Day 10: Big River, 8/13/75

Big River, One From The Vault, 8/13/75

 

Sometimes you just feel like something different.  In the back of my mind I know what a given Dead era sounds like so I scan through my library looking at album covers to see what might pull me in on any given day. As I sat down to compile info for our 2013 taxes today I opted for One From The Vault. I haven't listened to this show in a LONG time, but I know it's got a great Help > Slip > Frank with a fantastic Bill Graham intro. So I decided to give it a spin. Boy, what a treat! This show has a bit of everything: rock, funk, jazz, you name it, it's probably here. The Dead didn't play a lot of shows in 1975 during their hiatus, but what they DID play really stuck out. This whole show is no exception.

When you sit down and think about what the Dead did with this country tune it's pretty amazing. It's got that train-barreling-down-the-tracks drum shuffle, and Weir's funky rhythm part underscoring the entire operation. One of the things I love about this entire show is Keith's playing. He's really putting it to the Fender Rhodes and the sound is just so classic and warm and sweet that it takes a bit of the edge off the funk in this tune, but adds to it at the same time. Keith takes a solo around the 2 minute mark that showcases what exactly I'm talking about here. Just a crazy dynamic. The star of this track, and I've seen discussions elsewhere about it, is Garcia. You can tell that he is fired up and he coaxes notes out of his guitar in rapid succession at a blistering pace. Pretty much the only time Jerry is NOT tearing it up on this song is when he's singing. When his vocal services were not needed he just lets loose. The final solo pairs Jerry and Keith nicely and seems to really cement them as the stars of this particular version of the song. 

This is one of those shows that should be in every Dead Head's collection.

Day 9: Mama Tried, 4/18/70

Mama Tried, Family Dog at the Great Highway, San Francisco, CA, 4/18/70

Yes, mama tried, but sometimes daddy tries, too, and is just as wiped out at the end of the day. Trying to keep a toddler entertained for an entire day is quite the challenge. Needless to say it's been a long day. Some friends are over to entertain the toddler at the moment so I was able to steal away a few moments to do some work. I put this on while I was working and I'm glad I did.

When this release was announced the big to do was about the mini set from Pigpen at the end. However, the track that stood out to me the most was the version of Mama Tried. It's not just the acoustic rendition, which is, of course, pleasing, but the entire arrangement is different. Most noticeable is the fingerpicking guitar part. I absolutely love it in this version, but at the same time I can see (or rather hear?) how it might not have translated as well with the full electric band. It's got a sense of fragility and nuance that can be lost in the sonic bombast that is the Grateful Dead. But here, in the quiet acoustic nook of the Family Dog, a song we've heard hundreds of time is given new life.

Forrest Gump famously said that life is like a box of chocolates and you never know what you're gonna get. It's fair to say that swapping out "box of chocolates" for "Grateful Dead" would be just as, if not even more, accurate.

Day 4: China Cat Sunflower, 3/17/68

China Cat Sunflower, Download Series, Vol. 6, 3/17/68

In thinking about this project for the next year I was looking through my collection of Dead releases last night and it got me thinking about how much stuff I have and how well I really know each recording. We're expecting our second kid any moment now and that sense of known unknown had me reaching for something to really focus on. I opted for something along the more primal lines and jumped in the wayback machine to 1968.

It was either between DL6, DP22, or RT2.2 today and I guess the orange cover just drew me in. Plus it was a shorter show so in the event that I had to leave work early for an arriving baby (which is still a possibility as I write this) I may still be able to get through the whole thing.

There were some nifty passages in the Lovelight that opens the set, and I really like the version of That's It For The Other One. I always liked the Cryptical Envelopment section of that piece and there's some good playing throughout that tune. But the one that really caught my attention was the China Cat Sunflower.

Phil's got some fuzzy bass as the song starts off and the vocals kick in fast. Garcia's first solo starts of very quick and nimble and Pigpen's organ adds just the right amount of sustain. Jerry's second solo is a bit more laid back and he takes his time getting to where he's going (kind of like this kid that we've been expected "any minute now" for the past couple of weeks). While Jerry certainly garners the spotlight, as is expected in a guitar-centric rock band, what really impressed me on this track is Weir's playing. His chords are chunky and his fills are unique and spot on.

Right before the 3:30 mark things get really interesting as the band switches to a minor key or some middle eastern sounding mode. The shift in mood is quite apparent and stands as an interesting juxtaposition to the rest of the song in its cheery major key. This continues for a minute at which point they slide almost effortlessly into a great version of The Eleven.

I'm sure the fans at this show were feeling as lucky as the Irish on this St. Patrick's Day show!

The whole show is solid and I'm pretty sure these may be available on iTunes or Spotify nowadays. Do yourself a favor and check it out!