I concur, that was one of the weakest shows from 30 Trips. Weir is annoying, but perhaps he felt he needed to cover for Jerry a bit. I dunno. And I'm not a fan of Vince's contribution, but perhaps if he'd been allowed to play the B-3 the results would have been better. I'm going through the whole box again soon, so I'll give it a second listen before long. I don't want to overlook 1993 altogether, though, so I'm going to have to think about the Cal Expo 93 RT when it gets re-issued. Boston, Cornell, Buffalo second listens over the next three evenings. Listening to Gregg Allman's voice this soon would be a little too painful for me today.
There are lots of Deadheads, both newbies and old-timers, who don't have a high opinion of the Dead after about '79 (and I'm one of them). There are definitely good shows here and there, but I'd have to say about 75-80 %, maybe more, of my listening is pre-1980.
Just with the Brent talk, one of my favourite things ever is one of the videos they released, where Jerry's just beaming looking straight at Brent as they jam. Can't even remember what song it is, but it's money.
There was some of that during the Alpine '89 show they showed at GD Night at the Movies a while back.
It's probably from the July 1990 show that they put out because I've seen it a dozen times, they keep going back on the video from Jerry to Brent and it's so sweet. I thought his songs were a bit on the emo side too, if you wanna be a critic about it, but he was loveable and a great singer and organist. Injected a lot into their sound. For a lot of people, The Grateful Dead is that combo with Brent. That is when they were at their most popular after all. Some Deadheads forget that.
Totally agree, he beams great affection in that hopefully soon released video, which is kind of crazy it being ten years later. It sure seems like Jerry felt Brent was like a kid brother. Someone in Long Strange Trip made the point that Jerry wasn't the same after Brent's passing, or that he took it real hard, I can't remember the exact quote, and I almost hurt my neck nodding in agreement.
I'm relatively new to the Dead, but when I first heard Keith, it was a revelation. He sounded like the missing link between Nicky Hopkins and Andrew Hill. What I've heard of Brent's playing doesn't match up, to put it mildly.
Yeah that is probably true, but let's face it, by the time Brent came along nobody, except for maybe Phil, was playing with the same genius of the Up-To-'75 days; and as was said, Keith was fading into the baseboards in the end and getting pretty plinky and percussive which didn't broaden much. Brent brought something different, which might well have on its own been less genius than Keith '72-'74, but then again it was a new band late '78 onwards and I contend Brent was a man for his times.
10/27/91 – Oakland, CA ** (Super relaxed and fun in a “ooh yes, that's the spot” kind of way) On a super surprising note, Sugar Magnolia opens the show tonight. AND IT'S FANTASTIC! It begins rather chill, kinda like UJB or something, but it eventually builds a head of steam and is flat out rocking towards the end. Great playing from everyone, but the mood feels slightly chill tonight. Either way, a freaking awesome start to the show! The relaxed air continues into our first Sugaree for a while. Excellent, of course. Around 5:30, the song builds to an immense peak with everyone giving it all they've got. Tonight's relaxed atmosphere fits this Sugaree like a pair of spandex pants. It's just terriffic, imo. A rocking Walkin' Blues is next. This one is meant for hot nights, but for it being so chill, it's still excellent. The momentum carries over into a fantastic Althea! Jerry's soloing is some of the best of the last month and the song itself says “to hell with relaxing” and goes into overdrive, smashing down every obstacle in it's path by the time it's over. HOLY HELL THIS ALTHEA!!!! By the time Masterpiece rolls around, it's pretty clear this is a good night for Jerry. He's not shredding nuts or anything, but he's putting all the right leads in all the right places hitting no wrong notes whatsoever. Just great! In a year dominated by Bruce, it's nice to hear the other guys stepping up their game and letting HIM sit back. Candyman is just as good as Sugaree was. Jerry's voice is in top form. Also, that solo he does around 3:50 is just off the chain bonkers!!! To sum it up, this Candyman was almost as hot as that Althea. Who'da thunk? Candyman, hot?! The next song up is an ultra-sprightly Cassidy, fresh from the beach. It's very reminiscent of the debut performance from 1974 as a matter of fact. However, it very quickly becomes aggressive, much like the back end of the opening Sugar Mag. Bobby sounds pissed off or something. The guys are full-on rocking! Jerry begins the jamming around 3:45 exploring the low end of his fretboard while Phil is walking up and down his own neck. Bursts of Bobby's electric guitar, Bruce's piano and very powerful-yet-dynamic drumming bring this Cassidy to a climax pretty quickly. I'm not gonna call it a top 10 version ro anything, but it's definitely kick ass!!!!!! Check out the jamming from around 5:40 onwards.....just wow! A very, very uplifting Touch Of Grey ends set 1 in the