The family of Jerry Garcia have shared a snippet from the upcoming release of GarciaLive Volume 13, which documents when Jerry Garcia Band was joined by Clarence Clemons.
The Big Man joined Garcia and company onstage during their show on September 16th, 1989 at Poplar Creek Music Theatre in Hoffman Estates, IL, just outside Chicago. At the time, The E Street Band was on hiatus and Clemons was shopping around for work as a hired gun after he moved to the Bay Area in California. As luck would have it, he struck up a friendship with members of the Grateful Dead, and would go on to sit-in with them on a variety of occasions throughout 1989.
“Clarence was an old pal, a soulful bro,” Bob Weir told Rolling Stone just after Clemons’ death in 2011. “He was a good hang. Back in the late eighties and early nineties, he was living out here in Marin County. He was in moving-on mode, and he, Jerry, and I mixed it up a bit. We were dropping by clubs like Sweetwater and sitting in with various bands.”
The three were such a gang that Weir and Garcia momentarily reconsidered a return to the communal living they enjoyed at 710 Haight St. in San Francisco during the 1960s.
“Jerry and I were both single at that time, and Clarence suggested the three of us move in together and have a bachelor pad,” Weir said. “Jerry and I almost went for it. It would’ve been a lot of fun, but I don’t think anyone would have survived. Jerry was in good shape, but we were doing a little drinking.”
During the Jerry Garcia Band’s September 1989 run, Clemons sat-in with the band for an unprecedented five nights in a row, culminating with the show on the 16th at Poplar Creek, which was demolished in 1994. The Big Man’s sax can be heard giving roaring support on a pair of covers, including The Band‘s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and Garcia’s staple cover of The Beatles‘ “Dear Prudence”. Clemons also dove into the Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter catalog by lending his horn on “Cats Under The Stars” and “They Love Each Other”, the latter of which has been released on YouTube.
Listen to the Jerry Garcia Band perform “They Love Each Other”, featuring Clarence Clemons on saxophone, from September 16th, 1989 at Poplar Creek Music Theatre.
Jerry Garcia Band (featuring Clarence Clemons) – “They Love Each Other” – 9/16/1989
[Video: Jerry Garcia]
GarciaLive Volume 13: September 16th, 1989 Poplar Creek Music Theatre is available everywhere on April 24th and will mark the first official JGB release featuring Clarence Clemons. A two-CD set is also available for pre-order through Garcia Family Provisions.
[H/T Rolling Stone]