HARTBEATS A: 1968-10-08 25757 Sometime around this point Weir and Pigpen were supposedly fired from the band, although the exact dates, and how serious the firing was, are unclear (the Dead would play with Weir a few days after this, and although Pigpen was absent, this is said to be because his girlfriend was ill). At the time, this show seems to have been billed as both “Jerry Garrceeah and his Friends” and “The Grateful Dead with Elvin Bishop,” depending on the listing (1968-10-08 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA, USA - Jerry Garcia ). ). It seems that there are no shows that were billed as Mickey and The Hartbeats until the next year, although Garcia calls them that at one point during this set. In any case, the personnel on this Dark Star seems to be Garcia, Lesh, Kreutzmann, and Hart. 12:55 (track time on the above source; there’s space at the beginning, this really lasts about 12 minutes). No verses. Sputnik (right?) at 6:28. Main theme at 7:11. Verse melody at 9:59. This starts with the familiar intro lick. It’s very laid-back and noodly, and lacks the drive of the Dead versions of the time. It’s striking, in fact, how little seems to be happening at times with just two non-drummers playing. Garcia fiddles around a bit and then at 2:39 he starts a chordal vamp much like Weir would have played; this briefly mutates into a three-chord figure that sounds a little different than the usual part, which Lesh only loosely follows. Garcia plays something like the main theme starting at 5:14. Beginning at 6:28 Garcia plays what I think we can finally call the first Sputnik, although it will subsequently pick up a few more notes. At 7:11 Garcia briefly plays the main theme, and since there are no verses starts playing around with it a bit. Starting at 8:19 Garcia starts fooling around with a little rolling figure that starts to sound a little like Sputnik. Around 10:30 Garcia begins to whip up some excitement, but I find myself thinking of a Weir part building underneath it, and how much better it would be…at around 11:40 Garcia gets a sweet tone that sounds almost Fender-like, probably something that’s more noticeable without another guitar in the mix (this is near the end of the tenure of the black Les Paul, although it’s possible he played a different guitar for this gig…I can’t tell that just by listening, but I am pretty sure he is still playing a Gibson here, in any case). This lacks the usual ending, as Garcia plays a harsh swell in prelude to the intro to Cosmic Charlie, which does not yet have the Chuck Berry-like double stop intro, but starts with the main riff. Overall this is certainly of interest, but it’s not terribly exciting. Goes into the first known “Cosmic Charlie,” which lacks the chorus (“Say you’ll come back…”) lyrics at this point. I put on the last Dark Star to check @Mr. Rain 's timing corrections (thank you very much for that!) after listening to this. For all our lukewarm reaction to that one, it seemed absolutely sizzling with molten energy after listening to this one!
Can't add much to that. Very loose, low-key version, almost like practicing in a closet. Maybe the weakest Dark Star of '68, but the later Hartbeats versions get better! I imagine that on this first Hartbeats night, Jerry and Phil suddenly realized that they needed Weir after all, and weren't sure yet how to fill up the hole...there's a lot of aimless noodling, not very exciting. Things perk up the moment Cosmic Charlie starts. By the later Hartbeats shows, they'd adjusted more to playing by themselves and there's more focus and purpose in the playing. I'd be hard-pressed to single out any notable moments in this one. I found it engaging enough, but not riveting. The Sputnik moment you point out doesn't seem that much more Sputniky than the earlier proto-Sputniks, since it's just Jerry briefly passing through it by himself. He's added a couple dissonant chords here but you'll have to wait until 10/12 for a full-fledged version. The percussion is very clear...a full drum kit even kicks in now and then, not for long, but that's a change from previous Dark Stars. I think there's only one percussionist playing in this, switching from the scratcher to the drums midway through, so one of the drummers is sitting this out, an interesting choice! The second drummer comes back right away after Cosmic Charlie starts, so I guess they felt at the time there was no place for a second drummer in Dark Star.
I think Bill's there with his maracas throughout, while Mickey plays guiro and a couple of times switches to the drums when Jerry is playing loudly.
Can anybody tell me more about the Matrix (and the Avalon Ballroom)? Like how big they are, what sort of scene was there? These "Hartbeats" at the Matrix sound more like a small place to jam in the backroom, Oct 8 and 9 are Tuesday and Wednesday, so obviously the owner would be happy to have any Dead members playing in the back to attract some mid-week customers! But, yeah, it's not exactly the Grateful Dead, is it, without Mr Weir. It's kinda cool to hear Phil and Jerry jam out on it. Much more sedate, though, easy to hear the parts. Phil really keeps the beat most of the time, anyway, doesn't he?
Don't mean to be flippant but you may as well look at this: The Matrix (club) - Wikipedia A bit more: it was a club the Dead had outgrown by 1968 but it was a place Garcia and other San Francisco players could jam. Avalon Ballroom was one of the concert venues of the day along with the Fillmore West.
1968-10-08 Hartbeats - an interesting curiosity but there’s not a whole lot going on; it does feel more like a rehearsal. There seems to be some uncertainty before they even begin although we don’t know what was happening on stage at that moment. Jerry is casually noodling at the start, almost like he’s just chilling out with his guitar backstage. A little bit of a groove builds over time but it’s pretty laid back. There’s more action in the second half but it still sounds like an outtake where all the parts aren’t in place yet.
