170. 1973-11-11

83318 Winterland 36:27 (35:22) (1. Dark Star 32:01 [30:56], 2. MLB 4:26)

Main theme at 16:21.
First verse at 17:33.
Mind Left Body jam at 2. :00
Goes into Eyes of the World.


This one begins confidently, coming in with a little spring in its step even if the tempo is still rather slow compared to previous years. At 2:31 Garcia plays the little bass riff that he has been sporadically returning to for a few years now. His line ascends from there, and it sounds like he knows where he’s going. The band is on solid ground here, everything sparkling right from the outset.


Godchaux’s piano drops out for a little while, and at 5:25 he reappears on Rhodes. The vibe gets a little jazzier now, with Weir lounging it up just a little to complement the electric piano. Garcia throws in some pinch harmonics from about 6:30, and he pursues this for a good minute, throwing a little roughage in the mix before sprinting off on some quick runs. His thoughts are long and involved tonight, and provide a through line while Phil pokes around and the others lay down a groove.


The groove really starts bouncing around the 9-minute mark. Garcia is laying it on a little harder now, and everyone is starting to feel it. At some point Keith has bounced back to the piano, giving the music a slightly harder edge as the band swells. There’s finally a bit of a lull around 11:20, with everyone still very active, but softer. At 11:38 Jerry starts playing with a Sputnik-adjacent roll, and the band starts to get a little louder; at 11:59 Lesh’s repetitive groove rumbles into a repeated A for the band to rally around, and as they spiral back out Garcia hints at Bright Star.


They’re really flying here! At 13:37 Garcia drops in the verse melody, but they don’t join and take it to the E minor 1969-style anymore. Instead, Jerry adds further variations, with enough of the familiar melody to remind us this is Dark Star; the band knots together and comes apart over and over, but the groove is cohesive throughout. At 15:20 there’s another lull, and now we expect the theme to come in soon. Jerry tries a little bouncy thing at 15:40, then starts winding toward the theme…sure enough, here it is at 16:21. A minute or so later the verse comes in (“seasons tatter”).


Lesh starts to get pretty heavy after the verse, and Weir is very active as they descend into space. This turns into a feedback thing crossing the 22-minute mark. At 23:25 Garcia’s eerie lines become more melodic, and the band pulls together and kicks into a groove. Jerry continues with the elongated line as the rest of them get a jam going—it’s a bit more abstract than the pre-verse fare, but they’re putting it together here in a way they rarely do after the verse these days. By 27:00 the abstraction starts to prevail, though, with jerky syncopation taking over, but they turn up the intensity rather than dispersing.


By 29:30 Garcia’s wah indicates the possibility of a meltdown in the offing. Lesh counters with some bopping licks; Weir is doing his own thing with some tangential harmonics, while Godchaux (still on piano) runs up and down the fretboard. They briefly spill into a meltdown, then come back with a groove while Jerry plays some really nasty-sounding lines in the sonic region of a clavinet. By 21:45 Weir starts to wander towards MLB, and they kick right into it where the track divides, playing it fast and hard with Jerry still hammering on the wah.


Garcia’s cleans his tone up a bit and pierces the skies, with the MLB chords churning and bubbling at a frenetic pace. They fully commit to the MLB here, playing with drive and focus as they have throughout. At around 2. 3:00 the MLB jam begins to fade, and they let the air out before Jerry starts strumming Eyes of the World.


An absolutely magnificent version is what we have here, not least because they sustain their focus throughout a very well-developed second half in a way we haven’t always seen in 1973. This one is in the pantheon of all-time greats.


What was said:

JSegel:


Another one I’ve heard a few times, the three night run at Winterland, this Dark Star is toward the end of the last evening, moving into Eyes of the World. (the night before had a folded up PitB, with UJB surrounding Morning Dew!)

