This version is cut, so there isn't much to it. It comes out of a Caution jam...they start playing the Introduction Theme, then stop and start again. Garcia and Lesh are playing a call-and-response version of the intro riff at this point (it's not clear whether all previous live versions were like this, as this is the first Introduction Theme preserved on tape).
ROR starts at :19, but Pigpen can't seem to find the beat, so Garcia starts playing it at :44 (at which point it is perhaps more aptly called the RGR). Soon both Pigpen and Jerry are playing the riff, but not together...Pigpen finally gets in sync around 1:55, and Garcia starts to play a lead at 1:58. First verse at 2:39. The recording cuts off right after "faults in the clouds of delusion" at 3:08.
The studio version is worlds better than the next live version from 1/20/68. Although it did introduce a concept that seemed to get legs, at least for a bit: a call and response thing from Phil and Jerry to start it off.
The 35 minutes of music that survives from 1/20/68 is a precious jewel of acid rock. I love it. I agree though that the Dark Star at the tail end of it is the least consequential bit.
This is a great listen. First listen tonight. Those bends on New Potato Caboose that Jerry plays starting at @5:20-6:35 are avant garde-ish, with Bob getting more out there too climaxing @ 6:25 and beyond in it's weirdness. Crazy that Dark Star is the afterthought. I wonder how much longer it actually was after the fade.
Wow, I really like the call/response of the opening riff with Phil and Jerry. Not the kind of thing that was destined to last, but it made for a cool intro. I like the Pigpen ROR. In some of the D+Co Dark Stars, Chimenti plays the ROR, but on a different beat. That tends to take me out of the hypnotic feel that I get from Pig. This version is heading towards the stretched out pre-verse instrumental. In a lot of ways, that is my favorite part of Dark Star. The other composed sections and the wilder explorations could be put into (and frequently were part of) other extended songs. The meditative instrumental before the verse is really what I think about when I think about DS.
I think Pigpen just lost track of the beat for a while. I can just see the whole band glaring at him: "C'mon, man, it's not that hard!" This riff (ROR) was prominent in the single as well, I'm pretty sure it was Jerry's idea. A lot of the licks played throughout Dark Star at this point are like variations on the basic melodic idea. As much as people complain about this riff in later '68 versions (we'll hear it A LOT), personally I like it, it gives kind of a comforting hypnotic background as the Dark Star explorations grow.
I agree that the Pig 'lick' was a Garcia creation mutated from the general theme. As far as the truncated 1-20 version, I love the crashing start out of the Caution jam. The drums are just thrashing along and then comes the shoehorned Phil/Jerry intro, a brief pause and then the nifty call and response intro done proper. As stated there is not much else here, very similar to 1/17.
We have to assume a short jam follows verse 1, with verse 2 and China Cat to follow as on 1/22
1/20/68 "Spanish Jam > Caution Jam > Dark Star" - backed up to give this one a little more context, plus it allows me to hear this absolutely excellent "Spanish Jam", the organ is fierce around five and a half minutes in. This was the second "Spanish Jam" as well, at least according to Light Into Ashes, it also debuted on 1/17/68 (imagine being at the show with the first "Dark Star" and the first "Spanish Jam"!!!). Jerry's excited to dive right into the "Dark Star" here, but I like how they stutter and stop on the intro so Jerry and Phil can play off each other instead of at the same time. As LIA points out, Pigpen seems to be getting a little tripped up here but he bravely presses on. It's a shame this one gets cut short.
The 1/20/68 Dark Star is quite different from 1/17 for the various reasons that have already been articulated. It also has a rougher, rawer quality which isn’t surprising since they were trying some different things. I liked 1/17 more but this was interesting; too bad the recording cuts off.
SJR writes:
ReplyDelete"Eureka Municipal Auditorium, 20/01/68 -- This comes crashing in from the preceding jam. It’s quite spritely, played at a quicker pace than I was expecting. The shaker sound isn’t as overbearing as the next one (No. 3). I like the swirling sounds in the background (what is that, it sounds like flute or something?) and the intermittent organ stabs. It’s a shame it cuts off . . . "
bzfgt writes: "Pigpen's ROR is taken up by Jerry in this version... Notice both the ROR and the Bright Star lick have a family resemblance to the verse lick."
Mr. Rain: "It's more like the Repetitive Jerry Riff, for the first couple minutes!"
RockRoom calls it: "the Dark Star mantra when the psychedelics are going strong."
ianuaditis adds: "TC would reference it somewhat frequently in 69, though he doesn't stick with it for long."
bzfgt: "There's a rehearsal tape from late 68, they apparently taught TC that riff, so it seems like they wanted it in there."