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winterland121072

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    The Grateful Dead

    in Someone Else's Song

    Posted

    2017_03_28_Edited__Garcia__et__al__Batch_02

     

    1966-09-16.gd.vinyl_sbd_san_francisco In The Midnight Hour

    1971-09-24.jgms.sbd.san_anselmo Biloxi

    1972-03-21.gd.sbd.nyc Greatest Story Ever Told

    1972-08-22.gd.sbd.berkeley Truckin’ > The Other One > Stella Blue

    1974-02-24.gd.matrix.san_francisco Promised Land

    1974-05-17.gd.sbd.vancouver Sugar Magnolia

    1979-04-13.recon.sbd_denver Mohican and the Great Spirit

    1979-08-13.gd.matrix.denver Althea > Lost Sailor > Deal

    1979-08-14.gd.sbd.denver Terrapin > Playin’ In The Band

    1982-10-10.gd.mtx.palo_alto China Cat > Rider

    1983-03-31.gd.mtx.warfield Little Red Rooster

    1989-06-19.gd.sbd.shoreline Feel Like a Stranger

     

    The 1972-08-22 Truckin’ > Other One > Stella features a short but well done Truckin’ jam that folds into one of the finest Other Ones I’ve heard. The soloing from Jerry is deep and nearly liquid sounding at times. Following verse one is an extended and monstrous Lesh solo. The counter play between purely psychotic jamming and frenetic sprinting is a treat to hear. The band is really firing on all cylinders here – this isn’t simply a great jerry or phil version, but truly is a masterpiece from the whole band. The stella that follows is very nascent compared to later versions (e.g., “…can’t keep from cryin’…”), but is nonetheless very impressive. I especially like the final jerry scream of “stella blue” before a nearly tear invoking finale solo.

     

    Feel Like a Stranger from 1989-06-19 features a nicely crafted jam that peaks well. The Strangers from 1989 were a great launching point for the band and on many instances was a harbinger of whether the show would be 1989 average or 1989 exceptional. This version indicated 1989 exceptional. The 1989-02-10 version was another harbinger of 1989 exceptional.

     

    Greatest Story from 1972-03-21 was, like the Stella from 1972-08-22, nascent in form. The band’s rhythm wasn’t quite in sync, but I really like this version for the raw Jerry solo. The band would mold around Jerry’s lead during the ensuing years.

    I’ve listened to what is out there for 1965 and 1966. It is interesting but mainly not really exceptional in my opinion. Good stuff, but nothing dramatically impressive. The 1966-09-16 Midnight Hour is an exception. Jerry cooks throughout this 5 minute solo. Again, a window into what the band would become. It is interesting to hear Pig jump in here and there and how advanced Jerry molded his solo based upon either having to work with Pig or work alone.

     

    Promised Land generally can be a throw-away tune (e.g., like Sugaree from 1971, 2, 3 and 4). It basically was a warm-up tune which generally was neither exceptional nor poor. The 1974-02-24 version belies this argument. Indeed, the Keith solo is really well done with Weir’s and Jerry’s rhythm interplaying beautifully. The finale from Jerry scorches as well. Very tight.

     

    This batches’ China Rider time-machine lands in Palo Alto 1982, 1982-10-10 to be precise. This is a very clear example of laid-back but driving (e.g., oxymoron?) jamming from the band. The transition bridging China and Rider features Jerry cooking but also features several chunky Lesh bombs and an almost jazzy Mydland sound. It apexes really well. The following Rider fails to not impress.

     

    I’ve always really liked the triplet of Althea Lost Sailor Deal from 1979-08-13. This was an amazing show with lots of highlights. This triplet often gets missed in most reviews. The Althea and Lost Sailor features delicate but well done Jerry solos. Not the most intense, but really well done. The Deal smokes.

     

    Not wandering very far, the next night featured an impressive Terrapin Station > Playin In the Band. The best Terrapins, in my opinion, get deep or lost during the in-song space prior to “Since the end is never told…” This version indeed does get a bit lost, and the transition back to the song is pretty well done. The ending of Terrapin is well done. The following PITB is great. In many respects the Keith Brent swap is most vividly apparent in PITB. The 1978 PITB generally didn’t wander or explore and was short. The 1979 PITB, quite the contrary, wandered and explored. Indeed, Jerry really pushed this version out there with a masterful combination of both psychedelic sprinting and overall weirdness. Brent added a lot to this band, and his effect was immediately apparent with Jerry’s improvisation. The band went from mainly a song based band in 1978 to an improvisation band in 1979.

     

    The Clementine New Potato from 1968-02-21 displays two of the band’s 1968 assets – free flowing jamming and structured jamming. The Clementine meanders beautifully with careful and delicate improvisation from Jerry. There is nothing dramatically impressive here from a skilled perspective, but its simplicity is its beauty. The following New Potato shows the bands ability to each hit their spots in a relatively complicated jam. I’ve always really liked the finale structured jam during New Potato. It kind of mixes frenetic despair with an arrogant swagger – if that is possible. This version is impressive among the many from this era.

     

    1983 was a mixed bag with the inevitable decline in Jerry’s health and very related Persian addiction. A lot of 1983 shows reflected these problems across the board. A lot 1983 shows had a few great moments. 1983-03-31 was mainly rough, but it did have a few exceptional moments. The Little Red Rooster is an example. Standing out from an at best average first set, Jerry woke up and delivered a sinister reading.

