132361 Cleveland 43:32
Main theme at 20:53.
First verse at 25:00.
Goes into Eyes of the World.
There is noodling and tuning, and there are flashes of Dark Star there, and then it sort of gradually turns into a jam, with the intro riff nowhere in sight. Above, for this reason, I just left the timing of the track as is, without determining exactly when Dark Star begins. A good four minutes in, we’re still hearing the kind of stuff that could be a pre-song warm-up goof, but instead the second-longest Dark Star of the Dead’s career is already underway.
By around 4:30 it’s coming together more, and by the five minute mark there is probably an unspoken consensus that they are playing something—and maybe even that this “something” is Dark Star, which is sort of seeping through, particularly in Garcia’s lines. By 7:00 there’s a funky beat, and if this is Dark Star, we’ve gone beyond the initial phase and into the first excursion of the introductory section.
The core remains nebulous, but in the best way—the band is gelling while holding each other at arm’s length, refusing to converge in a way that sometimes annoys my fellow travelers in this project, but throughout the year they have, in hit or miss fashion, developed a way of playing this way that can be very effective. There’s a bit of a peak toward the ten minute mark, and this is again rather Dark Star-ish for a few moments, and as they ease away from it Garcia flashes Bright Star at 10:23. They continue sliding down the backside of the peak, and at 11:00 they reach a point where we almost expect to hear the theme, but this is not to be. Instead they come to another peak, slowly and in exaggerated fashion this time, with Godchaux’s swirling Rhodes laying down a carpet for the entrance of Lesh’s distorted bass which swells to a crescendo at 12:10. Garcia, Weir and Kreutzmann lay in a lilting background while Phil keeps the distortion swelling; Godchaux splits the difference, until at 12:43 he sides with the melody team and Phil subsides into the cantering bounce which, of course, they almost immediately abandon.
There follows a series of feints—they keep threatening to coalesce into a bouncy jam, and then pulling it back again. Garcia keeps proposing a rather majestic melodic Dark Star thread which he then alternates with frenetic runs. At 15:00 Lesh has one of his funky riffs going, and the others soon converge on a frenetic jam which he weaves himself into, and this comes to a thrilling peak at around 15:40. The back end of this is promising something light and jazzy, but as usual they don’t belabor the point.
At 16:30 Jerry’s onto one of his Sputnik-adjacent rolls, which Weir complements; Kreutzmann subsides while the Lesh and Godchaux turn up the minor-key atmospherics. Lesh settles into a long distorted tone, and Keith switches over to the Sputnik team for a while; the two tendencies weave together into a shimmering mesh as we cross the 18-minute mark, and the music swells and hangs in the air, radiating power and beauty—a stunning moment.
Jerry’s Sputnik has become a jangling lick; this could almost be the transition to a new song, if there was a song that started this way. There should be. At 19:35 Jerry starts up a lead line, and Lesh’s bass oscillates and buzzes—I don’t know how long he’s been manipulating one tone now!—and then he starts layering on feedback. At 20:53 Jerry drops in to the main theme; they could put down their instruments now and walk off, and this would be one of the best things they’ve played all year. Instead, they draw the theme out and elaborate on it for better than four glorious minutes before Garcia sings the verse.
Keith seems keen to grab the reins as we enter the second half, and he remains quite assertive as Lesh’s loud bass comes to the fore. Garcia is backing them with some noisy rumbling vaguely in the neighborhood of his bell-tolling tone as they settle into an atmospheric space segment. Kreutzmann is mostly laying out, and there’s no indication that a structured jam is on the horizon; in the quieter spots we can hear the audience declaring their appreciation of this strange music.
It gets freakier, and quite a bit of feedback is coming out of the amps. Phil’s got a fuzzy blown-out sound going now; it oozes out to the periphery and surrounds the space into which Garcia (or Weir?) drops some loud feedback and volume swells; at times, though, it’s hard to discern who is doing what, but there’s a really big sound happening here. At 35:19 Godchaux comes back, tentatively; Kreutzmann assays a rhythm on the cymbals, and more quotidian music starts to emerge as we cross into the 37th minute.
