Thanksgiving weekend, 1972: the Grateful Dead found themselves in Austin, allowing Garcia and Lesh to rendezvous with an old Bay Area running buddy, Mr. Tex-Mex himself, Doug Sahm, and piano-journeyman Leon Russell, at the famed Armadillo World Headquarters for a musical cornucopia of roots music. No genre was left untouched – blues, bluegrass, R&B, rock & roll, honky tonk and, naturally, Bob Dylan. All played with an ad hoc band, including members of Texas psychedelic pranksters The 13th Floor Elevators and Shiva’s Headband, with a setlist that effortlessly bounces from hellcat versions of Kristofferson’s “Me & Bobby McGee” and the Stones’ “Wild Horses”, to a don’t-spill-your-beer “T For Texas”, saddled with stompin-the-nails-out-of-the-floorboard cuts like “Hey Bo Diddley” and “Money Honey”. This is a shitkicker of show, best served turned up, with fistfuls of turkey and pint glass of your favorite sumthin’.
Doug Sahm, Leon Russell, Jerry Garcia and Friends
Thanksgiving Jam
Armadillo World Headquarters, Austin, TX
November 23, 1972
Disc One
01 High Heel Sneakers [Tommy Tucker]
02 Wild Side Of Life [Hank Thompson]
03 Swingin’ Doors [Merle Haggard]
04 Me & Bobby McGee [Kris Kristofferson/Janis Joplin]
05 Stormy Monday [T-Bone Walker]
06 That’s All Right (Mama) [Arthur Crudup/Elvis Presley]
07 Come On In My Kitchen [Robert Johnson]
08 T For Texas [Jimmie Rodgers]
09 Mr. Tambourine Man [Bob Dylan/Byrds]
10 (Is Anybody Goin’ To) San Antone [Charley Pride]
11 Sugarfoot Rag [Hank Garland]
12 I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry [Hank Williams]
13 Jambalaya [Hank Williams]
14 Today I Started Loving You Again [Merle Haggard]
15 Columbus Stockade Blues [Traditional]
16 Honky Tonkin’ > Dear John [Hank Williams]
Disc Two
01 Orange Blossom Special [Bill Monroe]
02 Kentucky Waltz [Bill Monroe]
03 Big Boss Man [Jimmy Reed]
04 Searchin’ [Coasters]
05 Those Lonely Lonely Nights [Earl King] > Shake A Hand [Faye Adams]
06 Hey Bo Diddley [Bo Diddley]
07 It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry [Bob Dylan]
08 A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall [Bob Dylan]
09 Wild Horses [Rolling Stones]
10 Slippin’ Into Christmas [Leon Russell]
11 Money Honey [Drifters/Elvis Presley]
12 Chug-A-Lug [Roger Miller]
13 Roll Over Beethoven [Chuck Berry] > Good Golly Miss Molly [Little Richard] > Roll Over Beethoven [Chuck Berry]
BAND:
Doug Sahm – vocals, guitar
Leon Russell – vocals, piano
Jerry Garcia – vocals, guitar, pedal steel
Phil Lesh – bass
* Jerry Barnett – drums (Shivaís Headband)
Mary Egan – fiddle (Greazy Wheels)
Benny Thurman – fiddle (13th Floor Elevator bassist)
* The drummer is often listed as Bill Kreutzman from the Dead, but apparently he didn’t play. Here’s what I found on the interweb: “Though he was in attendance that evening, there is no verifiable evidence that Bill Kreutzmann sat in with the band. When asked a few years ago, the owner of the Armadillo seemed to recall Bill feeling sick that night.”