Evening gents. I've been thinking of some content I could help out with during drivel season, which officially ends in 21 days! On my drive to work, listening to one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever recorded, it hit me. Let's explore some of the epic moments in the audio library of the Grateful Dead.
In our inaugural episode we'll explore the Dark Star > Wharf Rat > Dark Star from the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY on February 18, 1971. Dark Star was a vehicle for exploration for the Dead through most of their career, using it to explore the looser areas of space and trying to play improvisational as one mind. This supplied them an outlet for their psychedelic roots while letting them concentrate on evolving with their cowboy songs and Americana tunes. Often times they would weave from Dark Star into other songs, then back into Dark Star. Sometimes repeating this for 2 or 3 songs.
The 1971 Dark Stars were pretty big departure from the epic jams of the 69/70 era and what they would eventually build up to in 1972 as 30+ minute jam vehicles. This example from 1971 is more of a mellow exploration that leads into the first ever live playing of Wharf Rat, the tragic tale of August West. It's one of my favorite dead tunes and one of the finer examples of lyricist Robert Hunter's ability to tell a story. It's a little rough around the edges but overall is an absolutely successful first attempt at a tune that would remain in their repertoire the remainder of their career.
The jam out of Wharf Rat is where this section of music really establishes itself as "one of those moments". Jerry is employing a tone that is different than anything he normally uses and explores a beautiful musical landscape. This section was dubbed "Beautiful Jam" for reasons that will be obvious to you once you've listened to it. Similar, shorter jams, using the tone and style had popped up a bit and it seemed like something that was going to be explore more deeply going forward but Mickey Hart's surprise announcement during the show that he would be leaving the band made the rest of Spring 1971 a little disorganized and hit or miss. This type of jamming, to my knowledge, was never really explored by Jerry and the band again.
Anyway, listen for yourself. The section I'm discussing is in the YouTube video below, and the entire show can be found at the link a little lower. Overall it's a B- show, but this section is absolutely beautiful. The Sugar Magnolia in the second set is a rocker as well, and worth listening to.
2.18.71 LANK
In our inaugural episode we'll explore the Dark Star > Wharf Rat > Dark Star from the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY on February 18, 1971. Dark Star was a vehicle for exploration for the Dead through most of their career, using it to explore the looser areas of space and trying to play improvisational as one mind. This supplied them an outlet for their psychedelic roots while letting them concentrate on evolving with their cowboy songs and Americana tunes. Often times they would weave from Dark Star into other songs, then back into Dark Star. Sometimes repeating this for 2 or 3 songs.
The 1971 Dark Stars were pretty big departure from the epic jams of the 69/70 era and what they would eventually build up to in 1972 as 30+ minute jam vehicles. This example from 1971 is more of a mellow exploration that leads into the first ever live playing of Wharf Rat, the tragic tale of August West. It's one of my favorite dead tunes and one of the finer examples of lyricist Robert Hunter's ability to tell a story. It's a little rough around the edges but overall is an absolutely successful first attempt at a tune that would remain in their repertoire the remainder of their career.
The jam out of Wharf Rat is where this section of music really establishes itself as "one of those moments". Jerry is employing a tone that is different than anything he normally uses and explores a beautiful musical landscape. This section was dubbed "Beautiful Jam" for reasons that will be obvious to you once you've listened to it. Similar, shorter jams, using the tone and style had popped up a bit and it seemed like something that was going to be explore more deeply going forward but Mickey Hart's surprise announcement during the show that he would be leaving the band made the rest of Spring 1971 a little disorganized and hit or miss. This type of jamming, to my knowledge, was never really explored by Jerry and the band again.
Anyway, listen for yourself. The section I'm discussing is in the YouTube video below, and the entire show can be found at the link a little lower. Overall it's a B- show, but this section is absolutely beautiful. The Sugar Magnolia in the second set is a rocker as well, and worth listening to.
2.18.71 LANK
