"From Bertha to Dark Star: Analyzing Iconic Dead Tracks" Insights into iconic Grateful Dead performances from the Europe 1972 tour, anticipation for Fish's upcoming residency in Las Vegas, and a tribute album honoring rock artist Stanley Mouse. Additionally, it touches on the significance of Pigpen's involvement in the psychedelic soundscape during performances.
"From Europe 1972 to Las Vegas Residency: The Music World Buzz"
On today's show Larry Mishkin discusses various topics related to music, particularly focusing on the Grateful Dead and their Europe 1972 tour. He shares personal anecdotes, insights, and analysis of specific songs from the tour, such as "Bertha" and "Mr. Charlie." Additionally, the he covers upcoming events in the music world, including Fish's residency in Las Vegas and an upcoming album honoring Stanley Mouse, a renowned psychedelic poster artist. He also mentions the charitable aspect of the album's release, aiming to provide preschool scholarships to underprivileged children. Larry concludes with a discussion of a specific performance of "Dark Star" from the Europe 1972 tour, highlighting Pigpen's rare involvement with the keyboard during the song.
Grateful Dead
April 8, 1972
Wembley Empire Pool
London
Grateful Dead Live at Wembley Empire Pool on 1972-04-08 : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive
Second show of Europe ’72 tour
INTRO: Bertha
Track # 1
0:00 – 1:22
SHOW No. 1: Mr. Charlie
Track # 3
:43 – 2:07
Pig/Hunter
"Charlie: white men regarded as oppressors of blacks.--used contemptuously. Also Mr. Charlie, Boss Charlie.
An article by John Cowley, "Shack Bullies and Levee Contractors: Bluesmen as Ethnographers," in The Journal of Folklore Research, vol. 28, nos. 2/3, pp. 135-162, recounts the story of the Lowrence family, a set of seven brothers, the oldest named Charley, who were notorious contractors of cheap labor, mostly African American, to build the levees alongside the Mississippi in the 1920's. A number of songs quoted in the article refer to "Mr Charley" specifically in this context, giving rise to speculation on the part of Alan Lomax that he may have "discovered the identity of the elusive "Mr. Charley." Cowley's article goes on, however, to quote a comment by Alan Dundes on Lomax' article that 'Mr. Charley' "would appear to date from antebellum times." But the repeated reference to a "Mr. Charley" by southern bluesmen was undoubtedly in reference to Charley Lowrence.
OR this is a song about heroin abuse. After McKernan died, the GD quit performing it. The "drums" apparently refer to a throbbing noise in the ears while in the throes of using heroin. The "shotgun" refers to a loaded syringe. Sad. Eurpoe '72 is, in my opinion, the quintessential GD album and McKernan really carries it. He died at the insanely early age of 23 or so.
Does not appear on any Dead studio album. Released on the original Europe ’72 album in 1972
Played 51 times
1st: July 31, 1971 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven CT
Last: May 26, 1972 at Lyceum Ballroom, London, England
SHOW No. 2: Dark Star
Track # 19
20:19 – 21:51
I love this clip. A very famous Dark Star, first on the tour, exchanged with The Other One each night as the long spacey and trippy tune in the midst of the mostly Americana Dead. Check out how pig’s organ makes an appearance. By that point, it was mostly Keith on the Grand piano, but this performance, and others on this tour, Pig jumps into the psychedelic mix with Keith. Very cool to hear that. After this tour, Pig was basically done.
When it comes to the early years of the Grateful Dead, it cannot be overstated just how important Ronald Charles McKernan - known as Pigpen to his friends and fans - was to the band.
In a perfect world, he would’ve been playing with them all the way up through the band’s conclusion after the death of Jerry Garcia, but instead things went a different way, with Pigpen’s unrelenting alcohol abuse resulting in hospitalization in August 1971, at which point doctors told him that he needed to stop touring, which he did...until he started again in December 1971. It didn’t last: Pigpen’s final show with the Grateful Dead took place on June 17, 1972 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, after which he’s quoted as having said, “I don’t want you around when I die,” at which point he cut off all ties with his fellow band members. Unfortunately, he got his wish: his landlady was the one who found him dead on March 8, 1973, of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage.
SHOW No. 3: Sugar Magnolia
Track # 20
1:18 – 2:52
SHOW No. 4: Caution
Track #21
15:00 – 16:35
The lyrics, although simple, carry a profound message. The protagonist seeks guidance from a gypsy woman, hoping to find answers to their internal struggles. Asking, “What’s wrong with me?”, they are seeking a solution or a way to alleviate their pain. The gypsy woman tells them that all they need is a “mojo hand,” implying that a physical object has the power to change their fortunes and bring about well-being.
In African American folklore, a mojo hand refers to a magical charm or amulet believed to bring luck, protection, or power. By singing about a mojo hand, The Grateful Dead taps into the rich tapestry of blues and folk traditions, adding a touch of mysticism to the song.
“Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)” is a timeless piece of music that captures the essence of The Grateful Dead’s exploratory spirit. The song’s meaning goes beyond its surface-level interpretation, delving into deeper human desires for guidance and personal transformation.
For me, this song serves as a reminder that sometimes we must look beyond ourselves for answers or support. Whether it be through music, spirituality, or community, seeking solace in something greater can provide the strength and encouragement needed to navigate life’s challenges.
The Grateful Dead’s live rendition of “Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)” is a testament to the band’s unique ability to captivate and touch the souls of their listeners. It serves as a timeless reminder of the power of music to connect, inspire, and offer solace in all walks of life.
Anthem of the Sun is the second album by rock band the Grateful Dead, released in 1968 on Warner Bros/Seven Arts. It is the first album to feature second drummer Mickey Hart. The band was also joined by Tom Constanten, who contributed avant-gardeinstrumental and studio techniques influenced by composers John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen. The album was assembled through a collage-like editing approach helmed by members Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh (along with soundman Dan Healy), in which disparate studio and live performance tapes were spliced together to create new hybrid recordings. The band also supplemented their performances with instruments such as prepared piano, kazoo, harpsichord, timpani, trumpet, and güiro. The result is an experimental studio amalgam that is neither a pure studio album nor a live album.
In 1972, a more commercial alternate mix of the album was officially released to capitalize on the band's recent success. A 2018 reissue on Rhino Records collects both the 1968 and 1972 mixes. The album was ranked number 288 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, in both the 2003 and 2012 iterations of the list.[7][8] It was voted number 376 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[9]
Played 71 times
1st:
November 3, 1965 at Mother's, San Francisco, CA, USA
Last: October 27, 1979 at Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth, MA, USA
OUTRO: Saturday Night
Track # 22
2:08 – 3:56
From ACE
Ace is an album by Grateful Dead singer and guitarist Bob Weir. His first solo album, it was released in 1972. Weir's fellow bandmates in the Grateful Dead back him on the album, and all but one of the songs became staples of the band's live shows
Great song. In later years, only on Saturdays, but in the beginning, it would be played whenever Bob was in the mood.
