153092 Winterland 34:27
Main theme at 16:47.
First verse at 17:21.
Tiger at 32:23.
Goes into Stella Blue.
The introduction section is, as it often is around this time, relaxed and quite mesmerizing. All the string players are loud here, but I don’t hear Keith at first. The other three all function as lead instruments, weaving in and out of each other’s lines in a way that pushes the attentive listener’s mind into a blissful overload. At 3:11, the piano finally joins the mix to euphonious effect. A swarm begins at 3:38, and when we come out the other end, there’s a syncopated groove working.
The jam is much the same as it was, only now it swings. This peters out by 4:55 or so, and now it feels like a transitional stage. Lesh and Weir are eager to get funky again, but Kreutzmann hangs back. They build their way back until the drums fall into a groove again at 6:02; they spin it out until hitting another transition point at 7:03. Lesh ties it through with an ostinato, and Garcia launches some rolling triplets; the jam resides in the tension between these two for quite a while from here.
At 8:41 Garcia alludes to Sputnik in a passage that lasts for 15 seconds or so. The music is getting beefier, with Godchaux quite busy now. Lesh plays a few runs through Feelin’ Groovy starting at 9:34, but they’re not going there. As he climbs into a higher register at 9:45, Garcia drops into an ostinato lower down before they again switch places.
The band is seriously cooking now, and the intensity keeps increasing. At 10:55 Garcia starts a simple pattern that they rally around. He tops it off with a screaming lead, and then from 11:32 they float back to earth. They slow the tempo a bit, and some jerky, syncopated chopping follows; Garcia strikes up a catchy riff, and then spins out some leads while the band extrapolates. By 14:25 it seems the ideas are coming thick and fast from all directions. They reach a peak around a repeated Garcia figure starting at 15:04, and as we crest Garcia starts to signal for the theme at 15:30 or so...at 15:47, and they cut the tempo down and glide into it. Garcia waits a minute to play the melody, and they slow the tempo down even more as they head for the verse. Slowly sung, the verse features Keith’s watery wah licks, much like the last one.
There’s a little crescendo after the concluding licks, and what pulse there is seems to slow even further. We find ourselves in space, with Garcia playing eerie squalls amid big tom flourishes. Doomy bass licks and feedback engulf the scene. Lesh comes to the fore, and his playing is deliberate and spacy, with no hints of Philo Stomp here. Both guitar players are layering feedback, until at 23:48 Godchaux starts playing some staccato muffled notes and it turns into a conversation between him and Lesh. (I initially thought this was Weir, and it is difficult to tell as for a long time this sounds like a guitar. Someone can correct me if I have it twisted, but after rewinding a few times I’m pretty sure it’s Keith dampening the piano strings somehow.)
Godchaux increases the pace, still muffling his notes, and Lesh responds with muffled passages of his own. At 25:45 Keith kicks on the wah, continuing in the same vein. Garcia comes back, also with the wah engaged, and throws in some eerie sounds as Kreutzmann plays a primal beat. This is absolutely unique and riveting music, and without any clear precedent, as far as I can recall.
The muffly jam is driving toward a peak, and at 27:55 Keith lets the strings ring out a little more; by 28:20 this jam finally seems to have run its course, though. They seem to consider a drum break, but then Garcia, who throughout the previous jam has been confined to a supporting role, starts to assert himself more. At 29:45 he seems to momentarily think of Bach, and then he starts to edge toward the Tiger. The band again gels, if in an oblique and eerie fashion. The lead-up to the Tiger is another astounding jam. They really pick up steam at 31:40, as they push for the finish line; Garcia finally unleashes the Tiger at 32:23, and the whole thing comes to its vicious denouement.
At 33:52 Jerry seems to remember his previous aside (29:45) and drops into Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring before starting to strum Stella Blue (which is, incidentally, one of the best versions of the year).
What can be said about this version? This is one of the greatest pieces of music the Grateful Dead ever created, an absolute masterpiece. The first half is varied, by turns soulful and driving, and does everything you want a Dark Star jam to do. After a few versions where they seemed to struggle after the verse, the unique, creative second half is utterly successful here. This is what it’s all about.
