Every once in a while, live Grateful Dead spontaneously produced what seems like a perfect, finished composition. This one is arguably the greatest example of what I've started calling Dead "chamber music". Suddenly the band is a string trio, it sounds like they are bowing their instruments, and the piece they are playing is moody and gorgeous. It's 1972's sophisticated update of the gentle drones that concluded "Feedback" in 1969. Why wasn’t there more of this?
Cover image by Saul Steinberg