Finished the run of Academy of Music, New York shows (Charlie Miller soundboards) from March 1972 yesterday. Started on first show of Europe 72 tour this morning. Going to listen in order, then probably give the July 1978 box another listen. So much great music, not enough interrupted time to listen.
Some Morning Dew standouts: 09/10/74 05/22/77 06/07/77 06/18/74 02/28/69 (gotta have a primal version on the list) It's hard to narrow down the '72 Dew's.
I also tend to feel that way about the '72 Dews. In most cases they just fit into the flow of the show, typically one of many (for me) highlights. By '74, most had a more climactic feel to them; not necessarily better, but different.
I don't think Charlie ever recorded a Grateful Dead soundboard, but I guess Josh C meant the CM mastered versions of the Academy 72 boards Betty recorded.
Charlie did record some GD audience tapes in the '90's Let's give some kudos to Rob Eaton for the digital transfers of those Academy soundboards.
The SiriusXM channel is dangerous. Since yesterday afternoon, I've heard portions of that San Berdoo show, portions of 3-28-69, and the 9-10-72 Hollywood Dark Star. Now I have to head to the Archive and investigate all those shows...
I'm in an older body, but I have a truck, and I know how to torrent. Spread your wings brother, you need a 4 TB hard drive full of GD music!
10/18/74 - Winterland - The GD Movie Soundtrack ** (GREATEST DEW OF ALL TIME) After an intro from Mr. Graham about the filming taking place, the boys launch into a fun Around and Around to kick off night number 3. An absolutely WONDERFUL Sugaree is next. It's very much on the quiet side of things and Jerry's singing is some of the best I've ever heard him do on the song, hands down! An ultra-hot Mexicali picks us up momentarily before Jerry takes us back down with a gorgeous Peggy O. After an incendiary BIODTL that features some of Donna's best '74 vocals, it's onto BE Women. It's pretty damn perfect! The guys are just nailing everything tonight like they did the night before. Wow. Keith's piano really adds another dimension to this version. Definitely worth hearing just for Keith! A totally rocking Cumberland Blues sees Jerry and the guys in full on s#it-kicking mode with Jerry throwing those leads out like they owe him six months rent! Oh man, the energy begun with Cumberland fuels an insanely rocking El Paso! My feet are bopping along like crazy! Woohoo! After T Jed it's onto Jack Straw. And it's just bonkers good – it rocks as much or more than Bonner Springs '91! HOLY CRAP THIS JACK STRAW ROCKS OFF THE CHAIN YO. Of course the guys then take the momentum out back and shoot it in the head by following it up with Row Jimmy (rolls eyes....). Thankfully WRS is next. It's definitely on the shorter side at only 14 or so minutes. Unusual. The Prelude is just note-perfect, album-ready. And thankfully this continues into one of the hottest Let It Grows out there. Not a bum note in sight, Bobby's vocals are GREAT, as are Donna's! Jerry is just all over the place knowing exactly where to put his fingers on the fretboard. What a conclusion to set 1! Set 2 begins with Dark Star. 23 minutes of psychedelic bliss of the highest order. I'm not gonna comment – just go listen to it. Out of Star and into Morning Dew, greeted by the harshest of feedback squeals. Do not despair however, because the Dew is of the highest magnitude and every bit as amazing as the previous Star. So good my narration cannot do it justice. 14 MINUTES OF THE GREATEST DEW YOUR EARS WILL EVER HEAR! Holy mother of hell. Whew, talk about a second set! The third and final set of this marathon show begins the Promised Land of Promised Lands. Perfection in every way expressable. It ROCKS. Oddly, the following Bertha, just-as-perfect, is leaning far towards the relaxed side of the spectrum. Very, very, VERY nice, but what a mood shift. Thankfully, the energy SKYROCKETS out of nowhere and it's back to rocking with a ground-shakingly, earth-meltingly hot GSET. Think Wembley '72. Wow. And the same three letter word should be applied to the following Ship Of Fools. Words can't do justice to the beauty of this Ship. Holy moly mother of gorgeous. The rocking returns with a hot NFA>GDTRFB and a OMSN and US Blues to close. What a smashing show. Damn.
I'm in an older body yet on a good day I've got a very young spirit yet the only thing I know how to do is put a CD into the slot.
Wait, wait, wait! What about the Seastones?! That is the most marvelous live performance of moment forms, of Seas Tones, through the WOS evah! The entire second set, an hour in length, is arguably the greatest single piece of psychedelic, telepathic, improvisation the band ever conjured up. Ten years of performing led to this single set of perfection.
Everyone knows I think Seastones can (usually) bite it. Of course I say this as I'm listening to the fabled 9/19/70 Dark Star for the first time....
Hey all. Been a while. Currently listening to Academy of Music on 1972-03-25 I was at this and a few others that week, but this show was so cool. It was billed as a benefit for the hell's angels and Pig Pen was nicely featured. Also Jerry took to the pedal steel during Looks Like Rain. I was first row center with 5 of my friends. Tickets were a birthday gift from a local promoter (friend of the family); turned 18 five days earlier. We were dosed to the gills and just had the happiest time that night. I remember a lot of details but dancing my butt off to deal when Jerry looked over to me and beamed me the greatest Jerry wide-smile will never be forgotten. Any way; a buddy with me that night sent me a link to a pristine sound board from Charlie Miller in-case you're interested. Peace -Zafu
In Garcia, Charles Reich questions Garcia about "Dark Star.": [GARCIA:]... You're talking about the "Dark Star" which you have heard formalized on a record, and I'm talking about the "Dark Star" which I have heard in each performance as a completely improvised piece over a long period of time. So I have a long continuum of "Dark Star" which range in character from each other to real different extremes. "Dark Star" has meant, while I'm playing it, almost as many things as I can sit here and imagine, so all I can do is talk about "Dark Star" as a playing experience. REICH: Well, yeah, talk about it a little. [GARCIA]: I can't. It talks about itself. That's the crux of it right there. (That, and I can't get CDs burned within the last couple of years to play easily in my car, which is where most of listening gets done, so my download and burn plan is no good either.) Yeah, the second set goes Seastones>Dark Star>Morning Dew. There are times where Seastones is just an interlude, but other times, and this is one, where it's pretty clearly intended to be an opening movement, a thought process leading into the rest of the music to come. I don't have it to hand, but as i recall it's a pretty slippery line from 'Phil and Ned Seastones' to 'Full band Grateful Dead improv with Ned as guest' in this particular version. In any case, Seastones is there in context, if you're going for the 'whole show' concept, it's kind of kooky to skip the music that the band made a purposeful decision to present bracketed by Grateful Dead sets as part of the concert experience. (For that reason I also try to track down the NRPS sets from 70-71 when it was 'an evening with the Grateful Dead: acoustic GD - NRPS - Electric Grateful Dead.) Anyhow, I'll get off my soapbox now, listen how you want.
When you spin this next time, listen for Jerry's first guitar notes, they come across quite clearly. As far as a well defined demarcation, I claim that at this particular performance Ned was fully the second keyboard player in the band, and no demarcation exists. We should note that Ned Lagin, along with Bruce Hornsby and Tom Constanten, is one of the surviving GD keyboardists. Note that all 3 of them were considered the second keyboard player in their tenure with the band.
Hmmmmm, TC the second keyboard while in the band? Didn't Pigpen pretty much play only congas and harp during 1969?
