Day 298: The Other One, 5/10/78

What can we say about The Other One that hasn’t already been said. This may be the most frequently selected song on Dead For A Year to date.

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To be honest I’m a bit surprised that this is the case as I’m an unapologetic “Jerry guy”. I will say that The Other One has a number of things going for it that make it a consistently interesting pick. First, it was a mainstay of the repertoire for most of the band’s career. It saw so many iterations of musicians and equipment over the years that there is always something new to be discovered. Second, and related, it’s very open ended. This means that when someone got some new gear or the band got turned on to MIDI, for example, The Other One provided an ideal testing ground for those new sounds and textures.

The tracking of this selection speaks to that point a bit. This a 16+ minute track, but only half of that is really recognizable as The Other One. The first half is essentially “space”, or “stuff” in Bobby’s current nomenclature. Abutting the free-for-all of space with the adaptability of The Other One yields interesting results, as was often the case. This is simply an all-in-one example of that.

The Other One is slow to emerge from drums. Jerry jams a bit but nothing discernible emerges for the first few minutes here. It makes one wonder why the decision was made to split the songs where they are on this release and not put in a “jam” or “space” track here. I mean it’s not until over halfway through a 16 minute song that something recognizable as the Other One emerges. Finally! Phil his some big chords at the start and continues to really dig in as the song takes off. Jerry possibly seared his fingers burning his way across the fret board here. Right before Bobby starts singing Phil plays this sweet little ascending chromatic run. After the first verse Jerry takes flight once again. For a while there Jerry, Phil, and the drummers sound like they’re in a battle for control of the song’s direction, but all of a sudden the feel changes on a dime, going from fiery rock to explorations of worlds unknown. It’s not until 14:30 that they return to the main groove and the second verse. With most of the fireworks out of the way, the band sets their sights on moving to the next one, and ease their way down to the docks of the city.