Ratdog
8/1/1996
Ventura County Fairgrounds, Ventura, CA
Source: AKG 460/CK68 long > Sonosax > SV255
*Taped by Eugene Hu*
Transferred by Chris McGrath
DAT Master Clone>Tascam DA-20 MKII>Philips CDR775>EAC>FLAC
Disc 1
1.Walkin Blues
2.Wang Dang Doodle*
3.Eternity
4.Blackbird
5.Looks Like Rain+
6.Juke
7.It's All Over Now
8.I Need a Miracle
9.The Winners>
10.Bass>
11.Turn On Your Lovelight
Disc 2 Encore/Jam**
1.Playin' in the Band>
2.Proud Mary>
3.One Way Out>
4.Knockin' on Heavens Door
*-with Cindy Wasserman (Vocals); +-with Bruce Hornsby (Keys)
**-with Hornsby, Los Lobos, Hot Tuna, Mickey Hart, etc....
Notes:
I applied a slight bass & volume boost to this, the P.A. was very thin sounding that day, not much low end so it's the show
itself & not the recording. ***Please feel free to upload to the LMAA.***
*5-10-08*
I dug these tapes out & transferred them because to my knowledge they don't really circulate & it was a great day of music.
I tried tracking down the taper Eugene Hu, to get his permission to upload them only to find out that he passed away sometime
last fall from cancer. I didn't know Eugene very well at all, I saw him at various shows over the years and there's a couple of
96' Crowes shows that he taped (7-6-96 & 12-13-96) that I was grateful to have because I was there. When we exchained lists
after taping a show in Anaheim in 04', I was shocked to see that he had been in Ventura and taped the entire days sets. As I
mention below, this day was very special and I was so thankful to have quality recordings of it and the fact that they're
clones of the Master DAT's isn't too shabby either : ) Eugene was just a very nice guy and I was shocked to find out he's passed
away as he was only in his early 40's, it's just very sad. One of the things I've found myself thinking about is the fact that
although I hardly knew him, Eugene is directly responsible for being able to have pieces of my past that I genuinely
cherish and will be able to keep with me always. I hope that it either brings back great memories for those that were there or
creates new ones for those who weren't.
I received these DATs from Eugene about 3+ years ago after running into him at a show in Anaheim, thank you very much!
I know of only one other source for this show even though there were plenty of tapers. This whole day was pretty heavy;
Jerry's birthday less than a year after he passed & was what I thought a great springboard for these guys to get back out
sharing the music with the people. This Ratdog set was one of the most emotional live performances I've ever experienced.
Bobby's inflection in Blackbird is amazing & Looks Like Rain is where I completely lost it. The "You were goooooone...." lyric
just summed up what everyone including Weir were thinking & feeling. It felt like he wasn't just singing it, he was still trying
to understand it himself. I remember wondering how a day like this could end, how was he going to bring this whole thing
to a close & have it be OK? It's not just that Knockin' on Heavens Door was appropriate but by ending the song simply singing
the last lines a'capella and then put his finger to his lips as in there's nothing more to say. The few seconds of silence after this
speak volumes. It was perfect. This may sound very overdramatic to some which is fine, if you were there you know what I'm
talking about and it was something very special. C.M 5-5-08