Jerry and Keith get a stereophonic frenetic jam going, and the drums kick in. Jerry’s line veers between harshness and clarity, feinting toward a Tiger and a more melodic direction by turns. Weir is quite recessed here, with the other players drowning him out in the mix as they further coalesce into a fleet jam. By about 40:30 Garcia seems to be fading as well, with Godchaux’s Rhodes coming to the fore, and there’s a short drum and keyboard interlude until 41:04 when Jerry and Phil fade back in, more or less picking up where they had left off. At this point they seem to have exhausted this jam, and there’s not much left to do but let it go and head into Eyes of the World, although they rally for a bit of a last hurrah in the final moments.
What can I say about this? This Dark Star is absolutely stunning; a masterpiece.
What was said:
SJR:
This Dark Star is staggering. Oppressive and relentless, it will keep you transfixed for nigh on forty-five minutes. A horror movie for the synapses, this is a real tour de force, and is up there as one of mankind’s greatest ever musical achievements.
Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks): this is not for beginners.
Dahabenzapple:
Continued thanks to all for these write-ups!!
12/6/73 is one of the greatest slabs of recorded music of the 20th century
currently listening to a 57:32 slab of music from the 21st century of a different sort. Nothing like long form improvisation.
johnnypaddock:
I listened to 12/6/73 for the first time I think about a year ago and was entirely blown away. All I could think afterwards was “this is why I listen to music”. One of the greatest things I’ve ever heard… Just firing it up again now.
I love this thread. My listening habits don’t always lend themselves to going along, but I love the writeups and really appreciate the insights. Thanks to everyone here.
JSegel:
Wow. This is the ****.
Light Into Ashes has an entire blog post about this one too, and he’s got it right. (That Rhodes, for instance!)
Lotta tuning and noodling at the start, Dark Star is sort of suggested but takes a while to get past the tuning, but Keith plays a tuning chord on piano over and over and then continues melodically while Bob tunes. Then a minute and a half in, it has a short little intro and then it gathers and restarts, a very slow cadenza creeping into Dark Star melodies, very spaced out. Bill rolls a little and at 3:10 it sounds like Jerry starts a tempo for real and the band comes in behind him in a groove. It takes a while before Jerry really takes off with the fast riffing, but he gets there and has some new ideas for taking the mode slightly outside. They move into serious jazz riffing, for a long time, everybody doing their part. Keith is jamming in tight little motions, Jerry is on fire, really extending out the solos, Bobby playing with odd notes to the chords, they move into some new phrygian modal areas, and chromatic notes.
At 8min Phil seems to want to step it up but he gives way to a sort of Spanish Jam-ish area, Jerry seems to have some specific melodies he is hearing, and he takes it up from there. They take it to a peak at 10 min, it stays for a bit then comes down the other side, but they continue moving forward. Jerry slows it down, Rhodes gets warbly.
Moving into a rubato area with sparser rhythmically spaced notes, bringing it to a new slow pulse but Phil comes into strong and builds the volume, heading for big bass feedback, Jerry speeds up his figure that he was bringing it down with. It comes out into a new groove right before 13 minutes.
Jerry keeps messing with the time, playing groups of slower or faster figures, winding up a clockwork of riffs, sticking on pedal tones occasionally then moving around in circles. They pick up the pace at 15, everybody starts moving fast, endless melody. Keith follows Jerry right underneath, and continues lines after Jerrys cadences. It’s the bebop section. Though you could say it’s why he chose midi-horns later… Piano is loud in the Road Trips mix.
However this cedes to a sputnik-y eddy that’s very e minor and engenders bass feedback low long tones. The arpeggio moves to A7 and almost hints at the Dark Star vocal melody, while the electric piano is warbling arpeggios with suspensions against long feedback bass tones, building to a very classical tonal moment, which Jerry follows by bending notes against that, Phil really getting into the feedback. It comes down to a resting pulse by about 20 minutes. So yeah, here it comes at 21 minutes, a very casual way back into the Dark Star theme, with a rising rhythmic riff from the piano juxtaposed. This continues immediately into jamming for a while in this Dark Star theme area with riffing bass and Rhodes.
At 25 minutes they’re finally in the head space to attempt the verse.
Beautiful emotional vocals from Jerry, held notes right on pitch, nice tails for the first couple lines. Nice groove on line 1, and it barely gives way for line 2—they forgot that they usually pause here—then some runs and rolls moving out of it into line three’s groove. The refrain is mostly piano in this mix. Some nice chorusey sounds on the guitars.
