This morning was full of excitement in our household. Our two year old was starting a new session of swim lessons and he was really pumped for it. It has probably been almost 6 months since we were last enrolled and every time we drive by the local rec center where the pool is he says he wants to go swimming. Since kiddo #2 arrived we’re able to settle into a schedule and swim lessons help to occupy kiddo #1 for an hour or so on a Saturday morning when we don’t have any other plans.
That sense of child-like enthusiasm led to today’s selection. Part of this choice is related to the fact that I haven’t given any Pigpen songs the nod yet. While I’m a big Pigpen fan time on the weekends for listening is limited so this shorter tune was a good bet. When I decided on a Pig tune I knew I wanted to get something from his last hurrah – the Europe ’72 tour. Despite his failing health you can tell he really put everything he had into this tour, which I’m sure was no easy task. There weren’t a lot of extended Pig raps like in years previous, but when it was his turn to take center stage he made it count. Pig was the Dead’s REAL front man, Jerry himself said as much. The reason for this particular version of Next Time You See Me is also related to that fact that some video of this show circulates and it’s the only video I’ve ever seen of Pigpen in action. Every time I listen to this song I think of him standing there in his cowboy hat giving the blues hell.
Pig was the bluesman of the group and I really like his blues songs. I think this is why it grates on me a bit when Bobby tackled blues songs. There are a handful of Bobby blues songs that are consistent skips for me (Little Red Rooster, C. C. Rider, etc). Garcia didn’t lead as many straight blues tunes over the years, Big Railroad Blues is the primary exception that immediately comes to mind, and that one is a rocker blues number so I almost always enjoy it. Some of that is probably my natural Jerry bias, but at least I can admit it!
The Nash strat (given to Jerry by Graham Nash, hence the name) was in full effect on the Europe ’72 
Complete Setlist 4/17/72
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Now this is the type of Pig song I can enjoy. He did have a unique bluesy voice! not great! but fitting the entire Dead model, vocals were never their calling card. Not that they didn’t fit the music and the entire thing to a tee, just that they weren’t top 40 material, which is probably the greatest thing they had going for them.
One of the things that is truly amazing about the dead which you may know about or might agree or not about is how much little of their great music was available in the early years, say pre-80.
The dead never liked their studio albums and once you get a pretty good handle of the live stuff that began with DP 1 and beyond, it’s pretty easy to understand why. Europe 72 3 record set was really the first true picture of what the band was capable of. I know some folks will argue that Live Dead or SkullF were monumental, but for me those albums were a look at early wild dead, but the sound was pretty thin and just seemed lacking to me. I know for a lot of us in the 70’s Working man and American B were wonderful, but those tunes played live simply exploded when done live with the full soloing and improvising over them. Until E72 those versions were only available to the taper crowd and that crowd was simply not that large in those years.
Just another take from someone that lived in those years and giving my perspective of what I experienced in those years.
Pigpen kicks into this one sounding much more attuned than his previous performance in this set. Everyone is primed for this blues romp and I would not knock this version in any way. It had been played many, many times by this point but it sounds very fresh here in Denmark. Pig’s voice aside, all of the instrumental contributions are of the highest order. Do not miss this one.
Phil realizes that his vocal monitor does not work and everyone else agrees that theirs do not either. There is a cacophony of Prankster-like goofing here, and it is pretty funny.
Lunchbox,
Not sure if you prefer not adding comments to older posts, but after listening to the youtube video from this show last night, I’d love to get your opinion of the sound quality from this night. There are times some knocks on the 72 Europe shows that Keith is often lost in the mix. However, he was right where he needed to be on the ytube vid and he was having an inspired evening. Love his playing and have a about 10 shows from that run, but not this yet. Any thoughts on this being a little better recording ? Maybe it being recorded for radio or TV could have made this so.
Thanks ahead
Joe, are you talking about the circulating video vs. the remastered CD? I haven’t watched the entire video in a few years, but I’ve got it someplace. As far as the Europe 72 shows, quite frankly I didn’t have a problem with them. I know a few people didn’t like the mixing/mastering, but honestly I’m not THAT picky. I don’t have the time to me! There needs to be major/noticable sound quality issues for me to complain. Some folks said the same thing about Spring 1990, how they didn’t use the multi-tracks. I’d be curious to see what could be done with them, but at the end of the day I can’t say how significant of a different it would have made. Not sure if that answers your question…
Lunchbox,
Thanks for the quick reply back. Sorry about the confusion and must confess that I was hoping for an answer that is probably tough to answer and probably being lazy here. Loving the dead like you has taken many interesting turns and learning more and more about the band and recordings has been a ball. A little obsessive, that kinda goes without saying.
My question truly is about hoping to find a good show (hard to miss with E72), more wondering if the 4/17 might have been an extra special mix with the broadcast being involved. It was great that the band traveled with the multi track recorder for that run, but there, as you mention, some questions about the remixing. So have concluded that with the rush to get a lot of material remixed quickly for the big box, some corners were cut. Not sure that’s conjecture or fact, but do have the feeling on some shows that I own are good, but not great. Maybe I’m being to critical, but would hate to miss out on a special recording if this was one sound wise. Hearing the youtube show last night, I was impressed with the sound quality, but more importantly Keith’s playing and up front role in this recording. You seem to have a lot of this tour and really wondering if there is truly something special here, or am I just optimistically hoping it is.
Thanks ahead
Joe
Joe, I haven’t done an A/B comparison with the video and won’t likely have time to do so for a long time. I do have the whole “steamer trunk” and have listened to the entire tour. 4/17/72 is hands down one of my top 3 favorite shows from the tour. Again, I’m not as particular about the mixing/mastering as others, and I think the whole set sounds great. But I haven’t heard or read anything that would suggest the approach to recording 4/17 was different from any other show on the tour due to the fact that video rolled. That does beg the question of whether the video crew had a separate audio feed that they were able to mix with the video, but this, too, is just speculation/conjecture. I think for a lot of these the band was simply jazzed at being in Europe and that came through in the playing. I DO think that 4/17 is a special night and the performance reflects that. YMMV.
Thanks lunchbox and I apologize for asking a question that is probably a hair splitter. Just the fact that you qualify this show as a top 3 is good enough for me. I do feel in a short time that all these shows will sell out and being at the interest level of purchasing the best available, while I can, your recommendation is good enough for me. There have been others that support your take, but it does take a bit of an effort to filter the reality from the well wishers. I do have a few posters that I trust more than others on reviews in different forums and you have gained my respect. Mostly I trust opinions of those that gravitate to my favorite time spans, but you honestly do have a perspective that is critical and honest about the entire career. Keep in mind that anything post Keith just doesn’t get me excited, despite the fact that I do appreciate different tunes from latter years, but whole shows just have me wanting the to change the CD. As I mentioned earlier, 77 was an eye opener for me, but that view was really held back after purchasing Without a Net that blocked me from delving back into the dead for way to many years . Thanks as always for your efforts and input.
Thanks as always.
Joe
Joe, thanks for your kind words. Glad I could be of some use!