The latest release of Bear’s Sonic Journals, You’re Doin’ Fine by John Hammond, is a classic document of American music, recorded over two nights in June 1973 at the Boarding House in San Francisco. The official release date is November 22.
Bear’s Sonic Journals: You’re Doin’ Fine — Blues at the Boarding House, June 2 & 3, 1973
Featuring John Hammond:
https://owsleystanleyfoundation.org/john-hammond-blues-at-the-boarding-house-june-2-3-1973/
It’s a superb combination: Bear, whose goal as a recordist was to present “the actual experience of being in the hall that night,” and Hammond, the son of the producer who discovered Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen. Hammond had grown into a master blues singer whose greatness transcended race, class, and era. Though he played a lot of electric blues in his day, he uniquely embodied the world of the blues as a solo acoustic musician.
In Tom Waits’ words: “He was grumbling, reverent, and revenant, with so much duende and animal syntax… And then he closed his eyes and made you start to cry... and we were not really understanding why. Were we watching something being born or something dying?”
The package includes three CDs and 45 tracks, covering blues of all flavors—from the Delta to the Piedmont, from Chicago to Texas—with standouts like Robert Johnson’s “Sweet Home Chicago” and “Terraplane Blues,” Muddy Waters’ “Can’t Be Satisfied,” and John Lee Hooker’s “Boogie Chillen.” These tracks feature exquisite live sound quality by the Grateful Dead’s famed soundman, Owsley Stanley, aka “Bear.”
There’s more: the physical package includes a 60-page booklet with extensive new interviews with Hammond, original tribute verse from Tom Waits, memories from Jorma Kaukonen, and original artwork by Richard Biffle.
As Jorma put it, a solo John Hammond could bring the full power of a blues band to the stage. As John said, “Solo is like a black-and-white photograph as compared to a colored photograph with all the shade… Black and white can be more stark and real, and more powerful than color.”
The power was there onstage at the Boarding House, and Bear captured it.
Owsley Stanley, known as Bear, was a diversely talented, iconic figure of the 1960s. While perhaps best known as the “Acid King” for his role in manufacturing the highest-quality LSD, fueling the psychedelic revolution, he was also a self-educated innovator, scientist, artist, and patron of the arts. His profound and well-documented influence extended to other artists, musicians, and sound engineers.
Owsley recorded nearly every artist that played through his custom-built sound systems. His catalog is prolific in both quantity and the stature of the artists. These historic recordings comprise what he called Bear’s Sonic Journals.
Track listing for Bear’s Sonic Journals: You’re Doin’ Fine — Blues at the Boarding House, June 2 & 3, 1973 featuring John Hammond:
Disc 1: June 2
Wang Dang Doodle
Gambling Blues
I Can’t Be Satisfied
Hitchhiking Woman
Shake For Me
Honeymoon Blues
Rag Mama
Sweet Home Chicago
I Wish You Would
King Bee
Help Me
Death Bells
Honeymoon Blues
Disc 2: June 2 & 3
You’re So Fine
Look On Yonder’s Wall
Traveling Riverside Blues
Little Rain
Truckin’ Little Baby
It’s Too Late, She’s Gone
You Don’t Love Me
Ridin’ In The Moonlight
Malted Milk
I Can’t Be Satisfied
It Hurts Me Too
Boogie Chillen’
She Moves Me
Rag Mama
Ask Me Nice
Love Changing Blues
Preachin’ Blues
Disc 3: June 3
Go On To School
Ride ‘Til I Die
Drunken Hearted Man
Look On Yonder’s Wall
Terraplane Blues
No Money Down
Truckin’ Little Baby
Ground Hog Blues
Junco Partner
I’m Leaving You
From Four Until Late
Traveling Riverside Blues
Hitchhiking Woman
Shake For Me
It’s Too Late, She’s Gone
About The Owsley Stanley Foundation:
The Owsley Stanley Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to preserving Bear’s Sonic Journals, Owsley’s archive of more than 1,300 live concert soundboard recordings from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. These include recordings by Miles Davis, Johnny Cash, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin, and more than 80 other artists spanning nearly every musical idiom. These analog reel-to-reel recordings are nearing the end of their shelf lives and risk being lost forever without preservation.
Preservation efforts are estimated to cost $300,000–$400,000. All donations and proceeds from the development of the recordings flow back into preserving more of Bear’s Sonic Journals and perpetuating Owsley’s legacy, including patronage of the arts in all forms. The foundation’s staff consists entirely of volunteers, and many essential support services are donated by generous contributors who believe in the mission to save this music before it is lost forever.
