Wally Heider Recording, 245 Hyde Street, San Francisco, CA

1977 Wally Heider photo by Jeffrey Husband

Heider leased an old building near the corner of Turk and Hyde for the new Wally Heider Recording site. That building, 245 Hyde Street to be exact, previously housed film offices, screening rooms, a soundstage, and storage for 20th Century Fox, and it sat across from where the legendary Blackhawk nightclub used to be, where Heider recorded some Miles Davis performances for CBS. The opening date of Wally Heider Recording was April 27, 1969. Heider’s already established reputation as a producer, engineer, and owner of a popular professional studio in L.A. suddenly gave many San Francisco bands a reason to record in town. Before Heider’s arrival, nearly all major local acts recorded at their respective label studios in Los Angeles or New York. 

The construction of Wally’s studios were originally done by Dave Mancini who was later a studio owner in the San Fernando Valley.[3] Heider sent Dave Mancini, owner of Devonshire Sound Studios in L.A., to design and build the new rooms. Studio C would come first, with a total of four rooms running by 1971. Heider hired Mel Tanner away from Coast Recorders to serve as general manager, with studio manager Ginger Mews, chief tech Harry Sitam, and staff engineer Russ Gary rounding out the original staff. "Harry Sitam ended up working for Neil Young on his ranch for 40 years."[44]

"Our little pick-up band met at the lobby of what was not yet called “Heider’s”, with hammering, sawing and much sawdust in the air. We were given a short tour of the two-story work in progress and then we dragged our gear into what became studio “C. At the time the Jefferson Airplane wanted badly to record in this new Hyde Street studio complex, and RCA Records, their LA label, was also anxious for that to happen. Because of this urgency, the LA-based studio owner was pushing everybody, carpenters, painters, electricians, contractors of all sorts and audio engineers, to finish the rooms up quickly for the “dates” to start. My clearest memory of standing in that lobby was that the place seemed direly unready for anything, unpainted, unfinished and with tools and workers everywhere.  However, in Studio “C” at least the glass was in place and the mixing board was wired up in the control room. We pushed our gear into that empty studio and set up at the farthest corner from the “booth”. We plugged in and tuned up not sure what exactly to do next. There were three guys behind the glass, and the older one, Wally, came out and introduced himself, but, only by first name, not as the owner, and said, “Play anything you want guys, but make it loud, we’re going to record you”. Microphones were set up and so we began. We played in that raw unfinished room, it seems to me now, for about two hours. Playing mostly blues jams and some songs we all knew, Dino Valenti’s - nee, Chet Powers – Get Together was one song I remember. And the sound level?  In those days we all had tube Fender amps of the 40 and 80 RMS watt variety. But being tube amps, these sounded much louder than those wattage numbers look. The amps, black and beige Tolexed Fender Showman, Twin and Bassman, all had high-efficiency speakers, and, in the case of the Twin, large dual super-loud JBL aluminum dome speakers. We ripped the air in there, laying down the music at a horrendous volume for that moderately-sized room with only bare sheet rock for walls.  I also remember what was interesting to me as we roared on: what the three guys were doing behind the glass window. As we played and sang they leaned, listened, bobbed, ducked and just ran around like mad men with hammers and strips of material, tacking and jamming stuff everywhere. Looking back on it now, they were frantically trying to stop the music/noise from entering the console area. As well as doing all that, Jamie remembers clearly, they were “rolling tape”, with several microphones; a recorder ran during the session, in the control room, it was all part of the deal. After lots of songs, riffs and blues jams we were tired and hungry, our ears were ringing, and we were done. Again it’s Jamie who exactly remembers the three men in the booth, as I mentioned, I remember only one of them from that day, Wally Heider. And, the main reason I remember him being there is not because we later became friends, but because, when we met, he was a guy, the boss, who was very nice to us young, unknown musicians.  And, it wouldn’t surprise me if lost in the back of some dusty shelf somewhere, a silver-grey ten-inch reel of half-track Scotch number 111 magnetic tape – recorded that day – might still be sitting in its original thin gray box. This would be the first “live” recording made before San Francisco “Heider’s” had even opened its doors to all the legendary artists that later filled its halls. If that tape does exist, I doubt if any of the original players will ever hear it again, and, certainly not as loud as it was played then, or, even as loud as that afternoon still rings in my memory, my first time in Wally’s great studio, just as it was being born."[28]

Measuring roughly the size of Studio 3 in L.A., Studio C offered EMT plates, tape delay units, and access to live echo chambers. The recording room was covered with odd-looking, square midrange/diffuser-type objects that were popular at the time. While engineers have described the studio area as everything from “great-sounding” to “crackerbox,” not many criticized its equipment. Possibly influenced by mentor Putnam, Heider installed custom DeMedio equipment throughout his facility, most notably a 24-channel console for Studio C equipped with passive Universal Audio EQson their way to United Audio plug-in line amps. It had eight buses and Gotham linear faders that had a resolution of 2dB steps. It was a workhorse of a board, nearly indestructible. Outboard gearincluded four UREI 1176s, two Teletronix LA-2As, Altec and Lang EQs, and two portable Pultec EQs.The monitoring system featured Altec 604-E loudspeakers with McIntosh 275 power amps, which cranked loud enough during playback to satisfy most of the rock and rollers. They also had an amply stocked mic closet and two of the fi nest tape machines in town—an Ampex MM1000 and a 3M 56 16-track—both as new to the city as the studio itself.

