Historically I haven’t been too big of a fan of the post-Brent era of the Dead. But somewhere recently, perhaps it was on Reddit or one of the online forums I frequent someone was talking about how much they liked this Road Trips release. So I went back gave it a whirl. It’s been a while since I picked a Truckin’ and this song was part of the discussion. I can see why now.
It would have been really easy for the Grateful Dead to fall back on rote memory this soon after Brent’s death, but the new blood in the band really injects some vim and vigor. I think a lot of that is due to Bruce Hornsby’s presence rather than Vince, but both sound good here. When you think about it, it’s quite the shame that by the time Vince was getting comfortable with the catalog Jerry was pretty much a non-factor most nights. I can admit my own biases and even so I acknowledge that Vince got a raw deal (and still does in many respects).
Nevertheless, the proof is in the pudding here and both Vince and Bruce add something special to this Truckin’. If you’re like me and don’t visit the post-Brent era too frequently this is a good reminder of what that incarnation of the band could do.
I don’t listen to 90s GD very often but have great memories of going to those shows. I didn’t attend any shows from the Fall ’90 tour but based on the tapes I had, these are the best shows they played with Bruce IMO.
This sounds great but it just kills me that this was released as some stitched together “Frankenstein” show rather that just putting out what the Dead actually played on a given night. Just look at the set list! This would have made a great complete show release and I certainly would have bought it. What the hell were they thinking?
Sorry if my negative rant brought anyone down, really, but I feel really strongly about this. The Road Trips series was a real downer for me until they put out a few complete shows.
Thank god for the Dave’s Pick series.
This is a debate that could rage on forever. I don’t mind skipping around or even making my own compilations. I very rarely listen to a complete show in order. And I am sad that a lot of great music could remain in the vault because of the whole-show mandate. Selecting whole shows means releasing all of the “average” material in favor of the highlights I am much more interested in. Granted, I’ll take average Grateful Dead over most any other band. I just don’t have the compulsion to collect and listen to whole shows. I have plenty of other compulsions!
Steven, you raise some good points here and you’re certainly not alone in your opinion. I admit that my opinion on this matter leans to the extreme but I just can’t help myself. I’ve written about the complete show thing on this site before, so, sorry to be redundant.
I listened to this show tonight on the Archive. The second set is pretty damn good. Probably not as good as what they played with Brent in the previous year, but still very good.
Mike, I’m a bit surprised this run was cannibalized simply because a lot of folks rave about it (at least for the post-Brent era) and DP9 was from this run. The RT release is still a nice collection though. Perhaps releasing full shows is the way to go in some respects because then one can build their own RT style playlists/mixes. But for something like that to be really effective they would have to release more complete runs. Perhaps that will be the Road Trips 2.0 series?!
That old MSG is rarin’ to go, judging from the sound of the roar at the top of this. The band busts right into the song and the mix is pleasantly roomy. Both keyboardists are audible as the bubbling groove is locked into. Vince plays a Vox organ-sounding patch that recalls Pigpen, and this is a scrumptious flavor to add to this song at this late date. The “New York” line gets a big cheer and Volume 2 is off to an impressive start. Jerry (and in fact everyone) is playing with such joy it is hard to imagine they suffered the loss of their longest-tenured keyboardist only a few months before. They are obviously going to just keep truckin’ on. The song sails along through the echoey hall, lighting up every corner. As the jam begins, Jerry and Vince play the descending blues lick in unison, then Bobby adds a harmonically important counterpoint. The song simmers and now Bruce hammers a few chords. The forward motion continues in the most pleasant way, and he plays an old Keith Godchaux lick that lights up the wind-down. The proceedings crumble to a near stop before Garcia plays the opening riff to “China Cat Sunflower”.