Grateful Dead

You cats are already on to 1973. I'm still savoring the gentle respite in the oasis of Austin.

Death don't have no mercy, but there's always time for lunch.
Thanks for reminding me of LL. I need to see if I can get reinstated over there.

Grateful Dead Live at The Auditorium, Austin, Tejas on 1970-02-23
Harpur College was another of my heavy, heavy rotation tapes back in the day, along with the 2/18/71 Capitol Theater show I've already mentioned numerous times. Both were massive inspirations. For what seems in hindsight like a fairly significant period of time, if it wasn't one of those, it was Reckoning.

I Know You Rider: Lovin' the energy and grit of this Rider. It's almost angst.

High Time: This is a song! It's a pretty weird song, too, and after attempting it several times, myself, I must say it isn't surprising it wasn't played often. Damn, it's hard to sing. I submitted a completely deconstructed version of this for the February Dead Covers Project a few years back. I made a point of not revisiting to the original before recording, just going off memory and some notes left in an old binder of songs. I'm sure the ever-growing defenders of canon were thinking, "You ain't doin' it right if you ain't readin' it off a teleprompter." It was an "interpretation". Lol.

Dire Wolf: What a lyric. An electric version, no less. Pretty mellow electric set, almost acoustic.

Yellow Dog Joke… ah… well way to go for completely screwing up the joke, Bobby… actually, I'm not sure I've ever heard him make it all the way to the punch line. We should all heed Jerry's advice and "Don't encourage him." Everything was so light and positive in these days. Phil could be a bit surly, as we've already heard in this tape.

Monkey and the Engineer: This was a standard in my old folk-rock duo. My partner played it and I just followed along. I'd have to start from scratch to figure out how to play it again. Such good stories in these tunes.

Little Sadie: Nice. This wasn't on the Harpur College tape or Reckoning. Another dark story. I don't see how they could possibly be breaking strings playing such gentle music.

Me and My Uncle: I don't recall hearing an acoustic version. It's a great song and works in any format. At this point everyone hadn't already heard it a million times. Imagine that!

Black Peter: One of my favourite tunes ever. Doesn't get much darker than a song from the point of view of a death bed. Started doing this one myself occasionally a few years ago, but I always need a cheat sheet for the bridge. Nothing repeats. There are some interesting mnemonic connections between the chords and the words that help. Just have to sit down and do my homework. Ahh… yeah, Pig sittin' in nicely on the organ. This song needs a really delicate hand, but the organ adds a nice little gospel flavour. If only Pig coulda added just a touch more flair to his playing to fill in some lines before Jerry takes his solo. Pig's got the tone.

Seasons of the Heart: Never heard this before. Great pick! Thanks.

Uncle Johns: Have heard this one a few times. 😉

Not Fade Away: I'm gonna call the union! The Galactic Rock'n'Roll Union! That needs to be a band name, or a song, or something! Crazy to think this tune was in their set their entire career. Some good ol' primal energy here. Jerry's "wild" tone. He must've had the amplifier turned WAY up, cause it sounds like he's not in the mix at all. His guitar is just being picked up by a vocal mic, or something. Basically, no drums, either. I can't keep track of which guitars he was playing in the early years. He seemed to play whatever was available after giving up the Starfire. Sounds kind of like a Stratocaster, The Graham Nash Strat, perhaps? Alligator did not come on the scene until later, if I recall correctly. This tone has even more of a stereotypical Stratocaster sound than Alligator, which retained very little Fender electronics by the time it gets heard on Europe '72. Anyone? Oh, cool call and response with Pig. TC has already left at this point? I need to get my timelines straight. Bobby diggin' in with some soulfully aggressive singing, rather than simply aggressive.

Mason's Children: I can't recall ever hearing this, either. The name comes up often, but it's not on anything I've listened to regularly. Again, thanks for this pick! As you say, not exactly high-energy stuff, but some very rare pieces here. Always appreciate the chance to learn something new about this fascinating family.

Rockers!

Lunch time. Death takes a breather. We're in the land of the living, gotta eat lunch.

