We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...John Lee Hooker!
This week we head up to Newport Folk Festival while traveling back to 1991 for the great John Lee Hookers set. RtBE are big fans of Hooker and included him in our Masters focus on the blues.
For the last year live music was on lock down (like everything else in New York City). Live streams and old concerts have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. Things are improving on the pandemic front in this city, but live streams will be an option for the foreseeable future. We will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and as a way to help out the artists. You can always check out or weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past and as always please support the artists any which way you can.
Today we highlight: Phish 7/20/1991
A major milestone in streaming and Covid happens tonight as Phish delivers their last Dinner and a Movie concert with live dates ready to roll this fall. It is a good omen that things are getting back to normal with vaccines and a positive response here in the USA. Here's hoping things stay on this track with variants and such, here's hoping!
The band ends this series with a bang as they deliver a show from 1991 complete with the Giant Country Horns. RtBE used to have a tape of this show and wore it out, great stuff and we can't wait to watch tonight.
To get in the mood, here is "Chalkdust Torture" from the show:
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...The Neville Brothers!
In non pandemic years this would be one of the best weekends of the year, the second weekend of The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Covid-19 canceled it last year and this year it has been delayed, it is currently slated for October (fingers crossed).
So to cheer us up and get in the funky mood today, here are the Neville's from Tip's back in 1991. Make sure to check out WWOZ's Festing in Place all weekend as well. Pro shot, pro sound, full set list below. Enjoy:
The Neville Brothers - Full Concert
Recorded Live: 6/19/1991 - Tipitinas (New Orleans, LA)
More The Neville Brothers at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com
Subscribe to Music Vault: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF
Setlist:
0:00:00 - Hey Pocky Way / I Walk On Gilded Splinters
0:09:25 - Voodoo
0:14:10 - Mojo Hannah
0:19:30 - Angola Bound
0:24:22 - Yellow Moon
0:30:36 - Brother's Keeper
0:34:33 - Everybody Plays The Fool
0:38:47 - House On A Hill
0:42:44 - Bacuba
0:49:28 - Junk Man
0:56:19 - Brother Jake
1:01:48 - Africa / Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
1:11:02 - Shake Your Tambourine
There is a lot of music out there and some artists have massive catalogs which can paralyze new listeners with overwhelming choices. This Beginners Guide series will attempt to give new listeners entry points to some of these artists. Today we will look at: The Grateful Dead.
This post was very long so we are breaking it into two parts. This first offering will discuss the five places RtBE feels are the best entry points to the band. The follow up post will dive into the different eras of the Dead and pull out some well known and underappreciated shows for further listening.
In part oneRtBE discussed live shows and albums which will ease a listener into the band. The group has such a wide range of music/sound/shows that RtBE went through the years they were active and pulled out specific highlights. While this gets long, it is literally the tip of the iceberg. The Internet Archive is a digital gold mine for amazing Grateful Dead shows, but below are are choices throughout the years for highlights and further listening.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Etta James!
The queen, Etta James is the focus of our Full Show Friday. This is from later in her career at the 1991 Newport Jazz Festival.
Pro shot, pro sound, full set list below. Enjoy:
Etta James - Full Concert Recorded Live: 8/17/1991 - Newport Jazz Festival (Newport, RI) More Etta James at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com Subscribe to Music Vault: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF
Setlist: 0:00:00 - Instrumental 0:03:41 - Instrumental 0:07:25 - Breakin' Up Somebody's Home 0:12:24 - I'd Rather Go Blind 0:19:21 - Damn Your Eyes 0:28:31 - Something's Got A Hold On Me 0:37:35 - Your Good Thing 0:45:54 - Baby What You Want Me To Do 0:54:08 - You Can Leave Your Hat On
The summer is here and while Corona Virus has wrecked havoc on live tunes in 2020, the ultimate summer time band the Grateful Dead released (in fall 2019) a huge box set commemorating their jaunts to the 80,0000 seat Giants Stadium in the swamps of New Jersey and we can use the lock down to revisit the behemoth.
