Cherry-picking select dates from the unfathomably massive amount of live recordings attributable to
the Grateful Dead
and related projects has become almost a genre unto itself. The
Garcialive
series picks up on the style of the
Dick's Picks
(and later
Dave's Picks
) live series, hopping around to standout dates in the lineage of
the Jerry Garcia Band
rather than going in chronological order.
Garcia
's solo band tended toward a rather nebulous nature, both in terms of activity and lineup, usually performing only select, low-key dates in between
Dead
tours and going through many different lineups of various players.
Vol. 4: March 22nd, 1978
finds
and crew performing two remarkably laid-back sets at Veteran's Hall in Sebastopol, California, fresh off a short tour and just prior to the release of
Cats Under the Stars
, the only studio album that would fall under the
Jerry Garcia Band
banner.
Garcialive, Vol. 4
features a lineup of key contributors to the album in full-on live mode, including
Grateful Dead
keyboardist/vocalist (and husband/wife) duo
Keith & Donna Godchaux
and bassist
John Kahn
. Also on-stage for this set are stellar vocalist
Maria Muldaur
offering strong backups and a cameo appearance from future
JGB
collaborator keyboardist
Ozzie Ahlers
. Apart from running through original numbers from
such as the
Robert Hunter
-penned "Gomorrah" and a rare live rendition of "Love in the Afternoon," the band runs through a string of highly revamped covers, including some jammed-out takes on
Motown
and reggae and a particularly inspired version of gospel tune "I'll Be with Thee." Keeping things in flux,
the JGB
also deliver their versions of songs that were standard to their set around this time, including a lovely look at
Bob Dylan
's "Simple Twist of Fate" and their particularly slowed-down version of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." ~ Fred Thomas