Usually an encore, but every now and then a second set closer or once as an opener. Since we knew on a Saturday they would play the song, the game was to guess when. Encore was almost always the sure winner, except when it wasn’t.
Larry (00:29.911)
Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of the Deadhead Cannabis Show. I'm Larry Mishkin and today I have the pleasure of bringing you this show from Sandy Springs, Georgia where I'm down visiting my son and daughter -in -law and my beautiful granddaughter Ruby who's just doing wonderful for all of you who might be wondering and it's always a joy and a pleasure to come see her and it's nice that was today's modern technology and producer Dan Humiston's patience we can actually pull this off from just about anywhere.
It's April, it's that time of year for our regular listeners who know I love this time of year because it coincides with the Grateful Dead's Europe 1972 tour and ever since about 12 years ago when I presented myself on my 50th birthday with the CD box set of the entire Europe 72 tour, we can't get through April and May without...
Lots of listening to these shows at the Michigan household. My boys from time to time used to get tired of hearing the same songs over and over, but they've all moved out, so I just have to worry about my wife, and if I'm nice to her, then we rock and roll all night listening to this stuff, and it's really, really good. So let's dive right in from our show from Europe, Wembley Empire Pool in London on April 8th, 1972. Here's how it began.
Larry (03:17.015)
We've always said that any show that starts with Bertha is a good show. And folks, this is a really, really good show. This is the second show from the Dead's Europe 1972 tour. And they just come out and they smoke. The first night they got in and they did their stuff and they were still getting used to the stage and used to everything, used to the time zones and still played a good show. But they came out the next night and...
people talk about this show from the Wembley Empire Pool as being one of the best shows on the tour, notwithstanding its position as only the second show on the tour. And they come out with a rock in Bertha, and the night really gets going here. And as you'll hear as we drift to the second part of the show, it's very, very memorable for its kind of closing run. And we're going to touch on all four of those songs today when we get to them. But in the meantime, who doesn't like to hear Bertha? It's just a great tune. It's.
Was never released on a studio album, but it did come out on the Grateful Dead live album the one that Phil Lesh wanted to name skull fuck and it never really got off the ground that it's the shows from 1971 and It's got the skull and roses on the cover and on the inside message about hey deadheads Let us know who you are and where you are and although they didn't call them deadheads. They called them fans of the dead and
eventually morphed into the Deadheads. But Bertha just brings back lots of happy memories. First song I ever saw at my first show with good buddy Mike out in Ventura in 1982. And although you're almost always going to hear it as an opener, it could be placed in all sorts of interesting places. And for me, the most interesting place I ever saw Bertha was at Madison Square Garden in October of 1983 in the second set. And they played it as kind of like a lead into drums. And.
just a strange, strange place to see Bertha, but it all worked out for the best because on the back end of that drums and space, they came out and they pulled out their St. Stephen. And so, you know, maybe it was just a warning for all of us that, hey, stick around, Bertha's in a strange place, so who knows what could happen next. And St. Stephen is what happened next. So, you know, sometimes it just all works out really nice and you're really happy about that. But.
Larry (05:34.679)
Bertha Hunter Garcia Toon. And there's some people that say it's about the big fan in the Grateful Dead office that used to blow all the papers around. And so people would shove the fan all around. And they'd say, Bertha, don't come around here anymore. Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? But whatever. It doesn't matter because Jerry always liked it, although he often forgot the words.
but it's a great song to open with and I think it's a good way to say to everyone in Europe, hey, thanks for bearing with us last night. Tonight we're gonna come out and rock your socks off and you're gonna really, really enjoy this show as I'm sure you will. And let's, while we have this wonderful momentum, roll right into the next tune that we're gonna play from the show and it's Europe 72, so we gotta get pig in there.
Larry (07:45.399)
Mr. Charlie is a Pig Pen Robert Hunter tune, Hunter with the lyrics, Pig with the melody. And it's a fascinating story behind this song, which quite frankly, I had never really focused on very much before. But it turns out that Charlie, quote unquote, C -H -R -L -I -E, is also known as a white man who was regarded as an oppressor of black people. Mr. Charlie, Boss Charlie.
And I just had no personal conception of that before, but in an article by John Cowley, Shaq Bullies, and levy contractors, bluesmen as ethnographers, he recounts the story of the Lawrence family, L -O -W -R -E -N -C -E, a set of seven brothers, the oldest named Charlie, who were notorious contractors of cheap labor, mostly African -American, to build the levees alongside the Mississippi in the 1920s. A number of songs quoted in the, uh,
article refer to Mr. Charlie specifically in this context giving rise to speculation on the part of Alan Lomax that he may have discovered the identity of the elusive Mr. Charlie. Collie's article goes on however to quote a comment by Alan Dundas on Lomax's article that Mr. Charlie would appear to date for uh...
from antebellum times. But the repeated reference to Mr. Charlie by Southern bluesmen was undoubtedly a reference to Charlie Lawrence, or so the story goes. Which I think is interesting, and it's certainly interesting for the Grateful Dead not to be speaking out in support of African -Americans. Certainly, I think that that was all part of their society, that everybody was a DEI before there was DEI.
But to really kind of get into the background of this and Pig especially, which I think is just fascinating. It's a great thing. And it's important, I think, for.
Larry (09:40.503)
Any type of person who has any type of publicity or public appearance, you know, to be prepared to go on and, you know, sing songs, to do performances, to make art that demonstrates that we live in an inclusive world. And part of that is being able to tell the stories of everything that came before and not withstanding certain governors in the South who want to pretend like nothing happened before the Civil War. This is, I think, just makes a good statement. And it's important to know and to really understand the meaning of some of these Grateful Dead songs because all the
Otherwise, it can kind of just all get lost in the shuffle. Now, in doing this research, I have to say there was a second reference and a second theory as to what exactly Pig was talking about when he wrote this song. And the second theory goes that the song is about heroin abuse. After Pig died, the Grateful Dead quit performing it, which is true. The drums apparently refer to a throbbing noise in the ears while on the throes of using heroin.