These years in Dead history history (somewhat surprisingly) found the Grateful Dead at their popular peak and while long time fans will love/bemoan any era, the band was generally in fine form during these years. Playing these massive outdoor shows spitting distance from the countries largest city guaranteed huge crowds, and if you were one of the thousands who caught these shows this is a fantastic memento...if not, you can skip this bloated release from the band.
It is not that these are bad shows, or poorly played, but there is very little that is must hear over the 15 CD's. Unlike say the recent June '76 box set which illuminated an era and proved wondrous, these concerts have been available to fans in high quality versions for years. If you are new to the band, start elsewhere, this is too big of an investment. The best option may be to just skim the cream of the crop as the best show from this box set has been released on its own and find a good copy of 7/10/89 to round it out.
Below are highlights and comments on each of the shows, it should be noted the quality of the music is fantastic with crystal clear production and restoration of these tye-dyed nights:
RtBE loves listening to new music and prides itself on keeping tabs on up and coming artists, but in 2019 we are also going to have a monthly spotlight on legendary artists who we really love. We are calling this series The Masters. It will focus on the best albums, live records, transcendent shows and other odd ways we appreciate the artists and their contribution to music, culture and our formation.
For August The Masters focuses on the great Neil Young.
Live music is the best thing out there. Being caught in the moment is religion. Palpable vibes of healing and energy are transmitted and shit...gets...real. This month's focus, Neil Young has been following his musical muse from soft acoustic one man shows to huge loud electric raging his whole career.
We already discussed best studio albums and will get to our favorites with Crazy Horse next week, but now it is the live show. Having seen Uncle Neil live in various formations this was a fun one to revisit. There have been a bunch of recent archive releases, and there promises to be even more in the future, which could alter this collection but this is how we feel now.
Also, there is one album in his catalog which could possibly top this list, but we will discuss why we kept it out later. Remember these lists are meant to start conversations, not end them, now let Neil guide the way....
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's artists, Neil Young & The Grateful Dead performing a live cover of "Forever Young"
Thoughts on Original: From the first time we covered a cover of this tune.
"Forever Young" is a classic. A track that Dylan released two different versions of on Planet Waves, and a song tons of artists use to close out sets or play encores. Without doing research it has to be one of the top 5 most covered songs of his, and yet it was never one of RtBE's favorites. It is a great song, Bob has always treated it a bit sterile though and this is a flaw in Dylan; artists would give their whole careers to write a song like this and he treats it like an out take, Last Waltz not withstanding. Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist: RtBE digs on Uncle Neil a bunch and are showcasing him this month in our Master's Series.
Thoughts on Cover:
Bridging our Masters series from July to August we have The Grateful Dead supporting Neil Young as he sings this Dylan tune at the Bill Graham memorial in San Francisco. Fine version nothing truly magical which obviously both bands and the songwriter are capable of.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Grateful Dead!
For July The Masters Focuses on TheGrateful Dead
July finds RtBE mining familiar ground when it comes to our Masters Series, but there is just no better summer band, so enjoy The Grateful Dead in the sunshine to end the work week. This month we have four shows from the band and we will be using the four decades they were active for each week. This week the 90's get some love, 1991 in particular.
The nineties saw the end of the band with Jerry's Garcia's passing in the summer of 1995 and even though the music never truly stopped, things have never been the same. In truth if you are listening with a critical ear, anything after 1991 is not that great, there are moments sure, but '91 is pretty much where the must hear shows end, and this show we are highlighting today is the best of an underrated year.
Once Brent Mydland died the band used both Vince Welnick and Bruce Hornsby for sometime as replacements, sharing the keyboard work. Bruce in particular is excellent on this night but for this MSG show a different addition to the band plays a huge part, Branford Marsalis.
