What You'll Find Here: Music, Movies and Me

Since May 1976, I have written in journals. When I have nothing particularly resonant to say about my own inner turmoil, philosophic ramblings, sexual peccadillos or whining on about the state of the world around me...I have always fallen back on reporting the cultural time consumption that takes up in inordinate portion of my daily goings on.

In the 40+ years since my first concerts seeing Children's Symphony presentations on Sundays at the Pasadena Civic or The Hot Jazz Society's monthly Dixieland romps in an old meeting hall on the edge of the L.A. "River" across from Griffith Park, I have been sold heavily on the magic of live music. As Neil Young so aptly put it, "Live music is better bumper stickers should be issued."

Growing up a few orange groves and canyons length away from Hollywood also contributed greatly to my family's addiction to movie going. From the time I was a small there were weekly trips to the drive-in theaters that dotted the landscape, or the local Temple theater for the Saturday matinees. Once in a while we'd drive the 12 miles into Hollywood and see something in one of the magnificent old movie palaces like Grauman's Chinese, the Egyptian, The Pantages or later the Cinerama Dome. My dad loved Westerns and War movies, as if he didn't get enough shoot-'em-up as an L.A. County Sheriff in his day gig, my mom adored musicals and comedies. My brother and I loved them all.

At SDSU, I played in my first gigging band and began booking concerts on campus as part of the well-funded Cultural Arts Board, kindling for my future life in and around music.

So it's not surprising that my first jobs out of college were working in local video rental places (which were all the rage) or managing a couple of Sam Goody record stores in Mall's on the East Coast where we marveled at the new CD format and sold the first home computers and video games (yes Commodore and Pong and Atari).

So these are really just extensions of all of those journal entries talking about the great new movies I was seeing and LPs/CDs I was listening to.

Though iPODS/iPADs, apps, smart phones and downloads now make music and movies accessible in your own pocket, there is still nothing like sitting in front of a stack of speakers with a room full of people swaying to music created before your eyes. Nor is there anything that works quite so well for me to escape the real world and all of it's pressures just outside than two hours in a dark theater, absorbing the stories flickering across that wide screen as they pull you into their world.

But a really good taco runs a close third...

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

JERRY GARCIA 1942-1995 - 9 DAYS OF GAR

So some of you have been celebrating 9 days of Gar from August 1st, what would have been his 68th birthday to August 9, the 15th anniversary of his transcending the here and now. I spent some of the time listening to the latest releases from Grateful Dead Productions. Here are some observations...lots of 'em...not the usual "capsule" reviews...who is that laughing out there. This is especially for those of you who were at these shows. Order them now. You'll love the memories...and thank you, Jerry.


First I'll dig in to the latest in the ROAD TRIPS series and I'll review the incredible DVD/2 CD set from Philly in '89 in the next few posts. Big props to GDP for continuing to release all of these timeless shows in the best quality possible.




GRATEFUL DEAD –
ROAD TRIPS, VOL.3 NO. 3: FILLMORE EAST 5/15/70
Grateful Dead Productions GRA2-6016




It is usually a somewhat redundant exercise to review new Grateful Dead releases these days. First of all, one is generally preaching to the converted. I suppose there might be a young whippersnapper who hasn’t heard tapes/dubs/downloads of this particular legendary show which for decades has long been something of a rite of passage for fledgling newbies having a Dead-ucation laid upon them by “those who claimed before.” After the earliest documentation of Dead shows began to slowly leak out in the late 60s, thanks in part to benefactor/sound ar5chitect/acid guru Owsley Stanley’s prescient decisions to document that which wasn’t so readily recalled and a handful of enterprising smugglers lugging reel to reel decks and mic festooned crutches into primarily NY city venues on the Dead’s early East Coast visits, the lamp was lit.

The Dead taping scene really blossomed with the taper-founded Relix magazine in the 70s (more a newsletter in its early incarnations). Soon thereafter, Golden Road and Dupree’s Diamond News gained a foothold in the early 80s documenting the scene and pre-dating DeadBase, The Well and Archive.org, They served as meeting places for those in-the-know DeadHeads, rabid collectors and diligent tapers across the country turning each other onto the gems in their collections…the rarities, favorites and must-haves. This Fillmore stand seemed to be near the top of most lists, not only for the uniqueness of its transitional acoustic sets, and the easy, cheery looseness of the music as a whole but for the general sound quality of the tapes circulating.

In this official document, we have it as good as it gets. I always loved these shows in that they captured the breadth of the Dead’s musical tastes, with Pigpen still sharp and roaring, Weir beginning to step into his own as a front man, Hart in the fold and playing fairly lightly against Billy’s more abstract leanings, Phil and Jerry still digging in deep in the open-ended stuff. As you will see, in addition to Robert Hunter and newly, John Barlow’s skill as lyric collaborators with Garcia and Weir, at this point and subsequently in their storied career, the Dead may very well be one of the most interesting and prolific cover bands in rock history. A snapshot of what the Grateful Dead is all about if I were giving some new DeadHead a one-shot taste.

