Grateful Dead
Fillmore East
New York, NY
11/16/70 Partial Show
 
Source:
SBD:MR>Revox deck (model unknown): 10" ? track Reel @ 7.5ips>
Revox B77 playback deck>Alesis Masterlink ML9600>CD>
EAC>Cool Edit 2000>SHN.  
 
A>D by Bill Gadsden.
Cool Edit 2000 was used for minor glitch removal.
CDWav was used to retrack both discs.
EAC(secure mode, offset corrected), seekable shorten encoding with MKW, and sector boundaries verified via shntool by D. Winters.
 
Disc 1 
01.  Bill Graham intro>Casey Jones                        [05:01]
02.  Me and My Uncle                                      [04:37]
03.  House P.A. Music: Elton John, //Honky Tonk Women//   [02:49]
04.  //Friend of the Devil                                [02:14]
05.  Cold Rain and Snow                                   [06:04]
06.  King Bee                                             [07:17]
07.  China Cat Sunflower >                                [05:46]
08.  I Know You Rider                                     [04:42]
09.  Stage Talk/Steve Winwood Arrives On Stage            [02:07]
10.  Hard To Handle *                                     [08:07]
11.  //Big Railroad Blues * +                             [05:13]
12.  Not Fade Away > *                                    [09:18]
13.  Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad > *                  [05:44]
14.  Not Fade Away *                                      [02:52]
Total Time:                                               [71:56]
 
Disc 2 
01.  Stage Talk                                           [02:00]
02.  Frozen Logger                                        [01:26]
03.  Mama Tried                                           [03:37]
04.  Truckin' > +                                         [05:47]
05.  The Other One +                                      [11:24]
06.  Uncle John's Band +                                  [07:04]
Total Time:                                               [31:21]
                                                                      
* Steve Winwood on Pigpen's Hammond Organ. Steve Winwood also provides vocal accompaniment on NFA>GDTRFB>NFA and 1st vocal verse of NFA.
+ Will Scarlet on harmonica.
 
Notes:
D1T03 - Analog distortions and channel dropouts from unknown source,
possibly a loose plug in the master reel to reel deck.
D1T04 - Approximately 30 seconds missing.
D1T11 - First few seconds clipped.
D1T14 - Some distortion of Steve Winwood's vocals at the very end.
As with any 30-year-old tape, various analog gremlins and anomalies exist.
 
----------------------Background-----------------------------------
 
This is the concert formerly thought to have taken place on 11/23/70 at the Anderson Theater in New York City.  This show has been shrouded in mystery and confusion over the last 30 years ever since it first entered circulation in 1973.  However, fresh research has unveiled what is most likely the true story behind this classic Grateful Dead show.
 
On 11/14/70 at Frank Zappa's Fillmore East Late Show, Grace Slick came out on stage, on behalf of Bill Graham, to announce an unscheduled concert featuring the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane the following Monday, November 16th.  As it turned out, the Airplane were in the middle of breaking up and Grace was pregnant.  So instead of the Airplane, Hot Tuna filled in to share the bill with the Dead. A few days later, on November 18th and 19th, Traffic played at the Fillmore. 
 
There are several pieces of evidence which now point directly to the
"11/23/70 Anderson Theater" show being correctly identified as Fillmore East 11/16/70.   1) Traffic has been confirmed, in a letter written by the Kleinhans Music Hall, as having played at the Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY on 11/23/70.  This firmly places them out of New York City on that date. Thanks to Greg Shaw for this help.  2) Bill Graham introduces the Dead.  The identification of his voice is clear, as never before, on this new transfer. Bill Graham and the owner of the Anderson Theater were not friendly with each other and Bill Graham would never have introduced the Grateful Dead in the Anderson Theater. 3) A 1:55 snippet of Hot Tuna playing Hesitation Blues precedes the Dead's show on the first generation 10" reel. 4) After Bob Weir sings the Frozen Logger off-mic, several people on stage can be heard attempting to get Jack Casady to join in saying, "Hey Casady, why don't you play" and "Hey Jack, hey Jack, c'mon up".  Hot Tuna played on 11/16/70 at the Fillmore and they are not known to have played at the Anderson Theater. 5) An eyewitness who attended the 11/16/70 Fillmore show clearly recalls Steve Winwood and Jorma Kaukonen sitting in with the Dead.  6) Music was commonly played over the P.A. between sets at the Fillmore to promote upcoming shows.  Elton John played at the Fillmore East the following weekend, November 20th and 21st as the warm up for Leon Russell.  This was his first New York City appearance. 7) On page 382 in his book Long Strange Trip, Dennis McNally mentions this show as being from the Fillmore East, 11/16/70. 8) Finally, the 7" reels, from which all previously circulating copies were made, are labeled (albeit misdated) "Fillmore Nov 2, 70". Therefore, the misnomer "Anderson Theater, 11/23/70" must have occurred sometime after the tapes entered circulation in 1973. It should be noted that the Grateful Dead did perform at the Anderson Theater on 11/23/70, however, no verified recordings of that event apparently circulate.

The order in which the songs occur has often been confused throughout the years. Breaks do occur in the recording so it cannot be said with absolute certainty that the order is correct. However, the current order is taken directly from the first generation 10" reel, making the likelihood of rearrangement negligible. If anything, any re-ordering occurred subsequent to its release into circulation in 1973. The placement of Elton John's recording of Honky Tonk Women played over the house P.A. after only two songs remains a mystery. There is also an AUD fragment from 11/16/70 of Good Lovin' with Jorma, Jack and Papa John Creach sitting in. Exactly where this jam fits in is not known. Clearly, the music we have does not represent the entire show.

Precisely what guest musicians appear in this recording and which tunes they play on may never be known. Any further intelligence on the matter would most certainly be welcome. Steve Winwood took over Pigpen's Hammond organ beginning with Hard To Handle and he can clearly be heard through the end of Not Fade Away. Will Scarlet from Hot Tuna plays harp and his playing is evident during Big Railroad Blues, Truckin'>The Other One and Uncle John's Band. Three separate cheers arise from the crowd prior to Hard To Handle; the second of which is for Steve Winwood's arrival on stage. Who or what precipitated the other two cheers is impossible to tell. In the process of deciding what to play prior to the commencement of Mama Tried, Phil Lesh and
Bob Weir can be heard to say, "What songs do you guys know?" "Yeah, you guys name a tune." From this we can deduce that at least two other guest musicians were present on stage, however none of them can be discerned in the Mama Tried that follows. Other than Will Scarlet's harp work during Truckin'>The Other One and Uncle John's Band, an organ can be heard in the first few minutes of Truckin', but then mysteriously vanishes from the mix.

This new transfer represents a significant upgrade to all previously
circulating versions. It is a direct A>D transfer from the original, first generation 10" ? track reels, as opposed to the 7" reels which Bill Gadsden originally copied in 1973; and again transferred A>D via Alesis Masterlink in 2000. The 7" reels are one, if not two, generations further removed from the 10" first generation source. Thanks to Bill Gadsden who diligently researched the accuracy of the actual venue & date of this show as Fillmore East 11/16/70 and sourced out the first generation reel.

It is my conviction that the myth of this show having taken place at the Anderson Theater on 11/23/70 can now firmly be put to rest. If anyone can offer factual evidence to the contrary, please contact me. Most of all please enjoy this all-time classic show!

Chuck Reynolds
talia@crestedbutte.net
May 8, 2003