Jefferson Airplane booked Studio C to record their sixth album, Volunteers, months before the room was even finished.

Throughout the recording of basic tracks and overdubs, frequent visits from friends and fellow musicians added not only to the relaxed vibe but to the album itself. Nicky Hopkins took a break from his Quicksilver Messenger Service duties to play piano on several tracks, and many other friends came by to listen, smoke a joint, or just hang out. “We were always having visitors,” recalls Schmitt. “Janis [Joplin] would come by, Big Mama Cass…David Crosby would stick his head in every so often. Anytime anyone was in town they’d drop by the studio.

The scene at Heider’s changed dramatically when Crosby, Stills, Nash, and, on occasion, Young came in to record. Many songs became keeper tracks after one pass, maybe with an overdub on the vocals. Listening to their gorgeous harmonies, it’s obvious they worked hard on the vocals. Despite a sky-high level of musicianship, Déjà Vu had problems. 

"Heider sold to Filmways by 1969."[44]

When the group entered Wally Heider Recording in late 1969, David Crosby had just lost his girlfriend Christine Hinton—the love of his life—to a tragic car accident. Nash’s relationship with Joni Mitchell had just fallen apart. Stephen Stills’ relationship with Judy Collins was on the rocks, and Neil Young had other personal problems to deal with. To make matters worse, they all stayed together at the Caravan Lodge Motel. Miraculously, they made it out in one piece. They usually recorded until 3 a.m., with Stills often tinkering around until 8 a.m. Young came in for one of the first tracking sessions, Country Girl. He usually came in to sing scratch vocals and would then finish tracks at his own studio. Fred Catero came in to engineer and co-produce, with Carlos Santana, Santana’s landmark Abraxas album in 1970. Eric Clapton brought over his band, Derek and the Dominoes, to the studio to check out Santana. At night, with the lights dim and the band blowing off steam after the pressure of recording, they jammed on the blues even later into the night. Young guitar whiz Neal Schon was there, too; he’d often go into another room and play on his own while the band recorded, but when Clapton and crew showed up, he jumped right in with them. A couple of days later, Clapton invited Schon to join the group. A phenomenal opportunity, for sure, but he didn’t really want to move to London. Luckily, he didn’t have to. Carlos Santana invited him into his group’s fold the next day.  “David made it easy for me by not working late,” says Stephen Barncard(4), who worked from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. mixing American Beauty, and from 7 p.m. until around 11:30 p.m. with Crosby, having a little dinner on the hot plate in between. “Sometimes it was just him, sometimes he’d bring a girlfriend, sometimes Nash would come by…It was so much more leisurely than Déjà Vu had been, which was a real pressure-cooker.” The guest list grew during the recording process to include Garcia, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann from the Dead; Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, and Jack Casady from Jefferson Airplane; Gregg Rolie and Michael Shrieve from Santana; Frieberg from Quicksilver; Neil Young; and, up from L.A., former paramour Joni Mitchell. The album’s beautifully recorded standout track Laughing features Crosby with Garcia, Lesh and Kreutzmann, and Mitchell in a brief cameo. “It was probably the most perfect record and recording situation that I’ve done,” says Barncard.  With the 3M 16-track capturing every nuance, Barncard took a few risks on the record, like printing echo from the Heider chamber not only on Garcia’s pedal steel but also on the guitars and other instruments. "I loved doing overdubs with JG because he encouraged me (or let me) get experimental with sounds and soundscapes. The more effects the better. Crosby egged us on, too. They didn't care about 'industry standard practice', wanted to push the envelope."[44]  While many tracks happened quickly, which was Crosby’s preferred way of working, “Laughing required a few run throughs. “It wasn’t one of those spontaneous tunes; it’s one they had to work on to get it right because it has a few tricky changes in it. Garcia played very little on the basic track—just tiny little riffs because it called for that.”  After Crosby wrapped up this masterpiece, the New Riders of the Purple Sage recorded their self-titled debut, the first of three records they made at the studio, with Barncard.

On March 31, 1971, Brewer and Shipley recorded here with Mark Naftalin and John Kahn.[61]

As 1973 came to a close, manager Mel Tanner left the studio and within a month the bottom fell out completely. It went from being booked around the clock to being empty for a couple of weeks at a time. The oil crisis, the recession of ’73, the record companies’ executive staffs crashing all led to real changes in recording budgets. By the summer of ’73 it was a vast wasteland.”[14]

Beginning in 1977, the Dead had their own warehouse studio in San Rafael, Le Club Front (it was on Front Street in the Canal District), equipped with a Neve 8058, a Studer 16-track, and scads of outboard gear.[3] Many other artists followed. Heider sold the San Francisco business and its name to Filmways in 1969[44], but he remained as the manager of the studios until 1980 when Filmways sold it to a partnership composed of Dan Alexander, Tom Sharples and Michael Ward. The three partners renamed the business Hyde Street Studios, which is still operational as of 2013, with Michael Ward as the sole owner.

Jerry recorded here on

3/28/69 thru 6/5/69 Jefferson Airplane 

Volunteers, Released November 1969.

