"If you tell the Truth, you don't have to remember anything"
-Mark Twain
"You realize, of course, that everything I say is horseshit." -Kurt Vonnegut

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

SWEET JELLY SO GOOD

Ten years later the Grateful Dead and the Merry Pranksters renewed the Springfield Creamery Presents show for Field Trips number two. Today marks the 30 year anniversary of this show download the AUD HERE. This recording is very good and is able to capture what a soundboard would compress, when Phil drops his patented bombs.
I can't tell you how many times I've been to a show and thought wow that "And the whistle is screaming" was so loud. Only to listen back to the soundboard and be upset that it was leveled off. This audience recording lives up to the concert experience, so at the :39 of "The Other One" and 5:34 of the "Truckin'" listen for the bombs that will shake the headphones off your ears. (Also in this "Truckin'," Bobby uses the lyric change as mention in THIS blog.)
This show contains a couple of debuts, a bust out, and draws some parallels to the 8/27/72 show. The first debut "Keep Your Day Job" opens up the second set. A song that was played until Jerry's coma. Hunter could be a lot of things in his lyrics; mysterious, dark, beautiful, but humor wasn't one of them, which is why DeadHeads didn't mind the song dropping from rotation. "West LA" is debuted two songs later and this is one of three times this song appears in the second set.
This is the first time in 4 years that "Dupree's" is played, and is the only time that it is used as an Encore. This song is a Ken Kesey request. It probably not the only song that Kesey requested but it's the only stand out.
Its odd that both of the "Springfield Creamery" shows have "Aoxomoxoa" numbers in the date; 27-72 and 28-82. I got to wonder if the third decade show was done in 92, as they had planned to do, if it would have be on the 29th. The show was cancelled because of Garcia's poor health. That is why there is no shows between 6-29-92 and 12-02-92. The doctor ordered Jerry to rest during that time.
I: Bertha, Minglewood, Jed, My Uncle, Big River, Althea, All Over Now, China Cat, Rider
II: Day Job, Woman, West LA, Far From Me, Playin', Drums, Space, Wheel, Other One, Truckin', Black Peter, Playin', Saturday Night E: Dupree's

Next post is coming on 9/3.

Monday, August 27, 2012

SUN STROKE SERENADERS

On this date, 40 years ago, the Grateful Dead played what was their first legendary tape trade show. For a lot of DeadHeads, this is the original Cornell '77 tape. Download the SBD copies of set III, and III.
The show was dubbed, "The Field Trips" a clever euphemism for a Merry Prankster concert event. Ken Kesey had moved his bus back to Oregon after escaping drug charges in the late 60's. This concert was a revitalization of the relationship that was established in the early Acid Test. Actually Ken and Mountain Girl's daughter, Sunshine, lived in Jerry and MG's room at 710 Haight.
The day was a scorcher, at 100 in the normally cool North West. The stage announcements the appear between every other song speak to irresponsible people to take care of themselves and their children (what a drag man). The Dead or as Bobby calls them the Sun Stroke Serenaders, play to the weather; Hot.
I remember when my friend gave me his copy of Ken Kesey's "Sometimes a Great Notion" to read. He said "Watch what happens, your gonna be reading it and all the rain is gonna make the book feel like its wet." I was doubtful but on a sunny day, I had a rainy day feeling. The books language was transforming my emotions and feelings to the soaking wet pages and my stiff groggy shoulder. This show does much of the same. It seems hotter then it is out when I'm listening to it and looking for relief as Bobby "Cool clean water, well you never tell."
Maybe it's what some call the perfect "China/Rider," or maybe it's explosion of the "Truckin'," or maybe it's the half hour expansive "Dark Star," but this show makes me perspire. The cosmic opening that was created by this show is the Heat. The Heat must have created a cosmic spirit in the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds that smolder like molten lava beneath the ground. Smoldering as the Grateful Dead made continuous trips back and forth across the country. As this tape popped up "Chicago, New York, or Detroit and their all on the same street."
Until three years later when on this same day the spirit of Heat erupted. And across this country the spirit rose from the ashes to be the greatest watermelon player to ever grace A wall. They called that baby Joseph but everyone knows him as Joe Gregg. The Adult. The Magic Johnson dancing in the crowd. A person of the people. The Heat.
I: Promised, Sugaree, My Uncle, Deal, BT Wind, China, Rider, Mexicali, Bertha
II: Playin', He's Gone, Straw, Bird Song, Greatest
III: Dark Star, El Paso, Sing Me, Sugar Mags, Casey Jones, Saturday Night

New blog post coming tomorrow.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

