cloud-bursting post-verse jam peaks with dense bass leads, cymbal action, & nifty inverted rhythms by weir.
19-minute standalone DARK STAR opens late set. i adore this early garcia/hunter period, surrealism similar to the scene’s posters/comix. pig plays harmonica on DUPREE’S, threading it to the jug band. earliest live taped versions of 2 “aoxomoxoa” songs: DUPREE’S DIAMOND BLUES & DOIN’ THAT RAG. whole night slightly too ragged for live album. vocals frayed, awkward bass solo, jam in 13 doesn’t fly.
CHICAGO GRATEFUL DEAD 68 CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER FULL
DUPREE’S DIAMOND BLUES rehearsal the day before its proper debut has full drums, closer to the later versions.ġ/24/69 avalon ballroom: early set opens with 30-minute THAT’S IT FOR THE OTHER ONE > NEW POTATO CABOOSE. apparently, someone’s taken TC outside & gotten him stoned.
does maybe seem like a real party is starting?ġ/23/69 avalon ballroom (rehearsal): run-through of THE ELEVEN 3 days before the “live/dead” take. both play more like ‘60s montages than actual performances. STEPHEN edited heavily & TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT in background under the credits.
beautiful, thoroughly baroque, & totally hifalutin (or just totally high) acoustic/harpsichord version, with weir on 12-string. “that’s the big one up there at night,” sez jerry, introducing MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON & looking fuzzy without his glasses. a studio set with “books not even worth stealing,” according to TC. at a fake playboy mansion, jer raps with hef & the dead play 3 songs not yet on their albums. natural in title role.ġ/18/69 los angeles: the grateful dead occupy playboy after dark & allegedly dose the coffee urn & hef’s pepsi with LSD, a story i’d believe slightly more if any of the dosed ever told it. raw & unnecessarily complicated comix-y fun. 1st dead version of COSMIC CHARLIE after the hartbeats’ 10/68 debut. 8-minute OTHER ONE with 3D pre-verse nebula. 26-minute THAT’S IT FOR THE OTHER ONE > COSMIC CHARLIE. DEATH DON’T HAVE NO MERCY is starting to get spare & gothic, a song i never quite appreciated fully until pretty sure pigpen kept playing organ on this one. TC’s organ is (as will be the usual) barely audible, sometimes floating through as vague but pleasing ambience. during 13-minute DARK STAR, mickey (i think) hits tom-tom accents during 2nd jam, but still no kits. STEPHEN > THE ELEVEN > DEATH DON’T HAVE NO MERCY. with this begins the 6-year golden age of DARK STAR suites where virtually everything is reliably magical, here a 44-minute DARK STAR > ST. garcia & lesh get with the pretty locked-in riffs. pig’s a bit slurry at the start, but he & band really starting to click on moves between sections. 17-minute TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT opener starting to space just slightly. ġ/17/69 santa barbara: with santana at a long-mysterious venue. Please consult JerryBase for the latest data, Dead Sources for original articles (1965-1975), and LostLiveDead/Hootrollin for deep dives. Expanded notes for many shows (with press, scene reports, and images) can be found on Twitter by searching for my username (bourgwick) and the show date. Originally posted on Twitter on each show’s 40th/50th anniversary and edited here for readability and occasional revision/correction and minor expansion. An extended listening project tracking the Grateful Dead’s evolution, recording by recording.
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