|
| |
Grateful Dead
Road Trips, Vol. 1, No. 2: October '77
(Grateful Dead/Rhino)
Douglas Heselgrave's #20 album for 2008
First Appeared in The Music Box, April 2008, Volume 15, #4
Written by John Metzger
Thu April 24, 2008, 07:00 AM CDT
It’s hard to go wrong with anything that the Grateful Dead did in 1977. Even
a compilation of material like Road Trips, Vol. 1, No. 2 comes out
smelling like roses. Although nearly all of the shows from the era are worthy of
release, the realization of this vision is impractical and commercially
unviable, especially if a consistent level of sonic clarity is to be achieved.
Of course, the utmost care must be taken when pulling the band’s songs out of
context. In this particular instance, however, the collection’s jigsaw puzzle
construction — which delicately reassembles the bits and pieces of a trio of
concerts that were held within the span of five days in mid-October — arguably
fares better than the full-length performances from whence they came.
In fact, one of the most intriguing aspects of the Road Trips series
is its presentation. Much like its predecessor, which emphasized material from
the Grateful Dead’s sojourn in the fall of 1979, the sequencing of Road
Trips, Vol. 1, No. 2 will keep the ensemble’s longtime followers feeling
somewhat off-kilter and disoriented. The familiar patterns into which the group
increasingly fell over the course of its career are only marginally present
within the composition of the three-disc effort. Yet, this time, the overall
flavor of the affair — despite its surprising twists and turns — is utterly
believable. In effect, the mood that has been created evokes the same level of
excitement and anticipation as the Grateful Dead’s performances once did, and
the end result inevitably forces fans to view its music from a fresh
perspective.
The mock first set, for example, begins with a powerfully intense rendition
of Let It Grow, which undeniably serves as an attention-grabbing, opening
number. The Grateful Dead aggressively attacked the tune, and the relentless
blast of energy that the band used to propel the melody along its path also
fueled Jerry Garcia’s exhilarating flights on guitar. Yet, for as hard as the
Grateful Dead drove Let It Grow, it also pulled back at the last possible
moment in order to allow the song to conclude with a gentle, mournful sigh. The
fighting fury the group had demonstrated during the previous nine-plus minutes
of the composition suddenly dissipated, thus echoing the cycle of life, death,
and rebirth.
Sugaree, the subsequent track on Road Trips, Vol. 1, No. 2,
exhibited a yearning thirst for connection. As it progressed, its weary plea
mutated into bittersweet reflection, and with every circular spiral that was
sketched in notes by Garcia, the air of confident determination that lurked deep
within the song grew stronger. Although Let It Grow and Sugaree
were culled from two different shows, they surprisingly fit together quite
nicely, and in due course, they effectively establish a tone that lingers for
the duration of the endeavor.
As was the case with many of the Grateful Dead’s concerts, Road Trips,
Vol. 1, No. 2 contains stories within stories and songs within songs. Moods
shift and change, and passages that initially appear to be standing at odds
suddenly mutate to reveal different views of a larger picture. When the wide
open, majestic expanses of Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo narrow
their focus to depict the tale told in El Paso, the move appears to be
deliberate. Yet, there also are moments when the band seems to be driven by some
greater force to find the brilliantly colored connections that lie among the
rapidly firing synapses of its collective, subconscious mind.
Black Peter and Around and Around might stand, both lyrically and
musically, in sharp contrast to one another. However, when the gut-wrenching
anguish of Black Peter dissolves in the joyous release of Around and
Around, the latter tune gains meaning from its predecessor. The end result
is that the pairing, once again, draws attention to the hidden spiritual context
that consistently drifted through the ensemble’s work. The descending stairway
that led from Help on the Way into the darkened shadows of Slipknot!
and the ascendent climb toward the ebullience of Franklin’s Tower offer
microcosmic glimpses at the images of creation and destruction and Heaven and
Hell that the Grateful Dead frequently painted with sound.
One certainly could argue that David Lemieux and Blair Jackson, who were
responsible for deciding what songs to showcase on Road Trips, Vol. 1, No. 2,
played God by slicing, dicing, and re-sequencing the material. With careful
consideration, however, they merely highlighted aspects that always have existed
within the Grateful Dead’s performances. It helps, of course, that Lemieux and
Jackson left a lengthy string of tunes intact from the ensemble’s October 16,
1977 concert in Baton Rouge. Yet, the progression — which shifts from the
tumultuous rush of The Other One to the sprightly bounce of Good Lovin’
to the epic narrative of Terrapin Station to the gospel-hued blues of Black Peter to the explosiveness of Around and Around — is so
delightfully weird that it suitably ties everything together by keeping fans on
their toes.
The bonus disc — which also includes material from a fourth concert — misses
the mark slightly. Problems with a microphone plagued an otherwise lovely
rendition of Donna Jean Godchaux’s Sunrise, and the Grateful Dead
careened in and out of synch during both Iko Iko and The Wheel. On
the other hand, the trilogy of Scarlet Begonias, Fire on the Mountain,
and Estimated Prophet was stunning (as usual), and Wharf Rat was
positively perfect. There’s no question that the act of assembling a compilation
of highlights from the Grateful Dead’s archives — as opposed to issuing
full-length shows — always will draw some level of controversy. However, Road
Trips, Vol. 1, No. 2 provides proof that, if it is done correctly, the magic
that made the band so special can be recaptured and put prominently on display.  ½
Of Further Interest...
Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks, Volume 10: December 29-30, 1977
Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks, Volume 34: November 2 & 5, 1977
Grateful Dead - Road Trips, Vol. 1, No. 3: Summer '71
Grateful Dead - Road Trips, Vol. 1, No. 4: From Egypt with Love
Donna Jean Finds Her Groove: An Interview with Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay
Road Trips, Vol. 1, No. 2: October '77 is NOT available from
Amazon. To order, please visit the Grateful Dead Site!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2008 The Music Box
|