Calm seas with ride cymbal and/or sidestick groove for 15 solid minutes, including several types of playing, Al DiMeola-style fast runs, jazzy bits, slower melodics, harmonics and even ending with a Sputnik area before dissipating the rhythm to announce the theme and then the verse. It starts in the familiar Dark Star groove world, the band doing their multi-headed hydra Dixieland space music, some eddies happening int he general forward motion, a few excursions to diminished chord mode play, but mostly sticking with the groove for long periods, which is sort of a throwback. Though Jerry’s playing is more jazz-inflected. Bobby is also playing more little licks and riffs in his chord playing, and going for more augmentations of the chords. Phil is pretty much holding it down for minutes at a time. Keith is on the Rhodes, which always gives it the jazzier edge.

At about 5 minutes the groove even locks into a newer and even mellower bachelor-pad swing, Jerry heads upwards into a quiet harmonics realm. They start to bring it up a little faster by 8 minutes and go into faster runs from the lead guitar and the bass gets a little busier, though he’s mostly been grooving along and not doing the full-on lead bass playing. Keith switches to piano and goes off on little trilling bits, in between Bobby’s chords. They build on it, winding up the band into a single unit improv which breaks out into new bass groove repeated notes at 10 minutes.

As this moves forward, Jerry starts playing arpeggios that fade in and out, a Sputnik overlay which leads forward for more groove jamming. At 14 minutes there’s a feint to a Bright Star, bizarro-world melody version 170, but it sort of makes the jam lose focus a bit and mellow out, and it cedes to low bass notes, they start the Dark Star groove and theme. It’s a beautiful rendition of the theme, slow stretched notes in the melody. Verse at 16:40, a wavery first sung note, (and on the second line.) Strong fermatas on the second line, with Jerry’s guitar faltering on the melody doubling. Back to the groove for line three, and tumbling into the refrain, with more vocal faltering. A nice outro with lilting bass and then to Bob’s transitional lick a couple times before it starts hovering and fades to soundscape guitar tapping and big bass notes in the multi-channel bass world.

Bass solo with background guitar sounds, but it’s a very sparse solo, isolated statements and withdrawn small notes and chords. Small feedback and string tapping continues. The bass comes to the forefront again, slow lead bass lines. It’s a nice space. Feedback gets louder in and out, becomes notes, wah-backed off cries.

23:20, Bill comes right in with a beat, with Keith in tow, they head into a jam. Jerry picks up the slide again. Bobby is riffing more than chord-playing. They move forward, with slow slide melodies over the top. At 26 min, Jerry drops the slide and comes in with short runs, the band follows this route into all playing short little bursts. It gets more chromatic, heading more sideways but maintaining a higher energy as it moves into a jam. Very jazzy playing from everybody for a while, it starts to get scarier and the wah pedal goes back on, though even int he chromatics it doesn’t head toward a Tiger-style thing. They back off late in the 29th minute, Jerry is playing clicky muted little notes with the wah pedal, everybody else making short little bursts. String scrapes, piano warbling, the scrapes with wah pedal are almost vocal sounding. At 31 minutes Bobby and Keith head into a new blues-riff groove which leads directly into the MLB chord progression. It sounds like they pretty much know where they are now, they jam out on it, rocking their way through the chord progression a few times, then bringing it down into the arpeggiated version, leading it away to a proper ending, dropping us off in a chord. People clap, they meander around a bit in a coda and then Eyes of the World begins.

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Beautiful version. Nice to have the long jam in the first section instead of a bunch of short ideas thrown in sequence. Post verse space is nice, not super busy, with a nice instantaneous transition to jamming again. The improv areas are great, they obviously know the MLB jam by now. The odd sounds in the space section are also great, that vocal ghostly string scraping with the wah pedal is cool.


Archtop:


The 11/11/73 Dark Star continues to improve upon every listen for me. You may know that I'm a big fan of everything '72, and the tempi of the 1973 Stars are a bit lugubrious, but they actually work for the complexity that ensues. My favorite moment of the 11/11/73 DS is from 10:58-11:08, where Jerry plays this shimmering, fast-picked cascading line, which he varies until 11:20. I'm puzzled by how difficult that must have been and how effortless it sounds.


