Cream of the crop
This collection, to me, needs to be at the top of the shopping list. The Dead/Jerry catalog is so extensive that it's tough to prioritize, and you could spend a fortune buying all the great archive releases of recent years. In my tape trading days I really loved the Legion of Mary and Reconstruction shows and was thrilled when this CD release came out. It doesn't disappoint. The sound quality is excellent. The songs are phenomenal. I prefer this to any JGB incarnation I've heard. .
Yep!
Nicely musical and bluesy. I'm not a Deadhead but I do really like this album. Thanks Jerry and Mearle.
Legion of Jerry
To keep everything Low-Key the Band was called: "Legion of Jerry". My friend Larry had heard that Jerry Garcia had been playing in Berkeley outside of The Grateful Dead. It was right before Christmas 74, and since the "Farewell" Shows had just happened at Winterland in October and nobody knew if The Grateful Dead HAD a Future at this point, it did look like Jerry had moved-on, and now was Fronting a New Band.
It's now 2007, and I'm listening to this great "Legion of Mary" release. This version of The Jerry Garcia/Merl Saunders Band featured Jazz Great: Martin Fierro who had played with Sir Doulglas Sahm & The Quintet, back in the Sixties and went on to Form: "Zero" with Steve Kimock & Greg Anton, in The Eighties. Martin had Toured with The Dead as 1/2 of their horn section in September 1973 just as "Wake of the Flood" was Released. Things had not gone down so well for the Grateful Dead, Big Horn Band, as the fans weren't too Crazy about an R & B Flavored Dead. But Jerry wanted to Explore Jazz & R & B, so as of July 74, Martin was asked to join the Garcia/Saunders Band and "Legion of Mary" begins.
Tapes of this band traded in Dead-Circles back in the Eighties & Nineties, but they always were of Poor Quality and Never a Complete Show. Now that's Rhino has the Reigns, we are seeing more stuff pour outta The Vaults.
These two CD's are from Dec 74-July 75 and were recorded in Portland,Berkeley & San Francisco. This Band sounds just a little more Layed-Back than the Jerry/Merl Band of July 73 that gave us "Live at The Keystone", and that said, lot's of The Rock is gone, Jerry, had shifted gears here and Jazz has taken the place of Rock. Now the Band had Three Solo stars in Jerry, Merl & Martin, Tunes increased in Length and arrangements were Altered to leave spaces for the Reeds.
These Two CD's with 14 tracks and 160 minutes of Music represent a Fair Chunk of what "Legion" was all about. We get Dylan: "Tough Mama", The Band: "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down" and Elvis: "Mystery Train". Some Folks have mentioned that they Don't like Martin's Playing & this ain't Jazz. Well maybe it Ain't Jazz, But, you can't Slam Martin's playing here as he ADDS to this Music. This is Jerry's Band and this is Jerrymusic, and it's Good & Rockin', Fun Stuff. You don't get to hear much stuff like this anymore. There are no Computers & Lip-Synch Pop Boys & Girls here just 5 Guys in a bar Playing! Just like in Chicago in the Forties, San Francisco in The Sixties, these Guys sometimes take Chances and Go Out There BUT, they are having FUN.
And Jerry? Right here, Mr. Garcia is in Peak Form. Listen to him Sing: "The Night They Drove ol' Dixie Down". I've heard him do this one Many times, and this is The Best! On: "Let It Rock", Jerry goes after Chuck Berry and takes his Lead as a Slow Smolder that Builds & Builds, Martin here has some good Moments as well. We get some Rare Tunes played: "Neighbor, Neighbor" & "Last Train From Poor Valley". Neighbor, is a Blues, Slow-Burn with Jerry and Martin keepin' it right in the groove. "Poor Valley" is a Stunner! I wonder why this is it's First appearance on record, You can Wonder what the Grateful Dead, COULD have done with this Gem. . .
These two CD's: "Legion of Mary" are Really Nice. The Powerhouse that The Grateful Dead, became in the late 70's after the Break was BECAUSE of what Jerry had Learned playing with Great Musicians such as these. This is True American Music, and we are Lucky to have it at Last!.
Disappointing
I had high hopes for this one (having never heard the tapes), with the sax player in the band and the word "jazzy" used in all the hype. Eh. It's just OK, and it's not "jazzy" at all--this is basically a blues band. The sax player--instantly recognizable as the honker on the original studio version of Music Never Stopped--pretty much sucks. Why is it that in any rock band with a saxophonist, the sax is the weak link (yes, I include the E St. Band)? He adds nothing of interest, gets in Jerry's way pretty often, is out of tune most of the time, and keeps playing (at whim) through a wah-wah effect that makes him sound like a singing AFLAC duck. Jerry plays pretty well, but he hits a lot of clams on Melody and never really blows me away (as his playing often does). *shrug*.
Very impressive
Since I've branched off in to the non-Dead Jerry area, this is one of the best I've found. Thank you Rhino for putting out these amazing CD's. I love the combination of guitar/organ/saxophone. It just works. The sound quality of this release is top notch. Listening through a good 2 speaker setup, there is a very distinct separation of instruments, ie, you can focus on just one very easily. This is one of the crispiest live recordings I've ever heard. My only complaint stems from the music itself. . . it does get a bit repetitive. It starts out with a bang with "tough mama", and for the rest of the first disc, they play at one speed - intense. Maybe my only problem here is track order. There are some slower numbers on the second disc. If you listen closely, they repeat some riffs very often. Very sweet, but in some ways it's a bit one-dimensional.
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