GOOD OL’ GRATEFUL DEADCAST

Podcast: GOOD OL’ GRATEFUL DEADCAST
Episode: Watkins Glen Summer Jam ‘73, Part 2
Date: August 10, 2023
Hosts: Rich Mahan, Jesse Jarnow

Episode Overview

This episode continues the deep dive into the legendary Watkins Glen Summer Jam of July 28, 1973—an epochal event where the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers Band, and The Band performed to the largest crowd ever assembled for a concert at that time. Rich Mahan and Jesse Jarnow peel back the lore, logistical chaos, musical high points, and cultural ripples of that singular day. Through interviews with musicians, crew, fans, and promoters, the Deadcast paints a vivid, irreverent, and illuminating picture of a festival that became both a high-water mark for communal rock gatherings and a harbinger of the changing times.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Getting to Watkins Glen: The Human Flood

[03:38–10:21]

• The festival quickly swelled far beyond expectations, with crowd estimates between 300,000 and 600,000 people (some say even higher).
• Promoter Jim Koplik recounts existential panic as state police threatened to close the New York Thruway, risking financial ruin since "we never took tickets at the gate, so we don’t know who’s here and who’s not" ([05:18], Jim Koplik).
• Fans describe epic journeys: cars abandoned miles from the site, traffic at a standstill, and miles-long treks on foot.
  • Rebecca Adams: "I swear, I thought we walked 20 miles, but maybe it was only eight or nine miles, but it was a really, really long way. ... And there was no ticket taker" ([12:38], Rebecca Adams).
  • Many entered by climbing through hedges—no security or ticketing presence for most arrivals.

2. Festival Logistics: Chaos and Improvisation

[06:06–17:13]

• Backstage, raw youth and inexperience among organizers fueled a sense of “barely holding on,” according to Koplik.
• Makeshift security included hiring friends last-minute and issuing them “Watkins Glen Security” t-shirts and baseball bats to wave at the fence ([13:36], Tim Meehan’s story).
• Medical tents saw a wide range of issues, including the delivery of a baby born addicted to heroin—highlighting challenges of drug culture ([17:36], Dan o’ Hanklin).
• Despite the mass, police and media noted a relatively well-behaved crowd compared to normal events at the racetrack ([17:02]).

3. Life in the Crowd: Endurance, Connection, and Strange Sights

[10:21–41:03]

• The crowd’s diversity set Watkins Glen apart—not strictly "Deadhead" territory, but a massive cross-section of rock fans.
• Endurance was the watchword: epic journeys to portapotties and water, people sitting atop outhouses and trucks for a better view ([38:24–39:17], Rebecca Adams).
• Weather swings from blazing heat to torrential rain; fans used everything from plastic sheeting to milk crates for shelter ([56:26–57:09]).
• Notable flag symbolism: American, Canadian, and Confederate flags flew on stage, prompting discussions about Southern rock pride versus other meanings ([40:34–41:03]).

4. The Show: The Dead, The Band, and the Allmans Blaze and Weather the Storm

[33:59–56:52]

• The Dead played first (daylight set), followed by The Band (rain-soaked set with eerie thunder and lightning), then the Allman Brothers at night, leading into the Super Jam ([30:02–60:59]).
• Musical High Points:
  • Jim Koplik: "The playing in the band was the high point, I thought … The Watkins Glen show was great … except for the playing in the band; I thought that was particularly awesome." ([34:49], Jim Koplik)
  • Steve Silberman: "It was a very special moment in their music … Keith sounded great, and you know, he was playing a lot with the Fender Rhodes at the time and it's delicious." ([34:36], Steve Silberman)
  • Todd Ellenberg recalls his first “Eyes of the World”: "I was definitely just lost in that. That was amazing." ([35:57–36:14])
• Technical Innovations:
  • Early use of delay towers (with Eventide digital timers) for crowd sound reinforcement ([36:26–36:43]).
  • Pirate radio broadcast by teenage fans—Concert Free Radio—beaming concert audio across the grounds ([59:29–61:10], John Ramsey).
• Backstage Hijinks:
  • John Belushi, future SNL star, “in the Dead's trailer entertaining them,” doing festival shtick ([23:11]).
  • Surreal scenes recounted: Owsley Stanley (Bear) reporting “a big snake moving through the crowd” from the soundboard ([25:47], Rebecca Adams).

5. The Weather: Rain, Mud, and Legendary Perseverance

[41:03–58:41]

• Mid-concert, a violent thunderstorm struck, tearing through the crowd and undermining The Band's set—with Garth Hudson’s legendary organ solo (“Genetic Method”) bridging the weather gap ([55:17–55:57], Jay Curley).
• One fatality marred the event—a skydiver’s flared landing gone tragically wrong ([51:51–52:38]).
• Rebecca Adams: “The rain was really awful … I had a poncho … But we still got really drenched and it was muddy” ([57:09]).

6. The “Super Jam”: Epic, but Disjointed

[68:04–73:43]

• Long-awaited “Summer Jam” collaboration among members of all three bands, but the set was loose, ramshackle, and, at times, surreal:
  • Chuck Leavell: "It was such an impromptu thing and there didn't seem to be a real solid plan …" ([70:32], Chuck Leavell)
  • Rick Danko’s inebriated attempts at Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” (“whoever was singing … they were well greased … lyrics being slurred … a pretty sloppy performance” – [68:48], Chuck Leavell)
  • Eric Nelson: “As the evidence … demonstrates, Robbie [Robertson] almost plays nothing and Jerry [Garcia] pretty much takes it over. … Garcia was on the entire time.” ([71:26], Eric Nelson)
  • Steve Silberman recalls hearing Mountain Jam at sunrise—one of the Dead's last truly dawn-ending blowouts on the east coast ([73:43]).