THERE WERE DAYS I KNOW

The PHIL Terrapin Crossroads birthday tribute is a quality listen. I've been keeping an eye out because I've been hopeful that Phil would post the SBD of the show but it has not appeared as of yet. As of today Phil has played over 100 shows thanks to Terrapin Crossroads and has covered "The Band," "Blood on the Tracks," and "Grievous Angel." Not to mention the Dead albums, "American Beauty" and "Workingman's Dead."
Here are some of the interesting things Phil said in his pre-Brithday salute to Jerry:
"We are here to honor the memory of a dear friend and wonderful human being...I half expect, every time I walk onto this or any stage, to see him walk up to me and say, "What's going on?" His presence is really palpable and sometimes not, but he has found ways to act on this plane...Jerry would have been embarrassed by all this, as we all could be, by this hoopla, but he was a guy with a rare protein mind and a heart as big as infinity...When Jerry invited me to join the band it was the best thing that every happened to me, up to that point, not just because I always wanted to play music with him. I was a trumpet player. A trumpet and an acoustic guitar didn't go well together, and and I didn't think we wanted to play mariachi music...Part of his harmony, he left it here with us and I think he'd be very very pleased with what these young musicians are doing with it."
Highlights to MOVE ME BRIGHTLY are now available to stream. The whole show is also available to watch, via YouTube.
Here is David Crosby's poem for Jerry:

Cause I'm Missing Him Tonight

If I had to pick one of us to speak for us all
He would have done the job well
Coming from some crazy angle
He’d have known which story to tell
he’d tell the truth about real music
he knew the truth long before he fellHis fingers would touch his guitar neck
My axe would be pressed to my chest
A chord and a melody would walk in the door
Closely followed by all of the rest
Magic and tragic and triumph and storm
and all the things we had sought on our questYou get your ego out of the way of your hearts
The whole becomes greater than the sum of the partsA sort of field pops into existence
Everything lifts off the ground
You know that you’re doing what you were born to do
That you’re using the gift that you’ve found
To create some lift and break all the chains
with which all our people are boundhe did it for all the right reasons
and made all of our mistakes
a more human man you could not find
an accelerator without the brakes
but he had the brains and the heart and the spirit
Garcia really had what it takes

San Francisco's mayor Edwin Lee declared 8/5/12 Jerry Day. This is the tenth annual Jerry day. Is every day Jerry Day?
On the anniversary of Jerry Garcia's death Bobby and Phil played with God Street Wine. Bobby played "Candyman," "Stranger," "Cassidy," "And it Stoned Me," and "Epilog" at their TRI live webcast. Afterward they took the party back to Phil's Terrapin Crossroads as God Street played "Hey Pocky Way," "Into the Mystic," "Tom Thumbs," and "Candyman" with Phil.
Then over the weekend Bobby joined Norah Jones for "Roses" at the Oustide Land Festival. Norah's guitarist Jason Roberts is a Dead fan, who got into them because his aunt is Mimi Fishman. After she gave him a copy of "Rift," his uncle gave him a copy of "Europe 72." It's pretty ironic that people who used to get into Phish because of the Grateful Dead are now getting into the Dead because of Phish.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

COUNTRY GARDEN IN THE WIND AND RAIN

43 years ago, the Grateful Dead played a unique set at Max Yasgur's Dairy Farm in Bethel, NY. The auspices set started with Bob Weir approaching the microphone for soundcheck, before he got to it, an electric volt ran through the mic blasting him five feet back on his ass. Weir got up and said to his band mates, "I didn't even touch it." I'm sure the visuals that Garcia got from that was quite frightening, considering that Santana and he dropped earlier in the day.
The stage was sinking in the mud, the electrical cords were buried in the mud, and the audience was drenched in mud. The rain had soaked the weekends events causing the three days of peace, love, and music to spill into a fourth day. People who were stuck in traffic heading into the concert got tired of waiting in their cars and instead abandoned their cars on the side of the road and eventually in the road. So no traffic could get through and New York State declared it a state of emergency. The Grateful Dead's music just added to the disaster of the weekend.
Phil Lesh in his book, said the Grateful Dead always messed up the big ones like; Monteray Pop, Woodstock, and Almonte (which they refused to play.) But I'm going to refute that. Woodstock was a concert played to 500,000 people, whereas four years later, the Summer Jam in Watkins Glen was a legendary performance. There were suppose to be 100,000 that were suppose to come to Watkins and 600,000 showed up, a hundred thousand more than Woodstock.
The band opens with "St Stephen" and after forgetting the second verse and singing the third, the band bails on the song for "Mama Tried." A mid the multiple technical difficulties, the crowd screaming request of other crowd members, there are people making stage announcements. Garcia tries to keep the music going with "High Time" but the stage announcements roll on. The band isn't given a chance to get any type of flow going.
"Dark Star" is 19 minutes of cosmos exploration before settling on "High Time." The band ramps it up as Pigpen takes over for "Lovelight." As the intro riff starts Country Joe takes the mic and does a "Third Coast" rap. The sound problems continue as Pigpen sings the whole first verse into a dead mic. It rectifies for the second verse as the song builds for a 38 minute rave. "Bobby sing it for me."
St Stephen, Mama Tried, Dark Star, High Time, Lovelight
The Grateful Dead after playing their terrible set, refused to allow any of their images be used in the Woodstock movie. Even though they could have looked somewhat respectable if they allowed the "Lovelight" to be used in the video. They weren't the only ones to refuse to sign the rider, Neil Young also did. The producers had to shoot only CSN during "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" because of that.
In 2006, Bethel Woods opened up at the original sight of the Woodstock Arts and Music Festival. Phil Lesh and Friends played there in 2006, in a co-bill with Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon and Benevento/Russo. Phil said that as soon as they booked the place he knew that he was going to play the same setlist that the Grateful Dead did. After playing the same five songs in the second set he played a familiar combo as the encore because the show was played on the 11 year anniversary of the final Grateful Dead show.
Stream the original Woodstock show HERE and download the PLF soundboard HERE.
PS. My mom and my uncle were ticket carrying attendees of Woodstock. My uncle said, "I saw the Dead there. They were terrible."

