Hey Gwydion6,

It's been seven years since you posted your comment, but I hope you see this. If you haven't found out already, it's not Pigpen playing in Beautiful Jam, it's friend-of-the-band Ned Lagin. He's playing an amplified clavichord. I discuss Lagin and this performance on pages 241 to 245 of my dissertation, which you can download here: https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/qj72p981b?locale=en.

Also, it's an amazing performance. It would be difficult if not impossible to improve on its Dark Star>Wharf Rat>BJam>Dark Star sequence. Notably, this was the last Dark Star with Mickey Hart playing güiro. He wouldn't play Dark Star again with the band until Dec. 31, 1978 and would from thereafter instead stay on his kit drums on the rare occasions they played it.

clean bettyboard, gorgeous ds wharf rat beautiful jam dark star, many firsts ,only half way thru this show.!!!!

Pretty cool show all the way around.
The Capitol Theater is such a styling old hall.
Been there and know why Phil would want to make it the place when doing East Coast shows.
That jam from Wharf Rat back to the Dark Star really is something special...
If I had to pick hottest of the new tunes.
I guess I might have to go with BERTHA,
Band is flying thru the tune. SLAM DANCE BERTHA!
The LOSER great ensemble singing 4+ minutes in.
Pigpen laying down some organ work.
GREATEST is good but would get better.
Wharf Rat also would get deeper with time.
Not a 1st time played but the TRUCKIN is HOT!
the big Fu@king chandelier!
Dim it way the Fu@k down!!!
CASEY JONES! Whatever they got into during set break is running it's course.
PLAYIN' -First Time Played- Amazing if you think about how exploratory this tune would become.
It became extremely rare for them to render it the way it appears here.
Always felt this tune had the most NATIVE vibe of any of the Dead's songs.
In a similar way that BE THOU MY VISION is the most NATIVE AMERICAN hymn in my opinion.
Me and Bobby- such a great song. Too bad this slipped out of the rotation. Nice version!
The Sugar Magnolia has a lot of spunk to it almost how GSET would get the Wha-Wha...
Stephen>N.F.A>G.D.T.R.F.B>N.F.A>Uncle John's
Yes that is going out in style.
note to self: Trying to multi-task during a great show is just about freaking impossible.
Agree with Gwydion on Pigpen's contribution to the 'beautiful' jam.
Also think Pig's backing vocals were a major part of the Dead's distinctive sound from this time. period.

lots of firsts in this show which is exciting but also disappointing bc i think they aren't, understandably, very comfortable with them yet.

good, slow ballads on this one - it hurts me too, bobby mcgee. songs that i don't necessarily ever seek out, which is nice to hear.

Rough, but sweet.

Performance and recording as well as just the "vibe" of this show are all 5 stars.

So everyone's praising the beautiful dialogue between the string men and drummers, but...isn't that Pigpen playing keys very softly in the background? I thibnk that's beautiful too and really adds to the jam.

December 5, 1971 in NYC is a must have. Best Jack Straw, Brown-Eyed, Tennessee, Ramblin'.

They were being simulcast over WNEW-FM, and they put in extra effort. Jerry played with NRPS for 90 minutes to open the show, and there's even some good talk with Bill Graham and Scott Muni between sets. Bill tells how he ran down and tackled a ticket thief outside the Garden just before the show! Also Graham cursing the people who were standing on the seats.

One more note to thankutapers: start at May of 1972, (Pigpen's last performance with the band) and work your way backward.

Hard To Handle through Me And My Uncle sounds like it came from an alternative source. It's a bit echo-y and mono-ish compared to the rest of the recording. It's different enough that I'm surprised to see no mention of it anywhere in the notes.

This is the most cohesive mellow and beautiful jam out of dark star I have ever heard, and I have heard a couple. Even the feelin groovy jams don't have this vibe.

my 1st concert was a dead show 16 in 1990 of course u love the shows youve been 2 so i really got into the 90's (jerry man we miss u) but every1 talks about the 70's never really got into just 7o's dead but man they where tight on fire for me definitly there gratest years sure there r special nuggets throughout the years but musicly speaking wow,any must have 70's show i should get??besides the whole decade???

