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Mercury

colorful wookie

+6852


Submissions

7
Estimated Prophet
March 20, 1977
Winterland Arena

Filter attack on the bridge, contrasts well with the burst-into-flames version from the night before
1
Bird Song
Nov. 13, 1987
Long Beach Arena

Clean and exploratory, with active Brent, yet not as telepathic as others
1
Bertha
Nov. 13, 1987
Long Beach Arena

Quite enthusiastic/ recording is crip --- test me, test me... BOOM!
1
New Minglewood Blues
Jan. 6, 1978
Swing Auditorium

Elastic and lilting drive – perfect for those somersaulting leads out of the halfpipe
2
Here Comes Sunshine
March 29, 1993
Knickerbocker Arena

But a snippet of its ancestral epics, Jerry delivers enough HCS concentrate to raise more than a few goosebumps

Comments

Bird Song
Oct. 18, 1972
Fox Theater

The whole show is Bobby-mix oriented, and yes, it really showcases his phenomenal contributions. The China-Rider and that whole second-set suite give the listener a deeper appreciation of his genius.
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
March 9, 1981
Madison Square Garden

I was hitchhiking to see a girl I met at a GD show. A guy picked me up and I tossed this China>Rider into his cassette player. As he dropped me at my destination, I offered to send him some tapes. He said, please send the one you just played. My pleasure. (Who knows maybe he’ll read this.) Anyway, the creativeness of Jerry Garcia is in full-on here as he invents on the fly/ in the moment throughout the Chinacat and transition. And the mix-up, accidental or otherwise, in the “sun’s gonna shine” verse just provides another opportunity to take this to new places. Likewise, after the “headlight” lyrics. As a suite, this one is top-shelf. Oh yeah, the girl and I have been married for 20 years. Thanks for the ride, man.
Tennessee Jed
Feb. 26, 1973
Pershing Municipal Auditorium

Yup
Big Railroad Blues
Feb. 26, 1973
Pershing Municipal Auditorium

she's a rollin' down the line... SCHRED
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
May 11, 1980
Cumberland County Civic Center

Interesting outro riff by Brent in the intro. And Bobby mixes this one up with great effect, e.g. the deliberate two-chord hits in the transition. He propels the Fire in similar fashion. The Scarlet is also one of a good handful without the “ain’t nothin’ wrong” verse which, in some interpretations, signals the eagerness to just play.