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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

23
Jack Straw
May 10, 1978
Veterans' Memorial Coliseum

From DP 25, Opens show at New Haven. Takes no prisoners. Extra shot of Jerry heading in bridge jam. Kinda surprised it's not on a list of 90+ Straws
7
Samson and Delilah
April 8, 1978
Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Shame on me for not submitting this earlier. Insane ripper to open 2nd set; Phil OWNS this version. Pause for nothing-- Listen NOW. Thank me l8r ;-)
30
Not Fade Away
Dec. 29, 1977
Winterland Arena

Latvala from "Grate" Beyond reminds of his Winterland pick: The Best. Jer rips holes in Universe; Drummers pummel; Listen to "drive me BACK" line!
7
Samson and Delilah
Dec. 5, 1979
Uptown Theater

Possibly best-ever of the Brent era. Bob preaches fire & brimstone and Jerry shreds the living daylights out of every jam. Serious MUST listen version
20
Shakedown Street
Dec. 5, 1979
Uptown Theater

A funk-laden but more laid-back, groovier vibe marks this excellent entry from Chicago. Notable for A+ vocals & harmonies and Bobby shines in end jam!
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Comments

Greatest Story Ever Told
Sept. 28, 1972
Stanley Theatre

I posted at first that this is 2d only to 8/27 but while I still love that version, I am continually amazed by this one and actually think now that it's the greatest of all greatests. Just for the record ;-)
Candyman
Nov. 29, 1980
Alligator Alley Gym, University of Florida

Yep, this one's special. Garcia's vocals are spot-on, and as noted, there's some great guitar accenting after the "hand me my old guitar" line. My favorite is still 3-24-88 (and I urge one and all to check it out), but that's probably only getting the edge b/c I was there. This one's right up there with it. Great show overall and a sweet AUD as well.
Terrapin Station
Oct. 7, 1977
University of New Mexico

Whatever the reason, this one pays off just like the classic "Casey Jones" from 10-2-77 when we get the extended jam with some beautiful fills by Keith...same deal here, and b/c it's '77, instead of sounding like a mistake it sounds instead like the boys felt like taking the thing around the block a few extra times. (If I had to guess, I'd say Jer goes blank on the words.)
Terrapin Station
June 23, 1993
Deer Creek Music Center

If we were grading this solely on the post-lyrics jam it would earn my upvote, but taken as a whole, I just can't get past Jerry's incredibly weak vocals, lyrical miscues, and really sub-par reading of the song up until the big jam section (which, so I'm not accused of being too Scrooge-ish here) IS all it's cracked up to be...epic, intense and really superb stuff. I,d love to have just the jam section edited and standing on its own as a separate piece. It's that good. But Terrapin the song (in my view) has to be taken on its totality, and the first half of this just doesn't measure up.
Terrapin Station
April 19, 1982
Baltimore Civic Center

Don't let the Ravenspace overshadow this truly great Terrapin. There isn't much from this show they didn't hit out of the park.
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