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

WHATEVER BECAME OF SWEET JANE

25 years ago the Grateful Dead played two legendary shows at Telluride Park. The outstanding shows were only superseded by the iconic image of Bobby whispering to Jerry who is intently listening.
Robbi Cohn is the photographer who snapped this image. She is a transgender photograph who obviously was not offended by Bobby occasionally changing the line in "Truckin'" to "Since she went and got a sex change all her friends could say, ain't it a shame." She photographed the band from 1985-1995 and her images can be found at www.deadimages.com.
Audience tapes of the two nights can be downloaded from archive 8/15 and 8/16. The first night is the better of the two nights and is lucky the better quality tape. The show opens with the hot combo of "Stranger" "Franklins." In the "Franklin's" Jerry manages to mix up all the lyrics but yet he still sings all five verses. The highlight second set opens "Scarlet/Fire" "Eyes" is fine combo that DeadHeads wouldn't have minded seeing preformed more often. Post "Drums" there is another interesting segue, "Bertha" into "Morning Dew." After the "Saturday Night" set closer you'll hear an audience member comment on how that was the best "Fire" he's ever seen.
I: Stranger, Franklin's, Minglewood, Candyman, My Uncle, Big River, Jed, Desolation Row, Deal
II: Scarlet, Fire, Eyes, Drums, Space, Miracle, Bertha, Morning Dew, Saturday Night E: Baby Blue
The second night is a strange mix of songs. First set "Iko," opening the second set with "Push," and the double encore. If you listen close to the beginning of "Good Lovin'" you'll hear a little "La Bamba" tease. This is the germination of Fall '87's "Good Lovin'/La Bamba/Good Lovin'." Then after the "Touch," Garcia jumps right into "Brokedown" not realizing he is in the wrong key until he sings the first two lines. He stops the song, cracks a few one-liners, and says "Forget this all happened" as he picks up in the correct key.
I: Half Step, Rooster, Iko, Far From Me, West LA, Masterpiece, Big RxR, Promised
II: Push, Samson, He's Gone, Drums, Space, Other One, Truckin', Black Peter, Good Lovin' E: Touch, Brokedown

Thursday, August 9, 2012

IT SEEMS LIKE ALL THIS LIFE WAS JUST A DREAM

The Grateful Dead never played a concert on this date. Strange considering that it was just like "any morning any evening anyday" until 1995.
The night beforehand in 1995, I went to THIS show. I was pissed because I got there late because of work. We sat in the park listening to Bobby then The Band and smoked joints in-between visits from strolling police man.
My friends and I had joked about how bad Jerry looked in the last tour about the fact that he looked like he was "Knockin' on Heavens Door." So when the phone rang while I was enjoying my morning bowl of cereal, I was in denial.



"James"
"Hey, what's up Dev."
"Jerry died."
"Ha Ha. What's really going on?"
"No really."
"Ok, I'm coming over."




