just some minor details and corrections...
I-) ihor - ------------------------------ Subject: Re: festival express i took a look at the video(s) that i have: first off, text is overlaid on the image. this text appears throughout the tapes. in the center, just below the middle, is a big FE-8. centered near the bottom, in smaller text, is TCR 08:xx:xx:xx (where the xx are hours, minutes, seconds, and hundreds of seconds, counting up). below that is REC and LOCK. the overall picture quality is not that good - i'd say maybe 3rd or 4th gen. because much of the subtlety of the colors has been lost, the image is contrasty, there is edging around the text letters, etc. the over all sound quality is a b- or a c+. as far as grateful dead releated material, the approximately two hours of tape contains two versions (by that i mean different camera angles of the same performance) of 'cc rider' (at night, 07-03-70 at McMahon Stadium, Calgary, Alberta), daytime performances (07-03-70 at McMahon Stadium, Calgary, Alberta) of two acoustic 'don't ease me in', three versions of an electric 'new speedway boogie', three versions of 'hard to handle', and back to night performances (07-01-70 at the Fairgrounds, Winnipeg, Manitoba) for three of 'easy wind', and three of 'candyman'. the tape starts off with a song by traffic, the beginning of which is cut. this is from a night performance, and consists mostly of shots of steve winwood on organ and ??? on flute. after that comes the 'c.c. rider', the beginning of which is cut. this is an 'all star jam session' on stage, at night. jerry garcia is playing what appears to be his red gibson, bill kreutzmann on tambourine, i think i spotted jack cassady, and the singer is sylvia tyson, of 'the great speckled bird'. 'the great speckled bird' members are: jim colegrove on bass, buddy cage on pedal steel, n. d. smart on drums, and amos garrett on lead guitar. the guitar player next to the bass player is delaney bramlett and next to him is amos garrett. there is also the organ player from delaney and bonnie's group that is playing. the guy in the cowboy hat playing the martin accoustic is ian tyson. 'c.c. rider' was a tune that was a regular part of 'the great speckled bird''s show, so that's why it doesn't sound like a typical jam, and they are in fact playing an arrangement. here, there are real solos, and they are well played at that. unfortunately, garcia doesn't get to solo, although bill k. is quite audible at times. next is 'cc rider', same performance, but from a different camera angle. an interesting side note - the song that was done after 'c.c. rider' was a jam with bonnie bramlett singing 'will the circle be unbroken'. bob weir was onstage during this performance too, but jack cassady wasn't around. that night (07-03-70) was the end of the tour. that night, janis joplin had everyone sign a miniature train that was mounted (nailed) to a two by four. this souvenier was given to kenny walker, the producer of the tour. NONE of this is on the video that i have. next, the FE-8 changes to FE-5, and the dead, during the day, perform 'don't ease me in', with garcia and weir on acoustic guitars. next, the same performance of 'don't ease me in', but from a different camera angle. the dead then perform 'new speedway boogie' with a 'nobody's fault but my own' jam in the middle, this time all on electric instruments. then, 'new speedway boogie', from a different camera angle. then, 'new speedway boogie', from yet another camera angle. the dead then perform 'hard to handle', with a nice pigpen (in a tank top!!!) on harmonica solo, followed by a jam, and a very quick ending. this same performance is shown from a different camera angle. then, this performance is shown for a third time, again from a different camera angle. that ends the daytime performances. the FE-8 changes to FE-6, and the dead perform 'easy wind', again on stage, at night. there is no image in the middle of the jam, but the music is there. overall, a really nice version of 'easy wind'. very relaxed... next, there is some footage without sound. then, the same performance of 'easy wind', this time with some distant views and shots from behind the band. the sound cuts out in the middle of the jam. footage of sparklers at night, with carnival rides in the background (i.e. the band would see the carnival rides as they are play on stage). next, the same performance of 'easy wind'. the sound does not appear to be in synch with the image. the sound cuts after the harmonica solo. the picture cuts out after that, then cuts back in at the jam where pigpen returns for the ending vocals. pigpen is wearing his cowboy hat with a feather on the left side, leather jacket, with a shoulder patch on the right shoulder, and it looked like the whole middle back section was decorated... next is 'candyman', with no picture at the start. then, 'candyman' again, with different camera angles. then, 'candyman' again, which cuts out before the end. it almost seems that the performance was 'easy wind' and then 'candyman'? next, no image, but the FE-6 changes to FE-9, and that's it. i got my copy of this video (the FE-8 and FE-6 portions) last summer, from the person who offered it on deadlists, or where ever it was. it is on a one hour tape. i then recently received a copy of the FE-8, FE-5, and FE-6 portions, from someone else. i had a question about the source of the overlayed text (that FE-8, FE-5, FE-6, etc.), and here is the answer... > A film archive company called Historic Films (formerly Ariq Films) > had some of the footage from the Festival Express tour for a couple > of years, which they got from the people who tried to put the film > together before that. Historic Films never had access to the > negative, only to the 30 year-old workprint, from which they made > a fairly cheap telecine copy onto video. For 2 years, they had the > right to license out this footage, but only as short (i.e. 30 sec.) > clips. However, a few "entrepreneurial" types ordered VHS viewing > copies of all the GD footage and made copies for themselves. > Historic Films was prudent enough to overlay timecode and other > data onto the image so it would have no commercial value, but the > demand for GD material being what it is, the tapes get traded > nonetheless. a very special thanks to walter keenan and jim colgrove for info and research!!! I-) ihor - ------------------------------