Mr. Rain:


Once again, there's an elaborate minute-long tuning jam before Dark Star that sounds like it'll become its own separate thing until Phil begins Dark Star. Through this tour, the border between the intro tuning-jam and Dark Star has narrowed; the culminating point will be 12/6/73 when the tuning jam becomes part of Dark Star.
I used the Miller source for timing, but the tuning starts the track, which adds 1:05 to the times. The mix is a little different for this one: Jerry in the center, Keith on the side. It sounds more natural to me than when Jerry's off to the side.

The playing's assured from the start, no fumbling around, they're on-point. Jerry's in a specially trippy vein tonight and stands out even more than usual. Keith is subdued on piano and stays in a supporting role. The group's more focused & responsive to each other than has been the norm lately, swiftly answering each other's lines, the group mind united. Even Phil sounds like he's actually playing the same piece as the others!

The music reaches a quiet point by 4:40 as the playing gets softer. Keith lays out for a gentle guitar-trio moment, then at 5:23 he comes back on the Rhodes. The relaxed lounge beat (or "bachelor-pad swing") surfaces, but isn't super-pronounced, they play more on the edges of it. After 6:30 they strip it down for a long intimate passage where Jerry's just pinching harmonics. When he returns to quick runs after a minute, the playing gets firmer, more driving as they press an angular beat, Jerry pushing a faster pace within the groove. Keith lays out for quite a while again, but he's back on more assertive piano at 9:55, and he & Jerry get into a little spiraling competition like twin vines. Around 11:10 they quiet down again, and at 11:40 Jerry flies into a Sputnik-type arpeggio that flashes into a sparkly kaleidoscope over Phil's drone before he returns to....well, not quite "normal," his playing remains weird & unexpected. They may be in a jazzy groove, but the playing's fully psychedelic.

They reach a little peak, then after 13:40 Jerry hints at Dark Star, but it's just a hint, the jam smoothly rolls on over Bob's & Keith's chords. After 15m they start tugging more strongly toward the main theme, quieting down again, sparkling high notes, getting swampy and setting up a divine theme entry at 16:20. Jerry plays it in a higher register, Bright Star-style, in a cool theme jam before he sings the verse at 17:30. Jerry's rather sloppy in the verse. Keith switched to the Rhodes again back at 16:15, and adds some nice touches in the verse.

Then the usual space entry: Phil drones while the other instruments warble. It soon becomes a virtual Phil solo as he nearly has the stage to himself except for some faint whines from the other guys; but he chooses to keep his playing slow & atmospheric rather than launching into a riff. A grand & spacious feel, adrift in the universe. Jerry has some ghostly feedback going on after 21m, and Phil responds in counterpoint to Jerry's notes while Bob quietly taps his strings. (Keith & Bill keep quiet.) This is a very beautiful melodic space, slow & elegant with a wistful mood. Jerry's diving deeper into the sad wah'd slide style he'd used in space on 10-19 & 10-25.

At 24m Phil signals the end of space with a big note, Bill strikes up a beat, Keith joins in on piano, and the rhythm section launches into a fast groove while Jerry continues his lonesome slide-wah keenings. It's a striking and effective contrast that they develop for a couple minutes. At 26:50 Jerry finally comes back to regular picking, and the music straightaway disintegrates into kind of random abstract jazz with an irregular pulse. Almost sounds like they're playing backwards. But they're into it, they keep up the odd quirkiness for a while. At 29:27 Jerry turns on the wah again, which is usually the signal for a coming Tiger....but the band isn't inclined that way, and the Tiger never comes! After 30:30 Jerry's doing his muted wah cackles & string scrapes while the others provide a suitably nutty backdrop. It's like a shady night in Toontown. Somehow after a minute this turns into a catchy groove, danceable beat & all. Bob hints at the Mind Left Body chords, which spring out at 32m.

This is quite a bouncy Mind Left Body, taken at a fast rockin' pace. Jerry really rips into it, cycling through several different tones. This is the upbeat rock version of Mind Left Body, rather than the slow melancholy take they've been playing. After 3:00 they fade out, and wrap it up with some final chords by 4:00. Then some spacey drifting before Jerry starts Eyes of the World.

