Day 352: Brown Eyed Women, 11/4/77

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For those that don’t have Sirius XM radio, David Lemieux does a preview of each new release before it comes out and the channel will re-run these specials on occasion in the lead up to the release. I caught part of the Dave’s Picks 12 special last year. At that time he was talking about what makes a particular version of a song stand out, especially when there are so many that are of similar quality. He used this Brown Eyed Women as an example because Garcia adlibs an extra line at the end of the song.

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Another example would be the Fire On The Mountain from DaP7, I believe it was, where Jerry throws in the “let it burn, let it burn” (it may have been the Scar/Fire from the Fox [DaP8], I can’t remember off the top of my head).

This is something that I’ve become attuned to over the course of the past year: the centrality of nuance in evaluating a piece of Grateful Dead music. Granted not all of my picks over the past year have been home runs. Some have been foul balls, but I think that’s part of the fun. You have to know what doesn’t work to understand what does.

Fun fact: the Grateful Dead played Brown-Eyed Women 342 times between 8/23/71 and 7/6/95. A pretty solid run for the old man!

Weir is up in the mix here and his playing clangs and jangles in the mid range, cutting through clearly like a bell. The pace is brisk as one typically wants there Brown Eyed Women to be. Jerry is in good voice and Donna adds some sparse vocal accompaniment. Jerry first solo sticks pretty close to the melody but there is a tone of energy in it. There are some nice runs at 2:20 and 2:35 that stand out. Almost as simple as stepping on a stomp box the fire that had built up during the solo is reduced to a burning ember for the verse. The backing vocals sound very nice on the bridge. There’s almost a reggae-ish feel in some sections of the song when you listen to the strumming pattern that Bobby employs, which is kind of surreal and unique all at once. Revisiting the first verse at the end of the song, Keith adds a few nice piano flourishes. “And it looks like the old man is getting on. Yes it does.” Thanks Jer!

Complete Setlist 11/4/77

Previous Brown Eyed Women DFAY Selections

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2 comments to “Day 352: Brown Eyed Women, 11/4/77”

  1. This gets off very chirpily and while it is clear that this is not 1972, the song sounds plenty fresh. Other commentators on the official site have cited this as a fave version and it is easy to hear why. Garcia sings it as if he just got finished perfecting the tune, then plays a nice long solo in a similar fashion. I am wowed. The energy under this show thus far is beyond what I have previously heard from this tour. The bridge hits right on time and Donna coos the backing quietly and on key. Jerry sings about being ready to kill, then demonstrates with a few deadly guitar chops. Amazing. The ending is achingly tender, especially when Jer adds, “Yes it does” to the last line. Sigh.

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