Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Freak Freely!

bertha-200

The Grateful Dead doing The Beatles' Twist & Shout?! First this...

When I last posted '66 Dead, the show wasn't a show but studio sessions from the month of June when the lads were recording their first single -- Stealin' & Don't Ease Me In. The next recording we have is this one, a short bit of music from...

Fillmore Auditorium -- July 3, 1966
San Francisco, California


"Independence Ball"

Dancin' In The Street
I Know You Rider
He Was A Friend Of Mine
Next Time You See Me
Viola Lee Blues
Big Boss Man
Sittin' On Top Of The World


A fine Dancin' kicks this off and I do believe this is the first one we have a recording of. Once they really get going it feels like they've been playing it forever. Billy on drums helps rock this along, goin' non-stop while Jerry hits auto-pilot at times and Pig keeps pace on organ. Bob's givin' a great wail on vocals yet subtle at times to push the song along at a nice dancin' speed without burning everyone out. Rider then allows the boys to get back some of their earliest Dead roots. Even though this show is practically within the very first half year of the Grateful Dead, Rider's been there since Day 1 when the boys laid down the track in the Autumn Records studio back in November. Ohhhh... unfortunately it gets so rudely cut off way prematurely. Dang it! A nice He Was A Friend Of Mine cuts in and we get a slow spot in the show. Again, here is another "debut." They may have played it a couple dozen times before this but this is the first recording we have of this wonderful tune. Phil's bass is way noticeable here, really rollin' non-stop like Billy was in Dancin'. We finally get Pig on mic and harmonica with Next Time You See Me. A pretty safe and not too far out there Viola Lee follows before another "debut" -- Big Boss Man. A smokin' Sittin' On Top Of The World closes it out but unfortunately it cuts off just as Jerry is gettin' goin' with a solo. Ouch. That really hurts and it gives me an incomplete feeling at the end. Ah well, what are ya gonna do? It's mid-'66 so it's still priceless and the audio quality of the recording is so nice.

Grateful Dead Fillmore Auditorium 7/3/66 -- Bill Graham Presents poster BG014 [borrowed from www.deadlists.com]

ARCHIVE HEADPHONES7/3/66 @ the Internet Archive:
The Soundboard for Listening Only
ARCHIVE HEADPHONES
TINY STEAL YOUR FACE Download It Here TINY STEAL YOUR FACE

Source: shnid=40 Audio Quality:
Lineage: Soundboard Master Reel DAT ZA2 CDR
7-3-66 Fillmore Auditorium

BUT WAIT... there's more!

Here's a small bunch of... "music" that has no date or venue known for it. here are four tracks and they come from an Unlabeled reel and best as anyone knows this is from 1966 and that sounds about right. They've all been lumped together but they might not even be from the same show. One of the "songs" I have already put up, the first one, the "Nobody Cares" rap, but the others are new here. Pigpen's rap might be associated with 2/11/66 down in L.A. but that's purely speculation. The first three are undoubtedly from one of Ken Kesey's Acid Tests somewhere, sometime in '66.

Whenever this is specifically from, it's fun stuff to be sure. Pigpen is in such fine form and there's definitely some foreshadowing here of what's to come from him with all those unbelievable raps he turns in during Lovelight.

The second track is a short intro by Billy, Bobby & Pigpen to the third song which is "New Orleans," Bobby says. Pigpen runs with the vocals on this. I'm not sure where Jerry is, or Phil; it sounds like there's not a single note of guitar for over half the song but someone, while Pig is singing, is on harmonica. Who? Bobby? Hmmm... a mystery... and the tune totally bombs out before a proper ending but the improvness of it all is very cool.

To end this bit of mayhem is Twist & Shout with Pig on vocals and someone else on harmonica. So far as I know this is the only known version by the Grateful Dead. I wonder if this was in their repertoire briefly or if this is totally a one-off version. The latter is what it sounds like to me, like there's plenty of improv goin' on. Pig's in near-Lovelight-like form for this doin' his own thing on vocals most of the time. Definitely a fun romp while really not at all Beatles-like. Jerry's guitar isn't that up-front like it should be and that hurts the sound of the recording a little but he's wailin' away and wow... this is pretty cool!

ARCHIVE HEADPHONES00/00/66 @ the Internet Archive:
The Soundboard for Listening Only
ARCHIVE HEADPHONES
TINY STEAL YOUR FACE Download It Here TINY STEAL YOUR FACE

Audio Quality:

GD miscellaneous unknown (00-00-66)

The Music Never Stopped, 2009 -- Volume 50
7-3-66 a.k.a. a.k.a. 07-03-66 a.k.a. 7/3/66 a.k.a. 07/03/66 a.k.a. 66-07-03 mp3 download 320 kbps & set list

7 comments:

henryband said...

Can't wait to hear this one. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Zooma,
I have to be in the right mood for '66 stuff, but how can anyone pass up a cover of "Twist & Shout"?
Swahanfan

Anonymous said...

Alright more tasty vintage '66!! Read my mind this week, that's all I've listened to. Have a copy of 11-19-66? Love to get my hands on that! Thanks Zoooma!
~Dave~

keith h said...

Thanks again Zoooma for the Grateful Dead History Lesson!
You're all right!!!

Zoooma said...

henryband, Swahanfan, Dave & keith h: As always (even when I sometimes don't respond to comments on other posts) -- Thanks for your comments and you're welcome!

Every now and then, '66 hits the spot oh so perfectly! I can put one of these shows on, hit repeat, and listen for hours. Great stuff!

About 11/19/66: I wanna conquer '66 in order and there isn't that much so if I'm diligent, I can get to it in no time. Hang tight... or loose, whichever! I'll start thinking about more '66 for next week and we'll get to 11/19 before ya know it!

Timmy said...

OK, at the end of the ISLEY BROS.' cover of "Twist & Shout" I can detect Janis saying: "Good Stuff", then a bass riff of "La Bamba" is plucked, followed by what MUST be The Merry Pranksters replaying a tinny recording of the performance. What a stroke of luck to come upon this unlabeled tape! The sound is pretty darn good for that period. Thanx............

Zoooma said...

Isley Brothers? Not a John, Paul, George & Ringo original? Ahhh, I did not know that and thanks for the clarification, Timmy, BUT... out of 100 people, how many flash to the Isley Brothers when they hear Twist & Shout? Kinda likewise, how many think of Bonnie Dobson when they hear Morning Dew?

one says one number and the other another
but they were set at the same time. Hmmm...

i love you amy uzarski.  always!
 
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