Hell's Kitchen Radio #596: So Long, Ace

Listen to this show right here!!!

Listen into all my shows here!

Subscribe to my show, via 

Damn. 

I knew when I was in my early 20s that eventually they would all be gone. That's a thought we all probably have about our favorite artist: one day they'll be gone. For the most part we note it and move on. But what about when that band is our calling? The go-to band. The band that you have invested so much of your musical life to? 

They're still going to go.

Brent went in 1990. Jerry went in 1995. Phil in 2024. Donna in 2025. The way Bobby, the youngest, worked out, daily, I think we all expected him to be the last to go. When we heard of his passing it was a shock. I'm not on social media I don't know if there were stories of him having a cancer scare last summer, which the family said he was able to get past; lung issues eventually did him in. 

Bobby was known to spit out the lyrics, and I mean literally. If you stood in the crowd in front of him there were chances you would get a shower. He was such a crooner in the 90s, really playing to the crowd. 

I've written a lot about my time seeing the Grateful Dead over the years. The 40th anniversary of my first show just passed: December 30, 1985. Post-Dead I saw a few of the incarnations. I saw Phil a few times, went to the two days of Fare Thee Well in 2015 in Santa Clara, saw Dead and Co twice a decade or so ago. I'm happy the music continued to bring so much joy to so many people, and brought in a lot more fans. 

Bobby postulated about the music lasting 300 years. I'd have to imagine that's possible. There are so many people who have been inspired by the music created by Jerry and the boys, that it is conceivable it will grow and morph into the band that be "most triumphant and unite the world". And here you thought it would be Wyld Stallyns.

So here we are, closer than ever to being the orphans we knew we would one day be. Has anyone checked in on Billy, Mickey, TC, Ned and Bruce? If you know, you know.

As for this here tribute, I think Bobby would appreciate what he sees. I start out with an acoustic set, with a few special guests. I then move on to a proper first set, with those first set songs you've come to know and love, before moving onto the second set jams we all live for. 

There is minimal set breaks throughout the show. I marked each track with the date of the performance. There were two shows in 1978, when Jerry had laryngitis, that each song was a Bobby songs. These are all Bobby songs, with only four cover songs. I've also linked all the shows to Archive so you can listen to them all the way through. And you want to do that. All the links are soundboard or matrix (mix of soundboard and audience. I grew up thinking I only wanted to listen to pristine soundboards, but once I started to give audience recordings a listen that what I listen to almost exclusively. The sound of the crowd interacting with the music is a real treat.

What else is there to say? Thanks Ace, it's been a true pleasure. Oh, I always wanted to ask how the hell you grew to look so damn old all of a sudden? And why the beard? You went from being so young a fit, to someone's grandfather over night.

You still rocked like a young man. See you on the other side; wherever that is

Enjoy and please share.

jh

Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM Pacific
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

Follow me on Blue Sky
Follow Radio Valencia on Facebook
Follow Radio Valencia on Instagram

Green, Green Grass of Home - May 31, 1969
Dark Hollow - September 20, 1970 with Dave Grisman
Wake Up Little Susie - June 4, 1970 with David Nelson and John "Marmaduke" Dawson
Monkey and the Engineer - October 11, 1980
Cassidy - October 14, 1980

Jack Straw - January 22, 1978
Beat It On Down The Line - April 26, 1971 with Duane Allman
Yellow Dog Story - May 24, 1969
Mexicali Blues - August 27, 1972
New New Minglewood Blues - March 9, 1981

Greatest Story Ever Told - September 28, 1972 (with St. Stephen jam)
The Music Never Stopped - May 9, 1977

Estimated Prophet - December 26, 1979
Take a Step Back - May 8, 1977
Playin' In The Band - February 18, 1971 (the first one)
New Potato Caboose - February 14, 1968

Throwing Stones - October 09, 1989
Sugar Magnolia - November 11, 1973

Hell's Kitchen Radio #592: Hippie Trance From Hell

Listen to this show right here!!!