As the Transitive Nightfall starts, I hear Bobby try his lick a couple times as it fades to space. The bass plays some thrown notes to interrupt the space, Keith is just channelling, oddly continuing a pulsed ostinato. Philo Stompy big bass chords. At 28:40 Jerry comes back with odd chords, but it heads back into soundscape, scratches and various extended technique on guitars and bass, little feedbacks amidst quiet space.
Really weird spectral-sweep feedback happens, with some guitar feedback coming in the mix, with the guitar controls cutting it in and out. It gets wild, some big sound is going on, high and low. For a while, this is amazing. Eventually we get some volume controlled swells and it moves semi-tonally and heads back down to the world of notes. Moving into minute 35, the bass is going for a harmonic series feedback to cap it off with some flat 7 chords back to A.
Keith is super high this evening, he’s going for it again: back to the endless 16ths a minute later and Jerry just says yes. So we go into jazz world again. Nice eddy at 38 minutes they get stuck on two suspended notes. When it gets back to lead playing it’s all fast riffing. Keith is still searching for the perfect riff. At 40 minutes, they’re just letting Keith go with it. Find it, man.
At 41:20 they come back in with new chord progression from the perfect riff and then Jerry goes back to lead playing, and extended chords, mostly on e minor 9-11ths.
And it’s broken up into downward thirds, led out with the stuttering 'it’s all the same' rhythm downwards to the intro for Eyes of the World, (which is also full of immense forward-momentum playing.)
_____________
Jerry Garcia made serious strides in melodic playing in this version, quite amazing stuff, endless new melodies emerging for minutes at a time, different uses of chromatic notes moving the mode around. Some of it is definitely on its way to Blues For Allah-world (even with no Ping-Pong/Proto-Solomon riffing) and the bass feedback is great, he really peaked in his weird sound world. I don’t know if it was the room or the equipment, but the availability of all sorts of frequencies in the bass feedback made the use of it extra creative.
Keith is intense. It almost sounds like he has some form of echolalia lately, like he’s compulsively making sounds as soon as he hears sounds, often very much "inside the music."
adamos:
Lots of noodling and tuning at the start, as mentioned. There's a casual pre-launch vibe that becomes progressively more Dark Star flavored and eventually transforms into the start of an exploratory jam. Around 3:10 it sounds like Jerry is ready to head out but he takes his time and they continue to coil around it without fully committing. After 4:00 its gets closer and perhaps by 4:30 or so it’s starting to be fleshed out some more. Slowly the pace quickens and before long a delicate, jazzy jam is clearly underway.
Jerry works some quick, spiderly lines with Keith adding a lot of Rhodes color and Bobby bringing in some intermittent squealy textures. There's a decidedly fusion-y feel and by 8:00 things are moving along with Phil and Keith prominent and Jerry continuing to wind through passages. They start ascending to a mini peak which hits around 10:00 and briefly adds some Dark Star flavor to the proceedings. There's also just a hint of Bright Star as pointed out by bzfgt.
After this they bring it down again and I agree that it feels like a good entry point for the theme. But they opt to drift into a somewhat spacier zone instead. Keith's Rhodes adds a lot to the vibe and Bob blends his accents too. They float along gently and then start slowly building again punctuated by progressively stronger bass notes from Phil starting around 11:30. This leads to another peak and it feels like they are ready to spin something up and out. There's a wash of heavy feedback from Phil and Keith is laying harder on the keys and they rise up and then launch into a new groove starting around 12:45.
The new momentum doesn't last for long however and they soon move into more of an ebb and flow passage. Jerry brings in some Dark Star flavor again and they swirl and weave and wind and the notes are bouncing around and it sounds lovely. Around 14:55 the pace quickens and they are off and rolling in a fast jam with Jerry winding high and Keith coming in strongly. The ascent crests around 15:40 and they ease off but Billy keeps working a fairly quick beat.
This keeps it moving as Jerry recedes a bit and then comes back with delicate Sputnik-y sounds starting around 16:20. This conjures up a swirling, brewing feel from the collective that is well accented by the Rhodes. Phil adds some distorted feedback-y sounds and Jerry is still delicately working in Sputnik-esque territory complimented by Bob. Things calm a little and then start to build up again; it's both lovely and powerful and it sounds wonderful.
