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grendel

Books and Music

+23519


Submissions

4
China Cat Sunflower
April 5, 1969
Avalon Ballroom

Nice early stand alone with a long intro. You can hear the transition from the old intro to the more familiar pickings of later versions.
5
Darkness Jam
Nov. 21, 1973
Denver Coliseum

Not really a darkness jam but more of a dark star jam than what it's listed as (PITB) leads into Wharf Rat & is beyond beautiful.
8
Wang Dang Doodle
Oct. 22, 1983
Carrier Dome, Syracuse U

The boys really "throw a mess" on this one, making the carrier dome sound like a down and dirty old time saloon. Slinky sick stuff
2
Row Jimmy
April 18, 1987
Irvine Meadows

Check out Jerry's "giddy-up" riffs in the final "Row" choruses!
4
Estimated Prophet
Aug. 31, 1985
Manor Downs

Hot as the night in Texas on which it was played.

Comments

Playin' In The Band
Oct. 7, 1977
University of New Mexico

Yes & this isn’t the only overlooked ‘77 PITB which like this one tend to be dreamy, patient, almost quiet but supremely beautiful. There are a lot of great gems from this show including an all time Wharf Rat but this PITB is a fine sleeper pick & real strong rec.
Eyes Of The World
May 21, 1974
Edmundson Pavilion

^^^^Spot on drummer comparisons...Billy himself would be beaming to hear his name mentioned with Elvin Jones but it's deserved, esp. when you hear the kind of work he does here or really anything in this time period
Eyes Of The World
May 21, 1974
Edmundson Pavilion

Back to mention that after some recent re-listening this one needs some extra acknowledgment for how seriously outstanding the outro section is. Most of the '73-'74 post lyric versions are vert similar sounding --and that's not bad b/c most of them are gold--but this one is a notch above & deserves more ears...Phil is of course the main driver here and I've yet to hear a more confident charge into this jazz jam than what he lays down here--just a thick but flowing dig down and go get 'em juggernaut of flying bass notes & then they're all off to the races...there's even a mini-space break down jam before they nail the stronger than dirt theme and the transition into a killer Wharf Rat could not be any silkier. I can't re-vote for this one but hopefully it'll get some extra love for those who may have missed it in the vast sea of great Eyes from this time period. N'west box set has best sound but there are good archive versions too.
Sugaree
May 19, 1974
Portland Memorial Coliseum

Never upped a non-'77 version before but shame on me for not giving deserved attention to a really sweet, tight, beautifully sung version that doesn't contain the monster jam solos Garcia infused into nearly every '77 version but still brings some short, sharp moments of Garcia guitar magic. Bouncy, lively, and very nice rendition--thanks to those who reviewed it recently and got me on the bandwagon.
Eyes Of The World
Oct. 29, 1977
Evans Field House, Northern Illinois University

^^^^Truer words never spoke. I used some editing software to patch in the missing 40 seconds (!) or so of that missing first solo section onto the official release but it still ticks me off that I had to. I love the official releases & am happy to pay for them but FFS it’s incumbent upon the vault keepers & production folks to take care of shit like that...it shouldn’t be up to the consumer shelling out the money...not to mention how insane it is to just go with a crappy edit and hope what? That no one would notice a cut in the greatest version of Eyes ever played from one of the best loved shows of all time? Inexcusable.