The "new, fixed" 2/17/73 was up at Lossless Legs first thing this morning. So, it sometimes pays dividends to get up early............

So, one can get it there, or I can supply it to anybody who needs/wants..............

The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own......

Rock on,

Doc
It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure......

Hey Doc,

Where is the new Miller for this show? I see a 2020 transfer from Miller on the archive as of this morning, and this one has issues.

Mornin', rockers!!!

For all you completists out there----as well as Row Jimmy fans----the talented Mr Miller just put out a "fixed" version of the fine St Paul show from February 17, 1973. Would make up part of a nice box set from early 1973----2/9, 15, 17, 19............

Ah well, one can dream..............

Rock on, happy Friday!

Doc
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before........

ROCKTHING.............

Check your PMs...........

Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend........

Rock on,

Doc
I frequently hear music in the very heart of noise.......

Hey rockers!!!

Pick Of The Day: Austin, Texas February 23, 1970

I reluctantly discussed this at the end of last year. Here I am again. It appears that I’m stuck in a time warp. The galactic rock and roll union. I have no special talent, I am only passionately curious…..

It appears that the currently circulated recording of this show is the only surviving audio document from the Dead’s four show excursion through Texas in February 1970. It’s tough coming right after the wonderful, brilliant Fillmore West/Fillmore East shows earlier that month, and perhaps it’s not unexpected that the intensity level might come down a bit. That being said, this is still interesting, enjoyable, and worthy…..

The band is in 1970 electric/acoustic/electric mode. The circulating recording appears to be missing part of the first electric set, coming in during Know You Rider. For fans of acoustic Dead, this set is nice---Monkey And The Engineer-Little Sadie-Me And My Uncle-Black Peter-Seasons Of My Heart-Uncle John's Band. The festivities are completed with a jammy NFA and Mason’s Children.

The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind. I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity……

Did Bear travel to Texas, and did he record? Banana boxes, reveal thy mysteries…..

Rock on,

Doc
Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of truth and knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods……

>daverock>

The vocal dropouts are not evident in the audience tape, so that must have happened on the way to the board tape.

That said, the recording is slightly overpowered by Jerry and Bob's guitars from the taper's vantage point, but a little time with a simple Equalizer was enough to bring more Phil and better presence to the vocals. I do recall a few lyric flubs with the new material, but in the overall mix it didn't really jump out at me. Probably much more obvious in the official release/soundboard recording.

2/22/69>
Oh, my. I can see this is gonna send me on a primal quest. I have all these fall '69 and fall '68 shows that I've never listened to, but I don't have much from the spring of those years. I love this gentle psychedelia. It's really these delicate type of sounds that really trigger the senses. I'm only up to Dark Star at this point, but what a beautiful way to start a show.... oops, "The transitive diamonds?" Haha. I'd probably have trouble remembering my name if I were there, so whatever.

It's such a shame that we're restricted to streaming this show. Imho, if the official release isn't so significantly better sounding than one of these circulating boards that it isn't a no-brainer to buy it, then what's with the classism, eh? I know the boys need a retirement plan... but... --mini rant off--

Rockthing - good notes on this show - cheers! I'm going through it very slowly, but it's the L.P. I am listening to. Although it has the famous vocal drop outs, the sound and balance of the instruments sounds fine throughout to me. I have just played the side with Loose Lucy and Money Money on. A short side. The lyrics are a bit naff on both of them - but I like the music, and they were both played so rarely that when they do crop up, it's a welcome surprise to me.
I presume the version you have listened to has the earlier vocal dropouts too.

Wrote these notes on Monday morning while drinking my coffee and getting ready to do some work from home. After a while I was mostly distracted by the show.

I'll get to that Feb. 22 '69 show if I can, but I don't have that one handy. Hafta stream it.

The ETree identifier of this source is 115876, btw. I don't have the box set, so these are my first impressions.

