Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead – Dead Man When Will You Arise

Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead
DEAD MAN WHEN WILL YOU ARISE
Pink Panther
1987 – THE RESURRECTION

It’s interesting that it took The Dead (specifically Jerry Garcia) to bring Bob back to life – one of the great Dylan puns!. This is the conception of the Never Ending Tour – Bob recommitted himself to his old songs, many of which he hadn’t played live in decades, & then, after road-testing his concept in Europe with Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers during the late 1987 Temple In Flames tour, in 1988 he took his songs on the road for what has now been a quarter of a century of continuous global touring (& still counting). He is now sort of his own disciple, selling & preaching the gospel according to Bob & his congregation is massive & totally devoted.

This is not Bob’s best music, but is much better than the vicious reviews that legions of critics have written to attack Dylan & The Dead. But I must say that Dylan & The Dead (Columbia) has little, if anything, to commend it. It is very short & Bob’s vocals are buried this has been explained as Bob demanding that his vocals not be so high in the mix, but I don’t buy that. If you listen to the audience tapes (yes they exist) that is how the concert was mixed from the soundboard – that’s how the fans heard it live.

This is one of the best recorded early periods of Bob, with clean tapes (including many soundboards) available for almost all the rehearsals & the following six US concerts.

There are much better choices available than the tracks eventually chosen & authorised by Bob & his boombox.

The San Rafael rehearsals have been carefully compiled by Alan Fraser & available on The Complete Rehearsals (So Far) (dylantree). This includes a fascinating interview between David Gans & Gary Lamber sourced from The Grateful Dead Hour #705, broadcast week of 25 Mar 2002, specifically about the Dead’s Postcards Of The Hanging (Arista) of Dylan songs, with one (Man Of Peace) including Bob from the 1987 rehearsals. Previously unaired songs from the rehearsals were also played on the radio show (but are not on Postcards).

There is also The Unreleased Live Album (Moonlight) which is reportedly (maybe) an alternative album put forward by The Grateful Dead which was rejected in favour of Bob’s choices – Dylan & The Dead (Columbia). This alternative album has been put together by someone with access to pristine (& mixable) master tapes & it also includes (unexplained) an outtake (different mix anyway) of Silvio from Down In The Groove.

Silvio is shrouded in mystery, but it is clearly a collaboration between Dylan & The Dead.
The official album credits Garcia, Mydland & Weir with “vocals”. There are three Down In The Groove Silvios in circulation – the eventual Columbia track, the early pro o/demo album & the Moonlight versions, all have female backup vocals from Carolyn Dennis & Madelyn Quebec with a few woop-woops from (presumably, maybe) Garcia-Mydland-Weir.

My guess is that the three guys played on the track but there were legal problems crediting it.
What is more fascinating are the lyrics – said to be from Dead lyricist Robert Hunter’s notebook set to music by Bob, but the lyrics are a bit too “Bob” & in retrospect spookily biographical (see below). Bob’s Resurrection Shuffle?? You work it out.

Silvio (#1, #2 or #3) is not included on this compilation as that will simply freak out Columbia & Websheriff, as would the Dylan & The Dead tracks. Silvio (surprisingly) was also never rehearsed (that we know of) or played at the 1987 concerts.

& then there is Dead Man, Dead Man from 1981, which was played in the 1987 Dead concerts,
which now takes on autobiographical tones similar to Silvio. But that’s Dylan for you!

So since it is the season of resurrecting Bob’s worst albums in a new & better light (Another Self Portrait), let’s have a competition to pick tracks for Another Dylan & The Dead album!
Only rules are that they must come from 1987 & feature both Bob & members of The Grateful Dead;
& it must fit on one CD.

The following tracks may help you, but don’t limit yourself to these.

First prize is a bottle of cheap, nasty, horrible Russian vokka personally autographed by Vladimir,
Second prize is a crate of the stuff.

Sources: best available mp3, most converted directly from FLAC to mp3@320kbps.

Sound: generally excellent, sometimes very good, never poor.

Rating stars: lots of ’em.