I walked over to his house. He was out there with his brother. Another friend came down the street and we listened to the radio. WNEW 102.3 the classic rock station, went all Dead. They played nothing but Dead songs as we each called out tunes we'd like to hear them play.
We were hit with the notion of going to see Bobby. It was not that far away. We theorized about it, but we came to the notion too late. By the time we got in the car, fought traffic, and found tickets, it would be halfway through the set. It is still the only show that I find myself going back to from THIS DATE.
The music community shared in the sorrow of the loss of Jerry Garcia. The Dave Matthews Band performed "Eyes of the World" at their concert on that day. The Black Crowes opened their show on 10th with an emotionally charged "She Talks To Angels," which they dedicated to him. On 9/30/95, Phish dedicated "Blue and Lonesome" to his memory while playing at Shoreline Amphitheater.
I find myself craving certain tracks on this day. It's the only day of the year that I'll spend shuffling through my iPhone/iPod for certain songs. I usually like the full snapshot of the show, but I go for songs like this one;
Steve Parrish said that he put this song on after the funeral and completely loss it. This is one of my favorite tracks to listen to on this day. "So Many Roads," "Box of Rain," "Mission in the Rain," Branford's "Eyes," and of course "Morning Dew" are all tracks that I'll take solace in on this day. I'm actually more incline to listen to parts of the final show on this date rather then 7/9.
I wish Bobby would write the "Invisible Paint" song for this day. After the show on the 8th, Bobby hopped on the bus to take him to New Hampshire. He went to sleep there in the hotel and had a dream were he was backstage and he discovered some invisible paint. Jerry was backstage there dressed in a long black coat and Bobby asked Jerry if he wanted to paint with him. Jerry shook his head, smiled and walked away without saying anything.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

DAYS BETWEEN 8/8

There is only one show that the Grateful Dead played on this date in 1982 and it is available to stream on archive. Instead of writing about it, I'm going to share a paper I wrote in college. And no I was not able to major in the Grateful Dead, otherwise I would have graduated in 3 years instead of 5. Yes, I enjoyed college longer than most. The musical companion for this can be found HERE.