The saxophone player is a huge plus and while he had played with the band before this is the pinnacle of his contributions in what many fans consider the last great Grateful Dead show, 9/10/91. From the first notes of "Shakedown Street" things are just on. The first set is a joy through and through, other highlights after the opening "Shakedown Street" (an RtBE personal favorite) are...well hell, the whole set rocks. It is one of the best first sets of any era, let alone the 90's.
The second set gets a bit more adventurous but that is never a bad thing with this crew. The opening "Help>Slip>Frank" with Branford is must hear as is the "Dark Star" reprise coming out of drums. This version of "Standing on the Moon" always brings a bit of a tear to the eye as well, this is a great one so put it on and enjoy.
Not quite pro shot, but pro sound, full set list info below. Enjoy:
Grateful Dead
September 10, 1991
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY
Lazy Cow Production
Video: AUD (Tripod) Master
NTSC 4:3
8400 kbs
720X480
Set 1 & 2
Master: JVC Single Tube Camera, Nak 300 Shotguns ? Decks JVC Deck VHS Master
Transfer: VHS Master Panasonic AG-7150 Canopus ADVC-100 iMac G4 Final Cut Pro 3 DVD Studio Pro 1
Audio: SBD DAT(M) DAT(1) DAT(2) Transfer: DAT R500 M-Audio 24/96 CD FLAC
LPCM
1.5 Mbs
DVD 1 Set 1
Intro
Shakedown Street
C.C. Rider
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
Black Throated Wind
Hight Time
Cassidy
Deal
01:00:20
DVD 2 Set 2
Intro
Help On The Way
Slipknot
Franklin's Tower
Estimated Prophet
Dark Star
Drums
00:57:43
DVD 3
Space
Dark Star
Space
I Need A Miracle
Standing On The Moon
Lovelight
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
00:43:57
Jerry Garcia - Guitar
Bob Weir - Guitar
Phil Lesh - Bass
Vince Welnick - Keys
Bruce Hornsby - Piano, Achordion
Branford Marsalis - Sax
Bill Kreutzman - Drums
Mickey Hart - Drums
RtBE loves listening to new music and prides itself on keeping tabs on up and coming artists but in 2019 we are also going to have a monthly spotlight on legendary artists who we really love. We are calling this series The Masters. It will focus on the best albums, live records, transcendent shows and other odd ways we appreciate the artists and their contribution to music, culture and our formation.
The Godfather himself, James Brown joins The Masters series here on RtBE. He is the visionary artist who helped invent funk and hip-hop as he moved through the amazing funky waters of time and his mind. Mr. Please Please Me is iconic and moved from The Famous Flames to Soul Brother #1 to the Godfather with ease as he aged.
He however joins the likes of Miles when RtBE is conflicted about the art and the artist. Longform collected just a few pieces on him, but it is safe to say that Brown's actions makes it tough with our love for the mans music. That said, we wrote about our feelings on Brown when he passed away for Glide as he had a huge influence on our musical ears and he won't be the first or last artist we are conflicted about loving.
Today we are going to dive into his studio output and rank our favorite studio albums by Brown. Perhaps not shockingly, but like Elvis Presley, Brown is a mega artist who does not have definitive studio albums. His early albums were almost random collections of singles, his later albums were scattered, many didn't even have the title songs on them or were mixes of live/studio/overdub Frankenstein's (looking at you Sex Machine).
Some of these actual records are out of print and honestly people aren't losing much because of that. Live albums, box sets, greatest hits, he checks all those boxes, but a definitive studio effort is hard to find...let's give it a go anyways...
As always, these lists are designed to start conversations, not end them.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Crosby Stills & Nash.
We are going to 1991 today for an acoustic show from Crosby Stills & Nash. This was a tribute show to the recently departed Bill Graham and the trio are reunited. While not perfect it is a fun show that lets the trio go trough their classics and it keeps Neil Young off the stage that allows the these players to shine.
