1. Finished all the officially released 71 material. That RT Austin show was the standout. I’m now in March 72 and then on to Europe. It’s been a couple of years since I marathoned the box - can’t wait. The leap forward in their playing between December 71 and March 72 is palpable. 2. Finally took in the current Dave’s. I don’t think it’s as bad as made out to be, but there is a distinct lack of truly great moments. A Dick’s notebook page probably would not have any red stars.
It is a shame, a lot of people who dismiss the Dead as a hippy-dippy jam band probably would really like the Primal Dead sound, but they have no idea. Which is really weird, considering how the band is so closely identified with the '60s San Francisco scene, that the music they made in the '60s is still kind of an underground secret. I mean, you might read about Live/Dead or Aoxomoxoa in a magazine, but how often do you generally see them canonized as essential classics? (Fwiw, on the Acclaimed Music chart, Live/Dead comes in at #22 for 1969, #72 for the '60s, and #395 all-time; Anthem and Aoxomoxoa don't crack the Top 300 of the '60s.) When do you ever hear "St. Stephen" or "Dark Star" on the radio or TV? If you want to be introduced to the really good stuff, you still need to find a head to pull your sleeve down the right paths.
Find if you can some of the Garcia/Saunders shows from Jan or Feb 72, there are a couple of space jams they do that to me sound like the 'missing link' between 71 GD and 72 GD. However, have you heard 12-5-71? That one is pretty far out in its jamming.
Just listened to this show this morning - definitely a good show. (via the Archive I listened to Jim Wise FOB recording - a nice capture)
To a lot of people, it's the ultimate insult! I don't really like to see the Dead characterized as a "jam band," myself; it tends to put them in league with, well, some bands that aren't on their level. Unless I've been missing out on somebody, I think the sound of a Primal Dead show is just about the furthest thing from the post-1990 "jam band" scene.
Over the past 24 hours I listened to 1974-06-18 and 1969-02-28, and as it happened kind of interspersed rather than one at a time. The 74 is of course the one in order for my 74 project, which I am allowing to proceed slowly. Both of these are among the greatest Dead shows. Listening to them in this way really brings home how, on the one hand, the Dead improved immensely between 69 and 74 and how, on the other hand, they were at an unsurpassable peak in early 1969! I have said it before, but every time the Dead changed, they both gained and lost something (except maybe after 1991--I still haven't figured out what they gained that time). Anyway, I am really smitten with the Dark Star from the Fillmore show right now, and the Alligator>Caution>Feedback sequence is one of the greatest. Although I'm still not entirely a Pigpen fan, all his songs are fantastic at the Fillmore show. He doesn't play keys then, does he? If not, TC picked up his infamous 8-note riff on Dark Star, although it sounds just like Pigpen playing it. On the other hand, there's a rehearsal tape (from late 68 I think) where you can hear them tell TC to play the Pigpen riff (which is funny because one of the reasons sometimes said to be why they wanted a new keyboard player is stuff like P's repetitive riff on Dark Star). One thing about listening to full shows that sucks is there are songs that are among my favorites, like It Must Have Been the Roses and China Doll, that I used to save for special occasions, and when you hear them constantly it diminishes the impact. There are lots of good reasons not to be a full show listener, and that is the best one I think... I think Freedom Hall has the best WRS ever, and the way the Keith-instigated fusion jam at the end of Other One dissolves into the blues of "It's a Sin" is one of the greatest Dead moments. Stella Blue would be among the top five ever maybe, if not for Jerry going back to the second verse for the last two lines..."It seems like all this life was just a dream" is a key player, man! After the cosmos-shattering Alligator>Caution>Feedback>AWBYG, I had about 10 minutes left of a drive to kill...I put on Althea from 1981-03-09, and it was perfect. It doesn't contend with 1969 Dead in any way, it's a whole different thing. I was really not having the transition from Gibson to Fender at that precise moment, but a leap forward to Tiger and a whole different style of playing was another story. I don't care what anyone says, 80s Dead is a beautiful thing!
@notesofachord I remember you had a debate with Burt about Viola Lee Blues--one of you was claiming primacy for 1967-11-10, and one of you 1970-05-02. Which of you claimed which version? I've been listening to them repeatedly back to back and pondering the differences... ...unless I'm wrong it was you, I'm pretty sure it was though
I agree with that. For a long while I was trying to do the "full show experience" thing, but for that reason as well as not always being able to listen for three hours at a time, I've gone to a 'set listening' routine, depending on what I'm in the mood to hear. It's more often 2nd sets for obvious reasons, but there are times that the Berthas, Deals, and Promised Lands are perfect. I'll still do full shows if I know I'll have the time.
I attended 12/5/71. I thought it was a very good show. listening these days to the other nights I think those were a little better.
Yeah for years before this summer I just listened to segments, and individual tracks. I never even committed to a whole set--a Mexicali Blues from 1973 wasn't even getting a look-in. I miss it--it's really the best way, once you're familiar with everything--but if I did that now I'd miss things, and skip stuff I really shouldn't due to the slipperiness of the slope. I want to listen to whole years right now and not get antsy. But it is diminishing my enjoyment in some respects! ________________________________ One More Saturday Night is a decent song, but only if I listen to it once or twice a year, unless it's a really blistering version topping off a hot hot set. My brain rarely tunes in during BIODTL, and that's actually a good enough song...Jerry plays the melody from Old Kentucky Home on the 6-14-74 version, and I'd totally have missed that if I wasn't in full show mode
1967-11-10 I feel like It Hurts Me Too has more energy here than in 1972...maybe I just listened to too many of them from Europe though (see above!). I'm going over to the Garcia/Saunders thing linked above now, though (unless that was a different thread).
I respect the commitment to the whole year listening binge, but I'm not sure I could or would even want to do it. Possibly with '69 through '72, but I'd have no shot with any year beyond that.
Good and bad both, but YMMV of course. I wasn’t even thinking recent bands. To me “hippy jam bands” could include Cream, Santana, etc. Been listening to all those Woodstock performances the past couple of weeks. Many of the performances are raw, rough, etc., but there’s a number of bands I’d say played “hippy jam band” sets that one might not normally associate with “jam bands.” Or, as Gregg Allman liked to describe ABB: Not a jam band but a band that jams.
I gotta chime in on Viola Lee - I claim primacy for the back half of Eureka 68 (filler on the 2/14/68 pick) but I have to figure out which front half to paste on to it.
I think it was in an Allman's bio I read this--one time the ABB with Haynes and Trucks did a long ass version of Mountain Jam and those two were all psyched up after the set until Gregg came up to them scowling and said, "Yeah, that was a pretty good Phish show!"
