Save Your Face

This mix is a 21-minute edit of all 10 Keith and Jerry “They Love Each Other” solo passages from April and May, 1977. Three tracks include only Garcia’s solo. 

It’s a wonderful, woozy conversation, in slow motion. They’re not quite two souls in communion. Keith is a little uptight and resistant, though flirtatious. Jerry’s just like, “Come on baby, let’s go downtown and have some fun.” Except for one night, when Keith was the horny one.

I did the best I could with the segues (jump cuts), given the combo of official sources and fan sources, including audience tapes. The sonic and mood shifts might actually enhance the drama of this dialogue going round in circles.

The download contains both a single-track (21-minute file) and an “album” made up of the 10 separate pieces - in case you want to poke around by date. The single-track file is tagged to become part of this mix, which includes similar edits of Spring ’77 performances of Peggy-O, Sugaree, and Brown-Eyed Women.

21-minute mp3 mix zipped up here (dates in tags)

The Grateful Dead’s first tour of 1977 began on Friday April 22, at Philadelphia’s Spectrum, followed the next night by a show in Springfield, Massachusetts. 

As always, it’s great to hear the Dead discovering themselves again after a break. Ahead of the Spring 1977 tour of the east coast and midwest, the band had only two live moments – February 26-27 in San Bernardino and Santa Barbara, and March 18-19-20 at Winterland in San Francisco.

What we think of as the distinctive, shiny 1977 Dead really gets underway on April 22, far from home, on the first night of a tour that would last more than a month and become “May ’77.”

I always zoom in to the improvisational material from shows that followed a break of any length, because it’s the band doing what comes naturally, versus the band getting together their tightness and sound for formal songs.

The first two shows of Spring ’77 find the band in a feisty, often aggressive, starting position, digging their teeth into the jams, and making sounds that are not yet May ’77, but which also contain the protean matter thereof. Lots of attention-drawing Keith playing.

Two obvious points of interest are the second and third performances of “Fire on the Mountain” (and of the transition from “Scarlet Begonias” into “Fire”). Everyone trying things out on the new song. Also, you will never hear another disco “Dancin’” like this “Dancin’ > Mojo > Dancin’” sequence. Out of bounds "Not Fade Away." Hot "Help > Slipknot! > Franklin's." A 20-minute "Playin'" that never breaks stride. Two hours well spent.

2-hour mp3 mix zipped up here (dates included in tags)

• Scarlet Begonias > 
• Fire on the Mountain
• Help of the Way > Slipknot! > (instr. edit)
• Franklin’s Tower
• Playin’ in the Band
• Dancin’ in the Streets Jam > Got My Mojo Working > Dancin’ in the Streets >
• The Wheel
• Scarlet Jam > Fire on the Mountain
• Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad >
• Not Fade Away

What if May '77 Grateful Dead performances of "Brown Eyed Women," "Peggy-O," and "They Love Each Other" were 10-20 minutes long? That question and one other are answered by this mix.

The three mentioned songs are presented in edits that include 8-10 solo sections - combining the most variable portions of the month's performances into tour-spanning extended versions. Additionally, the month's longest "Sugaree" is edited into an all-instrumental version. 

This is a revision of a previous SYF mix, now including the TLEO edit, created after the previous version of this collection. I believe that all these edits were suggested by SYF fans.

65-minute mp3 mix zipped up here

Brown-Eyed Women (12 minutes) 

An extended version that includes the solo sections of nine May 1977 performances. May 28 leads off and provides the first vocal section and solo. The closing vocal section comes from 5/8. The month’s BEW solo sections lasted 40-60 seconds each.

Peggy-O (21 minutes) 

Same approach as with “Brown Eyed Women.” The beginning and end (with the sung sections) are provided by May 9. In between, there are an additional eight solo sections from the month’s performances. Most of the solo sections are ~1:45 in length. May 11 is the longest at 2:30. I skipped one version which doesn't circulate in a good SBD or AUD recording. Only one comes from a non-official source.

OCD notes: For BEW, I sequenced to conceal tempo changes, so it would simulate a continuous, relentless solo break. For Peggy-O, I shuffled tempo here and there, so that the repetition of the instrumental break’s arc would be disrupted by some mood/body shifts. 

They Love Each Other (21 minutes)

This edit includes all 10 Keith and Jerry “They Love Each Other” solo passages from April and May, 1977 - except that three excerpts include only Garcia’s solo. 

It’s a wonderful, woozy conversation, in slow motion. They’re not quite two souls in communion. Keith is a little uptight and resistant, though flirtatious. Jerry’s just like, “Come on baby, let’s go downtown and have some fun.” Except for one night, when Keith was the horny one.

I did the best I could with the segues (jump cuts), given the combo of official sources and fan sources, including audience tapes. The sonic and mood shifts might actually enhance the drama of this dialogue going round in circles.

Sugaree (10 minutes)

An instrumental edit of the May 19, 1977 performance. It was the longest of the month.

Additional May 1977 Save Your Face mixes:

• Fire on the Mountain: All May versions edited into instrumentals
• Dancin' in the Streets: A 5/8 lead-off, followed by all of the month's jam segments
• May '77 Prequel: The first two, April, shows of the tour, curated into a fun form

This mix is a continuous, instrumental edit of the jams from all seven May 1977 performances of “Dancin’ in the Streets.”

Every time the band finishes the synchronized riff section of one jam, they slide right into the beginning of another night’s jam. All dancing, no singing.

The segues are seamless, but I’ve presented the mix as seven tracks, so you can compare the performances. Aside from the first track, which includes the opening of the song, each version starts at the same moment. The final version fades out. All performances have been officially released, except for 5/1 and 5/4.

67-minute mp3 mix zipped up here

• Dancin’ Intro & Jam > (5/8/77)
• Dancin’ Jam > (5/19/77)
• Dancin’ Jam > (5/15/77)
• Dancin’ Jam > (5/12/77)
• Dancin’ Jam > (5/22/77)
• Dancin’ Jam > (5/1/77)
• Dancin’ Jam (5/4/77)

This mix is a companion to this May ’77 “Fire on the Mountain” jams collection.  

This collection provides instrumental edits of every Grateful Dead performance of “Fire on the Mountain” in May 1977. It was still a new song, played only six times prior to these versions.

As an improvisational vehicle, the song had three parts, all with variable lengths and approaches:

• The introduction, up to the first verse
• The middle jam, between the two verses
• The rousing final jam, which led to the “Scarlet Begonias” bookend close

In addition to eliminating the verses and choruses, I’ve also removed the return to the baseline groove that occurred between the middle jam and the second verse, so those solo-driven parts flow together without a slow-down. 

Otherwise, it’s all the music - each performance as a pure jam that reveals the essential differences among them. They range from seven to twelve minutes each. All have been officially released except 5/4/77.

72-minute mp3 mix zipped up here

• Fire Jam (5/4/77)
• Fire Jam (5/5/77)
• Fire Jam (5/8/77)
• Fire Jam (5/11/77)
• Fire Jam (5/13/77)
• Fire Jam (5/17/77)
• Fire Jam (5/21/77)
• Fire Jam (5/25/77)

You'll find a mix of May '77's "Dancin' in the Streets" jams here.