I imagine @Mr. Rain having a Rube Goldberg contraption attached to his computer that winds up dumping a bucket of water on his head when I post one of these...
SPLASH! Amazing version, in a beautiful mix....the sound is totally enveloping, the guitar tone is so sweet, it melts into the ears like warm honey. Pigpen's riff kind of drifts into the background here...and I didn't notice much percussion at all, it's not very present in this mix, so this is a very guitar-heavy Dark Star. I don't think I've heard Jerry so creatively on in any earlier Dark Stars, just the intro solo by itself is already a fascinating journey. You're right about all the tonal shifts, Jerry's pulling out all kinds of tricks I haven't heard in previous Dark Stars, like those brief surprising volume swells at 11:12. Another place where he uses the bass strings is just before the first verse at 4:50, he signals the verse with this bass riff that's neatly synchronized with Pigpen...but before the second verse, he scratches out the same rhythm on muted strings instead! This is the first Dark Star where the jam really builds up to a climax, and the Bright Star finally shows what it can be -- this section may be my favorite part of any Dark Star up to now. (Then Jerry firmly returns to the Main Theme at 13:25.) This is the kind of thematic structure and closure that was lacking in some previous Dark Stars....everything that I found missing on 8-21-68 is here in full. One cute moment is after 9:45 when Phil stops playing for a little while...I imagine him getting so carried away in the music he forgot he was playing, and Jerry threatening to throw him down some stairs after the show... But that was another show! Anyway, Phil's so splendid throughout, I kind of take him for granted: 'oh yeah, Phil's great like always.' But Bob's right in there too, always with a well-placed jangly chord or these little contrapuntal lines. What's really remarkable about these August '68 versions is that they're playing Dark Star several days in a row, and each one is like a quantum leap from the day before. If I were to point out "the first great Dark Star," it would be this one.
Yeah, this one smokes anything that's come before. Good call, I missed the return of the main theme...
I just finished listening to this version while following bzfgt and Mr. Rain notes. Well done boys. We will be expecting this type of analysis for each version hereafter! (I don't know how to do the "@" thingie lol!)
I'm so pysched to have found this thread, I was just this month starting out on my own to do roughly the same thing (with downloaded versions, not all archive streamed) so I hadn't initially had the intention to go through every version. But really why the f not? Coincidentally I was only up to this gap in 1968 myself, starting in at August shows and wondering about the development between March and August. I'll familiarize myself with the sectional nomenclature and get on board. Thanks for starting this.
Wellll...I don't know about that! When this thread started I didn't think I could participate at all, I thought I'd have nothing much to say about Dark Star and I'd just read what others had to say. But it didn't turn out like that... I still hope more people will chip in at some point, but it's gotten to be a fun routine reviewing all these Dark Stars. I don't know how long I'll keep up, but anyone can do it! People can jump in anytime with their comments, the more the merrier....no one's required to start from the beginning.
We have 400 followers on tweeter now, so far it hasn't seemed to have netted us any new writers though...a couple people said they were going to participate, I don't know if they're doing so silently...no comments at the blog
This is a great early version, the most developed yet, but it’s amazing that they’re less than six months from recording the Live/Dead Dark Star. It’s come a long way, but it still has a long way to go. We’re in for a treat coming up!
#16 8/23/68 Beautiful, powerful, magical. At multiple points throughout the journey, and especially from Bright Star through the return to the Main Theme, we are reminded of the joys of being alive. The peaks are breathtaking and the little details are wonderful too.
I like the ROR, it's sort of comforting. Like a tape loop—in fact, that Vox organ sound reminds me of some of those 60s minimalists like Terry Riley or Steve Reich, so especially having it sort of ever-present but having it weave in and out is nice. Or so I find, anyway. If Mr McK doesn't **** up, like on 1968-08-22, where he stumbles a couple times, and it's loud in the mix. Maybe the whole tempo is too fast to start? But then: not a guiro fan. I've been in Dark Star world for a month or so also, I probably didn't follow your recommended archive selections as much, but started at the beginning as well. Are the preferred versions links on the blogsite? I didn't know of 1968-08-23 so that's nice to find as I catch up. It's also pretty quick, and strong! It sounds to me like (possibly, I may be talking out of my ass if anybody knows better or has read about their touring then) different amps than SF at the Fillmore. I know he was mostly into Fender Twins but the Shrine shows make the Les Paul Custom sound more "Gibson-y", like he gets more crunch when biting in with the pick. Or using the rolled off neck pickup with the overdrive like in the theme restatement jam, at around 8', where he's been really digging in with the bridge pickup before. Then back to SF at the Avalon on the 28th of August? I just saw an AUD tape on Archive also, but I'm mostly in favor or SBD if available, I like to hear all the parts.