The shotgun refers to a loaded syringe. Very sad. Europe 72 could have been the quintessential Grateful Dead album, and Pig really carries it. But he did die at the insanely early age of 27, part of the famous 27 Club. And while that's also interesting, I was not aware of stories linking Pig Pen.
uh... to heroin abuse i'm not saying he may not have tried it back then i think they're all trying a lot of things uh... but my understanding uh... always was that pigs uh... demise was specifically to uh... problems from his uh... ridiculous consumption of alcohol which uh...
took this guy who, you know, when you see the early pictures of Pig and he's this big husky dude and by the end he's just a frail little skeleton. But he made it to Europe 72, God bless him, and he played songs every night of that tour and played them great, including Mr. Charlie. Now it doesn't appear on any Dead Studio album, in fact it was released on the original Europe 72 album in 1972. The Dead only played it 51 times, first on July 31st, 1971 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut, and the last time, May 26th, 1972.
Larry (11:51.401)
at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, England, which of course is the very end of the Europe 72 tour. So...
You could kind of call it a rare tune, very much defined by a specific period in time for the Grateful Dead, which is not true for a lot of their songs. Certainly some of them, and particularly songs with a close link to Pigpen, seem to fall into that group. Not all of them, but enough of them that we miss Pig. And this is certainly one of them. And it's a great song, in my opinion.
you know these Europe's what what really makes i think these Europe 72 shows so special uh... is that we are getting a a really good opportunity to see just how uh... what a performer Pig was and how important you know he was to the band and uh... all of that kind of stuff and um... you know like i say i think it's a great thing and uh... very very excited about uh... what's happening.
Larry (12:55.383)
Dan, can you hear me?
Dan Humiston (13:00.686)
Yes?
Larry (13:02.391)
all of a sudden I'm talking and I had switched my internet screen and now I'm switching, oh it says I'm recording but it took me back to the check -in screen. So should I hit join studio a second time or should I just leave it as is?
Dan Humiston (13:16.27)
Check and see if you have, let me just mark this time first. Check and see if you have two up on your, because I can, nothing changed on my end. I wonder if you have two tabs open.
Larry (13:31.095)
I don't see a second one. Oh wait, hold on.
Oh yeah, I don't know how the hell that happened. That's so bizarre.
Dan Humiston (13:41.55)
Yeah, I just stand this first one's good.
Larry (13:44.759)
Okay, I'll just stay on this one then. I was, uh...
Dan Humiston (13:46.414)
Yeah, yeah, because you're fine. Like nothing's changed on my end. Yeah. Yep, so you're at, so you give it like five seconds of dead air.
Larry (13:51.223)
Okay, perfect. Okay, so.
Larry (14:00.407)
Yep, let me just get back to my script here.
Larry (14:09.271)
Okay, so I got that.
Larry (14:20.439)
Okay.
Larry (14:30.935)
So these are just some of the early tunes on this show, which make it such a special one from 52 years ago today at the Wembley Empire Pool in London, the second show on the Grateful Dead Europe 72 Tour. And we're going to come back to this one very shortly, because when we do, we're going to jump into this little segment at the end that I'll give more details about in a few minutes. But I think this is the four song just.
track of songs at the end, just one into the other into the other. Really, I think, takes this show and after a really solid show up to that point, kind of puts it on the next level and is what really makes it so good. But in the meantime, we are going to switch over here to talk about music in general and anything else that pops up. But Dan, I'm assuming you have a little bit of introductory music for us on this.
Larry (15:53.079)
old -time rock and roll of course bob seger classic we all know it and love it from his tenth studio album stranger in town was released in a seagull in 79 as a single in 79 so was for me at least a high school hit that we were all listening to senior year and everybody seemed to love bob seger there's a famous scene in the film risky business with tom cruise dancing around in his tighty -whities singing the song after his folks have left for a week of vacation and before he starts all of
of the craziness that goes on in his house in that film. And just a song that everybody knows and really loves. So Good Choice is always by Dan. Thank you for that. And very much appreciated. And let's turn our attention to some things that are going on in the music world right now. And of course, everybody knows that we're getting ready for the big fish show.
series of shows that are becoming to us uh... in las vegas in just about a week uh... weaker to hear uh... and they're gonna play four nights in the sphere uh... before they take off for more touring everywhere else they're going uh... but fish being fish we all know that they have a uh... a first -rate uh... light show compliments of chris corroda ck five and he gets the five this is uh... from uh...
Trey who considers them the fifth member of the band and if you've ever seen Fish you know that his light shows are something special and people are very very anxious and highly anticipating seeing exactly what Chris is going to pull off in the sphere with all of the
possibilities there this whole kind of giant immersive experience and I'm sure just as much as we'll be hearing about the music that fish plays over those four shows we're going to be hearing a lot about uh... ck five's uh... lighting shows so uh...
Larry (17:53.431)
Thanks to Relics Magazine, we learned that the Fish is highly anticipated residency in Las Vegas is rapidly approaching and the city is getting into the spirit of welcoming the band. Yesterday, well actually last week, this escalating energy was manifested in a new dazzling attraction on Sin City Strip as the Rio Hotel and Casino took on a festive new shade courtesy of Fish lighting designer CK5 and associate lighting designer Andrew Giffen.
the intention and intricacies of this project, which parallels the band's distinctly brilliant and improvisational style in an interview with Las Vegas Weekly. With more than three miles of programmable LEDs adorning the building's facade, the artist programmed a vast and evolving luminary tableau composed of rotating array of distinct looks. What we want is to put on a show, said Marty Williams, vice president of construction and development services for Dreamscape Companies.
the new owner of the Rio. It was Millman who has been a fish head for 34 years or so who was inspired to call for the bold display over the course of a week. Millman and Giffenite ideated and programmed the expansive project. I think there's about 60 looks. We've got 10 minute looks that are slow and evolving. And then every 10 minutes, there's something a little bit more exciting that happens fast and speeds up in detail. They also designed programming to randomize how all that's selected so no two nights are going to be the same.
glimpse of this new look may be glimpsed this week and going forward as the Rio continues to test the arrangement. So here we go that this is all in alignment with the news that obviously Fish has announced that it's four nights at the Sphere slated for April 18th through the 21st will be available to stream via pay -per -view live webcast. This marks the first ever full show live stream of a performance from the innovative new venue following the celebrated selection from U2.
the Aktoob Baby, which was live at the Spear and Broadcast at the 66th Grammy Award. Stream access is available for each night of fish with a four -day bundle. So you can check it out. You can kind of see the light show, although, of course, it won't be the same because you won't be sitting there right in the middle of it. But the Rio is kind of a cool place. In the early days of Dan Humiston, before he became a crack podcast producer, he and
Larry (20:16.855)
Another guy we know, Don, had put together a little bit of their own cannabis show. And it was really a lot of fun to come see and check it out. They happened to pull it off in the Reno, Rio a few times. And it was a cool place to be. They do have a big front that lights up with all sorts of different colors and designs all the time. So the fact that, uh,
Fish is going to get in there and do it, should come as no surprise. And although the ICA, which will ever be for me, the International Cannabis Association, no longer exists, it's certainly part of the history and the legacy of the early days of legal marijuana and teaching the world, both professionals and laypeople, the ins and outs and intricacies of the industry and the laws. And I was lucky enough to get to do some presenting there. And I always thank Dan for that.
