Although the tempo of Days Between tends to be on the slow side, it’s a song that’s grown on my. A large part of this is probably due in part to it’s emergence in Furthur’s sets over the past few years. Obviously it’s not the same without Jerry on vocals, but at least I’ve gained perspective into what the song is capable of doing.
I used to be quite dismissive of the Dead’s latter day originals, the ones that were likely slated for the never-recorded 13th studio album. But some of those cuts have grown on me over the years, namely Lazy River Road, So Many Roads, and Days Between. My issue with Days Between was that I always found the melody a bit disjointed. I think it’s the change from G to Gm that never quite sat well with me. Over the course of time I’ve come around to the song though and while the melody still sounds a bit forced to me it’s something I’m happy to live with.
This is a song that was only played 41 times from 1993 to 1995 so it comes as little surprise that this studio rehearsal is the only version that has been officially released. There seems to be slim pickings in the 1992-1995 period that will see the light of day. What’s interesting is that this version is from a rehearsal on 2/18/93 and the band debuted it a mere 4 days later on 2/22/93 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (Audio link).
Any of you latter day Dead fans, what shows or versions of this song warrant official release? The comments are yours.
First off, happy Father’s Day, Lunchbox, and to all readers to whom it applies as well.
I saw a lot of shows in this era and, while I don’t have any empirical data to back it up, it seems that Days Between was the fan’s favorite of the newer songs at the time. Personally, I never warmed up to it all that much. Listening to it here, it sounds pretty good in spots but seems like it would benefit from A LOT less singing. The “sustained synth” you mention is probably courtesy of Bob Bralove and that’s not a plus in my book.
If there’s one thing I do like from Bralove it’s Crowd Sculpture from the Infrared Roses album. Your choices are always good, Lunchbox, but if you’re ever looking for something really, really different, Crowd Sculpture might fit the bill.