...for those keeping score, and who like to reference jams with some reference to the language of music, bob weir is moving in a scaler fashion to a Bminor, from the Asus2, creating the feel for the first 3 minutes of this very nice piece of improvisation...what makes it so cohesive is the fact that phil actually stays with him, instead of moving into the cosmos with it...though not the most daring jam I have heard, extremely easy on the ears, and quite beautiful..."I was born too late...blame it on..."

finding this is like opening the cellar door and find the perfect bottle of wine. it goes down smooth
and has a long finish. long live PCNY.

Grateful Dead, 02/18/1971
Capitol Theater, Port Chester, NY

Disc I - Set I
01 Bertha*
02 Truckin'
03 It Hurts Me Too
04 Loser*
05 Greatest Story Ever Told* >
06 Johnny B. Goode
07 Mama Tried
08 Hard To Handle
09 Dark Star >
10 Wharf Rat* >
11 "Beautiful Jam" >
12 Dark Star >
13 Me & My Uncle

Disc II - Set II
01 Chandelier incident
02 Casey Jones
03 Playin' In The Band*
04 Me And Bobby McGee
05 Candyman
06 Big Boss Man
07 Sugar Magnolia
08 Saint Stephen >
09 Not Fade Away >
10 Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad >
11 Not Fade Away >
12 Uncle John's Band

*First public performance.

`

~^|\_@|@_/|^~
~<->/<->\<->~

Classic 71' Sound.

Get all the shows at the Capitol Theater, February 18,19,20,21, 1971.

A hop, skip and a jump from NYC, Port Chester was a great place to see the DEAD.

Garcia uses his WAH-WAH pedal on "Sugar Magnolia".

I recommend using your EQ during playback of most of the shows on the IA, this one included.

Windows Media Player has a 10 band EQ and SRS WOW effects that enhance the sound.

Here's one way to stream/download this show:

The IA recommends users of Windows XP view this web-page with RealPlayer.

RealPlayer is a free media player you can download at www.realplayer.com.

Using RealPlayer to view this webpage, click the VBR M3U link to open the songs in the Playlist.

If your Playlist is not open, open it by clicking the Playlist icon at the lower right hand corner of RealPlayer.

Once the songs are in the Playlist, double click the song to play it, then click the record button at the lower left hand corner of Realplayer to record it.

When the red line reaches the other end click the stop button to download the song. Your song is in the RealPlayer Downloads folder.

Repeat these steps for each song.

OR

Hook up audio cables (1/8th inch stereo male jack with two rca male jacks at the other end) from your headphone jack on your computer to your audio input on your Reel to Reel, Cassette,VHS, CD, DVD, MP3, recorder and record it in real time...duh?

Eat, Drink, Be Merry and Listen to the GRATEFUL DEAD, for tomorrow we may die....

Thanks for the LOVE from 1971.

Wonderful jam there going back into Dark Star. You can find another divinely inspired Dark Star in 1972-03-23. There is another breathtaking jam that takes place at the end of that one.

The title of my post says all that needs to be said. Even if you've had your fill of (the many excellent) 1971 Dead Shows the Dark Star > Wharf Rat > Dark Star ranks up there with the greatest jams in Dead history. I will be so bold as to say that the jam between Wharf Rat and Dark is probably the greatest 5 minutes of pure improvisation I've heard. The dialogue between Jerry, Bob, Phil, and the drummers really get to the heart of what the Dead were all about.

i have completely fallen in love with this lil gem!!!! i cannot believe only 2000 ppl have downloaded it! i cannot believe on 2 ppl have commented about it?!?!?!? people.... GET THIS SHOW!!! YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED AMAZING! awesome set list, awesome quality! so many firsts, such grate banter and explanations, "mickey wants to call this 'the pump up song' for reasons of his own" FUCKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!

I stared drinking LUCKY LAGER a few years later.

few enjoyable show.

Epic. truly one of the greatest shows on this site. Look at all those first time played, absolute classic tunes......Wonderful sound. Thanks for your work.