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It's a good show for sure, but there are others from that tour I enjoy more (Buffalo, Pembroke Pines). Overall '77 is a little too clean and slick for me to consider it peak GD -- it's certainly among their better years, but to my ears it never scales the crazy, unencumbered heights of '68-'74.
To this point, and I have a few shows left, I think beyond recording quality the last four shows are some of the best of the bunch. I like them really pushing the intensity a bit. Granted that Harpur College show is in its own universe, but a big part of that, beyond how well they played, was how they played it with that first acoustic set, which is bar none my favorite first set thus far.
I will note I have decided to hang out in Spring 77 a little longer and added Dicks Picks Vol. 29 to the list (speaking of the Fox Theater in Atlanta). Brings the list up to 6 shows for this particular tour. Just starting but got damn that Sugaree is amazing.
Dick’s Picks Vol. 29 (Part 1) - Fox Theater, Atlanta, GA 5/19/77
This Atlanta show starts off very promising with two really strong versions of Promised Land and Sugaree - maybe the best Sugaree so far. El Paso and Peggy-O were also strong, Row Jimmy always a good place for them to go, a rollicking Passenger. Loser and Dancing in the Streets finish off a first set that ended up being the rare first set that is stronger than the second set. While the first half of the second set pucks up where the first set left off with good versions of Samson and Delilah, Ramble on Rose, and Estimated Prophet, things start to drag a bit as an okay Terrapin Station pulls into a too long and plodding Playing in the Band that is really just temporarily resuscitated by Uncle John’s Band. It’s a good show here but falls short, particularly coming directly after a tremendous second set in Cornell that I listened to yesterday.
Set 1: Promised Land, Sugaree, El Paso, Peggy-O, Looks Like Rain, Row Jimmy, Passenger, Loser, Dancing in the Streets
Set 2: Samson and Delilah, Ramble on Rose, Estimated Prophet, Terrapin Station, Playing in the Band > Uncle John’s Band > Drums > The Wheel > China Doll > Playing in the Band
I agree, though to me it seems this skill of harmonizing with the band instead of screaming over top of them sounded procured while singing with the Jerry Garcia Band. It seems to have travelled with her to the subsequent Dead tours. Thank goodness. If she had the voice of say Aretha Franklin or Sharon Jones, or even a Brittany Howard, I would understand.
That's a good point. I'm not nearly as familiar with the JGB's stuff but she did seem to play a more central role in that smaller group, where it always seemed at least a little to me like the Dead were shoehorning her in.
The second half of this Dick’s Picks volume contains nearly all of the Lakeland show, save for the encore which was US Blues. This was again a very solid show helped more by the excellent set list than even the performances, save for a particular performance I will get to momentarily that was transcendent. Songs like Bertha, Me and My Uncle, They Love Each Other, Cassidy, Jack Straw (particularly good here), Tennessee Jed, New Minglewood Blues, Row Jimmy...they could play these songs constantly and I would have a hard time getting tired of them. A very good Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain (the seeming hallmark of this tour) closes out the first set.
Lots of great stuff in the second set but of particular significance is actually two performances: He’s Gone, which Jerry pulls into a massive blues jam that is a cut above, and an ungodly Comes A Time, which is one of their finest moments so far in this journey. It started off slow enough and built up to this amazing epic jam. It then segues perfectly into St. Stephen, giving that riff the feel of almost the guitar riff in Shine On You Crazy Diamond in that it just transports you to another place. Definitely worth it for those two songs alone.
Set 1: Bertha, Me and My Uncle, They Love Each Other, Cassidy, Jack-A-Roe, Jack Straw, Tennessee Jed, New Minglewood Blues, Row Jimmy, Passenger, Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain
Set 2: Samson and Delilah > Brown-Eyed Woman > Estimated Prophet > He’s Gone > Drums > The Other One > Comes a Time > St. Stephen > Not Fade Away > St. Stephen, One More Saturday Night
My favorite Donna release is Live at the Cow Palace, which is a release I definitely recommend going back and revisiting once you've made it through. She sounds great on the Hartford release too. Multi-track mixing definitely brings out the best in her harmonies.
Yeah I am going to have to spring for some of these releases that are not on Spotify once this is through. I always enjoy a good New Years show so I will put that in the list.
I will say this listening to Cornell ‘77 and now this - Cornell might have the best second set, but this one I think boasts the best overall show of the 5 I listened to on this Spring ‘77 tour. That opening salvo of Bertha > Good Lovin’ > Sugaree is so so good. I mean a statement on how good this show was going to go from the jump. The whole first set really is pretty magical. A great Jack Straw but even finer Row Jimmy that I noted in a earlier comment that was sung to perfection. New Minglewood Blues, Candyman, Passenger all stellar. And there’s nothing here through the first set to bring it down at all (I will say that I think Looks Like Rain often kills the momentum on their first sets but it’s not here so that worked).
The quality of the show only get better from there into the second set. Best Samson and Delilah for me on memory, and same with Tennessee Jed that I was really getting into here (I have always loved this song nonetheless). Big aha and I get it now moment on an extended and funky Estimated Prophet that is easily the best so far for me. Second big aha goes to Terrapin Station that is really killer. Wharf Rat is also really good as always here. This was a fantastic show.
Set 1: Bertha > Good Lovin’ > Sugaree, Jack Straw, Row Jimmy, New Minglewood Blues, Candyman, Passenger, Brown-Eyed Woman, Promised Land
Set 2: Samson and Delilah, Tennessee Jed, Estimated Prophet, Playing in the Band > Terrapin Station > Drums > Not Fade Away > Wharf Rat > Playing in the Band, One More Saturday Night
I have to say it is fascinating to hear the studio versions of many of these songs given the inundation I have submitted myself to with 5 shows leading into its release. They all come across well, except maybe Dancing in the Streets, which I can’t figure out why they bothered including it in the album - it’s quick and really needs that extended time live where it becomes their own animal. It doesn’t accomplish that in under 3 mins here. Estimated Prophet, Samson and Delilah, Sunrise and Passenger all sound pretty good though they are contrived compares to their live takes. I get the criticism that this album sounds wooden and forced not because it does but because the live versions of these songs are looser and more vibrant.
The real winner and great sounding song on this one for me is Terrapin Station Medley, the only song given enough room to forge its own studio identity and filled with little surprises and sounds. The album is very good, but maybe a tad of a disappointment when you’ve heard how great these all translate live. That Terrapin Station Medley though...
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