"From Morning Dew to Dark Star: The Grateful Dead's Masterpiece Concert in 1973" Larry Mishkin's featured concert is the Grateful Dead's legendary performance at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium on June 10, 1973. This show is celebrated as one of the band's greatest, partly because of its remarkable opening with "Morning Dew," a song that symbolized the special nature of the event. The concert, part of a two-day festival with the Allman Brothers Band, included an extraordinary setlist and performances that have become iconic.
"From Morning Dew to Dark Star: The Grateful Dead's Masterpiece Concert in 1973"
Larry Mishkin's featured concert is the Grateful Dead's legendary performance at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium on June 10, 1973. This show is celebrated as one of the band's greatest, partly because of its remarkable opening with "Morning Dew," a song that symbolized the special nature of the event. The concert, part of a two-day festival with the Allman Brothers Band, included an extraordinary setlist and performances that have become iconic.
The show started with "Morning Dew," a rare and significant opener, setting the tone for the night. The first set included 13 songs, ending with an 18-minute "Playing in the Band." The second set opened with a 22-minute "Eyes of the World," followed by Jerry Garcia singing "Morning Dew," "Stella Blue," and "Warfrat," which was a rare combination for a single show. The set also featured a 12-minute "Bird Song" and an 11-minute "Here Comes Sunshine," showcasing the band's range and intensity.
A highlight of the concert was a 26-minute "Dark Star" that led into a sequence of "He's Gone," "Warfrat," "Truckin'," and "Sugar Magnolia," making for an over-hour-long jam to close the second set. The encore was equally impressive, featuring eight songs with guest performances by Dicky Betts and Butch Trucks from the Allman Brothers Band. This show exemplified the Grateful Dead's ability to create a transcendent musical experience.
Larry also discusses the song "Wave That Flag," played for the last time at this concert, which evolved into "US Blues." This track, notable for its evolving lyrics and style, was a precursor to a fan-favorite encore tune.
In music news, Larry highlights the release of Widespread Panic's new LP, "Snake Oil King," their first in nine years, set to be released on June 14, 2024. The band, known for their jam band status, recorded the album at John Keane Studio in Athens, Georgia, and it features six tracks with high-quality vinyl mastering.
The discussion also touches on Dead and Company's recent performances at the Sphere in Las Vegas, noting the innovative visuals and varied setlists. The band continues to break out new tunes and maintain the excitement of live shows.
Finally, a humorous note mentions a Phish fan who was banned from all MSG venues for posting a video of himself taking a bong hit inside the Sphere during a concert, highlighting the strict enforcement of venue policies.
Larry (00:30.222)
Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of the Deadhead Cannabis Show. I'm Larry Michigan.
Chicago Illinois where you may hear in the background a chorus of cicadas just like we get in Terrapin Station. Crickets and cicadas sing and they're singing up a storm in my backyard today. The 17 year guys and well you know you just have to embrace it while it's here. This is a great day to be listening to the Dead Ahead Cannabis Show. We are featuring another outstanding concert and we're gonna dive right in the Grateful Dead at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium on
June 10th, 1973, 51 years ago today. And it was one of the all -time great shows. And one of the reasons is because here is how it started.
Larry (02:54.222)
The Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers Band pulled into Washington, D .C. on July 9th for a two -day festival at RFK Stadium, the former home of the NFL team formerly known as the Redskins, now the Commanders. As novelist and essayist, Roy Robertson, author of all the years combined, The Grateful Dead and 50 Shows, says in the liner notes for the Dead's release of this June 10th show,
The show the day before on June 9th was great. It's The Dead, it's 1973. How could it be otherwise? But the second show on the 10th is supernaturally great. Naturally, this was important. This was about music. Robertson then quotes poet Robert Duncan, foremost we admire the outlaw with the strength of his convictions, before concluding with on June 10th, 1973, The Dead, the cosmic clown gestures of contemporary music weren't messing around.
And what better way to drive that point home by opening with Morning Dew? Robertson says, the first indication that the band obviously considered this a special show requiring special songs and special playing. Composed by Canadian folk singer Bonnie Dobson, released on the album Bonnie Dobson at Folk City in August of 1962, the song is essentially an imaginary conversation between the last man and the last woman on earth the morning after a nuclear holocaust.
In the dead's hands, it becomes that rarest instance of political art that actually merits not just the adjective, but also the noun. By 1971, can marvel at Morning Dew's transformation from impotent protest posturing to anguished elegy. When the band broke out Morning Dew, the audience knew it was likely to be a special evening.
when the dead opened up with it, it was likely to be a very special evening. And this is no occasion. The morning dew was played 274 times. The first was on January 14th, 1957, excuse me, 1967, at the Human Bee Inn in San Francisco. And it was last played on June 21st, 1995, at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany. In fact, it was the only play to total of four times in all of 95, and then retired.
Larry (05:07.296)
a couple of weeks before they played their final shows. So it was a classic. People would go show after show just to hear Morning Dew. To catch it was absolutely amazing. So they opened with this amazing tune. At the Greek Theater in 1985 on June 14th, the first night of the three -night run, 20th anniversary, we saw them open the second set with the tune. But I never saw them open the show with it.
So opening with Morning Dew is a big deal and might normally be enough to confer an upper -echelon Dead Show status on this show. But check this out. In addition, the Allman Brothers opened the show. The Dead's first set had 13 songs and was over 90 minutes long. It was filled with great tunes and it closes with an 18 -minute playing in the band. The second set then opens with a mammoth 22 -minute Eyes of the World. So that's almost 40 minutes blanketing the set break.
In the same show, Jerry sings Morning Dew, Stella Blue, and Warfrat. In the 80s and 90s, you had to go to three different shows to catch those three tunes. They alternated as the second set Jerry ballad, but at this show, the fans got all three. Plus, they got a 12 -minute bird song from Jerry. And an 11 -minute Here Comes Sunshine, which was a very new tune at that time. So this becomes a very heavy Jerry show, and it's just simply amazing.
But then there's a 26 minute dark star that bends time and bends the mind. It's unbelievable, one of the best I've ever heard. But it's just the start of a role, a dark star, into He's Gone, into Warfrat, into Truckin, into Sugar Magnolia, making for a final jam run over an hour in length to close out the second set.
Want more? How about a multi -song encore? Something of a rarity even back in the day. Not enough? OK. How about an eight -song encore with Dicky Betts and Butch Trucks sitting in with the boys? Yeah, it's a big event in the dead world, and the boys rise to the occasion. And this next tune we're going to feature helps a lot. Dan?
Larry (09:04.238)
Wave that flag.
played 14 times in a four month window. It was first played on February 9th, 1973 at the Maples Pavilion at Stanford. And this was the last time it was ever played at this show on June 10th, 1973. It's kind of a funky precursor to US Blues, which came online and first played on February 22nd, 1974 at the Winterland Arena in San Francisco and was ultimately played 324 times, becoming one of the most played and
favorite tunes of the deadheads unless you happen to see it six times in a row then you might not quite be as hot on it but I always loved it anytime I could hear it. Wave That Flag is a fun tune and it's kind of an insider one because if you don't recognize it as the early foundation of US blues it sounds like Jerry has just stoned and trying his best to come up with rhyming lines that never exactly repeated from one version to the next and sometimes just kind of came out as a jumbled mumbling. However, it does have a
a lyrics credit to robert hunter now on the other hand it's clearly the slightly cluttered prototype for u .s. blues as it features the same writing scheme and courses u .s. blues that's one of the rare examples of the band playing in concert early version of a tune that would soon become a feature tune after was worked out a little bit albeit with a different name not unlike the main ten is a precursor ultimately to play in the band
US Blues was ultimately released as the opening track on the album The Grateful Dead from The Mars Hotel, which was released on June 27th, 1974. It was released as a single with Loose Lucy on the B -side. Whereas Wave That Flag might pop up anywhere during a show, US Blues became a perennial encore tune.
