Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra
A relatively little known piece of San Francisco history in the heart of the Tenderloin. Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra, also known as PERRO or the PERRO sessions, was recorded at Wally Heider Studios, now known as Hyde Street Studios at 245 Hyde Street in the Tenderloin, San Francisco in 1971 by recording engineer extraordinaire Stephen Barncard
The rehearsal tapes made in 1971 featured David Crosby, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Graham Nash, Michael Shrieve, Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, David Freiberg, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, Neil Young, Jorma Kaukonen, Joni Mitchell, Laura Allan, Jack Casady, and Gregg Rolie. [2] Appearing on Blows Against the Empire but not featured on the rehearsal tapes or most of the later solo albums were Peter Kaukonen, Joey Covington, Phil Sawyer, and Harvey Brooks.
Stephen Barncard once told me he was working on remastering these tapes for possible release, but that has still not happened to this day, and might never get released, possibly because so many San Francisco musical alumni were involved, and many are not really full songs, but rough drafts of songs that went on to become other songs on other albums. But the tapes exist, and some pretty good quality copies have escaped. In this post, we have one song from the PERRO sessions called “Mountain Song #4” An updated version of Mountain Song is on the new Jefferson Starship – Soiled Dove dvd (amazon)
here is the original version of Mountain Song *4 (8:10)
David Crosby – guitar, vocals, Paul Kantner -banjo, Grace Slick – piano, Jerry Garcia – guitar
Stephen Barncard – “The Mountain Song – 4″ (8′ 20”): As you’ll see, this is the longest version and undoubtedly the most satisfying of the four. This is where Crosby’s embryonic “Walkin’ In The Mountains” suddenly reemerges and he goes through the verse and various chord sequences as an introduction to “The Mountain Song,” to which it bridges seamlessly and beautifully. It’s a remarkable segue which makes the listener keenly aware of how the song could have developed in a very different direction had Crosby stayed to contribute throughout its evolution. Speculation aside, what we do have is a return to the familiar pattern of banjo, guitars, bass, piano and percussion. Crosby reverts to his scatted counterpoint before it slips into a stunning instrumental section. Herein, the music weaves a genuinely hypnotic spell as it rolls effortlessly along the bed of Paul’s banjo and Grace’s piano, with Garcia picking exquisitely. After several minutes of this, the vocal pattern is re-introduced, now in a more restrained vein against instrumentation which has become subdued, with Grace and the Crosby gently dancing around Jerry to the finale of a wonderful excursion.
Stephen Barncard, center photo at his recording console in 1971. Jerry Garcia to the left
