Dec. '72 turns out to be a nice little peak for BEW. Perfect shuffle, air-play tightness, great soloing, just enough country. Bobby nicely audible.

A super-fun frolicing romp. They just seem to have loved playing this tune.

Pristine, air-play quality in a deep pocket with note-for-note perfection all 'round. Surprised not to see it here already.

Smokin' desperado polka here with superbly tight playing at a faster-than normal pace. A galloping riot and heaps of fun.

Shredding goodness, coming late in the set after a killer Star>Stella. Great show all around.

The Billy/Bobby interplay is clear - and beautiful - in the mix, which is a rare treasure. It reminds me of being at shows and being able to focus (when focus was even possible) on different combinations of the boys at play, depending on where you were in the audiospace. This isn't the most polished or most experimental version you'll hear. It isn't even the most well-played. It is,however, bursting with creative synchronicity and it quite simply doesn't resemble any that went before it. PiTB is a study in the Dead's evolution, and within one year it went from the weirdly apocalyptic psychedelic jam "The Main Ten" to a twangy country warble with its off-kilter meter and explosive energy. Within another year we arrive at Veneta and PiTB is there with Dark Star as one of their vehicles for interdimensional exploration. This one stands at one of the junctures.

Right on, unstrucksound, glad you dug it!

Little known fact: Phil has twenty fingers. Evidence? This song.

Good goddamned hot, this one. So much energy, they're just giving giving and giving.

Sure thing, Deadhoe69, but here it's uptempo, fresh, and pushing forward. Later ones don't (for me) have that essential pulse as the earlier ones. And Jer's vocals here push it forward with meaning and soul. There's a pulse here that sometimes I lose in the later ones. He's right, this is a good call. You'll love it. I do.