We always felt once Uncle Neil got involved this band lost its way as he is such a large talent. We like both entities better on their own, so here we go, Enjoy:
Have a Happy Thanksgiving. Make sure you spend some time over this holiday doing what is truly important...Watching The Last Waltz:
Also make sure to enjoy your time with loved ones and family. As a famous man once said, "Enjoy Every Sandwich"...especially the leftover turkey, mashed potato, stuffing and gravy ones on potato rolls...
The last few years we have thrown it back to Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades of the past and this years no different. Enjoy the full parade from 1991 broken into two parts:
As the picture gives away, The Dead were joined by a guest who pushed all the right buttons and hit all the right notes on this night, Branford Marsalis. Branford had joined the group on multiple occasions in the past including the epic "Birdsong" which appears on Without A Net, and he would continue to pop up, playing with the group a total of 5 times. This one was the midway point and the peak of the mountain if you will. The band gels with the horn seemlessly throughout as he manages to push and pull the fellas in directions they hadn't traveled in years.
Their are multiple versions of this show on the archive, some Matrix's that are sweet, but I posted the version that I have had and listened to over the years, and consistently go back to. All of them are crisp and in the A+ range for sound, the difference being how much audience do you want. You get some in today's posted version, more in others, feel free to find your favorite, this is mine.
This is a magical night and it starts right from the opener. This version of "Shakedown Street" is one of the all timers, maybe because it signals such a great show to follow, but to these ears the band hadn't been this funky since the early 80's and the horn is the main reason why. The crash to start things off gets the stage a rocking and Branford's interjections are all flowing and gorgeous with Hornsby adding to the mix on piano and Phil's pumping bass lines. This town had a bunch of heart on this night with even Vince getting accented and acquainted with Branford. The hugeness of sound is there in there with everyone soloing and chasing the 9 minute mark; it never once feels like an overloaded experience even with the wah-wah's, echoy effects, sax, two sets of keys and rambling drums.
The blues of "C.C. Rider" comes next, and acts as Bobby's first singing contribution on this night and his vocals would play an important part as Garcia's guitar lines and Branford's Sax flights would back them.
A pretty cool internet aspect of this show is that a bunch of songs are captured and posted for you to check out the groups interplay on this epic night, and here is the first one:
The sound is surprisingly crisp on these clips and the site of the band adds another dimension to this epic night in the Garden. The group stays in the bluesy cover vein as they slide effortlessly into Dylan's "It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry" and I can say without equal that this is my favorite version the group produced in regards to the classic tune.
Garcia knows he is onto something special with his singing here and the fluid playing but they don't over extend it opting instead to go back to Bobby for his "Black Throated Wind" :
Never one of my favorite tunes but it is hard to complain with the way Branford approaches this one; the fact that he plays a Soprano Sax on this one just ups the cheesiness, but really that is what it is all about and works wonders. There seems to be a bit of an extra stomp from the Drumming crew on this version as well.
Then comes the meat and potatoes of the 1st set with a glorious "High Time", the band isn't in much of a hurry to start things as Jerry smooth's his way into the lyrics. His aging voice fitting this weeper to a T and the playing of the group swirling all around him makes this a winner even with all the pain presented in the tune. See for yourself:
Ahhh that was nice.
The set wraps up with two more tracks that are glorious and both on video, so peep them, first up "Cassidy" which flies super high around the garden on this night:
and then a rollicking "Deal" to close:
While the first set is far from long, I think it is perfect. Excellent playing, unique arraignments and some rare played songs create a trip worth taking over and over and we haven't even started the massive second set that's going to roll out....