for that opportunity. But yeah, the Rio, very cool place. And it's fun to see that they're doing something like that. And good for fish. They're not just coming in. They've got fans like Millman from the hotel. And people are willing to put all of this out there. I think that Las Vegas is saying thank you to fish before they even get there. But really, them coming in and playing in the sphere.
not to take anything away from U2, who's one of the great bands and maybe one of the greatest bands of all time, and deservedly so. But Fish speaks to an entirely different crowd, the real party, trippy, let's go out and have some fun crowd. And it's going to be fascinating to see the mixture of the Fishheads, not just with the Las Vegas Strip, because they've played Las Vegas many times, but this whole new.
design and this whole new technology. And we'll see just how far fish can push it in there. And although I will not be able to make it, unfortunately, I will be looking forward to hearing stories from the folks that are there. And then, of course, just a few weeks later, Dedin Company roll into town and take up some time at the Sphere for over a matter of weeks. And we'll be talking more about that too as we get closer and closer. But certainly expect the fish experience to kind of set the standard early on and give Dedin Co. something to shoot for.
Larry (22:37.609)
when they set up shop a little bit later. But nevertheless, this is fun, it's exciting, and it's exciting that there's such a cool place for them to play, and that they're going, and that the town is really getting in the buzz. So enjoy for those of you who will be there, and for the rest of you, join me, and we'll capture it secondhand. Another story that I think is really fascinating is that...
Stanley Mouse, who might be best known as one of the Bay Area's finest and most well -respected psychedelic poster artists, producing original iconography forever synonymous with some of the region's and 1960s greatest acts. To mark Mouse's contributions, an all -star assembly of talent will cover 12 songs across the impending LP, The Mouse, that rocked.
ranging in polls from the band's featured in the visual artist's work, such as The Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and many others from that time. So adding their twists on legendary material are a range of artists, friends, and admirers of Mouse who have contributed to the forthcoming set, including Chuck Lavelle, Leftover Salmon, Charlie Musselwhite, Nicole Atkins, Sean Simon the Tex, Mex Experian, Junior Brown, Nikki Bloom and the Gamblers.
Poor Man's Whiskey, The Mother Hips, Dan Lebow -Lebowitz, Jason Crosby, and The Pimps of Joytown. Outside of The Dead and Jefferson Airplane, the contemporary list of contributors to the album in format will also include borrowed tunes from the likes of Journey, Cream, The Beatles, Big Brother, and The Holding Company, Bo Diddley, Sir Douglas Quintet, Moby Gray, Powell, and Wolf, and others, a roster that reflects Mouse's esteemed clientele. The Mouse That Rocked is slated to include liner notes by San Francisco music critic and author Joel Selvin, along with new
adaptions of old favorites. As an odd towards the art and the artist, the LP has been adorned with a self -portrait, a la mouse, adding to the presentation's intimate feel. The album is due out in April. You can pre -order now via Blue Rose Music Foundation. And it's intending to dedicate 100 % of its net gain providing preschool scholarships to underprivileged children. So you can't get much better than that. Great rock and roll, honoring a great rock and roll legend and helping kids in education.
Larry (24:52.439)
I'm certainly going to be looking out for that album and we'll speak to it on the show at some point. And given the foundation and the good cause for which it's all being done, besides the fact that I think it's just going to be a fascinating musical experience, everyone should go out and buy it. Let's make it a big hit and let's raise a lot of money for such a worthwhile cause. And those are the kind of things you like to see for a guy like Stanley Mouse and other people from that era. And of course, all you have to do is go out and look at any of
of the Grateful Dead covers the skull and roses and all of that is all Stanley Mouse. And it's a.
It's such an integral part of the Grateful Dead and who they are. And although I think that he's famous for a lot of various musical artists that he did artwork for, I just personally feel, and I'm sure it's because of my close connection to the Grateful Dead, that a lot of it really flowed from the Grateful Dead and that that's where he really made his name and that's where you see these album covers that you're like, oh wow, I know what that is, and you jump at it right away. But a great artist, a great person,
great cause and just good for everybody. So certainly an album to be on the lookout for. Otherwise, in the world of music, I always just go to Relics when I'm looking for things that are going on and recommend that you do too. But at the same time, word of mouth always speaks well too. So it's always nice to hear about these things, be able to comment on them, and talk the talk of rock and roll.
Well, now we're going to get back to the show. And just as we're doing this, I don't think you guys can hear, but I hear my granddaughter Ruby upstairs giving a little cry. And maybe she wants her grandfather. Maybe she just wants a bottle. But since I'm taping my show, I'm going to have to say to my lovely granddaughter, see you soon. I'm diving back in, both feet on the ground, to April 8, 1972 at the Wembley Empire Pool Theater in London. And we're going to dive in now. Normally, I play the
Larry (27:02.537)
track and then I talk about it a little bit but I just want to say beforehand that I really really love this clip of Dark Stars a very famous Dark Stars the first one on the Europe 72 tour and basically every night that they played they were toggling back and forth between the full extended that's it for the other one sweet or with Dark Star it would be like the long spacey trippy tune in the midst of the mostly Americana dead that they were playing at that point and they would each you know run for somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 -25
5, 30 minutes. And this one does go the full 30, I think it's 31 minutes, 31 seconds. So you got your 31, 31 going for you. But listening to this one, I noticed something and other people have written about it. So I realize I'm not the only person who has. But right about at the 20 minute mark of this 31 minute jam, way kind of in the background almost. And if you're not listening for it, you might miss it or just assume.
It was a sound coming out of somewhere on the stage with one of the other guys. But Pigpen makes his presence known. And he jumps in with his organ in the background, making an appearance. Now, by that point in time, Keith Gaucha was with it. That had been with them for a while.
And it was mostly Keith on the grand piano when it came to keyboard music. But this performance and others on the tour find Pig jumping in to the psychedelics mix with Keith, which wasn't something that Pig Pen did all that often. He was singing his blues tunes and then otherwise kind of standing off to the side, swaying, dancing, maybe having a drink. But it's really cool to hear this. And especially so because after this tour, Pig Pen was basically done. And.
It's just great to hear that even on this tour, right at the very end of his physical abilities to perform and all of that, rather than just sitting off on the side, he was getting himself involved in the mix. And it's really, really cool. So let's go ahead and we'll listen to this clip of Dark Star, but listen for Pig's organ.
