Monday, May 17, 2010

A Dead Monday from way back in the day...10-22-1967

What is up y'all?  No real fan fare today, let's jump into it...This monday's Grateful Dead excursion leaps way back in time to 1967, specifically 10-22-1967  You can listen to it via that link or stream it c'here:
This gem of a show was the Grateful Dead's set on an outstanding bill put together by Bill Graham at Winterland to raise money for the marijuana defense fund back in 1967...politics and drugs aside, just peep the poster and check out the amazing lineup:

and all for $2.50!!!!  Unreal.  Not only do you Get Quicksilver Messenger Service, you get Big Brother and Janis shaking her booty and singing her face off! 
That is some lineup....ahh to have been in San Fran in the late 60's....anyway I won't get all Hunter S high water mark on you,

but this must have been a killer night and the Dead's set is a major reason why.  A quick and powerful "Morning Dew" opens up their set and it finds Jerry blasting away on riffs into the night.  From the jump off the energy is sky fricking high.  The boys motor and fire on all cylinders and you can tell it is going to be a hot set.  "The New Potato Caboose" is mega, with the group branching out and exploring their jamming jones that would make them world famous in only a few years.

I mentioned I am not the biggest PigPen fan, but on this night his organs are ramped up and roll all over the tunes, adding a bit of a church feel to the proceedings.  He was "on" this night back in '67 and takes center stage on the burning "It Hurts Me, Too".  The next 3:20 seconds are some of the coolest I have heard in a while...the band simply BLAZE'S through the classic "Cold Rain & Snow".  I have always loved this tune when the group does it, but this version is simply jump-up-and-down-goodness.  They are amped and run through the classic with more energy then they sometimes put fourth in full shows during some of the later years.  Don't skip this one.

I mentioned in another brief post on 1967 that Mickey Hart started jamming with the boys in September of that year and this is one of his first official shows with the group and you can hear the interplay with Billy that would make the Rhythm Devils a percussion institution.  Unfortunately things just seem to get cooking for the group during "Turn On Your Lovelight" when this recording cuts out, this is a bummer, but really the only one present during this set.  A super fast "Beat It On Down The Line" is ran through next and shows off Bobby's chops as a lead singer and pop music poster boy...
 I keed...I just wanted to use this pic of him from 67...he nails "Beat It..."  The group then falls into bombarding the ears with a "Cryptical Envelopment>That's It For The Other> Cryptical Envelopment" jaunt that rips through the speakers with vibrant energy...as it should because as far as I can tell, this is the first version ever played, and has some funky different lyrics that would never show up again:
1st verse:
When I woke up this morning my head was not attached
I asked my friends about it, try to find out where its at
[inaudible]...came up inside of me, blew the dust clouds all away
The heat came 'round & busted me for smiling on a cloudy day

2nd verse:

Well the heat down in jail they weren't very smart
They taught me how to read & write,they taught me the precious arts
When I was breaking out of jail I learned that right away
That they didn't need me telling them about smiling first and running _?_

This is an epic song in the Dead cannon, but like a lot of things about the group "exact facts" and "specifics" are hard to come by, in fact Dead.net doesn't even have this show listed on their site...However this version is an adventure, once the unique lyrics are out of the way the group simply explodes over the last 8+ minutes, scales are climbed and slid back down, bass lines bubble over, organ fills flow and drum marches push things along.  What a movement of music, if anything it feels like it ends too soon.  For more on the tune, check out the always great annotated dead page.   
 
This is a hell of a show and hearkens back to a wild time in the country's history and the bands insane crazy days...I mentioned the vibrant energy...this is a show you can feel.  Enjoy.

Edit...SIDE NOTE>
One more time I need to congratulate The Boys in Blue...Chelsea won the double for the first time in their history!!!!

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