The Grateful Dead Hour #705,
Broadcast week of 25 Mar 2002

01.David Gans & Gary Lamber Interview

LB-7243;
The Complete Rehearsals (So Far) (dylantree);
Compilation: Alan Fraser;
Soundboard cassette masters transferred to DAT then CD-R

Club Front
San Rafael, California
June 1987

02.Stealin’, Stealin’ (trad.)
03.The Times They Are A-Changin’
04.When I Paint My Masterpiece
05.I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
06.The Ballad Of Ira Hayes (Peter La Farge)
07.I Want You
08.Ballad Of A Thin Man
09.Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
10.Dead Man, Dead Man
11.Queen Jane Approximately
12.The French Girl (Ian Tyser & Sylvia Fricker)
13.In The Summertime
14.Man Of Peace
15.Union Sundown
16.It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
17.Joey (Bob Dylan – Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
18.If Not For You
19.Slow Train
20.Tomorrow Is A Long Time
21.Walkin’ Down The Line
22.Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking
23.Maggie’s Farm
24.Chimes Of Freedom
25.All I Really Want To Do
26.Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms (trad. arr.)
27.John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man (Alvin Pleasant Carter)
28.The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest
29.John Brown
30.I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
31.Don’t Keep Me Waiting Too Long (?)
32.Simple Twist Of Fate
33.The Boy In The Bubble (Paul Simon – Forere Motlobeloa)
34.Heart Of Mine
35.Pledging My Time
36.SeÒor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
37.The Wicked Messenger
38.Watching The River Flow
39.Under Your Spell (Bob Dylan & Carole Bayer Sager)
40.I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams)
41.Blues Stay Away From Me (Alton Delmore, Rabon Delmore, Wayne Raney & Henry Glover)
42.I’m Free (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards)
43.They Killed Him (Kris Kristofferson)
44.Oh, Boy (Sunny West, Bill Tilghman, Norman Petty)
45.John Brown
46.Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash)
47.Gotta Serve Somebody
48.Hideaway (Freddie King) & C.C. Rider (Chuck Willis)

Bob Dylan (guitar), Jerry Garcia (guitar), Bob Weir (guitar), Phil Lesh (bass),
Brent Mydland (keyboards), Bill Kreutzman (drums), Mickey Hart (drums).

LB-7243;
The Complete Rehearsals (So Far) (dylantree);
Compilation: Alan Fraser;
Soundboard cassette masters transferred to DAT then CD-R

Man Of Peace released on Postcards Of The Hanging,
Grateful Dead Perform The Songs Of Bob Dylan (Arista / GDCD 4069), 19 March 2002.

Sullivan Stadium
Foxboro, Massachusetts
4 July 1987

49.I Want You
50.Ballad Of A Thin Man
51.Chimes Of Freedom
52.All Along The Watchtower

First concert with The Grateful Dead.
First 1987 concert.

Bob Dylan (vocal, harmonica), Jerry Garcia (backup vocals, guitar, steel guitar, slide guitar),
Bob Weir (backup vocals, guitar, vocal), Phil Lesh (bass), Brent Mydland (keyboards), Bill Kreutzmann & Mickey Hart (drums).

First live performance of John Brown since Studs Terkel Wax Museum, Chicago, Illinois, 26 April 1963.

Live debuts of Queen Jane Approximately and Joey.

First live performance of Chimes Of Freedom since Town Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 1964.

Slow Train, Joey released on Dylan & The Dead (CBS 463 381), 6 February 1989.

John Brown was selected by The Grateful Dead for release on their version of Dylan & The Dead – Unreleased Live Album (Moonlight Records / ML-9636).

LB-8022;
Remaster: Charlie Miller;
Soundboard;
SBD > Cassette Master > CD;

Transfer: CD > Samplitude Professional v10.02 > FLAC
(3 Discs Audio / 2 Discs FLAC)

Patch:
Sennheiser ME80 > Cassette Master > CD
(shnid=3858) supplies:
Space (1:24 – 1:42)

John F. Kennedy Stadium
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
10 July 1987

53.Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
54.Queen Jane Approximately
55.Gotta Serve Somebody

Second concert with The Grateful Dead.
Second 1987 concert.

Live debut of The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest.

Queen Jane Approximately interrupted after only a part of the first verse.

Monicasdude

On the east coast leg of the tour, both Dylan and The Grateful Dead are conspicuously unsteady,
but The Grateful Dead pulled together at the beginning of the west coast swing, and Dylan tried harder for a night.
Philadelphia probably has the most interesting setlist, although it was the shortest show.

LB-8021;
Remaster: Charlie Miller;
Soundboard;
Equipment: SBD > Cassette Master > CD >
Samplitude Professional v10.02 > FLAC,
(3 Discs Audio / 2 Discs FLAC);
Patch: Sennheiser ME80 > Cassette Master > CD (shnid=3859) supplies: Terrapin Station (0:11 – 0:23)

Giants Stadium
East Rutherford, New Jersey
12 July 1987

56.Tomorrow Is A Long Time
57.It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
58.John Brown
59.The Wicked Messenger
60.Joey (Bob Dylan & Jacques Levy)

Third concert with The Grateful Dead.
Third 1987 concert.