Larry (10:53.55)
So it's just fun for me. I like hearing these early versions, right? This is the way the Dead Rd wrote songs. They just worked them out on stage. Sometimes they had the music and not the lyrics. Sometimes they were still working out the music and they already had the lyrics. You never really knew.
And it was kind of an interesting experience because you'd be sitting there at a Grateful Dead show and you'd be hearing everything that you always knew. And for me, that came up with all of a sudden they play a song like Touch of Grey back in 1983, which was.
four or five years before they actually released it. And then we'd start to hear it with more frequency. And they would be changing it a little here and a little there. And then it would come out on an album. And it was always kind of cool, because with most rock bands, you never heard a song until the album came out. And then you would all run to the concert to hear them do it live. But with The Dead, if you were collecting tapes or if you were going to shows, there was a lot of their new songs you would hear live. And we would always just say, that's a new one. That's a new one. That's a new one. And we would wait to see if.
they ever bothered to put it out on an album or not. And US Blues, of course, is a famous tune. If you've ever seen the Grateful Dead movie, if you haven't, I highly recommend it. If you have, I highly recommend that you watch it again. And the whole opening sequence of the movie is animated.
And it's just, you know, kind of silly stuff going on on the screen and they're jumping in and out of a bunch of different tunes. And then all of a sudden they settle into US blues and they're playing it, you know, loud and hard. And all of a sudden the screen goes from animation to the boys live at Winterland in 1974 with a crazy redhead in the front row who's not Bill Walton, but whose eyes are as wide as saucers jumping up and down and singing all the verses. And, you know, for people who were just being introduced to the Grateful Dead by the movie,
Larry (12:40.096)
Boy boy, you're getting a lot of it right up front. But Wave That Flag, and this is the last time they played it. So imagine if you'd gotten to know the tune and you're like, okay yeah, Wave That Flag, that's kind of cool. They play this show, they go almost a year until the following February, and then they break out US Blues, and you're like, wait a second, that's Wave That Flag. Now it's US Blues. Even then was a little bit before the album was released.
So, you know, it's just part of the Grateful Dead process and very, very interesting stuff. So, we are now at a point in our, in my podcast where I think we're going to check on over for a minute and check in on the music news side and see what's going on over there. Dan?
Larry (13:47.438)
The Heart of Rock and Roll, a song performed by Huey Lewis and the News, released as the third single from their 1983 album, Sports.
the single peaked at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was inspired by a gig the band played in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland at the time was known for its rock scene, but the band remained defiant of this claim, believing their hometown San Francisco had the better scene. After playing the show, Lewis relented with initially the title phrase being the heart of rock and rolls in Cleveland based on a comment Lewis made to the band, but he changed it to the heart of rock and roll is still beating.
According to him, the message of the song is that there's real rock and roll in places other than Los Angeles or New York. The B -side was a live version of Working for a Livin'.
And upon the suggestion of their record company, the band produced various regional verses of the single in which after mentioning of Detroit towards the end of the song, Lewis called out one or more cities in the lyrics, including New York, St. Louis, and Toronto. Huey Lewis was a, and his band The News were very, very popular.
during the, I guess the 80s primarily. And as you may recall, when we were featuring the Day on the Green, the AIDS Festival at Oakland Alameda County Stadium a few weeks ago, that Huey Lewis was supposed to be one of the co -headliners with the dead, but backed out at the last minute because unlike the dead, they were concerned that if they performed at this huge venue in Oakland, that it might impact ticket sales for the other shows they had around the Bay Area and other destinations.
Larry (15:24.032)
destinations within driving distance, that if the fans could all run out to see him and damn the green, they were unlikely to then buy tickets to see them somewhere else. And Jerry was very magnanimous about it and said that Huey was probably responding to concerns from the record label rather than his own concerns. But certainly, at the end of the day, I would say that Huey Lewis missed the boat there. Don't know how their record sales went, but if you're the number one band in the country or whatever, you shouldn't really be worrying about your ticket sales or your record sales. You're already rocking and rolling with that.
And any time any band from there had a chance to step on stage with The Grateful Dead, I would have thought that they would jump at it just for whatever level of credibility it gives them or street cred or connection to that kind of a band. And then you've turned yourself on to all the deadheads in the crowd. And those deadheads who are out there having a trip of their own, sometimes they hear that music and it burrows in and they get an earworm with it. And all of a sudden they run out and buy the albums for a while. But.
Huey Lewis did what it did. That does not take away from the place that they hold in rock and roll history. And sorry that we missed them at the concert on the green. But as always, Dan Humiston coming up with an excellent, excellent.
tune for us to be listening to as we make our way into this section of the show. So let's talk about music, and let's talk about what's going on out there, because we've got some interesting things that we do not want to miss out on. The first one is that Widespread Panic, another favorite jam band who we really don't talk about very much, for no reason other than the fact that we've got so much about the dead to talk about. But certainly, Widespread has a longstanding band that has really established itself.
as one of the premier jam bands around. Their concerts sell out and their fans are very devoted to them. And they are a band that even though I'm not quite as familiar with as I am with some of the others, I always enjoy seeing them any opportunity I get. They're confirming their first new LP in nine years, Snake Oil King. And they've announced the official release date of their album will be this coming Friday, June 14th.
Larry (17:36.046)
The confirmed full length arrives after the band has already previewed their project with a series of singles including Cosmic Confidant, Life as a Tree, Tacklebox Hero, We Walk Each Other Home, and Little by Little.
Notably, the LP consists of six total entries, leaving only Small Town as a final surprise. Snake Oil King comes after a break from the studio for the veteran Pete State Jam Band and serves as the follow -up to the group's previously released 2015 collection, Street Dogs, which was drummer Dwayne Trucks first with the band. While little detail has been revealed on the background of the six -track album, the group did share that Snake Oil King was recorded at the renowned John Keynes Studio in Athens, Georgia, according to the band.
official website. The set was mastered by industry stalwarts Glenn Schick and Peter Lyman and focused on the auditory experience for listeners ensuring the highest quality vinyl renderings for premium sonic intake. Adoring the set is illustrated dream work by the artist Mark Sposta who provided the final cover art and visual rendering for each single which came before the LP's confirmation.
For fans interested in procuring the album, the song will be available on Record Store Day, June 15, 2024.
That's great. I love bands that come out and give some new music. Even though when The Dead came out with some new albums, it was always met a little bit reluctantly at first. Could it ever live up to what they did? Most of the time it did, with a few exceptions along the way. But always a lot of fun to listen to and always great. And widespread panic, you know, good. Just another way to introduce their tunes out there to people who haven't gotten to their shows or don't have a chance to go as often as they'd like. And while it may be true that ultimately at the end of the day, the fans will certainly appreciate it.