3/31/69 Jefferson Airplane

Paul's Tune

4/1/69 Jefferson Airplane

Jorma's Tune

4/2/69 Jefferson Airplane

Paul's Tune

4/7/69 Jefferson Airplane

Paul's Tune

4/8/69 Jefferson Airplane

Paul's Tune

4/9/69 Jefferson Airplane

Paul's Tune

4/10/69 Jefferson Airplane

Paul's Tune

4/14/69 Jefferson Airplane

Wooden Ships (tracking)

4/16/69 Jefferson Airplane

The Farm, Revolution (presumably became Volunteers)

The Farm ( acoustic guitar overdubs on master take) ;The Farm (different acoustic guitar overdubs on master take) 

Jerry plays pedal steel guitar on The Farm.

Nicky Hopkins sits in.

This is just what's listed on the American Federation of Musicians Local 6 paperwork[53]for dates Jerry was not performing with the Grateful Dead. It's unknown if he was at all of the above dates. 

This is a list of tracks for Volunteer sessions from 3/28/69 thru 6/5/69, it's unknown what dates go with what tracks.

Volunteers (take 18);We Can Be together (extended into, lead guitar overdub) ;We Can Be Together (Paul Kantner acoustic demo) ;We Can Be Together (lead guitar overdum, master take No. 75) ;Good Shepherd (vocal overdubs on master take) ;Good Shepherd (different vocal overdubs on master take) ;;Turn My Life Down (demo take No. 33) ;Wooden Ships (alternate take)>JPP McStep B Blues (alternate take) ;Wooden Ships (first vocal take) > JPP McStep B Blues (instrumental

version) ;A Song For All Seasons (take recorded 8/28/69) ;Hey Fredrick (with lead guitar overdubs) Instumental version/no vocals ;Hey Fredrick (different take with lead guitar overdubs)"  

5/27/69 Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Spencer Dryden, Jorma Kaukonen

Eskimo Blue Day

10/24/69 Crosby Stills Nash Young 

Deja Vu

Jerry plays an Emmons pedal steel guitar on Teach Your Children.

"For some reason I have a vivid memory of that group of sessions. One day after CSN had cut Teach Your Children, which they sang perfectly without me, I was in the control room and Jerry Garcia came in and played a steel guitar part on it. It was actually on a regular guitar with a slide, as I remember it. He just sat down with it on his lap in the control room down under the speakers and put that part on.I remember that every time I hear that song, which is one of CSNY's greatest. I am proud to have my name on it, although I didn't play or sing a note."[15]

"This is wrong in so many ways. Neil totally made this up. First of all, it was NOT a slide guitar, it was a pedal steel. SECOND, I did not put Jerry in the control room - he was out in Studio D, next to the wall. Just about where the conga player is in Cal Tjader's band photo below.  I don't remember Neil even being there for this... he just was around for his own 2 tunes."[44]

"It's possible that Jerry laid down an experimental lap steel track before the pedal steel overdub session."[16]

"Graham instigated it. "We need a steel guitar player." It was Crosby who said, "What about Garcia?" Garcia came in with Steve Parish. I got the limiter in there, and cranked it, and Garcia put the echo on it. We did it in two takes. The vocals were already there. Garcia was very funny, and Crosby and Garcia had their usual banter, tossing' around bats (joints) the size of Camels."[22]

"In an interview Graham Nash talked about the Teach Your Children session. He said it was Garcia's first time playing steel in the studio (not sure whether this is true). He did one take, asked if he could do a second to which Nash replied, "You can do another but we're going to use that one". Garcia begged to redo it but was assured that no matter they were going to use his first take anyway."[17]

"He used the standard E-9th setup with the Emmons. As far as the knee levers, I can't remember. He didn't use his C-6th neck."[18]

"Some may not know that Jerry Garcia's middle finger was missing on his right hand and he had to pick with his thumb, index, and ring fingers!"[19]

2/70 It's A Beautiful Day 

Marrying Maiden

Jerry plays banjo on Hoedown and pedal steel guitar on It Comes Right Down To You.[25]

Release date 1970.

7/15/70 8-11pm Blows Against The Empire 

Jerry plays on Starship and Old Man

First "PERRO" session at Heider's that can be documented.[10]

Release date November 1970.

7/17/70 8-11pm Blows Against The Empire 

Jerry plays on Mau Mau[33] 

"Shortly after I arrived, [Marty Balin] invited me to several recording sessions for Paul Kantner's Blows Against the Empire album … The experience went hand in hand with another first, Merck pharmaceutical cocaine, the session's buffet drug.. The fluffy white tincture was situated on the recording console in a brown bottle with a skull and crossbones label. That label signaled its toxic potential to the dentists who used it as a topical anesthesia- and its lethal appeal to recreational users. Merck's coke was not an organic compound but a synthetically manufactured drug that packed an insidious punch. Musicians, engineers, and guests freely and openly indulged, assuring me that I had definitely landed in California, not Kansas."[48]

7/22/70 Blows Against The Empire 

Jerry plays on Mau Mau and Together.

8/70 Grateful Dead[74]

Ripple;To Lay Me Down

American Beauty

8/4/70  David Crosby[43]

Jerry plays on Tamalpais High and Song With No Words.

8/6/70-9/16/70[46] Grateful Dead

American Beauty[11]

Release date November 1, 1970.

