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My uncle Landy died this past weekend. He was 81 years old and in ill health, so this wasn’t unexpected, but it is still tough. He was a good guy. He never married and never had kids, so us nieces and nephews became his children. As a kid, he used to call me up and ask if I wanted to go to the zoo or a Tulsa Drillers game, or sometimes he’d invite me to drive two hours up to Coffeyville, Kansas, just to see where the Dalton Gang took their last stand. Those are good memories, and I cherish them.
I don’t want this to turn into an In Memoriam to a man none of you all knew. I mention it to also say that this loss will undoubtedly affect my thoughts on this disc. Normally, when I listen to a show, various thoughts come to my head when something cool or interesting is played. While listening to this, I could still enjoy the music, but it felt distant. Like it was playing somewhere else, far away. I did make some notes which I will share now, but they maybe aren’t up to my usual standards.
Dick’s Picks Volume 4 is a three-disc set culled from two nights of the Dead’s legendary run at the Fillmore East from February 11-14, 1970 (they did not play on the 12th). The Allman Brothers and Love were both on the bill as well. I believe the bands played two shows each day. The Dead did three sets each. They opened with a short electric set followed by an acoustic set and then did their usual big, long electric set.
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I’m always fascinated by what songs Dick chose to include and what he decided to leave out. Here, his focus is on the third set of these two nights. He completely ignores the acoustic sets and mostly skips the first sets. It is also curious to me that, as far as I can tell, the Dead have never released anything officially from the February 12 show. But bits of these two nights have made it onto at least three other official releases. The Allman Brothers released a live compilation of all three nights entitled Fillmore East, February 1970.
These shows are legendary. Some call this the best run of music the Grateful Dead ever performed. I think that’s partially because the music is that good, but also because these were some of the earliest soundboard recordings to make it into tape-trading circles. Much like how the Cornell show from 1977 is so beloved because that was one of the few soundboard recordings that circulated for a long while.
These shows are so legendary, I feel a little bit nervous talking about them. I don’t know that I’ll have anything to say that hasn’t already been said. The Grateful Dead Taping Compendium has a couple of really good articles on these shows. Unfortunately, the books are long out of print (fortunately, I have them, and I’ve scanned the relevant pages, which I’ll share below for subscribers.
Let’s get to it.
New York DJ John Zacherle gives us an introduction to the “Grateful Goddamn Dead.” Apparently, he was supposed to have been pulled out in some kind of coffin, but it broke. There is a picture of the thing in that Taping Compendium.
They begin by launching into an incredible “Casey Jones.” The energy on this is fierce. That’s one of the things you notice about this entire thing – The Grateful Dead were on fire these nights. Absolutely firing on all cylinders like they had something to prove.
They say that around this time the boys spent some time with Crosby, Stills, and Nash trying to improve their vocals. 1970 would see the release of two classic Dead albums, Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty, both of which demonstrated the band’s country roots and their improved songwriting. The Primal Dead days were starting to slip away, and something different was taking its place. Something that put at least a little more focus on the vocals.
That training pays off in “Dancing in the Street,” which features some Martha and the Vandellas’ style backup vocals. It isn’t so good they’d ever be mistaken for Motown, but for the Grateful Dead it’s pretty darn great. After a few minutes of that, they drop the doo-wop and launch into a nice jam. Screw Martha, they seem to say; we’re the Grateful goddamn Dead.
“China Cat Sunflower>I Know You Rider” keeps up the ecstatic energy. I’m a huge nerd for the transitions between songs. I love it when you have to listen closely to figure out exactly when one song transforms into another. This one’s pretty easy. They actually slow “China Cat” down, then rev back up for “Rider.” But it doesn’t matter; both songs are played fantastically.
“High Time” and “Dire Wolf” follow, and they are perfectly fine, if not all that memorable.
Then we come to “Dark Star.” It is a beast. Clocking in at around 30 minutes, it just goes and goes and goes. This is where I remind you, dear readers, that I listened to this while mourning. It is also where I state yet again that I’m not the biggest fan of those times when the Grateful Dead dive into the deepest, darkest outer space. I don’t love the big noodle jams. “Dark Star” was often a launching pad for grand exploration.
This one doesn’t actually get that far out. In their big jams, the Dead often seem to be searching for a sound, looking for a song. Sometimes they lose track of it and wander off into the ether. Here, they mostly seem to have jams in mind and are just enjoying them. At one point, they slip into the “Feeling Groovy” jam – so named due to its similarity to the “59th Bridge Street Song” by Paul Simon. Apparently, that was something Bob Weir came up with in some recording session. My guess is that a lot of the jams in this “Dark Star” had been at least partially developed before this night, and they were just mucking about with them.
That’s just a guess. Maybe they did invent most of it in the moment. The Dead were capable of such things. But I don’t hear the kind of erratic noise in this version that I so often do during these things.
But really, I was in no mental state to really enjoy it. My mind tends to wander during big jams, and I kept thinking about Landy, or work, or the fact that my daughter just got her driver’s permit (!). They could have done all sorts of things in this jam, and I might not have noticed. What I did notice is a wonderfully rowdy groove they land on about halfway through. Really dug that part.
“Dark Star” slips into “That’s It For The Other One” nicely. So nice, in fact, that on this disc the first lines of “Cryptical Envelopment” begin at the end of the “Dark Star” track. It slips into drums, ho hum, and I’m ready for a bathroom break, but then they freakig fly into “The Other One” section, and holy moly, the band is on fire. That high energy I was talking about earlier is blowing into high octane.
Then they slip back into a very mellow “Cryptical Envelopment.” Jerry does this thing where he repeats “He had to die” over and over. Has he done that before? I don’t ever recall such a version. Then they got through another rave-up before the song finally ended.
“Turn On Your Lovelight” is quite good, though Pigpen doesn’t get too crazy with it. There are no major raps. He and Bob Weir do this fun little vocal exchange at the end, with Bob going high and Pig just growling.
“Alligator” goes into a proper “Drums” which turns into “Me and My Uncle.” “Alligator” is one of those songs I more or less enjoy, but it isn’t a favorite. “Me and My Uncle” is said to be the song the Dead played more than any other. It is a good song, but not really worth that title.
That transitions into a fiery “Not Fade Away.” Here is the big energy again. If the Grateful Dead often turned songs into a search for something new, these jams are more like riding the wave. It ebbs and flows. Rises and falls. But the tune is always there. They are just toying with it. Eventually, they do their regular ending jam, and just as you think the song is about over, they launch into another jam. Then they do it again. They just don’t seem to be done with the song for a while.
I don’t really listen to this period of The Grateful Dead all that often. I like a good Primal Dead show from 1969, when I’m in the mood for it. And I love me some 1972 Dead. But 1970 always feels a bit ragged to me. It was a transitional year, one where they were moving from those epic, primal jams into more songs, better songs. But they aren’t quite there yet. They are still figuring it out.
“Mason’s Children” wasn’t played that often, and they’d only play it a couple more times after this date. Which is to say that it is one of those songs I don’t know all that well, and I can’t say it has ever made me want to listen to it more.
The disc ends with just over eight minutes of “Feedback,” which I listened to once just for this review and I’ll never listen to again, and a lovely rendition of “We Bid You Goodnight.” I love it when they end a show like that.
This is a great package. I do need to listen to it all again when I’m in a better headspace. I need to listen to this entire run again. It will be interesting to suss out what Dick picked and what he should have.
Four volumes in and I’m loving this series. I’d listened to lots of these before, but it’s so much more interesting to listen in order.
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