The Grateful Dead

[Shug]

And if you have time and space in your head, listen to the next night at Buffalo. Especially the first set. Often overlooked in the shadow of the great Cornell show. Simply the best first set ever to my ears, and that Comes A Time in the second set...

That's probably the best Comes A Time ever, the ending solo just drips with emotion.  They didn't play it that much and it always makes me wonder why two similar songs, like Stella Blue and Comes A Time, one gets played every third or fourth night for years and years and the other was extremely rare.  What is the difference between those songs that made Jerry play one and not the other?  Any theories?

 

Buffalo May 9 1977 is a great show.  Help>Slipknot is one of the best, too, I think.

 

Wow, it must be cool to be hearing Cornell for the first time ever.  Enjoy, dude!  You can't go wrong with any show in May 1977, things were really clicking.

[Fritz]

And if you have time and space in your head, listen to the next night at Buffalo. Especially the first set. Often overlooked in the shadow of the great Cornell show. Simply the best first set ever to my ears, and that Comes A Time in the second set...

 

I will, thank you for the guidance.

 

Just started getting my head around torrents. I'll search for Buffalo next!

 

The solo in Loser from Cornell sounds like something Neil Young would do. Gives me shivers ever time.

[Vacant Horizon]

 

new Weir Here.  i love this shit.  so chill and the mix is so warm.  dave schools, kimock!  just fun.  leslie is great too...great voice and rhodes.  love it.

[Fritz]

 

new Weir Here.  i love this shit.  so chill and the mix is so warm.  dave schools, kimock!  just fun.  leslie is great too...great voice and rhodes.  love it.

 

Don't Let Me Down...what a beautiful version!

[mountain bed]

I will, thank you for the guidance.

 

Just started getting my head around torrents. I'll search for Buffalo next!

 

The solo in Loser from Cornell sounds like something Neil Young would do. Gives me shivers ever time.

Hey now! While you're rooting around in May of '77 you simply MUST hear the Playin' sandwich from 5/19. The transition from China Doll into the Playin' Reprise is deeply spacey and hypnotic, and is possibly my favorite segment of music from all of 1977. And I'm not bullshitting. 

[worldrecordplayer]

That's probably the best Comes A Time ever, the ending solo just drips with emotion.  They didn't play it that much and it always makes me wonder why two similar songs, like Stella Blue and Comes A Time, one gets played every third or fourth night for years and years and the other was extremely rare.  What is the difference between those songs that made Jerry play one and not the other?  Any theories?

.

That's a great question, and I don't have any answer for it.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I suspect it's because Stella Blue is just a better song and/or more meaningful for the band.

Check out the annotated Stella Blue:
http://artsites.ucsc.edu/GDead/agdl/stella.html
"...written at the Chelsea Hotel in 1970. This places "Stella Blue" in distinguished company. It's where Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2001: a Space Odyssey; Bob Dylan wrote Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands; and Arthur Miller wrote After the Fall."

"...first performance at the Hollywood Bowl on June 17, 1972. This was Pigpen's last show with the band."
Of course, they couldn't know it would be that way, but maybe they looked back and it made the song more poignant for them.

Comes A Time, while it sounds somewhat similar, is a little on the cliché side. "Comes a time when the blind man takes your hand, says, 'Don't you see?" Ah, I'm betting that never happened to Hunter. Whereas "I've stayed in every blue-light cheap hotel..." probably felt real to Hunter and Garcia alike. Don't get me wrong, I like the song, but sometimes I have to sort of suspend disbelief to get past that sentimentality.

Also, Neil Young put out an album called Comes A Time in the 70s, and that may have further discouraged the band from breaking out their Comes A Time. "Hey, did you hear they broke out Comes A Time last night?" "The Neil Young song? Cool!" "No, no...the Jerry solo song."

Of course, this is all my opinion and wild speculation. Doubt we will get a definitive answer on this mystery...

[Shug]

I suspect it's because Stella Blue is just a better song and/or more meaningful for the band.