Song of this Bird
"Which brings to mind one more notion to add to the bit about Singers of echoes and Echoers of Songs: the notion of Dance. Not the weekend dance in the Saturday-night sense, but where you two-step to music you've heard before and always known." -Ken Kesey
Background;
There is no feeling that I have experienced that is more pleasing to my senses than music. There is an ecstasy that is created when I hear a familiar song. I have not always felt this way. It actually came to me at the second concert that I went to. This was also the second time I had seen a show by the Grateful Dead.
I went to my first show because my friend wanted someone to go with. I saved up, bought a ticket with a bracelet at a ticketmaster outlet at the Toy Box. The second show, I got the ticket when a friend had to bale because of a test the next day. 
My music collection, at the time of my second show, had grown past the Zeppelin "IV" and "American Beauty" tapes I originally owned. I now had a bootleg tape collection, about seven. Since then this collection has grown to about 500 tapes, 70 Digital Audio Tapes, and 35 CDs. It's an obsessive-compulsive thing that I have with their music.
The Show:
The 19th of October was a Wednesday night in 1994. The show was at Madison Square Garden and it was the last night of a seven night run.
The excitement started on the walk from Grand Central to the Garden. The weather was pretty good for October, it was still cool enough for a jacket but it was not freezing out. The wind can sometimes come whipping down those avenues, causing your body to temporarily lose all heat. Even though it was not cold out, I still remember welcoming the warmth of the Garden. I think that it was because I did not feel safe in the City so the Garden was a safe haven.
Our seats were in the upper mezzanine. We were on Jerry's side, which means we were on the right side of the stage. There was no one in front of us at the start of the show. I guess they practice what I do nowadays, they moved to better viewing seats. It is not that we could not see the band, it is just that we could not see them as well as some one lower. I did not care about where we sat, I was happy to be there.
The Music:
"The Fat Man Can Really Play" -SW Amoroso
We knew that two things were going to happen; one was that a Bobby song was going to the opener -because a Jerry song had opened the previous night- and that during the second set we were going to be engulfed by Drums and Space. Everything else during the course of the night was left undecided.
When the lights went out, we immediately took out one of our pre-rolled lumpy joints. We got stoned as we danced to the opener "Feel Like a Stranger." Fitting, considering our walk down the New York streets. I had this style of dancing that I had adopted from this forty-year-old guy that got me stoned at my first show. What I would do is make two fist and place one on top of the other in the middle of my chest, as my elbow would be kept on my sides. Then I would rock my head from side to side. It was the Truckin' dance. It didn't matter what the song -the rocking "Bertha," the slow bluesy "Spoonful," of the cowboy "El Paso"- I would be there Truckin'.
About forty-five minutes into the set, Jerry stepped back and started a riff where he walks up the guitar then circles back, almost to where he started but not exactly. Looking at the other members of the band; there was a sequential drop of the bass and drums, the easy strumming of the rhythm, and the light piano. It all fit together so effortlessly. It stopped me. For the first time all night, I had stopped my Truckin' and was only looking at the band. "All I know is something like a bird within her sang." He sang so elegantly. I did not have this song on one of my bootlegs but it felt familiar. It so naturally fit my mood and my space.
There were now two older guys in front of us and they called the song title, "Bird Song." They had started to smoke a bowl of hash and it filled our section with it scent, which is a cross of pinesap and marijuana. The lights on the stage were a shade of light blue that you can only find on one of those sixty-something Dodges. For the first time in my life, I was feeling the music flow threw me. It started in my toes. It tickled my tingling feet and gently shook a wave up through my legs and up to my body and head. Then the energy traveled down my arms, releasing my elbows from my side and breaking my fist. My arms shot up in the air before they fell into beat with the rest of my body. For the first time, I was in tune with the song. I felt like a puppet and Jerry was the puppeteer; he was making my body move. It seemed like I had known this song forever, even though I do not know if I had ever heard it.
"Tell me all that you know and I'll show you, story and rain." After the verse, the band broke from the song structure and opened the song up to a musically improvised period. Jerry Garcia has the uncanny ability of picking up on the feelings and thoughts of nineteen hundred people and ciphering how to demonstrate this intuition, musically. He played my thoughts and the band followed his lead. I could not control my body, I was jumping, spinning, swaying, bouncing, and dancing all to the sound of his guitar. About ten minutes in this blinding mist of music Jerry hit a chord progression where he was slamming an A, then glimmering a D, as he returned to belting the A. This caused me to start head banging until he hit an A note twice then yanked that to a brief B before playing the calming C#minor. Then I sang the break with the band, which was funny because I was not sure they were still playing the same song. I was lost in the music but still right in the middle of it.
I remember repeating the last line of the verse, "Tell me all that you know and I'll show you, storm and rain." This line ripped right through me. I think that I replayed that line in my head every hour of every day for at least a week after the concert.
There some things that happen and you almost immediately forget that they ever occurred. Than there are other events that you can never forget, like this "Bird Song" experience. It is an experience that will always be there with me, one that I constantly relive. Every time I listen to that tape. But when I am not listening to the tape, I can relive it in a more vivid way.
Since that event I have felt that there is some sort of mystical connect between myself in the band, but I'm not the only one. There are millions of Jerry's Kids out there. We all feel a connection to a man that rarely shows emotion or speaks on stage. This link can take fifteen minutes like my "Bird Song" experience, or it could take three minutes in a "Beat It On Down The Line." This connect has extended to my family because when I hung up that phone on August 9th, I was not the only one to mourn the passing of Jerry Garcia. My whole family mourned the loss of Garcia, and they did not do it to appease me, they were all generally sadden.
I am the only DeadHead in my family. I adopted a dog recently and named her after a different Dead song. My dad suggested Garcia but I went with Althea. My family understands the Dead's hold on me but they do not understand the connection.
My parents recently went to San Francisco, which is the birth place of the Grateful Dead, and on their visit they did some shopping. They got all the kids some sort of Grateful Dead tee shirt, which is cool but what impressed me the most is my father got himself a "Grateful Dad" hat.
This "Bird Song" experience has changed my life. My life would not be complete if it was not for Jerry Garcia and the song of this bird.
That's it. I had to try to watch myself, to not edit it more than I wanted to as I transcribed it. The computer I originally wrote this on got fried. And thankfully my parents never threw it out all my old papers. As some might know, I am now a father and my son is Jerry.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

DAYS BETWEEN 8/7

Today in Grateful Dead history are two shows that the band played. The first is from 1971 and the other is from 1982. Both of these shows became official releases Dicks Pick's 32 and Dicks Pick's 35, named for the Dead's archivist Dick Latvala. Yesterday marked 13 years since his passing.
Dick Latvala first meet the Grateful Dead at the Acid trips in 1965. He started participating in the tape trade and after friending some of the GD roadies, he started doing odd jobs for the Grateful Dead offices on Front Street. Eventually his encyclopedia type memory for concert and shows earned him a job at Front Street.
In 1985, the twenty year anniversary of the Grateful Dead, Dick Latvala was officially named the curator of the Grateful Dead archives. As archivist he was in charge of the preservation of thousands of hours of Grateful Dead music.
He was a passenger in Grateful Dead history until they gave him permission to release his favorite show and in 1993 Dicks Pick's Volume 1 was released. Dick personally picked out the first 14 releases in the series before passing 8/6/99. The remaining 22 shows were assembled by David Lemieux from notes that Dick left behind.
Highlights of Dicks Pick's 32 include the opening sandwich of "Music "Sugaree" "Music." The band takes their time with each song, not rushing through the combo. The "Playin'" fest in the second set is well played out with "Drums/Space" and "The Wheel" in the middle (very similar to Jerry's 40th birthday show a week beforehand.) But this "Playin'" set is capped off with "Morning Dew."
Dicks Pick's 35 is a snap shot of the Grateful Dead as a guitar rock band. Pigpen was not in good health, Keith had not yet joined the band, and earlier in the early Mickey Hart left the band from embarrassment. Essentially they were a four piece band at times durning the show. Rare Dead. A fun game I like to play when listening to this era Dead is; count the Phil bombs per song.
I only have one complaint about the Dicks Pick's series, is that they are fragments of shows. When I sit down to put on some music, it's a show. I don't listen go from the "Let The Good Times Roll" from 3/28/94, then the "Music" then the "He's Gone." This is why, so far, I'm enjoying the unedited Dave's Picks.

