My last look at Greatest Story Ever Told focused on it’s protean state in the Grateful Dead and it’s Pump Song origins. Now I’m opting to revisit the song right in the sweet spot of 1974.
Gone are the explicit attempts to replicate the sound of a pump, and we’ve got a more even sounding arrangement. As I note below Jerry’s wah-wah work is a true highlight. If one were to create a spectrum that classified songs as ballads on one end and rockers on the other, Greatest Story Ever Told would definitely be closer to the rocker side. I’d place it 75-80% of the way to total rocker. There’s still a bit of choppiness in the arrangement so it doesn’t have that driving beat. Just because a song doesn’t scream, “roll down your windows and crank up your radio” doesn’t mean it can’t rock though. That’s my point.
The Dead would only play Greatest Story Ever Told 5 more times after this show before putting it on the shelf until 1979. They played it once more with Keith and Donna in February, but starting in November of 1979, now featuring Brent in the keys seat, the song re-emerged and stayed in the repertoire until the end.
