Franklin's Tower
The Music Never Stopped
Vaults
Paris, Jan 14th 1996:
the Captain Trips Festival
Hundreds of European Heads converged on a Parisian jazz club in January 96 for a unique, precedent-setting tribute to Jerry and his music. Christophe Rossi, musician and editor of the drummer's magazine Batteur, sent us this account of the long strange eleven hour trip...
Robert Hunter's message
to the
festival, in French and in English.
Complete setlist.
Hommage a Jerry
The idea of organising the "Captain Trips Festival, Hommage ` Jerry Garcia", came up two days after August 9th, the day the guitarist of the Grateful Dead died. I was playing with my band, Cousin Medard, at the Soap Box, a bikers' club in the surburb of Paris. Needless to say we were in a sad mo! od after Jerry's death. That night, we played New Speedway Boogie, Friend Of The Devil and Me & My Uncle in our set. The bikers, who probably had not heard of Jerry, seemed nevertheless to enjoy the Grateful Dead music, not knowing we had only just begun to feel the loss of our friend. On the way back, we talked about playing a gig dedicated to the memory of this fine musician. For the occasion, we would invite French Dead aficionados Fool Moon, and reform Deadicace, another, now disbanded cover band, which also performed the songs of Little Feat, CSNY, and Dylan, and in which I used to play with Cousin Medard's bassist Denis Bekaert.A Graceful Deal Goes Down
Our first meeting took place in Fall at Thi-Troc, a cool bookstore-tearoom-psychedelic shop in Paris. This place is a favorite hang out for underground art lovers and comix artists like Moebius and Gilbert Shelton, father of the Freak Brothers. Ferid Kaddour, who runs the place, let our bunc! h of Deadheads - very soon labelled "The Graceful Deal" - use Thi-Troc as our headquarters. Concert promoters Cabaret Nomade joined us later to help set up a show which was becoming bigger and more ambitious than we had planned. We dubbed the show the "Captain Trips Festival" in reference to Jerry's nickname and also to the infamous Trips Festival that took place in San Francisco, January 1966. Deadicace guitarist Alex Manconi suggested that the Festival should be open to as many artists - and as many different audiences - as possible. So we invited French musicians to perform, along with Grateful Dead music lovers.Compliments to Garcia
Things didn't come easy at first because the music of the Grateful Dead is not so well known by the French public and French musicians. Nevertheless, many said o.k. and took time to learn the songs. Some others who are familiar with the Dead, such as Patrick Coutin, Nikki Matheson, bluegrass band Longue Distance, pianist Bill Giles or Romain Decoret, who formed Up-Front Electric Jug sp! ecially for this occasion, along with Cousin Midard, Deadicace -- joined by American guitarist Joe Grady who made the trip from San Francisco-- and Fool Moon were thrilled to be part of this big gathering. With Deadicace keyboardist Jean-Michel Laugier, we worked on a set list (Jerry's music exclusively, although some musicians included a few covers Garcia used to play) and suggested songs to musicians according to their style. I spent hours recording tapes and xeroxing music charts and lyrics to dispatch them to the 75 musicians involved in the project. Then my phone begun to ring : "Hey, I didn't know that song. It is really cool music, and the lyrics are just beautiful. I think I will keep that one in my set list." The best compliment we could address to the Grateful Dead's music.Dark Star on French FM!
Finally, what was supposed to be a humble family party turned out to become something bigger. We found the ideal concert hall : the Hot Brass, a jazz club holding 800 people, located a stone's throw from the Zenith, a familiar place to many Deadheads who attended the last two shows the Grateful Dead played in Paris during their European Tour of 1990. Fool Moon's drummer and artist Eric Cougrand designed a wonderful poster -- and then flyers and backstage passes. Some journalists from music magazines and radio stations helped promoting the show -- at last we could hear some Grateful Dead music on French FM, including Dark Star ! The Graceful Deal became a gathering of talented and enthusiastic Deadheads, including set designers, sound & light engineers, caterers, and musicians. All of them worked hard to set up this show, improvising a lot. Their motto was : "Without a net !" Show time started at 4 pm. Eleven hours later, Fool Moon struck the last chord of the New Speedway Boogie> Wang Dang Doodle medley. It was interesting to hear Jerry's songs covered in surprising ways, like Blues For Allah interpreted ` la Sun Ra by avant-garde saxophone big band Urban Sax, Till The Morning ! Comes in a grunge mode by Franco-Canadian band Broken Eyes, or a funky Shakedown Street played by French pop veterans Martin Circus. Actually, the music was approached very much in the spirit of the Dead themselves, who used to recreate standards their own way and take chances. And of course, the wide range of styles covered by the Grateful Dead was well represented. Another surprise was Light The Way, a song co-written by Bill Giles and Phil Demetrion for the occasion.A Sunday Out Of Time...
