Lexicon: Themes and Modular Jams

Here is a key to some of the terminology we will be using in our exploration of Dark Star. There are several themes that reappear in various versions, including both modular jams and musical themes that reappear in several Dark Stars.

                              THEMES

Some of these themes were named by Light Into Ashes of the Grateful Dead Guide; these will be marked "LIA." Others were named by ourselves, or are of unknown origin.



Introduction Theme
This appears at the beginning of most Dark Stars, particularly when they do not emerge from another song or ongoing jam.

1970-02-13

Main Theme
This appears near the beginning of Dark Star in many early versions, but eventually it comes to introduce the verse.

1971-10-31 4:22

The Two Chord Jam (Mr. Rain)

I think they do some simple two-chord theme coming after space in most (if not all) of the 1970 Dark Stars, but as far as I've noticed they never do it the same way. So it's kind of elusive, and I'm not sure if they're actually repeating the same chords each time.




While this thread has lots of in-depth reviews of individual, isolated Dark Stars, so far there's not so much comparison among groups of Dark Stars. So in the interests of scholarship, I put together a little timing list to make easy comparisons of at least this little section of 1970 Dark Stars -- the jam coming after space. Specifically, I was looking for the two-chord part that often kicks it off that year, or sometimes shows up a minute or two in the jam.

1970-01-02 at 17:00 (but the really unique theme starts after 18:00)
1970-01-17 at 10:40 (comes out of Sputnik, turns to Dark Star framework after 11:30)
1970-01-23 at 10:35 (comes out of Sputnik)
1970-02-02 at 10:20 (starts loose, gets more structured after 11:40)
1970-02-08 at 14:00 (very loose, gets more Dark Starry after 15:40)
1970-02-13 at 14:30
1970-02-14 at 10:55 (they lean hard on the 2-chord bit, as on 2-13)
1970-03-24 at 6:20 (theme gets going at 7:20)
1970-04-24 at 12:10 (comes out of Sputnik, Feelin' Groovy starts at 12:40 so not much here)
1970-05-08 at 8:30 (comes out of Sputnik, sounds like a slow Dark Star theme)
1970-05-15 at 8:30 (Sputniky phase at 9:20, 2-chord theme at 10:00)
1970-05-24 at 12:05 (comes out of Sputnik, Bob hits chords at 13:20, then new theme)
1970-06-24 pt. 2 (Dark Star theme after Attics, not really comparable)
1970-09-17 at 11:15 (comes out of Sputnik, slow theme similar to 5-08)
1970-09-19 at 13:15 (comes out of Sputnik, Bob hits chords at 13:45)

And looking ahead a bit....
1970-10-11 at 12:30 (comes out of Sputnik but takes different path, not very comparable...this sounds insane)
1970-10-17 at 8:10 (OMG! totally different! -- then Bob hits chords at 10:15, a slow take)
1970-11-05 at 11:30/12:15/12:50/13:40... (very slow start out of space....totally unlike previous jams til they get to Dark Star theme around 14:30, this is WTF amazing!)
1970-11-08 (Main Ten out of space, completely different)

So, unless it resurfaces in 1971, I'd say this two-chord theme pretty much reaches its culmination on 9-19-70....the Dark Stars later on in the year go other places. Mind-boggling places.

As far as when it started, I haven't really investigated late '69 for it yet, but I don't recall the December '69 Dark Stars locking into this two-chord theme at all. They do feature an important predecessor though, Bob's dreamy arpeggio that he often uses out of Sputnik -- like at 12:40 on 12-26-69, or 12:55 on 12-30-69. This is the riff that Bob often uses in 1970 to introduce the jam, leading into the chords. The Dark Stars of January '70 have the same kind of loose open-ended feel as in Dec '69 when the jam gets started, but some like 1-23 or 2-2 have that two-chord theme creeping in, and on 2-13 it's full-blown, and it stays put in Dark Star through September.

A couple caveats: I don't know if "theme" is the right word here. The chords seem to me to be kind of a funky variation on the Dark Star theme, kind of a cross with Soulful Strut (and often leading into it). I think it should be given a name, but...this is probably too late now that almost all its performances are behind us!
Also, it's played a bunch of different ways; the jams it was in could vary a lot, so it's not like a theme where everyone had a specific part to play. The main connecting thread here is just Bob's chords, which he could alter to suit the occasion...sometimes a slow Dark Star groove, sometimes a hard R&B style.
Anyway those are just my layman's observations; someone more musically astute could come up with a better analysis.

JSegel:

Specifically, I was looking for the two-chord part that often kicks it off that year, or sometimes shows up a minute or two in the jam.

This is the chord theme that goes A7 to G7, using the F natural as a contrast to the F# that usually exists in the Dark Star world, right? I tried to make note of it, usually yeah, going into the Major 7 version of the G (at the very least, if it goes full on"Soulful Strut" latin vibe, the A also gets the Maj7 and it has that proto-Eyes feel.)

This is great, doing whole-period summary stuff. Thank you!

Every Dark Star: Introduction

This blog will document a project several of us on the Steve Hoffman music forum have undertaken: to listen to every existing iteration of the Grateful Dead's Dark Star. I am going to assume that most people who are still reading are already familiar with this piece of music.

Here are some links to information and scholarship about Dark Star. This is not a complete list, and readers are encouraged to do more research:


The Dark Star Document

Song Statistics

Dark Star 1968

Dark Star - Evolution

The Annotated Dark Star

Songfacts



Here's an updated Dark Star Document. It is missing some of the commentary from the original, but the information is more up to date.