The opening combo use to be the B-side to my first tape and I always used to listen to it and marvel, the "Help on The Way>Slipknot!>Franklins Tower" just explodes and lets the crowd instantly know this wasn't a one set trick pony of a show. One of the main reasons I picked this version off archive to present is the fact that the 3 tracks are presented together as one 23 minute whirlwind as I feel it should be. No need for glitches or little clicks with this one, as Phil's loose monster Bass causes dancing in the aisles. Branford seems to be a bit behind in the structured sections but laps up the jam parts and makes his statement loud and clear. Hornsby gets into the act perfectly here running with Garcia and Branford around the higher end of things around the 8 minute mark while the Rhythm Devils, like always, refuse to quit.
Things start to get freaky around 11 minutes in before the rise and majestic fall of "Slipknot!" into the composed breakdown that ends the tune before the joy of "Franklin's Tower" takes hold and refuses to let go. Hornsby's piano leads through the darkness as the band casts a bright light on the crowd and end a pretty snazzy group of tunes. "Estimated Prophet" is up next and while being one of Bobby's best jams this is good but maybe not as great as some of the other songs on this night...could be because they knew what is in store for the crowd next, "Darkstar".
Such is the treat of 1991, the popping up of "Darkstar" and on this night Branford gets to play along to the bust out with wondering excursions and various interplay from all the members. At times paper thin this version seems to be searching the city night for the right in-roads and everyone gets to take a sot with Branford sounding more comfortable then perhaps he has all night. When the group coalesce before the 11 minute mark their are glimpses of magic stars from the past floating all around. The "Drums>Space" sandwich fits easily into the song and allow the band to explore outer regions of sound before dipping back into the familiar refrain for 12 minutes more of the "Darkstar" work out complete with lyrics and invention.
After the rare tune playing the band amps back up the energy with the Bobby warped blues of "I Need A Miracle" and we get the pleasure of having another video to see the group play the upbeat boogie:
While that is a treat, the live video capturing of one of my all time favorite Jerry tunes is even more so, "Standing On The Moon":
One of the best later day ballads with the added Sax makes it even more special. Then the group implores the crowd to "Turn On Their Love Light" for the climaxing finale of the show
All of this is great! Grand! and we even get the Accordion ladled encore of "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" to end the night....what a treat, what a show. 9-10-91 is easily one of my personal favorites and a recording I will constantly go back and listen to and watch. Here's hoping you enjoy this special night in Dead History.
So I wanted to wrap up the year, and possibly the whole Monday Dead series, with a comprehensive "Best of" series of posts, but I realized quite a while back that this would be impossible. Besides getting me more into this band then I have been in years, the Monday postings have made me realize just how amazing this group is and how many special nights remain out there for even committed (Commit-able?) fans (myself included) to still unearth with glorious results.
So what I am going to do is post a month's worth of shows that mean something special to me; we will call it Rock The Body Electric Personal Favorites Edition. They are the nights in the bands history I reach for the most and have a special chamber reserved in me old grizzled heart for one reason or another. I was at none of these shows, so it is only the recordings that matter to me, not the vibe or weather, but more likely who gave me the tape (yes tapes) and/or when I heard it and where. I think all the shows presented this month are great for various reasons and I will try to touch on them all, feel free to comment with your personal favorites. The last Monday in December I will try to post a list of the "must have" shows from each era so newer fans can at least have a solid foundation and Dead Heads can yell at me for leaving classics off of it....anyway, why not start at the beginning?
You are always going to remember your first...tape, and it is pretty glorious show at that, not one of the "classics" by most peoples judgment, yet 8-16-91 cooks and got me into this band proper. So sometime in the spring of my freshman year in college a friend thought I might dig on this tape...Until then I had never listened to the Dead, I grew up on Metal/Hardcore-Punk and Hip-Hop, with splashes of noise rock, Jimi, Industrial, Primus, oddball pop and a whole heaping of Irish Folk (Thanks Pops). After chatting with Mattie B one night over cold beverages and explaining my range of musical tastes, he (wisely) thought I would dig on the Dead, and this was the first tape he gave to me out of his vast collection. I still can remember the cover with it's green/purple/white swirls and the black ink on the jacket, but what I remember even more was hearing those loose ass bass strums first kick in from Phil on the opening "Jack Straw".
