Let It Grow
Oct. 29, 1977
Evans Field House, Northern Illinois University
Find myself in the weird position of seeing a version from my all time no doubt #1 favorite show ever surpassing my all time no doubt #1 favorite version of Let It Grow ever (5/1/81) & I totally understand why it's leapfrogged it on the big board, especially after the official DaP release of 10/29/77. But I do believe if 5/1/81 had the advantage of an official release & clean SBD representation, it would be back in the #1 spot where it belongs. 10/29/77 is a scorcher w/out question & deserves top 3 status but even tho' it's from my favorite show it does not top 5/1/81, which has the fastest Garcia notes ever played while never losing grip on the structural integrity of the main theme & what really separates 5/1/81 from the pack is that the rest of the band is equal to the task. There's a better flow and glide to Hampton and Weir's hyper-galactic counter rhythms are a big reason why. The post rise & fall jam is also more fully fleshed out and thicker with ideas than DeKalb, which is more like a hammer blow than a complete soundscape of ideas. I don't mind seeing DeKalb in the #1 spot for almost any tune within its magnificent 2 sets (I put Eyes, SugarMag, Peter, Bertha, & more in that category) but I firmly believe LIG from Hampton '81 is still the best performance ever of the tune. Maybe there's a gem of a board hidden in the vault somewhere that will eventually emerge & drive home the point. Until then I'll accept DeKalb grabbing the top spot but Hampton '81 is a sadly overlooked show to begin with & I at least have to speak up for its LIG. Ok, thanks for coming to my Dead Talk.