GarciaLive Volume 23: August 14th, 1993 presents the Jerry Garcia Band's final performance at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA. The two sets that the group performed that night were originally recorded to two-track digital audio tape straight from the soundboard by John Cutler.
All told, Garcia played Shoreline 39 times with the Grateful Dead and on three occasions with the Jerry Garcia Band. This show took place seven years after the opening of the venue. The Grateful Dead were slated to perform the initial gig at the facility but it was cancelled due to Garcia’s health complications. Indeed, as the label notes, "Although JGB was conceived as a low-key respite—a chance for Garcia to relax and cut loose in small clubs away from the stadium circus of his main gig—crowds eventually swelled for the eponymous side project, and by ’93 the group was playing some of the same arenas and amphitheaters as the Dead." GarciaLive Volume 23 is available for pre-order and will be available on October 30th. Journalist and longtime Grateful Dead publicist Dennis McNally contributes liners, in which he observes that Garcia was “at his peak, playing both thunder and lightning, and singing beautifully.”
The official description offers, “Aside from ‘Run for the Roses,’ the entire evening was devoted to covers, with Garcia putting his inimitable imprint on many of his favorite songs across multiple genres. The band spontaneously crafted a show with a freewheeling flow that carries an uninhibited energy from start to finish, from a magical reading of Bob Dylan’s ‘Forever Young’ and a funky take on Chuck Berry’s ‘You Never Can Tell’ to an absolutely jubilant version of [Peter Rowan's] ‘Midnight Moonlight,’ blending a speedy country shuffle with soaring gospel harmonies."
In advance of the release, the label has released the band’s version of "Like a Road Leading Home." The song, which was written by Dan Penn and Don Nix, was first released by Albert King in 1971. Garcia initially performed the tune with Merl Saunders two years later.
Jerry Garcia Band, Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA, 8/14/93
Set 1: How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You), Forever Young, Struggling Man, Run For The Roses, Money Honey, Like A Road Leading Home, My Sisters And Brothers, Lay Down Sally
Set 2: Shining Star, You Never Can Tell, Ain't No Bread In The Breadbox, Wonderful World, The Maker, Don't Let Go, That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day), Midnight Moonlight