 

Check out the annotated Stella Blue:

http://artsites.ucsc.edu/GDead/agdl/stella.html

"...written at the Chelsea Hotel in 1970. This places "Stella Blue" in distinguished company. It's where Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2001: a Space Odyssey; Bob Dylan wrote Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands; and Arthur Miller wrote After the Fall."

 

"...first performance at the Hollywood Bowl on June 17, 1972. This was Pigpen's last show with the band."

Of course, they couldn't know it would be that way, but maybe they looked back and it made the song more poignant for them.

 

Comes A Time, while it sounds somewhat similar, is a little on the cliché side. "Comes a time when the blind man takes your hand, says, 'Don't you see?" Ah, I'm betting that never happened to Hunter. Whereas "I've stayed in every blue-light cheap hotel..." probably felt real to Hunter and Garcia alike. Don't get me wrong, I like the song, but sometimes I have to sort of suspend disbelief to get past that sentimentality.

 

Also, Neil Young put out an album called Comes A Time in the 70s, and that may have further discouraged the band from breaking out their Comes A Time. "Hey, did you hear they broke out Comes A Time last night?" "The Neil Young song? Cool!" "No, no...the Jerry solo song."

 

Of course, this is all my opinion and wild speculation. Doubt we will get a definitive answer on this mystery...

 I think you are onto something, Mr. Heartbreak, although I disagree about Comes A Time being an inferior cliched song, I love both of those songs so much, never got tired of Stella and it got better and better over the years, some of the best ones were in '94 (that one from Phoenix is a vocal powerhouse, not as much guitar-wise) and I never got to see Comes A Time in 100 shows.  But I'm a pretty sentimental dude, I love sappy emotional stuff, I take it with all sincerity.  But maybe you are right, there must've been something about the lyrics of Comes A Time that didn't feel right for Jerr or maybe he had to be in just the right mood to pull it off?  Maybe it was too deep and too honest and hit too close to home to play when he wasn't feeling it?  Kinda like how Neil Young feels about his great song I Believe In You.  Its just too intense for him to play it live.  Maybe Comes A Time reminded Jerry of all the stuff about himself that was uncomfortable to think about?

[Shug]

Hey now! While you're rooting around in May of '77 you simply MUST hear the Playin' sandwich from 5/19. The transition from China Doll into the Playin' Reprise is deeply spacey and hypnotic, and is possibly my favorite segment of music from all of 1977. And I'm not bullshitting. 

  yeah I was getting 5-9 Buffalo and 5-19 confused.  5-19-77 Atlanta has that superb 2nd set jam with one of my favorite Uncle John's Band where they find themselves in the middle jam before they've started the song, one of those happy accidents, I guess. 

 

Terrapin>

Playin>

Uncle John's Band>

Drums>

Wheel>

China Doll>

Playin

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I think you are onto something, Mr. Heartbreak, although I disagree about Comes A Time being an inferior cliched song...

Well, I didn't actually say it was inferior.

I just think Stella Blue is a better, and more universal song.

As for it hitting too close to home, you may be right...although, if that were the case, you would think Fire on the Mountain would have had much the same effect! I guess we're lucky Jer liked to play that one as much as he did, because I love that song...

[mountain bed]

Hell, I forgot to mention the Comes a Time from 5/4/77. The Playin' > Comes a Time > Playin' that finishes out set 2 covers quite a bit of ground!

 

5/4 is a show that doesn't get enough love, surely because of the wealth of stellar shows from that month, but imo it shouldn't be overlooked. The Dancin' that closes out set 1 is an all timer, and is 20 minutes.

[IRememberDBoon]

Comes a Time > Wharf Rat > Stella Blue

All three are special and transcendent but and the "best" on this list gets played the lease and so forth  

 

[Fritz]

And it won't be the last I'm sure. Howza 'bout that set 2, eh?

 

Morning Dew...oh man.

[mountain bed]

While it's on my mind don't forget to dig into April '71! A month of the VERY BEST of Pig. From now (4/15) until the Fillmore Run at the end of the month he's just at the very peak of his powers - some of his best raps, and the band (by now stripped down to for all practical purposes a quartet) just kills on his tunes.

