Hot Tuna
1987-08-21
Rumrunner
Oyster Bay, NY
Soundboard Recording
320 kbps
Artwork Included
1st Set:
01. Tuning
02. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
03. Hesitation Blues
04. Walkin' Blues
05. Broken Highway
06. Ice Age
07. 99 Year Blues
08. Third Week In The Chelsea
09. Watch The North Wind Rise
10. San Francisco Bay Blues
2nd Set:
11. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning
12. Winin' Boy Blues
13. Genesis
14. Another Man Done Gone
15. I Am The Light Of This World
16. I See The Light > Sunny Day Strut
17. Embryonic Journey
18. Good Shepherd
19. Trouble In Mind
20. I'll Be All Right Someday
21. Candy Man
22. Rock Me Baby
23. Death Don't Have No Mercy
24. Keep On Truckin'
25. Killing Time In The Crystal City
Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady first worked together way back in 1965, as members of the Jefferson Airplane. In 1969, while still with the Airplane, they launched a side project called Hot Tuna, an acoustic duo that focused on their blues roots. In 1972, after the Airplane dissolved, Hot Tuna went electric, featuring long instrumental jams in concert. While I'm not a big fan of their electric music, I do find something unique and compelling about acoustic Hot Tuna. This one's a soundboard recording of Jorma and Jack from Osyster Bay from August 21, 1987, 36 years ago today.
Given Hot Tuna's roots in the Jefferson Airplane, it's hardly surprising Jorma and Jack have countless connection sto the Grateful Dead, Both the Airplane and The Dead emerged from the San Francisco scene in 1965 and would be leading lights of psychedelic rock. The 2 bands would headline the Human Be-in on January 14, 1967 in Golden Gate Park, a concert which put San Francisco’s counter culture on the map and served as a prelude to the Summer Of Love. Also in 1967, as the Grateful Dead were working on their debut album, Jerry Garcia also spent time helping the Airplane produce their landmark 2nd album, Surrealistic Pillow. Garcia in fact, was the source of the album’s title, when he mentioned that, as a whole, the album sounded "as surrealistic as a pillow is soft." Although RCA, the Airplane’s record company would not acknowledge Garcia's considerable contributions to the album with a "Producer" credit, he is listed as "spiritual advisor."The Airplane and Dead also performed at Monterrey Pop in June 1967, and at Woodstock in August 1969. In fact, the 2 bands shared the same bill quite frequently, with Deadbase listing 50 such concerts from 1965 to 1970. Who knows how many more undocumented pairings also took place? While the 2 bands would go their separate ways in the 1970s, the connection between memnbers of the Dead and Jack and Jorma was never lost. Hot Tuna playerd at both the 1996 and 1998 Furthur Festivals, while Jorma was part of the Festival's 1997 roster. Jorma also had a stint as the lead guitarist for Phil Lesh and Friends.
Jorma and Jack also have some connections to The Band and The Allman Brothers., Both the Jefferson Airplane and The Band appeared at the original woodstock in 1969. Jorma recorded 2 albums at Levon Helm's studio - his solo disc River of Time in 2009, and Hot Tuna's Steady As She Goes in 2011, the duo's first studio record in 2 decades. The Allman Brothers recorded their own version of the Jefferson Airplane tune, She Has Funny Cars. In 1999, Hot Tuna led in for the Allman Brothes during their summer tour.
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