Here's a question for all and sundry - if you only had $17 to spend on a Grateful Dead gift for an experienced listener who enjoys both eras, would you go with the Anthem of the Sun 50th anniversary, or the 3 CD sampler from the PNW set?
To me they are both must-have (if he doesn't have the PNW box) but the PNW sampler really came out great, so I'd vote for that.
Listened to 1/10/79 Nassau, the middle Dark Star of the three from 12/31/78 through 1/20/79. Mediocre first set until the closing sequence of Row Jimmy, Passenger, Loser (where Sweet Suzie makes her last appearance, supposedly), and Music Never Stopped, which were all very good. Second set is all fire from the Shakedown on, great version of St. Stephen late in the set as well. Last show that featured both Dark Start and St. Stephen - wowza.
IWT. Great second show, save that I had no idea at the time how monumental it was. It did take some time for the band to dial it in during the first set, mediocre is an adjective I'd reserve for some 1984 shows I saw. And if Betty had recorded it on reel-to-reel tape, nobody would care about Cornell.
Maybe "not notable" rather than "mediocre" - nothing was badly played, but it was very standard and not a very exciting song selection until Row Jimmy or so. After that, the rest of the show was terrific, and very jealous about your being in attendance.
I never knew they played Baby Blue so early, I have to go dig around for some of those '66 versions; I mean I guess I've heard it that early once or twice, but I sure don't remember it. Odd then that it didn't show up again until '69 - 7 times, '70 - 3, '72 - 2, '74 -1 then nothing until '81 when it hit pretty regular rotation except for a dip to once in '93 (maybe a little too personal feeling that year?). You think you know something,
It's All Over Now Baby Blue (my favorite encore) 12.27.91 OAK (10th/final version of the year) 03.12.92 NY (only '92 version) 03.10.93 IL (only '93 version) 09.17.94 MV (first of 6 in '94) 02.19.95 UT (only version in '95; FINAL) Yeah, it's weird. I'm going to go ahead and blame "Baba O'Riley > Tomorrow Never Knows" for the missing versions in '92 and similarly "I Fought the Law" for the missing versions of '93.
Ok, let's break down the distribution of lead vocals for the Dylan covers: Jerry It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (GD + solo) Knockin' on Heaven's Door (GD + solo) Quinn the Eskimo (GD) She Belongs to Me (GD) Visions of Johanna (GD) It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (GD) The Wicked Messenger (solo) Going, Going, Gone (sol0) Forever Young (solo) Tough Mama (solo) Tangled up in Blue (solo) Simple Twist of Fate (solo) I Shall Be Released (solo) The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest (solo) Positively 4th Street (solo) Señor (solo) Tears of Rage (solo) When I Paint My Masterpiece (solo) That's actually ten '60s songs out of eighteen. Bobby (GD only) All Along the Watchtower Ballad of a Thin Man Desolation Row Maggie's Farm Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again Queen Jane Approximately When I Paint My Masterpiece All but one from the '60s here. So, my theory didn't really hold... Jerry liked Dylan's '60s and '70s material equally, though Planet Waves and Blood on the Tracks obviously saw a spike in his interest, bringing five songs from those albums into his repertoire. And even if he went on to play a variety of Dylan songs in solo configurations, Bobby obviously preferred his '60s material with the Dead.
Listened this morning to most of 3/19/77 set 1. Some sound quality problems that may be the reason it hasn't been officially released yet, but a well played set. There is something about these early versions of "Terrapin" with no backing vocals (except on the closing "terrapin").
May I ask, please, which Live official release versions of songs from Terrapin Station would you guys recommend? Primarily Terrapin Station & Estimated Prophet. Please let me know what are the best sounding versions too, if you would, thanks!