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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

28
They Love Each Other
Feb. 3, 1978
Dane County Coliseum

Dicks Picks Vol. 18. Ridiculously hot mid-section jam by Jerry. Donna ads very sweet accompaniment a la best of JGB versions. Don't overlook this one!
13
Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin's Tower
Sept. 6, 1983
Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Rippin' at Red Rocks. Bouncy, jaunty, zippy and energetic early 80's version. Brent takes control on Franklin's.
87
Playin' In The Band
Nov. 15, 1972
Oklahoma City Music Hall

Got half an hour to kill? Lose yourself in one of the greatest, mind-blowing, spacious, jamming, jazzy, monster PITB's in history.
21
Bird Song
Nov. 15, 1972
Oklahoma City Music Hall

The '72 vintages are so silky smooth and this one is no exception. Jerry's vocals aren't prone to the frog-croaks of later years.This glides on wings.
25
The Other One
May 13, 1977
Auditorium Theatre

A rare extended TOO for '77,: a fat, sick, jamming gem. Crazy exploration, worthy of 1972; Phil in command, Jerry ablaze; melts into Stella Blue

Comments

Bird Song
Feb. 26, 1981
Uptown Theater

Upping this for the instrumental magnificence of the jam section, which is SO GOOD, majestic, jazzy, you name it, that it compensates completely for Jerry's truly shitty vocals. There are some versions in the 80s where he can barely croak out "bird within her sang" and it's painful to hear especially with so many beautifully sung versions from '72-'73 to hear. But the jamming here may be the best of 1981 and this version should be heard by more ears for that reason alone.
Eyes Of The World
Sept. 23, 1976
Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke U

2 sources, neither great, but get the MacDonald SBD b/c it's so worth hearing this truly excellent version, which is a harbinger of the wealth of phenomenal renditions that would come in '77, and if there were a grade A SBD available of this one we'd all be singing it's praises already. By late '76 the band was finding the confidence to play a little faster than at the beginning of the year (great as June and July shows were they were still a little slow) and thhis one has that great combo of liquid flow off Garcia's fingers and a great chugging rhythm jam backing it all up. Wish there was a better recording but please don't let that stop you. I'm upping this in spite of the lack of A plus sound quality.
Eyes Of The World
July 12, 1989
RFK Stadium

Too fast for my liking. Decent jam after 2d verse but there's about a 15 second intro before Jer starts singing the opening lyric and that's a deal breaker for me. Can't upvote. This song didn't return to glory until they slowed it back down in 1990. (This show overall, however, and the box set, is terrific).
Not Fade Away
July 4, 1989
Rich Stadium

Ha! I remember US Snooze on set lists cuz Jer mumbled his way thru mostly lame mid 80s ones
Big River
June 9, 1976
Boston Music Hall

Good, solid version and an underrated year for this song, although every version this year was a dress rehearsal for '77, peaking with 5/9/77