It Must Have Been The Roses: Ok. /Now/ I'm awake. Possible tape change? There is suddenly a big improvement in sound quality for this hauntingly sensitive rendition. Jerry's voice is now clear above the guitars. Everything, save Phil, is suddenly much clearer and the sound field feels wider. Up to this point the tape had sounded like the tape the biker is listening to at the beginning of the Dead Movie. Nice harmony work during the refrain, blended well in the house mix.

Loose Lucy: Gettin' in the funk. Jerry's just perfectly behind the beat to make it nice and nasty. If the syncopation isn't just right, this tune can completely lose all form really quickly. Loose Lucy must be a pretty new song at this point. I have no idea when this tune debuted. They didn't do this in concert much, as far as I know. I was lucky enough to see'em do it once, but the performance I saw was almost unrecognizable. Something was wrong with the timing, so it sounded all backwards. I was embarrassed to not even recognize it until Jerry started singing. This is a nice treat.

I Know You Rider? Something seems to be wrong here. The info text says Money Money should be next followed by China/Rider, but we're just dropped into IKYR. Looks like some minor surgery might be needed on the meta data.

Money Money: Ok. Someone's just mislabelled these files. Man, this has always been one of my least favourite songs in the Dead's catalogue. I rarely skip songs on albums, but being the album closer on Mars Hotel makes it easy. I don't think I've ever heard a live version of it, so this is kind of a treat, in its own sort of way. Having not heard it in such a long time, I guess it's not such a bad song. The negativity of the lyric just sems to strike such a contrast to most of the other stuff in the repertoire. John Lennon, for example, has a lot of negativity in his lyrics, but when I listen to him, I expect that.

China Rider: Yeah. They're keepin' that funky groove going that was working so well during Loose Lucy. The transition jam seems to go almost immediately to an I Know You Rider feel. The guitar tone is very unusual here. It almost sounds like Bobby's Gibson 335 tone. He's playing lots of double-stops, where he plays two notes at a time even while soloing… wait… maybe that /was/ Bobby!? Some very cool interplay between Bobby and Phil before a guitar sound that is unmistakably Jerry joins in just ahead of the trademark unison bit before I Know You Rider. What is now clearly Jerry's tone keeps it going after the unison part, and now there's a Feelin' Groovy jam. I can almost see the smiling faces and twirling homemade sun dresses with flowers in the hair right now. Big, big ovation from the crowd as they settle into the Rider vamp before going into the first verse. They know what they've just heard. That was sweet, breezy, and smooth as can be. I'm guessing Jerry had some sort of equipment or other issue causing him to stop playing for a bit at the beginning of the transition. Oh, yeah, Jer, dig into that "On a north bound train" line. This and the out-of-place IKYR are going to get merged into one track when I get a chance.

Set II:
Promised Land: Yeah. Everybody's definitely up off their blankets now.

Bertha: Got a little "Yee Haw" from someone nearby for "All night pouring, but not a drop on me." It's quite amazing how inobtrusive the audience is, considering this was recorded with a handheld mic by someone just hanging out in crowd.

Greatest Story: Nice wah wah Jerry licks. Jerry's wah is so bubbly and has a rich swell, like the sound of a wave on the ocean. Using the rocking motion of the foot pedal definitely puts the player physically off balance, so I can understand why he seemed to abandon it later in favor of the Mutron "auto-wah" tone filter. Sounds so good here, though. Jerry's volume sounds cranked, though, totally drowning everything out. I ain't complaining. Oh, yeah. A little jam in GSET? They seem to have gone into something altogether different. I'm not sure if this is a set piece, but it feels unfamiliar to me. I know that I've heard occasional jams in Greatest Story, but they seem rare. This is definitely no longer the Greatest Story chord progression, but I don't know what it is, and then Wamp, Wamp-Wamp, right back into it. Now I'm gonna hafta start checking out Spring 1974 Greatest Stories. That was hot and adventurous, like maybe something went wrong and they fought through it… but maybe there was just a jam in this song back then.

Ship of Fools: Giving the manic dancers their first break of the second set. The taper is stopping the tape between songs, though, so who knows how long they spent tuning in between. Very nice harmony work from Bobby and Donna.

