The Dinosaurs – The I-Beam (Haight Street, San Francisco), June 21, 1987
This is a very rare recording of The Dinosaurs when Moby Grape’s Jerry Miller was filling in for Dinosaurs lead guitarist John Cipollina that night. It is only three songs
When Jerry Miller fills the shoes of John Cipollina !!!
Only 3 tracks ….Enjoy !!!
1. Level with me
2. My problems got problems
3. Mojo navigatorDinosaursJerryMiller.1987.level.with.me.mp3
DinosaursJerryMiller.1987.my.problem.got.problems.mp3
DinosaursJerryMiller.1987.mojo.navigator.mp3
or download here
many other Dinosaurs shows can be found at Archive.org
via Too Old to Rock blog
A few words:
by William Ruhlmann
Dinosaurs was a band made up of veteran Northern California musicians who had been associated with the major groups of the San Francisco acid rock scene of the 1960s. Guitarist/singer Barry “The Fish” Melton (b. 1947), a founding member of Country Joe and the Fish in 1965, had become a lawyer by 1982, but he continued to play in the Bay Area, often with bassist Peter Albin (b. Jun 6, 1944), a founding member of Big Brother and the Holding Company. In July 1982, they were booked to play a gig on the Russian River, and when the drummer they were using dropped out, they called Spencer Dryden (b. Apr 7, 1938), who had been a member of Jefferson Airplane in its heyday and later a founding member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage. At the performance, an audience member asked if they knew a particular song, and Melton replied, “No, we’re just a bunch of old Dinosaurs.” Afterwards, they called guitarist John Cipollina (Aug 24, 1943-May 29, 1989), a founding member of Quicksilver Messenger Service, who was performing in several local bands and was happy to join another. They booked a show, calling themselves Dinosaurs, and many friends and local musicians attended, among them Robert Hunter (b. Jun 23, 1941), a singer, guitarist, and harmonica player best known as a lyricist for the Grateful Dead. He joined, making the band a quintet, and remained a couple of years, then was replaced by singer/keyboard player Merl Saunders (b. Feb 14, 1934), who had co-led a band with Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia.Dinosaurs was never intended to be a full-time working band, but rather a busman’s holiday for its members, who had other activities both in and outside the music business. The group finally made a self-titled album that was released by Relix Records in 1988. After Cipollina’s death, they suspended operations temporarily, then added violinist Papa John Creach (May 8, 1917-Feb 22, 1994), a former member of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, and went back to playing primarily in the Northwest. At various times over the next several years, other San Francisco musicians performed with them for brief periods of time, including Greg Elmore (b. Sep 4, 1946) of Quicksilver Messenger Service, David Getz (b. 1938) of Big Brother and the Holding Company, David LaFlamme (b. May 4, 1941) of It’s a Beautiful Day, and Jerry Miller (b. Jul 10, 1943) of Moby Grape. Dinosaurs finally disbanded in June 1996. In October 2004, Acadia Records released Friends of Extinction, a two-CD set containing the original Dinosaurs album along with a collection of live recordings.
Tracks* Lay Back Baby (Saunders / McPherson)* Strange Way (Melton / Zimmels)* Do I Move You? (Simone)* Butcher’s Boy (Traditional arr. Melton)* Good Old Rock ‘N Roll (Melton)* Resurrection Rag (Saunders / Hunter)* Who Makes Moves? (Hunter / Melton)* Mona (I Need You Baby) (McDaniel)
link:Dinosaurs
an excerpt from the Recoil dvd can be viewed here
via Mike Somavilla and SF Music and Beyond
RECOIL: John Cipollina In Music & In Memory is still available.
John Cipollina represented the archetypal “Sixties” musician. His unique guitar tone, style, one-of-a-kind sound, along with his classic longhaired rock ‘n roll look and his charming and humble personality made this former Quicksilver Messenger Service guitar player an inimitable figure in the rock music history.
Recoil: John Cipollina In Music & In Memory is a deluxe 3 DVD box set that provides an almost six hour journey through the rock ‘n roll life and music of John Cipollina. Along with the 1991 produced one-hour re-mastered “Electric Guitarslinger”, this captivating rockumentary features interviews with Jerry Garcia, Bill Graham, Barry Melton, David Freiberg, Nick Gravenites, Gary Duncan, Nicky Hopkins, Greg Douglass, Merl Saunders, Dan Healy, Terry Dolan, Martine Fierro, Rocky Sullivan, Joel Selvin, Charlie Deal, Michael and Mario Cipollina and others. Also included are interviews with John Cipollina from 1984 and 1989.
The Concert DVD includes 17 previously unreleased songs performed by Quicksilver Messenger Service, Copperhead, Link Wray, Thunder & Lightning, Terry & The Pirates and Dinosaurs.
John Cipollina had style and was not only an amazing “Electric Guitar Slinger” he was also a true rock-n-roll gentleman. John had such a spirit of joyful freedom and expression which started off so celebratory in the sixties and it carried over into the eighties. His music and memory will live forever and with Recoil: John Cipollina In Music And In Memory it will.
Recoil: John Cipollina In Music & In Memory is a limited edition release, of only 2000 units.
To order this fantastic 3 DVD set visit http://www.johncipollina.com
The dvd comes direct from John’s sister, Antonia Cipollina