Larry (19:24.32)
appreciate their live versions more.
So vinyl's a good way to get going. And what I love about it is that they kind of act surprised that there's only six total entries on the album. Well, maybe the album is a little more true to the band Jam Roots, right? We always used to joke with the Grateful Dead, if you want to hear the FM radio version, go buy their albums and you could hear it. And look, I'm not going to diss any of their albums at all. In fact, American Beauty, Working Man's Dead are all classic albums. Wake of the Flood, Mars Hotel, Shakedown Street, Terrapin Station, these are crazy.
classic Grateful Dead albums that I would just as happily listen to as listening to any of them live, even though we all know that when you listen to them live, it's a completely different experience. And I'm sure the same is true here, but good for them for really jamming out a few tunes and not just throwing on some fluff to fill out the album. Widespread is a great band to see.
I'm not gonna lie and say when Jimmy Herring joined the band, that opened up, really opened the door for me even more so, because I had already become a big Jimmy Herring fan. And the rest of them are all just great. So if you are a widespread fan, you might want to consider getting ready this Friday to go out and grab a copy of the album, put it on, spin it a few times, and then figure out when they're coming by you, and...
You know, you run out and get to jam with them. And the nice thing is, you know, if you've listened to the album before the show, while you may not be ready for how they're going to play it live, at least you have an understanding for what it is and you're not just totally shocked. Although sometimes being totally shocked with new jam band tunes is a great way to learn those tunes as well. But a lot of luck to widespread panic on their record sales, even though they don't really live off of their record sales, that's OK.
Larry (21:15.15)
They're just great. It's fun to have them. And yeah, definitely go check it out. It's really a great thing. And I think that you will absolutely enjoy it. And it's well worth getting a hold of. So now we're going to turn back a little bit. And we're going to talk about DEDECO at the Sphere because it's still news.
I saw my shows last week, but the shows go on, and this past weekend they had just another exceptional three -night run from people who were there. Same feedback on the visuals, just being absolutely incredible. Some repeat, there's always a few new ones thrown in, but I found the experience so amazing that I wouldn't even mind seeing some of the repeated visuals again.
And they just keep going. So on Thursday night, on June 6 at the Sphere, which was their fourth residency weekend, the band broke out a few tunes, which are not first time for them, but first time during the Sphere run. And so here are some of the tunes that they pulled out. Minglewood Blues.
Peggy O. Here Comes Sunshine, Death Don't Have No Mercy, and a show closing Johnny B. Goode. Sticking with the aforementioned motif, the night picked up on New Winglewood Booze, last performed by Den and Co. during the group's Cornell University Tribute Concert of the famed Barton Hall Show, Barton Hall Show, easier to say than, harder to say than it sounds, on May 8th, 2024.
Set one way into familiar territory with an onslaught of popularized tunes playing in the band, feel like a stranger, Tennessee Jed, which nudged follow -up, then The Wait, Welcome Opportunity for line swaps between Bobby, John Mayer, O'Teal, and Jeff Commenty. O'Teal finally getting a chance to...
Larry (23:10.03)
air out his vocals there and whenever Comente joins in on the singing it's always a lot of fun. Set one progressed into the traditional trick Peggy O which was a long time staple of the deads and also of this group Dead and Cove again being the first time played in the sphere. Sugarree.
Here Comes Sunshine, I Know You're Right, or some of these tunes were played last week when we talked about them. China Can't Sunflower, I Know You're Right, or Estimated Profit, the other one. And just really, really a lot of fun and some great additions and fun tunes for the band. Saturday night, or excuse me, Friday night, folks got an Uncle John's opener into Franklin's. Loose Lucy, Ship of Fools, Help on the Way, Slipknot Eyes, love that, right? They play the Franklin's earlier.
of the Slipknot, they drop in Eyes of the World. And to me, that's just kind of silly fun. And I think Eyes fits in very well in that combination after Slipknot. They're all from the same album. And it's just an era of dead music that just flows and is beautiful to listen to. The second set states, even a tune that I heard him play last week along with Scarlett. He's Gone, Dark Star. The drums in space looks like rain trucking, throwing stones. The Harry Reasoner, Bruce
Newscast and Casey Jones fun show I You know a lot of tunes on there that would have been nice to catch and then This past Saturday night. We got a cold rain and snow Mississippi half -step Bertha, you know love Bertha. Sorry keep missing it, but that's okay Great tune West LA fadeaway. They love each other Jack straw one more Saturday night They came out with good times the Sam Cooke cover to open the second set sugar Magnolia Althea
Terrapin, Standing on the Moon, Good Lovin' Deal, Knockin' on Heaven's Door, the broadcast did not fade away. And these are just some really, really solid tunes that the band has been playing. Some very, very deep traditional tunes, some newer, quote unquote, newer tunes in the dead's arsenal. And it's fun that as they go along, they are breaking out new tunes. It's not just a question of them.
Larry (25:25.934)
You know, going back to the same songs over and over as though it was a set program with a set visual show, because quite frankly, that would bum out deadheads over time. So I admire what they're doing here. I think it's great. Once again, I would advise anyone who has not seen a show in the Sphere, period, and certainly a fan who has not seen Denenco in the Sphere, they've got extended shows now, I think, that run into August. Why not?
it's Las Vegas. It's fun. You certainly find ways to entertain yourself and you have a chance to see this band in this venue. And you know, who knows if they will not, if they'll ever be back. Now, one thing about this weekend shows this past weekend that I have not been able to get a confirmation on is whether this time around, Bobby took five minutes to actually comb his hair. when I saw him, Bobby really, and I don't mean this as a disperse, just kind of a wonderment with Bobby looked like he had just rolled out of bed. there was nothing.
about his hair that suggested that he was styling it in any way. It was just messy.
And Bobby can wear his hair any way he wants. but this is, you know, the guy who was, you know, the hip cool dude in the band who all the ladies loved and wore the short shorts and, you know, always had his eyes on shirt on and always had his hair looking good. And, you know, I'm not going to lie. He looks a little bit like, you know, your crazy uncle who comes over for dinner and your mom says, don't mention the way he looks, just talk with him. And Bobby sounded great. He was playing fantastic. And I'm sure he was this past weekend too.
And I don't mean to diss on Bobby so much, but I just found it a little bit humorous that this was his new look, as it were. And who knows? It's all good, and it's all really a lot of fun and good for him. Now, talking about the Sphere, another story that I saw, and I guess this could either go in the marijuana news or the music news equally well.
Larry (27:25.742)
But it turns out that Madison Square Garden Entertainment, the group that owns the Sphere, James Dolan, New York Knicks, and all that stuff, has indefinitely banned an attendee of Phish's April 20, 2024 Sphere concert. The locational veto resulted after the individual posted a video to Instagram showing himself taking a bong rip inside the new state of the art Las Vegas venue.
the man tagged Sphere and the band on social media, leading to the official letter and blockade of more than just the Sin City location. The official letter, which was posted to social media, stated on April 30, 2024, you posted an Instagram video of yourself smoking inside the Sphere with the caption, first bong hit to ever be ripped in the Sphere.
You knowingly violated the guest code of conduct by visibly smoking inside the venue. Sphere Entertainment Company will not tolerate actions that threaten the safety and security of our guests and employees.