Weather Report: Seems a bit tentative in the earlier segments, but the Let It Grow jam is developing interestingly. The whole band just seems sort of in a gentle mood this night. Everything is soft and malleable, and most of all, creative, when they go off into improvised sections. The straight tunes are tight and, well, straightforward, but I'm hearing all sorts of novel ideas coming through during the instrumental segments. There seems to be a completely different confidence at work during this jazzy work out. You can hear Billy getting back to his swing roots and playing off Keith. This is fantastic. Such subtle interplay. Normally when I hear the full suite performed I wonder why they didn't continue to use the first parts, but in this case I didn't feel that way.

Peggy-O: Jerry's picking is quite aggressive, and his tone is very chimey, even behind his vocal. Relaxed tempo, even by Peggy-O standards. In this recording it sounds almost like Billy and Jerry doing a duet, but Keith adds some accents here and there.

??: What is this? A playful little jam and some quiet noodling where the audience's shouts and requests become more prominent. Bobby announces technical difficulties.

Truckin': Nice buildup, but not the major bomb drop I'm used to, and from there things start to get really weird. It's not spacy weird, just, "Whoa, what the heck is this?" weird. Some of the early 70s Truckin's could get totally abstract, so this is just the way they rolled back then. Great stuff. Gettin' that funky groove goin' from the first set again, even as the changes take on some jazzy influences. Bobby is very clear in the mix, and my oh, my it's gettin' Weir'ed. Jerry busts in with a burst of guitar feedback which seems to shock everyone for a moment, but they're still groovin'. This is the gold I look for in any show. It's funny because Mind Left Body actually sounds a lot like Loose Lucy. Billy and Phil getting' into a little funky-drummer exchange. Finally Phil breaks through in the mix with some space for him to hit that Bootsy one. In the info text "Jam" and "Mind Left Body Jam" had been listed separately, but they're actually all included in the Truckin' track, which is my preference. Cousinit made a real mess of this file set, but I can fix it. Rarely are there such glaring mistakes on the Archive, but this one has definitely been put together somewhat carelessly.

NFA: This interesting because I've been listening to a lot of Alligator era NFA's or Bean era NFA's, and that gives a nice context to compare to this Wolf tone… of course, there is a LOT of recording tech affecting the sound here, but even though there's a nice honk, everything seems so nice and round and gently muted. Hey. What's this breakdown in NFA. Pretty sure I've never heard that before… and GTRFB. THAT, was an interesting transition.

GTRFB: Nothing to worry about here. The old standby. Billy's hi-hat figure during the breakdown is, again, getting really funky with a swinging 16th note feel, or something. Very cool.

US Blues: Mars Hotel weighted setlist. What month did that come out? Good, tight version.

Johnny B. Goode: Full colosseum clap along for a high energy reading that does justice to the Check Berry original. Sometimes this can get a bit too languid. This one is rockin' hard.

On repeated listen, I've messed with the EQ some. First of all I bumped up the EQ preamp level, I dunno, about 10db, I guess. I then added a further 12db of 64Hz, and 125Hz on the 10 band EQ to bring Phil nicely into the mix, but also lowered almost everything else about 6db on frequencies that had been flat to make the bass frequency differential greater. The bass still isn't terribly defined, but it at least brings Phil into play. He was completely inaudible without EQ. Got just a touch more vocal by giving the 1KHz and 2KHz about 1db. The tape has a sort of nostalgic cheap car speaker sound, so I actually wanna preserve a bit of that… not that I could really get rid of it. There's quite a nice venue ambiance, especially when there is more space in the arrangements, like during the Mind Left Body Jam.

The vocal drop-outs others have mentioned were not audible to the audience.

That is a great show. According to the cd notes it was recorded, along with shows in late January and the Feb-March shows, for possible inclusion on Live Dead. It probably won't happen - the song lists are obviously very similar, but it would make a great box set to release all the shows recorded.
The shows from 1967-1971 inclusive are the main ones for me in 30 Trips.