[Moss]

Anybody know anything about this record store day release? 

 

http://stereogum.com/1315731/the-10-most-anticipated-record-store-day-2013-releases/franchises/listomania/attachment/418455341796/

 

Grateful Dead - Rare Cuts and Oddities 1966 (Rhino)

This collection gathers some both live and studio recordings of the Dead at their earliest, and it apparently contains the only known Jerry Garcia-sung version of "Promised Land." Also, just look at that sweet picture of them on the cover.

[mountain bed]

Anybody know anything about this record store day release? 

 

http://stereogum.com/1315731/the-10-most-anticipated-record-store-day-2013-releases/franchises/listomania/attachment/418455341796/

I do know the GD released it on CD maybe 5-6 years ago. It's a pretty cool thing, but nothing that'll make your regular rotation.

[calvino]

I do know the GD released it on CD maybe 5-6 years ago. It's a pretty cool thing, but nothing that'll make your regular rotation.

 

I have to be really to be in the mood for it, too --- I don't think the Dead were particularly happy with it, either. The record release item definitively has a better cover then the one I have  - I think it's an all orange or something cover - It came as a bonus with on the Golden Road box sets, I believe. Hell, now i am thinking the bonus disc was a completely different set of music - I need to dig out my cd.,,

[Analogman]

I've always wondered if there were differences between the two releases. I never looked it up before.

 

Birth of The Dead

 

Disc one

• The Studio sides
• "Early Morning Rain" (Lightfoot) – 3:22
• "I Know You Rider" (traditional) – 2:41
• "Mindbender (Confusion's Prince)" (Garcia, Lesh) – 2:41
• "The Only Time Is Now" (Grateful Dead) – 2:24
• "Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)" (Grateful Dead) – 3:17
• "Can't Come Down" (Grateful Dead) – 3:04
• "Stealin' (instrumental)" (Gus Cannon) – 2:40
• "Stealin' (w/ vocals)" (Gus Cannon) – 2:36
• "Don't Ease Me In (instrumental)" (traditional) – 2:01
• "Don't Ease Me In (w/ vocals)" (traditional) – 2:02
• "You Don't Have to Ask" (Grateful Dead) – 3:35
• "Tastebud (instrumental)" (McKernan) – 7:04
• "Tastebud (w/ vocals" (McKernan) – 4:35
• "I Know You Rider" (traditional) – 2:36
• "Cold Rain and Snow (instrumental)" (traditional) – 3:15
• "Cold Rain and Snow (w/ vocals)" (traditional) – 3:17
• "Fire in the City" (Krug) – 3:19

Disc two

• The Live Sides
• "Viola Lee Blues" (Lewis) – 9:39
• "Don't Ease Me In" (traditional) – 2:43
• "Pain in My Heart" (Neville) – 4:24
• "Sitting on Top of the World" (Chatmon, Vinson) – 3:51
• "It's All over Now, Baby Blue" (Dylan) – 5:12
• "I'm a King Bee" (Moore) – 8:52
• "Big Boss Man" (Dixon, Smith) – 5:11
• "Standing on the Corner" (Grateful Dead) – 3:46
• "In the Pines" (Bryant, McMichen) – 4:55
• "Nobody's Fault But Mine" (Johnson) – 4:15
• "Next Time You See Me" (Forest, Harvey) – 2:47
• "One Kind Favor" (Hopkins, Taub) – 3:44
• "He Was a Friend of Mine" (traditional) – 4:45
• "Keep Rolling By" (traditional) – 7:5

Autumn Records sessions (Disc one, tracks 1 to 6) - Recorded on November 3, 1965 at Golden Gate Recorders, San Francisco, CA

Scorpio Records sessions (tracks 7 to 16) - Recorded during June, 1966 at Buena Vista Studio, San Francisco, CA

Fire In The City - Recorded during March, 1967 at Columbus Recorders, San Francisco, CA

Live performances - Recorded during July 1966

 

Rare Cuts and Oddities 1966 (I don't own this one. The release got by me somehow.)