After identifying the cause, the letter went on to list the venues where the individual is no longer welcomed, including Madison Square Garden, Radio City, Mute is a Call, the Beacon Theater, the Chicago Theater, the Sphere, and any other MSG venue. You are not to enter or remain in any of the MSG venues at any time in the future. And if you do,
Chase Square or any of the others, law enforcement will be contacted to ensure your expulsion and you will be subject to penalties. All the fish heads are passing it around. Somebody had to do it under the tagline, funk your face. And I got to tell you, this isn't just like, hey, guys, stand around me for a minute and I'm going to rip a bong hit. This guy is standing up way out in the open, ripping a bong hit. And I'll tell you, I'm impressed. He...
Larry (29:13.71)
He took a huge hit. He just had a huge, gigantic billow of smoke over him that was just absolutely visible from anywhere inside the venue. Now, here's the thing about smoking in that venue and smoking in any venue. We all know that there has yet to be a concert.
inside a venue or even outside a venue where fans are told you can openly smoke marijuana is here go for it we don't care. Last year we had the Miracle in Mundelein Illinois the two -day festival highlighted by JRad on Sunday where you were allowed to smoke on the grounds and in fact the Miracle in Mundelein is being repeated this year on September I believe it's seventh and eighth or eighth and ninth a Saturday and a Sunday coming up in September and although JRad won't be in the lineup they do have some good bands and actually
has a little bit of a rap feel this year. My youngest son Daniel, who's a big rap fan, is very excited, so I'm gonna go with him and all my boys up there to check it out. I dragged them to Dead Shows and Fish Shows, so Daniel's dragging me to a show with some rap side to it, and it should be fun, and I'm just looking forward to being in a venue where you can openly smoke and you don't have to worry. Now, as a practical matter, there were people smoking all over the sphere, and there are people smoking all over most venues. For me, when I saw further,
at the auditorium theater in Chicago back in 2009 or 2010, I can't remember exactly which year it was, and took my oldest son Matthew and his buddies Zdub, and they had started smoking and they were very excited about the opportunity to go and see the future.
further show sorry and you know really break out a little bit and I kept warning them guys this is the auditorium theater this is like one of the crown jewels of Chicago theaters it's beautiful on the inside the seats are upholstered and there's carpeting and you know there's no way they're going to allow smoking in this venue and that was coming from the fact that a few months earlier I had been at the RIV which is kind of a worn down nightclub on the north side of the city not a place that you would think anybody would care about as we were smoking a joint and Usher came up to us and
Larry (31:29.424)
asked us to please put it out, not because of what we were smoking, but just because we were smoking in a venue with the Chicago No Smoking Ordinance. Well, needless to say, within seconds of the lights going down at the auditorium theater, everybody in the joint was smoking. So we just take it on faith, as I actually had to explain to my oldest son, Matthew, back when we saw the dead at the Rosemont Horizon back.
even before there was a further.
and as we walked in, there were police officers ringing around, the theater, which was not uncommon for Rosemont, Illinois, and even kind of walking through, the concourses. But once we walked in and once the lights went down and everybody lit up, he looked at me amazed and said, how can this happen with all these police officers here? And I had to explain that when you're inside a dead show, literally inside in the seating area of a dead show and the lights go out, strange things happen and certain rules don't apply. but you always have to be very careful.
because if you stray outside of that protected zone, the rules do apply very strongly in a lot of places and you can find yourself in some trouble. But as I say, people were smoking in the sphere very openly and my position has always been, of course we should be able to smoke inside of the show. If you're inviting a band like The Dead or Fish or any of the bands where part of the experience for their audience has always been centered around marijuana or psychedelics.
or anything else. You can't expect these people to just show up in this venue and all of a sudden say, right, well we're here, so we're not gonna do the things that we always do at our shows. And I think that as the sphere, as many other places, if you're not shoving it in somebody's nose, if you're not walking right up to one of the security people and blowing bonkets in their faces, if you're not sitting in the first row with the lights on and smoking regularly while the security is walking past you and looking at you and maybe even asking you to stop, you should, yes, there's occasional times.
Larry (33:29.424)
times where I've been at non -Dead shows where.
People would come and tell you how to put it out and you couldn't, but almost never that I can remember at a dead show once you were in the seating area and the show was going on. So what's the problem here? Well, the problem here is, you know, look, on the one hand, I guess, you know, some true stoners will look at him and say, man, the guy's a legend. Look at him. You know, he gets credit for the first bong rip, although we don't know that to be the case because there may have been other people who were ripping bongs in the sphere. Probably not so much for YouTube, which you never know, but certainly for fish is possible. They just didn't go out of their way to publicize it. And that's where this guy fell into trouble.
I think you know and he took one for the team if you will he wanted to be the guy known for taking the first rip and now he's paying the price you know and I guess with face recognition these days you know technology maybe it's possible that they can actually pick him out of a crowd of 15 or 20 ,000 people trying to go into any of those venues and those are key music venues where you know big shows are played you know to be permanently or at least temporarily or you know indefinitely suspended from going into any of those venues would really really suck especially if they do have the face recognition
technology that you know with which they could enforce this ban you know and really really keep him out so you know he took it on the chin he made a really funny quick video all of us who love to smoke you know can appreciate it but I think that you know it crossed the line and I can't really say I blame Madison Square Garden Entertainment for the position he took although my guess is that he will take the letter from Madison Square Garden
and wear it around his neck like a medal. And again, why not? What's done is done. And he's getting his 15 minutes of fame. It may or may not be the 15 minutes he was looking for, but it's the 15 minutes he got. And of course, what all of this misses, and it just begs the question entirely of how the hell does somebody get a bong into a place like this? And this was not the tightest security I've ever encountered when I walked in to the sphere.
Larry (35:32.416)
You emptied your pockets, you walked through one of those newer model scanners where it goes across the floor and up on two sides, but not like a whole thing that goes over your head or whatever. I've seen them in other venues from time to time. I don't really understand the technology. But you walk through that and maybe they occasionally wand people. But it's easy to get a small glass pipe and one or two film canisters of weed in there if you want to take a few hits. I know people who have even taken in larger bowls and have found
ways, whether you crotch it or you do something else with it. But you know, a bong, and even the bong he's holding in the picture, which as far as I can tell, appears to be a one -piece glass bong, not even one that you could take apart like the Sammies fraternity used to do at the University of Michigan football games in the early 80s when they would take their house seven -foot bong, dismantle it, take it into the stadium, reassemble it, set it down, and you had to go five rows up on the bench seats to be able to get up to the mouthpiece and rip the bong in Michigan Stadium.
And I'm sure there was a lot of people that saw it, but Michigan Stadium, especially in the student section at that time, tend to be a little bit crazy. And nobody thought very much of it. But this bond that this dude is holding, I don't see how you take it apart. And I don't know how you get it in. You can't crotch it. He's wearing shorts. You can't put it down your pant leg. I suppose maybe you could try to put it on some sort of a lanyard and wear it around your neck in that way.
But even that, it seems to me, you'd have to explain what that pattern is that your shirt is on. Your shirt is showing underneath it. So to me, I just give the guy credit because he got the bong in there in the first place. And however he did it, he did it. Hats off to him. And he probably could have enjoyed the entire show sitting in his seat, ripping bong hits all night long. But this is what he did with the lights on, by the way, pre -show or during the set break. So again, it was very easy to focus in on him.
