4: 1968-01-23 (actually 1-27)

 7:01 

Crystal Ballroom Portland, OR

This is on the bonus disc of Road Trips 2.2, and there does not seem to be a recording of this on the internet.




Intro still staggered. Sort of aggressive feel to this one. 1:38 a kind of variation on the Main Theme. First verse at 2:37. “Reason shatters.” Verse theme at 3:56. At 4:27 Garcia plays a lick from the beginning of "The Eleven"…so we need to name it. Falling Star at 5:20. Second verse at 6:01.  




What was said:

This one sounds jittery and again, is quite brisk. It sounds almost as though they want to rush through it. It’s quite short (7-ish minutes) and not yet refined. Despite that, a fairly decent early version. It does segue into a crazy-psychedelic, primal garage-rock-like China Cat Sunflower.


Phil’s bass seems bouncier on this one but maybe I’m just noticing it more due to its greater prominence on the recording. I agree it feels a bit rushed or frenetic even though it’s the longest one so far (unless one of the previous cutoff versions was actually longer). That also adds a certain intensity which is appealing, but perhaps at the expense of some of its mystical qualities. Good one.


What Jerry's playing at 4:30 on "1/23/68" is a riff from The Eleven! You can hear him play the same riff at the start of the Eleven on this very disc. But then he remembers he's in the middle of Dark Star and turns it into a Morse code-type lick.


Have to disagree with you on this one....it doesn't sound rushed at all, it's the longest Dark Star yet by far. I agree with bzfgt that there's a more aggressive feel in this one, and Jerry really feels like taking it out. I was surprised in the intro when he just keeps soloing away for a couple minutes. I'd call this the first Dark Star where he starts discovering its jamming potential. One cool moment is at 3:30 after the verse ends, Garcia exclaims "Ah!"

Some observations on first listen to 1/23/68:
- One for Phil fans. He is mixed up front.
- "reason shatters"
- Jerry's "Eleven" theme at 4:30 is fun
- nice early variant of "Falling Star" at 5:23