Dave's Picks 27 (1983-09-02)

     It's one of the four best times of the year, a new Dave's Picks has arrived!  This is the latest of the Dave's Picks in two ways: it is the most recent one to be released, and it is set furthest forward in the Dead's history by about two years.  There haven't been too many official mid-80's releases, mostly due to lack of good recordings, but partially due to some rough performances in that era.  As you would expect from a pick by our fearless archivist Monsieur Lemieux's, this show suffers from neither of those defects.  This is the Dead's only show from Idaho, but between Phil's opening remarks and the following performance, they truly conquered the state this night.

• Wang Dang Doodle >
• Not only is this an unusual opener, it was only the second performance of this Bobby Blues Song that remained in the repertoire for the rest of the band's career.
• A very confident and raunchy opening to the show, the band was out to have some fun.
• Jack Straw
• Jerry leads the transition into this one, and even though it seems to come out of nowhere the rest of the band picks up on it right away without faltering.  This becomes a theme of the concert, that even if things go wrong the train never fully derails.  Everyone is clearly paying attention to the other musicians, and the number one goal is to keep the music flowing.
• Bobby's playing isn't necessarily at its best, especially with a kind of plastic sounding guitar, but he still does a lot to steer the band, and makes up for it with his energy.  You can feel his stage presence through the recording.
• They Love Each Other
• One of my favorite things about this show, and this era, is Brent's palate.  By this point I think he had really developed a set of sounds that fit in with his styles and with the songs that already existed.  Gone were the thinner sounds that he had a few years earlier.  Now he had some really full bodied (read: thicc) tones, along with his always excellent organ and ever-changing synthesizers.
• Jerry sounds like it's 1977 again, and he's playing so well that he takes the solo section twice without anyone batting an eye.
• Mama Tried >
• Once again, Jerry just keeps playing and playing!  It's not like they jam this song out (a feat I don't think any Dead Band has ever accomplished), but Jerry has definitely caught fire and wants everyone to know it.
• Big River
• Bob must have figured that if Jerry was feeling good, let's give him a song that he claims to be tired of but never seems to tire soloing over.
• I usually prefer pre-hiatus versions of this song because Jerry's fingering was so light and quick in those days, but this one comes close to that kind of playing.
• Brown -Eyed Women
• This is where Jerry would normally slow things down with a ballad and start mumbling into his beard, but instead he cranks up the energy even more.
• Jerry refuses to leave the solo section, coming to the end of it each time and saying, "no, I can do this better, let's try it again," and the rest of the band obliges.  Phil (who sounds great on this recording) really indulges him, thundering open wide spaces for him to fill.
• While the enunciation went out the window in the second set, Jerry's passion really comes through in his singing this show.
• New Minglewood Blues
• Time for Bobby to get raunchy again, especially with Brent finally rocking the organ.
• It's not the worst Bobby slide solo...until it kind of is, but what can you do, man?  Just be a good sport and humor him until Jerry takes over.
• And take over he does!
• Big Railroad Blues
• Look, I didn't mean for this whole thing to be a Jerry-a-thon, but his joie de vivre is so contagious that I can't help myself.  While Bob may have been steering the band, Jerry was absolutely the driving force, and nothing could stop him.  He takes every available solo to the max, but without making any song feel like it's overdone or stretched thin.  He just keeps coming up with more ideas for how to play the song, and he plans to stand there and play every single one of them.
• As I said before, the rest of the band is willing to follow him wherever he goes, and they're able to turn on a dime whenever he's ready to go back to the lyrics.
• Part of the quickness comes from the inherent looseness of the band in this period.  When they were off it turned to sloppiness, but on nights like tonight when they were on it makes them a little more nimble.  I typically prefer the tighter periods of the band like Fall '73 and Spring '77, but this looseness can be very fun, especially with these tempos.
• Looks Like Rain >
• Brent creates such a nice, delicate ambiance for Bobby to sing over, but then Jerry and Phil decide to raunch it up again in the solo section.  Bobby brings it back down for the rest of the lyrics, but the others know they'll get their chance to build it back up in the outro.
• Jerry really nails the LLR riff on this one too, and that's required for any great version of the song if you ask me.
• Deal
•  Ok, last time I swear: Jerry Garcia is a madman and an unstoppable force, and it's amazing the US military didn't try to weaponize him.
• Dave warned us and I didn't believe him, but you have never heard a Deal this rocked out.  Jerry plays like a man possessed by a multitude of guitar-playing demons, and he has to let each one of them get their turn at soloing before he can be free of them.
• The drummers are really great at this show, letting embellishments and counter-rhythms fly without losing the beat, or at least the idea of the beat.
• Help on the Way >
• I'm far from the first person to point this out about this show, but Jerry gets maybe 20% of these lyrics right.  They had brought this and Slipknot! back earlier in the year, but they still seem a little rusty when it comes to starting and finishing this song.
• Despite the rust, the playing and energy are still white hot so it all comes of spectacularly.  These mid 80's versions are some of my favorites honestly.  Of course the ones from '76 and '77 are the best, but to me the later 80's and 90's ones feel a little flat.  While the transitions between songs here are a little rough, the band seems so much more connected than in a lot of later versions.