A crowd of about 500 (plus the 75 musicians, 25 technicians and as much friends and family members) spent a Sunday out of time with Jerry Garcia's music. Living it and dancing to it, remembering it or discovering it, singing it or simply listening to it. The light show and the stage setting added a psychedelic touch to the picture. Some people were high, some were sober, but everyone was tuned in by the music and the good vibes, and you could see a sparkle in! every eye and a big smile on every face. People of all ages, from lit tle kids to old Deadheads spent a wonderful time together, experiencing a warm wave of love and peace. An American Deadhead who made the trip from Chicago said she felt as if we took a few square meters of a Dead show and beamed it up to the Hot Brass. Obvously she felt relieved : she knew that Jerry was feeling good, grooving with us. And there were tears in some eyes when Bill Giles read "A Message to Our Friends in France from The Grateful Dead". The message Robert Hunter sent us in the name of the Grateful Dead touched our heart. And it was nice to see that during the Captain Trips Festival, Jerry Garcia was percieved exactly the way the Grateful Dead Family wanted it to be : as a true artist. A simple man who simply played his sweet guitar and sang with all his soul.Thanks Jerry for a real good time !
Christophe Rossi
Graceful Deal: phone (33) 1 34 75 79 39Setlist
PROGRAMMEStyles ranged from solo bazouki, bluegrass, rock, conventional Dead-style covers to the avant garde (Blues For Allah arranged for ten saxophones!). Sounds quite an evening. All services were contributed free, and profits will go to a charity for children with Aids.[15 h30 ouverture des portes] 16 h ERIC SCHATZ I've Been All Around This World 16 h 30 PETERs' BLUE GRASS BAND Uncle John's Band - Friend of The Devil - Ripple 17 h CHRIS LANCRY & VINCENT ABSIL (+ Claude Langlois) Knocking On Heaven's Door 17 h 30 BROKEN EYES Till The Morning Come - Black Muddy River 18 h LES VOYAGEURS Bertha - Iko Iko 18 h 30 PATRICK COUTIN (+ Patrick Verbeke) Loser - Big Boss Man - Going Down The Road 19 h COUSIN MEDARD Loup Solitaire (Dire Wolf) (!!) - St Stephen (both songs covered in French) 19 h 30 LAURIE & JEAN-MICHEL LAUGIER (backed up by Deadicace, Joe Grady & Nikki Matheson) He's Gone 19 h 45 BILL GILES (backed by Deadicace) Mississippi Half Step - Light The Way 20 h 30 MARTIN CIRCUS Shakedown Street - Built To Last - Don't Ease Me In [21 h 30 ENTRACTE (remerciements) 22 h ] 22 h LONG DISTANCE Ashes Of Love - I Know You Rider 22 h 30 JANICE DE ROSA Casey Jones - Death Don't Have Mercy 23 h UP FRONT ELECTRIC JUG Easy Wind - Truckin' - Deal 23 h 30 LES CHAISES Alabama Getaway - Valerie - When Push Comes To Shove 0 h NIKKI MATHESON (+ Deadicace) Mountains of The Moon - Dark Star 0 h 30 URBAN SAX Blues For Allah 1 h DEADICACE (with special guest Joe Grady from Skeleton Key) Help on the Way/Slipknot/Franklin's Tower- Eyes Of The World - Touch Of Grey 2h FOOL MOON Loose Lucy - Black Peter - Hard To Handle - Friend of the Devil - New Speedway Boogie + Wang Dang Doodle + New Speedway Boogie
Note: Unfortunately, Christophe says the DAT was so overrecorded as
to be unlistenable...and there were no known tapers in the audience! Anyone
out there...?
Vaults
The Music Never Stopped
Franklin's Tower
Eyes of the World
billpannifer@easynet.co.uk