JAM: 1969-04-26

97393 1:37

On this source, Charlie Miller has tracked the jam at the end of Mountains of the Moon as “Dark Star Jam.” This makes sense insofar as (as Mr. Rain points out) this is the only instance where they played Mountains of the Moon, and Garcia switched to electric and played a jam, and it did not go into Dark Star. Also, it is arguable that Live Dead is the canonical recording of Dark Star, more so than the single. On that recording, the track “Dark Star” begins before the familiar introductory riff, with the jam that comes out of “Mountains of the Moon.” The jam here, then, sounds a lot like something that is part of the track “Dark Star” in what many consider to be its definitive rendering—at least, if not the best or even most important version, perhaps something that plays a role for many Deadheads similar to that of a studio recording.

On the other hand, this is not really a "Dark Star Jam" insofar as it doesn't really resemble anything that is definitively Dark Star, and while it only appears when Mountains of the Moon is played, here it occurs in the absence of Dark Star. Upon reflection, then, I am calling this "Jam" rather than "Dark Star Jam," but including it here due to its relation to Dark Star.


The track begins shortly before Garcia begins to play electric guitar, as he always does when Mountains of the Moon goes into Dark Star. The song ends with a jam with Garcia playing acoustic, then he switches to electric, and then—every time but this—they start Dark Star (more or less) shortly thereafter.


I would say that this jam sounds like itself more than it sounds like Dark Star or Mountains of the Moon. It has a distinctive feel, and the various versions are all akin to one another. Garcia here plays some beautiful lines, with expressive rakes and emotive dynamics, and Lesh is very active. Above all, listening to this here makes me think what a beautiful jam it is, and it is sort of a shame that they never extended it much more than this. It usually moves pretty quickly into Dark Star; here, it goes into China Cat Sunflower.


In the future—particularly in 1973 and 1974—it will become a tricky question just what constitutes a Dark Star and what constitutes a Dark Star Jam. It seems clear to me here, however, that this does not count as a Dark Star, nor as a Dark Star Jam, but it’s something we should nevertheless acknowledge and address.