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Song Review: Grateful Dead - “Touch of Grey” (Live, July 12, 1989)

Back in the late 1980s, Sound Bites was often thrilled when the Grateful Dead opened a show with “Touch of Grey.” Being a somewhat-jaded Dead Head at the time, the blog was happy to get the hit single out of the way.

But hearing a high-quality version of the July 12, 1989, show-opening version today - 28 years after attending the show and just hours before the entire heretofore unreleased concert will be shown in theaters around the county to commemorate what should have been Jerry Garcia’s 75th birthday - Sound Bites is reminded how even seemingly mundane Dead performances were usually anything but.

What it lacks in spontaneity, this “Touch of Grey” makes up for with professionalism.

This version is similar to the one on In the Dark, with Brent Mydland recreating the familiar keyboard intro, Garcia keeping his solo short and to-the-point and Bob Weir joining Garcia and Mydland on the exuberant we will get by/we will survive refrain.

Sound Bites probably found it to be deflating at the time. But in highlight, he’d kill to experience Garcia singing “Touch of Grey” just one more time.

The show that spawned this performance and the following evening’s festivities will be released Nov. 10 as the simply titled Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, Washington, D.C., July 12 & 13, 1989, six-CD set. It’ll include the two complete concerts and features a guest appearance from Bruce Hornsby and covers of tracks by Bob Dylan, Traffic and others.

“The RFK shows are as good as any of the more famous shows from this period, including July 4 in Buffalo, July 7 in Philadelphia, and the Alpine run,” band archivist David Lemieux said on Dead.net, where the set is available for pre-order.

“When Bob Weir has asked me to provide copies of Grateful Dead songs to give to his bandmates to learn and rehearse, he almost always requests Summer ‘89, and I’ve often drawn upon the RFK shows for this purpose.

“It’s really that good!”

Grade card: Grateful Dead - “Touch of Grey” (Live - 7/12/89) - A-

You either get the Grateful Dead… or you don’t. Being a Deadhead isn’t just about being a fan—it’s a state of mind, a lifestyle, a musical devotion unlike anything else in rock culture. The Grateful Dead inspires a loyalty far beyond casual listening, creating a uniquely tight-knit community of followers who continue to celebrate the band’s free-spirited ethos decades after their…

Song Review: Cordovas - “Truckin’” (”Hear Here”)

The Grateful Dead played “Truckin’” more than 500 times between 1970 and 1995, according to Dead.net, and most of the performances were recorded. This, of course, means fans can hear more versions, in varying degrees of quality, than anyone in their right mind would care to.

What this also means is a straightforward cover, such as the one Cordovas recorded for “Hear Here,” is essentially pointless.

In a departure from many of the Dead’s versions, Cordovas’ singers remember all the words. In solidarity with many Dead versions, the vocals suck.

And that makes it even more pointless.

Grade card: Cordovas - “Truckin’” (”Hear Here”) - D-

Quarter Notes: Blurbs & Briefs from Sound Bites

LONG(ER) STRANGE VIDEO: "Long Strange Trip: The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead" is coming to DVD and Blu-ray Nov. 9.

Also available is a deluxe, triple-disc edition that tacks 105 minutes onto the four-hour original, including six songs from the band's May 24, 1970, concert at England's Hollywood Festival and performances of "Death Don't Have No Mercy" and "Dear Mr. Fantasy" recorded in 1989. Snippets of the bonus material appeared in the version that streamed on Amazon Prime in 2017, “but this marks the first time they will be released in their entirety," said a statement from Dead.net.

DICKEY BETTS ‘RESPONDING VERY WELL’ AFTER STROKE: Former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts is “responding very well to treatment” after a suffering a minor stroke over the weekend, his manager said. Betts subsequently cancelled three August tour dates and plans to return to the stage in the fall.

The guitarist is “very encouraged by the results,” of his care, manager David Spero said on Facebook.

“He was overwhelmed by the good wishes and prayers sent his way. He told me ... that he can’t wait to see his fans on Nov. 1.”