That’s the end-flap version and all you really need to know to go out and buy this essential little package but like the seven hours of music played this one particular evening this review will no doubt slay me and put me to bed for a couple of days after digging in deeply so what follows is for those of strong mettle and perverse Deadication. Here’s the play-by-play…

##

DISC ONE of the three disc set (plus a 4th bonus disc) begins with Fillmore impresario Bill Graham introducing the band while they plug in and fiddle around tuning and such, “During the calisthenics we’d like the introduce the gentlemen on the stage, this is Pigpen on organ…”
Weir: “Don’t mention me in the same breath with…”
Graham: “From Atherton California, this is Mr. Robert Weir.”
Weir: “Thank you. Thank you, friends.”
Graham: “From Marin City College, Mr. Philip Lesh.”
Weir: “That’s a lie!” (Lesh went to Mils College and studied with classical modernist Luciano Berio).
Garcia: “That’s not Philip Lesh!”
Graham: “From 710 Ashbury, Mr. Jerry Garcia.”
Garcia: “They’ll never take me alive!”
Graham: “On drums, the son of Lenny Hart…Mickey Hart.” Laughter from every one onstage.
Weir: “Let me have my cigarette back.”
Hart (?): “That’s one I owe you.”
Garcia: “Can we play now?”
Graham: ”Yes.”
Garcia: ”Outtasight.”

Such relaxed and homey camaraderie in a room that felt a bit like home on the East Coast for the boys from the Bay Area. New York was and has always been DeadHead central on the Eastern seaboard, a “power spot” as Lesh would call it. With Bill Graham at the helm and his incorrigible pirate crew on-board, this ship of fools sets sail.

The Dead launch into the opening number of one of the many celebrated shows on their 1970 tour which featured full acoustic AND electric sets as well as sets from their protégés the New Riders Of The Purple Sage which in this early stage was comprised of John “Marmaduke” Dawson and David Nelson as well as Lesh, Hart and Garcia (on his latest diversion, pedal steel guitar). But, I digress.

In spite of what sounds like a fluffed/improvised verse from Jerry in the middle of this and a bit of scratchy harmonies from Weir, this is a nice fleshy, up-tempo start to a stellar, rootsy set. “Don’t Ease Me In” is one of the few covers the Dead released two studio recordings of at very different points in their career. It was the B-side of their first single “Stealin’” in 1966 and had been in the repertoire since their jug band days. It also was recorded and released on their 1980 studio record Go To Heaven.

The Dead, fresh from recording their latest studio, and first heavily acoustic and heavily harmony laden album, Workingman’s Dead took this woody show on the road. The swing to acoustic seems in retrospect perhaps a reaction, in part, to the hugeness of Woodstock and the horror of Altamont. Fans on the East Coast who were just getting used to the band’s late 60s extended, bluesy psychedelic marathons were getting a first glimpse of the roots of the band (at least of Weir, Jerry, lyricist Robert Hunter, and Pigpen) who had sprung from the coffeehouse/bookstore folk/jug/blues/bluegrass scene around the Peninsula south of San Francisco. The electricity had come a bit later with the Beatles and the Stones influence and the lengthy, exploratory jazziness, experimentalism and odd rhythmic sensibilities by way of Lesh’s deep classical, avant-garde and jazz ears. Kreutzmann’s rock and R&B rhythmic thrust and Hart’s open-eared flexibility turned them into one of the most unpredictable bands out there by this time.

Two examples of the risk taking this band was exuberantly attempting here remember that the Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty albums, where many of these compositions would appear, would not be released until June and November of 1970 respectively. Consider that of the large number of different compositions played during these 4 sets (with only about a half dozen tunes repeated twice) only 8 had previously appeared on earlier Grateful Dead albums. What bands today can offer their audiences such a plethora of new sonic experience in one evening? And considering that so many of these tunes would remain quintessential elements in the Dead’s repertoire for years to come, these shows, and this special tour were truly historic.

Wait. What was I saying? It‘s starting to feel a bit like a Dead show in here. Before I was so rudely interrupted by a fistful of long-winded diversion, laced with exploratory moments of lucidity and frivolous fun, I was going to tell you that the folk standard “I Know You Rider” is taken at a rare, slow jag. The freedom to do just whatever the hell it is they want to onstage was not just a hallmark of the times and reflective of the audiences they were playing to in the psyche-rock ballrooms, but a calling card of Dead shows to come throughout their 30 years. That said, this special looseness and interaction between promoter, band and audience would never again be quite as laissez faire at it was in 1970 before stadiums became the norm.

Many young folks know “Rider” only as a Grateful Dead tune but the tune has much older folk origins. Its first documented occurrence was in John & Alan Lomax’s book American Ballads & Folk Songs published in 1934. The lyric appeared under the title “Woman Blue” and has also appeared on recordings under a variety of titles with slight variance on the more familiar title the Dead use. The first recording was in 1960 by Tossi Aaron.