• Slipknot! >
• They totally whiff the intro, but still: fuck yeah.
• Seriously, the whole band is really churning here.  Brent's atmospheric playing combines with Jerry's fiery energy, really leading to some inspired moments, especially with Phil and Bob throwing unexpected twists and changes into the mix.
• As rough as the beginning was, they really nail the end of this one, with Bobby and Brent adding some cool flairs to the usual complicated riff, then charging into the inevitable finale of the triumvirate.
• Franklin's Tower >
• Jerry gets these lyrics right at least, but this song never really dropped out of rotation so you would hope he would.  It just feels better when it comes out of its original sequence though.
• I can't quite put my finger on this one, I always get sucked into it and then it's suddenly over, no matter how much attention I try to pay.  A very hazy, glitzy Franklin's from a hazy and glitzy period of the band's history.
• They don't do the Slipknot! ending (bummer), but instead mellow into a sort of tuning jam the shifts right into...
• Estimated Prophet >
• You would never think that a rock and roll band could play so fast and so clean in 7/4 time, but then again you would never think anyone would make a song in that time signature in the first place, so it's all a mystery I guess.
• Jerry just wants to keep building the solo section up, but Bob wants to get back to talking about those voices.  Jerry shrugs (I assume) and figures he'll just dominate the outro jam.
• That being said, Bobby and Brent are the ones who really lay down the foundation for Jerry to dominate, bouncing off the drummers and forcing them into different rhythms and configurations.
• Eyes of the World >
• While the tempo is still pretty high on this one, they still somehow don't rush through it at all, giving each solo section plenty of room to develop and expand.
• In the 70's what made a good Eyes for me was the interplay between Jerry and Keith, but here it's Jerry and Bob that really come together to make my day.  Brent and Phil kind of set up the boundaries for Jerry and Bob to play in, giving them a jungle gym of textures to climb up and spin down.
• The recording kind of phases out into an audience tape at the beginning of the last verse, but it equalizes itself pretty quickly.
• They really start to get weird after the lyrics, with Jerry seeming reluctant to leave the stage while he made sure to get all of his ideas out before taking a break.
• Jam >
• Even when Jerry and Phil decide to hit the bathroom and get a drink (or something), Brent and Bobby have their own ideas for where the music should go before the drummers take over.
• At first it seems like they have very different ideas, but then they manage to bring them together with Brent really taking over.  Bobby gets all the credit for being a kind of rhythm/lead player, but really that's a skill every player in the band had to have to keep the Grateful Dead Machine going.
• Drums >
• This is a very focused and driven Drums, which is typically what I'm looking for.  I do like the spacier ones now and again, but it gets spacey in Space, so let the drummers pound away for now.
• It's hard to tell if Billy is on a talking drum, or just hitting some other drums with a filter being operated by him or Healey, but either way things get pretty damn weird.
• Space >
• This was heavily sold by Dave, and while it doesn't seem like it will live up to expectations at first, soon Jerry and Bob are blowing your mind.
• This has a very metallic kind of sound, especially once Brent joins in, and they kind of flirt around a major/minor dichotomy that really keeps you on your toes.
• Throwing Stones >
• These early versions are so different, and not always in a good way.  Bobby is sounding a little ragged by here and definitely plays some questionable chords.
• All in all I like this though.  The middle jam section is totally free form, and while it gets pretty discordant, I'm a fan of that in the right context and I think it really works here.  The band seems to be all on the same page when they come out of it, so I think that noise is what they were going for.
• Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad >
• Jerry seems pretty set on this as the followup to Throwing Stones, even if Bob wasn't quite ready for it.
• Jerry seems to start it with Black Peter already in mind for the destination, but first they have to rush through the song.
• Black Peter >
• A great and soulful version, and they really ease right into it smoothly.
• Jerry's raspy voice, while at other times distressing, really suits this song.
• Sugar Magnolia
• Bobby has had his vitamins, and he wants to get his daily workout out of the way while closing the set, and you can almost hear him jumping and diving on stage. 
• Things get a little boisterous and the playing really starts to overflow from the traditional time signature constraints as the band drifts apart, but they bring it back together and finish with some real fireworks.
• It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
• This is always a sign of a good show to me, they seem to only play it when they feel really good about everything that came before it.
• This really isn't the smoothest, with the line between loose and sloppy really becoming indistinct, but it's still a fun ride.  Brent's keyboard sounds once again really make this one so special and so very '83.

     So there it is!  I would probably put this one above DaP 20, the last 80's show to come out, but maybe not quite up to the level of DaP 8.  Of course it's hard to compare over the years and eras, but I can safely say that this is in the top 30 of the Dave's Picks releases so far.  I prefer the harder hitting psychedelia of the early 70's, but this powdery haze is a lot of fun if you approach it the right way.  What do you think?  Tell me how right or wrong you think I am below, and we can get into a good old internet argument.