TARNISHING THE LEGACY: Former Dire Straits keyboardist Alan Clark and former touring members Danny Cummings (percussion), Mel Collins (sax) and Phil Palmer (guitar) will be joined by bassist Trevor Horn of the Buggles and Yes, drummer Steve Ferrone of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, singer Marco Caviglia and keyboardist Primiano DiBiase, to tour the United States as DSL Dire Straits Legacy. And there will not be a Knopfler (neither Mark nor David) or an Illsley (bassist John) anywhere nearby.

“The DSL Dire Straits Legacy project was born from our love and respect for the music of Dire Straits, and to bring the music to fans who have been starved of hearing it played live by the musicians who made it, for far too long,” Clark and Collins said in a statement announcing the tour.

That's one way to look at it. Then there's what Illsley told Rolling Stone last year when the musicians toured as the Straits: “It would be like some people coming together and calling themselves the Stones or the Floyd. You can’t really do that. You were members of the band for a while, but you don’t own the name."

More info at: DSlegacy.com.

DMB WEBCAST ON TAP: Dave Matthews Band will live stream its Sept. 1 concert for free on its YouTube channel. The show, from Washington state’s Gorge Amphitheater, begins at 11 p.m. Eastern.

Song Reviews: Grateful Dead - “Looks Like Rain” and “Stella Blue” (Live, June 24, 1973)

Although they were a sextet in 1973 and ‘74, the Grateful Dead were still capable of playing pin-drop music when the songs called for it. And when the band played “Looks Like Rain” and “Stella Blue” in Portland, Ore., on June, 24, 1973, the songs called for it.

The tracks were released on Dead.net to preview the next Grateful Dead limited-edition box set, the six-show, 19-disc Pacific Northwest ‘73-‘74. It’s out Sept. 7, along with a slimmed-down, best-of collection called Believe it if You Need It and a vinyl release featuring the Dead’s complete May 19, 1974, concert.

In this context, drummer Bill Kreutzmann and pianist Keith Godchaux focus on adding color; bassist Phil Lesh - as usual - still finds a way to gurgle up through the music in his inimitable style; while Jerry Garcia is his equally inimitable self on lead guitar. For her part, Donna Jean Godchaux is mostly a non-factor, chiming in on the coda of “Looks Like Rain,” but otherwise sitting out these numbers.

There are times - particularly in “Stella Blue” - where the music simmers down to almost nothing. This song is the more successful of the two, as Garcia was, and remained until the band’s end, better at subtle vocals than Bob Weir, whose out-of-control voice occasionally makes “Looks Like Rain” a difficult listen despite the beautiful playing that accompanies him.

Both of these songs were still relatively new additions in 1973 and had not yet blossomed into the powerful, emotional, performances pieces they would quickly become and remain until 1995. They are; however, evidence of the softer side of the Grateful Dead - one that would have seemed unimaginable only a few years before when the band was dripping in far-out psychedelia and down-and-dirty blues with Pigpen.

Grade card: “Looks Like Rain” and “Stella Blue” (Live - 6/24/73) - B-/B+

Hear them here: http://www.dead.net/store/music/new-releases/pacific-northwest-73-74-complete-recordings-boxed-set?eml=2018July13/4371214/6131962&etsubid=39934548

An Open Letter To The Dead.Net Comment Section

Dear Dead.Net Comment Section, Who did this to you, Dead.Net Comment Section? Who hurt you like this to inspire such confused fusillades of fury? You lash out against your surroundings like a hungry baby wolverine; you are made of teeth and opinions, D.NCS. Today’s announcement that Dave’s Picks Volume 23 would be the legendary 1/22/78 show from Eugene, Oregon should have been a joyous occasion,…

I Know We’ll Be There Soon

I’m just going to be honest with you, Enthusiasts: I have no fucking clue what this is. The closest I can get to an understanding is that sometime in the late 90’s, the Grateful Dead was going to open up some sort of facility called Terrapin Station. I’d be more specific, but I can’t. Look at the paragraph explaining what Terrapin Station is: TERRAPIN STATION is programmed to recreate and enhance…