They get into a repeating pattern complimented by rising distortion. At 19:35 Jerry starts a new line as noted but it’s still part of what came before too and things continue to swirl and build. They slow up a bit and you can feel some more Dark Star flavor seeping in and Jerry's still working the melodic notes and you almost expect Jesu to emerge. And then at 20:53 he gently and smoothly slips into the theme. Huzzah! They take their time and glide through it in delicate and lovely fashion for a good spell. It builds with some ebb and flow and then they move on to the verse at 25:00.
After the verse they reset gently and hover briefly with Keith adding some color. Phil then starts laying in some big notes while Keith continues working the Rhodes. The two continue in this fashion and then Jerry starts bringing in some spacey guitar in the background. There's some rising feedback hum and then they find a near quiet zone, slowly interrupted by string scraping and returns to feedback-y bass. Things stay freaky and slowly get heavier with various sounds emerging and ample feedback. Phil is thunderous with lots of distortion. Jerry comes in with sharp wailing sounds as well as they navigate through the ooze. There's some volume knob action and more feedback and things get more intense again.
After 35:30 or so it slowly starts to become more melodic while still being freaky. Bill seems ready to ramp up and Keith gets more active and works up and down the keyboard. The freakier, heavier aspects subside and Jerry gets a gentle but quick moving line going that compliments what Keith has been doing. After 37:00 the momentum starts to pick up and before long they're off and rolling.
Jerry and Keith play off each other with fast repeating notes and Billy works his kit and Jerry really spins it up and they get a nice fusion-y jam going again. They keep at it for a few minutes with Jerry and Keith winding around each other and Phil and Billy filling it out. Then Jerry lays back and Keith steps forward and works it for a bit with Bill. Guitar can be faintly heard in the background and then Jerry comes in more strongly and the jam rolls on for another couple of minutes. Towards the end there's a touch of Dark Star flavor again and then it seems to run its course and they shift right into Eyes Of The World.
A magnificent version. And props to Keith for adding a lot to the overall feel.
Dahabenzapple:
Continued thanks to all for these write-ups!!
12/6/73 is one of the greatest slabs of recorded music of the 20th century
currently listening to a 57:32 slab of music from the 21st century of a different sort. Nothing like long form improvisation.
johnnypaddock:
I listened to 12/6/73 for the first time I think about a year ago and was entirely blown away. All I could think afterwards was “this is why I listen to music”. One of the greatest things I’ve ever heard… Just firing it up again now.
I love this thread. My listening habits don’t always lend themselves to going along, but I love the writeups and really appreciate the insights. Thanks to everyone here.
JSegel:
Wow. This is the ****.
Light Into Ashes has an entire blog post about this one too, and he’s got it right. (That Rhodes, for instance!)
Lotta tuning and noodling at the start, Dark Star is sort of suggested but takes a while to get past the tuning, but Keith plays a tuning chord on piano over and over and then continues melodically while Bob tunes. Then a minute and a half in, it has a short little intro and then it gathers and restarts, a very slow cadenza creeping into Dark Star melodies, very spaced out. Bill rolls a little and at 3:10 it sounds like Jerry starts a tempo for real and the band comes in behind him in a groove. It takes a while before Jerry really takes off with the fast riffing, but he gets there and has some new ideas for taking the mode slightly outside. They move into serious jazz riffing, for a long time, everybody doing their part. Keith is jamming in tight little motions, Jerry is on fire, really extending out the solos, Bobby playing with odd notes to the chords, they move into some new phrygian modal areas, and chromatic notes.
At 8min Phil seems to want to step it up but he gives way to a sort of Spanish Jam-ish area, Jerry seems to have some specific melodies he is hearing, and he takes it up from there. They take it to a peak at 10 min, it stays for a bit then comes down the other side, but they continue moving forward. Jerry slows it down, Rhodes gets warbly.
Moving into a rubato area with sparser rhythmically spaced notes, bringing it to a new slow pulse but Phil comes into strong and builds the volume, heading for big bass feedback, Jerry speeds up his figure that he was bringing it down with. It comes out into a new groove right before 13 minutes.
Jerry keeps messing with the time, playing groups of slower or faster figures, winding up a clockwork of riffs, sticking on pedal tones occasionally then moving around in circles. They pick up the pace at 15, everybody starts moving fast, endless melody. Keith follows Jerry right underneath, and continues lines after Jerrys cadences. It’s the bebop section. Though you could say it’s why he chose midi-horns later… Piano is loud in the Road Trips mix.