This was the Matrix: https://twitter.com/stevesilberman/status/1277718277175734272/photo/1 Owsley said, "The Matrix was a crummy little closet of a venue with barely enough room for 50 or 60 people to stand in." It looks like a small stage for even the Hartbeats, let alone the full Dead! This is a TV spot of another band rehearsing there in '67: Rehearsal & Interview at The Matrix Nightclub - Bay Area Television Archive
Epic photos! I’m pretty sure that every Dark Star after the first one I heard live, I was high tailing it to the bathroom. First was the elation from the crowd, once that subsided, I bolted to empty stalls. sorry for the derail.
Nice! Thanks for the photos/links. Interesting to note audience sizes, Matrix ~50, Avalon ~500, Fillmore West ~1500 (wiki sez 3000, I think that was one time). The differences in who and how Jerry was interacting with musically, stage sizes, sound levels, etc. I guess I thought the Matrix would be more casual, as reflected by how they behave on stage, what they are doing, like more like a resident band in a bar or cafe, but I see it's more performance-based. So, they're just really casual on stage!
Sorry for the unintended hiatus, my family was out of town and just returned...I'll try to get back on the bike tomorrow
HARTBEATS B: 1968-10-10 15:29 Matrix 4513 There’s some tuning, accompanied by a chiming bell, at the beginning. Intro starts at 2:18, so this is really about 13:10 in length. No verses. Main theme at 7:22. Main theme at 10:02. Goes into 11 jam. Very relaxed version, dancing around some of the themes without really stating them for the most part. Garcia seems to be playing more double stops and partial chords than usual. Gets Sputnik-y around 5:46 for a brief spell; interesting oblique initial pass at the main theme, including a possibly intentional wrong note, around 7:05. Sort of a mini-Sputnik at 7:58, and again around 8:27. A feint at the main theme at 9:48 leads to an interesting run from Garcia, then the main theme comes in at 10:02. At 11:36 Phil briefly plays something that sounds like some of the stuff he’d play in the “Philo Stomp” in 1972. He gets some similar stuff going again toward the end, which makes for an interesting way for this to wind up, and there finally seems to be a bit of energy (although again I can’t help but imagine Weir playing along).
1968-10-10 Hartbeats - this Dark Star jam is better than 10/8 although it still feels more like a workshop than an actual version, which I suppose is exactly what it is. I enjoyed it though and Phil is more present in the recording than the previous one which makes for an interesting listen. When it gets going towards the end it reminds me of stripped down version of a jam you might hear in ‘74, at least in terms of overall vibe.
That “Golden Road” clip (Yeah, I know it’s just the record synched up to the video) is the greatest two minutes anyone has ever committed to film. Groovy pics too!
1968-10-10. Very nice, engaging rehearsal-type version, almost nothing like the way the full Dead played it. With a couple players absent, Jerry and Phil are able to roam far and wide. There's a lot more energy here than the Hartbeats show a couple nights earlier. But there's also not a lot in the way of standout moments since it's more of an unstructured freeform jam with a Dark Star theme here and there. Mostly the drummers keep up the pattern of one on drums, one on maracas (right?), but in the last few minutes, both of them are drumming away as usual, and not surprisingly the jam heats up and sounds less like Dark Star, until they veer off into the Eleven. (How many Grateful Dead Dark Star>Elevens are there? None, right? But it would have been cool.)
20. 1968-10-12 86759 Avalon 14:52 Main theme at 3:45. First verse at 4:17. Verse melody at 8:09. Bright Star at 10:29. Falling Star at 11:00. Sputnik at 11:44. Main theme at 12:43. Second verse at 13:23. Goes into St. Stephen. Jerry takes his time after the intro, playing moody, spooky lines and again varying his voice effectively. Lesh is fully unleashed here as well, with a seemingly endless supply of contrapuntal ideas. Garcia comes out of the first verse with the familiar pattern from earlier in the year, and launches into a remarkable series of melodies, double stops, bends, a little feedback, and repeated motifs with Lesh providing the perfect counterpoint at every step. Weir is less clearly audible much of the time but his presence is very much felt, and we know how crucial it is, especially after reviewing the Hartbeats versions. He’s more prominent when things quiet down between around 9:45 and when Bright Star begins at 10:29. During Bright Star you can hear him playing some melodic lines. We finally get an unmistakable Sputnik at 11:44. This is still relatively compact, and stays inside compared, of course, to what’s still to come, but it’s nevertheless a masterful version, and very satisfying.
I will try to get the 13th in this midweek, if I can...but we're going to once a week soon anyway, as they get longer. Sorry if that's too slow for anyone, but there have also been complaints about the 2x/week schedule!
A favorite from way back in cassette days, near on 40 years ago. One of the lowest pH ratings of any concert for which a recording exists.
Masterful is definitely the word for this one. It feels like they've mastered what's available in this approach now. There's more expressive control of the things they discovered they could do back on 8/23/68. A lot of creative fire within the form they've worked out, too, and lovely, deliberate use of those three themes (Bright Star, Falling Star, and Sputnik) before the final sequence and out. I guess now that they're solidifying things, they're also putting themselves in a position to blow it all up. L.
When the Dark Stars actually get interesting? Yeah; I'm out until late '69 at the earliest. At least they've learned how to tune their instruments by then. Even the hallowed Live/Dead version features Phil having a flat D or G string for the first 5 minutes or so.
