. I believe it was the FM station’s mix of the 4-track feed, not the venue’s that made it sound this way. But it is still a very enjoyable show from start to finish, with one exception: there were a couple of boys (I won’t go as far as to call them “men”) who, between songs, kept yelling (and very loudly close to the on-stage ambience microphones) for a couple of songs. I had to laugh when one of them screamed for “Eyes Of The World”!!! This same jerk begged Jerry to let him up on stage with him. I’m surprised that Jerry never used to get really pissed off at idiots like that. It would irritate almost every other musician around to hear some drunken idiot screaming for songs like this bozo (and 2 others) did all night. But Jerry was probably in his own little world, or just being a gentleman, and he never gave these people the satisfaction of acknowledging them (hooray for Jerry). I’ve heard Bob and Phil get steamed a few time during some ’70’s shows, but Jerry probably just smiled to himself and kept quiet.

Once I got to hear the entire show, when I was auditioning it before making the masters, I was really impressed by this incarnation of Jerry’s band. Some “versions” I liked better than others (never cared for Sarah Fulcher), but I thought they all were very good in their own way.

If you’re a JGB fan, you may want to overlook the “mix” factor and the occasional (rare) low-volume clicks, and get this show. It’s very nice to listen to on a rainy day/night… not really a fast-paced show, but a nice mixture of faster/slower/gospel songs that just fit in nicely with each other. I would not have changed the order the songs were sung in if I made up the set list, as they seemed to be a great “fit right” in the order they were played.

PERSONAL RATINGS: (on a 1 to 10 scale with 10 being excellent)
Audio Mix: 7.5 (the mostly “centered” mix should have had more separation)
Audio Quality: 8.5 (the few clicks and low-level high frequencies, due to the Dolby B)
Energy Level: 9.5
Show “Completeness”: 10.0
Song Selection: 9.7 (were the 2 songs I mentioned actually played that night?)
Surprises: The only “Palm Sunday” as well as the Lonesome > Space > Jam > Lonesome Reprise

Source 3 (Late Show Only)

This is flac encoded & tagged version of shnid: 30119

Primary Source (1):
??>DATC>HD>DSP*>DataCDR>CDWave1.6>mkwACT(b0.97)>SHN (July 2003 by Doug Oade)

Secondary/Patch Source (2):
FMSBD>2C>(C?)>CDR>EAC(v.0.95)>WAV (CDRs supplied by Dennis Carter, July 2005)
C>CDR transfer: Sony TC W320 > Marantz 510 CDR

Editing:
[Source 1>WAV]+[Source 2]>Audacity(v.1.2.3)>WAV>SHN