Full disclosure: Today is my wife’s birthday, so the sentiment of this song is the impetus behind its selection today.
I picked this particular version because it was the only live version that I have that has the original intro on it. I think it’s a neat little intro and figured it’d be good to feature. After making this selection I listened through the whole track and man are there some trainwrecks here! This project continues to be a learning experience, and that’s part of the fun for me.
Brent’s first studio work with the Dead was for the Go To Heaven album. It seems that old Clive Davis really wanted a hit from the Dead and Brent’s AM radio-friendly tunes were seen as a possible avenue to success. The songs didn’t necessarily sound like the Dead, but they’ve grown on me. Easy To Love You was only played 45 times total, 36 between 1979 and this show. After this performance the song was shelved until 3/15/90 (released as Terrapin Station Limited). The final 9 performances of the song all happened in 1990 with a slightly different arrangement, at least in the intro.
Thoughts on Easy To Love You? The comments are yours.
It seems that almost everyone has some kind of period-appropriate effect going on. Brent starts off with a plinky sound, but that seems to give way to a smoother piano sound in the verse sections. Weir sounds way off vocally in the chorus. This might be another case where the band just wasn’t comfortable with the song.
Brent leads the way in the instrumental break, and it’s a good thing because Jerry flubs a bit and Weir seems a bit lost. Of course, because this is a Brent song it comes as little surprise that he’s not lost. The “oohs” actually sound decent here. From then on it seems that everyone is able to find the groove and there aren’t any more trainwrecks before the song ends. Not the Dead’s finest hour by any stretch, but they’d playing the song for over a year by this point so who knows what went wrong here.
I’ve always loved this song and when I was younger I imagined Brent was singing about a girlfriend. But later I decided this song is about a young child or a baby and that works much better for me.
Also, the video from Backstage Pass is really enjoyable.
I remember reading that the producer or the studio or someone made Brent change the original lyric from “bluebird” to “raven” because it didn’t sound “Grateful Dead enough.”
I love the acoustic stuff from 1980 but I’m not crazy about the electric sets. DaP8 sounds great but early 80s is not my favorite, although there are some great moments.
Mike, I too like this one and Far From Me has grown on me as well. I tend to like the spring 1990 versions better, and probably should have gone with 3/15/90 for this one. I do like the original intro riff though….
Interesting note about the lyrics sounding “Grateful Dead” enough, especially since I seem to remember Clive Davis hoping that Brent could help with the AM radio crowd, or something along those lines.
I can see how this could be applied to kids, but I associate I Will Take You Home with kids more than this one, which is fairly obvious since it was written for his daughters.
Lunchbox, I’m glad you chose this version, I’ve heard the later versions a lot but not this one. The Terrapin limited is probably the Brent show I’ve listened to most often, at least as far as CDs go.
After hearing this, I decided to listen to the Penn St. Road Trips tonight. I consider that my least favorite official release (at least among those I’ve purchased) but must say that that doesn’t mean I don’t like it.
BTW, I’m not sure who wanted Brent to change the lyric. I believe I read that in a Jerry interview, possibly soon after Brent died.
Okay, while looking for some Jerry comments on St. Stephen tonight, I found the interview where he talks about the lyric change. It’s from a 1981 interview done by David Gans and Blair Jackson in Conversations with the Dead.
It was Clive Davis who told Brent his lyrics weren’t “Grateful Dead” enough. They don’t specifically mention “bluebird” or “raven” though. Maybe this was discussed again in a later interview after Brent died, possibly in Rolling Stone.