Listen into all my shows here!

Subscribe to my show, via 

Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok. No really, ok. It's ok. It's fine. It's ok. Ok. 

Whew. OK. ok

What was it I was trying to say?

ok

No, not that. That couldn't have been all? Maybe it was.

Music moves me. And hosting a radio show allows me to take what moves me and shove it down your throat. And I mean that in the nicest way.

ok

A friend tuned into the last half hour of this show and commented that my show is so eclectic with the Beatles, psych, punk and alt. 

They missed the other 15 genres I played!

ok

For some really odd reason I was in the mood for some electronica tonight. I am NEVER in the mood for electronica. Our former DJ, Timmiii, had the best electronica show I have ever heard, and I knew I could never do it justice, so I just shied away from playing much on my show. Tonight something called me, so you'll hear an early Silver Apples, and Harald Grosskopf. The Osees bring their full new Can-style in their latest release. The Seastones track will help your plants grow.

Funk, Jazz, Neo-soul, Hip-Hop, Krautrock, and Dub round out most of the show. New music from Orcutt, Shelley, Miller blew me away. Go see them live. I also have new music from Kate Vargas and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets.

Tune in for more than 30 minutes and you never know where you'll travel.

OK?

ok.

Enjoy and please share.

jh

Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM Pacific
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

Follow me on Blue Sky
Follow Radio Valencia on Facebook
Follow Radio Valencia on Instagram

Kansas City: James Brown (Cold Sweat - 1967)
School Days: Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker (Diz 'N' Bird in Concert - 1953)

You Better Have A Gun: Fantastic Negrito (White Jesus, Black Problems - 2022)
By The Time I Get To Arizona: Brownout (Fear of a Brown Planet - 2018)

Suicide: ICE (Each Man Makes His Destiny - 1973)
To All The Girls/Shake Your Rump: Beastie Boys (Paul's Boutique - 1989)
Emphasis: Harald Grosskopf (Krautrock Eruption - 2025)
Lovefingers: Silver Apples (S/T - 1968)

Don't Blow the Experiment: Osees (Live at the Broad Museum - 2025)

Time We Left This World Today: Hawkwind (Doremi Faso Latido - 1972)
V-B: Ned Lagin and Phil Lesh (Seastones - 1975)

Dread Lion: Lee Perry and the Upsetters (Super Ape - 1976)
Bankrobber/Robber Dub: The Clash (Black Market Cash - 1980)

A Star is Born: Orcutt, Shelley, Miller (S/T - 2025)
Dirt: Iggy and the Stooges (Funhouse - 1970)

Serrated Knife: Kate Vargas (Golden Hour in the House of Lugosi - 2025)
My Home Town: Mark Mothersbaugh (Potatoes: A Collection of Folk Songs from Ralph Records - 1987)
The Badge Means You Suck: AK-47 (Bloodstains Across Texas - 1992)

Bowling with Tim: Psychedelic Porn Crumpets (Pogo Rodeo - 2025)
Get Back (Take 8): The Beatles (Anthology Vol. 4 - 2025)

John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza - Tuesdays 8-10PM Pacific - Celebrating Jerry Garcia

 

John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza

Tuesdays 8-10PM Pacific

http://radiovalencia.fm

DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW RIGHT HERE!!! 

Jerry Garcia passed away 30 years ago on August 9, 1995. I was in bed when my alarm went off, turning on the clock/radio. I quickly hit the snooze button, but within the scant seconds between it turning on and my hand slapping the button, I heard my friend Nina "Ann Arbor" Price make a comment on her morning show on KFJC, that made me quickly turn the radio back on. Sure enough she had announced that Jerry had died. 

My heart sank in a way I did not anticipate. I knew that I would outlive my favorite band. I also knew the last Dead show I attended, in September 1994 was so disappointing that I couldn't see myself going to another, but I had not expected his passing.

I have written a lot of My Life with the Grateful Dead on this blog, so I won't regurgitate any of that here. 

