Main theme at 1:53.
Bright Star at 3:24.
Main theme at 3:55.
First verse at 4:35.
Verse melody at 6:44.
Sputnik at 8:40.
Bright Star at 9:08 (begins as main theme, more or less).
Main theme at 9:46.
Main theme at 11:13.
Second verse at 11:35.
Goes into St. Stephen.
It’s 1969! Does it sound different? For one thing, TC is a bit louder this time out, although he’s still a bit too low in the mix (spoiler alert: this will change in a big way, albeit temporarily, on the 25th!). This is another mix dominated by Garcia, to the extent that even when he’s barely hitting the strings you can hear him quite clearly, and his playing is pretty aggressive. There is an uncharacteristic pre-verse Bright Star this time, and Jerry plays with the timing of the ensuing main theme which starts at 3:55. Again the exit from the first verse is calmer and more meditative than it had been for most of 1968, and of course in the future this will be a place where the band often breaks it down into a space jam. This passage winds up with a statement of the verse melody, and note Garcia’s forceful runs over the following minor chord from about 6:55; at 7:10, he winds up big but then pulls way back, and the band responds, opening up a space into which Garcia starts dropping Sputnik-like lines (with Garcia and Lesh in lockstep as they manipulate the tempo and the rate of notes), which become even more Sputnik-like at 7:55, until we get the real McCoy at 8:40; throughout this section, the drums trickle in, and gradually they become more forceful. In general, we have more feints, adumbrations and variations of the various themes, so that labelling them is at times more difficult. The Bright Star I’ve tagged at 9:08 begins more as a statement of the main theme in a high register, until it stretches itself around into the more syncopated Bright Star theme. Lesh takes his time locking in, playing a pretty descending run under Jerry before dropping to lay a foundation under the theme. The following main theme I have logged as beginning at 9:46, but a case could be made that it starts at 9:43, where Garcia lands on the tonic and pauses; he hints at the tonic again without really playing it before starting the main theme, so that the mind reaches back and places it where it would be expected; this phantom note could also mark the start of the theme, and that’s where I’ve placed it, at 9:46. Notes that are lightly and almost inaudibly played will increasingly become part of Garcia’s style, and these are not always just grace notes but, as here, sometimes the foundational tones of a theme. At around 10:46 Garcia starts spinning out a high rolling figure that discharges itself into a near-Bright Star at 11:00, after which he tumbles into another statement of the main theme at 11:13 that is syncopated and sufficiently oblique that I hesitated over the attribution above (during this passage Weir does a lot to stir up excitement by bubbling along under the lead without directly calling attention to himself). This does not resolve into a more straightforward rendering of the theme, but leads directly to the second verse at 11:35. In general this write-up is doubtlessly too Garcia-centric, but he is the dominant force here, and the mix makes it at times difficult to sufficiently concentrate on the rest of the ensemble, but the entire band is playing very dynamically and responsively. Nothing happens that seems unprecedented, exactly; rather, Dark Star seems to be developing and becoming more subtle and assured, so that if we were to go back to one of the last few renditions we might not notice a stark difference, but compared with early versions this is a much richer, more varied and narratively gripping experience.
What was said:
With this one it feels like the majesty is back. Jerry is prominent in the mix again but it’s better than the last one and the ensuing performance is full of wonderment. I like the early Bright Star, and the post-first verse stretch starting around 5:40 or so with varying meditative, spacey wanderings and build-ups through the later Bright Star is really good too.
Indoor UCSB gymnasium show, according to a reviewer on archive, delayed start (tech, I’d bet, though who knows.)
Hot opening with Lovelight, but it goes weirdly, Pigpen repeating his entire boar hog’s eye bit. Box back nitties indeed! You kids unnerstand me?
Relaxed opening for Dark Star, can actually hear TC, on a transistor organ, I guess the Vox? Jerry’s good, right off the bat, some interesting quiet scrapy things between jam sections, so resets the mood. Really interesting modal bits before the theme statement at almost 2 minutes, choosing specific note sets. Then new space! Jerry is experimenting a lot with sound and specific notes in more static patterns while TC is riffing a mode. And then he launches into the trebly pickup super loud and bright statements using them before coming back to the theme two minutes later. Bobby’s getting his hammer ons for the suspensions going on before the verse comes in.
