...is that Pigpen was EXACTLY the kind of organist the Dead need in '66-'68. Swingy, bluesy, percussive - it's a perfect fit for the music they played. His chops only began to waiver after he was taken off the organ in favor of TC - when he was brought back onto the organ bench, the music had firmly moved in a new direction, and his health had declined significantly.

Pig haters will never "get" the Grateful Dead.

Man, this is some real toe-tapping stuff. Love Pig's organ playing!

I read that Pig played a Farfisa organ in the Warlocks, then switched to the Vox Contenental for the GD...
So the Vox must be what be what we're hearing here...(?)

Insane recording - love the earliest stuff -
Check out obscure Brit. 60's group The Lords covering Hog For You on YouTube to show the "flexibility" of this genius Leiber, Stoller composition...

A set from the the L.A. residency of early '66 and some of the earliest we have, clearly recorded by Bear using his "Beatles" mix to separate the instruments. When recorded this way, it can be played back in mono without loss of clarity, and with a better blend in some stretches.

Rudimentary, pre-Primal Dead isn't the band that they became just one year later - mostly R&B-type stuff. But there are whiffs and notions for archaeos to dig. This isn't as good as the stuff that came that summer, but Hey Little One is the song's best example. Jer goes off further than on Rare Cuts or PNE 7/30/66; one of the best early gems. I'm a Hog for You is likewise the best of the three that we have. The song came from the flipside of the Coasters' Poison Ivy [1959]. This version of Have to Ask stretches, but the PNE 7/29/66 is best (we only have 5). Cold Rain & Snow was still in the Farfisa bleep arrangement, but Billy was already great in '66.

Overall = 2 stars

Pitched a bit slow, needing +1%.

"Hey Little One" takes the cake and eats it too.

-q

This is the best version of this song I ever heard. I never heard them play this song during the 70's and 80's.

Took me a while to discover this one. Great for the year! Garcia's on fire, and they're singing excellently.

Even in 1966 the boys could eat any other 60's pop band for breakfast.
Dig Pigpen on keyboards.
You Don't have to ask-JAM!
Jerry riffing away!!!

she went up 2 her room where she meet her fatal DOOM !!!!! neat ! its there !!
this was my 1st early tape given to me by my friend ondria ! back in 88 !

Acid Test 15 of 19.

It's a Pigpen show folks... Some of his greatest work on the organ. Not to exclude Jerry or Bobby from the picture because they undoubtedly shred this set. Phil takes a bit of an ear in this mix, but is in no way lacking. Definitely a show to go out of your way to hear.

reminds me of the first Doors album--not the songs, just the presence and the realness

Awesome! This was one of the first live Dead tapes my older deadhead friends turned me on to when I was a kid in the '70's. Just as much fun to listen to today as back then!

This is the era I grew up in. I was 17 in 1966.

Here presented is an honest Bear recording; vocals on one channel and instruments on the other. This method works.

He must have run Blue Ron's keys thru the P.A. 'cuz it is prevalent in the mix, and, this is exactly what it sounded like then ~ standing ten feet from them. At some of those gigs there was no stage. It was akin to a giant, weird Frat Party.

We were young and foolish even those old and wise.

And how foolish are we yet?

Here I am listening to these songs from almost 45 years ago. What does that say about the long lingering affect? What does it say about me?

The Grateful Dead clearly demonstrate in this performance that they were going to someday dominate and eclipse the number of documented live recordings. No band in the history of recorded music has ever come close to approaching the number of sonic facsimiles this band has produced. It is a most amazing feat and not one that the "Recording High Society" was apt to consider music. How could something so wretchedly awful continue to captivate our ears?

Ah, another mystery!

The mere fact that a 60 year old person could derive or extract extreme pleasure out of this show is because it is the kind of music that shall prevail.

If you listen closely, there exists twixt Jerry Bobby and Phil an astounding "surf" guitar extravaganza going on throughout. And if it sounds fast it is because they played fast back in those days. The speed of this show needs no speed correction.

This is such a beautiful re-visitation of this night.

~~~~~

If you switch to mono Pigpen's organ mixes into the background. In fact the whole recording sounds better in mono. During "Next Time You See Me" the kick drum distorts, but if you switch to mono you can't hear it.

4 stars for the mix
5 stars for the recording
5 stars for the performance

Eat, Drink, Be Merry and Listen to the GRATEFUL DEAD.

Thanks for the Love.

lots of love!!!~~~~ jer!

The jam here is particularly nice, even if Pig gets a bit sloppy at times.

Excellent example of early dead. Ya Pig's organ is up, but how often do you hear him playing it? Check this one out.

This show is a classic show. This show is definetly way up in my top ranks in 66 up there with the Ivor Theater. The way pigpen organ holers at u is just amazing.

Words cannot do this justice!

Listen to Pigpen's glorious organ work here.

If the entire band had gone over Devil's Slide after this performance, their place in the history books would still be ensured based solely on their rendition of Orbison's "Hey Little One" at this show.

Jerry's guitar may be a tad out of tune and some feedback wafts up here and there, but he compensates for all this with his unforgettable impassioned singing.

This show is the stuff legends are made of. What would I give for complete well-filmed footage of this show? I think both testicles would not be an unreasonable price to pay.

It might be tempting to think that the part of "Stealin'" that appears here is the remainder of the version that got cut on "2.25.66" (see notes there for argument for a later date for that show). It would be just perfect if we could stitch them together to make an original lost version, but it is not to be.

Even though the cuts are in very similar places, there is one line of overlap. If you listen carefully to that line, you'll hear that they are different performances. The organ in the mix is very different, but it is not just that 2.25 has been equalized, or anything. No, they are two truly different versions.

By cosmic coincidence both versions are messed up in perfectly complementary ways. Yet they are not the same version. An amazing chance discovery in perfect keeping with the strange life of our favorite band.

Haven't heard this show in ages. And, yeh, Pig's organ is a touch too loud at times. But I'm gonna give it five stars because they all are excellent versions...especially Hog For You, and the sound is very clear.

The sound on this is very clear, though the vocals are a bit low at times...And Pig's organ is thunderous! What an awesome, rare old show... Defintely worth the download for fans of early GD... Fits neatly w/ 7-3-66 on one CD, by the way. Would certainly be a 5-star show if Pig's organ weren't quite so high. Happy New Year, Archive! Thanks for being here- here's to many more years...