During the recording sessions, Garcia also played a Martin D-18 acoustic guitar and a ZB pedal steel guitar.[35]

Brokedown Palace was inspired by the death of Jerry's mother.[32]

Weir had originally envisioned Sugar Magnolia as having a Cajun feel to it. Howard Wales plays organ on Candyman and Truckin, and plays piano on Brokedown Palace. This is the first album with Ned Lagin, who plays piano on Candyman. Jerry Garcia plays pedal steel guitar on Sugar Magnolia and Candyman.[50]

"Ned Lagin had written a complex experimental composition for eight speakers, to be performed at the MIT chapel. The speakers were arranged in a circle, and people sat in the middle. The music was designed specifically for that space, taking into account the acoustics of the building. The Dead heard Lagin's composition at the MIT chapel, were suitably impressed, and duly invited him to come out to California and mess with a 16 track recorder.

Later that summer he did just that, eventually spending lot of time at Lesh and Garcia's houses learning Dead tunes. Lagin recalls his first day in san Francisco: "I got off of a Greyhound bus and walked a couple of blocks to a studio I had never heard of, Wally Heider's, and there were three studios. One had the Grateful Dead in it, and only Garcia was there. He was early, and I was early, and he said, "Good, you can play on our record., which was American Beauty."[32]

“Jerry and Phil liked what he had to say. I wasn't all that interested in it and didn't really pay attention until Ned came into Wally Heider's to record a piano part for us, for the song "Candyman," which appears on American Beauty.”[54]

8/70 Grateful Dead

Candyman alternate mix, Truckin’ alternate mix>Frozen Logger outtake.

8/10/70 Joey Covington, Jack Casady, Jorma Kaukonen, Mickey Hart[55]

Blows Against The Empire 

Jerry plays on Starship and Old Man[12]

8/11/70 Jack Casady[56]

Blows Against The Empire 

Jerry plays on Starship.[12]

Jerry plays pedal steel on Have You Seen The Stars Tonight and banjo on Let's Go Together.[45] Includes XM an instrumental composed and performed by Paul Kantner, Phil Sawyer, Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart.[23]  

This was also recorded at Pacific High Studios, 60 Brady Street, San Francisco, CA.

8/21/70 Michael Brewer and Thomas Shipley[57]

Tarkio

Jerry plays on Oh Mommy [47]and 50 States Of Freedom.

Produced by Nick Gravenites.

Jerry plays a pedal steel guitar. "There is also a misconception that Jerry played steel on One Toke over the Line, the other side of the above single. He did not and it wasn't a pedal steel."[47]

When Brewer And Shipley needed a pedal steel guitar player, they went down the hall and asked Garcia, who obliged them on August 21, 1970 by playing on two tracks (Oh Mommy and Fifty States Of Freedom. The recording of the two songs would have been the first time Garcia and Kahn appeared on a track together, although they were not likely to have been in the studio at the same time (only Garcia's part on Oh Mommy was used). 

This may have been the first time Merl Saunders played with Jerry.[35] See Matrix, San Francisco, CA, 9/7/70.

9/8/70  Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra  (Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Bill Kreutzmann)

Jerry's Mom has a horrific car accident on this date. She dies from her injuries on September 28, 1970.

9/11/70 David Crosby[42] 

Jerry plays on Cowboy Movie #2 and Laughing.

"One night in a Crosby session, Jerry said: "And God invented the night..... for recording."

He was extremely positive and funny most of the time. A joy. Magic always ensued when he was in the room. I loved the man, and I am not a deadhead. A great human being."[41]

10/70 Grace Slick

“We’re at Wally Heider’s studio, and Jerry Garcia has arrived to get a dub of Kantner’s Starship song and to listen to his own band’s tape from the previous weekend’s Winterland gig.”[39]

10/5/70 1:30-4:30pm Lamb (Robert Swanson, Barbara Mauritz, David Hayes, Edgar Noel Bogas)[

Jerry plays on Flying, Flotation and Reach High.

Jerry also performed with New Riders Of The Purple Sage and Grateful Dead at Winterland later on this date.

10/6/70 8-11pm Joey Covington, Pappa John Creach, Carlos Santana, David Brown, Greg Rollie[59]

Jerry plays on Soul Fever.

10/21/70 Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Papa John Creach, Nicky Hopkins, Merl Saunders, David Freiberg

Space Jam;Papa John Jam;Blues Jam;Jam

Jerry may have also performed at the Matrix, SF on this date.

11/2/70 Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra

"It seems the all-star sessions around November 2-3-4 were almost an after party for Janis's wake. At the very least, it explains why all those musicians were in town the same night."[13]

Jerry also performed at the Harding Theater, San Francisco, CA on this date.

11/3/70[48] David Crosby 

If I Could Only Remember My Name

Release date February 22, 1971.

Jerry plays the 1962 Les Paul SG guitar, possibly the last time he was photographed with it[38], on Kids and Dogs, Cowboy Movie, Song With No Words, What Are Their Names and Tamalpais High, pedal steel on Laughing, vocals on What Are Their Names.

With Neil Young on guitar, Phil Lesh on bass, Michael Shreive on drums.