What was said:
JSegel:
There’s a nice matrix of this one where you can really hear the whoops as they start it up, but it’s evident on the SB as well. Harder to hear all the parts on the matrix, so I’m gonna stick with the SB.
Settling into a mellow groove with some tripping over one another for a while, Bill keeps it in check with a side stick rhythm. Jerry is puttering around and floating over the mess, they get mired in little pools of triplets, a lead guitar leads it out and it gets a little funkier by 4 minutes, but it breaks down a minute later into suspended chords and then harmonics and high bass notes, ending the pulse.
Phil tries to take it back in with his syncopated rhythm and it tries to congeal but remains sort of chaotic for another minute, coming back to a jazzy groove. Jerry goes for his plaintive cries again.
At 7 it goes into a sputnik-y arpeggio section and fades off for a bit before finally establishing the old Sputnik moving notes in the arpeggio. Phil is pretty much keeping his syncopated thing going on this whole time. He’s got ahold of something he doesn’t want to let go. Bob sounds meandering. They all do, actually. It’s not really “together” so much as side-by-side. Keith is in some world of his own even, not following Jerry like he usually does. Regardless, they keep at this group-of-threes rhythmic thing for a while.
In the tenth minute it starts to coalesce a bit and they dig in more. Jerry goes for some fast riffs and repeating bits, eventually taking it higher. It crests and breaks down again into a low point where Jerry goes into low octaves and Keith goes into high tinkling. Into this new rhythmic area, it stays low for a bit, then they start to explore more, with small extra-modal excursions. Jerry takes off into the fast jazzy riffing against Bob’s staccato chord hits and hammer on riffs. Jerry finds some little melodic bits to play with, still in Dark Star mode, and still runs fast little bits in between. An eddy in the 15th minute maintains the energy over the crest of this wave, which is breaking at 16 minutes back into a slower Dark Star theme area by hints and then actually hits at 16:25. When the band enters the groove, Jerry finds a bit of feedback before getting to the melody and slowing it down more and more, heading to the verse (some onstage chatter happens at 17:20, can’t quite get what’s being said?)
Verse at 17:38. Nice vocal delivery, held long notes at the starts of the lines, especially line 2 with the band fermata. Wandering on line 3 from Keith and then Phil takes it up at the end of the line. The refrain is very dramatic, rubato. People clap. Outro and into the next section, with hammer on bits and some feedback, bass slowing, toms rolling around. Where to, gents?
At 19:40 it’s almost gone, a low bass note droning, more whoops from the audience and the feedback starts to build into long held notes, wiggling around punctuated by drum and bass bits. Soundscape-string bits from Bob, and more feedback from all of them with dissonant chords from the bass. Rolling toms. (Somebody unplugs and plugs back in it sounds like.)
Feedback continues as the bass goes into sporadic notes, very sparse. Sea of holes, very spacey.
In the 24th minute there is some rhythmic tidbits entering, drums start rolling around, and it develops into a riff occasionally, (a little Good Lovin’ intro for a sec), otherwise dissonant cluster bits. Sounds like the Tiger pull off chromatics are being alluded to, but it’s from the keyboard (? muting the strings by hand while playing?). Jerry starts with a wah-pedal clicky-strummy thing, and more feedback, drums pounding still. Weird section! Eventually the bass and drums sort of sync into an odd rhythm.
By minute 29 it’s mostly just drums with sparse sounds form other people, little wails or weird noises from wah-keys. It backs off a minute later and there’s a little chromatic riff in the background from Jerry, lightly accented. Keith comes along after a bit. It’s still very light and not really heading for the meltdown so much as being atonal. Some stretched chord bits from Bob, Bill heads into a 5/4 area, wow, it’s very Miles Davis in here. Jerry still keeping a low profile with the wah backed off, he goes for the actual Tiger bits at 32:30 and it builds into the screaming meltdown, which dies off as quickly as it came into held notes and little phrases and then as it rolls around on the floor for a half a minute, Jerry slows his roll and (plays a little Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring?) his lead notes, he starts Stella Blue.
