32350 San Francisco 30:07
Main theme at 7:13.
First verse at 9:30.
Sputnik at 15:07.
Feelin’ Groovy at 19:08.
Soulful Strut at 22:34.
Bright Star at 26:49.
Main theme at 28:08.
Second verse at 28:31.
Goes into St. Stephen.
TC is no longer playing the ROR, and others have pointed out that he seems to have a new lick he plays during the introduction. At this point the intro can veer back and forth between the two chord theme pattern and less determinate patterns so quickly that it can be hard to keep track of what’s going on, and it’s not always clear whether the band is emphasizing A or E minor. Here the lean on G a lot, which is the dominant 7th of A and also the minor 3rd of E, which contributes to the ambiguity. The emergence of Weir as a more active improvising agent has added to this uncertainty.
The intro jam is masterful tonight; it is busy and intense, but at the same time it has a kind of moody heft to it. At 6:12, Garcia launches a series of triplets that goes on and on as the band eases into a little valley of minor tones from which Jerry slides into the main theme. But they are not ready for the verse; the theme opens up a pocket of gentle sound and they play around there for a while. At 8:31 Lesh takes them into E minor again, and a spacey jam takes shape. At 8:53 Garcia starts toying with the theme again, and the band soon comes back to the familiar pattern; rather than joining with the theme, Garcia goes right to the verse.
The post-verse section begins with a soft jam that finally disintegrates into space at 11:35. This builds from some disjointed sounds into a swelling maelstrom (led by TC) at around 13:30, and then it recedes again. At 14:30 Garcia is playing a lead line that sounds like it might lead us out of space, but it does not. Then at about 15:07 Garcia starts playing Sputnik, which we haven’t heard in a while. By 17:00 Garcia has altered his Sputnik line into something else, and the band picks up on this and it becomes another little jam. Weir starts playing some stuff that sounds a bit like a Mind Left Body jam, and they all hammer on it for a while.
At 19:08 Lesh starts Feelin’ Groovy and the band joins in; they are playing it kind of slowly this time. By 20:27 Garcia is playing a lead that sounds more like what he plays over Soulful Strut as the band continues to play Feelin’ Groovy. At 22:32 they come to a stop and Garcia starts the Soulful Strut chords. At a little after the 25 minute mark they seem to have finished with this jam, but they keep the chord changes going a while longer and start a slower and more deliberate jam over the pattern. At 26:36, Garcia suddenly signals the Dark Star theme and they swing into it, and he immediately starts hinting at Bright Star, which soon appears on the scene. After a nice peak, we get back to the main theme and the verse (“Mirror crashes”).
This is another fantastic version of Dark Star. The space after the verse is deep and intense; the remainder is largely taken up with thematic jamming. The return of Sputnik was unexpected.
What was said:
JSegel:
Oh, that tuning. But some pedal tones from Phil straighten them out. Jerry makes some strong arpeggio to a high notes fanfares in the slow moving intro area. Seems a bit like they’re getting it together still, but some interest in a specific fanfare statement, TC wandering around with a reedy sound. Jerry gets caught up in some eddies, playing on specific notes, Bob comes along for the ride. They sound relaxed here, no hurry. Up and down the statements, large gaps in between. A big wave comes in at 4:20, riff-like leads, big chords, carries them for a bit and then leaves them floating as it breaks up a minute later and then picks up again and carries them in a new set of modal notes for another minutes where it leaves them all strewn about on the beach after a long wheedly-wheedly section from Jerry with a mellow tone. That’s one of the things I love about this piece of music, the natural ebb and flow, like the sea.
A very delicate area is happening here for a while, the theme material coming in very quietly at 7 minutes or so. Noodling from TC over a quiet Dark Star chord area, occasional stabs from JG, going on (some guitar tuning happening, again, Phil assists with open strings.) Cymbals start splashing around. Hints at the theme. A funny little chordal riff from TC. The verse comes in at 9:30. Very delicate one, but with steady and strong vocals from Jerry. Mellow rhythmic statements on line 2, a repeated upward line for line 3 instead of the wandering around. Slow chorus, and classic counterpoint intro to the “Transitive Nightfall.”
I hear a slow bell tolling coming, the band hovers. It dies down, sparse cymbals and organ play, bass drops out. Cymbals are left with some organ weirdness, string scraping, some guitar-body-strikes, sparse string hits, lots of quiet scraping and noisy space in general, organ stops have some spectral play with key sweeps, sparse hits from everybody. The sea of holes. JG on some volume knob swells into feedback! After a big wave, tiny little notes emerge among other odd electronic sounds. This is a great space. JG enters with some modal notes now at 14;30 or so. The drummers are both using only metal at this point, with some toms entering but it’s all very quiet and sparse.
A Sputnik arpeggio section quietly emerges from JG and then TC follows. Phil comes in with a rhythmic idea but on mostly root notes. It builds with some chop chords from Bob til 16:50 then drops off and comes back as a new section building to a groove riff which Jerry goes soloing over. It’s Dark Star-ish but straighter rhythm, sort of a I-IV-V chord thing with descending bass, Feeling Groovy. By 22 minutes it jumps into a new thing. This has that proto-“Eyes of the World” rhythm and vibe with the major 7th chords (which Jerry said came from Walk on the Wild Side: “the colored girls sing doodoodoot...”) Here it's Amaj7 -Gmaj7, this is the “Soulful Strut”? It no longer has the "grazing" rhythm, now with the more "Eyes" rhythm. Obviously I'm confused on these naming conventions.