However this cedes to a sputnik-y eddy that’s very e minor and engenders bass feedback low long tones. The arpeggio moves to A7 and almost hints at the Dark Star vocal melody, while the electric piano is warbling arpeggios with suspensions against long feedback bass tones, building to a very classical tonal moment, which Jerry follows by bending notes against that, Phil really getting into the feedback. It comes down to a resting pulse by about 20 minutes. So yeah, here it comes at 21 minutes, a very casual way back into the Dark Star theme, with a rising rhythmic riff from the piano juxtaposed. This continues immediately into jamming for a while in this Dark Star theme area with riffing bass and Rhodes.
At 25 minutes they’re finally in the head space to attempt the verse.
Beautiful emotional vocals from Jerry, held notes right on pitch, nice tails for the first couple lines. Nice groove on line 1, and it barely gives way for line 2—they forgot that they usually pause here—then some runs and rolls moving out of it into line three’s groove. The refrain is mostly piano in this mix. Some nice chorusey sounds on the guitars.
As the Transitive Nightfall starts, I hear Bobby try his lick a couple times as it fades to space. The bass plays some thrown notes to interrupt the space, Keith is just channelling, oddly continuing a pulsed ostinato. Philo Stompy big bass chords. At 28:40 Jerry comes back with odd chords, but it heads back into soundscape, scratches and various extended technique on guitars and bass, little feedbacks amidst quiet space.
Really weird spectral-sweep feedback happens, with some guitar feedback coming in the mix, with the guitar controls cutting it in and out. It gets wild, some big sound is going on, high and low. For a while, this is amazing. Eventually we get some volume controlled swells and it moves semi-tonally and heads back down to the world of notes. Moving into minute 35, the bass is going for a harmonic series feedback to cap it off with some flat 7 chords back to A.
Keith is super high this evening, he’s going for it again: back to the endless 16ths a minute later and Jerry just says yes. So we go into jazz world again. Nice eddy at 38 minutes they get stuck on two suspended notes. When it gets back to lead playing it’s all fast riffing. Keith is still searching for the perfect riff. At 40 minutes, they’re just letting Keith go with it. Find it, man.
At 41:20 they come back in with new chord progression from the perfect riff and then Jerry goes back to lead playing, and extended chords, mostly on e minor 9-11ths.
And it’s broken up into downward thirds, led out with the stuttering 'it’s all the same' rhythm downwards to the intro for Eyes of the World, (which is also full of immense forward-momentum playing.)
_____________
Jerry Garcia made serious strides in melodic playing in this version, quite amazing stuff, endless new melodies emerging for minutes at a time, different uses of chromatic notes moving the mode around. Some of it is definitely on its way to Blues For Allah-world (even with no Ping-Pong/Proto-Solomon riffing) and the bass feedback is great, he really peaked in his weird sound world. I don’t know if it was the room or the equipment, but the availability of all sorts of frequencies in the bass feedback made the use of it extra creative.
Keith is intense. It almost sounds like he has some form of echolalia lately, like he’s compulsively making sounds as soon as he hears sounds, often very much "inside the music."
adamos:
Lots of noodling and tuning at the start, as mentioned. There's a casual pre-launch vibe that becomes progressively more Dark Star flavored and eventually transforms into the start of an exploratory jam. Around 3:10 it sounds like Jerry is ready to head out but he takes his time and they continue to coil around it without fully committing. After 4:00 its gets closer and perhaps by 4:30 or so it’s starting to be fleshed out some more. Slowly the pace quickens and before long a delicate, jazzy jam is clearly underway.
Jerry works some quick, spiderly lines with Keith adding a lot of Rhodes color and Bobby bringing in some intermittent squealy textures. There's a decidedly fusion-y feel and by 8:00 things are moving along with Phil and Keith prominent and Jerry continuing to wind through passages. They start ascending to a mini peak which hits around 10:00 and briefly adds some Dark Star flavor to the proceedings. There's also just a hint of Bright Star as pointed out by bzfgt.
After this they bring it down again and I agree that it feels like a good entry point for the theme. But they opt to drift into a somewhat spacier zone instead. Keith's Rhodes adds a lot to the vibe and Bob blends his accents too. They float along gently and then start slowly building again punctuated by progressively stronger bass notes from Phil starting around 11:30. This leads to another peak and it feels like they are ready to spin something up and out. There's a wash of heavy feedback from Phil and Keith is laying harder on the keys and they rise up and then launch into a new groove starting around 12:45.
