Grateful Dead
Road Trips, Vol. 3, No. 3: Fillmore East

[May 15, 1970 - Early & Late Shows]

(Grateful Dead)

First Appeared in The Music Box, December 2010, Volume 17, #12

Written by John Metzger

Wed December 8, 2010, 06:30 AM CST

Because it contains material that has been a fixture of the Grateful Dead’s vibrant tape-trading circuit for decades, there are no revelations to be found on Road Trips, Vol. 3, No. 3. Nevertheless, this particular installment of the group’s ongoing series of archival releases has been long overdue. Boasting a quartet of jam-packed discs, Road Trips, Vol. 3, No. 3 features almost all of the music that the band performed over the course of two concerts that were held at Bill Graham’s legendary Fillmore East on May 15, 1970. The endeavor also includes a handful of magnificent highlights that were plucked from the previous night in St. Louis. Despite the widespread availability of these recordings, Road Trips, Vol. 3, No. 3 is a vital addition to the Grateful Dead’s canon. Not only is the music phenomenal, but these recordings also have never before sounded this pristine.

The concerts at the Fillmore East that are replicated on Road Trips, Vol. 3, No. 3 occurred during a critical juncture of the Grateful Dead’s career. The band was undergoing a monumental upheaval. Spurred by his burgeoning partnership with lyricist Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia had begun to assume a bigger role within the group. At the time of the shows, the Grateful Dead was getting ready to launch Workingman’s Dead; American Beauty would follow it to market before the end of the year. With a larger stash of songs in its repertoire — which seemed to grow exponentially every time the outfit returned to the road — the Grateful Dead had a broader range of styles at its disposal. While many of its sonic explorations continued to be rooted within the blues idiom, the outfit was starting to learn that it no longer was limited to building its psychedelic sojourns around tried-and-true, R&B-based grooves.

Road Trips, Vol. 3, No. 3 captures the Grateful Dead within the midst of this transition. Split between acoustic and electric sets, the band’s stylistic forays remained heavily compartmentalized. Nevertheless, the collection features the best of both worlds that the Grateful Dead had established. In some ways, the outfit was returning to its jug-band days, picking up pieces to the overall puzzle of its career, ones that hadn’t necessarily disappeared completely from its work but had, at least, been subdued by its late ’60s diversions.

Armed with traditional instrumentation, Bob Weir dabbled in country textures via Silver Threads & Golden Needles and Long Black Limousine — the former was a hit for rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson, while the latter had been a recent addition to Elvis Presley’s repertoire. Meanwhile, Garcia was unearthing songs that were staples of the folk and bluegrass scenes: Ballad of Casey Jones, Deep Elem Blues, Cold Jordan, and Bill Monroe’s A Voice from on High, among them. Pigpen still routinely delved into the blues, but his renditions of a trio of Lightnin’ Hopkins-penned tunes — Ain’t It Crazy (The Rub), Katie Mae, and She’s Mine — conveyed the rural ambience of the collective’s revolutionized persona.

Given that many of these songs were infrequent visitors to the Grateful Dead’s set lists — some of the tunes are making their recorded debuts on Road Trips, Vol. 3, No. 3 — it is not surprising that they sometimes were delivered with considerably less confidence than the band brought to its original material. A Voice from on High and Cold Jordan, in particular, were as intriguing as they were unrefined. Meanwhile, the steady, pensive plodding of Black Peter conjured foreboding darkness, while Friend of the Devil’s light gallop as well as the easy-going strum of Uncle John’s Band embodied the intimacy of a campfire gathering. Toward the end of 1970, the Grateful Dead retired its acoustic sets; when they briefly returned a decade later, the music was less ramshackle.

Fully amplified affairs, the latter half of the Grateful Dead’s performances at the Fillmore East exuded the rambunctious energy that epitomized the outfit’s mind-warping sojourns from the late 1960s. All of the heavy-hitting songs from the group’s repertoire were present — an epic rendition of That’s It for the Other One, a pair of explosive romps through St. Stephen, the hazily spiritual overtones of Dark Star, and ferocious covers of Good Lovin’ and Turn on Your Lovelight. Showcasing the Grateful Dead’s mastery of musical dynamics, moments of full-throttled fury pressed against passages of tender fragility. As usual, the material was twisted into a variety of shapes that allowed the band and its fans to view them from fresh perspectives.

In spite of the many familiar touchstones that lined the Grateful Dead’s performances at the Fillmore East, it is clear that the band’s sound was beginning to mutate. The two versions of I Know You Rider that surfaced during the concerts — both of which are included on Road Trips, Vol. 3, No. 3 — highlight how dramatically and quickly its approach was shifting. Performed with acoustic instruments at the onset of the early show, the song assumed a weary, heavyhearted moodiness that stood in stark contrast to the more familiar interpretations that the Grateful Dead delivered throughout its career. Even in 1970, the tune — almost to a fault — had become inseparable from China Cat Sunflower. Sure enough, it was presented in this fashion during the late-night electric set. Right from the start, these tracks fit together naturally. Still in an embryonic form, the pairing typified the joy of discovery that permeated this era of the Grateful Dead’s rich history.

Of Further Interest...

Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks, Vol. 4: Fillmore East, February 13-14, 1970

Grateful Dead - Road Trips, Vol. 1, No. 3: Summer '71

Grateful Dead - Road Trips, Vol. 2, No. 3: Wall of Sound, June 1974

Grateful Dead - Road Trips, Vol. 3, No. 1: Oakland, 12/28/79

Grateful Dead - Road Trips, Vol. 3, No. 2: Austin, 11/15/71

Road Trips, Vol. 3, No. 3: Fillmore East, 5/15/70 is NOT available
from Barnes & Noble. 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!!

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