And apparently they had no trouble once they focused in on him identifying who he was Which I always think is kind of amazing these days. He's not just one of 15 ,000 they they nailed it and you know So now it's just gonna be one of those urban legends that people go around talking about you know And whether something like this did it really happen could it happen well according to relics it certainly happened in the the photo in the video or you know kind of hysterical watching it So you know as long as he's pleased with where everything wound up
Larry (38:01.87)
Heck, why shouldn't the rest of us be pleased? And more power to them, and that's kind of a funky thing. So that's fun. One final thing on music, though, that I want to get to, and this is just happening, and thank you to my wife, Judy, because this morning she already seated and forwarded it to me. Otherwise, I probably would have missed it before the taping today. But I don't really know very much more than to be able to tell you that the other night, maybe even last night, so that would have been Saturday night, June.
8th, it turns out that Trey Anastasio walked out on the stage to play with Billy Joel. Now I'm just seeing this for the first time and haven't had a chance to even really listen to it so I can't tell you exactly what song Trey played with them, but for those of you that have been following the ongoing tongue -in -cheek,
beef between Billy Joel and Fish, which revolves around which of them has played more sold out shows in Madison Square Garden. And I think we talked about how Billy Joel recently finally crossed over the 100th show threshold, and Fish is maybe 10 or 15 shows away from that. And even more infamously back in 2017, right before the start of the Baker's Dozen 13 night run, when Billy Joel referred to Fish as a customer.
cover band when trying to perhaps add a little more weight to his claim to be the top draw at Madison Square Garden. And Fish's response was marvelous. They said, we're going to do 13 shows, and we're not going to repeat a song. And they did, which to me is an absolutely amazing, amazing feature. I mean, look at Denning Company here. On their fourth weekend, you know,
times three shows, that comes out to be just about 12 or 13 shows that they've played there to date. And if you go through the set list, there are numerous repeats, numerous. Now, most deadheads don't really mind that. Within the course of any three -show week, I haven't really seen any repeat, say, from Thursday to Friday or to Saturday. But from week to week, there have definitely been some repeats.
Larry (40:10.542)
And I think that, you know, look, the Dead have a huge catalog, and if they really wanted to, you know, go out and try something like that, they could. I suppose Dead & Co. doesn't do it because A, you know, they know that there are certain songs that fans really do like to hear, and most people are not coming back week after week after week, but only within a three -show period. I'm sure it's a lot of the songs that they like to play. And, you know, otherwise I can't really speak for why any band does what they do.
But you just have to view that to truly be able to appreciate what fish did.
And that's just absolutely amazing. But I think it's even more fun that Trey just kind of takes the whole thing, apparently very tongue in cheek, and good for him and good for Billy Joel, and bringing Trey out. And after today's taping, I'm going to dig around a little more, and maybe we'll have something to feature for next week on that, even though it'll be a little bit older, and most of you will already heard it. But I think it's great, and I'm really excited about that. So check it out. You can find it anywhere, YouTube or anywhere else where this
kind of stuff is posted and it's just great stuff. Okay, so we're going back to our show from 51 years ago today and RFK Stadium in Washington, D .C. I was lucky to see the dead there a couple of times, usually in the middle of the summer when it was broiling hot out.
But our good buddy, Leby, who lived in Washington, DC at the time, was always good on getting tickets. And he would always make sure to set us up. And actually, that's not true. I think we probably ordered our tickets online and just bought one for him. But I like to throw him out a little bit of credit there, because he's always wanted to be on the podcast. And maybe someday we'll work him in. But I have to have some good, dead connections for him. So we give him credit for getting the RFK tickets. And it's just a huge, freaking venue, right? 70, 75 ,000 people.
Larry (42:05.294)
but we always loved it. We always saw great shows there. In the late 80s and 90s, it was a place where the dead broke out. Dark Star more than once, and the Washington DC crowd was always a great crowd. So it's a fun show to focus on, and let's get right back to it. And this is an early version of what is one of the all -time fan favorites.
Larry (44:06.99)
Everybody recognizes the Phil Lesh Robert Hunter classic tune from American Beauty, released on November 1st, 1970, the legendary follow -up album to the already legendary Working Man's Dead album released earlier that year. Box of Rain is a song that is drawn from American folk and country musical roots. We've been told that Hunter and Lesh wrote it as a song that Phil wanted to write and present to his father who was dying.
the roots to the song is true of many of their tunes and most of the songs from American Beauty and Working Man's as the first song on American Beauty was also the first Grateful Dead song released on record to feature Phil Lesh as the lead vocalist right after Jerry and Bobby and Pigpen were getting all the leads Phil finally gets the lead, has to write his own song to do it but he does and
it's just great i'm actually gonna take issue with that because i believe that on anthem of the sun on the song
new potato caboose phil seems to take the lead although i guess a lot of that is is vocalized singing so maybe they're distinguishing between that and phil actually belting out the lyrics here but i don't want to take any credit away from phil because new potato caboose is a wonderful tune that i heard further play a couple of times and just a lot of fun and you know he should we gotta make sure he gets credit for that now the song the the album version featured two musicians who are not playing in the band certainly dave
Robert played bass while Lesh was playing acoustic guitar. Dave Nelson of the New Riders plays lead guitar with the Fender Telecaster while Jerry plays the piano. Bob sings harmony with Phil and Jerry. Now the song was ultimately played 163 times by the band. It was first played on September 17th, 1970 at the Fillmore East and was last played on July 9th, 1995 at Soldier Field. Not just the last Grateful Dead show ever, but the last song ever played by
Larry (46:11.76)
played in concert by the Grateful Dead. It was the second encore after Black Muddy River. The story is that Phil decided that the tour was already a little downbeat because Jerry was clearly not doing well and would be dead a month after that Chicago show. And the encore of Black Muddy River was kind of flat and really left a lot to be desired. And Phil was like, we can't let this tour end on that note. And so he pushed Box of Rain out. And they played a rousing version of Box of Rain and then left the stage. And that was the last time we had
ever saw the Grateful Dead live in concert.
But here's the thing about Box of Rain. After the show we're listening to today, it was only played four more times, three in June of that year, and then once more in July of that year at the Watkins Glen Summer Jam, which also featured the Allman Brothers and the band. And then the tune was taken out of the band's rotation of songs and not played again until March 20th, 1986, over 750 shows later, when Phil finally broke it out to close out the first set in the mothership Hampton Coliseum.
on that day, it was a show I was lucky enough to attend. Between 1974 and 85, Lesh seldom sang with the group, confining his contributions to the occasional harmony vocals on trucking due to a vocal cord damage from improper singing.
But once he broke it out, there was no going back. He played it right up to the last show and even the last tune. And it wasn't the first song that Phil came back to the microphone on. He was already singing Broken Arrow at that point. He was singing just like Tom Thumb's Blues. And so we knew he was singing. In fact, the day they broke out Box of Rain, my buddy John, who I was watching the show with, turned to me and he said, rather confidently as a experienced dad had up, here comes Tom Thumb's Blues.