Larry (30:41.495)
I love this clip. You know, when it comes to the early years of the Grateful Dead, it would be hard to overstate just how important Pig Pen was.
to his friends, to his fans, and most importantly, to the band. In a perfect world, of course, he would have been playing with them all the way up through the band's conclusion, maybe even continuing on after the death of Jerry Garcia, who knows. But instead, of course, that didn't happen. Things went in a different way with Pigg's unrelenting alcohol abuse, resulting in hospitalization in August 1971, at which point doctors told him that he needed to stop touring.
which he did until he started again in December of 1971. It didn't last long. Pig's final show of the Grateful Dead took place on June 17th, 1972 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, after which he is quoted as having said to the band, I don't want you around when I die, at which point he cut off all ties with his fellow band members. Unfortunately, he got his wish. His landlady was the one who found him dead on March 8th, 1973 of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage. So.
It's just a sad, sad story. Pig was such a presence and such a personality. And he drank, and he canoodled with the women. He and Janis Joplin were a famous couple for a while. And at the end, he just.
his body just gave out on him. And I guess as we all know from this show when I talk about it, I would say he picked the wrong poison. But this isn't about pointing out mistakes that Pigpen made. He was who he was. He was true to what he was true to. He gave his all. And...
Larry (32:28.151)
no matter what happened after he died, it's impossible to think of the Grateful Dead, it's impossible to consider the dead's legacy, their impact on the world, and everything else that we love about the Grateful Dead without recognizing Pigpen's overall significance. Without Pigpen, maybe the band doesn't really come together in the form that it comes together. Without Pigpen, maybe there's really no Primal Dead, which seemed to kind of play off a lot of Pig's blues roots and...
just this idea of making music and improvising your way through. I mean, if you listen to any of Pig's raps on Love Light or Good Lovin' or any of those, I mean, he's just improvising all the way through. He's rapping before there was rapping. And it just added, I think, so much to the debt as a whole. And I think there's a lot to be found in there in the dead Americana songs, which come later. They kind of build off of all of that.
And so I don't mean this show today's episode to turn necessarily into a sad one thinking about Pig's demise, but rather to stress the importance of Pig's contributions and just how important he was to the Europe 72 tour and the distinct sounds that he added. And while we already played, Mr. Charlie.
was one of his great songs and all that. Like I say here, it's important to recognize that as a musician, Pig really did bring the musician part of it to the table. And it was more than just his singing and rapping abilities. And here he finds his way into the midst of a ultra, ultra, ultra psychedelic primal dead jam. And it's a beautiful addition. And he did have an ear for music, which I think was very underrated. And this is a point.
where, who knows, maybe he knew the end was near, maybe he decided these shows were just the right time, maybe he was bored standing along the side of the stage, but he jumps in here and you really have to listen to the entire 31 minute dark start because the whole thing from start to finish is great. There's almost 11 and a half minutes of playing before Jerry even gets to the first verse and then just takes off from there and you get this part with Pig and...
Larry (34:48.919)
it's just wonderful so high energy but what's really important about this is that it's the first of the four finishing songs of the show and i'll kind of just you know
give you a spoiler alert a little bit here but right they come out
in the second half of the second set they got the dark star going uh... they roll it into a monster sugar magnolia uh... and in fact i really considered highlighting the transition from dark star into sugar magnolia because it wasn't a tradition uh... that was made very often uh... typically there'd be something in between because dark star would be maybe a little more either in the middle of the show or slightly into the second half of the second set where sugar magnolia would typically uh...
but not always at that time, 1972, kind of be pushed more to the back where it became the permanent.
closing number except for those occasions where the dad liked to throw you a sugar scarlet fire to start the show, which we've talked about in the past. But here it is coming up at the end. And it's a really good sugar magnolia that we'll get to. And that spins into a wonderful caution, do not step on tracks, which we haven't really featured a lot on this podcast. And I'm glad we're going to get to it today in a few minutes. Because while it's hard to do without actually hearing it,
Larry (36:11.575)
uh... excuse me of course it rolls into saturday night to close out the show saturday night back then were credible to so we'll get all of those in a minute but i just want to put this dark star in perspective of what it's actually doing in this particular concert how it plays into the to the part of this concert that i think is what makes everybody speak of it so highly and uh... why not it's it's it's just that good of a
that good of a show. And so what we'll do here though is we will play the part, we won't play the transition, but let's go ahead and let's listen to Sugar Mag which comes right on the heels of this monster dark star. And I think that pretty much right away you can just pick up on the jam and the energy of the band.
Larry (38:30.295)
We've talked about Sugar Magnolia a lot on this show off of American Beauty. It was always said one of my absolute favorites to see in concert because it was always happy. It was always upbeat. And we'd sit there and say, oh, I hope this show never ends. I hope it never ends. But.
When it ends, I hope it ends with Sugar Magnolia and The Dead Never Disappoint. They don't disappoint here. I love the kind of unpolished version of this song because it is relatively new. The album's only been out for maybe just about a year at this point. And not even a year, I don't think. And you can hear how young and energetic Bob's voice is. And if you've been seeing him in Wolf Brothers or with Den and Co or if you just like to listen to some of those,
lately, you know, it's a completely different Bob Weir. It's kind of like an elder statesman Bob Weir with a more distinctive, refined voice as opposed to back here in the days of Sugar Magnolias of the early 1970s. We can even hear him kind of giggling in the middle of the song and, you know, just playing with it with an energy that's so positive and upbeat that that's what I love about this song. It's such a positive message and really uplifting and...
a great way to end the night. And in this instance, a great way to almost end the night because they're not quite done yet. But before we get to the final two songs from this wonderful set of songs to close out this show, I do want to go and touch on some cannabis news that we have. So Dan, as soon as you're ready.
Larry (40:21.367)
Smokin', of course, perfect Dan, as always, thank you. Sung by American rock band Boston, released from the band's debut album, Boston, in 1976, as the B -side to the band's first single, More Than a Feelin'. Smokin' was written by the band leader, guitarist, and main songwriter, Tom Scholes, with some help from lead vocalist, Brad Delp. Like many other Boston songs, Smokin' has become a rock radio staple. Now, we're not gonna get into the whole business about Smokin'.
about Boston suffice it to say they were also a junior high school band actually when I first started seeing Boston. I often go with my good buddy Mark in St. Louis and we'd check him out. We saw him one night with Sammy Hagar and with, well I can't remember the other guy we saw him with but I'll think of it one of these days. And then we also saw them.
to a double bill with REO Speedwagon, the REO Speedwagon side of which wound up being a part of their very famous live album with Riding the Storm Out that got huge radio play. But Boston, with More Than a Feeling, was one of these bands that took on the world by storm. And I do remember that, everybody running out and buying the album and listening to it over and over and over again, especially More Than a Feeling. But the other song's on there too. And as I always like to say, my wife always used to give me grief if we'd be riding in the car, and I'd be flipping through the radio.
comes on. You're like, no, it's high school. And a lot of people are like that. I get it. I can't say that I have a big smoking Jones these days, or a big Boston Jones, I mean, and that I'm a
playing it all the time or wanting to play it all the time. But I think every now and then it's a lot of fun to listen to. And of course, in 2017, I got my greatest vindication of all time. I went on the second to last night of the Baker's Dozen shows that Fish put on in Madison Square Garden. It was their Boston cream night. And they played off of this idea, which was the entire inspiration of the Baker's Dozen donut -themed shows in the first place, when they did a great more than a feeling into
Larry (42:28.905)
Creams Sunshine of Your Love and then back into Boston's It's Been Such a Long Time.
