34. 1969-02-06

 

137394 St. Louis 14:02 (cut at 8:49 of unknown duration)

Main theme at 2:39.
Main theme at 4:10.
First verse at 4:32.
Verse melody at 8:08.
Sputnik at 9:08.
Bright Star at 11:06.
Falling Star at 11:34.
Main theme at 11:52.
Second verse at 12:33.
Goes into St. Stephen.

Again TC seems reasonably audible, until Garcia comes in…it’s a good mix overall, though. Garcia is in fine form from the outset, and from about 3:14 he plays some of his best guitar, fluid and dynamic, before starting a little repeating motif at 3:38 that ends up at a little peak which he takes advantage of by plowing into the main theme. After the verse, Garcia states the 1968 outro briefly, and rather quietly, and the band plays in a subdued manner for a good couple minutes after the verse. Jerry is again using different voices and pickup positions to good effect; there is a cut at 8:49 that doesn’t seem like it is probably too long, but it’s hard to tell for sure (and note that my fellows seem to think it more significant than I did--it seems to me like they may have built it up pretty quickly, but there is a shift in intensity at the cut). At 10:35 Garcia starts toying with Bright Star, and the band hits a peak around the 11 minute mark before he finally breaks into it in earnest. This leads to the return of Falling Star, last heard (or at least last documented) in the fall of ’68. This is a kind of low-key version, and much of it is pretty mellow, even though it gets off to a typically bold start. If the cut is brief, then this is also another pretty short version, although to me it didn’t seem rushed the way the last one did. These are all pretty great to one extent or another, it bears repeating.


What was said:

Jerry screws up the opening lick! But he soon recovers, and a compelling intro jam invites us in. After the verse they start the jam quietly and slowly turn it up. It sounds like we lost a good part in that tape-cut, the music's a lot wilder on the other side and spins into a Sputnik. This doesn't last long though, Jerry heads straight to the final climax. Maybe it didn't seem rushed to you, but it sure felt awfully abbreviated to me! Not much exploration here....it was almost a stop & start jam.
You forgot to mention that Jerry revives an old theme! After 11:30, to conclude the Bright Star, Jerry brings back the "falling star" lick and repeats it a few times. I don't think this has appeared in a Dark Star since Oct or Nov '68! It's another key lick that will show up in the Live/Dead version.
Also, a couple times Jerry uses his favored technique of repeating one little lick over & over before breaking away to a theme...after 3:40 & 10:55.
Nice mix, warm & fuzzy. Everybody's clear, except for poor TC, who kind of blends into the background. There's some maracas, and from the verse melody onwards there are some random occasional drumbeats, but otherwise it sounds like the drummers stay out of the jam.
Overall this is a very low-key Dark Star, never gets too crazy or noisy or adventurous. It almost feels like it harks back to fall '68...no new ground broken here, just a pleasant excursion.
By the way, the Dead were opening for Iron Butterfly again, and it sounds like the auditorium wasn't exactly filled with their fans since Phil requests before Dark Star, "Since there's so few of you why don't you come down here and cluster up front?" But fear not, our boys win over the crowd by the end of the show...they play a 25-minute encore and the audience doesn't want to let them go. The announcer says, "I know you're all waiting for Iron Butterfly" and the crowd shouts "No! No!"
And that was the last time Iron Butterfly ever appeared with the Dead.


Mellow intro after Morning Dew. Pretty good mix. Nothing super new coming at us here, but steady-on playing up and down. JG gets caught in a couple little loops now and again before getting to the thematic stuff a couple minutes in. Some good dynamics getting into a low area, JG again catches some weird little riff loop before coming back to the main theme before verse 1. He sounds more lively this evening, or his vocal warble is a little faster anyway.
Almost 6 minutes before the middle jam starts, Jerry seems a little tentative here, he’s not diving in he’s sort of laying back with little riff ideas for a while, changing tones. Sounds like TC and Phil have something going on with chord-and-bassline movement. This area is developing into a “band” improv where each one is part of the orchestral “hand” with no specific lead voice.
Dark Star song theme at 8:20, with the drums coming in a little, or cymbals at least. But there’s a splice at 8:52? Seems like something nice was building in there before that spliced area, comes back into some high treble weirdness and drops into a sputnik with some bridge rattling and A Single Low Tom Drum hit on the breakdown. Then back to essentially the “regular”, the song chords and jam going into Bright Star with some weird bass accompaniment this time!
When that wave has crested, we’re back to the theme and into verse 2 and end. All in all, not the most inspiring version of Dark Star, but I’d still bet Iron Butterfly were thinking they needed to up their game.


I agree that this is a relatively mellow, low-key version. But with that also comes a bit of the mystical vibe that can be elusive so it has a certain quality that I find appealing. The tape cut is jarring since we are instantly zapped from somewhat mellow to crazy but then things downshift again fairly quickly. I wonder how long that peak of intensity actually was.
In focusing in on the repeating riff passages that were pointed out, the first one at 3:40 reminds me of winding up a top before letting it spin. And the second at 10:55 is more like a rocket on the launch pad with engines firing up just before lift off. I suppose that tactic could end up being overused but in the right moment it helps to build up anticipation nicely.


That tactic never gets old for me! Jerry can repeat it as often as he likes.
It is neat in these February '69 Dark Stars to hear the little building-blocks of the Live/Dead version show up, one by one.
It's possible the best part of this Dark Star got zapped in the tape cut. We just have to imagine what might have been there....