I’ll have to get my chair out to hide under I like “Sugaree”.......but it’s never been one of my favorites. I consider it the 4th best song on side 1. Sure there’s great live versions with great soloing, but the tune is a little repetitive for me. I probably also tired of it somewhat in the late 80s when it was constantly paired with “Hell in a Bucket.” I saw too many of them.
I don't think they individually got rich until the '80s. They kept investing the money they made back into the band in the 60's and 70's.
Very nice. I almost forgot Comes A Time was debuted in this period. I would substitute the Ace version of Playing In The Band because it's one of the closest studio approximations of the Dead's live improv abilities. Also I would include The Stranger (Two Souls In Communion), one of Pigpen's most soulful and lovely compositions. I feel the Weir/Barlow songs on Ace are part of this tapestry as well. Black Throated Wind, Looks Like Rain, Mexicali Blues and (especially) Cassidy ARE Grateful Dead songs, they were in the band's repertoire for years (the less said about Walk In The Sunshine, the better). Ace represents the first real flowering of Bob Weir's songwriting abilities and is an important chapter in the Dead's legacy. So I guess my version of your Rambling Rose compilation would have a side 3!
The only reason I didn't use the Ace version of Playing in the Band was because Keith and Donna are all over it! With Greatest Story it was almost unavoidable, as I honestly don't know of any great pre-Keith versions of the song. I'm open for suggestions, though!
Sugaree has that great story by Hunter. Keep our secrets no matter what. Lose my number. Sexy grooves to tell the tale. Jerry was smoking the good stuff when he laid this down.
I blame that photo for me buying that LP for too much money! Also note my skeezy little photo credit! I meant to @ you but couldn’t remember who I stole it from!
Ha ha! It is very pretty-looking, and sounds stellar, too. I’ve collected all the coloured Garcia LP’s. I’d better not post as I don’t want to be blamed!
I wonder what exists from the making of this album. I know there are some alternates on the All Good Things box but I have to imagine there was a fair amount of rehearsal/tracking between Jerry and Billy to get the drums down before Jerry did his overdubs. You just don’t see much said about that specific process and I wonder what tapes were saved from early in the process.
Loser (Garcia, Hunter) A somber sounding line based in bluegrass/blues opens this weary minor based tune. Mostly A minor based chords but some borrowed chords add tension at the end of verse lines. The verse comes full circle and closes back to A minor. The second verse enters at 1:00 and the chords have a rollercoaster up down effect on the emotional state of the song. Awesome fit to the lyrics. Jerry’s organ adds a weary timbre to the song. At 1:40, I will call this a chorus since it does a rise to major and Jerry’s vocals get more emphatic and rise up but, it is no happy face chorus. Fine harmonies in the vocals. The verse returns and the minor weariness returns. But it is not all cry in my soup…..tough sounding at times. The final verse at 3:07 has the arrangement a little thinner sounding. The final line at 3:35 gets repeated as a refrain. At 3:54 a surprise turnaround D chord with the final A minor chord brings the song to a close. A fine minor based ballad with Jerry playing a bunch of instruments. A terrific closer to Side One. Jerry never overplays on any instrument and everything serves the song well.
LOSER Lyrics By: Robert Hunter Music By: Jerry Garcia If I had a gun for every ace that I had drawn I could arm a town the size of Abilene Don't you push me baby, 'cause I'm moaning low And you know I'm only in it for the gold All that I am asking for is ten gold dollars (note 1) And I could pay you back with one good hand You can look around at the wide world over But you'll never find another honest man Last fair deal in the country, sweet Susie (note 2) Last fair deal in the town Put your gold money where your love is baby Before you let my deal go down Don't you push me baby, 'cause I'm moaning low Well I know a little something you won't ever know Don't you touch hard liquor, just a cup of cold coffee Gonna get up in the morning and go Everybody's bragging and drinking that wine I can tell the Queen of Diamonds by the way she shines Come to daddy on an inside straight Well I got no chance of losing this time Well I got no chance of losing this time (1) at some point, this changed from "one gold dollar" - inflation! (2) after a while, Garcia dropped "sweet Susie" from this line, though he occasionally seemed to forget and bring it back again! It rarely appears after 1972, but instances are 5/14/74, 6/18/74 and 1/10/79. From Dead.net
Yes, but Donna’s caterwauling is mixed way low during the first ad lib vocal break and omitted altogether during the second vocal ad lib break after the middle jam. Thankfully. I think Keith acquits himself very well in the jam. One comp section in particular is just perfect and not the typical aping of Garcia’s part Keith normally plays.
I’m just started following this thread. I will be pulling me Olive Warner pressing off the shelf Edit: Side 1 is one of those perfect album sides. It’s a wonderful de facto Grateful Dead album, too.