Excellent version, almost inhuman in its might, and the best of '73 so far. The group telepathy is in full effect, everyone's parts interlocking, flowing through different moods with ease. The ending harks back to 9/21/72; it's been rare in recent years for them to end a Dark Star with a happy uplifting theme. It's also one of the prettiest Dark Stars lately; even the brief noisy bits are harmonious, and a scary meltdown is eschewed.


adamos:


Another extended tune-up with a rising feeling, like they know they are about to embark on a journey. And then they're off. There's a lovely and almost sprightly feel at the onset (relative to this era) with some tightness and sparkle as they glide along. Jerry starts high and then heads lower, working deeper notes. Keith's piano adds a nice element as well. The collective interweaving comes through clear in the mix and they spin up a pretty web.

Around 4:50 or so they ease up and find a quieter, more delicate place but still connected to what came before it. Then as noted Keith moves to Rhodes which changes the flavor a bit. They groove along patiently and it's just lovely. Jerry and Phil work their delicate lines with Keith adding nice color and prominent accents from Bob. Billy's got a nice thing going too with some kick and sparkle. The jam is mellow but compelling, like they're strolling through some wonderous land just taking it in.

Jerry gets into some pinched harmonics around 6:30 that add to the vibe. He works that for a spell before winding onwards and spinning up some quicker notes. By 7:50 the intensity rises a little with Bob being quite active and then Phil becoming more prominent. The groove flows on and Jerry gets into a trill followed by some stretchy, bendy notes. Then around 9:00 they take it up a notch and add some more oomph, relatively speaking. Jerry winds into some nice ascending lines and then keeps rolling at a higher altitude. Keith comes in with some stronger piano fills and then he and Jerry play off of each other with Bobby contributing as well.

After another rise in intensity they ease off around 11:10 but keep it rolling in mellower fashion. Then Jerry plays some extended Sputnik-esque sparkly notes while Phil works his line and this spins up the collective intensity again. They rise to a nice small peak with Dark Star flavor and a touch of Bright Star. Things ease from there but only momentarily and around 13:05 they start ascending again, reaching another small peak with some nice intensity. This crests and Jerry hints at Dark Star but they keeping rolling, taking the groove in a gentler, smoother direction at least for the moment.

There's a nice pretty feel at this point and then they start ramping up again, working in Dark Star-ish territory. Things start to ease up after 15:00 and they start slowly working towards the theme in a relatively gentle fashion. Jerry plays some sparse high notes around 15:40 while Phil bounces underneath and they shift into theme proper at 16:20. Jerry gives it some higher, Bright Star flavor initially as noted by Mr. Rain. And then after a minute or so they move on to the verse which includes some pretty Rhodes accents from Keith.

After the verse they reset and Bobby does his thing and a spacey glow starts to rise up. There are assorted freaky sounds but it soon becomes mostly Phil with just a bit of spaciness in the background. Phil keeps it relatively mellow and sparse; this isn't headed towards a Philo Stomp. Jerry blends in some slow, stretchy lines - eerie is a good word for it - and Bob adds some string plucking too. They explore this for a good while and then around 24:05 Phil hits a few heavy notes and Billy kicks into a beat and they're off on a new jam. Jerry keeps working his freaky slide line while Keith lays in some piano and Phil and Billy get a peppier beat going. Bob blends in some prominent rhythm too. They get the groove going pretty well and take it for a stroll.

Around 26:56 Jerry abandons the slide and things move in a more stuttered, syncopated direction. They work it for a couple of minutes with the intensity slowly rising. Things break down a little and then at 29:30 Jerry kicks on the wah and things start to get more melty. They work up some low-key freakiness but a full meltdown is not in the offing. Jerry starts working some weird, low creaking sounds while the others play off each other with staggered bounciness and other fills. Slowly the momentum picks up and Bob and Keith get some rhythm going and Billy drives the beat and before long they slip right into a Mind Left Body jam.

The MLB jam is pretty rocking right from the start. There's some good crunchiness from Bob and Jerry gets his higher line going and they play it with gusto. It's a punchy, lively telling. They work it for a few good minutes then downshift and start to gently bring it down, eventually reaching a hover point from which Jerry starts up Eyes Of The World.

A wonderful version that earns its reputation. There is plenty to offer in the various phases of the journey and the collective interweaving comes through really well on the recording.