Save Your Face

Grateful Dead: Garcia Sings 1993-1994

This is one of the most personally important Grateful Dead curations I’ve assembled under the Save Your Face moniker. It presents Jerry Garcia knocking 16 of his classic songs out of the park, in a period known for his creakiness and errors.

This is a necessary demonstration, IMHO. It’s terrible that decades after Garcia’s death, no attempt has been made to put a respectful and powerful coda on his career, in the form of a curated, final-years, live Grateful Dead album.

I first encountered many of these performances during Save Your Face’s extensive post-Hornsby-era mixtape project some years ago. Gradually, “amazing versions” and “versions to beat” emerged, as I continued to relisten to those mixes.

To determine IF they could be beaten, I listened to every 1993-1995 soundboard recording of Garcia-sung songs, with a focus on those for which terrific lead vocals are the necessary starting point for a great performance. I confirmed many of my existing picks and found some new-to-me takes that I liked better.

I skipped over jammier songs like “Dark Star” and “Fire,” and avoided covers with the exception of “Morning Dew” and two Garcia-owned traditionals. Ultimately, it's a Hunter/Garcia joint.

Other Hunter/Garcia compositions are missing because no version checked all of my boxes:

A soundboard mix in which Garcia’s vocals are very present
Garcia in command of the lyrics
Garcia singing with passion and nuance
An exciting and involving collective performance, with memorable details
Everyone properly represented in the SBD mix
No intrusive “bad tones”

On the basis of these restrictive filters, I ended up with 16 performances that continue to thrill me after many, many listens.

The ever-generous Mr. Completely (Tyler) supplied me with the best source FLACs for all tracks, so these performances are as high fidelity as possible.

Are there little flaws here and there? Sure. Are these performances practically perfect in every way? Yes.

May you rest easy, Jerry Garcia.

***

Cover art: Al Hirschfeld

2 hours and 17 minutes

Help on the Way > Slipknot! (edit) (3/22/93 Atlanta > 10/18/94 NYC)
Jack-A-Roe (3/27/94 Uniondale, NY)
Bertha (3/21/94 Richfield, OH)
Black Peter (7/31/94 Auburn Hills, MI)
Crazy Fingers > Playin’ Jam (3/24/93 Chapel Hill, NC)
China Doll (6/18/93 Chicago, IL)
The Wheel > (7/26/94 Maryland Heights, MO)
Attics of My Life (7/26/94 Maryland Heights, MO)
Wharf Rat (7/19/94 Noblesville, IN)
Peggy-O (edit) (6/26/94 Las Vegas, NV)
Stagger Lee (10/15/94 NYC, NY)
Stella Blue (3/21/94 Richfield, OH)
Terrapin Station (10/1/94 Boston, MA)
Comes a Time (10/9/94 Landover, MD)
Morning Dew (3/27/94 Uniondale, NY)
Brokedown Palace (12/19/94 Los Angeles, CA)

Downloads

320kbps MP3s derived from lossless

FLAC files

Editing Notes

There are two edits (but no re-EQ anywhere):

The “Slipknot” following this great “Help on the Way” didn’t cut it, so I appended a different performance, terminated by its “Franklin’s Tower” coda.
“Peggy-O”: The band skipped a whole verse (seamlessly), which makes The Captain less of an asshole. This led to verse confusion after the instrumental break. However, the band re-approached and corrected their error. I’ve edited out the 30 seconds of confusion. And yes, a missing verse is a big “vocal error,” but it doesn’t interrupt anything; it just modifies the story.

Grateful Dead: Berkeley ’72 (August 21, 22, 24)

Immediately before their famous 8-27-72 performance in Veneta, Oregon (released as “Sunshine Daydream”), the Grateful Dead played four shows over five nights at the Berkeley Community Theater (August 21, 22, 24, 25).

Much of the playing in Berkeley was as great as “Veneta Eve” would imply. The final show of the run (8/25/72) was officially released as “Dave’s Picks vol. 24” in 2017 - an excellent choice.