Instead, I have for you two hours of live Grateful Dead, consisting of two songs. HA! I joke, I joke. There's ten songs on here to enjoy, spanning from late 1960s until 1980, all shining a light on the stellar guitar playing of one Jerome Jerry Garcia.

A lot of you know that I teach high school. Did you know I teach at Jerry's old school in San Francisco? What a treat! And the city just renamed the block of Harrington Street, blocks from where I teach, to Jerry Garcia Street. I get giddy just thinking of all the Heads who will make the pilgrimage here. I'm sure the neighbors won't be as excited, but here we are.

In the meantime, take a look at the playlist below, click on the link above and groove out to some good ol' Grateful Dead, in memory of the late, great Jerry Garcia.

Enjoy and please share.

jh

01 Dark Star > (Dick's Picks 36)

02 Morning Dew (Dick's Picks 36)

03 Scarlet Begonias > (Dick's Picks 18)

04 Fire on the Mountain (Dick's Picks 18)

05 Brown Eyed Women (Europe 72, 2001 remaster)

06 Cream Puff War - demo (Rare Cuts and Oddities)

07 Wharf Rat (Crimson, White and Indigo)

08 Friend of the Devil (Dead Set)

09 Bird Song (Reckoning)

10 Ripple (Reckoning)

Hell's Kitchen Radio #547: The Phil Zone

Listen to this show right here!!!

Listen into all my shows here!

Subscribe to my show, via 

Well crap, this was bound to happen, right? Everyone dies. When you're a kid and you discover your heroes you think they're going to live forever. You don't want to imagine a day when they won't be around to inspire and excite you.

I remember being in my 20s think that some day every member of the Grateful Dead will be dead and gone. That seemed like such a long way off. Jerry Garcia passed shortly before I turned 25. I got to see a good many shows between my first on December 30, 1985 and my final show on September 19, 1994.

Going to Dead shows were all about getting up near the front for all the spectacle. This was before I had the knowledge of finding the sweet spot. When I had the chance I preferred to situate myself it was was commonly called The Phil Zone; directly in front of bassist Phil Lesh. 

My finest memory was at the Earthquake Benefit Show on December 06, 1989. I was standing up at the stage railing with friends. We saw Phil and a few others standing back stage smoking a joint getting ready to come on stage. As Phil made his way forward, myself and a few others made the universal sign for smoking a joint. Phil responded by throwing that sign right back at us with a huge smile. That is something I will take my own grave.

Thanks for all the music, Phil. So many great memories. 

As for the music I shared tonight, it's a mixed bag of what Phil and the boys put forth over the year. Phil didn't sing much more than backup over the years, and not at all in the mid-70s into the mid-80s. He's known mostly for dropping bombs! Mad bombs. He was never your typical bassist, keeping the beat. He was a lead bassist. He weaves his way through the music as much as Jerry every did. And his style was more akin to neo-classical and the avant garde. 

Check out the Phil and Ned (aka: Seastones) sets from the summer and fall 1974 shows. You think you know the Grateful Dead? This ain't no Touch of Grey. 

There are two particular passages here tonight that I think are super tasty. The first is the Spanish Jam from January 22, 1968. What they do with this theme is really beyond compare. The second piece is a 35+ minute Other One from the Europe 72 tour: April 26, 1972. The song is all over the place and showcases the brilliance of Mr. Lesh and how he can drive the band as much as any other player. This is improvisation at its finest. Even you skeptics will agree this is fine art. 

There are also some lead vocals from Phil including his classic "Box of Rain" which was written in

memory of his father. There's an early 1966 tune "Cardboard Cowboy", which Phil explains. I took the passage from his audio book/memoir "Searching for the Sound". There are also some alternative mixes from the 50th anniversary Mars Hotel: "Unbroken Chain" (first performed live in 1995) and "Pride of Cucamonga", a song the Dead never performed live. I also throw in a Dylan cover: "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", that I loved to hear Phil sing. 

