Indeed it does. So, an extreme example: the 4/24/72 Dark Star--> Uncle--> Dark Star. On the surface, it's a brilliant performance that is very well recorded. But imagine having both seen it live in that absolutely stunning venue (google Rheinhalle Dusseldorf; I think the available photos are copyright protected so I won't post them here) and having the luxury of listening to the two releases in glorious modern technology (*cough* not ear buds for those wondering).
Beautiful venue! It was built in 1926 for the GeSoLei exhibition as a planetarium, the biggest in the world at the point of construction. During the 1970s it was converted into a concert hall. Wiki
Samson from 2/5/78 is great and the one I just listened to from 5/14/78 is very strong with Jerry ripping it up. This 5/14/78 show is very strong and I enjoyed the very fast but long jammed out Eyes....
I’ve noticed that JRAD can take virtually any Dead song and make it great/worthwhile, even some of the throwaway/auto-skip tunes for me. But not Lost Sailor. Even they can’t make that song palatable. This is all IMO of course....
I was amused when he put down Sailor/Saint and then a few months later I saw them play it at Fare Thee Well.
Surely this must be in jest? The only thing in the entire Dead catalogue that makes me sick to my stomach each and every time is "Lost Sailor" but only when coupled with "Saint of iufgvwyrgvp8wrvyvrp8rw7gv87rv". There's a few Sailors I like, but keep the Saints away from me. Always.
That whole "I'm gonna go for it for sure!" can't but make me think of someone in a red track suit with feathered hair and cocaine dripping out of his nose into his chest hair, the occasional rock pinging off a gold "choker.". Sort of a mash-up of period tropes, I guess...
A potpourri of overtly decadent rancidness indeed. I even like "Victim or the Crime", man. But that one...
Sailor > Saint This song duet constitutes a mini "rock opera" about the existential search for meaning and redemption in a society that has lost it's spiritual and ecological center. At first we encounter the "Lost Sailor," adrift in a world that does not make sense, one who has lost all points of navigational reference - "...where's the Dog Star, where's the Moon?" While the simple response is to see this as a commentary regarding certain elements of the Grateful Dead audience, the greater possibility is to see this as a larger cultural critique. Yet rather than leaving us adrift if the doldrums, the second part of the tale offers the hope of redemption. The recognition, first and foremost, of the Zen-like quality of being in the moment, responding freshly to experience in front of us, being a "Saint of Circumstance." What is left to the imagination is the process of transformation - how do we move from being lost to the redemption of the Saints? Is it personal epiphany? A profound Help > Slipknot! > Frank that opens the second set? We must each search for and discover our own epiphany, rudderless on the high seas of life, searching for the sound. Only this advice I may offer: If you get confused, listen to the music play!
While I enjoy the post and your way of viewing the Kraken I still think every trace of this most wretched of songs should be dumped into the Mariana Trench post haste. And a happy new year to you all.
Thank you. I've made clear my dislike for that combo, mostly because I was seeing shows when Bobby began over-playing that couplet. Whether it was live, or on every other contemporary tape we managed to get a hold of in the early 80's, those songs were there. As bad as overplaying Samson & Delilah.
Sam & Dee I do enjoy quite a bit, but not when ol' Bobby really lets that lion ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAR. Goes for any Weir song, BTW. The more restrained the better.
Did you write that or did Barlow? I'd say to me it could also easily be about a lead singer and rhythm guitar player adrift in a sea of eyeliner and procaine. I learned to half like at least 40% of it only because I got tired of being bummed every time I saw it.
Yeah. It's kind of a "we did this" and "then we did this" account of the Grateful Dead. Still a fun read. I figure by the time I die, I will have read every account of the Acid Tests. Happy New Year to everyone of you who drops by this thread for nourishment.
I do 99% of the time. Seastones too. There's only so much time to listen to music and it seems a waste to me to spend it on what is essentially noise.
I usually like what JRAD does with Saint of Circumstance, like this one with an extended piano solo... https://archive.org/download/jrad20...7-07-22.cmc621.cmc641vxt.sbd.matrix-s2t07.mp3
I like both Sailor and Saint, but Sailor was already out of the repertoire by the time I started seeing them, and Saint of Circumstance was a relative rarity by then, too. U.S. Blues hit the nail on the head with his summary. I always like Samson even if Bobby overplayed it (like all of his songs). 2/5/78 can't be topped, but it was usually a good opportunity for Jerry to rip and the drummers to lock in. Favorite moment experienced live with that song might be MSG in '88, when Phil told the crowd "my son just said rock and roll for the first time" right before the band launched into Samson to open the second set.
Favorite New Year's Eve show is currently 12/31/76 although I sheepishly have to admit I've never heard 12/31/72 except for the track or two on the Closing of Winterland bonus disc. Need to remedy that soon. 12/31/85 is a sentimental favorite (although far from the best), because I taped the second set that night and that was the start of my tape collection. Great Throwing Stones and a good Bob version of Midnight Hour, and some of that set was used in the So Far video. I watched and taped the pay per view broadcast with a group of friends on 12/31/87, went to the '88 run, listened to and recorded the FM broadcast with friends on 12/31/90 and then made it back to Oakland for the final run in '91, with an assist from Calico thanks to international complications with doing mail order. All of them fine times and I wish I could have attended more in person. Unfortunately family vacation plans have kept me away from being able to do any anniversary listening to GD shows from New Year's runs this year, but hopefully will get to some soon. Happy Gnu Year to all of you folks out there who make this the best good ol' Grateful Dead discussion on the interwebs!
I guess I am in the minority for liking Sailor>Saint. Sure the lyrics are goofy for "Saint" but it rocked out and created excitement. I saw the first time played for that combo by the way, Glens Falls, NY 8/31/79. It was a bit clumsy at the transition but interesting nonetheless !
There was one from Kansas City I think with a really unusual transition Jam. I can't think of the date or even the year right now (I'd guess late '79) but will try to figure it out. Listened on the archive at someone's recommendation a couple years back.