The new momentum doesn't last for long however and they soon move into more of an ebb and flow passage. Jerry brings in some Dark Star flavor again and they swirl and weave and wind and the notes are bouncing around and it sounds lovely. Around 14:55 the pace quickens and they are off and rolling in a fast jam with Jerry winding high and Keith coming in strongly. The ascent crests around 15:40 and they ease off but Billy keeps working a fairly quick beat.
This keeps it moving as Jerry recedes a bit and then comes back with delicate Sputnik-y sounds starting around 16:20. This conjures up a swirling, brewing feel from the collective that is well accented by the Rhodes. Phil adds some distorted feedback-y sounds and Jerry is still delicately working in Sputnik-esque territory complimented by Bob. Things calm a little and then start to build up again; it's both lovely and powerful and it sounds wonderful.
They get into a repeating pattern complimented by rising distortion. At 19:35 Jerry starts a new line as noted but it’s still part of what came before too and things continue to swirl and build. They slow up a bit and you can feel some more Dark Star flavor seeping in and Jerry's still working the melodic notes and you almost expect Jesu to emerge. And then at 20:53 he gently and smoothly slips into the theme. Huzzah! They take their time and glide through it in delicate and lovely fashion for a good spell. It builds with some ebb and flow and then they move on to the verse at 25:00.
After the verse they reset gently and hover briefly with Keith adding some color. Phil then starts laying in some big notes while Keith continues working the Rhodes. The two continue in this fashion and then Jerry starts bringing in some spacey guitar in the background. There's some rising feedback hum and then they find a near quiet zone, slowly interrupted by string scraping and returns to feedback-y bass. Things stay freaky and slowly get heavier with various sounds emerging and ample feedback. Phil is thunderous with lots of distortion. Jerry comes in with sharp wailing sounds as well as they navigate through the ooze. There's some volume knob action and more feedback and things get more intense again.
After 35:30 or so it slowly starts to become more melodic while still being freaky. Bill seems ready to ramp up and Keith gets more active and works up and down the keyboard. The freakier, heavier aspects subside and Jerry gets a gentle but quick moving line going that compliments what Keith has been doing. After 37:00 the momentum starts to pick up and before long they're off and rolling.
Jerry and Keith play off each other with fast repeating notes and Billy works his kit and Jerry really spins it up and they get a nice fusion-y jam going again. They keep at it for a few minutes with Jerry and Keith winding around each other and Phil and Billy filling it out. Then Jerry lays back and Keith steps forward and works it for a bit with Bill. Guitar can be faintly heard in the background and then Jerry comes in more strongly and the jam rolls on for another couple of minutes. Towards the end there's a touch of Dark Star flavor again and then it seems to run its course and they shift right into Eyes Of The World.
A magnificent version. And props to Keith for adding a lot to the overall feel.
12-6-73. Miller's 132361 file lops off 12 seconds of the tuning compared to 105560 (including Jerry's Dark Star lick). I stuck with 132361 for timing anyway, but I should mention that Miller put out another pitch-corrected version, 147505, in which Dark Star is 30 seconds longer! (Timings, schmimings....)
Some lengthy tuning in front of Dark Star (Bob's the one out of tune). Keith's in a melodic mood on his Rhodes, and is up in the mix again. This fall tour has seen a number of little pre-Dark Star tuning jams, and here they take the next step of just....not stopping, and turning the tuning jam into Dark Star. 2 minutes in, a bass flurry, and the music gets serious -- they're casting off on a long voyage. After 3 minutes it recognizably becomes Dark Star, bypassing the intro riff but sort of dancing around the theme. By 5 minutes the music's getting pretty tangled, a maze of intertwined vines wrapping in Escher patterns. Keith's playing is unusually strident & forward (he usually took a more laid-back approach on the Rhodes). Bob's reduced in the mix and not so noticeable, but doing good stuff. Phil's as odd & inexplicable as ever, refusing to play a normal bass line.