The Save Your Face curations of the first three nights have been around for a while, but I thought it might be handy to re-present them in a single post, with both mp3 and streaming links.

After taking a week off, and having played only one show in the previous three weeks, The Dead played six shows in eight days:

San Jose: Sunday 8/21
Berkeley: Mon-Fri (taking Wed off)
Veneta: Sunday 8/27
After Veneta, they took another week off.

So, the Berkeley run constitutes almost all of the prologue to Veneta: An extended, Bill Graham-sponsored, small theater, home-town residency for The Dead, in the midst of a very busy year. All things considered, it must have been a chill, comfy week for the band, and the level of the best playing suggests that they were both relaxed and focused over four nights at the community theater.

In fact, they had only played seven shows following Pigpen’s departure - the first being July 16 at Dillon Stadium in Hartford, CT. Arguably, you can hear the post-Pigpen Dead finding and stabilizing their new course over a workweek in this cozy local venue. Many Heads (including me) revere Fall ’72. This is where it starts, IMO.

Cover art by Saul Steinberg.

Monday & Tuesday, August 21-22

Download mp3s for one or both nights

Stream both nights on Youtube or Archive

Monday (73 minutes)

Introduction
Friend of the Devil
Sugaree
Stella Blue
He’s Gone
Dark Star >
Space >
Keith’s Jam
Uncle John’s Band
Introducing Keith and Donna
Playin’ in the Band

Tuesday (70 minutes)

Birdsong (instrumental edit)
All That Top 40 Shit
The Other One
Not Fade Away >
Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad >
Hey Bo Diddley > Not Fade Away
Playin' in the Band

Thursday, August 24

Download mp3s

Stream on YouTube or Archive

Thursday (110 minutes)

Introduction
Greatest Story Ever Told
Mississippi Half-Step
Truckin’
Brown Eyed Women
Jack Straw
Bird Song
China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider
Sugaree
One More Saturday Night

Playin’ in the Band (15:09)
Dark Star > (13:01)
Space > (8:39)
Jam > (4:26)
Interlude > (1:06)
Morning Dew (13:04)
Sing Me Back Home (9:56)

Grateful Dead: Dark Star Variations (June 1992 - March 1994)

This mix includes the 12 instances of “Dark Star” played by the Grateful Dead in the post-Hornsby period, 10 of which had verses and two of which were jam-only. The final, six-piece combo played its first “Dark Star” in June 1992 and its last in March 1994.

This is a wonderful period for variations on the “Dark Star” theme and for the weird, deep, free improvisation that one traditionally thinks of as part of “Dark Star” – all that stuff that happened between the first hint of the melody and whatever named song eventually followed.

In the 1990s, those two parts were separated: “Dark Star” was primarily an exploration of the melodic theme (6-9 minutes, with a verse), while “Drums” and “Space” became the expansive zone of open exploration, diverse in sounds and musical angles.

The “Dark Stars” of this period are pleasing because their infrequency prevented them from having any set flavor. The ones that don’t even have the formal opening are often particularly beguiling. On 6/18/92 they played the verse instrumentally. And consider Garcia’s unique approach on the final version from 3/30/94 in Atlanta.

The late versions are, objectively, fresh variations on the eternal, ongoing “Dark Star jam,” an effect I’ve amplified by editing out the verses of all but the first and the last performances on this mix. Listen to the music play.

To demonstrate my assertion that Drums/Space held the other half of “Dark Star” in the 1990s, I’ve made a layer cake mix that intersperses the song/melody with a goodly number of intriguing Drums and Space segments.

The Space passages almost all come from the December 1992 and February 1993 runs in Oakland, CA (eight shows, total). The first of those runs featured “Dark Star” material on three nights (first verse, space jam, second verse).

The passages separating the “Dark Star” material are sometimes quite short, but I think they have a sufficient palette-cleansing/anticipation-of-return effect to make the persistent “Dark Star” recurrences satisfactorily orgasmic for the listener.

