It wasn’t often that the Grateful Dead started a show off with Morning Dew, but that was exactly the case at this particular show. It seems like there were a few technical wilburys that needed to be worked out, and this version doesn’t crescendo like those second set versions. Instead, this is a very delicate, laid back version of the song. It seems like a prefect complement to a lazy Sunday morning in that winter/spring transitional time.
The song picks up ever so slightly in the second verse. Billy’s snare drum, which sounds great, is clearly leading the charge here. This is short-lived as he dials it back again. It sounds like Jerry’s going to launch into a solo after this verse, but instead they opt for another lyrical go-round and he sings the third verse. Jerry and Keith both trace some interesting figures before going back for yet another round of singing.
Finally the walk up emerges that signals the segue to the solo. I think Phil is having some technical problems because he seems to drop out of the record for a little while. This instrumental passage seems a bit short, perhaps because of these technical issues? Instead of continuing, Jerry sings another verse. The entire song feels very deliberate and almost fragile, as though one miscue could derail the entire experiment.
Jerry noodles around a little bit, searching for some direction and he finally seems to find it. There’s no big walk up again for this instrumental section. Billy starts hitting the snare in a more regular fashion and adds in some cymbal work, again signifying a change. From here the pace starts to build. Jerry clearly knows where he’s going now. Keith adds some counterpuntal runs in on the piano for good measure. Phil seems to drop out again as the solo continues to build? I’m not quite sure what it is, but the recording sounds like it’s missing some major bottom end. Jerry comes back for his final “it doesn’t matter” and the song ends almost as quietly as it started.
Complete Setlist 11/30/73
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Lunchbox,
Really smiled with this pick, as this was one of my earliest buys and one that radically changed my view of the band. First off this recording really had Keith high in the mix. Not sure if the show actually sounded that way or the Dick remaster arranged it that way. On the inside booklet it is mentioned that this first of three nights actually started about 3 hours late, which rarely happened with the dead, as the band actually thought they were starting the next night. When the curtain opened the crowd was amazed by the early WOS with it’s huge stack of speakers.
The author of the this show mentions that he almost felt this tune was almost a sound check, after Phil explained why they were late. It is a very laid back version and one that fragile as you described, but a great one.
Having just graduated from High School that year 73 was an interesting year for both the Dead and the city of Boston and even the venue of these shows is a bit strange. As far as that venue, these shows were at the Music Hall in Boston, not the Boston Music Hall as listed. The Boston Music Hall was actually the Orpheum Theater which is a popular music venue now, but in 73 was more a less a movie theater falling in a lot of disrepair. The Music Hall was also going in the wrong direction and was basically located in the combat zone. Theater was in limbo land at this time and that combined with the downtown movie venues losing their first run exclusivity rights for movies had a negative effect on entertainment. Music was at this time changing for the worse as money was taking over and the need for cash had most bands playing the Boston Garden with it’s over 10,000 capacity for concerts.
Besides the entertainment challenges for these smaller venues the whole downtown was becoming pretty beat up. We even had the one bridge (Mystic River Bridge) to get you north to the North Shore, as well as, Maine and NH have it’s north born lane collapse into the lower south lane. This closed that road for a year and combined with gas rationing where you had designated days by your license plate numbers, it was not an up beat year for Boston. Surely the Dead changed that mood for those three nights for the Dead Heads of Boston.
Apologize for the long reply, but this DP brings back a lot of memories for me in so many ways. Couldn’t help myself.
Thanks for the reminiscences Joe. That was great!
A tense, little percussion roll leads to the sweeping opening chords of this beauty of a song. Garcia enters the thing gently, reminiscent of the quintessential Europe version of a year-plus earlier. This is a tasty flavor, and the singing and playing suit the song supernaturally, as if they were matched in heaven. The verses traipse by snappily and strongly, with much activity among the players. Jerry’s voice is raspy but strong – an important thing to remember as you listen to the version on Disc Four. As the guitar solo hits, the bass drops out for some reason – a disturbing development. It creeps back in before the next vocal section, luckily. Jerry emotes with aplomb here, and the backing is suitably subdued at first. As we all know, this leads to a massive buildup (unfortunately marred by some scratchy interference on the tape) that takes its time arriving at an interesting but less-than-sublime bent-note, clean-toned solo that wanders surprisingly indeterminately before stumbling anticlimactically into the ending vocal line, delivered passionately if confusedly.