     

    Jesse Winchester’s Biloxi was the perfect tune for Jerry. He could delicately sing the tune in his near falsetto voice but also deliver his ascending solos that rendered the ballad with passion. The 1971-09-24 version matches this description. It also represents an early show billed as Garcia Saunders.

     

    As with many aspects of life the purely exceptional is often paired with an equally repressive counterpart (e.g., my intelligence and my looks). So the Grateful Dead was faced such a cruel twist of fate in 1974. Indeed, many many different jams and songs were marked with sheer beauty but also a cacaphonic presence – Donna. I hate to Donna bash. I really do. I used to describe her as a psychedelic gnat – annoying but interesting. As I’ve gotten older, though, I just find it hard to suffer her singing. Thus, this brings us to the 1974-05-17 Sugar Magnolia. This a fun version having an impressive Jerry lead during SSDD instrumental. Jerry and the band are equally impressive during the SSDD vocals, but Donna’s wailing render it unlistenable. To render it a joy to hear, I spliced the very ending of the SSDD vocals to the end of the SSDD instrumental. I think it works.

     

    Finally, I added a beautiful Jerry solo taken from the Reconstruction show on 1979-04-13 during the version of Mohican and the Great Spirit. Enjoy.

     

    https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ueelr6x7km5rl40/AADvNa3cgvFVjmDSJLEwXfqUa?dl=0

    password rogerrafa

    The Grateful Dead

    in Someone Else's Song

    Posted

    I'd love to see a Holly Bowling show...

     

     

    Listening to 21 May 1974 Playin' In the Band (the infamous 45 day version) after many years.  It is ok I guess...There are much better versions around that time...Maybe I need to hear it a few more times. It just sounds like jerry meandering with the band doing their own meandering --- little interesting interplay...

    The Grateful Dead

    in Someone Else's Song

    Posted

    A while back (August 31, 2016), jw harding posted the following:

     

    I'm not a completist, don't need to hear every version of El Paso, etc. It's hard to find shortcuts to the Dead, so I love the various Grateful Dead related mixes you can find online. Here's a guy who really knows his stuff, and his tastes align with mine. He apparently had ongoing correspondence with Dick Latvala. Some really cool stuff here, and great commentary:

     

    http://saveyourface.posthaven.com/

     

    Well...I really liked the idea of this.  I looked through the stuff at saveyourface and liked what he was doing and the "edited" versions. So for the last 7 months I've been accumulating my own "edited" versions of my favorite shows / songs / etc from the Grateful Dead and the various Jerry side projects. I am going to try and post a new batch every week or so (we'll see). I'll use "drop-box".

     

    By edited I mean I don't need to hear Lesh's harmony ever again on the 1972/3/4 I Know You Riders, but I do want to hear the soloing and finale jams. I also don’t need to hear the 6-20 minutes of “oooohhh, nothin’s gonna bring him back…” etc.  Likewise, Playin' In The Band's can be nicely cut down to 1 verse and, as such, miss the Donna wailing on the front and back ends. Also, certain jams were fantastic but inbetween the amazing moments were extended stretches of drift or tuning that is easily removed.

     

    So through use of "audacity" I spliced out what I don't need or want to hear.

    In addition, I frequently was frustrated with how extended jams (Truckin' > Dark Star > Comes A Time) (China Cat > Rider) (Scarlet > Fire) (etc) were split up into separate tracks.

     

    My “edited” versions include them as one long track.

     

    So, this is how I like it. Take it or leave it...Enjoy or not...Feedback would be great...

     

    I guess this isn’t for the purists out there that want every note. I can respect that. This probably isn’t what you want as I’ve paired it down.

    I’ve been listening closely to Garcia et al for over 20 years. This is the most satisfying manner for me to listen to this amazing music…

     

    Here is batch one (each song is provided as separate mp3s) (about 90 minutes). There are era-appropriate photos attached with each mp3...You should be able to just drop in itunes and have a great mix (the artist, album, song name, and era-appropriate photograph are linked with each mp3).

     

    https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ueelr6x7km5rl40/AADvNa3cgvFVjmDSJLEwXfqUa?dl=0

    password rogerrafa

     

    1971-10-31.gd.sbd.columbus Dark Star > Sugar Magnolia

    1972-07-26.gd.sbd.seattle NFA > GDTRFB > NFA

    1973-02-15.gd.matrix.madison China Cat > Rider

    1973-02-22.gd.sbd.champaign_urbana Playing In The Band

    1974-05-12.gd.sbd_+_matrix_reno Big River

    1974-05-14.gd.sbd.missoula Scarlet > Musta Been The Roses

    1974-05-19.gd.matrix.portland Peggy-O

    1975-03-23.gd.sbd_san_francisco Johnny B. Goode

    1976-08-04.gd.sbd.jersey_city New Minglewood Blues

    1977-09-03.gd.mtx.englishtown Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo 

    1979-04-28.garcia.aud.palo_alto Strugglin’ Man

    1979-08-12.gd.sbd.red_rocks Estimated > Eyes

    1989-01-28.garcia.sbd.san_francisco Waitin’ For A Miracle

    1989-02-10.gd.sbd.los_angeles Let It Grow

    1989-05-07.gd.sbd.palo_alto Bird Song

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