Pigpen is called out to liven things up with “Ain’t It Crazy (The Rub)” a short slippery Lightnin’ Hopkins blues followed in short order by Weir’s singing the way slow and mournful country weeper, “Long Black Limousine.” This tune was quite possibly snagged from Gram Parson and The Flying Burrito Brothers who played on a number of bills with the Dead in the previous few years, though the band may have been familiar with it from earlier versions by Rose Maddox, Merle Haggard or any of a handful of popular country or bluegrass renditions.

Next up is “New Speedway Boogie,” Hunter and Garcia’s bleak yet hopeful plea in light of the tragic Altamont fiasco of just 5 months prior. Jerry’s electric and Pig’s organ goose the sound up a bit. See the bonus disc review below for the rest of the tunes from both sets of this earliest of two long shows played this evening.

Disc one continues with the opening tune of the electric 2nd set. The new, soon-to-be anthemic “Casey Jones” starts off the set. Pigpen then hints at the “Good Lovin’” organ riff and when he gets no response says, “Ah, come on, Bobby…” but Jerry starts in on what would be a 40-minute run-through of classic psychedelic ’67 Dead material. The fragmented cadences of “St. Stephen” slip eventually into the segmented baroque-drum-circle-Dante-esque kaleidoscopic bus trip of “That’s It For The Other One” before the lilting mystery of “Cosmic Charlie” ends the long journey. Being a Lesh man, there is nothing I like quite as much as these first gen “Other One’s”. In an age of powerhouse rock bassists (Jack Bruce, Jack Cassady), there was absolutely no one as interesting as Lesh in the rock world. You’d have to dive into Miles’ electric band with Dave Holland to find anyone courting the improvisatory edges of the instrument as uniquely at the time. The rhythmic choices Phil makes here drive the melodic and harmonic elements of the jam. As Jerry used to say, “When Phil’s on, we’re on.”

The band encores with the brisk “New Minglewood Blues” from their debut album is another jug band tune from the late 1920s (credited to Noah Lewis) and one of the most performed songs in the GD lexicon. They rave it up here before heading backstage while they “turn the crowd” and play another whole show documented on the following two discs.

DISC TWO
“Deep Elem Blues” which is not listed in the set list bible DeadBase for this show makes a surprise appearance to start off the second disc and the acoustic portion of the evening’s late show. After one known rendition in 1966, this tune would disappear after the 1970 acoustic shows until the Dead revisited acoustic sets again in 1980 and about ten times electric in the 80s. This tune was first recorded under this name in 1935 by the Lone Star Cowboys.

Jerry teases an acoustic ”Lovelight” after a girl screams it out from the audience before going right into their first ever version (only two were ever attempted by the band) of Mississippi John Hurt’s “The Ballad of Casey Jones” which somewhat confounds the clapping crowd. Jerry, your roots are showing big time. Wonderful.

The girl yells for “Lovelight” again and some guy yells ”SHUT UP!” which cracks Jerry up. “Now, now kids. Don’t fight.” Sly instigator that he is, Jerry again teases the “Lovelight” riff and giggles as Weir calls “Silver Threads & Golden Needles.” Listen to Phil’s super high harmonies. This rare one was only in the sets for about a year other than some possible undocumented very early acoustic versions, not more than 20 times by the Dead. This tune, first recorded by Wanda Jackson in 1956 was a big hit for The Springfields in the early 60s and subsequently covered by many popular artists.

Jerry starts the opening chords to “Black Peter” to a round of applause, which is a bit odd since it hadn’t yet been released. “Friend of the Devil” was a request, which Jerry mentions they’d ”already played in the first set but we’ll do it again.” Weir responds that they are going to “break with tradition…and you know how much we like to break with tradition.” The third brand new song, the intricate and landmark “Uncle John’s Band” is next exhibited the excitement and well-rehearsed sharpness of a newly set arrangement.

Pigpen gets a wonderful solo segment thrilling the attentive and appreciative crowd with his finger-style blues guitar and vocal versions of two incredible Lightnin’ Hopkins songs, the rare and previously unreleased “She’s Mine” followed by “Katie Mae”. A version of the latter from earlier in the year was released on the Bear’s Choice LP in 1973.

This is followed by the debut of the gospel harmony tune “A Voice From On High” featuring David Nelson on mandolin and Marmaduke from the Riders on harmony vocals. This is a fantastic version of a tune written by bluegrass originator Bill Monroe. For years this has appeared on bootleg Dead tapes as “I Hear A Voice A Callin’” and was only played by the Dead in concert three times, all on this tour.

Graham’s voice is heard next announcing the electric set, “Set Two. Group Three. Take One. The Grateful Dead.” As I’m trying to figure his math, I get swept up in one of my favorite GD dance numbers, “China Cat Sunflower.” What? How’s a person supposed to dance to this? In a sentiment DeadHead’s Phil Jackson and Bill Walton perhaps share with fellow roundballer Michael Jordan…just DO it! The Dead segue seamlessly as they would for years from this into “I Know You Rider”. Check out how very different this is from the slow acoustic version on Disc One.