"That was a life saver, that record man, absolutely a life saver," Crosby said with a clear remembrance. "I was going through a really rough period in my life there, my girlfriend had just gotten killed in a car wreck. I had no way to deal with it at all. I was in pretty bad emotional shape when we finished 'Deja Vu' and the only place I really felt comfortable was in the studio. So I just stayed in there. And that's the record that happened. Jerry Garcia was a good friend of mine and came almost every night, some of the other guys, Phil Lesh, and Paul Kantner and Grace Slick and people from Santana and the Dead and the Airplane and other bands up there would come by. And sometimes Nash and Joni Mitchell. It was a rough time but that's how I stayed alive, making that record."[49]

"I like what I did on that generally speaking. I particularly like the pedal steel on Laughing. That was some of the prettiest and most successful of what I was trying to get at the time."[9]

11/4/70 Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra

11/70 Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service 

Blows Against The Empire

Week ending 11/7/70 [21] Howard Wales 

Hooteroll

Release date December 1971.

"Recording of the Garcia-Wales LP was completed last week in San Francisco at Wally Heider Studios"."[21]

Jerry also performed at the Harding Theater, San Francisco, CA on 11/1+2/70.

12/70 New Riders Of The Purple Sage[5]

12/12/70 David Crosby, Jorma Kaukonen, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann[31]

Jerry plays on Tamalpais High (at about 3)

12/13/70 Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra

1/71 New Riders Of The Purple Sage[5]

Their first album. Jerry plays pedal steel and banjo.

Mickey Hart, Commander Cody and Sly Stone also appear.[30]

1/2/71 Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra

1/3/71 Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra

1/9/71 Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra

1/11/71 Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra

1/14/71 Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra

1/18/71 New Riders Of The Purple Sage (John Dawson, David Torbert, David Nelson, Spencer Dryden, Mickey Hart)

I Don’t Know You;Whatcha Gonna Do;Portland Woman;Henry

2/71 Brewer and Shipley 

Tarkio

"There is also a misconception that Jerry played steel on One Toke over the Line the other side of the above single. He did not and it wasn't a pedal steel."[44]

5/71 Graham Nash 

Songs For Beginners

Release date June 1971.

Jerry plays pedal steel and piano on I Used To Be A King and pedal steel on Man In The Mirror.[25]

6/71 Stephen Stills 

Stephen Stills 2

Release date June 30, 1971.

Jerry plays pedal steel on Change Partners.[40]

Some of this album was recorded at Criteria Studios, Miami, Florida.

July-August 1971 Danny Cox

It's possible Jerry plays on this album.

Produced by Nick Gravenites.

7/71 Bill Kreutzmann 

Garcia

Release date January 20, 1972.

Studio D

It was recorded entirely by Garcia except for assistance on drums from Kreutzmann. The majority of the songs were first recorded by Garcia and Kreutzmann as simple acoustic guitar and drum tracks. Garcia then overdubbed all other parts. Jerry Garcia holed up in Studio D for 21 days to record Garcia with Bob Matthews and Betty Cantor. Garcia played most of the instruments (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel guitar, bass, piano, organ, samples, vocals), only bringing in bandmate Billy Kreutzmann for percussion enhancements and using Robert Hunter’s lyrics. They wrote, recorded, and mixed the album all in Studio D in only three weeks. Like with CSN, the record light stayed on at all times during the Garcia sessions, which allowed Matthews and Cantor to grab some one-of-a-kind jams, especially on “The Wheel,” which features some of Garcia’s fi nest pedal steel work. “They were just groovin’ on stuff, 20 minutes into it they were into this groove and Garcia turns around and says ‘Okay Matthews, did you record that?’ Of course. You always record. He came in, listened to it, and made some changes. During playback Hunter was there, and he was writing the words in his notebook on the wall because there wasn’t enough room for him to sit down.” The Wheel evolved out of a jam and Hunter wrote the words as the jam session was being recorded.(31) To ensure privacy, they hung a sign outside the Studio D door that read: “Closed Session: Anita Bryant.” “And you know what?” Matthews says, “People really weren’t that interested in finding out what an Anita Bryant session was like!” That sign probably played a big role in providing the creative space for Garcia to create an album from scratch in three weeks.[26]

On Sugaree, Garcia plays a Martin acoustic guitar (probably a D-28) and the electric guitar was routed through a Leslie unit.  After the first line in Bird Song, someone can be heard screaming in the background.  An approximately 25 minute long rough mix of the album was recorded at 7 1/2 ips on a seven inch reel on July 7, 1971 and included a 45 second test tone, instrumental versions of Bird Song, Piano Rama (which was not released), Spider Gawd, Eep Hour, and To Lay Me Down, and some studio banter between Garcia and Bill Kreutzmann."[50]

"According to Robert Hunter, Eep Hour, the deliciously weird tune on "Garcia", was named after the pop-classical organist E. Power Biggs, who was quite a sensation in the late '60s."[52]

8/71 New Riders Of The Purple Sage 

New Riders Of The Purple Sage

Release date August, 1971.

8/21/71 John Cippolina[

Bye Bye Blues;Ghost Riders in The Sky;I’m Tore Down

9/24/71 Grateful Dead

Skull and Roses

Merl Saunders appears (overdubbed organ on "Wharf Rat") on this live album. The early releases had a "skull and roses" sticker enclosed with the album.

This album contains those famous words on the inside cover:  "Dead freaks unite.  Who are you?  Where are you?  How are you?  Send us your name and address and we'll keep you informed."[50]  

11/9/71 Graham Nash, David Crosby, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann

Jerry plays pedal steel on Southbound Train and guitar on Wall Song.[31]

Released on April 5, 1972 (May, 1972).

12/71 Paul Kantner and Grace Slick 

Sunfighter

Jerry plays on When I Was A Boy I Watched The Wolves, Million, and Holding Together.