I mean, anybody who's going to mix up Tom Schultz in Boston with Cream and Eric Clapton and it's Trey Anastasio doing it, I'm in. And I have no problem listening to Boston these days, no matter who I'm with. And if anybody questions me on them, I say, go talk to Trey. But this was really a lot of fun. I wasn't there, but I've heard the recordings of it. And there's a lot of great energy, because the guys in FISH are just a year or two younger than I am, I think. So this would have been music.
right around the time that they were coming of age and as East Coast guys it was probably getting a lot of airplay out in the New England area and
So thank you, Dan, for pulling this one out so we could all reminisce about Boston for a couple of minutes, because that's always fun. But let's get into what we've got here now on the marijuana side of things. And sometimes we've got really upbeat stories. Sometimes they're not quite as upbeat as we would like them to be. But let's see what we got, and we'll just kind of run through them for a minute here and figure it out. So we start off with Chuck Schumer, right, who's the president of the Senate, the Senate majority leader from New York, is reiterating his intent to pass
legislation to safeguard cannabis banking as part of a busy agenda that he hopes to achieve in the weeks and months ahead.
Larry (43:52.695)
Although he again stressed the need for bipartisan cooperation for this news. We're saying thank you to marijuana moment for their fine cannabis related content. Also to MJ biz. We've got one of their stories coming up in a minute. So both of these groups, I think really do us a service with the great jobs that they do and covering all the stories that are important in the cannabis industry and with a depth and a level that allows us to understand what's going on and be able to talk about it.
Last Friday, Schumer said to his Senate colleagues that they have a variety of priorities when they return from a state work period next week. They're going to have an opportunity to make progress on bipartisan bills, including the Safer Banking Act, which we've all talked about on this show quite a bit, and which Rob Hunt and I have come to say will be a great bill when it's passed, but openly expressing doubt as to exactly when we can expect this bill to pass.
So I'm glad that Chuck is talking about it, but he says there's many other important bipartisan issues this Congress could address. And he's saying that he hopes his Senate Republican colleagues don't allow the ultra -right wing of their party to derail progress on the bipartisan bills. Schumer has been a big spokesperson for compromise and bipartisanship, although.
I'm sure that there are those on the right who feel otherwise. And we're not going to make this all about that today, other than to say that, and what we've talked about before, that what's going on in the Senate and in the House to some degree is just so frustrating because there seem to be bills and good intent on both sides. And then somewhere along the way, the last six months, the Republicans got to be up their bonnet that they can't let Clinton accomplish anything.
because we're too close to the election. And as with the border bill, and again, I'm not going to get into the ins and outs of that, but it had been negotiated and compromised by both sides in good faith. And.
Larry (45:50.871)
Even a guy like James Langford, the senator from Oklahoma, who's as hard right as you can get, was one of the key negotiators on it. And he wanted to push it through and Schumer was ready to push it through. And at the last minute, so the story goes, Donald Trump put the word out through the Republican party in the House and the Senate that the bill was not to pass, which is of course striking because he's been slamming Biden for not having a plan. Biden manages to pull together a bipartisan bill that's going to address a lot of the issues. And then at the last minute, the Republicans who unfortunately
fortunately, tend to follow the direction of Donald Trump regardless, went ahead and nixed the very bill that many of them had just spent all this time negotiating. And I bring that up only because there's been so many versions of the Safe Banking Act, many which have made it through the House and reached the Senate, only to find their death there because...
neither side wants the other side to be able to get credit for anything right now. And this is not just something that's coming up. We have people such as Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, who said that if Republicans want to keep the House, they should pass the marijuana banking bill, arguing that there are votes to approve it. So.
You know, I mean, I got to give Nancy Mace credit at least for that, that she's pointing out, even if it happens under Joe Biden, any Republican sitting in the House or the Senate who votes for it can go out in the campaign trail and take credit for it. If you voted against it, don't try to do that, although there are a lot of politicians that do that too, which is very problematic. Schumer keeps saying over and over that the bill remains a very high priority for the Senate, but we're running out of time.
with this Senate, and we're running out of time before the election. And it seems to me that it's kind of a no -brainer for Joe Biden and anybody else who wants to have a better chance of a successful run in this upcoming election cycle. So let's take a bipartisan approach to this. Let's see if we can't get this right. And for the benefit of everyone who's out there, get a safe banking bill passed, and actually let things begin to move towards.
Larry (48:07.863)
a point in time where we can be beyond all of this and actually have an opportunity to enjoy the benefits of legal marijuana, take it a step up from the state version because now we're no longer going to be worried or confused about what anybody else might have to say. But.
You know, it takes cooperation. And I'm just concerned that we're in a period of time where neither party is much in the mood to cooperate, but Republicans especially, as we say, just don't want the Democrats to have any significant bills to be able to crow about as we enter the meat of the primary season and then through all this campaigning through the summer leading to the election in the fall. And unfortunately, notwithstanding,
Schumer's best efforts, it may be that this bill does not really have a chance of passing until after the election, when perhaps is kind of a way to bring the parties together after what surely is going to be a very divisive election season, that this might be something that everyone can settle on at that point. And if they can still get it done, I guess they won't get sworn into the beginning of next year. So maybe we're looking at this.
early first quarter of next year if we get that kind of cooperation if you know cooler heads prevail and elected officials decide let's just do what's best for people right now and worry about the elections later that would be great if we could get a bill like this passed you know in the next couple of months but you know as Rob has said in the past and I've said in the past it's just gonna be one of those things where you're just gonna have to you know we can't believe it until we see it and you know hopefully that will be something that will come in and we'll be able to see sooner than later.
later, but we just don't know. And so we'll just have to take it from there and see what happens. And I say hope for the best. Now, here's some interesting news that really kind of struck me in a way that I hadn't anticipated, which is.
