One of the definitive DS>SS>11 suites and it power rocks on its own. Young'uns: don't forget good '69...fear not and dive in!

Stretches further out than earlier ones, like the Birdsong before they seemed to find WR's deeper groove and go furthur with it. Result? Beeyootiful.

Saddle up heads, this is one of the nicest ones I know. Pre-Donna Jean, but the boys cover it with driving intensity and its nicely mixed for the era.

Nailed it. Part of the great April run that coalesces the '71 sound. Killing 1st set with manageable mix and saturation issues.

One of the tightest and best jams I've ever heard. Absolute magic. Goes straight into a killer Lovelight. This is an amazing show. Check it out.

Went back to the 26th and 2nd of October, which are more often cited as the first NFBM jams of '72. The 2nd has a clearer statement of the melody, leaving no doubt what Jerry was thinking. But this one is much much clearer to my ears than the 26th, just the night before. It doesn't start with a straight statement, though, so may have slipped through the cracks. For those interested, here is a brilliant essay by a deep scholar on "The Dead's Early Thematic Jams", which is pretty cool. http://deadessays.blogspot.ch/2010/01/deads-early-thematic-jams.html

...and the MHUT out of TOO is totally surprising. I can't think of another TOO>MHUT jam any other time. Plus the version stands on its own as a worthy upvote. The Rio section is ultra sweet.

This show starts off a bit rocky, but this song is where the band really finds their groove. Vocals, as mentioned, are just spot on.

This is tremendous. This is a stop everything and listen to it now kinda thing. Somehow I'd never heard this one before tonight, but I'm pretty sure I'll be listening to it many many times now... in a row. There's a lot to it, including a brilliant brilliant Phil/Billy duo that would be hard to find parallels to anywhere else. With all respect to Grendel, I would humbly suggest that Billy sounds more like Tony Williams than Buddy Rich here - more channeling Tony's interactive poetry and muscularity than Buddy's fine-tuned engine at 6800rpm. Jerry's re-entry after the duo must have melted down more than one sensitive brain, and is some of his finest acid-washed genes on tape. Time to listen to it again.

The only reason this isn't much much higher is the fact that it was recorded from the bottom of a full swimming pool. The Philo Stomp (two rounds) and Tiger Jam blowout are just brilliant, and the He's Gone is just so sweet. Great suite, but a tough AUD.