Main theme at 2:10.
Main theme at 3:15.
First verse at 4:03.
Second verse at 8:10.
Goes into St. Stephen.
The mix is more balanced this time, with TC more audible than usual, but not overbearing. Although he begins with the ROR, he’s not as wedded to it as Pigpen was, and again here he moves on from it after a few times through. Garcia comes out of the gate with some caffeinated, trebly lead work, and the band is very brisk and on top of the beat. Note from around 2:50, and again at 6:55 or so, how Weir mirrors and supports Garcia’s lead, as his playing continues to grow more imaginative and flexible, and this expands Dark Star’s horizon of possibilities dramatically. There is a nice peak at around 7:15, after a nimble build-up by Garcia, and note how from about 7:23 Garcia, Lesh, Weir and TC are all locked in together as they weave their way to another little peak, with some pleasingly off-key notes from Garcia to cap it off. There is a cut just before the second verse, but it seems like they were headed toward the verse already when it cuts. This one is very short, and probably not all that noteworthy overall, although there are certainly points of interest.
What was said:
Brisk and aggressive is a good way to describe this one. It’s not as intricate or moving or spectacular as the best versions to-date but it’s still a ‘69 Dark Star so it’s good. And the recording benefits from a much better mix than the last one so it’s an enjoyable listen even with the cut. On the linked version from around 5:56 through the splice leading into the second verse is my favorite stretch.
TC retreats to the background! He blends in so well he sounds more like a wasp buzzing around the stage. Mickey's got some big gong action going in the verses.
The usual great playing, but I agree it's not a standout Dark Star, not too noteworthy. Jerry sounds unusually hyped-up in this one with a biting tone (starts right off with some feedback), so this Dark Star's very brisk and aggressive. None of the usual themes show up in the jams, Jerry's not having any of that tonight. Instead the jam sounds oddly stubborn and aggressive, kind of unresolved. Jerry's into repeating lines a lot....like before the verse he repeats the main theme for about 40 seconds, then later on they plunge into a kind of droning sputnik-style part, but leave it dangling.
The cut's right before the second verse...Phil plays the main bassline right before the cut so I think it's just a short tape-flip. So even complete, it would still be a very short Dark Star. Maybe they were running out of time for their set?
The Dead listened to this run and decided they had not nailed a good Dark Star for the album, so they'd better try again.... A wise choice!
I'd give 1/26 maybe a 3/5 rating relative to other versions...but by this point every Dark Star is good, they're all pretty much going to be in the range of good-to-great (or great-to-facemelter)...hardly any Dark Star is going to fall on its face.
Even if any particular version is less successful than others, the thing is that the Dead were open to the risk... They could have made Dark Star a more "repeatable" formula and given it the same structure in each performance. But as we've seen, by late '68 they already weren't doing that, but leaving it more open-ended...the scripted themes might show up, or they might not, depending where the improv leads, so each version has its own mood. Even if a Dark Star 'fails' by not having, say, the focus or drama of the one before or if the Dead seem stuck, that shows how high the bar is, that the Dead will sail out each time into the risky unknown rather than just repeating what worked before.
Nice jam before the theme stuff, into the 2 minute mark, nice leading tone on the way up at the very end to end the sequence. Then off again, no verse yet. JG wants to get to a plateau, there’s some static note area that it wants to get to, but only for a second and then back down to the theme. I like the stretching of the thematic root (A) to B in the high A of the melody! More pedal steel stuff, I think.
Good singing and vocal levels! Is this verse written out by someone, it must be, yeah, with dots n lines?
Starts like it’s gonna lead into a long jam, Jerry gets into a cocked wah sound for a while and slows down onto the tone, gives Phil some leeway. Some call and response with TC coming after Jerry’s licks. Into some arpeggiated quick Sputnik. BW into some nice chords with seconds.
More plateaus, with vistas.
Then a new key breakout for a minute at 8 minutes, but then they go directly into the second verse! Truncation.
Nice casual vocal slides in “revolving” etc. Weird tones from the organ, I’m still a big fan of the Vox garageband weirdness sound, I guess. Wish he were louder in the mix, but at this point I think I like the old Pigpen organ better than the new baroque version, but we’ll see what happens. I purposefully haven’t listened to any of the Live/Dead for at least a year, so I could still come around.
Short but sweet at 9 and a half, I thought they’d go on with some of the directions. They’re going into the full suite for the end of the show, I guess end of the Avalon run?
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