Larry (48:00.864)
and within a few seconds he recognized the mistake and was able to clue me in because I was, wasn't thinking box of rain, who was? And there it was and what a wonderful tune. Very symbolically they played it for the last time at Soldier Field and then on July 3rd, 2015 at the first Chicago show of the band's 50th anniversary Fair of the Well shows, they came out and opened with it and it was just great. 1973 was great for a lot of tunes including this next one.
Larry (50:17.07)
They love each other. Wonderful tune. Garcia Hunter tune from Jerry's.
solo albums, Reflections, released February 1976. And it's a typical dead tune. They've been playing it live for three years before its eventual release. A crowd favorite. After its release in 1973, it was played every year thereafter, except for 1995. Excuse me, after its release in 1976. It was played every year thereafter by the dead, except for 95. The 1973 performances of the song are played at the uptempo level, evident in
in this clip for reasons unknown, at least to me. After 73, Jerry slowed down the temple to the version that was prevalent thereafter and the one that most of us know. Many online theories, none better than any other one, but much support.
a lot of fan support for the ump tempo version. The thing that I always like about it beside it is when he gets to the part where he says, Lord, you can see that it's true, in the traditional version, he sings that out three times as the tune then kind of goes out. But in this version of it, he sings it twice. And where he would sing it the third time, he steps in and he really jams it out. And to me, that's way cool and just a lot more addicting.
double slow down version also had its pros and was the only version of which i was aware and so i started listening to tapes or shows from nineteen seventy three and immediately picked up on the uptempo swing just like they're playing here though it's also i guess you could say very prevalent with song like friend of the devil right if you listen to friend of the devil american beauty it's it's it's a really kind of up swing acoustic song and in concert it got slowed down into almost a very very slow kind of grateful dead jam
Larry (52:00.846)
Again, I was happy with both versions. I was more familiar with the slowed down electric version. But I think this would have just been fun to have an opportunity to hear them really jam out like that on they love each other, needless, regardless.
The band played it 226 times. It was first played just a few months earlier on February 9th, 1973 at Maples Pavilion, Stanford University out in California. It was last played by the band on September 20th, 1994 at Boston Garden in Boston, Mass. So we basically missed out on almost a whole year of dead shows without them playing They Love Each Other, which is too bad because it was always a great tune to hear. Even on the slower version, you all knew the words and you could sing along and dance with it.
And it was really a lot of fun. So now we are going to switch back over to our portion of the show that addresses cannabis and all things as such. And Dan, what do you got to lead us into it with?
Larry (53:44.398)
Well, thanks, Dan the Weed Song. Those of you old enough to remember, that's from Cheech and Chong's animated movie, a 2013 American adult animated comedy film that was made by a film by Brandon Chambers.
and Eric D Chambers, it stars the comedy duo Cheech and Chong, and their first feature film since 1984 is The Corsican Brothers, and the first to feature them as animated characters. The film featured several of their original comedy bits, such as Sister Mary Helephant, Sergeant Stadonko, Ralph and Herbie, Let's Make a Dope Deal, Earache My Eye, and the classic Dave. It was released on March 18th, 2013 by 20th Century Fox, and was released on DVD, Blu -ray, on April 23rd, 2013.
So you could say the Cheech and Chong have always been the true ambassadors of marijuana. Some people think they take it to an extreme. Some people think they don't take it out far enough. I always got a real kick out of the Cheech and Chong movies because when we were watching it back then, you have to remember marijuana was not a prevalent thing like it is now. I mean, people were smoking it, sure, but not like now where you go into dispensaries and you buy it. And although we're still working on normalizing marijuana, certainly Cheech and Chong just kind of throwing it right out
out in the face of the establishment was just as much part of the fun as anything else. So thanks, Dan, for finding this little classic gem for us to listen to. It's really a lot of fun, and we appreciate it. But let's dive into our marijuana news for a couple of minutes here. And we have some stuff that is worth talking about, as always, because you never run out of things to talk about when it comes to marijuana. This is a story that we touched on last week, and now it seems like it may be coming home to roost.
against him. So two in three Florida voters, including a majority of Republicans, support a marijuana legislation initiative that's on the November ballot. A Fox News poll finds...
Larry (55:45.198)
In fact, the cannabis measure is more popular among voters than is Governor Ron DeSantis, who is campaigning against it. Talk about your kismet, your karmic justice. The survey found that 66 % of voters backed the marijuana initiative more than enough to meet the 60 % threshold to pass the constitutional amendment under state laws. Not surprisingly, Democrats are the most supportive at 76%, followed by independents at 71%, and Republicans at 50%.
67 % so even they are passed the 50 % majority. A majority of every demographic surveyed said they backed the reform with the exception of those aged 65 and older. By contrast, 52 % of the voters said they either strongly or somewhat approve of the job DeSantis is doing as governor. A 14 % point gap in support compared to marijuana legislation. It's a data point that calls into question the political wisdom of DeSantis' crusade against the
against the cannabis measure, right? The Floridians want and deserve the same right to consume recreational marijuana that more than half of the country already enjoys, said Morgan Hill, a spokesperson for Smart and Safe Florida campaign, and he sent a press release. The poll reflects that we at Smart and Safe Florida know to be true. Legalization and legalizing recreational adult use in Florida in marijuana is good for Floridians' health, safety, and individual freedom.
Yeah, that's right. It is. It is more popular. Now the government has argued that the state should go beyond the existing medical cannabis program and that a broader reform would negatively impact the quality of life for Floridians. The Florida Republican Party also came out against the amendment last month. Now one of the reasons why DeSantis is doing this is because he doesn't want to veto a bill.
that would ban consumable hemp -derived cannabinoid products such as Delta -8 because he's hoping the hemp industry will help finance the marijuana opposition campaign. So he's playing one side of cannabis against the other. We talked about that last week too. If your product comes from cannabis, you have to stick together. It doesn't do the MSOs any good to sit there and scream that the hemp versions of consumable THC should be outlawed. Work together, guys. Don't drive a stake through what's going on here.
Larry (58:09.742)
Now, the chief executive of the Multistate Cannabis Operator,
True Leave that's financially supporting the Smart and Safe campaign said recently, she remains confident DeSantis will respect the will of the people and implement the legalization if voters approve it on the ballot. But my response is, I don't know, I wouldn't be so sure about that, because DeSantis is the same guy who previously predicted that voters will reject the marijuana initiative in November and argued that passage would reduce the quality of life in the state. So this is rich. We've got our governor, who's
putting his opinion and his values ahead of a majority of the people in his state who think otherwise, including Republicans. That, in my opinion, does not make for a very long political career. But I guess DeSantis is going to do what he was going to do.