In a way it seems like all the 68 versions were getting to know how to play the song, now they have it down so well that they can let it go even more, so this is a new start on the jams. In a ****ing gymnasium! Jerry even goes atonal in the intro to the next section after the sung portion.
Strong thematic statement at almost 7 minutes, the percussion accompaniment is very orchestral. Somebody got some big drums for xmas (note: rest of show is kinda annoying with more Mickey than Bill.) New material at 7:45 that evolves and then goes into the sputnik space to the bright star variations with a theme end-parentheses. Then into a jam with a lot more forward momentum than we’ve seen in this spot, some everyone-moving-together rhythms, into the bright star area. Relaxing back into the theme and verse, to the end, into the suite.
This Dark Star is relaxed in a way that the fall shows weren’t (well, not the Matrix shows). The festivals and campuses in the south were probably pretty hard, despite the amazingness of the performances. Santa Barbara knew what they were getting by this point, too, so there’s a lot of people who get it in the audience. Being ‘with’ the band while they’re improvising sort of makes you part of it, and they’re really grooving in a comfortable way on a lot of this show. Again, the Eleven is shockingly good etc.
You touch on a lot of good points in the band's changing style, for instance the way Jerry now plays around with the themes throughout the jam, so it's harder to mark a 'beginning' and 'end' to various sections as they bleed into each other. I didn't really hear a 'Bright Star' before the verse, just another high-register variation on the Dark Star theme before Jerry returns to the actual theme. And the way they linger on that pre-Sputnik figure before the actual Sputnik is striking.
Their style is a LOT closer to the Live-Dead album now, there's not much refinement left to add. One thing to point out is that up to this tape, there were lots of missing shows/Dark Stars, so the last few months have seen some stark jumps in development from one version of Dark Star to the next. But from here up to summer '69, most of the shows & Dark Stars are on tape so you're going to hear a much more continuous developing conversation between Dark Stars for a while.
Dark Star does sound more....majestic, deep, contemplative now. I think TC had to have something to do with this....just hearing the organ tinkle away with them for a couple months, the band may have adjusted to make the jams more baroque and spacious. Plus they've been digging deeper into Dark Star for months themselves, finding more variety, more nooks and crannies to explore, and giving themselves time to explore, and getting more depth out of the repeating passages. It's still a fast-moving Dark Star, they pack a lot into these 13 minutes.
By later standards it's still kind of short, but one nice part is after Jerry does the Bright star>Main theme section that would have normally ended the jam and gone straight to the verse, but then they keep going in a neat droney extended passage that swirls to a satisfying conclusion...then Jerry brings up the lightly syncopated theme again as if to say "okay we got it, now the verse." Very dynamic and responsive playing from the band as you say, I didn't notice anybody putting a foot wrong....you'd think it was all painstakingly rehearsed.
The mix is Bear's, and will be common through '69: the instruments almost in mono with little separation between the instruments, except for drums to left & right. Garcia's almost always going to be the loudness winner in a mono mix battle between instruments. But one advantage is the blend, as organ & guitar & whatnot sort of swirl into each other... Phil & Bobby are easy to follow here anyhow; TC not so much as he's stuck in the background as usual.
I think Mickey's the drummer who's coming on strong from the verse melody onwards, and Billy mostly lays out? Someone's on congas throughout, particularly in the verses, which could be either Billy or Pigpen. I know there are plenty of photos of Pigpen on congas from later shows, so my guess is it's him -- demoted from organ to percussion! This is quite a change from '68 actually....who would think of adding congas to Dark Star?
Based on one listen I think it is Bill on maracas (and maybe some cymbals with his other hand), Mickey on guiro, gongs and some drumset and Pig puttering away on congas.
Bill the maracas man! Very unobtrusive.
Thinking about the congas, I remembered that the early instrumental outtake of Dark Star (before the organ or vocals were added) had prominent hand percussion:
www.archive.org/details/gd1967-11-14.116370.sbd.motb-0174.flac24/gd67-11-14.sbds1t02.flac
Mixed out of the single, I think? But it's so unexpected that this earliest element of the 1967 studio Dark Star would resurface in early '69!
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