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Monday, August 6, 2012

DAYS BETWEEN 8/6

Soundboard of this date in 1974 is available for download HERE and HERE. This is probably the best show to that falls in the Days Between. It's close to four hours of Grateful Dead music.
This is a shining example of the glory of the Wall of Sound shows. Every instrument is distinctly present in the mix. You can pick out the Phil bombs on "Bertha," Billy's drums on "Mexicali," Jerry's guitar on "Jack Straw," or Bobby's on "Eyes." If you want to hear it you can pick it out. It was a marvelous innovation by the band.
Bobby makes a joke after the "Bertha" about the news reporting that there is a zero chance of rain, but that it wasn't the only news of the day. That is because the Congress had established a case to impeach President Nixon. He would later resign from the office on August 9th, 1974.
The first set "Eyes" is a thing of beauty. At close to 20 minutes the band has fun exploring the upbeat rhythm of the song. The song has no end and yet the band finds one here. Usually it ends in crashing symbols and guitars but here it just kind of fades out. So Bobby can yet again yell at some idiots who are climbing a fence.
The "Playin'" is out of this realm. The band stretches the song until as they metamorphosize into Miles Davis "Bitches Brew." Keith plays the electric piano which is what gives the jam this sound. Jerry with his fearless leads makes him the perfect conductor. As the band stretches out the song, it's actually Bobby that starts the "Scarlet" progression, and the song comes storming out of the blue. Gently the band fades back into electric "Playin'." This "Playin'" "Scarlet" "Playin'" was used as filler on Dicks Pick's 31, but it is hard a filler, it's straight heat.
A brilliant "Uncle John's" opens the second set. It almost sounds confessional when Jerry sings "I live in a silver mine and I call it beggars tomb" without any accompany vocals. Later in the set the band splits up "Sugar Mags" and "Sunshine Daydream" for only the second time. The odyssey in-between features the "He's Gone" "Truckin'" combo that had become poplar thanks to the key of E. As the "Truckin'" disintegrates, Phil howls his base causing Bobby to pick up "Spanish Jam." Jerry takes control of the jam as they move away from "Spanish" and leads them into "Other One," which fizzles as "Going Down the Road" leads them back to "Sunshine Daydream." A continuous hour of good ol' Grateful Dead music.
I: Bertha, Mexicali, Don't Ease, BIODTL, Sugaree, Straw, Eyes, Promised, Deal, Playin', Scarlet, Playin'
1.5: Phil and Ned
II: Uncle John's, Black Peter, El Paso, Lucy, Big River, Ship, My Uncle, Row Jimmy, Sugar Mags, He's Gone, Truckin', Spanish Jam, Other One, GDTRFB, SSDD E: US Blues

Sunday, August 5, 2012

DAYS BETWEEN 8/5

I love acoustic music. I esspecially like to listen to acoustic Garcia during the summer when it's hot out. Stripped down acoustic music with a cold glass of lemonade under a shady tree, can be the most relaxing place in the my mind. Corona should make a commercial about it.
So today we go back to an acoustic shows in 1970 from the Golden Hall at the San Diego Community Concourse. If you have an iPhone you can listen to it on the Free Music Archive App. If you have a Blackberry then you hate music so stream it HERE.
The first set features a mandolin player that is unidentified. I'm guessing that it is David Nelson.
I: Candyman, El Paso, Rosalie McFall, Tell it to Me, Drink up & Go Home, Voice on High, Cold Jordan, Swing Low
II: Deep Elem, Dark Hollow, Friend, Mama Tried, To Lay Me Down, Dire Wolf, Ballad of Casey Jones

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Saturday, August 4, 2012

TRI TRIBUTE TO JERRY'S 70th

I was reminded of something during the GD Movie on Jerry's birthday. I was reminded of my old setlist notebook. Durning the "Playin'" Main Ten jam, of the GD Movie, I saw someone rocking out with a 8x10 spiral notebook in the air. I had pocket size so I didn't have to hold it throughout the show. I never found any notebook. The interne has replaced the need for an notebook as well as analog tapes.
The beginning of the video montage that Justin Kreutzmann put together, featured some really interesting clips and interviews by Luke Wilson, who probably should start googling his guest. I found the Billy interview where he talked about being the first DeadHead to be interesting. I didn't find Mickey's 70 beers to be as funny as he wanted it to be, which in itself is funny. I also liked to see Jerry's girls interviewed. Considering that most of us think that we are "Jerry's Kids" to see his actual kids is pretty fascinating to me. An interesting fact, Sunshine Kesey lived at 710 Haight with Jerry and her mother Mountain Girl.