“Cumberland Blues” was played in the early show’s acoustic set but here was played without the New Riders’ participation. Pigpen tears into the Etta James showstopper “Hard to Handle” on which Bobby breaks a string (take note Black Crowes fans). A monumental version of Tim Rose’s apocalyptic ”Morning Dew” follows. Weir’s newly replaced string rears its out-of-tune head to smite another wise nice version of the then new Hunter/Garcia cautionary tale, “Dire Wolf’ to end disc two.

DISC THREE begins with The Young Rascals hit, “Good Lovin’” which was teased earlier in the evening. The Dead’s jammy version starts out with about a minute long drum intro into verse one followed by a 3 minute drum duo section after which the band slips in, playing what Lesh often calls “Electric Dixieland” which everyone playing contrasting lines (solos) serpentining in and out of each other's path. It stays this way for about a minute then gets back to the song rhythmically for about 40 seconds before veering off again into the multiple lines (a bit similar to the other 2-drum/2-guitar/lead bass/organ psychedelic family band of the day, the Allman Brothers Band). They race back and forth between the two approaches for 5 minutes before hitting on the transition riff for the final 2 minutes of Pig selling the last 2 verses with the group's call-and-response backing vocals. This is a relatively short version by Pig’s standards.

Next up is a lengthy excursion into “Dark Star” to begin the final 60-minute medley of four songs strung together in GD fashion. This one clocks in at over 19 and 1/2 minutes. Nice, fairly relaxed opening pace. Jerry plays with the clean yet forceful 1970 guitar tone. It sounds like his Les Paul. The first verse kicks in at around the 3-minute mark. At 4:54 they practically stop and get very out there. Lots of weird cymbal shreaking, harmonic feedback tappings, quiet almost ambient ever-so slippery shimmers of sound, hardly anything going on. Very much like avant-garde experimental classical found music of the time…like some of the soundtrack work they’d done…lots of buzzing bees and slashes of sonic light beam open air…volume knob stuff…playing behind the bridge…weirdness…a very unique passage in the Dead’s archives in that it got SO sparse…Jerry brings some melodic element back around in a semi-reel type pattern that floats around waiting for some other sounds to join him…Weir’s quiet guitar comes in and the pattern of the two sounds almost like music boxes for a moment (at 9:40) and then Jerry gets back to flirting with the "Dark Star" melody again…again it is interesting how long they play so quietly. Phil especially is very much in the background until he starts to peak through more after about 13 minutes in and as the rhythm gets more pronounced and syncopated between the guitars, Billy, Phil and Mickey fall back in more rhythmically present fashion (and is that Pig on clave? or is he totally offstage at this point?) until there’s a rhythmic progression that Weir falls into that is sort of half-“Uncle John’s” reprise and a foreboding tinge of “Eyes of The World” which was still a good three years in the future…then at 17:45 or so they wander down to the final vocal verse. Interesting in that there were no really gigantic, LOUD segments as there sometimes were in these days during this tune…a more delicate star then the baroque little chordal segue down to the opening familiarity of the “St. Stephen” riff and off we go to the psych dance party. “…Stephen” is also taken at a more languorous vibe this set and clocks in at a mere 6:04 (similar as it would be played when rekindled finally in the late 80s) with the short loud, semi-“Lovelight” riff preceding the final “Stephen” riff which they basically flub before the final verse (do they seem tired or just a bit bored with this tune tonight?) > the short 20 minute (and again, placid) drum intro > a fairly short “Not Fade Away” (yes, another cover kids…Buddy Holly, of course but a Dead staple). Sounds like one of the guitars is out of tune…Jerry’s? Basically, no real solo of note between the first two verses. Nice rhythm playing from Weir after the second verse, very aggressive. He always said he was a Townshend fan and at times here he gets a bit Pete-y. Patterns sort of go in circles a bit with Jerry seeming to almost quote “Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad” and then “Stephen” slight return. Weir then echoes the GDTRFB riff somewhat and the jam almost seems to want to go there (Jerry’s tuning is making me crazy to the point where now Weir sounds a tad out of tune…ah the glory days before tuners were part of every guitar players rig).

Things start getting chordier and chordier and bigger and bigger in the last 45 seconds and then everything just crumbles to a stumble/stop until someone, perhaps Phil, hits Bobby Blue Bland’s signature “Turn On Your Lovelight” riff. But as I notice this is a 27+ minute version coming up and the guitars are still in iffy tuning I’m a bit trepidatious. It will be up to Pig to rise to the occasion and take this over the top. Verse two is just Pig and drums…then the band kicks and I don’t have the blatant tuning teeth gritting thing grinding on me…you can hear all of the echo on the stage, perhaps in the mic leakage since this seems to be a soudboard. I’ve never seen a full transcription of a vintage Pigpen rap so I will give it my best here and get as much as I can manage trying to maintain the classic Pigpen patois.

Pig starts singing the 1st verse again at about 4:44 followed by what sounds like a false ending…before the 2nd verse of call-and-response backed mostly by bass and drums which winds into Pigpen beginning a classic rap… (a descending) “my, my, my, my, my, my…” (almost a whisper that rises and falls) “well, I don’t want it all…I just want a little bit…I don’t want it ALL, no, no, I jes’ wanna little bit…” (quieter) “a little your lovin’…little your kissin’…” (as Jerry solos behind with Billy) “..A little o’ yer ROLLin’, summa yer ridin’ slowuuuuuuuu…shucks, uh…awright…” (Phil joins in, bass rising, band pickin’ up ever so slightly) “I need a somethin’ early in the mo’nin’…’tent before the day is dawnin’…I just might get a lonesome for some lil thang…lonesome for dat thing you got down there…
I know’t I got to do…sayyit…dat everything…is solright…” (he’s quieter) “got to…” (and you hear the organ riffing in the distance, like he moved over to leave some room…and the band gets rhythmic and he lightly falsettos as he stops playing organ…) “ooh oohoo…ooooh...huh…ow…I’m gonna tell ya all somethin’” (band immediately breaks it down to clave and drums and select notes) “…about nuthin’…I’m gonna tell ya all…then I’m gonna tell ya little bit…’bout one them thangs…made me feel so good…them things…made me feel so nice…my, my, my s’all right…one them things…one them thayiiiings…wanna tellll youuu all about it…” (Weir starts a five note descending riff once and Pig answers) “…awright…” (Weir does it again with echo from Jerry and repeats it again) “so sweeyeeeet…so nice…jes’ can’t hep myself…NO WAY…ya can’t over it…ya can’t get around it…ya can’t get under it, ya can’t get through it…ya gotta get in it…makes ya feel purty good…ah, my…” (descending riff continues) “yes it do…ain’t no beatin’ ‘round da booosh…ain’t no paddlin’ up stream and no way down…huh…but I’m gonna tell ya one thang…one thang that my baby got…make it feel so nice…” (just high hat now) “something make me feel so good…ya know in the mornin’…just be fo’…de day is dawnin’…I jes’ might get…a little bit lonesome…I jesta might git…a lil bit hongry…but I know…a-all I got ta do…clap my hands and…turn on over my left should…ax my baby…ta roll on over…it feels so nice…ahowqqq…I jes’ cain’t really splain to ya…the way it fee-eeeeeeelsssss…get readay now” (to the band, and then speaks) “…and one of them things that makes me feel so good ‘bout them kinda situation…jes’ one them little thangs…that make me feel so good…get ready folk…” (and he starts in on the big riff heavy section where the band kicks in huge:) “…coz she got, BOX BACK NETTY, great big n overbite, workin’ undercover wit a ball all night…need a rider, believe it so, need a rider, yeah, I believe it so…feel so good…yes it do…” (I really have no idea what he says there…) the band starts in jamming double time at 12:20 and Pig is laying some organ riffs in with them…then at 13:20 they break it down again…and he says, “WAIT a minute!...I know some..I know summa ya fellas out in the audience this evening’…may feel jus’ like…ya like a little company this evenin’ nah…huh…but I tell ya, ya ain’t gonna get no place…standin’ around…not doin’ a hell of a lotta nuthin’…Now the first thing ya gotta do…is get ya hangds out of ya pockets and quit playin’ dta pocket pool and do somethin’ that’s worthwhile…” (just drums again) “I mean ya can clap yo’ hands..if ya wonna…and if ya don‘t wanna clap ya hangds you can fake it an feel da girl up…but it’s awright too…because if ya got ya hangds in ya pockets ain’t no otha thang ta do…an’ my momma told me one time…all dat otha bidness makes ya kinda crazy…huh…” (audience still clappin’ along but quieter) “I cain’t hoddly hear ya…” (crowd starts to roar) “C’mon I can’t hear nuthin’ yeat…lil’ louda…ev’rabody…take it down…hey…you clap loud enough ya know you gonna blow dis whole place up…might even tear down da whole damn city…PIGS with it…so all I need is ta hear ya clap wid me…jes a fo’ little while…huh…I kinda lost the beat so jes’ keep it up…” (band starts to ease back in, as he starts to speed up the rap again here at 15:20) “…awright…and then when them thing…begin to get good…and them thing begin to get better…there’s one thing…that I ask my baby…I said, please…do your favor fo’ me…she gotta special lil thang…special little light…she keep on the side…just for me…I have ta feel…let it shine..let it siiine…let it shine…owwww…whatcha do…feel so nice…make me feel…everything…and my rider…” (organ riff starts up again as Jerry and band gets more frenetic on a riff repeated for about 8 times…then it swirls around a bit for another minute or so getting louder and then double time and then backs of again slightly then rises up ascending and descending…back down to mostly bass and rhythm…) “Ahhwt…awright…” and Phil tears it up bringing the pace and energy up accelerating until Pig says, “Yeah..” and you can hear Jer start the main riff quietly in the background for four bars then Weir then Phil for four then eight bars, then cowbell from Mickey and Bill on hi-hat as Pig starts riffing quietly towards the big rave…(we’re now at 19:12) “and that’s everything…it gets so good…I ask my baby…that last thing…and I jes know she got it stashed away…that sweet lil thang she got waiting for me…I asked her please, shine on your light…sol I need, soll I gotta have, cause I know ya got it…somewhere stashed away…I tasted it before and I gotta thang for it now…jest gotta get it…that special lil thing..oh my…I asked my baby…I said please, I said pleeeease…let it shine…soll I need jest gotta get it just got to have it…jest gotta get some…make me feel so nice…make me feeel so good…I justa got ta get some…ain’t no way… ain’t no waaay…gonna get around tonight…I know ya got it…I got ta have it…im gonna get it…yes I will…ya know I will…baby please…make me feel…so real…my my…feel so nice…babay…feel so good…let’s all say…let it shine…” It’s 21:00 in and Weir and Pig vocally call-and-response, quietly for the next minutes with quiet riffs call-and-response between Jerry and Phil, and tambourine and drum call-and-response between 'em and it keeps building and building and at 22:10 it starts to build to full voice and full band and as it rises and rises Weir gets into trying to out “little bit higher” Pig and it gets gritty and pumped and raving….with Weir leading the call and Pig responding…Phil and Billy churning, Jerry power-chording…until the brief, held note a la a James Brown start/stop ending…then to the speedy opening riff under the two screamers for the last 3+ minutes…then the final riff three times then big cymbal/gong type pounds as the band smashes the ending for another minute or so…insane with the giant power glissando at the end and the crowd ROARS. Shine on.

Then there’s always got to be that one more. So they bring the Riders out for a feedback smattered acoustic “Cold Jordan”. Quiet a bit sloppier, though quicker…here, a good three hours after the first version of the evening though the crowd is actually clapping along better…haha…they are energized.

The stunning realization is that there were about 7+ hours of music played this night between the Dead and the Riders. Well worth the ticket price and well worth the price of these historic CDs. A real treat for all DeadHeads old and new. Funny thing is, after not having heard this show in a good ten years, I am amazed at how much comes back in memory as I listen. Definitely one of the more listened to tapes in my collection and something I’ve upgraded quality on every chance I could.

P.S.
“Just when you think you’re out…they pull you back in…”

The BONUS DISC:
Early and advance purchasers of Grateful Dead archival releases are often given an incentive of a bonus disc or T-shirt with early orders. Go to the GD’s online store and get on the e-mail list to be kept in the loop.

The BONUS tracks for ROAD TRIPS 3.3 feature 8 tracks from 5/15/70 to complete the music played by the Dead on that date, all but one were new tunes to their rapidly expanding repertoire, as well as 4 additional tracks from the previous night’s gig in Missouri. Blair Jackson’s liner notes for the regular set above are informative and personal as his incisive writing on the Dead has been for the past 30+ years but, unfortunately, bonus discs receive short shrift in the notes department for all GD releases. The single CD is packaged in a cardboard slipcase echoing the graphics of its digipak’d big brother.

First up are 4 tunes from the “acoustic” portion of the early show. You can find the original running order of the show here. http://www.deadbase.com/ The disc begins with “Friend of the Devil” taken at the original, bluegrassier pace as opposed the later sloth-like, mournful live electric versions. Jerry flubs a line here and there and his acoustic guitar is a bit buried but the vocals throughout are pristine.

A sweet “Candyman” follows with a nice little aside from Jerry during the ”oohs” section after the guitar solo, “Here he comes!” Fun. Bringing up Marmaduke and David Nelson to flesh out “Cumberland Blues”, the tune sounds as close to the Workingman’s Dead version as you’d ever hear with Jerry slipping over to the electric.

“Cold Jordan” never before officially released on a GD album harkens back to Jerry and Nelson’s days as bluegrass folkies before the rise of the Dead. Wonderful gospel harmonies on this old hymn. As I’ve mentioned before, the Dead, wearing their myriad influences so deliciously on their sleeves, really opened up my ears and record collection to whole new worlds.

Next up is what was then a brand new electric Pigpen gem, here crushed a bit by some nasty feedback during the beginning of his gritty harp solo. Churning, edgy stuff. Jerry’s solo bouncing of Lesh’s massive, fluid chug is just a snapshot of where this band had been and where they’d be going. Pig’s non-intrusive organ fills during the solos; tasty harp and blistering vocals show younger fans what all the fuss was about.

“Attics Of My Life” was a new vocal showcase in only its 2nd appearance. It would be rarely played after 1970, coming back in to the band’s set lists twice in 1972 and not again until 1989 where it would stay as a rare treat through Jerry’s death in 1995. “Beat It On Down The Line” which always starts with a different beat count for the intro, begins here with Phil’s off mic query, “How many times, you guys?”

“Fourteen,” is Jerry’s call. Odd, since it was the 15th of June, but hey, who’s counting. So 14 beats later, this speedy tune covered on the Dead’s debut album launches a three-minute blast of rock n roll. This is the Dead’s incendiary take on the old tune by street musician and one-man-band Jesse Fuller, who also wrote “San Francisco Bay Blues”, “Monkey & The Engineer” and “You’re No Good”, the latter a big hit for Linda Ronstadt.

“Next Time You See Me” is loose and fun with Pig and Jerry singing Jimmy Reed. These last two tunes were from the electric portion of the second show on the 15th.

The disc ends with a long medley of electric primal Dead from the previous night at Merramec Community College, Kirkwood, MO (identified as “St. Louis” on the CD). Nine and a half bluesy minutes of the newly penned “New Speedway Boogie” followed by 30+ minute medley of “St. Stephen” > “Not Fade Away” > “Turn On Your Lovelight”. Compare these versions to those played the next night (on Disc 3 of this set) to hear how the Dead molded and stretched as the muse beckoned. In Missouri, there are two extra minutes of “NFA” and “Lovelight” is 10 minutes shorter than the epic one from 24 hours later. High energy, blues drenched, lysergic rave-ups. With a touching “FUCK THE PIGS” from Pigpen at the climax.

For those who missed this version of the Dead, this is essential listening. Go buy it right now and thank me later.

Buy ROAD TRIPS Vol 3 No. 3 now
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EYES ARE BUGGIN' - WEST COAST SUMMER READNG



CURRENT READING LIST:
Again, people ask me why don’t you just finish one book before you start another? Yeah? Why don’t you just eat all that vanilla ice cream in the freezer before you dig into the Moose Tracks or Pistachio you just bought? Variety is the spice of life. Discovery, the meat. I cover every flat surface in my home with something to read. Always something within arms distance. Always nice having another world within reach. Well, here’s my up-to-the-minute West Coast reading list…


JUST FINISHED:
- A MONK SWIMMING by Malachy McCourt

A engaging and raucous memoir of actor, barkeep, gold smuggler, raconteur McCourt who along with brother Frank (Angela’s Ashes, ‘Tis) has become the first family of modern day Irish-American literature. Having published plays, political commentary, two volumes of memoirs, a weekly columnist for NYC magazines, books on Irish history, the legend of the ballad “Danny Boy” and the Claddagh Ring, and recovery from alcoholism, since his arrival in the USA in the 1950s where he began a long career as an actor in Broadway, Off-Broadway, television, and motion pictures. A Monk Swimming tells of these early days in a new land, fresh from a tough, young life of poverty in Limerick, Ireland. Younger brother Alphie also published a memoir, A Long Stone’s Throw.
http://www.malachymccourt.com/




- THE BEAT FACE OF GOD: The Beat Generation Writers as Spirit Guides by Stephen D. Edington with a forward by David Amram

- BIG SKY MIND: Buddhism and the Beat Generation by Carol Tonkinson (editor)

Edington, a Reverend in the Unitarian Church and adjunct faculty member at University of Massachusetts at Lowell, is a contributing writer for Beat Scene Magazine and has previously written a book on Jack Kerouac’s Nashua, New Hampshire roots. He is active in the Kerouac scene around Lowell and here investigates the many facets and shared importance that the search for spirituality held in the lives and writings of the main protagonists of what we know as the central writers of the “Beat Generation” – Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Gary Snyder, Michael McClure, Lawrence Ferlinghetti among them.

Big Sky Mind is a collection of the writing of the above Beats and friends. Background in to the spirituality and Buddhist leanings of works of each writer is given followed by some examples of their work. Other prominent Beat and Beat-influenced writers included here are Gregory Corso, Anne Waldman, Diane DiPrima, Lew Welch, Bob Kauffman and more.

- THE FLASH OF LIGHTNING BEHIND THE MOUNTAINS: NEW POEMS by Charles Bukowski

A wonderful posthumous collection of previously unpublished poems. As with much of Bukowski’s work, I start a new books of his poetry all excited since my first readings of Buk and Allen Ginsberg were part of what really got me inspired to write poetry. The tendency for nostalgia sometimes gets me looking at his milieu and thinking, I’ve heard all of this before. But I pick the book up again and invariably 2/3 of the way through a batch of poems just floors me. Something resonant and timely and profoundly human always rears up and slaps me around. I wind up feeling more unique and individual while simultaneously just more similar to the rest of humanity. While going through a couple of long months watching my father deal with illness and growing old, having the Chinaski hang on circling the big sleep shed new light on this twilight we all must fight our way through.

- THE NAMESAKE by Jhumpa Lahiri

A beautiful rendered tale of cultural assimilation and belonging. I’d passed on the film when it came out and I’m glad I did. The book is a treasure and just unfolds it’s personal family perspectives with a treasured sense of intimacy and sweetly drawn details of a family from Calcutta and their assimilation into American life. Their US born son wrestles with his given name and issues of cultural identity and as he grows he watches the world around him changes as does his emotional connection to his past.


READING:

- PINCHER MARTIN by William Golding

The recent passing of Golding provoked the purchase of this novel at a used bookstore just off the Pasadena City College campus last week. A fascinating tale that takes place almost entirely in the mind of Christopher Martin who finds himself thrust upon a bare rock in the middle of the sea forced not only to survive the elements but the hallucinations, revelations and inner spirit that circulates within his own mind. A fascinating perspective from the famed author of Lord of the Rings.

- WHEN THINGS FALL APART by Pema Chodron

A book I pick up often, to help focus on the realities of daily living. Chodron’s gentle and direct approach always encourages me to pull new meaning from passages on the page and the ever-flowing instances of my own life and find the pertinent and shimmering moments of clarity and discovery that help me through my days. A wonderful aid to my meditation practice and to the tiny changes in perception that help in every fleeting or weighty instance of doubt, despair or fear that pops up in life.

- THE MINDBODY PRESCRIPTION by John E. Sarno, M.D.
Sarno describes in layman’s terms how many of the illnesses we suffer from in modern society how emotions can cause and/or influence one’s ability to prevent and/or overcome these maladies. He presents a good place to start investigating how attention to one’s emotional perspective and needs can help speed the process of recovery from pain as well as circumventing the body’s reaction to stress, worry, and negative feelings. I found this medically based perspective very helpful in illuminating some of the reasons why meditation has been of such help to me.

- THE FRANK ZAPPA COMPANION: Four Decades of Commentary by Richard Kostelanetz

The author collects essays, articles, and reviews of Zappa and his oeuvre and interviews with the artist himself. A fun and enlightening primer for new Zappa converts as well as long time fans looking for an intelligent and diverse exploration of this iconoclastic American musician.

- SELECTED POEMS by William Blake

This pocket-sized 1963 hardback edition from the Oxford University Press collects 324 of the timeless poets greatest writings. I keep Blake and Burns around on the tabletop year-round for quiet moments when I can read out loud and glory in the sublime sound of human spirit made manifest.

- A&R by Bill Flanagan

Long-time MTV/VH1 exec, Flanagan writes his first novel. This one is an insider's tale of the backroom, front room, bathroom, green room, court room, zoom room take behind the curtain of the slimy, sleazy, sultry, sexy, greedy, needy and seedy side of the rock n roll business. Where's dreams go green in more ways than one.

- THE TRUTH: WITH JOKES by Al Franken

Okay, I tend to buy political books when they hit the bargain racks. My tendency is to hate the fact that writing books is part of an election campaign, more propaganda, more spin. But I always liked Al Franken as a comedy writer, as well as in his role as resident lefty provocateur for my generation. And yeah, you go Al. Ride into Washington and stay true to your guns. Of course, there are some funny things in this book. Scary funny, but funny nonetheless.

- THE ZEN OF LISTENING: Mindful Communication in the Age of Distraction by Rebecca Z. Shafir

Shafir is a Speech Therapist who has found lessons in her studies of Zen that greatly enhance the ability to listen, communicate and interact deeply with those in the world around you. Her techniques and observations are explained without any religious overtones and have helped many of the people who come to her workshops on Listening to help them in their relationships, workplaces and in the busy world that surrounds them.

- THE EROTIC MIND by Jack Morin, M.D.

A journey into how the erotic mind works and techniques, observations and tools that can help you interpret and enhance that way you look at your personal sexual profile towards a greater and more enjoyable sexual perspective on life.

- DYLAN’S VISIONS OF SIN by Christopher Ricks

I am completely not attracted to the way in which Ricks writes a sentence, collects his data or set’s up his chapters...just a bit too high-fallootin’ for this old boy. On the other hand, his perceptions, conclusions, circumnavigations of all the myriad levels of Dylan’s genius are fascinating. I like the Sins concept. Viable if a bit stretched at times. Then again, any book taking on the task of interpreting Dylan is sort of like someone trying to interpret the motivations behind the form of a tree’s growth or the inexplicable “from whence” behind quantum physics. Sometime a song is just a song, sometimes it’s architecture and sometimes it’s just receiving from the muse. But this is a book I’ve been picking out for a few years…a chapter here, a half a page there. Fairly draining stuff but ultimately interesting for anyone as over-the-top intrigued by His Zimmenence as I.

- THANK YOU AND OK!: An American Failure In Japan by David Chadwick

Interesting first person story of an American studying Buddhism and living in Japan. Spiritual writer Jack Kornfield says of the book, “Chadwick saves you the trouble of going to Japan by making all the mistakes for you.” This book is a fascinating portrait of a spiritual quest in modern times.


JUST STARTED…MORE ON THESE LATER:


- AMERICAN CREATION by Joseph L. Ellis

- HAPPIER THAN GOD by Neale Donald Walsch

- THE POWER OF KINDNESS by Pierre Ferrucci with a forward by His Holiness The Dalai Lama

- THE UNIVERSE IN A SINGLE ATOM: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality by His Holiness The Dalai Lama

- THE LIVELIEST ART: A Panoramic History of the Movies by Arthur Knight


I'd elaborate but I've got some reading to do...