The strings sound so loose when he comes in you think they are going to flap off...I can't find this anywhere today, but at the time I did some research and I think he was trying out some new green bass, and then ditched it post song, either way I was hooked by something unique and kept on going. Not sure if there is any correlation, but to this day I would say "Jack Straw" is still one of my top 5 tunes from the fellas. This first set is surprisingly energetic, at the time had I been given a "classic" recording of the band that was slower paced I doubt it would have stuck, but the "Bertha" from this opening night in the August Shoreline run has speed and grace, thanks predominately to the majestic piano runs of Bruce Hornsby.
Listening now it is easy to hear the piano player inspiring the fellas to take different angles while attacking older classics like "Bertha", Garcia particularly, but when I first heard it I was impressed by the interplay and the crescendos plain and simple. Bruce's impact on the Band was huge and kept them active, I often wondered what would have happened to the group as a whole and Garcia personally had he joined the group full time?
"It's All Over Now" which can sometimes fell like a throw away, is shining here with the grand piano taking the center stage and urging the group to follow. This rendition of "Desolation Row" was pretty eye opening as I was not yet a Dylan fan (shocking!) and had never heard the song, while it wasn't monumental in it's playing it is the Bobby version I have always liked best, and got me curious about that Zimemrman kid...
Photo from Minkin is the next night of this stand in 91.
The electric runs of "Desolation Row" stood out as did all the words and references, but the freakiness of the next song was just as important. The uber rare first set "Dark Star" shone on this hot day for the first time since 11-15-1971 and they tell me that is over 1,307 shows...wow. The cosmic wandering here was shocking to those in attendance and my ears when I first heard it, I can't say for certain, but it was tracks like this that really got me listening and appreciating free jazz going forward. The trippy misplaced guitar of Bobby blaring into the sweet and melodious Bruce/Jerry interplay over the funky strut that the drummers drop add up to a succulent treat. This version was an event for both the band and myself...don't they always play this song in the first set?!?! The fluttering exit directly into the rocking "Promised Land" rev's things back up and shows the range of the band, especially to a neophyte...and that was just set 1.
My tape at the time had the highlight of the second set on the end of side B, I am talking about the amazing opening run of "Scarlett Begonias>Victim Or The Crime>Fire On The Mountain". I can't be certain (well I can ask him but not sure if he would remember) but I think Matt gave me this tape/show in particular because of this run and specifically "Victim Or The Crime", before we get to that though we get a short, upbeat version of "Scarlett" that still has some odd guitar riffs emanating from Weir and powerful vocals from Garcia. Then while everyone was expecting the reggae sunshine of "Fire On The Mountain" the Dead throw a dark and deadly curve ball with "Victim Or The Crime" which Hornsby eases the band into. Easily the eeriest song in the Dead's catalog (and one fans either love or hate) the dark tones stand in stark contrast to the positive vibes surrounding it, but I think that is why it succeeds so winningly and one of the reasons I started to really dig the band. I understood while listening to this for the first time that it wasn't all hippy-dippy love and there was deeper meaning there, the fact that they could address it that openly was exciting and more akin to what I was used to.
I loved the call back to "Darkstar" (I know the lyric is Dark side, but I swear he says Dark Star here) and the other worldliness of the track instantly thinking a good metal/hardcore cover could be made of this one. It still remains my favorite version of this song. The twist back to the upbeat comes out with the wah wah of Jerry and plucky rhythm of "Fire On the Mountain", saving the wandering brains of tripping fans on that night. Piano features heavily again as Bruce bangs and smiles on the ivories. A kaleidoscope of partying sounds makes up this punchy tune tonight while heads get bobbing...hey was that a bizarre bass run from Phil around 9 minutes or something else entirely?!?