12/71 Papa John Creach

Jerry plays guitar on Soul Fever.[31]

12/19/71 Grateful Dead

It's About Christmas, an unreleased studio recording, approximately 26 minutes long. It contains short excerpts from Jingle Bells, Silent Night, We Wish You A Merry Christmas and One Horse Open Sleigh (played on a kazoo). The instruments are primarily piano, xylophone, some type of synthesizer, and organ.[50]

1971 Lamb 

Cross Between

Jerry plays banjo on Flying, pedal steel on Flotatio, Reach High[27]

Lamb started out as a folk duo, Barbara Mauritz and Bob Swanson, and subsequently expanded into a five piece group.[27]

1/72 Grateful Dead

Ace

"I pretty much knew in the back of my mind what would happen. I go and get the time booked and start putting the material together. Everybody gets wind of the fact that I got the time booked and I may be going into the studio. So one by one they start coming around. Lesh and Garcia, 'Hey man, I hear you got some time booked ... Need a bass player? A guitarist? .... Of course I ended up with the Grateful Dead on the record, which I figured up front ... And we had a great time making the record."[34]

1/17/72 Dave Torbert, David Nelson, John Dawson[60]

Lochinvar;Mary Lou;Duncan and Brady;Hand Jive;Sweet Lovin’ One

Unknown 1972 Rowan Brothers

Jerry plays pedal steel guitar.

3/xx/72 Jefferson Airplane

Jerry plays guitar on Trial By Fire.

4/72 Graham Nash, David Crosby 

Bill Kreutzman, Phil Lesh, and Garcia play on The Wall Song.  Garcia plays pedal steel on Southbound Train.[37] The version of The Wall Song (4:26) that is on the album is edited down from a longer version (8:54) (recorded on November 9, 1971) which ended in a jam featuring Garcia, Lesh, and Kreutzmann; the jam was edited out for the album. Released on April 5, 1972 (May, 1972).[50]

4/72 New Riders Of The Purple Sage 

Powerglide

Jerry plays banjo on Sweet Love' One and Duncan and Brady and piano on Lochinvar.[25]

Nicky Hopkins and Bill Kreutzmann also appear.[30]

6/21/72 David Bromberg, Keith Godchaux, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh 

Demon In Disguise

Jerry plays on Sharon's Song, Someone Else's Blues, The Holdup, Paul Siebel's Song.[62]

David Bromberg performed at the Boarding House, San Francisco on June 11-12, 1972.[70] 

6/22/72 David Bromberg , Keith Godchaux, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh

Demon In Disguise

Jerry plays on Someone Else's Blues, Sharon's Song, Danger Man, Demon In Disguise.[63]

6/23/72 David Bromberg, Keith Godchaux, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh

Demon In Disguise

Jerry plays on The Holdup, Danger Man.[64]

6/24/72 David Bromberg, Keith Godchaux, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Steven Burgh 

Demon In Disguise

Jerry plays on Someone Else's Blues, Sharon's Song, The Main Street Moan.[65]

8/17/72 David Bromberg 

Demon In Disguise and Wanted:Dead Or Alive

Jerry plays on Diamond Lil and Demon In Disguise.[25]

Kreutzmann, Lesh, Garcia, and Keith Godchaux play on The Holdup, Someone Else's Blues, Danger Man, and The Main Street Moan.  Released in 1974.[50] 

November-December/72 Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, David Frieberg 

Baron Von Tollbooth  & the Chrome Nun

Sketches Of China;Your Mind Has Left Your Body;Walkin'

Jerry plays on eight of ten tracks(25), pedal steel guitar on Ballad of the Chrome Nun and Your Mind Has Left Your Body, banjo on Walkin.

12/2/72 Doug Sahm, David Grisman 

Genuine Texas Groovers

Jerry plays pedal steel on Leave Me Alone With the Blues and From Jack To A King)[8][9]

12/21/72 Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, David Freiberg 

Sunfighter

Jerry plays lead guitar on Sketches Of China, pedal steel on our Mind Has Left Your Body, and banjo on Walkin.

Jerry also plays guitar on Million, Holding Together and When I Was Boy I Watched The Wolves.[25]

1972 Europe '72

1/8/73 Solo[66]

China, Fishman

1/9/73 Papa John Creach[67]

White Boy

2/5/73 Solo[68]

B Minor;Your Mind Has Left Your Body

1973 Paul Pena 

New Train

11/2 through 8/73 Link Wray 

Be What You Want To

Jerry plays pedal steel guitar on All Cried Out, Tuscon Arizona and Riverbend, and electric guitar on Walk Easy.(25)

In an interview in 1997 Link Wray spoke about his time with Polydor and why musicians like Garcia played on his LP's at that time;  "That was 'cause I had a big record company then, and they wanted to put all them big superstars on it so they could sell records . . . And none of them people wanted to get paid for doin' it. Like Jerry Garcia, he said, 'I love Link Wray. I just come to play, I don't even give a shit about gettin' paid.' And it was the same with John Cipollina from Quicksilver Messenger Service, Boz Scaggs, Commander Cody and all them guys who was on those records. They just come out and supported me and said, 'We really love your music, Link. We was listenin' to you when we was learnin' to play gee-tar.' And the record company ate that up."[6]

February 1974 Clydie King, Merry Clayton and Maria Muldaur (backup vocals).[36]

Compliments Of was recorded here, Western Recorders, Los Angeles, CA and Devonshire Studios, Los Angeles, CA.

