© 2019 Nick Viani
The Great American Music Band had its formal debut in Los Angeles at The Pilgrimage Theater on April 20, 1974, sponsored by McCabes, a well-known LA music store & concert venue.
A recording of the event is available on YouTube and may be viewed here along with my photographs.
The band featured the legendary rock mandolin player, David Grisman, who particularly impressed me because he played his mandonin like a rock star. He gathered a bunch of great players—Richard Greene (fiddle), David Nichtern (guitar & vocals), Taj Mahal (bass & vocals), Jerry Garcia (banjo), and guest Maria Muldaur singing her hit single, Midnight on the Oasis, penned by Nichtern. Playing cornet with Nichtern was Bob Gurland who sat in and was identified as participating with the GAMB a few months later. Also on stage that day was Doc & Merle Watson with bass being covered by Michael Coleman.
This link < http://youtu.be/nvpEdj1_z9A > features a couple tunes recorded at the event (Dawg’s Bull & Rollin’ in my Sweet Baby’s Arms) although the photos in the video appear to be stock photos. For the real deal, click on the thumbnail above to view the entire gallery of images I photographed there. (All were scanned from the original Kodachrome slides.)