The Wheel with Phil
Cumberland Blues with Phil
Loser
Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodeloo
Dire Wolf
Dupree's Diamond Blues
Tennessee Jed
Ship of Fools
They Loved Each Other
Bird Song
New Speedway Boogie
Loose Lucy (Bobby Solo)
David Crosby Poem
Friend of the Devil
Mission in the Rain
Ramble on Rose
Catfish John
Shakedown Street
Terrapin Station
He's Gone
Eyes of the World
Scarlet Begonias
Don't Let Go
Days Between
Franklin's Tower
US Blues
Going Down the Road Feeling Bad
Ripple

A five hour show. For those Springsteen Heads that have been bolstering about his 4 hour and 6 minute show, let me remind you that Bob Weir is 2 years younger than Bruce. So Bobby killed it.
All but two songs were co written by Jerry Garcia. "Catfish John" and "Don't let Go" were Jerry Band classics. The line-up was constantly changing which kept it interesting for the audience on the couch. No one played Jerry's Wolf but Jeff Chimenti played Brent's B3.
Keep an eye on Yahoo! Music and TRI for rebroadcasts and select videos. Hopefully the audio will be available to download like the "Comes a Time" tribute on the 10 year anniversary of Jerry Garcia's death.
I can be followed on twitter @potvinrocks or add me to your Google+ circle.

DAYS BETWEEN 8/4

In 1968, Johnny Cash released his classic live album "At Folsom Prison." He followed this with a second classic prison album "At San Quinten."
The Grateful Dead would rather stay away from prison in any way shape or form. That all change on this date in 1971, the SBD is available for download.
Owsley "Bear" Stanley became a spiritual guide for the Grateful Dead back in 1966. He was the LSD chemist for the Merry Pranksters, when he hooked up with the Dead. He introduced the band to their first manager, Rock Scully whom also aided Bear in his creation of 1.25 million tabs of LSD.
His lab was raided in 1967, he was found in possession of 350,000 hits of LSD, which he claimed to be for personal use. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison and later saw his sentence reduced to two years.
Bear was the Dead's first sound engineer. He came up with the concept of the Grateful Dead iconic symbol. He saw a street sign that was a circle with a line through it, he thought if he changed the line to a lightning bolt and changed the colors to blue and red, it could be an symbol with Grateful Dead written underneath. Bob Thomas decided to frame that circle with a skull instead of the putting the band name there and the Steal Your Face was born.
To commemorate the last time Owsley was arrested where the headlines dubbed him the "King of Acid," the Grateful Dead opens up this show with "Truckin'." After fixing a broken string while Bobby Gets booed for telling his Yellow Dog joke, Jerry sings "Test me test me why don't you arrest me" for the inmates. Bobby then eggs on the inmates with "Freedom just another word" and then Pigpen's "Hard to Handle." A very fitting way to please the incarcerated gentleman.
Pigpen definitely has the most flair for the inmates and sings directly to their situation in "Next Time You See Me." Ironically the King of Acid and the only member of the band that hated LSD had a very close friendship. So after Bear got out of prison he put allowed to put together a album of songs he recorded as a tribute to his fallen friend Pigpen. "Let shine. Shine on me. Some of your love."
Truckin', Bertha, Bobby McGee, Hard to Handle, China Cat, Rider, Loser, Playin', Next Time, My Uncle, Casey Jones, Cumblerland, Big Boss, Sugaree, El Paso, Mr Charlie, NFA, GDTRFB, Lovelight