Backup vocals: "Michael O'Martian has not only been a successful rock player and producer, but also has been an important producer of Christian music since the 1960's, so he's no hippie buddy of Jerry's. Obviously he would be a tolerant guy or he wouldn't work in the studios, but the purpose of his Heider session would have been musical, not social. It's interesting to note that in O'Martian's huge discography at http://michaelomartian.com/Discography.html the first item listed is Compliments by Jerry Garcia, when he has been on dozens of better selling albums."[20]

4/10/74 Martin Fierro

Turn On The Bright Lights[69]

4/23/74 John Kan

Compliments Of

5/31/74 John Kahn, Ron Tutt 

Compliments Of

"The first known face-to-face meeting between Garcia and Ron Tutt.

checked the Elvis Presley concert database for 1974, and the May 31-June 1 window was one of the few where both Ron Tutt and Garcia were available at the same time. Elvis would have just finished an extensive engagement at the Sahara Tahoe on Sunday May 26 (the last show was actually the 3am show on Monday May 27), and an extensive tour began in Fort Worth, TX on June 15."[51]

Cardiac Arrest jam and a cover of Some Enchanted Evening.

Jerry also performed at Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA on this date.

6/1/74 Ron Tutt (drums), Michael O'Martian (piano)

Later that evening Jerry performed at Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA.

1974 David Bromberg 

Wanted Dead Or Alive

Jerry plays acoustic guitar on The Hold Up, Danger Man, Someone Else's Blues, and Main Street Moan.[25]

2/5/75 Bill Cutler and Heroes

Rockingham Mill, Delta Nightingale, Burning the Candle and Slow Glider. 

"Those all are on my album, along with "Starlite Jamboree", which was a hybrid derived from an unfinished idea that we also began tracking at that time and I finished many years later as a tribute to Jerry."[19]

"The musician's union only keeps records of players who are getting paid at "on the books" recording sessions or a public performance at a venue. In fact the musician's union fined Jerry in '75 for playing on my recording sessions at Hyde Street Studios because there were a few "non-union" musicians on that record. So...the union was never friendly to rock musicians and often was avoided if possible."[19]

“St the time of our sessions in 1975 at Wally Heider’s, Wolf was new and the active electronics were really cutting edge for that era. Jerry was alternating between Wolf and his Travis Bean, depending on which one he thought best for capturing the vibe he was looking for on a particular song.”[73]

1980 Chris and Lorin Rowan 

Livin' The Life

David Grisman and Bill Kreutzmann are also on this album. Jerry plays pedal steel guitar.

The album contains unreleased studio recordings from 1972.

Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco, CA 

1.)^http://countrydiscography.blogspot.com/2010/10/david-bromberg.html

2.)^Johnson, Heather, If These Halls Could Talk, 2006, pg. 70.

3.)^Barncard, Steve, http://www.hydestreet.com/history_early2.html

4.)^http://www.discogs.com/artist/Stephen+Barncard

5.)^Jackson, Blair, Garcia: An American Life, pg. 212

6.)^http://www.deaddisc.com/disc/Be_What_You_Want_To.htm

7.)^http://www.hydestreet.com/history_next.html

8.)^http://www.thejerrysite.com/shows/show/2243

9.)^Hernandez, Raoul, Doug Dahm, 2003-12-19, http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2003-12-19/190672/

10.)^http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/11/when-did-jerry-garcia-and-merl-saunders.html

11.)^McNally, Dennis, Long Strange Trip, pg. 378, http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/11/when-did-jerry-garcia-and-merl-saunders.html

13.)^Arnold, Corry, 2009-12-03, http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2009/12/november-1-or-2-1970-lions-share-san.html

14.)^http://hydestreet.com/?page_id=211

15.)^Young, Neil, Wage Heavy Peace, pg. 237. 

16.)^bOb, comments, 2012-12-23, http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=238311

17.)^Adam, comments, 2000-07-14, http://steelguitarforum.com/Archives/Archive-000003/HTML/20011227-1-010467.html

18.)^Sinkler, Richard, comments, 2000-07-14, http://steelguitarforum.com/Archives/Archive-000003/HTML/20011227-1-010467.html

19.)^Cutler, Bill, 2015-02-22, email to author.

20.)^Corry342, comments, 2011-08-08, Merl Saunders and Friends: May 31 – June 1, 1974, Inn of the Beginning, Cotati, 2011-08-17, http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2011/08/merl-saunders-and-friends-may-31-june-1.html

21.)^Billboard, 1970-11-07, Douglas To Record 2 LP's By Grateful Dead Artists," Billboard, November 7, 1970, p. 4, https://books.google.com/books?id=pSkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=Billboard,+November+7,+1970,+p.+4.&source=bl&ots=yJABkhrDaI&sig=vhyjM5Uy3G0PT1l2ew-YRikhfqA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=9DtiVYKwMoXsoASQsoDYBA&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=Billboard%2C%20November%207%2C%201970%2C%20p.%204.&f=false

22.)^Barncard, Stephen, Schenk, David, and Silberman, Steve, Skeleton Key, pg. 282.

23.)^The Jefferson Library, Blows Against The Empire, http://www.jeffersonstarshipsf.com/catjs/02jsbate.htm

24.)^Arnold, Corry, The Golden Road, 1985-Fall, pg. 35-39.

