One thing to try (Robert Hunter) (LP 2006 - 2007)

Robert Hunter   Tales of The Great Rum Runners (Vinyl, Round Records, 1974) ***  

Robert Hunter   Tiger Rose (Vinyl, Round Records, 1975) *** 

Genre: San Francisco rock 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Arizona Lightning (Tales..)

Gear costume: Rum Runners (Tales..)

Active compensatory factors: I was intrigued by the cover of Tales of The Great Rum Runners when I came across it in a book of album covers. So, when I saw it in the ten dollar bins at Real Groovy it was a no brainer.

Robert Hunter was the lyricist for many of Jerry Garcia's songs, and was considered a fully fledged non-performing member of The Grateful Dead, but he also had an under the radar solo career.

These are his first two albums under his own name. His palette is broad - for instance bagpipes appear on Children's Lament (on Tales...), which is appropriate given he's related to Scottish poet Robbie Burns. Other songs include banjo, guitar, sax, or are a cappella.

Depending on the song he'll adopt folk, Americana, rock or country stylings. His voice is distinctive but maybe not his strongest suit. That's probably why he didn't enjoy the same solo popularity as the other members of the Dead.

The most Grateful Dead sounding song on offer on Tales is Must Have Been The Roses which appears on Garcia's solo Reflections album. It's great to hear that song with a different, grainier approach.

Tiger Rose was his second album. It came out a year later than Tales and again features Garcia and a variety of San Franciscan musicians, including members of Grateful Dead and Jefferson Starship.

It continues the eclectic mix of styles. Hunter's voice sounds a little more at ease with the material on Tiger Rose. Basically, everyone sounds like they are having a blast! 

Where do they all belong? I'd snap up any other albums if I ever come across them. I love his down home scuzzy approach. He's an interesting guy!

Comes a time (Jerry Garcia) (LP 2002)

Jerry Garcia  Reflections (Vinyl, Round Records, 1976) ***

Genre: San Francisco rock 

Places I remember: Vinyl Countdown (New Plymouth)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Might As Well

Gear costume: Mission In The Rain 

Active compensatory factors: I'm not sure I could ordinarily tell the difference in a blind taste test between late seventies Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia 'solo' albums.

After all, all of the Dead appear on this, songs are also mostly Garcia/Hunter compositions, and Garcia's distinctive voice/guitar style are features of both.

However, this one comes between the Dead's Blues for Allah and Terrapin Station and it's way less experimental and adventurous than those albums. The boys and Donna are instead in a more laid back groove - which is fine and dandy to my ears. I guess he just had some songs and some down time during the Grateful Dead's mid seventies hiatus.

For a hippy, he and the rest of the gang certainly had a great work ethic.

Where do they all belong? One further solo Garcia album to find - Compliments.

Ship of fools (Grateful Dead (LP 945 - 948)

Grateful Dead  Wake Of The Flood (Vinyl, Grateful Dead Records/ Atlantic, 1973) ***  

Grateful Dead  Grateful Dead From The Mars Hotel (Vinyl, Grateful Dead Records/ Atlantic, 1974) ****  

Grateful Dead  Terrapin Station (Vinyl, Arista, 1977) ****

Grateful Dead  Shakedown Street (Vinyl, Grateful Dead Records/ Atlantic, 1978) ***   

Genre: San Francisco rock

Places I remember: Marbecks Records/ Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Terrapin Station

Gear costume: Ship Of Fools (Mars Hotel);

Active compensatory factors: The studio albums in the seventies are under-appreciated I feel, and are ripe for reappraisal and rediscovery. 

While Wake Of The Flood has a brilliant cover, it is a somewhat downbeat, transitional album, with new members, the Godchauxs, now fully replacing Pigpen. Even so it includes the standout Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo.

After that one they revived quickly and put together a good run of radio friendly, fun records from then onwards.

I like both Mars Hotel and Terrapin Station a lot. They are more upbeat, more confident with the new members and while they still seem constrained in the studio they could at least update their sound in that setting.

Side two of Terrapin Station has the title track in eight parts and I adore this brilliant song, principally written by Garcia/Hunter but including compositional contribution from all the band. It is a delight! Everything works spectacularly on this track - the quasi medieval instrumental sections, and the singing by Garcia is superb. Robert Hunter's lyrics are again unique!

I'm also quite partial to their final seventies album - Shakedown Street. Not only featuring a brilliant cover by Gilbert Shelton, but with Lowell George as producer (shortly before he passed away).

He sets up a very cool California soft rock groove for the album.

I bought Terrapin and Shakedown while working at Marbecks in my varsity holidays and they, along with 1980's Go To Heaven, formed a lot of the soundtrack for these years. Special times with special people!

Where do they all belong? For some reason I've never bought Blues For Allah - also from this period. I'll have to rectify that. The eighties and beyond to come.

Knockin' on your door (Old And In The Way) (LP 932 - 938)

Various Old & In The Way (Vinyl, Grateful Dead Records, 1975) ****  

Genre: San Francisco, country rock 

John Mayall The World Of John Mayall Vol. 2 (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1968) ****  

Genre: Blues rock 

Claude Bolling, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Alexandre Lagoya Picnic Suite (Vinyl, CBS, 1980) ****  

Genre: Piano jazz

Sonny Terry Whoopin' (Vinyl, Alligator Records, 1984) ****  

Genre: Blues

Deep Purple/ Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto For Group and Orchestra (Vinyl, Harvest Records, 1970) ** 

Genre: Pop/rock

Keith Jarrett Solo - Concerts (Vinyl, ECM Records, 1973) ****  

Genre: Piano jazz

Canned Heat Historical Figures And Ancient Heads (Vinyl, United Artists Records, 1971) ***  

Genre: Blues rock 

Places I remember: Record fair in Waipukarau (Oct 15, 2022)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: She's Too Young (John Mayall)

Gear costume: Sonny's Whoopin' the Doop (Sonny Terry)

Active compensatory factors: An eclectic bunch, right, but that's me - wide ranging taste has been a feature of my music collecting from the very beginning.

