Published on Mar 1, 1997
Since the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, fans of the Grateful
Dead like myself have been lost. We’ve been able to get through the
last year and a half with tapes made at shows and the promises of a
final Dead album to be released from the few studio sessions the
band did.
Instead of that album materializing, three multi-disc sets have
appeared on the commercial front. (One of these,
The Arista Years, is a blatant ripoff, featuring no new or
rare tracks, and I refuse to buy it or review it, Deadhead or not a
Deadhead.)
The latest set,
Dozin’ At The Knick, is a three-disc package compiling the
Grateful Dead’s 1990 stand at the Knickerbocker Arena just a few
short weeks before keyboardist/vocalist Brent Mydland overdosed.
(Just a question – why hasn’t the band released any material with
their final keyboardist Vince Welnick?) While this set has some
minor flaws, it captures the early-’90s Dead almost perfectly.
The first disc features several songs that became show standards
for the latter-day Dead, such as “Hell In A Bucket,” “Walkin’
Blues” and “When I Paint My Masterpiece.” One track, “Dupree’s
Diamond Blues,” is a surprise inclusion, but it also shows the
track has lost the magic of the studio version (off of
Aoxomoxoa).
Garcia’s vocals seem strong, as does his playing – his fluid
leads seem to serve as an extra voice in the light, airy pop of the
Dead. Mydland’s vocals, sorely missed after his death (not a
criticism of Welnick), show strength for the band – as well as a
rare obscenity that made me check that track twice in
disbelief.
In one sense, you could view disc one as a representation of a
typical first set from the Dead – I was there for the final show at
Soldier Field, and damned if they didn’t do “When I Paint My
Masterpiece” in the first set.
Discs two and three, then, make up the typical second set. The
second disc features some real gems, as well as some
disappointments. “Playin’ In The Band” has always been a great
track, but this version seems to be missing something. The same
can’t be said for “Uncle John’s Band,” which is just as powerful as
it was when it came out in 1970. One of the two gems on this set is
the live “Terrapin Station,” a song which only in the past few
years have I really grown to appreciate. “Drums” sounds like quite
a bit got cut from it, as does “Space” – even near the end, it
wasn’t unusual for the Dead to noodle around with this portion of
the show for a half hour.
The final disc brings the second set to a close, and leaves us
with a great encore. Leading out of “Space” is “The Wheel,” long a
favorite of mine. Garcia brings the tempo to a crawl with “Stella
Blue,” one of the better versions I’ve heard of a track I am not
especially fond of. But the versoin of “Not Fade Away” fading into
just the audience chanting the refrain – and then leading into “And
We Bid You Goodnight” is just incredible.
But the real special moment on
Dozin’ At The Knick is the appearance of “I Will Take You
Home,” a track that often brings me to tears because of its beauty.
Mydland was at the top of his form when he co-wrote this one, and
this version shows why it is my favorite Dead song.
Dozin’ At The Knick has its good and bad moments – much like
a typical Dead show – but this one is the best Dead live album to
come out since
One From The Vault popped forth in 1990. This will
definitely feed the appetites of my fellow Deadheads – but we
haven’t forgotten about the studio album.