25.)^Arnold, Corry. 1985. Sessions: The Grateful Dead on other artists’ records. Golden Road no. 8 (Fall): pg. 34-39.

26.)^http://www.deaddisc.com/disc/Garcia_72.htm

27.)^http://www.deaddisc.com/disc/Cross_Between.htm

28.)^Daly, George, The Birth Of A Studio, 2011, http://wallyheider.com/wordpress/firstinstudioc/

29.)Garcia, Jerry, Hunt, Ken, Jerry Garcia: Folk, Bluegrass and Beyond, part II, 1983, Swing 51, No. 7, pg. 22-28.

30.)^http://www.nrpsmusic.com/music/

31.)^Slabicky, Ihor, The Complete Grateful Dead Discography (12th revision), Joseph Jupille Archives.

32.)^Skidmore, Mick, Ned Lagin, An Interview, 1991-June, Relix, Vol. 18, No. 3, pg. 3, Joseph Jupille Archives.

33.)^American Federation Of Musicians invoice #9164, Joseph Jupille Archives.

34.)^http://www.deaddisc.com/disc/Ace.htm

35.)^Silberman, Steve, "Crosby Connection" show played on KPFA, ca. 2001, When did Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders first play together?, 2010-11-10, http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/11/when-did-jerry-garcia-and-merl-saunders.html

36.)^Brown, Steve, If I Told You All That Went Down…The Golden Road, 1986-summer, pg. 24, Joseph Jupille Archives.

37.)^http://www.deaddisc.com/disc/Nash_And_Crosby.htm

38.)Wright, Tom, Garcia musical instrument historian, 2014-11-02, email to author.

39.)^ Slick, Grace, Rolling Stone, 1970-11-12.

40.)^Swing 51, No. 7, 1983.

41.)^Barncard, Stephen, 2012-04-18, email to author.

42.)^Tape box, 9-1970, Sheet #1-3, David Crosby, Wally Heider Recording, Stephen Barncard, 2012-04-12, email to author.

43.)^Tape box, 11-3-1970, Sheet #1-3, David Crosby, Wally Heider Recording, Stephen Barncard, http://iicormn.com/features/tapeBoxes-CrozSQB/index.html

44.)^Barncard, Stephen, 2014-12-29, email to author.

45.)^boonjoer, comments, 2011-09-10, http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/215346

46.)^McNally, Dennis, Long Strange Trip, pg. 378.

47.)^Barncard, Stephen, 2013-12-29, email to author.

48.)^Loren, Richard, High Notes: A Rock Memoir, pg. 110.

49.)^Houk, Steve, David Crosby On New Music, Old Music, And The Grateful Dead, 2015-06-06, http://liveforlivemusic.com/features/david-crosby-on-new-music-old-music-and-the-grateful-dead/

50.)^Slabicky, Ihor, The Compleat Grateful Dead Discography, http://tcgdd.freeyellow.com/tcgdd.txt

51.)^Corry432, comment, 2011-08-11, Merl Saunders and Friends: May 31 – June 1, 1974, Inn of the Beginning, Cotati, 2011-08-17, http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2011/08/merl-saunders-and-friends-may-31-june-1.html

52.)^http://www.whitegum.com/introjs.htm?%2Fsongfile%2FEEPHOUR.HTM

53.)^JGMF, comment, 2015-08-05, Miscellaneous San Francisco Sessions, 1969, 2015-08-05, http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2015/08/miscellaneous-san-francisco-sessions.html#comment-form

54.)^Kreutzmann, Bill, with Benjy Eisen. 2015. Deal: My Three Decades of Drumming, Dreams, and Drugs with the Grateful Dead, pg. 161-162.

55.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #9176, 190-08-10, Joe Jupille Archives.

56.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #9177, Joe Jupille Archives.

57.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #413685, 1970-08-21, Joe Jupille Archives.

58.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #1165, 1970-10-05, Joe Jupille Archives.

59.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #14185, 1970-10-06, Joe Jupille Archives.

60.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #146158, 1972-01-17, Joe Jupille Archives.

61.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #45222, 1971-03-31, Joe Jupille Archives.

62.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #148547, 1972-06-21, Joe Jupille Archives.

63.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #148548, 1972-06-22, Joe Jupille Archives.

64.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #151451, 1972-06-23, Joe Jupille Archives.

65.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #unknown, 1972-06-24, Joe Jupille Archives.

66.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #231966, 1973-01-08, Joe Jupille Archives.

67.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #231967, 1973-01-09, Joe Jupille Archives.

68.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #231971, 1973-02-05, Joe Jupille Archives.

69.)^American Federation Of Musicians contract #2S 88434, 1974-04-10, Joe Jupille Archives.

70.)^Scenedrome, Berkeley Barb, 1975-06-06-12, pg. 14, http://voices.revealdigital.com/cgi-bin/independentvoices?a=d&d=BFBJFGD19750606.1.14&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------------1#

71.)^Rock Billboard, Peter Frampton to headline Show at County Auditorium, 1975-06-13, Daily Independent Journal, pg. 21, https://www.newspapers.com/image/89084365/

72.)^

73.)^Cutler, Bill, comment, 2015-09-04, Trixie Garcia, Facebook.com

74.)^Nixon, Stu, Dolgushkin a, Mike and Scott, John W., Deadbase 50, pg. 40.