Heads & Tails: Volume 2

The second volume of Heads & Tails, a vinyl series built to showcase first-rate Jerry Garcia performances orphaned on tapes deemed otherwise unusable, brings together two distinct eras of Garcia’s musical life outside the Grateful Dead. Each half of the double-A-sided LP offers two sides of a story with way more than two sides.

From January 1976 at Keystone Berkeley comes a glimpse of Keith and Donna Jean Godchaux’s very first show with the group, including the debut performance of the traditional gospel tune “Who Was John?” and an exquisite reading of Irving Berlin’s “Russian Lullaby.” The performances hint at the overtly spiritual material that would come to define much of the band’s musical identity in the ’90s.

On the other side, a summer afternoon at Portland Meadows in 1993 finds the classic lineup nearing the end of its journey together. Though an imperfect day overall, the soul-soaked rendering of Van Morrison’s “And It Stoned Me” and a positively transcendent version of Daniel Lanois’s “The Maker,” with Garcia quietly and assuredly occupying the vocal before delivering a majestic, crystalline guitar solo, are too evocative to remain on the shelf.

Pressed on lavender eco-mix vinyl, Heads & Tails: Volume 2 offers two concentrated listening environments: the nocturnal moodiness of the late-’70s Jerry Garcia Band and the clear-light glow of the ’90s group at its highest moments. Drop the needle on either side and get in tune.

Heads:
January 26, 1976 @ Keystone, Berkeley, CA
1. Russian Lullaby
2. Who Was John?

Tails:
August 8, 1993 @ Portland Meadows, Portland, OR
1. And It Stoned Me
2. The Maker