Dead Debut in Minnesota Attracting Cute Babes, February 2, 1969

Did you know that the second ever song playing by the Grateful Dead in Minnesota was Dark Star?  So cool.

Why the band choose to tour the cold winter in the far north is not known to me.  Maybe it's a long lost Dead secret try http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/12/grateful-deadjerry-garcia-tour.html.

But as many as 2,000 Twin Cities folk made it to the show, including that very cute kid above. Listen to it here.    They loved the guys enough, they brought them back in April, which was filler on Dick's Picks 26.   Have fun in the cold rain and snow.

SET 1

Good Morning Little School Girl

Dark Star >

Saint Stephen >

The Eleven >

Death Don't Have No Mercy

Cryptical Envelopment >

Drums >

The Other One >

Cryptical Envelopment >

Turn On Your Lovelight

http://www.citypages.com/music/when-the-grateful-dead-came-to-town-a-quick-history-of-the-bands-minnesota-trips/421386203

Best Show Ever at Stanford: February 9, 1973

What a place, what a year, and what a band.

During the hey-day of the Grateful Dead, probably the best college newspaper in the country to follow our favorite band was the Stanford Daily. Not only would we see reviews from Frost on the campus itside, but Kezak and Winterland during this best of best year.

It started of course in February with the "play every new song that we wrote over the holidays" show and continued in May in the City and into the three night Winterland run in November.  What's even cooler is that the paper has archives and allows you to download PDFs of all the issues. Stanford, despite being the first school to ever REJECT me for graduate school, I still love you.

Seven, count'em, new songs. Just one of the most fun to listen to ever. A fully-formed Eyes of the World>China Doll emerges out of Truckin.  No practice needed on this. There are lots of handouts in the extras today too.

Lots of reviews and Tech Info on Proto-Wall of Sound Here

Bird Song: Dark Star of the Mid-1980's

I first heard an acoustic Bird Song on December 31, 1980 and loved it.  I had heard wind of Bird Song during the Radio City run (not much info from the Warfield made it to Maine in the Fall of 1980 after the Lewiston show).  The Dead ramped up Bird Song when they added it to the electric sets.  I first electric one I saw was September 12, 1981 outdoors at the Greek in Berkeley.  It soon moved into outer space.

A: According to Zephyr on deadessays:

ZEPHYR -
I just listened to 1/10/79 and 7/13/84 back-to-back and 7/13/84 wins. I love this Dark Star. It comes at us from out of nowhere, it has really nice playing from Lesh, it features that scrumptious full-bodied '84 sound, and it provides living proof of the interconnectedness of Dark Star and Bird Song. I can't really explain the Dark Star/Bird Song thing, other than to say that each tune, to me, is like an alternate reality version of the other. Throughout '83 and '84 I kept hearing Dark Star in Bird Song, so it was great to hear a Dark Star that radiated a heavy Bird Song vibe.

http://deadessays.blogspot.com/2013/05/dark-star-1978-1984-roundtable.html

E: My three Bird Songs from 1983-1984 were:

\

May 13, 1983 Greek     Bird Song

July 15, 1984  Greek     Dancin' In the Streets>Bird Song

December 31, 1984  SF Civic   Jack Straw>Bird Song

B


Cliff Hucker Parent Piece
https://archive.org/post/328144/acoustic-bird-songs

A Light Into Ashes really well-researched piece (unlike mine :)

https://archive.org/post/328170/a-brief-bird-song-history

C:  The only one of its kind:

July 31, 1971   Yale   Dark Star>Bird Song

D:   From a great book on the Dead:

from The American Book of the Dead

https://books.google.com/books?id=TbRsHp57CqwC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=bird+song+and+dark+star&source=bl&ots=We-r1vKL-J&sig=Zzq2U1zu-cWtOLmD60_vIloCa74&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiEnfmah-vRAhXHgFQKHUTLAYI4ChDoAQg7MAc#v=onepage&q=bird%20song%20and%20dark%20star&f=false

E: Another interesting Bird Song tale:

 Via a few phone calls and distant, mutual admiration, Marsalis – a prolific and acclaimed jazzman from New Orleans with deep roots and experience in his city's R&B and funk – was invited by the Dead's resident jazz head, bassist Phil Lesh, to sit in with the band that night, initially for one tune late in the first set: "Bird Song,"

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/branford-marsalis-on-his-unlikely-collaboration-with-the-grateful-dead-20140710

A rare mention of Bird Song in a show review in 1990 in Ohio

A Day In The Park With The Grateful Dead

There was an eight year period (really 1 or 2, followed by one last blast) where you could walk over to the park and see the Grateful Dead.  http://deadessays.blogspot.com/2015/06/free-shows-benefits-1965-1975.html is a complete list of such events.

My notes today show that San Francisco was the center, but New York had the ways and means.
The first Central Park show says about 450 people came. with 6,000 in 1968 and 35,000 to see the Jefferson Starship and the boys in Golden Gate at Lindsay Meadows in 1975.


Listen to fun stuff from the Human Be-In above or here (Haight Street in 1968 was close enough to a park :)

Peakin' At The Beacon June 14, 1976

John "Rock'N'Roll" Rockwell gave the official word on June 16, 1976 that the Grateful Dead were back in New York City.  This was the first Manhattan show in more than four years since March 28, 1972. And look there is a New York Times mention of Europe '76 (I must have missed those tapes)

In honor of Butch Trucks, we present this Beacon show. While the Dead only played two shows ever at the Beacon (this night and the next), the Allmans played 238 shows there (I only saw one). Can you imagine 2,600 seats in the middle of New York City?

My friend Bobby Morris told me he and 20 high school friends went to this show and the next night.  Where did they get so many tickets??

There is a nice soundcheck video below as well.  Have fun kids. Listen to this interesting 1976-only Crazy Fingers>Dancin in the Street>Cosmic Charlie

You also have to love one of the last standalone first set Playing In The Bands (which ended in 1977)

New York Times, June 16, 1976

A very nice under-rated June 1976 show.

Cold Rain and Snow
Mama Tried
Row Jimmy
Cassidy
Brown Eyed Women
Big River
Might As Well
Lazy Lightnin'
Supplication
Tennessee Jed
Playin' in the Band

The Wheel
Samson and Delilah
High Time
Music Never Stopped
Crazy Fingers
Dancin' in the Streets
Cosmic Charlie
Help on the Way
Slipknot!
Franklin's Tower
Around and Around

U.S. Blues


Other NYC Shows May-June 1976

The April 29, 1971 New York Times reviewing the Duane Allman sit-in show on April 26. "Disappointing Musically"