Friday, August 3, 2012

DAYS BETWEEN 8/3

Today we go back to Family Dog at the Great Highway in 1969. A show that features Charles Lloyd on Saxophone and David Flamme on Violin. Here the SBD can be downloaded.
The funky electric violin can be heard in the solo break of "Hard To Handle." Jerry starts playing off the and then takes over soloing duties. I count 29 hits before the band starts the "BIODTL." It throws their guest off as they are not sure what to do with that many hits.
This is the final "Hi Heeled Sneakers." The Dead only did it four times but Jerry later did it a couple of more times with Merl Saunders. Jerry starts off singing the song. Half way through the second verse, Jerry forgets the lyrics. Pigpen laughs and then takes over the vocals of the songs. It's as if he was warning Jerry that he couldn't sing the blues like he could. So he finishes the song for him.
A tentative "High Time" comes next and were Jerry fades on the songs break, Phil fills in. "Mama tried to raise me better but her pleading I denied."
As the "Dark Star" starts the other guest makes his way to the stage. The sax branches out as he plays off the theme Jerry has established. Jerry and Lloyd trade licks as the music drifts from the theme. Then they circle back to the main rift as Jerry sings the first verse. Flamme then re-enacts the verse on his violin. As the three play off each other until the second verse is sung. There is a brief pause before "Alligator" is started. Garcia and Weir rift lyrics over the drums making for some interesting banter.
Feeling more confident in the direction of the music and the jam, Charles Lloyd accelerates the interchanges on "The Other One." Phil leads them to the descending jam, that usually goes post verse, as the band enters "Caution." Lloyd is running his sax up and down scales as the heavy baseline is played. Pigpen sings the verse as the band lets the song melt away into a feedback mess. Here Lloyd starts to play "Stars and Stripes Forever," which the band doesn't pick up on. They stay with their abstract weirdness with some traditional song teases. Until Garcia caps the jam with "Bid you Goodnight."
The Family Dog was a Chet Helms club. Chet Helms and Bill Graham were the two big promoters in San Francisco and were mirror opposites. They were ying and yang of concert promoters, one was mellow and laid back while the other was in your face. Over time the New York attitude of Bill Graham made him a favorite of the Dead
Hard to Handle, BIODTL, Hi-Heeled Sneakers, High Time, Mama Tried, Dark Star, Alligator, Caution, We Bid You Goodnight
Tonight there will be a live broadcast of Bob Weir's tribute to Jerry's 70th, Move Me Brightly. It starts at 9:30 EST and you can watch it through this link for TRI Studios. Last night a tweet went out saying that they were going to board cast some of the rehearsals. We got to see the band do "Catfish John" and instrumental "Shakedown" and "Terrapin." The show will be simulcasted on Sirius/Xm channel 23 if you are taking off on vacation.
Phil's emotional tribute to Jerry from Terrapin Crossroads is now available to download HERE. Notice the encore of the show. A very classy tribute to Grateful Dead history. It reminds me of the first time Phil & Friends played Bethel Woods and reenacted the Grateful Dead setlist from Woodstock.
I can be followed on twitter @potvinrocks or add me to your Google+ circle.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

DAYS BETWEEN 8/2

Today we go in the way back machine to a show on this date in 1976. This is a fine example of the bands willingness to experiment while staying true to the song.
The song "Might as Well" is usually a short rocker about the Festival Express train rides the band took in 1970. Here the song finds some space as Jerry plays the solo the band expands the song and venture out as the jam spins into "Samson." It's a brilliant version.
1976 featured some great versions of songs, one of my favorites from this time period is "LL Rain." You could almost hear Bobby and Donna getting down to it in the music. Though Phil said that the line, "Street cars make love" always reminded him of Pigpen and Janis, I always think of Bobby and Donna.
"Here he comes then he's gone again." The featured jam is the "Playin'." the song was starting to transfer from the first closing jam to the second set space odyssey. In this jam the two drummers duel as Jerry lays down the lead and Phil drops bombs. The jam morfs into a "Slipkont" esk jam till Jerry takes the spot light for "Wharf Rat." The song is kept light and fluffy like he's walking on a cloud.
Then Phil leads the charge with a heavy baseline that sounds like they are progressing into "Help." But as the music picks up Jerry pulls out "Going Down the Road." The "Bid You Goodnight" jam progresses back into "Playin'." Before closing the set with a "Around."
The band pulls the double encore of "US Blues" and "Sugar Mags." Clearly the vibe was too good to close on one encore.
I: Promised, Half Step, Mama Tried, Deal, Cassidy, Jed, Big River, BE Woman, Minglewood, TLEO, LL Rain, Loser, Lazy Lightning, Supplication
II: Might as Well, Samson, Candyman, Playin', Wharf Rat, Drums, GDTRFB, Playin', Around E: US Blues, Sugar Mags
Last night I went to go see the Grateful Dead Movie with several other DeadHeads. The into by Justin Kreutzmann was an interesting reminder to where DeadHeads are now. Then the Monty Python-esk Uncle Sam cartoon brought us right back to Winterland 1974. The only two complaints I heard was "Turn it up" and "No talking during the Dew."
I can be followed on twitter @potvinrocks or add me to your Google+ circle.