Larry (50:16.087)
that the Hawaii House has doomed adult use cannabis legalization again. And despite growing optimism that they would launch an adult use cannabis market this year, hopes vanished this week when House Finance Chair Kyle Yamashita declined to hold a vote on the legalization bill. Legislative priorities shifted to meeting response and recovery demands in the wake of the deadly Maui fires in August and away from Senate Bill 3335, which would have allowed recreational marijuana
sales and personal cultivation, ensuring the recovery of our communities continues to come in an extraordinary cost to the state budget and the full cost of implementing the legalization of adult use cannabis is unknown. Yamashita said in a statement, marijuana reform again failed to progress through Hawaii's more conservative house where legalization efforts have been thwarted for the past few years. Even backing from the state's attorney general and Democratic governor, Josh Green, were not enough to sway lawmakers. Some House members sided with law enforcement and their concerns regarding child
safety, the economy, and overall health of residents, tropes often levied by legalization opponents. And while we're doing that, let's just stop and say, yes, this is, again, examples of people who are playing to everyone's misconceptions of marijuana and all of the stories that have been made up about it over the years. So when a group comes in and they talk about child safety, what exactly are you talking about? Because we see that.
in communities where marijuana is made legal, teenage and younger age smoking goes down. It seems.
Not the way it should be, but it is. And that's just well established. If the concern is, well, you can't have marijuana in the house, then my response is, can you have alcohol in the house? Can you have cigarettes in a house? Can you have coffee in a house? What can you have in a house? And why can you have all of those and not one? I think everyone would agree that it's not something where you want to bring your three -year -old into a room and sit down and take a hit and blow it in their face.
Larry (52:17.239)
But on the other hand, people have drinks in front of their children, and we don't run around saying, well, this is child safety when in fact it is. People get drunk, and that's when you have domestic abuse and other problems like that. So this is just something that just kind of spit out, oh, well, the economy. What's going to happen with the economy? We see economies.
doing very, very well with marijuana. Overall health of residents, right? Well, let's see, we talked about the study that says that in communities in states with legalized marijuana, overall health insurance premiums go down. They don't go up, they go down. This is results of studies that we've read, federally approved studies.
And I just have to say, this is just really surprising, right? I mean, when we were all growing up, even before, I remember talking about California marijuana. Everybody was talking about Hawaii. Maui, waui, maui, waui. That was the thing. And I may have told this story before, but I'm going to tell it again. So too bad. Freshman year of my college experience with my good friend Harold. And again, the marijuana we were smoking was the stuff that any dealer out there was probably just grabbing dirt and throwing it into a bag. And we thought, boy, we're living life.
And he came down to my room one night and had a little tiny thing rolled up in tinfoil. And he pulled it out and he unwrapped it. And it was a very, very, very small bud. I mean, nothing big, but enough to probably break up into two one hits, which we did.
And whether I really could or not, I certainly imagined that I was tasting this wonderful marijuana that tasted fresh and alive and green and not like dirt that somebody had thrown in a bag. And who knows? But Maui Waui has always been one of my favorite strains when it's actually Maui Waui that they're selling you and not something that they're calling it to get the effect.
Larry (54:04.855)
Um, but it's just disappointing. And, you know, I mean, as far as the, the fires go in, in, in Maui, I agree that these communities have to rebound and they have to come back and the state needs to help them, uh, financially. But as we've seen in other States, in many, many other States, and we talk about this regularly, how they set records year after year after year, uh, you know, in terms of money that they're making and, and, and admittedly not year after year, some of them have experienced plateaus and even slight declines, but.
pulling in money and money in this case that Hawaii desperately needs to help rebuild its communities. And what better way than to play off of this idea that everyone has about Hawaii marijuana anyway. It seems to me to be a natural. Certainly the governor feels that way and the state's attorney general feels that way, but we just have some very conservative House members who have just decided that that is not for them and that's not something.
that they're going to do. Unfortunate, but what are we going to do, right? This is the world in which we live, and we take it as we find it and just hope for the best in terms of where governments will come out and how this will all work out for us. Now, rolling into my last piece of news again from MJ Biz, I just don't know how to say this nicely because it's not my goal to come on this show. And
be a jerk or slam people or anything like that. Although I still keep my opinions about Mitch McConnell the same even though he's retiring. But we're not going to fall back on that. However, Florida has finally gotten a recreational marijuana initiative on its ballot. They also have an abortion rights initiative on its ballot. Both are going to be on the November ballot. Governor Ron DeSantis, one of our
least favored people in the world, blasted the recreational marijuana initiative that will appear in November calling it radical and predicting its failure on election day. They are very, very extreme, DeSantis said, of the cannabis proposal and an abortion rights initiative that's also on the November ballot.
Larry (56:15.959)
Once voters figure out how radical both of these are, they are going to fail. Speaking specifically about the adult use marijuana initiative, DeSantis said, it's basically a license to have it anywhere you want. So no time, place, and manner restrictions, he continued. This state will start to smell like marijuana in our cities and towns. The governor's comments came only a few days after the state Supreme Court ruled that the industry funded ballot initiative meets the state constitutional requirements. The ruling resolved a saga that began in 2022 when smart and safe Florida started
gathering signatures from registered voters in the state. It passed by 60 percent of voters in November. Amendment, if passed by 60 percent of voters this coming November, Amendment 3 would allow adult use sales at existing medical marijuana treatment centers. Floridians 21 and older also may possess up to three ounces of cannabis for personal use, though home grows would be prohibited. So,
A January survey by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which opposes the measure, indicated 57 % support of adult use. A survey late in November by the University of North Carolina showed 67 % support. None of this is surprising. It's not surprising that there's huge support for it. And it's not surprising that a guy like DeSantis is doing whatever he can to try and get in the way and interrupt it. Rather than doing what's best for his state, people are smoking marijuana in Florida. They always have. They always will. So this is just a governor who's going to hold his nose like some of the others and say,
I'm gonna hold my hands over my ears and go, nah, nah, nah, and pretend that it's not happening. And because, God forbid, I should come out and endorse something that so many people in our state like and that so many studies have shown over and over again has positives that greatly outweigh the negatives that people like to associate with it, especially considering most of those negatives ultimately have no factual place and are just scare tactics that are dreamed up by the prohibited, prohibited, excuse me.
The folks who support prohibition, prohibitionists, tough to spit out here, they come up with all of this nonsense over and over again. And what the hell, DeSantis? You're getting up and you're saying, no, people are going to vote against it. Well, let's see. Because as I recall, the governors in Ohio and some other states predicted that abortion measures were going to fail, and they all passed. And to me, what this is indicative of is a group of individuals.
