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Carrion_Crow
Stealth Head
+48136
Submissions
10
Big Railroad Blues
May 23, 1972
Strand Lyceum
Utterly gobsmacked that this ain't here yet: It's a furious barnburner. Full of get up and go.
15
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
May 23, 1972
Strand Lyceum
A more rocking version than others from the time, and oddly overlooked. Jumps off Cat right away into the long transition. Energetic stuff here.
13
Black Throated Wind
May 23, 1972
Strand Lyceum
Is there a single one from '72 that doesn't end in triumph? This song just got better and better throughout Europe. Surprised this wasn't here yet.
11
Sugar Magnolia
May 13, 1972
Lille Fairgrounds
Perfect musical sunshine. This one even got my not-at-all-into-the-Dead wife to dance around like a trippin' hippy, so you know it's good.
13
Truckin'
May 13, 1972
Lille Fairgrounds
Unforgivable that you guys overlook Truckin'. There's a reason it's the one song non-heads know. This one is a forgotten colossus. Listen up.
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Comments
Got My Mojo Working
April 22, 1977
The Spectrum
I think this hardly counts as a Mojo. It really never ever coalesces around the song but is really just a riff/vamp within the Dancin'.
Dancin' in the Streets
April 22, 1977
The Spectrum
Long slow sizzling Dancin' that struggles to break into the weird electric slide part so Bobby steps up and has a Mojo minute. I'm going to break ranks here and say, this isn't really a "Got my Mojo" at all, but kind of a Bobby rap reference to Got my Mojo that never leaves Dancin'. Someone with more musical knowledge than I can say for sure, but I'm pretty sure they stay on Dancin's same chords and vamp riff through the hot second that Bobby's Mojo is only kind of working. Only then do they find the electric slide and just like that, it's back to the whirling Dancin' finale. The pointillist transition into The Wheel is the kind of magic that helped so many blown minds come back together together. So sweet.
Samson and Delilah
April 22, 1977
The Spectrum
Funniest ending ever. Wait for it.
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
April 22, 1977
The Spectrum
This is all pretty loose in the joints, with a couple of epic lyric 'experiments', but is just bursting with creative solo ideas that signal the future of this immortal duo. What it lacks in ensemble tightness it more than makes up for in palpable musical excitement between the boys (and girl).
Playin' In The Band
April 22, 1977
The Spectrum
Starts with snarling opening lyrics, like and Bobby and Donna about to pounce out of their skins. This high energy gets tweaky with both the mentioned Keith weirdness and the two drummers in an outrageously perfect high-speed pocket behind Jerry playing the mad-scientist. His tone and mood are both hot and mellow. This is a sound I associate with an the best 'Playins' of '73, though Keith's effects and the melty-bits also evoke the much maligned Phil and Ned era of '74s. Maybe this is what others mentioned of having an "earlier Dead" feel to it. That said, this is no nostalgia piece and the outro is a hard-core crunching beast with a unique and hard rockin' sound .
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hot songs
Dark Star
Playin' In The Band
Eyes Of The World
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
new submissions
Sugar Magnolia, Downs of Santa Fe, Sept. 11, 1983
Casey Jones, The Spectrum, Nov. 5, 1979
Sugar Magnolia, The Spectrum, Nov. 5, 1979
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recent comments
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