His voice leaves a lot to love, and that's being polite. Being a Dead Freak we just kinda let that go. HA!

OK, enough for the lead up. Click on the link and enjoy the show.

jh

Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

Follow me on Facebook
Follow Radio Valencia on Facebook
Follow me on Instagram 

Box of Rain (Alternative Mix): Grateful Dead

Comments on Cardboard Cowboy/Cardboard Cowboy: Grateful Dead (1966)
Born Cross-Eyed->Feedback->Spanish Jam: Grateful Dead (January 22, 1968)

Unbroken Chain (Alternative Mix): Grateful Dead (Mars Hotel 50th)
Hard to Handle: Grateful Dead (August 6, 1971)
The Music Never Stopped: Grateful Dead (July 17, 1989)

Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues: Grateful Dead (March 15, 1990)
Cryptical Envelopment->The Other One: Grateful Dead (April 26, 1972)

Easy Wind: Grateful Dead (May 15, 1970)
Pride of Cucamonga (Alternative Mix): Grateful Dead (Mars Hotel 50th)

Cosmic Charlie: Grateful Dead (Aoxomoxoa 50th)

John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza - Monday 6-8PM Pacific - Dead Trio (2009) and Lucinda Williams (2014)

 

John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza

Monday's 6-8PM Pacific

http://radiovalencia.fm

DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW RIGHT HERE!!!

Living in the Bay Area as a music freak means having almost too many good shows around too often. Seriously. it's an embarrassment of riches with plenty to go around. Get here and see for yourself.

Late spring through early fall always meant outdoor shows around here. The summer has always meant shows in Golden Gate Park, Stern Grove and hitting the highway to head to the Sierra's for many festivals. I was an usher at Shoreline Amphitheater in its earliest days, and was lucky to see some very memorable shows. Now that I think about it the summers included the Greek Theater and Frost Amphitheater as well. Then there was the Haight Street Fair. It was overly packed, but the bands were always a hoot. 

I've never been one to want to spend a dime for a concert in the park. I just do not understand how Outside Lands can exist in Golden Gate Park. I think if you have a SF ID then you have every right to walk right in there.

The headliner tonight, Lucinda Williams, really shines in an outdoor setting. I have seen here at Stern Grove, and I was at this show you're going to hear tonight, at the remarkable Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park, which takes place for three days around my birthday, at the end of September each year, thanks to the late music lover, and local billionaire, Warren Hellman. When he died he left a trust making certain the festival would continue and that it would remain free. Thanks Warren!

This set from October 3, 2014 is such a treat. The band is in top form, and the set is one of her best, pulling from much of her catalogue, and includes a Neil Young cover and Allman Brothers cover. I know you're going to dig this.

Lineage: Webcast -> AdobeHDS script -> .flv -> Avidemux 2.6 -> .mkv (no transcoding) Video: MPEG4 Video (H264) 1280x720 2104 Kbps 23.97 fps Audio: AAC 100 Kbps 44.1 KHz stereo -> mp3

Leading up to the Lucinda Williams set I've got a short little taste from Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and Warren Haynes, live in the KFOG Play Space, May 11, 2009. It's Grateful Dead songs done acoustically, with some banter between songs. 

Lineage: Proton RS-330 receiver (FM stereo) line out > Sony R-500 (A/D conversion only SBM on 16/48) > Audiophile USB > PC > Samplitude 6.0 (16/44.1) > CDWav > flac 6 > mp3

You can find my mostly-complete list of live shows right here. Have a request? Leave a comment.

Support these bands. Buy their officially released music and merch, and never ever sell live bootlegs. These are for trade only.

Stick around Monday's 8-10PM Pacific for my weekly music mix, Hell's Kitchen Radio. Lots of new music to share with you every week.

Enjoy and pay it forward.

jh

Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on Facebook
Follow Radio Valencia on Twitter
Follow Radio Valencia on Facebook

Follow me on Instagram