Jerry Garcia (Mickey & The Hartbeats) - 1969-08-28 - San Francisco, CA (SBD)

Jerry Garcia
with Mickey and The Hartbeats
1969-08-28
The Family Dog At The Great Highway
San Francisco, CA
Soundboard Recording
320 kbps
Artwork Included

01. It's A Sin
02. Hi-Heel Sneakers
03. Dark Star >
04. The Eleven

Notes:
Bob Weir & Pigpen are absent
with Howard Wales on keyboards

Jerry Garcia (Mickey & The Hartbeats) - 1969-08-28 - San Francisco, CA (SBD)

Sometime in late 1968, Bob Weir and Pigpen were "fired" from the Grateful Dead for their lack of commitment to improving their musical craft. I put fired in quotes because depending on what source you read, the level of severity of this matter varies. Some say the band was simply having normal friction that happens in any group environment.  Other sources indicate that the other members of the band simply wanted to experiment with a different style outside of the boundaries of the Grateful Dead. This article provides plenty of background on what Garcia jokingly refered to as "Mickey & The Hartbeats", (a play on drummer Mickey Hart's name), but was always publicly billed as Jerry Garcia and Friends. While all the drama seemed to end quickly in fall of 1968, the configuration of Garcia, Hart, Kreutzman, and Lesh, accompanied by keyboard player Howard Wales and sans Weir and Pigpen, played another show together on August 28, 1969, 56 years ago today, as captured in this soundboard recording. More on this gig can be found here. Of note, while this recording was originally listed as a Grateful Dead tape, it was later changed to be classified as a Jerry Garcia performance.