17. 1968-08-24 11:20 (2FTV) Main theme at 1:07. First verse at 1:33. Verse melody at 3:36. Bright Star at 8:32. Main theme at 8:58. Second verse at 9:52. This is a very energetic and tight version, and the band sounds really together. Note how quickly the first verse arrives this time. Garcia does not employ as many different voices this time, or wander as far as he did on the 23rd, although he throws in a major 7th a couple of times, which I’m not sure has been done before. Note when Jerry pedals beginning around 4:42, the band brings it up behind him; again at 6:50 Jerry hangs on one note and the others start to bring it up, this time in a kind of profusion of notes that sounds really distinctly Grateful Dead. A satisfying version overall, if not entirely remarkable.
I can't be too critical of this version since this is the performance that turned me on to the Dead, so I've imprinted on it like a duckling. I admit the 23rd was better...this one doesn't suffer too much from being briefer, but it doesn't have as much high drama either. Like JSegel, I like Pigpen's ROR too...here it goes up and down in the mix, so maybe when mixing Two From the Vault they were trying to make it a little hallucinatory? Phil's right up there in the lead with Jerry. Bob's playing is getting impressive in these August versions...given that the jam is mostly on two chords he varies his approach a lot, he's very sensitive to what Jerry is playing. They kind of hurry to the verse this time...I wonder if they were intentionally tightening it up since they were recording for an album. Notice that Jerry starts the solo at 2:35 with his familiar introductory figure from the single, which has become rare in Dark Stars by this time. (It needs a proper name!) One thing Jerry does sometimes in these Dark Stars is explore repetition, like using a little drone or single-note repetition for a while, which isn't too common in Dead music...that one note he hangs on for like 40 seconds must be a record for him! The rest of the band isn't really bringing it up from quiet to explosive behind him like they would later on, but they're starting to get the idea. To bring in the second verse, at 9:25 Jerry plays that same bass-strings riff doubling Pigpen that he did on the 23rd....if he does that more often maybe we should give it a name. It's kind of a surprise how often in '68 Jerry reinforces or emphasizes Pigpen's ROR, he must have still considered it an integral rhythm in the song, or liked returning to it after the jam. It reminds me that, even though Dark Star isn't considered a "busy" song melodically, even the early versions often have four different melodies being played at the same time by the band, but so intertwined in counterpart it sounds really simple. But that was the Dead.
That rolling section at 11:35 that builds to a crescendo progresses to a mind blowing moment on the October 12th version. Y'all will see when we get there!
I wanted to chime in and say that this is great. The blog is also really good and makes it more convenient to go back and look at specific versions. 1970 to 1974 is my sweet spot so I almost never dip into 68. So far this thread has given me a new appreciation for early Dead. I really look forward to spending time on this thread. My posts will be limited but I will try to chip in when I can.
#17 8/24/68 This one feels closer to vest and to me it lacks that extra something that was abundant on 8/23. But it’s still a nice version. There’s a good early peak shortly after the verse melody starting around 3:58. I can still remember the first time I played Two From The Vault shortly after it came out. At the time my best known reference point for Dark Star was Live/Dead so this one seemed fast and developmental by comparison (which of course it is). But over time I grew to appreciate it for what it is, and August ‘68 GoGD is special.
I spend all my time these day creating surplus value which is stolen by my employer, but a plan is in the works to put a stop to all that, at which point I will have much more free time to contribute some of this hoohah I've been working on for years to the blog. You're doing good keeping the pace slow enough so far.
#17 8/24/68 Some interesting Jerry soloing that turns into the main theme very soon and we're already in verse #1 before you know it (only 1:33). Then there's first a solo which features a short quote from the verse melody but things get better when Jerry sticks to a single note towards the end and Phil and Bob really get into it. They do not reach the heights of later versions but you can hear where they're going. A heavy Bright Star takes us back to the main theme and then verse 2. I've heard better transitions into St. Stephen though.
I'm really enjoying this thread, and the pace has been just lazy enough to give me time to listen to each version carefully. I agree with the general consensus that 8/23/68 is the most fully and dramatically realized version so far. 8/24/68 takes a slight step back in terms of drama and expressiveness, but it still feels like progress in the wake of what they figured out about the tune the night before. It's amazing that they put this little tune together and then gradually discovered whole universes of musical possibility in it. 8/24 and the single version are the only early versions I knew before this thread, and I always thought 8/24 was sort of too fast and stilted compared with the later, longer, more familiar versions. So it's fascinating to approach it in sequence now as part of the dramatic development of the Dead's performance in 1968 and into 1969. It's not a breakthrough like 8/23, but I can now appreciate it as another step in the process with its own flow and its own contributions. L.