After 10:30 they slow down to a crawl, seeming to aim for the theme, but instead circling around in a slow-paced loop. Phil goes nuts with loud notes after 11:40, leading up to a little wave of distortion at 12:10. (A little prelude to what's coming.) Bob & Keith respond by playing a little more frantically; but then at 12:45 things snap back to normal. The jam's kind of amorphous and off-kilter; it keeps shifting around without settling on a center or any regular pattern. By 15m Keith & Jerry are driving ahead with some extra momentum, prodded by some jabs from Phil & Bob, but this subsides again by 16m. Back to some quieter jazzy styling from Jerry.
Then at 16:30 Jerry starts a quiet Sputnik-type arpeggio; Keith & Bob lay down a swirling backdrop, and Phil starts a feedback drone. And like that, they've taken off on a magic carpet ride through unseen realms. They let this sustain for a long time, letting the drone trance grow & envelop everything. Jerry gradually turns his picking into a pretty melody which emerges around 18:30, supported by Keith while Phil drones on & on. Jerry & Keith's enchanting tapestry is an effective contrast to Phil's feedback, which throbs like a beam from an alien UFO. (Bob becomes very quiet & now I can't tell if he's doing anything.) Jerry switches to slower picking (mirrored by Keith), then at 21m, at a pause point Jerry takes up the main theme and everyone gets together in a long, loose theme jam. By now it's apparent that Bob's become invisible in the mix, knocked out of the recording by Phil's feedback blasts -- you can tell he's playing but he can hardly be heard, which makes Keith dominate even more. Jerry digs into the theme jam with some sweet playing, always a nice contrast to the looser jams preceding. Then by 25m he returns to the theme reprise, and a solemn verse.
It's time for space! The void opens; Phil throws in notes like hurling meteors; Jerry quietly shimmers & whines while Keith keeps up a textural patter. After a bass climax & some lonesome notes from Jerry, they drop to silence at 29m. Jerry scrapes his strings and Phil lets loose some feedback. Then with a loud hum at 30m, Phil announces an end to silence! Phil goes to town on his bass, making it writhe and rumble while Jerry takes his turn shooting out piercing feedback. (Some faint notes from Bob in the distance.) Then Phil brandishes his Chords of Doom as the Wolf shrieks in fear. After some keening howls, at 33m Jerry turns to volume swells, Phil's bass slithering around threateningly. They come together in a menacing feedback duet (matching notes) until Jerry finds a graceful drooping exit line at 35m. This has been basically just Jerry & Phil for the last six minutes, but at 35:30 Keith returns with a Rhodes splash. Some final groans from the bass, then after 36m the regular jamming resumes.
There's some uncertainty in the air; an irregular beat from Bill. Keith stays busy, and Jerry comes in with fast lines (shading into a Tiger tease at 37:20, but it's just a hint, more like a bumblebee). They're back in uptempo fusion-jazz territory now. Phil's staying more in the background now, puttering peacefully (I think he turned his volume down). Bob, the ghost player, is slashing out chords that can't be heard. After 39:30 Jerry drops out for a minute and leaves things to the rhythm section. Keith, Bill & Phil carry on with the kind of loose relaxed jazzy background music they usually do whenever Jerry takes a break. Jerry comes back at 40:50, taking up the jazzy theme with some chords and more fast lines. By 42m it sounds like things have run their course. Keith could go on like this endlessly but Jerry seems to be looking around for an exit, creating a smooth transition out; however the other guys don't want to leave. 43:15 he starts strumming Eyes; this is initially met with some confusion or resistance by the rest of the band, and Phil & Keith hint at a return to the Dark Star theme! But Jerry asserts Eyes and has his way.
It's a pity there's no audience tape for a different perspective of this. Due to some recording glitch, Bob's basically absent from the second half of this Dark Star, which leaves a hole in the playing (I'm sure he was heard fine on stage). Fortunately Keith picks up the slack with much more assertive playing than was normal for him! So this Dark Star is very much a Keith, Jerry & Phil showcase. Not only is Keith fired-up, but Phil's in the mood for some serious noise. This has a reputation for being such a long, baggy performance, and yet the Dead are more sharp & focused here than might be apparent. (I laugh at listeners who say this is just sleepy, aimless noodling.) The inverted opening is striking in itself, but the Dead then go beyond in making this a Dark Star like no other. There are portions of this (at the beginning & end) that are business as usual for late '73, but the middle 20 minutes are so spectacular that none of the Dead's other feedback jams can quite compare. This isn't just the best Dark Star at what it does, it's the only Dark Star that does what it does.
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