best possible way. Nothing but smiles over here! What a great first set. A super fun China>Rider opens set 2 in perfect manner. Extremely fun sounding, no hint of downness here! I can just picture Jerry onstage, smiling away, aural liquid goodness melting forth from his fingers – seriously he's on a roll with his soloing tonight. As I said earlier, he's not shredding, but he's playing very, very relaxed in a “ooh yes, that feels good” kind of way. Of course, China goes straight into Rider and things return to the raging energy of Cassidy. Just roaring! A super raging hot Samson is up next. As usual, its great to hear it. An absolutely hotter than hell Samson for sure, the faces of the audience must've been melting off one by one. The Night Of a Thousand Jerry Ballads continues with a fantastic Ship Of Fools that hits all the right spots in all the right ways. Jerry's vocal is particularly expressive. The REAL party of the set begins next with Iko Iko however. Forget China>Rider, freaking Gary Duncan and Carlos Santana opt to join the boys and turn it into a total riot of a party! Hold on tight!!! There's not much to say. The boys club continues Iko Iko before steering it into a rare Mona. This is one massive exercise in partying and one of the best Dead jams of the year, definitely. Just ridiculous. Mona is basically just 16 minutes of free form jamming of the absolute best kind. I'm talking X-Factor Bananza here! After Drums and Space, a gorgeous Wheel leads us into a rocking Miracle. And it truly does rock – it just smashes it's way through everything in it's path. A super powerful Wharf Rat is our next stop. The “I'll get up...” section is just smashing. There's some very nice jamming for the last couple of minutes before we are led into Good Lovin'. With KOHD, this excellent show comes to a heartfelt close.
In honor of Bill Graham's passing... his usual song request for midnight New Year's Eve. The 'Sunshine Daydream" was sung several days after at the memorial in Golden Gate Park.
10/28/91 Oakland, CA So the guys close set 1 with a 17 minute Bird Song of X Factor proportions and then proceed to OPEN set 2 with the greatest Saint Of Circumstance you'll ever hear. Woah....
For me, I'm all over the place. Variety is the spice of life as they say. Some days I feel like 1974. Other days I can't even fathom listening to more 1991 but then I'm back in the mood for it. It also doesn't hurt that I love the latter-era songs as much as the proverbial "classics".
Out of curiosity, are you a musician? I'm not being confrontational, or suggesting you don't know what you're talking about if you're not; I think a good case could be made for earlier Jerry, I mean he's great from the beginning to the end. However, I never get the claim some people make that there was a decline (unless we're talking about the 90s). To my ears, he is a more sophisticated guitar player by the late 80s then he was in the late 70s, in any case.
Yeah, I'm about the same. "Althea" is as good as anything. Jerry (and Hunter) wasn't prolific after the early 70s, but I don't think he ever lost his brilliance as a songwriter. The only years I ever get turned off to based on mood are pre-72 and post-90. In that zone, I love it all (except the stuff that sucks, of course!). To me the 80s is a brilliant era for the Dead, not better than the 70s but not worse either. The 60s were when they were most experimental, but the fruits of that were reaped in 72-74 when they were a much better bunch of musicians than they had been in the 60s. So while I love many shows before the Spring of 72, I get more out of the Dead from about the Europe run on. One thing I like about pre-hiatus Dead is the way they often played together, not like a rock band with a soloist, but as an improvising ensemble. That's one thing they didn't really do as well, or at least as much, after 1974. Something like the titanic Other One from Hundred Year Hall is an example of music more adventurous, exploratory, and psychedelic than most of the stuff that came after the break. They could never really play that free again, I don't think, even taking into account Space... However, there are aspects of their playing in the 80s that surpass the earlier stuff, too. Again, Jerry was an incredibly accomplished and developed musician by 1989. And his vocals are so soulful from late 86 on...I love the late Jerry voice. As I have said a few times, every time they changed they both lost and gained.
Perhaps more sophisticated, but definitely less adventuresome. He had developed a musical comfort zone, and he was (apparently) reluctant to stray far from it.
Jerry's playing was never the same after the coma. Guitar playing, like all instrumental work, relies on muscle memory. He lost what he had and was forced to relearn. He lost all his muscle memory of playing at the Avalon Ballroom, the Carousel, Winterland, all the Fillmore's, Europe, and in front of the Wall of Sound. His playing was informed by his history, all the notes that had come before. He lost all that in '86, the Acid Test memories were gone, and he found a place he could play in comfort.
Completely agree. Having listened to all of 1974 alongside all of 1991 at the same time, the differences were very obvious.