7. Departures: The Aftermath and Massive Cleanup

[74:52–84:18]

• Attendees describe lost-and-found adventures, sleeping in the grass, and the shock of seeing the venue blanketed in debris ([79:58–80:57]).
• Promoters forgot garbage cans, resulting in a $50,000 cleaning bill: "600,000 people had nowhere to throw anything" ([81:31], Koplik).
• Promoter anecdotes about post-show exhaustion, collecting checks, and freezing on return flights ([87:14–88:04]).

8. Legacy and Influence

[88:31–98:56]

• Watkins Glen inspired California Jam (1974) but closed the curtain on the era of freewheeling mega-festivals.
• Promoters and roadies recount ways the Grateful Dead's technical innovations influenced the Allman Brothers' gear and merchandising ([93:31–97:09], Buddy Thornton, Alan Paul).
• For musicians and fans, the event marked both origins and endings: "Watkins Glen was kind of the beginning of like wandering through fields and coming upon groups of freaky long-haired people" ([100:26], Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth).
• Culturally, it faded quickly from memory—overshadowed in popular imagination by Woodstock, partly due to lack of official recordings and commodified media ([98:56–99:50], Eric Nelson).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Promoter Jim Koplik ([05:18]):
"At the beginning of the day, the New York State Thruway was so packed that we were told by the state police that we're closing the thruway and telling people to turn around and go home ... But thankfully, about 15, 20 minutes later, the New York State Police opened up the thruway again ... that's honestly the most vivid memory for me—thinking, I'm about to go out of business because the New York State thruway is being closed."

Rebecca Adams ([12:38]):
"We walked and had to leave the car behind. And we walked in, and I remember, like, there was no ticket taker. ... And then on the other side, there were all these people, and then there we were."

Gary Lambert ([42:13]):
"Having been to and hated Woodstock, Watkins Glen was kind of like we got suckered into something again ... I a little ashamed to say, but we left at the end of the Dead's first set."

Steve Silberman ([34:05], [37:50], [73:43]):
_"Everybody thinks ... the day of the actual concert was really not good because they see it in light of comparison with the Soundcheck Jam. ... It was fine. It was actually a good show."
_"I had not intentionally taken psychedelics before then, so I was out of my mind really ... Tripping for the first time. It's pretty funny."
"I remember walking towards the highway as members of the Allman Brothers and the Dead played Mountain Jam ... I believe I saw the first light of dawn."

Chuck Leavell ([68:48]):
"…Whoever was singing … they were well greased and pretty well inebriated. … The lyrics were being slurred, and it was a pretty sloppy performance. ... The audience ... started booing."

John Ramsey, Concert Free Radio ([60:59]):
"...He said, you know, we've always wanted to do low power broadcasts of our concerts because, you know, the dead are always very much pro recording. You want to come on the road with us and do that?"

Jay Curley ([79:08]):
"I had smoked all my weed during that long, long day ... But I looked in the mud behind our warehouse pallets and there was 8 ounces in nice tight Ziploc bags of weed ... That's what I smoked on Jerry's birthday a couple days later."

Important Timestamps

| Time | Segment | |-----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:38 | Main event: Festival logistics and crowd estimate | | 05:18 | Koplik recalls near disaster as Thruway almost closes | | 10:21 | Rebecca Adams' “rite of passage” and road saga | | 13:36 | Security stories: baseball bats and the fence | | 17:36 | Medical tent, drug culture, and a baby born addicted to heroin | | 23:11 | John Belushi entertaining the Dead backstage | | 25:47 | Owsley Stanley (Bear) and the serpentine “snake” in the crowd | | 30:02 | Dead perform first; taping logistics | | 34:05 | Musical analysis: Dead set praised, especially “Playing in the Band” | | 36:26 | Technical innovations: relay/delay towers | | 38:24 | Crowd navigation and the vista from the field | | 41:03 | Rain hits during The Band's set | | 51:51 | Parachute fatality during The Band's set | | 55:17 | Garth Hudson’s “Genetic Method” organ solo | | 59:29 | Concert Free Radio goes live; backstage audio adventures | | 68:48 | Super Jam: drunken, unruly, but historic | | 73:43 | Mountain Jam continues through dawn | | 79:08 | Post-concert ground score (8 ounces of weed in the mud) | | 81:31 | Cleanup fiasco: $50,000 cleaning bill, garbage mountains | | 88:31 | Legacy: Effects on Dylan, Allmans, and concert business | | 93:31 | Technical exchange: Dead’s influence on Allman Brothers’ sound and merch strategies | | 97:25 | The Dead’s hiatus, and the end of the dead–allmans collaborative era | | 98:56 | Legacy: Watkins Glen’s anti-climax, fading from the 1960s into the more commercial 1970s| | 100:26 | Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth): the 'beginning' for a generation of seekers |

Concluding Thoughts

Watkins Glen Summer Jam looms large both as a logistical marvel and a cautionary tale. A few vignettes summarize the experience:

• **“The music was the common denominator”—**says Dan o’ Hanklin, reflecting on the endurance and camaraderie.
• The paradox of abundance and scarcity: massive crowd, abundant music, but not enough toilets—or garbage cans.
• Technical innovations (sound reinforcement, audience taping, pirate radio) foreshadowed Deadhead culture.
• Despite the rain, mud, chaos, and exhaustion, for many it was the beginning of an era—community forged, connections made, memories born (and sometimes, lost).
• The Deadcast closes on the lesson that music is a collaborative trip at every level—a shared vision, a “kind of getting high in the same way…”

Episode closes by honoring the contributions and memories of everyone who made the gathering possible, from musicians to crew to the endlessly inventive and resilient crowd.

For more detail or to share your own story, visit stories.dead.net—maybe you’ll wind up on a future episode.