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I didn’t like this one as much as bzfgt. I thought this one had a cooler second half than first half, which has not been the norm of the recent versions! I thought the first half was chaotic but I didn’t think it was in a good way, they sounded more like nobody was listening to each other (to me. I see you’ve top-5’d it!) And such a severe slowdown into the verse. But then it went into space, and that was a very interesting space, that I did like!
adamos:
Things start off in mellow, delicate fashion. They glide through the clouds in no particular hurry. Prominent rhythm from Bobby while Jerry and Phil do their thing above and below. The interweaving builds and they carry forth, slowing creating some momentum but keeping the vibe mellow overall. Keith comes in loudly (on the recording) at 3:11 which spurs an increase in speed and activity. They spiral upwards and then ease back and keep the jam going. Bobby changes up his rhythm around 3:53 which alters the feel and they keep on rolling.
Things seem to have run their course by around 4:50 and they hover for a spell considering their options. Phil gets a morse code thing going and it feels like something is ready to bubble up and burst forth but they hold it relatively in check. They dance around in this zone building up some energy and then Bill shifts into a more pronounced beat and they launch forth. Phil works a nice groove while Jerry zips out on a fast moving line complimented by Bob and Keith. Jerry then gets more stretchy before easing up and shifting into some sparkly notes around 7:03.
They coalesce around this and it feels they've encountered a glittering phenomenon out in the cosmos. It rises up and dances about and slowly it gets deeper and more driving and they play around in this area for some time. By 8:15 or so it feels like a tale is being spun, like someone running through a forest perhaps pursued by a threat. There's an enchanting feel to the proceedings.
Around 8:55 the vibe starts to shift and the pace quickens with Keith becoming more prominent. They are rolling now with everyone in tow; Phil steps forward and then eases back and Jerry spins up a driving line that leads into some fast repeating notes. The train is moving now and they get into a driving groove that Jerry spins upwards into a brief, compelling peak. This crests around 11:30 and they start bringing it down. By 11:53 they've moved into a darker, choppier place.
A new groove comes together as they play around in this zone with a low, repeating line from Jerry. Jerry eases up and Phil comes forth with Bill keeping the beat going and then Jerry heads out on a higher line. They work the groove for a bit with Bob interjecting more rhythm and Keith quite active too. The momentum builds and then after a momentary ebb Jerry starts climbing around 15:05. They rise to a peak with Jerry's guitar calling out and Bob adding some strong strumming. From there they come down and slowly find their way to the theme and then on to the first verse with Keith adding some wah.
After the verse there's a little flurry and then they shift into a funky, spacey zone. Keith adds some freaky sounds; there's rolling drums from Bill and then things get quiet, eliciting a reaction from the crowd. They drift further into space with a mix of wailing feedback, deep bass notes, stretchy guitar sounds and strong string plucks. Screechy feedback comes and goes around some thundering bass notes. Bill comes forward and creates a rolling feel. Things quiet again; Phil keeps going intermittently and then Keith comes in with some unusual sounds as noted by bzfgt. Bill starts working it as Phil and Keith play off of each other. Slowly some freaky guitar sounds enter the fray as well and they continue to work in this new territory. The beat picks up and the momentum slowly builds as the jam becomes more rhythmic.
Around 28:20 or so they start to let it go. The others drop back and Bill steps forward and it sounds like the start of a drum break. But before long Phil and Jerry slowly come back in and a subtle jam starts to take shape. There's a semi-freaky vibe accented by Keith's wah but it's still melodic. There's a brief Jesu tease at 29:45 that bzfgt noted followed by some not quite Twilight Zone-ish notes that signal a shift towards meltdown territory. They're in no hurry to get there though and they work up a freaky, building jam along the way. It slowly gathers in strength and then after 32:20 the Tiger comes forth.
It screams out and then subsides by 33:15, shifting back into a spacey jam that briefly sounds like something Jerry might play in "Space" years later. At 33:52 there's a more pronounced Jesu quote and then they ease up before moving on to Stella Blue.
Really good performance. In the context of other recent versions it feels fresh and compelling with new ideas and different grooves. It starts out in mellow and somewhat typical fashion but quickly gets more creative. I particularly like from 7:00 or so through the verse and the post-verse space and jam passages are really good too. I can see what JSegel is saying about the chaotic nature of some parts in the first half but I feel like the whole thing really pulled me in.