But again, guys, this is like when the legislator from Kansas said that the people of Kansas don't really know what they're talking about when they say that they want medical marijuana. They don't really understand what it is. And it's this type of paternalizing. It's just kind of descending to everybody. And it's not just on marijuana. It opens your eyes that guys like DeSantis always speak their mind and don't give a damn what anybody else says. Right?
their whole idea of you know the state where woke goes to die he's so proud of that you know the positions that he takes are so ridiculous as a result that he goes out to the extremes so here he's not just saying that the scientists or whoever he's saying the people in my state are wrong i know more than they do but he doesn't know more than they do and i'm gonna guess he was probably not a big pot smoker in college because he just doesn't come across as a guy who did or who was
Larry (59:51.79)
And there's a lot of things about DeSantis that people don't like, but this kind of snobbish attitude and it's my way or the highway and you know, I hope it's just going to ultimately lead to him being unseated as the governor of Florida because he's really taken all the fun out of even going to that state for any reason at all because you know, anybody who's going to govern like that, woke is, you know, come here, we're a place where woke goes to die, you know, and I'm not going to get into the whole woke movement, but to me, I just interpreted woke as being that we're nice to everybody.
that we're understanding of everybody. We don't say we don't like a group because we don't believe in their values or because, you know, they're, they, they, they engage in behavior that we morally oppose of, or just because they're a different color or anything like that. The whole purpose of woke is we value everybody and that we're open to everybody. but you know, that's a lesson that's obviously too hard for a lot of people in this country to understand and shame on Ron DeSantis for leading the charge on that and somehow turning woke into a negative thing when it's probably one of the most positive things.
that we as humans, especially in this country can embrace and really demonstrate our support for everyone, for full in, in, in closure, inclusion, as part of our society. So, I just see this as Ron being run, dropping the ball again on something, that would possibly, you know, help turn him into a more likeable politician. And instead he just doubles down and says, I know more than all of you and screw him. And it will be poetic justice when this initiative passes in Florida.
and he has to contend with the fact that not only are his dear Floridians whose lives are going to be destroyed if this becomes public actually enjoying themselves but he's gonna see all of this tax money pouring in and then what's he gonna say to a state like all states it's always looking for more financing well he won't have very much more to say too bad for him but you know maybe he would stop to read some of these articles again thank you marijuana moment for being a source for our news today
because if he bothered to read even the articles we're going to talk about today, he would understand why what he's saying is crazy. And this next story is one that kind of seemed obvious, I suppose, but we never really talked about it. A newly published study of college enrollment data found that a state's adaption of recreational marijuana legalization increased enrollment by approximately 9 % without compromising degree completion or graduation rate. Increases in out -of -state enrollments further suggest the policy shift
Larry (01:02:18.72)
boosts college competitiveness by offering a positive amenity. The report says with no evidence that this will affect college prices.
quality or in -state enrollment. The findings by University of Oklahoma graduate student were published last month in the journal Economic Inquiry. They build on past research, such as a 2022 study that found that schools and states that legalized marijuana saw larger application pools with no apparent decline in the quality of student applicants. So what are we talking about here? If you're a state and you allow marijuana, your in -state colleges are likely to see
an uptick in application rates. And just as much, if you're in a state that doesn't approve marijuana, you're not likely, if you're a university in that state, to see an increase that's similar to the one that the states with marijuana are saying. What's the answer to that? Duh, right? College students, marijuana, who are we kidding? That's not the big news here. The big news is, with no apparent decline in the quality of student applicants,
in the graduation rate or any of the other objective measures that we use to determine whether any of these colleges are worthwhile colleges. In other words, this isn't just deadhead you, you know, perceived by the population as, you know, dropout universities where the kids just sit around and get stoned all day and don't do anything and, you know, they're in college for 10 years and never get their degrees.
These are college kids. They go to college, they like to smoke marijuana, they study, they get good grades, they graduate. What they do after that is up to them. But I would assume that Ron DeSantis would like to see his state colleges competitive with others around the country. So why would he object to something that's now shown by independent studies, by a university no less, that when your state allows for legal marijuana,
Larry (01:04:18.158)
the number of the percentage of applications at your universities in that state increase. That's a good thing for the state. That doesn't decrease their quality of life, as DeSantis likes to point out. It increases it across the board. You're getting more students from more places who are paying more money to your state universities, and it's not having a negative effect in any constructive way as far as the quality of students.
and the quality of education that those students are receiving as they head out into the employment world. So, you know, again, come on, Ron. You know, pull your head out of your ass. See what's going on here. Come on, marijuana critics. Recognize that the news is good news. It's not the end of the world. It's very positive things for what's going on in this world. And there's no reason, not for everyone, to fully embrace that and, you know, completely understand it. But again,
You know, as we've seen that we unfortunately, and you know, being pushed along by guys like DeSantis, our final story of the day is that, you know, we are now seeing a fissure growing between the marijuana and hemp businesses who are at odds over the consumable cannabinoid ban in the House Farm Bill. And we talked about this last time. We're not going to get in to this whole thing again, other than to say that critics of marijuana.
are using the hemp industry and using what's going on there as a way to help push back against marijuana industry, whether it's to limit its growth, whether it's to stop it from coming into your state like DeSantis is trying to do down in Florida, whatever else it might be. And the stupid part is that a lot of the marijuana licensees are going along with it. And you gotta pull your heads out of your ass, guys, and you have to recognize, embrace it, partner up with it. It will help you guys politically, it'll help you guys legally, it'll help everyone with sales. And then you don't have to worry about
about, well, it's not fair that these folks can go and buy this product that is sold without the same stringent testing and quality assurances that we have to give. That all costs us so much more money with all the taxes and everything. And I hear that and I say, don't be jealous. Join the party. Sell it in your dispensaries. Jump in on it. If you think that they really are having such a large advantage, there's nothing stopping you.
Larry (01:06:35.086)
from participating in selling these products. And so why you don't do it is only up to you.
And yes, as far as the hemp industry concerned, it's incumbent upon them to police their own industry better. And they have to come up with a way so we don't see low grade, untested stuff being sold at truck stops around the country in places where they're so dirty you don't even want to go in and use the bathroom. And you say, what kind of product could they possibly be selling here? And that's educational, and it's common sense on the part of people, and it's everything else. But if it's being sold in places that are clean, friendly stores,
where people can go in and purchase it, that they aren't gonna want to buy it at the truck stops. They aren't gonna want to buy it at the 7 -Elevens that are open 24 hours and when they're looking for something and that's the only place they can go. So again, let's all be wise. Let's all act in our best interests here. There's no benefit long -term in the marijuana industry trying to shut down the hemp people and there's no long -term benefit for the hemp people to try and undercut the marijuana people. It's cannabis, it's the same.
plant, figure out a way to make it work. Because if you can't, then you're going to all run into a lot more trouble down the road as politicians and everybody really try to use it this way. One final point that I do want to make, and I'm sorry I skipped over this as another one, is that most consumers use marijuana. There's a study that now comes out to say to treat health issues, but very few call it medical. So in other words, human beings are instinctively
inherently understanding that marijuana makes them feel better, even if they don't bother to call it medical marijuana. So what this is telling us is that even on the adult use side, there is now, and there has to be, a recognizable medical effect because when consumers are coming back and saying,
Larry (01:08:31.726)
You know, I go to medical dispensaries to buy it, but I'm using it basically because of a bad stomach, because of stress, because of anxiety, because of whatever else other reason I might be wanting to use it. They don't necessarily call it medical. And maybe what that means is we'll reach a point in time where we don't have to distinguish between the two by calling one medical and the other adult use. Because what we're really seeing is that everybody under both groups,
measurable quantities certainly on the adult use side are in fact using it for medical purposes.
