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Era Evangelist

+3620


Submissions

6
Wake Up Little Susie
June 4, 1970
Fillmore West

With David Nelson and John Dawson
3
Mama Tried
June 4, 1970
Fillmore West

Bob joined the end of the NRPS set, so this gets the full Jerry pedal steel treatment
2
Big Boy Pete
March 1, 1970
Fillmore East

Phil's "YeeUUuEuuaaah"s are a guaranteed gigglesnort
3
Playin' In The Band
April 8, 1971
Boston Music Hall

Ned adds a little electric piano noodling to this short/sweet early version
12
Dark Star
April 8, 1971
Boston Music Hall

This one has grown on me - Listen for Lagin on electric keys

Comments

Dark Star
Nov. 26, 1972
San Antonio Civic Auditorium

Lots of musical ground covered in 'just' 25 minutes here, but the Phil>Feeling Groovy is particularly tasty. If you're listening on archive.org, click the 'check for other copies' link - there's another source (just the Darkstar>Bobby McGee) with a little less hiss.
The Other One
Nov. 17, 1971
Albuquerque Civic Auditorium

Certainly not the best soundboard of the era, but this thing is a MONSTER. Compounding the 'flatness' of the recording, there's a splice to a higher gen source for MAMU. That said, if you can tolerate listening to less than pristine recordings, this is one that's worth the effort. The 10 minutes before Other One 1st lyrics is just jaw dropping, nimble, punchy, beautiful. The segue into MAMU is slick, with Keith laying down some perfect saloon piano vibes throughout the tune. The second half of Other One starts with the sights set for deep space, but after a couple minutes, things veer back to the saloon - the best I can describe it is as a free-form Me And My Other Uncle One. Dear lord, please let there be a pre-FM version of this gathering dust in the vault, somebody's barn, anywhere.
Dark Star
Sept. 21, 1972
The Spectrum

Back in the caveman days of mail trading tapes, few things rivaled the anticipation of seeing that one whole side of a tape you just received was labeled "Dark Star" - you knew you and your headphones were in for a journey. Decades later, and I'm still absorbing this one.
Dark Star
May 15, 1970
Fillmore East (Late Show)

beautiful, peaceful - great auditory landscaper for your mental zen garden.
China Doll
Oct. 23, 1980
Radio City Music Hall

Love this. You can hear a pretty immersing audience recording on archive.org, or the version on disc 2 of the Reckoning reissue - both have things going for them. (I still want to know what the lady next to the mic stepped on)