Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
May 8, 1977
Barton Hall - Cornell University
Great version - doesn’t hold a candle to 1/31/78 + 4/24/78. Oddly, this one suffers from Jerr’s lack of intense tone + he’s not quite mastered Mixolydian yet. That’s what shows up in ‘78 - he’s simply a much better guitar player a year later, and his tone with Wolf + Bean (here and there) has reached its zenith, (before descending with Tiger). I have this one way up there: 4/24/78, 1/31/78, 7/3/78, 4/13/84, 5/16/78, 5/17/77, 10/2/77, 5/8/77, 8/6/82, 8/8/82, 5/11/78, 5/21/77, 4/25/77, 12/16/78, 9/4/83, 11/16/78.
And the gap between ‘78 and ‘77 is big. Very. ‘78 is the apotheosis - top of the mountain. In ‘78, the musical sophistication has taken a big leap, with incredible tempo changes by the Devils + Keith switching from walls of melodic ground fire to sweet individual thoughts + everyone hive-minding and firing on all cylinders. Different level. Phil is still stratospherically anchoring and doing what he does, which is integral to these versions. Jerr’s Mixo elevation crests the wave most nights. Everyone is throwing down, nobody slouchin’. Some nights, like 2/5/78, suffer from tempo, just way too fast (lookin’ at you, Devils), and Jerr’s movements aren’t as crisp; most nights are stratospheric, relative to other eras. Honorable mention: 11/15/87, 5/7/78, 2/5/78, 11/30/80, 3/18/77, 8/12/81, 1/17/79.
This combo was played 242 times - lotta research to do, brothers and sisters.