We all know from hearing all the other articles that we've read and we've talked about that there's so many of these medical uses that we could spend an entire show just focusing on them and that might not be enough time. And maybe we have to do that one day. Maybe one day we have to just have an entire episode where we just go through and we pop the balloons of all of these crazy arguments that are out there that keep getting life and keep getting traction as politicians pick up on them and prohibitionist groups pick up on them to try to call out the marijuana industry and try to establish
why it should be the fact of the matter is
It's already here, it's out of the barn, it's not going back. Instead of still trying to attack it, let's all look at the evidence that's out there and let's all recognize the product for the benefits that it brings for the harm and damage that it does not do either by itself or compared to a lot of other products that are out there that the government is only too happy to have us buy and use. Right, don't forget our good buddy Ted Cruz says he, you can kiss my ass if you tell me I can only drink two beers a day, but smoking marijuana, no, no, no, that's dangerous.
Larry (01:10:15.088)
He's encouraging excessive alcohol consumption, which we know kills many, many people, damages many people, and is one of the largest drains on society in terms of dollars spent cleaning up the damage that it causes. But by God, he's not going to let anyone smoke marijuana, which compared to alcohol, is like taking medicine, right? The things it doesn't do and the things that it helps patients with.
But this is not uncommon. We shouldn't expect more from Ted Cruz, and we don't. We shouldn't expect more from Ron DeSantis, and we don't. Instead, we see that the population as a whole is educating itself. And perhaps someday that will have significant consequences for the DeSantis's and the Cruz's of the world. But all we can do is hope and help. But now we're going to go back to our show from 51 years ago. The second.
The second set tunes from this show are all so jammed out that it's hard to just pick one, right? It starts with the eyes of the world into Stella and the big reverend, here comes sunshine, around and around. They take a short song for a minute into what we talked about, the dark star, into he's gone, into Warfriend, into trucking, into sugar mag closer. So, you know, this show is just...
Rocking hard there's just no way to do justice to try and go through some of these second set songs and to just you know pick out a few tunes here or there the key is to buy the CD from the dead download the show from Archiver wherever you download shows from and listen to the whole thing Preferably stoned and in a comfortable chair with plenty of dancing room when you want to get up and you know And really cut the rug a little bit But on top of all of that for their encore
The Dead ultimately just played a third set that included Dicky Betts and drummer Butch Trucks from the Allman Brothers Band, as well as Merle Saunders. At seven songs, plus a drum duet solo with Billy and Butch, the group of Jan band legends throw down some music that is among their best ever and really has to just be seen as a full and complete third set. And we have to start it off.
Larry (01:12:26.35)
with one of my all -time favorites which they started off with the third set
Larry (01:14:13.646)
takes a lot to laugh takes train to cry song written by bob dylan
It was originally released on his album Highway 61 Revisited, released on July 29, 1965. It was also included on early European Dylan compilation album entitled Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits II. The version of the song on Highway 61 Revisited is an acoustic electric blues song, one of the three blues songs on the album, which from a Buick 6 and just like Tom Thumb's blues, it's made up of lines taken from older blues songs combined with Dylan's own lyrics.
than the aggression of some of the other songs. Dylan wrote, during this time, it takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry, it reflects world -weary resignation. This version was recorded on July 9th, 65.
the same day that Dylan also recorded Positively Fourth Street and Tombstone Blues. It's just a great tune all over. The live debut for Dylan came as part of his controversial electric set backed by members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Al Cooper at the Newport Folk Festival on July 25th, 1965, right after Maggie's Farm. Dylan played it live as part of his set in the August 1971 concert for Bangladesh, and the version was included in the concert film and Grammy Award winning album of the same title.
Ultimately, Dylan played the song in concert over 200 times between 65 and 2021. The Dead only played it seven times. This was the first time they ever played it, a breakout among all the other great parts about the show. And the last time they played it was on March 16, 1992 at the Spectrum in Philly. But here's the thing.
Larry (01:15:52.494)
This was the only time the song was performed in 1973. It was not played by the dead again until 1991, when they played it five times, and then the one final performance in 1992. Now, the Jerry Garcia Band played the tune 13 times, first on September 18, 1975 at Sophie's in Palo Alto, and the last on March 4, 1995 at the Warfield, after a 15 -year hiatus for that band that dated back to 1980.
And he was even recorded once by performed once by Bruce Springsteen on May 15th, 1971 at Newark State College in Union, New Jersey. Really, really a great tune, great song for the mixed combined group of musicians up on the stage to play. And just really, really a.
a fact, a fabulous song. We're gonna go out here in a minute with one final song from that eight song encore. And that song is That's Alright. It was originally performed by American blues singer and written by Arthur Crudup. It was released in 1946. Excuse me, recorded in 46, released in 49 by RCA Victor under the title That's Alright Mama, which was issued as RCA's first thrism and blues record on its new 45R project.
R .P single formant. That's Alright is best known as the debut single recorded and released by Elvis Presley. His version was recorded on July 5th, 1954, released on July 19th, 54 with Blue Moon of Kentucky on the B -side. It was ranked 113 on the 2010 Rolling Stone magazine list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Several critics have cited Presley's version as a candidate for the first rock and roll record ever in July 2004, exactly 50 years after it was released. The song was
re -released as a CD single in several countries, including the United Kingdom, where it reached number three. In 1998, the 1954 recording by Elvis Presley was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Well, this version just rocks. If you're paying attention, listen carefully. You will even hear where Dicky Betts takes over the lead, his very distinctive guitar sound. There is so much good rockin' on this version that the clip I'm gonna play for you here is all jamming, no singing, because the jamming was just too good to not feature as much of it as possible. Listen to the whole show in the entirety of the video.
Larry (01:18:10.415)
this number I promise you will not disappoint the dead only played this tune twice this time at RFK Stadium 51 years ago and then finally one last time 13 years later on April 18th, 1986.
at the Berklee Community Theater in Berklee, California. Jerry Garcia Band loved this tune and played it 30 times. First time on September 20th, 1975 at River City, Fairfax, California, which is just two years after this show. And then the last time was on March 27th, 1980 at the Keystone in Berklee. So after 1980, not played again by the dead until 86, and then that was it.
so it would be really disappointing never to be able to hear it again but you have to love those moments when you can get it. After these tunes the combined group of rockers romp through promised land not fade away into going down the road feeling bad into the drums and back into not fade closing it out with a killer version of Johnny B Good. An amazing day and night of music featuring the two preeminent jam bands of that time and maybe of all time along with the band and other legendary group originals covers breakouts final time playing if you didn't
walk out of this show feeling musically satisfied, there may be no hope for you. I don't like to say it that way, but this show just checks off every box.
for a Jam Band fan, a Grateful Dead fan, an Allman Brothers fan. It's just fantastic. And this was a fun one to put together and a fun one to share with everybody. Please tune in next week when our guest is going to be Andras Kirchner, a rapid -dead enthusiast as well as one of our nation's most accomplished growers. He just recently won the Grower of the Year Award at the National Cannabis Festival here in DC, well, in DC this past month. Be sure to check it out next week.
Larry (01:20:03.888)
as for the rest of this month and going into the rest of the summer. But Andras Kirschner will be a great guest. We'll have more great tunes to feature. And it's just always a lot of fun and we hope you will continue to join us. So everyone have a great week. Enjoy yourselves and enjoy your summer. I'm going to see Krungabin tonight for the first time and I'll talk about that next week as well. But everyone have a good time, be safe, and as always please enjoy your cannabis responsibly. Thanks everyone and have a great week.