DF 8: 4/12/70

4/12/70 - Fillmore West - San Francisco, CA

It's been almost a month since the last DF, and while my acquisition of an iPod is partially to blame for the drought, I have to admit that I was having a hard time finding relatively unknown 1970 shows that I thought were worthy of including. I didn't listen to as much as I have in other years, but I found, on the whole, the earlier 1970 shows left me unsatisfied.

1970 was a strange year for the band. For the first time, an obvious influence other than psychedelia was pervading their music -- American roots and country music. Incorporating this into their live show while still trying to maintain a hold on the psychedelic that made them proved a little difficult, and it shows in much of the music I listened to in the past month. All that said, however, there are some moments of pure beauty in this week's DF.

The show opens with "Schoolgirl," one of my favorite ways to open a Pig-era show. He's lewd, he's crude, he's awesome. Listen for an amusing vocal flub from Pig and a resulting "Good Golly!" The jam in "Schoolgirl" is decent, but at times seems a little aimless. I think it was probably a bit difficult at times for the band to jam immediately to open a show, which is why so many first sets in the later 70s seemed so predictable at times: Minglewood, Jed, Cassidy, etc. The guys probably needed to get the juices flowing before going into creative zen mode.

After "Schoolgirl" the sound goes a bit south (at least on the version linked to above). "Casey Jones" suffers from this the most, and things seem to improve a bit for "Mama Tried," but the vocals are still poorly recorded. It could be an AUD patch, and this is mentioned in the notes at archive, but it wasn't immediately obvious to me. Things go pretty well for awhile, nothing spectacular, and then the band arrives at "Good Lovin'", yet another Pig showcase. But here, it's Jerry and other instrumentalists that shine. Indeed, this is where the show really picks up its steam. A great great jam is present in "Good Lovin," one of the best of its kind from the era.

"Candyman" sounds like it definitely pre-dates the version that found its way onto "American Beauty" -- the rhythm is a bit more up-tempo, and the time signature even sounds a bit different. It comes off as a little strange to ears used to the version that came later, but it's interesting in its own right. I certainly prefer the later more laid-back version, particularly in later years, as Jerry's health was declining. For some reason, hearing him sing some of the magic words in that song with a failing voice came off as incredibly optimistic: "Won't you tell everybody you meet that the Candyman's in town!"

"Dancin" is a song that went through many changes in its time with the Dead. Its late seventies "Disco-Dead" version is probably the most controversial of the incarnations, and I personally prefer the version the band played in the earlier part of the decade. And here is the highlight of the show. The "Good Lovin" jam from earlier was just a warm-up for Jerry: now he lights himself on fire and explodes. Or, as I've seen a different guitarist from another band described, "rips the universe apart." This and "Good Lovin" are the reasons to listen to the show.

"It's a Man's World" is another great Pig work-out, and the closing "Viola Lee" is a good serviceable rendition, and a good way for the band to come down after the chaos of "Dancin."

For next time, I really should find a Keith and Donna show, but I'm really tempted to go back to 1989, where I've found a show even better than the one I highlighted last year. Ah well, having too much music to listen to is never a condition I'd complain about.