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grendel

Books and Music

+23524


Submissions

49
Playin' In The Band
Sept. 17, 1972
Baltimore Civic Center

DP #23 from Baltimore...yet another jazz exploration that winds and weaves and delights. More introspective than intense & quite worthy!
14
Scarlet Begonias
Aug. 4, 1976
Roosevelt Stadium

Fantastic 15+ minutes of standa-lone Scarlet featuring a very Phil-front bass section post-lyrics. Final jam section gets real jazzy, too.
2
Terrapin Station
Aug. 31, 1985
Manor Downs

From a hot steamy night in Texas an equally hot & steamy Terrapin, which melts into a great Estimated
4
Eyes Of The World
June 25, 1978
Autzen Stadium, U. of Oregon

Hidden gem! Jazzy mellow intro to fluid, energetic Garcia-led jamming. Cross-up on 'beaches & seasons" in 1st verse chorus- Phil yells "Get it right!"
8
Row Jimmy
Feb. 4, 1978
Milwaukee Auditorium

If a SBD of this version and show existed we'd all be talking it up. But the AUD is pretty good, & this RJ has tasty Garcia licks. Don't overlook it!

Comments

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.
Aiko Aiko
May 7, 1978
Field House - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Full of funk-chonk Tchoupitoulas- chomps
They Love Each Other
Sept. 3, 1977
Raceway Park

Aggressively beautiful. Gentle but powerful. So much energy in the 1st set tunes from this show. This, like the Peggy-O, seems tailored to play for a huge festival audience so it's given a bit more bite, edge & pacing than others from the same year. They're all great, but this one deserved an upvote from me a long time ago--recent re-listen made up for lost time.
Man Smart, Woman Smarter
March 18, 1988
Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium

Jiggly bouncy beauty & buried on the big board. For shame! This will get you moving & grooving & it should get yer upvote if for no other reason than Brent taking the second vocal verse solo & then just gliding & slaying it on the keys the rest of the way. Plus the round robin vocal coda has Jerry joining in a way I rarely hear him on this tune. Five star version here from an underrated show in a year I usually ignore, but with a new(?) Miller upgrade available this should get some more attention. (Source provided is real good too.) Be smart & up it! .
Uncle John's Band
May 23, 1972
Strand Lyceum

you're right--way too low here. Excellent version tight & sweet.