Grateful Dead

Got the "on its way" mail just now. Will it arrive before I leave for a well earned break in Kreta. One can but hope. I leave in twelve days, about the same time as it usually takes an order to cross the pond. Whatever, it ain't gonna spoil my holiday! Bring on the calamare and Metaxa 5-star.

Woohoo! That snuck up on me... Gainesville is where Dr. Robert Cade, a UF professor, created Gatorade.

Love 4/24/72. Still not warming up to 4/24/78 though. Some decent moments, but overall leaves me underwhelmed. I get more enjoyment out of 4/22/78 Nashville (DaP 16).

Got the notice DaP 26 is on the way. Sooner than I expected. Maybe will get here in time for my road trip to Red Rocks next week to see Phil and family. Oh, and Keithfan, I love Rocking the Rhein. The Dark Star is one of my favorites, especially the way Me And My Uncle just pops out of some rabbit hole, skips along the prairie, and dives right back into a swirling labyrinth. Can't hear it too many times.

This was the one, the album that made a Dead Head out of me. For me, Sugar Magnolia is the BOAT here, for many reasons, but it's really only the final act in one of the best medleys of the tour: Dark Star => Me & My Uncle => Dark Star, Pt. II => Wharf Rat => Sugar Magnolia. It was my first Dark Star. There are no specialty jams in this one. Take your list of 20 best Dark Stars, then remove any of them that have Feelin' Groovy, Tighten Up, or Mind Left Body. What are you left with? I prefer this 4/24/72 Dark Star above many others, not only because it was my first (and those firsts have a way of sticking with you), but because it's long and covers a lot of new ground. It also doesn't spend too much time in "Atonement", which is that place where there's a lot of....er...how does my wife describe it...ah yes "noise". That's atonal music! I insist. But not this Dark Star; it's experimental, but not over-baked or too noisy. And as I said, the experimentation does not yield to common themes; they improvise their way into several new arrangements you'll never hear again. And it's a long bugger, clocking in at 41 minutes. Best of all, it's possibly Jeffrey Norman's best treatment for an E72 show, as (most know) this was released individually, a good 7 years before it was incorporated into the Europe '72 Complete Recordings Box Set. Best of all, Keith is well represented in the mix, which, alas is not the case throughout the entire box set (the esteemed Mr. Norman himself once commented on these message boards that he would love to remaster the box set anew (but with more time to deliver the final product). The Wharf Rat that emerges out of it is also sublime (just listen to Keith dancing on the pinky keys in the beginning). I believe my top 5 Wharf Rats are the 5 from this tour. The multi-track brings out Garcia's Alligator Strat and Weir's Gibson ES-345 as pure as can be, and the vocals on this song were soooooo good when Jerry sung them alone. And of course Sugar Magnolia. This is the one that caught me and melted my face for the first time. Don't they all sound the same on this tour though? No. As always, it's in the nuances. There were few songs in the Dead catalog that showcased Weir and Garcia in the fabled "guitar weaving" mode that Keith Richards sought for (and achieved) throughout his career with the Stones but Sugar Magnolia in the early days was one of them. What makes the Rhein so special: longer hook chord opening on this night, before the first verse (= extra groove time); more backing vocals on the verses - makes for some nice harmonizing (mostly unique to this version); Billy's best drum fill ever? (you know the part, after "take me out and I wander round") - well, let's just say, he opts for the tom-tom roll instead of the ratta-tat-tat snare attack, and the timing is impeccable (the only other time he plays it quite like this on the E72 tour is closing night 5/26 - but the sound production is a little flatter and less impressive); and then one of the most uncommon elements you'll ever find in a Dead song occurs after Billy's drum fill - everyone plays the same thing for a few bars, in perfect harmonic bliss (i.e. the Sunshine Daydream chord progression, but no vocals yet). This goes on for a few bars, and the harmony of instruments is a thing of beauty that just doesn't click like this every night of the tour. Eventually Jerry starts soloing, and they go into the Sunshine Daydream coda, which does not include Donna (as much as I love her, I "grew up" on this version without her, so her inclusion on this part of the song beginning in August '72 sounds alien to me - sorry honey!) Me & My Uncle was great in that medley too. What can I say? Lotta pow pow, shoot 'em up from a couple of honest Denver men; and despite varying accounts of this classic brawl over the years, these were the days when our anti-hero relied solely on his pistols, and indeed cracked no one in the jaw with a bottle. What we can surmise about the good Uncle in this story, is that though he taught his nephew the good book, he either failed to translate accurately from Latin, or he simply underestimated the significance of the line: radix omnium malorum avaritia; avarice is the root of all evil.

I'm headed to Gainesville!

In the end of his latest chat he mentions upcoming releases....states that he's picked a good one for DP#27, and of course we'll get DP#28 also. He also noodles or mumbles about 3 other "THINGS" this year for release....the box set seems to be the mention of a "big release later in 2018" with no details from him. My guess is that this is one of the "things" of course dialed up for release....the other two "things" fore release are now out would be my guess: they are RSD "Live Dead" vinyl & today's Anthem deluxe edition (with a 1967 show for some reason, shouldn't it be a show from 1968?!?)....ANYWAY, my guesses below are what we will see for the remainder of the year: 1) DP #27 = 1974 2) DP #28 = 1976 3) Box Set this Fall 1973 (3-4 shows)

Glad someone else mentioned this I thought the same thing when I first heard it.

https://recordstoreday.com/?eml=2018April24/4305435/6131962&etsubid=392…

Just got my Anthem preorder confirmed, this time ordering was smooth as silk....