Published on Dec 31, 1998
Any true fan of the Grateful Dead will freely admit that Jerry
Garcia and crew had good nights and bad nights. What you would get
at a particular show was a crap shoot. (I only attended one Dead
show – the last night in Chicago prior to Garcia’s death in 1995 –
and it was beautiful, despite lyrical flubs.)
So, as tape archivist Dick Latvala continues to comb through the
Dead’s numerous shows, we’re bound to get a few shows here and
there that don’t live up to the incredible head-trip mind-blow.
Such is the case with
Dick’s Picks Volume Two, taken from a show in Columbus, Ohio
on Halloween 1971. It’s not a bad set, just a little weird in some
ways.
Comprising of only six tracks (c’mon, Dick, you didn’t have a
full show to put out? Sorry, but I’m a bit of a purist in this
regard), Garcia and crew were still adjusting to new keyboardist
Keith Godchaux. (Original keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan died in
1973.) So the feel on some of these songs is a bit slow, like the
traditional crowd-pleaser “Dark Star”. Comprising of only one verse
before branching out into a jam, the tempo is far too slow on this
one for my tastes; it almost seems like a jazz beat gone a tad
wrong. Oh, it’s still a decent enough rendition, and the jam more
than makes up for the minor complaints, but I found it to be a
difficult adjustment.
Likewise, there’s something missing from this version of “St.
Stephen,” though I can’t easily put my finger on it. It just
doesn’t sound as comfortable as it has in shows past – and this was
a staple of their set for a long time. However, Bob Weir’s
performance on “Sugar Magnolia” helps save face in between these
two tracks.
For me, the highlight of
Dick’s Picks Volume Two is the montage of “Not Fade Away”
into “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad”, then going back into “Not
Fade Away” to close the show. It’s an interesting twist on things,
and the band is able to keep me interested all the way through.
This is noteworthy because “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad” is not
one of my all-time favorite Dead songs.
The one regret I have with this disc is that it’s too damned
short. Just when I started to really get into things, Weir was
bidding the crowd good night. (This is, so far, the only volume in
the set that was a one-disc release; Latvala must have realized
that less isn’t always more.) Although I don’t have my battered
copy of
DeadBase in front of me at this moment, I would think there
had to be a solid enough set to complement what is already
released.
Of course, Deadheads who don’t already have this disc will be
running out the door to pick it up. (Arista Records recently
released the first six volumes of
Dick’s Picks on the market; they were previously available
only through Grateful Dead Merchandising – where volumes 7 through
12 are still only available.) It’s still a worthy enough effort for
you to spend an hour with, and Deadheads will thrill to hear
Garcia’s playing again, but this disc leaves me with a serious case
of the musical munchies.