If you venerate 1969 suite-like “Dark Stars,” where only part of it is actually the melody, or 1974 “Dark Stars,” where most of it might not be the melody, etc… then you should love this. Tons of melody + lots of carefully curated WTF.

I chose the running order based on the character of the passages and the dynamic flow of the whole. Segues were mostly impossible, but fade-outs where needed worked out fine. There are a few deliberate jump cuts, but otherwise all tracks stand alone.

Two-hour mp3 mix zipped up here (dates/cities included in tags)

Walk On Drums
Dark Star (first verse)
Hectic > Peaceful Space
Dark Star
Ringing Drums
Fluttering Space
Dark Star
A Jerry Story
Dark Star
Dark Star w/David Murray
A Jerry Story
Didgeridoo Drums
Dark Star Jam
Jamming w/Ornette Coleman
Dark Star Space > Jam *
Dark Star
A Spontaneous Composition (Correction: This is a theme from "Tubular Bells!")
Dark Star
A Perilous Space
Dark Star
Chase Sequence Space
Dark Star
A Jerry Story
Dark Star (second verse)
Walk Off Space

* I forgot to indicate "> Jam" in the mp3 title tags

Cover art: Holt School Mathematics textbook cover detail (8th grade volume), circa 1976. Graphically, this Holt School series was very nice, each volume iterating on the same abstracted composition of the four basic math functions (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division), which I think adequately reflects the philosophy of this mixtape.

Grateful Dead: Lesh is More Concrète (December 1973)

Jesse Jarnow pointed out that Phil Lesh takes over the Grateful Dead for six, extended, abstract bass adventures during the December 1973 shows.

Here are those passages, in chronological order, gently segued, totaling 39 minutes. The first one gives you a couple of minutes to orient yourself before Godzilla reaches the power station.

These are not bass solos (other players present), but Phil steps beyond the normal zones of 1973-1974 collective abstraction to establish his own soundscape plots - dropping bombs, embracing distortion, shifting an octave, firing off drones and tones. The band generally steps back to give him a canvas, with much of the accompaniment minimal and often gentle. It is paradoxically violent and soothing music.

39-minute mp3 mix zipped up here (dates/cities included in song titles)

Cover art: Howard V. Brown for the May 1934 issue of Astounding Stories. It reminds me a little bit of the cover of Neil Young’s abstract distortion album “Arc,” while also inviting you to hear this music in color.

Grateful Dead: The Terrapin Bounce Jam (1993-1994)

This mix includes four isolated, exceptional examples of the distinctive jam the Grateful Dead often played after “Terrapin” in the final years. Four musical leaps in the same direction, totaling 16 minutes.

In this period, there is a decisive moment when - or a brief transitional period during which - the climactic Terrapin riff gives way to a breezier space. Instead of grinding the Terrapin riff out forever, the band turns a corner into a different zone.

Does the Terrapin Bounce Jam rise to the level of an official Grateful Dead “thematic jam?” Possibly, because it is distinct from earlier Terrapin jams and contemporary Playin’ jams (which it shares a vibe with). I feel that at many moments, it could turn toward or back to either/both of those zones. It is something like a fresh space in a Venn diagram comfort zone for 1993-1994 Dead - a “Terraplayin’ Jam.”

Whatever its thematic taxonomy, this jam WAS an exceptional comfort zone for the final band. The rhythm section locked into a peppy groove, while responding fluidly to the melodic players – Phil Lesh performing a wild, sinuous ballet across the groove. Bob Weir finding the right accents and places to punctuate. Vince Welnick providing essential melodic elements.

And Jerry Fucking Garcia, genius lead guitarist, operating in a wide-open space - unencumbered by rote requirements - laying down spellbinding narratives. He employed many tones, natural and MIDI, not just changing channels for novelty but seeing the next place he wanted to take things and paying it off.

To illustrate/celebrate this corner of Grateful Dead, I’ve chosen just four particularly developed, short, and corner-turning examples.