It falls out of this jam at 25 minutes in and then tries to build toward Dark Star again with elements of the previous rhythm and maj7 chords, but jumps right back in at 26:40. Jerry heads for the Bright Star maneuver. The rhythm is very static, not very swung, even when they come back to the intro theme it takes a bit to settle it back into Dark Star. TC on flutey organ stops, they start verse 2.
“Mirror Crashes!” Similar verse treatment as verse 1, the chorus is very quietly played, all vocals on outro, some Tibetan bells with the chords on the transition to St Stephen.
notesofachord:
Oh man, I’ve been waiting for you DarkStarologists to get to 11/2/69.
Just a phenomenal version that every Head needs to hear.
Essential.
adamos:
Things sound a little disjointed as they get underway but it still has a certain enchanting quality. TC is working his riff and the others are gently ramping up. Jerry starts playing some sharp lines that ring out into the night, taking his time with it. He slowly winds forth complimented by Phil and Bob; no one is in a hurry.
By four minutes in they’re building a little momentum and Jerry plays some repeating lines and there’s a big upward swell. They ride this for a bit before easing up again. After six minutes Jerry starts working some fast notes up and down with TC chasing that makes it feel like they’re being transported somewhere else. They come out the other side and find their way to the main theme which is gentle and beautiful. They continue in this subtle, pretty space for a spell, working variations of the theme before eventually getting to the verse.
After the verse they slip into a gentle jam accented by just enough gong. They come to a near stop before shifting into a spacey zone with more gong and other various sounds including scraped strings and cymbal clashes. Things get suitably weird and they bring it to a peak before easing up again. More gentle spaciness follows and they hover for a bit from which Sputnik emerges. There are some low notes happening underneath as it builds. TC is again following Jerry as he winds around and it builds up pace and calls out into the void. Eventually it transforms into another jam with some edgier playing; maybe even a little bluesy at least in a celestial Dark Star kind of way.
The jam gets cooking pretty well and then after 19:00 or so in comes Feeling Groovy which sounds a little deeper and multi-textured this time. After working in and around it to good effect for a few minutes they briefly pause and then move into Soulful Strut which feels uplifting and melodious and pretty rocking too. By around 25:00 it seems to have run its course but they don’t let it go just yet, lingering in this space in mellower fashion and perhaps deciding where they want to go next. There are some hints of Dark Star notes but they hold off for a bit before fully launching into it around 26:30 which then quickly leads into Bright Star. This builds to a peak before relenting into the main theme and on to the second verse.
A really good version with plenty to offer. Beauty, subtlety, some weirdness, a Sputnik reunion and thematic jams.
Mr. Rain:
The opening's very soothing, kind of droney...Jerry enters slowly, dripping out notes a few at a time, with long pauses. The mood's somber & reflective, like everyone's placing their notes carefully. But little by little the mood gets more intense...then at 4:30 Jerry gets into a spin and pulls them into a spontaneous powerful peak. They pull back in a very stately passage, then after 6 minutes Jerry does some fast runs and the whole band drifts away on the tide. Mickey starts tapping his guiro, then boom the theme sneaks in like it's always been there. Wow! But they're not rushing to the verse, they just soak in the moment in a spacey interlude. TC tootles away on his flutey organ, Mickey mans his gong, and gradually they all come back to the main theme. It's hard to describe how tender all this is. What a stunning opening sequence!
TC has a cute little organ riff for the theme & start of the verse that I don't remember him doing before.
Post-verse they do a slow dissolve to space. Cue the strange noises....they're taking the quietly unsettling route tonight, wind rustling through the haunted leaves. Then at 13:10, a sudden rush of feedback, the noise swells and dies down again. Jerry brings back his normal tone and plays a little, beckoning to the light, but the others don't care to join him. Bill enters on drums, Phil groans on bass...at 15:00 Phil takes a trick from Jerry's book and plays the Feelin' Groovy descending line while turning the volume knob! A cool effect, and something I haven't heard him do before. Meanwhile, Jerry's pressing on and pulls our old friend Sputnik out of his hat! This Phil can get with and they all do a rockin' little Sputnik, a fitting conclusion to space. It ends around 16:30, they don't extend it like they used to...it's basically just the first part of what used to be a 3-part jam.
Jerry shifts to a pretty chord line, and the band fits around him easily, Bob finding a nice part. TC has a chimey xylophone-type tone now; the darkness has ended. As the jam continues it gets pulled in a faster, happier direction, and at 19 minutes reaches the inevitable destination, Feelin' Groovy. They give this a lot more punch than it had on 10-25. They dig into it for a few minutes too, with Jerry shifting to more country-style playing until it's almost a spontaneous new song. But they're not done -- in a brief pause at 22:20, Jerry switches right over to Soulful Strut, and off they go again! No overlap this time, but the two jams are clearly joined at the hip. Mickey works his wood percussion while TC adds a doot-doot-doot rhythm. Bob's in the lead over Jerry's chords for a while, an odd role reversal that makes it obvious why Bob's not the lead guitarist. Jerry takes his place at 24:00 with a melodic lead. But not for long, Soulful Strut kind of fades out at 25 while TC gives a few last flute tootles.
Then the next part's really cool, Phil & Bob keep the two-chord motif going and slow it down so they're playing a Soulful Strut-Dark Star blend, teasing the main theme but not entering it until 26:35. Really impressive....they've rarely been able to blend so easily from a new rhythmic jam back into Dark Star before, but here they make it sound smooth & natural. And Jerry's not done yet, he aims straight for Bright Star and gives it a lovely new ending, hanging on a note while Phil sets him up to land back on the theme.
This is the Dead's first 30-minute Dark Star, and every minute's packed. Words can't really do justice to the beauty & majesty here. They're deep in some mystic zone like they're sailing on a phantom ship across phantom tides to fog-shrouded Avalon.
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