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Poster: | Cliff Hucker | Date: | Feb 9, 2009 6:03am |
Forum: | GratefulDead | Subject: | 2/11/70 - Fire Breathing Dragon at the Taper's Section |
"During our set, we're tiptoeing through a quiet part of "Dark Star" when Duane Allman comes onstage and plugs in. I'm fixated on the fingers of my left hand, so I dont see him at first. Jerry plays a minimal version of the melody in place of a sung verse, and the first notes of Duane's slide guitar creep out of his speakers. I look over, startled: Jerry, that prankster, hadn't told me that he'd invited anybody to sit in. Duane a lanky towhead with a walrus mustache, is a little tentative at first, but soon gains confidence and begins adding thoughts to the flow. The music grows - and falls back into a very sparce, quiet space. Jerry takes the music into the minor tonic, and the thread becomes more and more tenuous as the dynamic remains quiet. Peter Green from the Mac plugs in just as I'm pulling the music into the dominant minor, both he and Duane seem to feel more comfortable in this space. Peter even starts to take the music into a "Smokestack Lightnin'" groove. Jerry, as deferential as ever to honored guests, steps back into a rhythm role and lets the newcomers wail. Duane steps up with some tonally ambiguous slide, while Peter and Bobby crunch away at the rhythm, aided by Jerry. The drummers and I pump up the groove a little higher, and Jerry and Duane trade a few rippin' licks. The dynamic is still fairly quiet.
Bob, meanwhile, has been hinting at a different direction - simply by playing one extra chord, he takes us into a full-blown "Spanish Jam," a four-bar pattern we'd borrowed from Miles Davis/Gil Evans album Sketches of Spain, while Jerry and Duane continue to converse. Gregg Allman slides onto the organ bench and lays down some sustained notes, and then some rapid figurations. The dynamic builds, then quiets; Duane and Gregg trade some figures. Butch Trucks joins on drums, as Mickey attacks his giant gong, unleashing waves of colored noise. Duane leaps in with a slashing, brassy figure that evokes the blues. Gregg answers, and the dynamic grows louder. Bob is thrashing away for all he's worth. By this time we have a hybrid meta-band onstage, lacking only one element - Pigpen.
Peter plays a huge climactic passage, and underneath the ending of his phrase, Bob and I slyly insert the opening riff of "Lovelight." Mick Fleetwood and Danny Kirwan, the other Mac guitarist, find room to join in the festivities. We sail into the vocal at a steaming tempo. From here on out it's a coherent free-for-all, with five guitarists, four drummers, organ, and - Pigpen roaring over it all. We go through the two verses of the song itself at least three times. Gregg takes a verse, sounding like a fifty-year-old black man even then. The band breaks down, and it's Peter and the drums, with interjections from everyone. The chord pattern changes slightly; Pig and Gregg trade vocal licks, while the guitars lament behind them. Pig takes it out and back, calling for the band to "wait a minute!" and telling his story. His lover got "boxback nitties and great big noble thighs" and "wriggles like pigs fightin' in a sack."
Berry Oakley, from the brothers, takes over on bass about halfway through. I just want to listen to this for a while, I tell him, as he plugs into my amp. The "Smokestack Lightnin'" theme returns, and the band amalgamates it into the "Lovelight" pattern. My mind starts to stretch out of shape. Everyone on stage is flat-out wailing. Danny, Duane, and Gregg take it into the closing fanfare, but Pig isn't quite done yet, exhorting everyone to "take yo' hands outa yo' pockets." The music builds to a crashing finish, and Bobby jumps to the mike and rounds it off: "From all of us to all of you, thanks and good night."
The audience slowly files out as the musicians gather behind the amp line, congratulating one another and reveling in the glory of it all. Someone opens the loading dock door behind the stage. I walk outside - it's daylight, and snow is falling gently on the streets of New York. The other musicians straggle out. We stand there, our breath steaming, and look east down the crosstown side street. A distended orange sun is rising between the buildings, casting lurid shadows in the fresh snow. I grab Bob and Jerry in a group embrace; This is what it's all about."
Phil Lesh - Searching for the Sound
Thank you David Lemieux for the yummy ear candy this week. I will be enjoying this vault reel stream...
http://www.dead.net/features/february-9-february-15-2009
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Poster: | SkyDawg | Date: | Feb 10, 2009 3:16am |
Forum: | GratefulDead | Subject: | Re: 2/11/70 - Fire Breathing Dragon at the Taper's Section |
This post was modified by SkyDawg on 2009-02-09 22:24:40
This post was modified by SkyDawg on 2009-02-10 11:16:04
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Poster: | Arbuthnot | Date: | Feb 9, 2009 3:55pm |
Forum: | GratefulDead | Subject: | Re: 2/11/70 - Fire Breathing Dragon at the Taper's Section |
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Poster: | daliguana | Date: | Feb 9, 2009 7:01am |
Forum: | GratefulDead | Subject: | Re: 2/11/70 - Fire Breathing Dragon at the Taper's Section |
This post was modified by daliguana on 2009-02-09 14:57:47
This post was modified by daliguana on 2009-02-09 14:58:08
This post was modified by daliguana on 2009-02-09 15:01:41
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Poster: | fireeagle | Date: | Feb 9, 2009 11:25am |
Forum: | GratefulDead | Subject: | Re: 2/11/70 - Fire Breathing Dragon at the Taper's Section |
my fav lovelight. pig and gregg sharing vocals, all guitars blazing, organ making surrealistic patterns, bass and drums pounding like theres no tomorrow
glorious stuff indeed
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Poster: | jglynn1.2 | Date: | Feb 10, 2009 11:11am |
Forum: | GratefulDead | Subject: | Re: 2/11/70 - Fire Breathing Dragon at the Taper's Section |
How's the Squid biting?
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Poster: | Cliff Hucker | Date: | Feb 11, 2009 3:32pm |
Forum: | GratefulDead | Subject: | Re: 2/11/70 - Fire Breathing Dragon at the Taper's Section |
Saw this little pup Grey Seal hauled out just west of Shinnecock Inlet yesterday. He's probably only one month old...
http://picasaweb.google.com/Swampcat13/SealPup?feat=directlink