The jam/theme/turn/bounce appeared most of the time after Terrapin in the final years, but not always as an assertively self-contained jam. The Terrapin riff could extend farther in, creating a hybrid. The band could get pretty fierce for a long time within the “Terrapin Bounce” rhythm, without carving out a shape or turning dramatic corners. The jam could open up into a farther out thing or wind itself down, coherently, toward Drums.

Download 16 minutes/four versions of the jam on mp3s here

9/17/94 (4:39)
7/23/94 (4:25)
1/26/93 (3:11)
4/4/94 (3:23)

Cover art: Gyokusho Kawabata 1842-1914

If you’d like more versions and a bigger 1993-1994 context for this jam, try this older and much longer Save Your Face mix:

Notes and mp3s

Streaming

Shakedown Street: ’79 Jams

This mix celebrates Brent Mydland’s arrival on “Shakedown Street” in 1979 and the particularly excellent “disco Dead” that resulted. I’ve chosen seven 1979 performances to edit to semi-instrumentals: intro > solo section > final chorus & jam.

1979 is arguably the most deeply funky year for “Shakedown Street,” early Brent being exactly what the song - and the rest of the band - had been waiting for. Things really go to outer space in the Halloween performance.

The seven versions presented here are those for which there’s a soundboard recording that makes every player clearly audible and present – ensuring a properly syncopated and detailed groove.

“Shakedown Street” is not as easy to edit as many other Dead songs, but it only requires two splices, so I hope you’ll put up with a few moments of awkwardness in exchange for the extended, jammy experience.

71-minute mp3 mix here

8/13/79 (7:52)
8/31/79 (10:10)
10/25/79 (10:57)
10/31/79 (13:43)
11/25/79 (9:23)
11/29/79 (8:21)
12/26/79 (10:24)

Cover art: Richard Biffle

Grateful Dead: Space 1995

The Grateful Dead remained an experimental band to the end. This mix arranges portions of 1995 “Spaces” from 11 cities/runs, February through May, into several listening arcs, totaling two hours.

In 1995, certain themes recurred regularly in the open improv sections of shows, arguably making them a jam or jams that ought to be named. You’ll hear them in the “Philadelphia Suite” that leads this mix, and then more insistently and extensively in the “Thematic Suite” that follows.

I’ve also assembled a different flavor of improvisation into a “Melancholy Suite,” which highlights a quest for strange, gentle beauty. This portion of the mix sometimes aligns with the decade-spanning Save Your Face compilation “Chamber Music.”

And lastly, there are several great outliers from the above categories, with which I’ve concluded the mix.

Lesh said the Dead were always playing “Dark Star,” even when they weren’t. This is that music in 1995.

1h 50m mp3 mix zipped up here (dates/cities included in song titles)

Philadelphia Suite (18 minutes)

Three nights edited into a single track. It was a run packed with notable passages, which I’ve melded together.

Thematic Suite (49 minutes)

Nine segments from various shows, indexed as separate tracks

Melancholy Suite (31 minutes)

Eight segments from various shows, indexed as separate tracks

Outliers (13 minutes)

Three segments from three shows

Cover art: Detail from “Bed” by Robert Rauschenberg

Grateful Dead: Go to Alaska (June 19-21, 1980)

In June 1980, the Grateful Dead went to a very nice high school gym in Anchorage, Alaska, for three nights that included the summer solstice. The venue had previously hosted artists such as Dave Brubeck and Leonard Bernstein, and it held 2,000 people. The promoter sweetened the gig offer with a hunting and fishing trip for the band.

The Alaska run (June 19-21) came five days after the band dashed through Portland, Seattle, and Spokane on consecutive nights (June 12-14). A week after Alaska, the band performed in LA and San Diego and then took six weeks off.

This mix offers a 3-LP (2h 15m) Alaska “album” derived from eight hours of soundboard recordings (mastered by Miller), which I find exceptional.

