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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

4
Estimated Prophet
Aug. 31, 1985
Manor Downs

Hot as the night in Texas on which it was played.
11
One More Saturday Night
Oct. 29, 1977
Evans Field House, Northern Illinois University

Like every other song from this, my favorite all-time show, it's a best-of candidate. Just rocks hard.
2
Alabama Getaway
Dec. 5, 1979
Uptown Theater

Come for the 'Bama but stay for the rest of the show. This rocker 'Bama is Jerry and Brent at their very best. This entire show, tho', is a monster.
13
Stagger Lee
June 27, 1985
SPAC

Right after Phil tells a guy to get off the blacony cuz 50,000 people are waiting for him to, and Bob does the dog nose joke, Jer rips into a fine SL!
8
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
Oct. 18, 1989
The Spectrum

Pretty good China followed by the best 80's OR 90's RIDER I've ever heard. Check Jer's run going into "sun gonna shine" verse. 5 stars fo RIDER alone.

Comments

Playin' In The Band
Dec. 28, 1991
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Stadium

Especially impressed with this version, given that most latter day PITB's felt like throwaways with a lot of Jerry noodling & little focus or purpose other than getting into the next tune after some meandering, but this one melts beautifully into "Same Thing" after getting a seamless entry from a nice, if somewhat placid UJB prior, and feels self-contained in its mellow but interesting musical exploration. Glad I checked this out and the UJB>PITB>SameThing Trifecta (they do need to be taken as a triplet piece for best effect) is worthy of more attention.
Samson and Delilah
Feb. 5, 1978
Uni Dome, U of Northern Iowa

This has a lot in common with the Casey Jones from 10/2/77 in that they both benefit from--and become better because of-- an error. Here, it's the failure of Bob's mic that necessitates a longer intro jam that Jerry just decides to take into the outer reaches of intensity and into shredding legend....I'm not sure it's necessarily the "best" version ever (I still like 5/13/77) but it's a top shelf version for sure b/c of how they turned lemons into lemonade with Bourbon...it's a great save and a really great accomplishment how they handled it. (The Casey Jones from 10/2/77 similarly takes the occasion of Jerry forgetting a lyric to go into an extended bridge jam highlighted by a lovely Keith solo that no other version contains, and ultimately it emerges as what many agree is the best CJ ever.)
Big River
May 11, 1977
St. Paul Civic Center Arena

Yes indeed...I was pumped about the boxed set mostly for 5/13 and 5/17 but was more than pleasantly surprised by 5/11..I'll still put the Sugaree from that show up against any of the monsters from that year or any other.
Big River
May 11, 1977
St. Paul Civic Center Arena

Great rendition, extra points for St. Paul getting props in St. Paul
Sugar Magnolia
June 11, 1976
Boston Music Hall

Hidden gem alert, from a show that's beautiful and shy and gets little attention due to its more famous sibling just 2 days prior, but wow! This Sugar Mag might just be THE best of the June '76 shows, and that's saying something. It's got to be the most intense mellow jam I've ever heard on this tune, if that makes any sense. Jerry's guitar just floats notes on a string and it rolls along innocently beautiful and then the jam just takes off after the last verse and charges headlong to a great finish while never losing its laid-back vibe. It's kind of like everything that's great about 1976 encapsulated in this one tune & it needs to be checked out and bumped way up. And you get the added bonus of it going into a sweet Eyes before rounding back to Stella & then the SSDD coda. Terrific version that surprised and delights all at once.