The Big Man and Captain Trips and You and Me

Last month I mentioned an unlikely pairing that "got me right behind the ol' ballpoint," to quote Cliff Clavin: Joe Strummer and Bruce Springsteen.

Today we get another coupling that I missed along the way but definitely should not have.

Clarence Clemons and Jerry Garcia.  The Big Man and Captain Trips.

In 1989, right about the time Random Idiots were forming in a College of William and Mary dormitory room, the E Street band was on hiatus.  Bruce Springsteen had disassembled them after the Tunnel of Love tour. Speculation was rampant as to whether they'd ever regroup. Most figured they
would, but nobody was sure when... or even if.

So in '89, Clarence Clemons was, as Grateful Dead's Bob Weir put it, "in moving-on mode."

Enter Jerry, who was always on the move. Since the Big Man was hanging around the Bay Area, it stood to reason they'd cross paths, and when they did, they played together.  Clemons played a string of Jerry Garcia Band shows and even a couple of Dead-proper shows.

The result was two great tastes that go great together, and you can find a number of these shows.  Melvin Seals and Jerry and Clarence... pretty damn good.

As a recent Rolling stone article conveys, Weir enjoyed it.

"Clarence was an old pal, a soulful bro. 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.”

I'd love to be called a "good hang" by the likes of Bob Weir, or any of the gheorghies, for that matter.

And if them playing music together wasn't entertainment enough, imagine if this had happened:

“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 recalled bemusedly. “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.”

I smell sitcom... This Deadhead found the whole collaboration to be a hoot.

Anyway, it's a fun pairing. I saw the JGB at Merriweather Post in September 1989, just missing one of the shows where the Big Man joined them. There was a lot blowing my mind that night; who knows, perhaps Clarence Clemons walking on stage might've done me in.

A few months back, the 9/16/89 show from a Chicago suburb was formally released, and I've been letting it play for a spell. Find it: GarciaLive Volume 13: September 16th, 1989 Poplar Creek Music Theatre.  Speaking of released, their take on "I Shall Be Released" is pretty much nectar.

Here's a cut. They love each other, or at least it sure looks that way in the photos.

and here's Clarence with the Dead in Oak-town, closing out the show...

There was talk of CC joining the Dead, but they were a democracy, and since some members hated saxophones, well... there it went. The E Street band rejoined Bruce a decade later. Happy to say that I caught a trio of shows from the '99 reformation, one with our Boss-lovin' chum Earl Lloyd.

The world misses Jerry, and Clarence, and Earl. May you all have music and memories to rock your soul.

Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul