Yet Another Grateful Dead List

This was surprisingly easy. In no particular order:

1. 8/27/72, Veneta, OR. No question--this is the greatest Grateful Dead show ever. There was just something in the air (or was it the water) that day that made the legendary Grateful Dead gestalt form as never before or since. The Dark Star alone encompasses life, death, and everything in between (and then segues into El Paso!). But many songs that day were played in a way that made them beyond every other performance. Listen to the Bertha, Bird Song, Sing Me Back Home, or the China-Rider and you'll know what I mean.

2. 2/13/70, Fillmore East, NY. (released as part of Dick's Picks Vol. 4) Because of the unimaginable Dark Star->That's It For the Other One->Lovelight. Would you believe that I first felt the True Reality while first listening to this Dark Star? The Buddha appears in many guises.

3. 5/2/70, Harpur College. (released as Dick's Picks Vol. 8) One masterpiece of a show. The acoustic set was everything acoustic music aspires to be; the electric set was a fire-breathing psychedelic dragon. That's It For the Other One swallows you whole.

4. 2/15/73, Madison, WI. And not because it was played in the city of my birth. The segue between Dark Star and Eyes of the World reaches a place of such serene beauty that one cannot but help imagine a newborn Spring sun rising through a dew-speckled morning. The China-Rider is easily one of my favorites from this period, with the Feeling Groovy Jam in well evidence.


5. 6/28/74, Boston Garden (released as part of Dick's Picks Vol. 12) The most wonderful example of the Mind Left Body Jam, played as part of an amazing sequence that begins with a Weather Report Suite, ends with perhaps the greatest U.S. Blues ever, and has a Dark Star Jam along the way! Careful folks--this is one of those "gateway" recordings, and may lead to heavier stuff!

6. (I know this was supposed to be five, but what the hell!) 4/28 & 29/71, Fillmore East, NY. (both are part of the Ladies and Gentlemen . . .the Grateful Dead release) Simply put, these shows were what 1971 was all about. The Alligator->Drumz->Jam (with big time hints at St. Stephen)->Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad->Cold Rain and Snow from the 29th still fills me with such a golden sense of glee every time I hear it that over the years I've turned to it time and time again in melancholy periods. Never once did it fail me. Also--The Hard To Handle reaches such an amazing climax that is has to be heard to be believed.

I'd just like to end this little list by saying thanks to my old friend, Joe Drennan, who turned me onto all of the above recordings back when all we had were Maxell XL II 90s traveling through the post or unassuming couriers. (Does that qualify as the old days?) You can either thank or blame him.

p.s. Ye Gods! I almost forgot 9/19/70, Fillmore East! Find this on Archive and listen to it now!
The energy present during the Dark Star->St. Stephen->Not Fade Away was live-wire electric! Meaning? They were smokin'!