Grateful Dead

I still haven't got the vinyl copy of Binghampton 1970 that I ordered, but I got a letter from the Depot 45 miles away this morning, asking me to phone them. So I did, and they have it there, but said they wouldn't deliver it until I paid £35.89 import duties. That's just over 50 dollars. Wow. Anyway, I must stay in on Tuesday, as that's the day it will be delivered. In a gold chariot, maybe, for that price. Maybe I wont buy The Shrine 1967 on vinyl after all!

Before I chip in, I would like to echo Sixtus highlighting Phils bass playing in, on, over and around New Potato Caboose on Two From The Vaults. One of his and the bands greatest moments. I tend to notice Phils bass playing more in 1968-1969. The heart and soul of many Dark Stars lies in the interplay between Jerry and Phil. I also love the bass runs on Caution. Another period I tend to notice for Phil is 1971, when they had just the one drummer and much less keyboard playing. A very sparse sound. A great example of this is on the box set Ladies and Gentleman..The Grateful Dead featuring the shows in April of that year. A real highlight is the Phil led jam on the 4th side of the box set from 29th April.

...since Two from the Vault was brought up..or at least 8/23/68...I shall chime in to offer one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE PHIL MOMENTS is the sequence coming out of New Potato Caboose, following the vocals on this release. At first it is a bit dissonant for several moments; but then Phil just takes off playing this ridiculous lead, with the boys chugging on a 3-part chord progression in the background. It THUNDERS and tends to shred my brain. And is a perfect setup for Jerry to then step-in and take it home over the next several minutes. A truly "Phil-abulous" sequence... Oh and of course various Phil bombs to open Shakedown, The Other One, etc. are always welcome. Sixtus

Jay -Not mere moments. Wish I could come up with something good off the beaten path, my faves are justly famous: 6/18/74 - The Other One, '74 bone crusher, if that helps 10/19/73 - Morning Dew, '73 throat tickler, if that helps 8/23/68 - The Eleven, all-time snarling white hot shit, if that helps

"Fragile" is the perfect word, Thin. There were times during those '93-'95 shows where Jerry barely lifted his head to reach the mic. Hard for me to watch and experience at the time, equally hard for me to listen to now. But that particular night he was fully present: alert and smiling and connected to the band, which I think comes across in the energy of the show as well. There are a few wobbly moments, no doubt (BIRD SONG starts off a little shaky before finding its groove). But those imperfections have never bothered me, regardless of the era. It's always been part of the live Dead experience. I'm with you on WAY TO GO HOME (a personal fave) and this night's STELLA BLUE was/is something special. I doubt this one will ever see an official release, though I'd be the first to order it if it did. I'm just happy to have the Eaton/Miller version at my fingertips.

Thanks for the comments everyone - I guess the Dead aren't as simple as "always spontaneous" or "always planned". I enjoyed the article from LoveMyGirl about how Bobby had a "framework" for improv. I think some of this philosophy showed in the Orlando Dead & Co. show last month when they came out of the Wheel into "You can call me Al" from Paul Simon. Really weird and obviously wasn't planned. On a side note - I ordered the CD from the show from nugs.net and was really impressed with the quality - came in a nice "Road Trips" style case with artwork and everything. Nice souvenir. Nugs.net used to be the cheapest place to get the "Download Series" by the GOGD, but now it seems like Amazon has the lowest price.

I love the '69 Hilton Hotel concert story, and other off-beat Dead show stories. The Dead did a lot of very unique shows over the years - never heard of THAT one! Listened to 10/19/94 this morning as I was getting through my morning routine - Thanks for the nudge Skulltrip. I checked out Birdsong (nice and long), Way To Go Home (a song most don't like but i LOVE it, though they all kinda sound the same to me), and Stella Blue (GORGEOUS - had me stopping in my tracks a few times to soak it in). Great stuff. I only wish the '93-95 shows were a little more consistent. They seem so fragile.... I always feel like I'm watching my daughter do the balance beam, clenching and holding my breath anticipating the moment she inevetably wobbles. But this show has some great moments!

March 15, 1969http://gratefuldeadoftheday.com/03-15-1969 Hilton Hotel San Francisco, California Yes, this was indeed from the Hilton Hotel in San Francisco. It was part of a swanky series of events - a fundraiser for the San Francisco Symphony - put on annually called the Black and White Ball. In the late 1960s, the organizers started adding rock and roll to the usual lineup of opera, symphony, and the like. It also helped that Weir's mom was chairwoman of the entertainment committee. Dennis McNally, in A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead, sheds some more light on the evening. He writes that admission was $17.50 at a time that $4 was rock’s absolute maximum. The situation being what it was, they naturally screwed it up royally, and it became one of their very finest professional disasters. The band and equipment arrived on time, but Bear announced that he needed a missing item back in Novato, and vanished. While the musicians prepared themselves in a room upstairs, Bear actually went to sleep in an equipment case under the stage. When the lateness of the hour dawned on the band, they rousted him from his refuge, scourged him into setting up the stage, and at long last began to play. McIntire had induced them to echo the evening’s them and wear black and white costumes: Pigpen and Jerry were pirates, Mickey was Zorro, T.C. was an eighteenth-century bell ringer, Kreutzmann a French sailor, and McIntire himself came in a clown costume of white satin with black buttons. So, the Dead did not exactly comport themselves in the best manner, especially considering McNally goes on to say that the boys disappeared before the mayor arrived for the ceremonies, leading the San Francisco Chronicle's social columnist to call them the "Ungrateful Dead." The boys did, however, deliver some steamy music, even though it is not too difficult to find better '69 shows. The Dark Star is particularly inspired, but the Hard to Handle, the first by the Dead, is a total mess. Reportedly, the boys opened with a Morning Dew, Alligator> Drums> Alligator, but no recording of those tunes exists. Sadly, the internet does not seem to hold any images from the evening, though there must be some floating around given the occasion.

Pulled out 10/20/68 the other day and was listening on headphones. Not typically a "primal dead" guy, usually opting for the Americana of '71 and beyond, and definitely never held the Dead's Good Morning Little Schoolgirl in that high regard. But man oh man, almost from note 1 and for the first few minutes, Phil's bass totally dominates the right side/ear and does not let go. So this one's a gem when you want a dose of Phil, early primal Phil. And today, 50 years on from 1968, happy 78th Phil. In addition to this one, I think I will cue up other Phil moments I love - the Eyes of the World from the Movie Soundtrack; the Bertha from 12/31/76 - trust me on that one - and maybe the great Music / Tom Thumb's combo from 6/28/85. What are some other great Phil moments?

Madison Square Garden, 10/19/94. The Dead's last show on the East Coast leg of their Fall tour. My last show seeing Jerry. The atmosphere that night was electric and so was the band. Wonderful from start to finish. Both "Bertha" and "Sugar Magnolia" refuse to stop, and "So Many Roads" is as uplifting as it is heart-wrenching. Charlie Miller's mastering of Rob Eaton's DATs make it sound like being there all over again: https://archive.org/details/gd1994-10-19.137089.sbd.miller.flac1648/02B… Stick this one in your ear sockets and smile, smile, smile... (Afterward, we slipped our way into the Ritz Carlton, where the Dead were staying, and hung out at the bar with the band for about an hour. No one talked to us directly, but they didn't kick us out either. We watched, we listened, we counted our lucky stars. I still do.)