The vocals are very forward, and every voice and instrument is clearly separated, while blending nicely. The resulting sound experience is very detailed and intimate-feeling, while also having plenty of oomph.

With very few exceptions, I was able to segue these picks, such that they provide an unbroken listening experience.

Download mp3s

Stream on YouTube

Feel Like a Stranger
The Music Never Stopped
Sugaree
Far from Me
Loser
Let it Grow
Althea
Estimated Prophet >
The Other One
Not Fade Away >
Black Peter
Playin’ in the Band
Supplication
Ship of Fools
Brokedown Palace

Grateful Dead: Early 1981 (February 26 - March 7)

Out of the gate in 1981, the Grateful Dead were lit. Exploratory and incendiary, it feels like a hard break with 1980. Perhaps the scrappy, early-‘80s Dead were born in February 1981?

This post wraps together four Save Your Face mixes that summarize the first eight shows of 1981. Created two years ago, these mixes were based largely on Jesse Jarnow’s 40th anniversary listening notes from 2021. Now these mixes are steaming.

When the band got together after a break (for a new year or a new tour), the joy of their reunion as an exploratory musical collective was often palpable and measurable in magic minutes. Early 1981 is one of those events, and these mixes focus on that jammier material.

Chicago - Uptown Theatre (February 26, 27, 28)

Three nights in 2.3 hours, featuring most of the big songs, with many instrumental edits to create long stretches of improvisational playing.

Youtube

The Grateful Dead: February 1973 Improvisational Highlights

This post offers a three-piece, chronological survey of improvisational Grateful Dead performances from their first seven shows of 1973 – February 9th to 24th – none of which have been officially released. Highlights of the last two shows of the month (2/26 & 2/28) were released as “Dick’s Picks, Vol. 28” (2003).

These are older Save Your Face mixes, but I am taking the opportunity to re-share them now that streaming options are available, in addition to the blog's traditional mp3 downloads.

February 1973 was rough going for nearly all the many new songs the band was learning on-stage that month, and old standards weren’t often particularly tight or exciting, compared to late 1972 or later 1973.

However, the improvisational band leapt into 1973 with a big grin on its face – continuing its rapid expansion into the spaces opened up by Pigpen’s departure from the stage in mid-1972. (He died in March 1973). “Like a steam locomotive, rolling down the track,” the Dead were constantly departing and arriving in this period.

This mix is a dense collection of February’s more exploratory passages. I included full (sung) songs and made instrumental edits as I saw fit, in order to avoid anything that got in the way of the overall momentum and quality.

The two new-for-1973 songs that were on target, right out of the gate, were “Eyes of the World” and “China Doll.” Both are extensively documented on the mix. With “Eyes,” you can hear the band figuring out how to put the pieces together to create the the structured ’73-’74 jam. There’s no good execution of “Here Comes Sunshine” in the first seven shows of the year, but they nailed it musically once, and that performance flowed seamlessly into “China Cat,” so I took out the sung parts of “Sunshine.” (You’re welcome!)

February 9, 1973: Palo Alto CA (56 minutes)

PA: Wavy Gravy
China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider
Uncle John’s Band (instr. edit)
Playin’ in the Band (instr. edit)
Eyes of the World (1st time played) >
China Doll (1st time played)

Stream on Youtube

Stream on Archive

Read the original post and download here

February 15-19, 1973: Madison WI, St. Paul MN, Chicago IL (107 minutes)

Bertha (2/15)
Here Comes Sunshine (instr. edit) > China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider (2/17)
Not Fade Away > Goin’ Down the Road > Not Fade Away (2/17)
Dark Star (2/15)
He’s Gone (2/19)
The Other One > Bass & Drums (edit 2/19)
Playin’ in the Band (2/15>2/17) > China Doll (2/15)
Birdsong (instr. edit 2/17)

Stream on Youtube

Stream on Archive

Read the original post and download here

February 21-24, 1973: Champaign Urbana IL, Iowa City IA (86 minutes)