Live debut of The Wicked Messenger and Touch Of Grey.

The Wicked Messenger was selected by the Grateful Dead for release on their version of Dylan And The Dead ñ
Unreleased Live Album (Moonlight).

Paul Williams

The only live Dylan / Dead performance of Tomorrow Is A Long Time, at the third show of the tour
(Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey), is as bad as the performance on the rehearsal tape.
The vocal is again listless (it starts, “If (mumble) not a crooked highway / If tonight was not a crooked trail.”) and the music shapeless, structureless, clumsy and plodding. Presumably, this is what happens when singer and band are both intimidated by the other, and neither is able to provide any kind of leadership, either at rehearsals or on stage.

LB-8486;
Equipment: 48k dat > midiman delta dio 2496 > cooledit > wav > flac;
cooledit used to convert to 44k at highest quality,
for splitting tracks, patching, and editing

Autzen Stadium
Eugene, Oregon
19 July 1987

61.Maggie’s Farm
62.Simple Twist Of Fate
63.The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest
64.Heart Of Mine
65.Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
66.Ballad Of A Thin Man
67.Highway 61 Revisited
68.Tangled Up In Blue
69.All Along The Watchtower

Concert #4 with The Grateful Dead.
1987 concert #4.

Bob Dylan (vocal, harmonica), Jerry Garcia (backup vocal, guitar, steel guitar, slide guitar),
Bob Weir (backup vocal, guitar, vocal), Phil Lesh (bass), Brent Mydland (keyboards),
Bill Kreutzmann & Mickey Hart (drums).

First live performance of Dead Man, Dead Man since New Orleans, Louisiana, 10 November 1981.

First live performance of Watching The River Flow since Norman, Oklahoma, 23 November 1978.

Queen Jane Approximately released on Dylan & The Dead (CBS 463 381 2), 6 February 1989.

The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest, It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue and Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 was selected for release on the Grateful Deadís version of Dylan & The Dead –
Unreleased Live Album (Moonlight).

LB-6576; Dylan & The Dead, (Disc 3);
Soundboard;
Equipment: Dell Inspiron 8200 (Hardware), Windows XP Professional 5.1.2600 Build 2600 (OS),
Exact Audio Copy V0.9 Beta 4 (Secure Mode Extraction), Multiquence v2.50 (Crossfading),
Sound Forge 6.0b (Build 185) (WAV Editing), CD Wave Audio Editor 1.7 (Tracking),
mkw Audio Compression Tool 0.97 Beta 1 (SHN Compression), md5summer v1.1.0.24 (MD5 Generation),
SHNTool 1.01 (Sector Boundary Verification)

Oakland County Stadium
Oakland, California
24 July 1987

70.The Times They Are A-Changin’
71.Man Of Peace
72.I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
73.It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
74.Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
75.Shelter From The Storm
76.Slow Train
77.Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

Concert #5 with The Grateful Dead.
1987 concert #5.

I Want You released on Dylan & The Dead (CBS 463 381 2), 6 February 1989.

LB-4775:
Primary source: Soundboard Sony multi-track PCM master >
mixdown cassette [recorded on Sony TCD5M] > Sony F1 PCM Beta tape >
Beta PCM clone > CD [recorded on HHB standalone];
Secondary source: Dead soundman Dan Healy’s audience master – microphones hung in front of the house sound booth above the crowd > Sony F1 PCM Beta tape master > Beta PCM clone > CD [recorded on HHB standalone]
Remaster: CD’s received in trade > Macintosh with DigiDesign AudioMedia III soundcard >
Pro Tools [speed match, seamless edits, normalization and tracking] > AIFF >
xACT (FLAC level 8 files with sector boundaries verified)

Anaheim Stadium
Anaheim, California
26 July 1987

78.Mr Tambourine Man
79.Dead Man, Dead Man
80.Simple Twist Of Fate
81.Watching The River Flow
82.Chimes Of Freedom
83.Queen Jane Approximately

Concert #6 with The Grateful Dead.
1987 concert #6.

Gotta Serve Somebody, All Along The Watchtower, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door released on Dylan & The Dead (CBS 463 381 2), 6 February 1989.

Chimes Of Freedom was selected by The Grateful Dead for release on their version of Dylan & The Dead –
Unreleased Live Album (Moonlight Records / ML-9636).

Partial soundboard.