After that came a tape switch and while the upbeat keyboard based "Trucking" isn't particularly memorable or exciting it did give me a glimpse into one of the groups signature numbers and the epic nature of certain lyrics. What I did find fascinating was the "Drums>Space" I am not sure why but I can still remember sitting in my dorm room overlooking Washington Sq Park on a sunshine filled spring day and hearing this combo, I was fascinated by it, much like the "Dark Star". That a band could noodle and experiment like that was eye opening, I confess I am often bored with "Drums>Space" and will skip it most shows for some reason this one got me from the start. Listening back to it today the Drum section is nothing really special until maybe the end couple of minutes and the Space has it's freaky moments, but the word that keeps coming to mind is overindulgent...I know I wasn't high back in freshman year, but my mind must have been somewhere else entirely.
Anyway...umm when they come back into the out of nowhere "Playing In the Band Reprise" that is still really triumphant and a neat twist. No idea where this came from, but it is a blast of music before my first experience of a Jerry ballad with "Standing on the Moon". Quite affecting this version like later all later day ballads have the rasp I love while I feel Jerry makes this song his personal own...the back porch line allows me to picture him just lounging and I like that. "Good Loving" (with "LaBamba" intro Tease) and "US Blues" are fine but didn't do much to impress me then or now, however all in all I was hooked by this fine show...
More great shows flowed out from all directions and from all the eras of the Dead's playing, but as I said in the beginning, you always remember your first, What was yours?
Another easy beginning of the week, so I won't spend too much time on the Dead today, but I wanted to point out a fun first set from 1991. The 90's aren't well respected by most dead fans, but 91 is a fantastic year in Dead history. The band (and Garcia in particular) was invigorated by Bruce Hornsby participation with the band helping out Vince Welnick make his transition into the group full time. I have always loved 1991 and 90 as my first tapes for whatever reason were from this era (I will get to those at some point). On this night Jerry and Bruce really seem to click....
The keyboards of the new twinklers are loud on the opening "Jack Straw" and then omnipresent on "Sugaree" with Vince's electric flourishes overpowering the song, adding a weird carnival vibe before Jerry gets his MIDI into the act turning the tune into a mangled sonic soup. This version is def worth a listen; one of the weirdest versions of one of their best tunes, can't say I love it, but it sure is interesting. The first set while nothing life changing is a good example of how Hornsby and to a lesser extent Welnick forced the old gray-beards to open up some of their older tunes with new vigor...not always improving but at least always changing.
Where these new keyboard tones and vamps really come into their own are evident at the beginning of the second set. The 25+ minute combo of "Scarlett Begonias">"Fire on the Mountain" is perfect for this new experimenting especially the segue between the two. These versions are mellow but exploratory more jazz then rock, not that smoking...speaking of smoking, "Smokestack Lightnin'">"He's Gone" continues the exploratory trend. Bobby's cover of Smokestack has never been one of my favorites, but it gives me a chance to post the original by Howlin' Wolf:
"He's Gone" on the other hand is one of Jerry's better ballads, a real original that rings even more powerful now that he is actually gone, this version escapes into the air and floats majestically exploring the outer reaches.
One of the highlights of the 90's for the Dead was Jerry's voice aging to the point of rasp that added a greater sense of levity and beauty to the slower numbers. Another of the excellent Jerry ballads pops up post Drums>Space via "Comes A Time". If forced to rank them, I would probably place "Comes A Time" behind only "Stella Blue" and the late great "Days Between" when it comes to Garcia's ballads. There is something about this tune that just cuts real deep in both the lyrics and the playing; a sense of honesty not always heard in the Dead's tunes.
Only played 66 times live, this is a great version, savor this and the ending celebration of "Good Lovin'" which was a cover made famous by The Young Rascals that the Dead made their own:
And Jerry laying on the ballad one more time with the finality of Dylan's "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" here is a different cover version by Eric Burdon and The Animals that you can compare it against, Enjoy the show:
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