This mix presents 80 minutes from the first night of the Dead’s 1991 two-show run in Greensboro, NC. The second night is curated separately, here (same cover art).
I haven’t previously offered a mixtape from this show, because two of the most outstanding songs (Samson and Eyes) were released as filler on Dick’s Picks 17: September 21, 1991 Boston. The Samson is incendiary, and the long Eyes is both wonderful overall and has a truly magnificent passage; between the first and second vocal sections, Hornsby finds a magical riff, Jerry and the band latch on for Hornsby’s extended solo, and then Jerry delivers a great “flute” solo that is loud enough in the soundboard mix to really kick, for once. (When he turned on that effect, he almost aways got quieter than his natural sound.)
I am offering up a mixtape of the show now, because I’m going through all the shows I actually saw (merely 11) and discovering the best stuff I witnessed. The next night in Greensboro delivered the “Dark Star” I’d been waiting for, and this first night gave me the extraordinary “Eyes” to match. Big numbers checked off.
Never knew ’til now that I caught a notable, short “Might as Well” resurgence, or that the second half of this “Around and Around” was something I’d prize 30 years later.
More comments on the performance and the Hornsby/Welnick era below the track list.
- West LA Fadeaway
- Cassidy
- Samson & Delilah
- Eyes of the World >
- Playin’ in the Band
- The Wheel >
- Around & Around
- Might As Well
More talking:
I am ambivalent (song by song) about the Hornsby/Welnick keyboard double-up. Hornsby was as wonderful a keys player as any they had, and I’m a committed Welnick fan in the 1994-ish moment (and credit both his and the drummers’ restraint for the magic of the band’s final “sound”).
However, there’s often too much going on in the overlap period, with Hornsby playing an actual piano forcing Welnick’s sounds into unpleasant places, to keep him distinct from everyone else playing chords and fills into the collective, mid-range-frequency, -rhythm, -harmonics zone. (“Nice solo, Vince, but what instrument are they making you play?” But also, it is not a bit worse than that f*cking accordion.)
All that said, the too-many-players issue was often not an issue at all, resolving itself into a sonic slab that is quite exhilarating and distinct, as on this “West LA Fadeaway.” And a lot of the time, everyone was so respectful of each other that you have no visceral sense of two keyboards (and Weir, and two drummers) getting crowded. For example, this “Eyes.”
People complain about Welnick’s “tones,” and I get that, but I also think these people are talking primarily about 1991-1992, rather than his post-Hornsby playing. (e.g., the best of 1993-1994)
As the post-Hornsby, solo keyboardist, Welnick chose more natural piano sounds for the most of his playing, displayed his jazzy harmonic instincts all over the place, and become a nuanced accompanist who didn’t insert the constant aggro-horny energy of Brent Mydland. He was restrained and thoughtful.
Welnick was relegated to the texture guy, the sheets-of-synths-guy, for a couple of years, then he got his shot as a full participant in a smaller combo, and I think he made his mark. So, this mixtape from a ’91 show is more about Hornsby than Welnick. Just saying, don’t shoot off your mouth about Welnick until you’ve done all the listening homework.