224kbps mp3 compilation here (49 minutes)
- The Main Ten (2-19-69 San Francisco, CA) (Note: This mp3 file is misdated in the download, but the date here is correct.)
- The Seven (3-21-70 Port Chester, NY)
- The Main Ten (11-6-70 Port Chester, NY)
- The Eleven Jam > (10-10-68 San Francisco, CA - Mickey and The Hartbeats)
- The Seven (10-10-68 San Francisco, CA - Mickey and The Hartbeats)
- The Main Ten (11-8-70 Port Chester, NY)
- The Seven (9-29-69 New York, NY)
Here's one more!
The Main Ten (6/7/70 San Francisco, CA) (5:40) - tagged to drop onto the end of the above comp.
A commenter on this blog inquired: “Do you take requests? How about an edit of various Playin/Main Ten jams. I love that theme, but often can do without the whole song.”
I have no access to or expertise in the history of “Playin’” jams across the band’s career, but I did realize that most of the pre-“Playin’,” “Main Ten” jams would be audience-only recordings and therefore easily accessible on archive.org.
So, I grabbed not only “The Main Ten” (in 10/4), but also performances of “The Seven” (in 7/8). “The Eleven” (in 11/8) is the more famous early Dead kin to these other songs/jams.
(“Estimated Prophet” is also in 7/8, and the climactic riff in the 1973-1974 “Eyes” jam is in 7/4. I’m not sure what else is worthy of note in the Dead catalog.)
There are a few Dead performances of an “Eleven jam,” without the whole song structure, but those are soundboard-only recordings, and I can’t obtain them. However, in October 1968, Mickey and the Hartbeats (Garcia, Lesh, Hart) jammed both “The Eleven” and “The Seven” extensively, and I’ve changed up the time signature in the middle of this mix by including a performance by them that segues 11 into 7.
The first track here – “The Main Ten” (6-19-68) – is, I believe, the first recorded evidence of the “Playin’ in the Band” riff. The 11-8-70 performance is the last recorded version, prior to the arrival of “Playin’” itself. It also features a wonderful, long transition into "Dancin' in the Streets." The 11-6-70 version is notable for some remarkable audience clapping near the beginning.
Recordings of "The Main Ten" missing from this mix/post, that I am aware of, are:
- 11/8/69 (3:12) - On "Dick's Picks" #16 and stream here
- 12/5/69 (2:39) - stream here
- 5/3/70 (inaudible audience recording)
If you’re interested in riff-based compilations, you might enjoy Slipknot ’74 and the earliest Eyes jams from 1973.