All of these albums are bunched together because it kind of made sense. For this very recent record fair, I allowed myself a budget of $150.  I did pretty well. All of those albums came to $152.

Most expensive was the Keith Jarrett triple album boxed set at $40 and the cheapest was the Claude Bolling at $12. Both of them, and the rest actually, I consider bargains. All are in excellent condition, too.

I've been after Old And In The Way (the Jerry Garcia led bunch of friends) since I admired it in Marbecks nearly 40 years ago. It's a fantastic country/bluegrass album played by musicians who love the genre.

I lost the Claude Bolling along my collecting journey so it was great to be reunited with that one, especially at that price.

I didn't realise the World of John Mayall even had a Vol. 2 sequel until I saw it at the fair. I needed to complete the set and this is an original Decca NZ pressing, just like my copy of The World of John Mayall, so a no-brainer at $15. Nor had I a clue that Sonny Terry did this album with Johnny Winter and Willie Dixon. It's as good as that combination sounds.

The Canned Heat album is an oddity in their catalogue with even Little Richard singing/playing on one track. Overall I love the familiar Canned Heat boogie tracks (bonus fab and gear track - Cherokee Dance).

That leaves a Deep Purple album which I've shied away from in the past - a rock band and a philharmonic orchestra seem too many poles apart. And you know what? I was right to avoid it for all these years - it has its moments but it's a Jon Lord album more than it is a Deep Purple one. Just sayin'.

And finally, the triple Keith Jarrett. I was hoping for something as great as The Koln Concert. Solo - Concerts takes in two dates in 1973 - Bremen and Lausanne. It's not quite as epic as the Koln Concert double peak, but over six sides Jarrett extemporizes superbly. I get a gospelly R'n'B vibe from time to time during these two shows which is intriguing and rewarding.

Where do they all belong? Until the next Record Fair comes to town, it's back to the regular run of posts for the next one.

Attics of my life (The Grateful Dead) (LP 836 - 837)

The Grateful Dead   Workingman's Dead (Vinyl, Warner Brothers Records, 1970) *****

The Grateful Dead   American Beauty (Vinyl, Warner Brothers Records, 1970) *****

Genre: San Franciscan pop/rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Uncle John's Band

Gear costume: Box Of rain

Active compensatory factors: I was a relative late comer to The Grateful Dead. Basically, it was after reading Ken Kesey and Tom Wolfe's books and collecting albums by Jefferson Airplane and David Crosby, that I decided to see what the fuss was all about.

Turns out the fuss was all about a whole lot of stuff! I started with the Europe '72 Tour album (coming next to Goo Goo) and then decided to go for some studio albums.

These two were both from 1970 and they are radically different from the weird drug fueled sixties albums in that they employ harmonies and what is now known as more natural Americana sounds than studio trickery.

Workingman's Dead came out first and American Beauty then refines and perfects the sound.

The other change was the type of song they were singing. Gone was the psychedelic experimentation and in was (relatively) clear-eyed observance from Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter. This is the Dead that I love! 

Where do they all belong? A lot more Dead to come on both formats.

Deal (Jerry Garcia) (LP 771 - 772)

Jerry Garcia  Garcia (Vinyl, Warner Bros. Records, 1972) ****

Jerry Garcia Band  Cats Under The Stars (Vinyl, Arista, 1978) ***

Genre: San Francisco pop/rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records/ Slow Boat Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Deal (Garcia)

Gear costume: Sugaree, To Lay Me Down (Garcia); Gomorrah (CUTS)

Active compensatory factors: These are both debut albums of a sort - Garcia is Jerry's debut solo album (he plays pretty much everything too) and Cats Under The Stars is the debut (and sole) album by the Jerry Garcia Band (they remained intact as a live only band).

Robert Hunter remains the lyricist - so the thematic unity with The Grateful Dead is maintained. 

I prefer the more Dead sounding Garcia than the Jerry Garcia Band, although I may be in the minority on that one. He gets credit though for in each case trying something different.

Where do they all belong? Next up in this genre is Jerry's real band - The Grateful Dead.

From the dark end of the street to the bright side of the road (Van Morrison) #291

Van Morrison  Bright Side Of The Road/ Rolling Hills (Mercury, 6001 121, 1979)

Van is in upbeat mode here. Perky even and that's not an adjective anybody uses often where Van the man is concerned.

The song comes from his Into The Music album, but a different version is also on The Philosopher's Stone, an album of outtakes and rarities.

As I said, it's not a song I immediately think of when I'm thinking of Van but it's been featured in movies over the years, including one of my all time favourite films Fever Pitch.

It's an odd one in that it's an answer to the great soul song from 1967 (although it sounds older) The Dark End Of The Street (check the post title). I've included Ry's version as it's amazing!!




Hidden gem: Positivity continues to rule on the B side - a jaunty ditty about going across them rolling hills. Another song from Into The Music so no rarity value there.

Thought I'd provide a couple of different versions as the video this time out. Van's versions are stunning but Shakira and Jerry Garcia do different things with it that I also like.