Various Artists: A Tribute to Jerry Garcia - Deadheads Festival, Japan 1997

[Video cover] [Back cover] [Rick Danko cover photo]

Recorded April 8th 1997, Shibuya On Air West.

I found this in the reduced price rack in the Virgin Megastore in Paris. It’s a pretty low profile release with Tom Constanten, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Merl Saunders and The Rainforest Band. It’s rather a bizarre tribute, in that Rick Danko simply does four old Band songs. They’re not even ones that Jerry Garcia covered, and I thought the point of these things was doing versions of the artist’s songs. In his interview sequence Danko says he met Garcia "Back in the sixties - 1965 I guess, when The Band and The Grateful Dead were cutting their teeth".

During The Weight he slips his guitar off during the first couple of lines and sings the rest of the song walking around the stage with the mic in his hand, looking uncannily like Ronnie Hawkins. Pity John Dawson is shaky on the words, but after singing backing on the chorus, he seems surprised to be invited to take a verse. There are four short solos, all well-taken on piano, both guitars and violin. In The Shape I’m In he seems to be having a lot of fun, dancing and even twirling. The largest back cover shot shows Dawson and Danko singing together, with Danko holding a mic and no guitar, but interestingly Dawson has a jacket on. He doesn’t during the filmed show. Of course, there’s less than two hours of a three and a half hour show on the disc.

Merl Saunders finishes the show, in which he thanks the others for supporting him, which looks like the way it was on the disc, though not on the cover. Nice T-shirt. Great set.
-- Peter Viney

Contents

Side 1

1. Opening
   (includes short extract of Crazy Mama, Rick Danko - solo)
2. Interview
3. Dead Medley - Tom Constanten
4. Interview
5. Ripple - New Riders of The Purple Sage
   John Dawson - guitar, vocal / Russell Gauthier - guitar, vocal / Garry Vogensen - guitar, vocal
6. Midnight Moonlight- New Riders of The Purple Sage
   John Dawson - guitar, vocal / Russell Gauthier - guitar, vocal / Garry Vogensen - guitar, vocal + Michael Warren - bass / James Vincent Littleton - drums
7. Interview
   (includes a few bars of Superstition)
8. Stage Fright - Rick Danko
   Rick Danko - guitar, vocal
9. It Makes No Difference - Rick Danko
   Rick Danko - guitar, vocal
10. The Weight - Rick Danko
    Rick Danko - vocal + John Dawson - guitar, vocal / Russell Gauthier - violin, vocal / Garry Vogensen - guitar / Tom Constanten - piano / Michael Warren - bass / James Vincent Littleton - drums
11. The Shape I’m In - Rick Danko
    Rick Danko - guitar, vocal + John Dawson - guitar, vocal / Russell Gauthier - violin, vocal / Garry Vogensen - guitar / Michael Hinton - guitar / Tom Constanten - piano / Michael Warren - bass / James Vincent Littleton - drums

Side 2

Merl Saunders & The Rainforest Band
1. Interview
2. Leave Your Hat On
3. Sugaree
4. Forest Dance
5. Dark Star
6. Fire On The Mountain
   + Garry Vogensen - guitar / Russell Gauthier - violin

Artists