Fantasy
1973
Live at Keystone [Double LP]
About This Album
This 1973 release boasts a Bay Area-based combo co-led by Merl Saunders (keyboards) and Jerry Garcia (guitar) during the latter musician's time away from the Grateful Dead. Along with the two subsequent "encore" volumes, Live at Keystone [Double LP] (1973) is drawn from the quartet's July 10 and 11, 1973 stint in the intimate confines of Keystone Korners in Berkeley. With the support of Bill Vitt (percussion) and John Kahn (bass), the pair jam their way through an eclectic assortment of covers and a few equally inspired original non-vocal offerings. The clavinet and Hammond B-3 driven "Keepers" (aka "Finders Keepers") is one such composition from the team of Saunders and Kahn. This funky rocker pulsates through greasy interactions that at times recall Sly Stone and/or Billy Preston. Their interpretation of "Positively 4th Street" -- the first of two Bob Dylan covers -- is laid-back and bluesy, allowing Garcia to stretch out between the verses. His impassioned vocals weave through Saunders alternating murky and billowing organ fills, adding new depths of empathetic noir. Notably, David Grisman's mandolin runs were not part of the live recording, but overdubbed later.
Track List

Disc 1

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Disc 2

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