Just took in a very interesting nugget. Jerry sitting in as part of an informal (but very well recorded) jam session: 1969.10.28 Jefferson Airplane House 2400 Fulton Street SF There is a very relaxed mood to the whole tape. They work through a couple of songs (Been All Around This World and Big Boss Man) and then spend the rest of the hour on jams (including a Stormy Monday jam). Nice stuff. The likely participants are listed in the circulating notes as: Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Cassady, Mickey Hart, and Spencer Dryden. However, in the banter (post-Big Boss Man/opening Stormy Monday) Jerry seems to be addressing John Cipollina (Quicksilver's lead guitarist), sound to me like Jerry calls him "Cipollini." I think Cipollina is wanting a drink "Is there anything to drink in the whole house?" To which someone (Jerry, I believe) says, "That doesn't have an enormous quantity of dope in it?" (laughs). Then Jerry adds, "I don't drink, I just don't".... "Come on Cipollini, time to go to work." This banter is a bit buried (I cranked the volume). Anyway, a fun session. Bill
No real explanation has ever come to us. At the time the idea of a 6 CD release may have seemed too much for the TPTB. Of course, they have been wrong about our appetite for Fall '73 shows the entire time.
Skimming through the times for the 12/1/73 tracks on Relisten, if they drop tunings and such, it looks like three chock-full CDs of yummy.
The Brokedown that night from the first set may be my all time favorite version. I wish I can convey the feeling that swept through the place when Jerry started it, but wait, I know you know. What a night. What a band. So many magical times. Zafu
As for '72-'73 Bird Songs, I'd agree that they never played a bad version, but they also never played a transcendent version either. It's rather formulaic; no one jumps out of the plane without a parachute and it rarely goes anywhere other than where it is scripted to do. So it's very good first set fodder, but little more. E'72 doesn't suffer one bit from its omission, IMO. This sort of observation brings up something that I don't understand: People talk about music that one listens to to relax. This does not compute with me. I don't often listen to music to relax; I generally listen to music to get agitated or having my head ripped off. I suppose that there are a few exceptions to this, but I can't cite one off of the top of my head (assuming it's still there).
It is a very pleasant way to spend ten to twelve minutes, but I agree that it is not the part of the show where they go “without a net”. Plus, if it had been on the E72 tour, what would it have replaced in the setlist? A 15-minute Good Lovin’? No thanks.
A sequence from Dick's Picks 4 came up on my shuffle just now. Not Fade Away>Mason's Children>Caution This might get overlooked, since the 90 minute Dark Star>TIFTOO>Lovelight is such a colossus. But the jamming in between NFA and Mason's is tip top OMG warewolf holy banana you-know-who level. AHHH-MAY-ZING. And then the tail end of Caution just shreds right down to the last note. It's so hard to pick a single overall favorite release out of all of them, but this one may just be it for me.
16 January 1970- Springer's Inn, Portlandia Once Bear gets the mix dialed in we find our heroes throwing down in the PNW. Pig is currently explaining to the audience, especially the young women in attendance, that he is, indeed, Hard To Handle.
I’ve spent most of this week doing a deep dive into this show, with repeated listenings to appreciate the nectar of the overshadowed Next Night after the Dark Star St. Stephen epic. Wow! As I’ve implied earlier, I was an obsessive high school kid who simply had to see all four of these NY area January shows. This one always felt like an afterthought, and that the great Jack Straw was the most noteworthy thing. Boy was I wrong! I won’t try to replicate a blow by blow, since SJR did a great one, but a couple things I’ve LOVED: Yes to Jack Straw, but OMG don’t miss Deal! I just love 78 Deals, the vocal interplay between Jerry, Donna and Bobby is such a fun wild rave. This one smokes, and compares favorably to 5/10/78, another go to version from this era. Miracle is so dang good! I don’t know when I last gave INAM more than one time as I checked out a show*, but this one is a perfect example of how good this tune was in its earliest incarnation, before it became a power chord stomp. Keith sounds great on this tape, it’s truly wonderful to find out that he wasn’t always disengaged and phoning it in, during his late tenure. Check out the extended Miracle out jam for some terrific Keith/Jerry interplay. I’m loving the Estimated, especially Donna’s contributions towards the end. And He’s Gone is terrific; I never previously picked up how good Jerry’s outro soloing is, shades of Caution I’d say. All the post drums similarly shines far more than I thought, and holy moly that STELLA! That was my first Stella, and my gosh it is a masterpiece version every step of the way, from a gentle relaxed opening, well sung, good solo and the final jam is lengthy and perfect. Beautiful. Anyway, this one is a keeper, and thankfully there’s a SBD, all too rare for this winter 79 tour. * I guess that would be Jan. 15, 79.
Finishing up 3/18/71 this morning. This show delivers the goods. Is there a cut in GDRFB on the official release? Lovin’ that sweet Spring 71 sound.
I'm still in discovery mode as a relative newcomer, so I'm going in chronological mode through my collection. I'm going to do that one more time (this week I start back at 1966), but I'm starting to feel the limitations of that approach. For me, it's not a problem in my core era of 1972-74, but I start to feel the repetition and lose some enthusiasm once I get to May '77 and beyond. The shows from a single run are great, but listening to a whole bunch of shows from a single tour or period in a row is different. Era hopping starts to sound more appealing.
Speaking of Bird Song, started up another St. Louis Fox show and I'm up to the version on 10/17/72, sounds pretty good. It may not go deep, but it always sounds like a warm up for deep excursions later in the show (though it looks like the 2nd set here is a little pedestrian in that regard, based on track timings.) 1972/10/17 St. Louis, MO (Listen To The River: St. Louis '71 '72 '73)
I find jumping around eras keeps things fresh. I've thought of going through stuff chronologically, perhaps start with the first studio album, then a corresponding live show, then on to the next studio or canon live album, then corresponding live show. Rinse. Repeat. Would be more fun if we were all doing it at the same time, and follow the progression of the band's sound over the decades.
One way to do that is to pick one show per year. I did that approach in the Archive last year and enjoyed it.