Mr. Rain:
The soundboard mix is an improvement over many of the tapes of the past couple months. Phil's the loudest, but doesn't push everyone else aside. The audience tape is pretty muddy, useful more for the general vibe than for details, but you can hear how the band works as a whole rather than as separate players.
Jerry seems to miss the perky intro, but makes up for it with a nice counter-melody at :20. I think Keith's turned down in the mix at the start since I only hear some faint tinkles in the back, but he makes a surprise entrance after 3 minutes. The Dead work their contrapuntal magic, everyone revolving around an unspoken center in hypnotic fashion. The jam gets busier til about 5 minutes, then they sort of pause and regroup, then quickly get busy again with a more persistent drive. Keith imitates Jerry's twinkly repeating arpeggio figure after 7m, to eerie effect. (There's a mix change here, Bob & Keith switch places in the stereo field. For a couple minutes Keith moves over to the same spot as Bob on the right, which makes it trickier to tell them apart, they sort of combine into one instrument, but around 9:45 they're happily separated again.)
The jam feels like they're untangling knots, always pushing up the anticipation but never reaching a peak. But this isn't unpleasant: Phil's brief Feelin' Groovy hint at 9:40 indicates the happy spirits onstage. The jam keeps getting hotter, Jerry & Keith slammin' it hard at 11m. Then Jerry brings them down after 11.30; as they hover he brings in some Wes Montgomery-type chording at 12m, and they work on that groove for a minute; then Jerry switches to a brighter lead. The jam keeps shifting, never settling for long, but by 15m they're getting very snappy with a repeating Jerry riff. (Keith echoes Jerry again, which he does rather often in general.) Then at 15:40 Jerry suddenly stops on a held note, the others take the cue and pause, and as he glides on a repeated melody line the band brings up the main theme. Great effect! The cool thing is Jerry doesn't play the theme himself until about 16:50, he just makes some guitar moans over it at first. They slow down quite a lot for the verse at 17:20, for a deliberate delivery. (Someone shouts some instructions before the verse.)
Afterward, some flurrying & feedback & wah-piano warbles (and applause!), giving way to a bass hum & volume swells. Peals of feedback from Jerry, joined by Bob, ominous bass plucks, thundering drum rolls....they're in deep dark space. The crowd loves this. The feedback slowly recedes, leaving swirling galactic clouds dotted by passing comets. At 23:50 Keith starts playing on damped piano strings for a percussive effect. Phil & Bill soon pick up on this and they become a percussion trio for a while! (This is very unusual, maybe unique among Dead jams.) Then at 25:20 Keith plays Jerry's Tiger pattern on the piano! This becomes even more noticeable when he turns on the wah after 25:50, and Jerry responds with his own wah cacklings, like they're communicating in some alien tongue. Now they're in a full-on bizarre jungle jam, some bursts of feedback, Phil making random bloops, Bill keeping up the beat (Bob seems to be mostly sitting out). This quiets down after 28m, and around 28:30 it's time for a drum break. Bill takes over, but the others keep making little noises, unwilling to go away, and by 29:15 it sounds like they're ready for a jam. Jerry has a grand Peter Green-like tone at first, and it almost sounds like a Mind Left Body jam is about to materialize. But instead after 30m he very slowly eases his way to a Tiger (Keith echoing him again), the band patiently tiptoeing forward into madness. (Like JSegel, I almost expect Miles Davis to start blowing his horn over this!) The tension grows until finally at 32:35, Jerry hits the Tiger and they come to a screeching climax. They come out at 33:15, notes swirling around, overtones flying all over, debris settling. They gradually get quieter until Jerry strums Stella Blue (big applause!).
One of the top Dark Stars of '72 for sure. They can hardly contain themselves -- after the long, dense opening jam, they head to some wild space jamming and land on a nightmare alien planet. Perhaps the only thing this lacks is any significant melodic theme to lift our spirits; the mood stays freaky & threatening until they wind up in an incongruous Stella Blue. (Not my favorite song coming out of Dark Star, it's just too slow & quiet, and they would only do this transition a couple more times.) You might say the darkness takes over in this one. In any case I concur with bzfgt's enthusiasm.
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