Howard Wales & Jerry Garcia
Studio Outtakes from the "Hooteroll?" LP Sessions
CBS Studios, San Francisco, CA
September 1970

Source: Maxell UDXL2 Cassette with Dolby B

Lineage:
Studio -> ? -> Cassette -> (Nakamich Dragon playback with Dolby B) -> Lexicon Lambda -> Logic @ 24/96 (tracking, speed correction & dithering) -> 16/44.1 wav -> xAct (sbe correction) -> wav -> flac

Transfer and mastering by Alan Bershaw (April 25, 2018)


Personnel:
Howard Wales - Hammond B-3, electric piano
Jerry Garcia - guitar
Martin Fierro - sax, flute
Ken Balzall - trumpet
John Kahn - bass
Bill Vitt - drums


Tracklist:
01 Untitled [rough mix of Morning In Marin]  06:58
02 Hooteroll? [unissued track!]  05:32
03 Up From The Desert (unedited) [rough mix of Evening In Marin] 04:13


Notes:
Back in the analog days, this recording surfaced of studio outtakes from the 1970 sessions for Howard Wales & Jerry Garcia's "Hooteroll?" LP. I don't recall who I got this from but it was in the mid 1970s when I was still in high school. I mainly remember being thrilled to get these as "Hooteroll?" was and remains my favorite side-project album that Garcia ever did and I played it constantly back then. I'm sure I gave copies to at least a few friends, but apparently, this hasn't made its way into the digital realm until now.

Significantly different mixes of two of these outtakes (tracks 1 and 3) would eventually see the light of day as bonus tracks on the 1987 CD issue of "Hooteroll?" The title track, which for unknown reasons was left off the album, remains unreleased to the present day.

I should also mention that another tape of "Hooteroll?" outtakes began circulating in the 1980s. It contains multiple versions, including some fragmentary excerpts, of these same three outtakes. I have closely compared everything on the second tape and it appears to be duplications and excerpts of these same three outtakes - but many more generations down the line and with heavy-handed EQ and seemingly random speed alterations applied. Since the second tape is redundant and vastly inferior quality, I've decided not to bother with it.

Anyone who loves the Hooteroll? album will certainly enjoy these three tracks though, as they are all reasonably good quality. The unissued title track is a delight, with plenty of Jerry involvement. Also of note is that this contains the complete take of "Evening In Marin."  With "Up From The Desert" and "Evening In Marin" actually being different edits of the same recording and the track title names "Morning In Marin" and "Evening In Marin" not yet existing back then, this gets confusing, but I'll try to bring some clarity...

The original album track of "Up From The Desert" is an edit of the longer recording released as "Evening In Marin" on the CD issues.  When "Evening In Marin" was prepared as a bonus track for the 1987 CD edition (which is likely when it got its title), it was mastered with a slow fade out at the end. Although notated as "Up From The Desert" on my cassette, it is the longer unedited recording known as "Evening In Marin," but it does not have the fade out and instead runs to its conclusion.  I trust this will make better sense once you listen.

I've kept the original track titles from the cassette in my notation here, but if it helps with the confusion, these three outtakes can also be thought of as follows:

1) Morning In Marin (rough mix)
2) Hooteroll (rough mix)
3) Evening In Marin (rough mix)

 With recordings of Howard and Jerry together so ridiculously scarce, I thought others might enjoy these. I've been making an effort to dig up uncirculated recordings that are short and sweet lately and Garcia fans should find this one particularly sweet.  - Alan Bershaw (April 2018)