Larry (58:39.095)
who aren't really in touch with reality in the world, and instead continue to try to project their own opinions, which let's face it for the most part,
are designed to attract the largest number of people over to their side in terms of the things that they believe in and all of that. And so they speak to what these people want to hear, regardless of the truth. And I'm not saying that Democrats don't like to or don't extend things out. But for God's sakes, abortion has a huge support in this country. Marijuana has huge support in this country. And here's the governor from Florida declaring that they're both very, very radical. And we get that a lot from the right saying that,
things that the left wants to do, like DEI, and positive things that help people's lives, that move people's lives forward. Somehow those are bad things.
And those are radical ideas. But we're not living in 1950s America anymore. And these are not the days of leave it to beaver. And like everything else in the world, we as a society have to grow up as well and recognize. And I'm not here to beat the drum for abortion. That's not the purpose of this show. But it does share the same fate with cannabis legalization because it's the minority pretending that it's the majority and trying to push their own very restricted views of life.
living on the rest of us. And ultimately, this is the problem, I think, with the hardcore right -wingers, is that if they want to live their lives that way, have at it. You know, Ron DeSantis, if you don't want to smoke marijuana, if you don't want your children to smoke marijuana, if you don't want your wife to get an abortion, God bless. Nobody's gonna call you names or say there's anything wrong with you, but.
Larry (01:00:18.071)
Why do you have to turn around then and do it to the people who do support these types of things? Marijuana, where we talk over and over and over again, and we just saw it in the last article. Again, politicians who think they know more but don't. In fact, know nothing at all other than the prejudices they hold and the false ideas that they continue to promote out of this misguided belief that somehow it shows them as law and order people who are prepared to really lead this country in the right direction. And we won't even get into the hypocrisy with all of that.
You know, when I see this, it just makes me very, very sad because you have a state with people who want something and you have a governor who thinks they know better, not unlike Kristi Noem in South Dakota and anyone of a number of governors out there who have said, we're not going to let the people vote. We're not going to bring this to a bill.
And so this is where we find ourselves. But hopefully things like this continue to evolve and continue to change, and that the people in Florida and other states where these rights are being limited by we know better people, that no, you really don't know better, and thank you very much. But if that's the position you're going to take, then it's time for you to go and bring in people who will let us lead the lives we want to leave. And of course, that includes smoking marijuana. But.
That's enough for that for today and let's get back if we can to our show that we are featuring from 52 years ago today at the.
Wembley Empire Pool in London, the second night of the Grateful Dead's Europe 72 Tour. And we were talking about this four -song swing at the end, with Darkstar into a great Sugar Mag, into Caution, and ultimately into one more Saturday night. And so now, having heard Sugar Mag, we make our way into Caution. So Dan, please go ahead and spin that for us.
Larry (01:03:41.495)
So caution, do not step on tracks. It's mostly a jam vehicle. It does have.
A very brief portion of lyrics, and we didn't play the lyrics today because I thought this jam at the end is so magnificent that that's the part that I really wanted to listen to. But those lyrics, although simple, do carry a profound message. The protagonist seeks guidance from a gypsy woman hoping to find answers to their internal struggles, asking what's wrong with me. They're seeking a solution or a way to alleviate their pain. The gypsy woman tells them that all they need is a mojo hand, implying that a physical object has the power to change their fortunes and bring about well -being.
American folklore, a mojo hand refers to a magical charm or amulet believed to bring luck, protection, or power. By singing about a mojo hand, the Grateful Dead taps into the rich tapestry of blues and folk tradition, adding a touch of mysticism to the song. Caution is a timeless piece of music that captures the essence of the Grateful Dead's exploratory spirit. The song's meaning goes beyond its surface level interpretation, delving into deeper human desires for guidance and personal transformation.
This song serves as a reminder that sometimes we must look beyond ourselves for answers or support, whether it be through music, spirituality, or community. Thinking solace in something greater can provide the strength and encouragement needed to navigate life's challenges. The dead's live rendition of Caution is a testament to the band's unique ability to captivate and touch the souls of their listeners.
It serves as a timeless reminder of the power of music to connect, inspire, and offer solace in all walks of life. It was released on the band's second album, Anthem of the Sun, in 1968. Anthem of the Sun, of course, is a very, it may be the ultimate in psychedelic dead in terms of what it brings. And this song being on the album is no accident. It's a.
Larry (01:05:33.623)
It's really an amazing tune, one that I never got to hear, unfortunately, that had played it 71 times. The first goes all the way back to November 3rd, 1965 at Mother's Cafe in San Francisco. And the last time that they played it was on October 27th, 1979 at the Cape Cod Coliseum in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. And so that really spans a...
a long time for a song like Caution to have been there for as long as it was, because it's a song that, at least in my mind, is so linked with the early days of the dead and psychedelia. But when I stop and I look at its playlist out of the 71 times that it was played, the most was in 1969. It was played 21 times. In 1968, they played it 19 times.
In 1967 they played it nine times in 1976 times 72 six times then they go back to 1966 but in 1971 it was played once 1978 it was played once in 1979 it was played once and then it was retired And it's really too bad. I mean it to me I guess it's hard to imagine the song without Pig in there, you know belting out the lyrics when it's time for the lyrics
But the music of it is so spectacular that it really would have been fun to hear that tune. And that is certainly one that I am sorry that I missed along the way. But you know you take the good with the bad and it is what it is. So I have the joy of being able to listen to it on all of my live early dead as much as I can. And the truth is I've never heard the 1979 version. I'll probably check it out just to see. But I'm just going to take a wild guess and say that without Pigpen leading the way,
It'll be something that I say, I wish I would have seen it back in the day, but not so sad that I missed it by 1979. But at any rate, in this version of it, it just completely rocks right through. And then it rolls right into our outro, which we're going to play here in a second, of One More Saturday Night, which we know is from Ace, an album by...
Larry (01:07:47.159)
recorded by Bob Weir, his first solo album released in 1972. His bandmates in the Dead backed him on the album and all but one of the songs became staples of their live shows. It's a great, great song. In later years, it would only be played on Saturdays, but in the beginning, it would be played whenever Bob was in the mood. Now, when we started seeing him, it was a Saturday only thing and usually an encore. But every now and then, it might be a second set closer, maybe it's an opener for the entire show.
into one of these on a Saturday we always knew where they would play the song so the game was to guess when.
Now the encore was almost a sure winner, except when it wasn't. And that was the beauty of going to a Grateful Dead show and trying to be a predictor. But at any rate, thank you all for listening. We're going to send you out with Saturday night. It's been another fun show. We've got lots of more great stuff coming up, including some musical guests who we'll be talking about in the weeks to come as we tease some of these shows and let you know that we've got what we've got going on on the Deadhead Cannabis show. And we hope that you will continue listening. We appreciate your support very much. So from Atlanta, Georgia, Larry Fowler.
Michigan saying thank you for listening. Be safe and enjoy your cannabis responsibly. Thanks everyone.