15: 1968-08-22

12:10

143144

Main theme at 2:13.
First verse at 2:56.
Verse melody at 6:19.
Sputnik-like licks at 7:29.
Bright Star feint at 8:19.
Main theme at 9:20.
Second verse at 10:31.
Comes to a full stop at 11:58, when Garcia asks for the strobe light to be turned off because it’s making clicking sounds in the monitors, then they quickly go into Cryptical Envelopment.

Lexicon




This one is full of energy, particularly compared to the last few. Lesh is completely unleashed at this point, and his interplay with Garcia keeps the momentum going all the way through. There are less modular themes this time—no Bright Star or Falling Star—but Garcia plays with the melody in various ways, with Lesh providing a counterpoint.




What was said:

The sound isn't great on this one....all the instruments squashed together, and Jerry's guitar perhaps the quietest in the mix. (But this is a great version for people who want to study the intricacies of Pigpen's playing!) I wonder if it's only one channel of the recording....it's like listening to the band from backstage, as it were. I thought it would be rough going at first, but it turned out to be quite a groovy version. I didn't listen back-to-back with 8-21 but this seems to be a much hotter version than 8-21. It's a toe-tapper! (As bzfgt might say, "best version so far!" although that position is soon to be usurped by the next ones...) I liked the figure Jerry plays after 7:30 (a new one I think?), and the solo winds down to a quiet conclusion with Jerry kind of teasing various themes like the 'falling star' after 9:30.




Fast tempo, even by 1968 standards. Phil and Jerry get very intense right away, but the extra chord that Pigpen adds to his familiar motive gets on my nerves. A little detour before they reach verse 1, Jerry's in better voice than last night. The jam that follows isn't as intense as what we heard before the first verse. It gets better when Jerry takes the verse melody as a starting point for a guitar solo. Pigpen takes some more liberties than the night before, but the rest of the band's playing is still very basic. Like with verse 1 it takes them a bit longer than you think to reach verse 2 and it then comes to a full stop with Jerry asking to turn off the strobe lights.




“Clean cut but morally corrupt, The Grateful Dead.” I like the lively vibe of this one. The word “triumphant” entered my mind as Jerry got going at the beginning but that’s too grand (especially for the performance as a whole). Nonetheless it feels upbeat and positive. The brief proto-Sputnik that @bzfgt pointed out is cool .

143144