 

        "Walking the Dog" (Rufus Thomas) – 5:38

        "You See a Broken Heart" (Pigpen) – 2:50

        "The Promised Land" (Chuck Berry) – 2:31

        "Good Lovin'" (Artie Resnick, Rudy Clark) – 2:41

        "Standing on the Corner" (Grateful Dead) – 2:55

        "Cream Puff War" (Jerry Garcia) – 3:37

        "Betty and Dupree" (traditional, arr. Grateful Dead) – 5:35

        "Stealin'" (Gus Cannon) – 2:53

        "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" (Dick Reynolds, Jack Rhodes) – 3:00

        "Not Fade Away" (Buddy Holly, Norman Petty) – 3:51

        "Big Railroad Blues" (Noah Lewis) – 3:10

        "Sick and Tired" (Dave Bartholomew, Chris Kenner) – 3:19

        "Empty Heart" (Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman) – 6:18

        "Gangster of Love" (Johnny "Guitar" Watson) – 4:35

        "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing" (Oliver Sain) – 2:56

        "Hey Little One" (Dorsey Burnette, Barry De Vorzon) – 5:02

        "I'm a King Bee" (Slim Harpo) – 6:01

        "Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)" (Grateful Dead) – 9:18

 

        Tracks 1-6 & 10 – early 1966 studio recordings

        Tracks 7-8 – March 2 studio recordings

        Track 9 – late 1966 studio recording

        Tracks 11-13 – February/March live recordings

        Tracks 14-15 – Recorded live at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco on July 3

        Tracks 16-18 – Recorded live at the Danish Center in Los Angeles on March 12

[worldrecordplayer]

While it's on my mind don't forget to dig into April '71! A month of the VERY BEST of Pig. From now (4/15) until the Fillmore Run at the end of the month he's just at the very peak of his powers - some of his best raps, and the band (by now stripped down to for all practical purposes a quartet) just kills on his tunes.

I was listening to Ladies and Gentlemen on my commute this morning.  That 4 night run at the Fillmore represents the very best of Pig and the band as a whole during that era.  April 28 and April 29 were among the very first cassettes I got way back in the day in college in mid-70's.  The Dark Star > St. Stephen > NFA > GDTRFB > NFA sequence of April 28 has always been among my absolute favorite Dead jams of any era.  If anyone has not properly listened to that, I suggest you drop everything and give it a spin!

[calvino]

(Rare Cuts) Completely different - not sure why I assumed the were they were the same set. Looks kinda of interesting - wouldn't mind hearing an early Big Railroad Blues, also a nice somewhat long version of Empty Heart might be fun, too. The Dead should have pulled out their cover of "Gangster of Love" when Steve Miller was opening some shows in 92.

[Analogman]

It's been a while since I listened to Birth of The Dead - but I recall Jerry's tone is pretty cool.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen  - as I have said before - the solo in Loser is one of my favorite Jerry solos.

[calvino]

To settle my confusion in my muddled mind - I just grabbed the "orange covered" cd that I was talking about - it is a Grateful Dead documentary - a few interviews from 1968 - I believe this disc came as a bonus with the Golden Road box set. Birth of the Dead is actually part of the box.

[Analogman]

I bought that boxset in a record store - way back when it came out. That's the first I have heard of such a bonus disc.

[calvino]

 

 

This limited-edition two-disc set was available as a promotional premium in conjunction with the sale of the Golden Road (1965-1973) box set. The offer was extended exclusively through the Grateful Dead's online and mail-order merchandising organization.

 

 

 

Allmusic link below:

 

http://www.allmusic.com/album/grateful-dead-documentary-mw0001199762

[Analogman]

I see - it was through the dead website.

 

Speaking of that boxset, this is some great stuff:

 

1. "Clementine Jam" (studio jam 8/13/68) (Grateful Dead) – 10:46
2. "Nobody's Spoonful Jam" (studio jam 8/13/68) (Grateful Dead) – 10:04
3. "The Eleven Jam" (studio jam 8/13/68) (Grateful Dead) - 15:00