This week we have fewer shows than average to review. It was a relatively slow time of year for the band, as they typically took most of January and February off. There were exceptions to that, however. Particularly in the early days from 1966 to 1970, and 1978 - 1979 touring years. Nevertheless, we have 13 shows to review this week.
By the way, if you're new here, this is my weekly newsletter that brings you the most interesting and significant facts from Grateful Dead History, along with reviews of the music for the week ahead. The idea is to give all you Heads a "Heads up" on the interesting and cool stuff the Grateful Dead were up to on this week in history. So hit the Subscribe button below to go to the top of my blog page where you can enter your email to get this delivered to your email every week!
Here's the highlights for Issue 2, for the week of January 13th, 2025 so check it out:
Interesting historical facts for this week:
First performances of Dark Star (that we have a recording of), China Cat Sunflower, The Eleven, Born Cross-Eyed
Remembering David Crosby who died on (1/18/23)
Jerry gets busted with a bunch of drugs in his BMW in Golden Gate Park (1/18/85)
Dan Healy gets arrested by the Bakersfield police during the show (1/14/78)
January 13th
1/13/78 Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara, CA – This whole show is excellent. The boys put on a very fine show for this “Stop Nuclear Power” Pacific Alliance Benefit show. Phil is particularly present on this one, dropping bombs all over the place. 1st set highlights include Half Step opener, Candyman, All Over Now, Brown Eyed Women, a particularly intense Beat It On Down The Line, Lazy Lightning > Supplication. The intensity continues as they come back on stage for the 2nd set, charging out of the gate with a rousing Bertha > Good Lovin’. After a fine take of Donna’s song Sunrise, the band fires up the disco engine and lay down a funkified Dancin’ that leads into a short Drums segment, followed by a long spacey Jam, finally ending into a powerful rendition of Wharf Rat, where the outro section builds into an intense free-form jam before fading into a groove-filled Truckin’. After that long, strange trip they segue into a particularly fine Around & Around. Finally, an uncommon Sugar Magnolia encore blasts the roof off the place for the encore. They only encored 11 times with Sugar Magnolia, which is unfortunate because I think it works well in that spot.
Music link: https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1978/01/13?source=337612
1/13/80 Oakland Auditorium Arena, Oakland, CA – A Benefit for the Cambodian Emergency Relief Fund. Check out this Lost Live Dead blog article for a deep dive on this show. This is only a single set of music because of the other bands, but there’s a lot of great moments packed in here. Opening with a strong Jack Straw, the band gets the vibe going right away. They quickly transition into a pleasant Franklin’s Tower. The groove is really strong and the band is in sync. After that, a rousing version of Minglewood emerges, followed by an excellent rendition of Tennessee Jed, which flows right into a passionate reading of Looks Like Rain that segues into a blistering Don’t Ease. The second half of the Dead’s performance is like a mini- second set, and they kick off with a wonderful Playing that is about the length which is typical of the time period and has a nice jam for the outro section. Drums is up next, and is a rhythmic treat. As the transition into Not Fade Away happens, the guitar gods of the Bay Area start to emerge - John Cipollina and Carlos Santana. You gotta love a NFA with those guys adding their style to the music! They stick around for one hell of a Sugar Magnolia, which builds to intense levels before the break and the Sunshine Daydream refrain that we all know and love. They take a short break and come back for a double encore, First up is U.S. Blues with Greg Errico from Sly and the Family Stone joining on drums, and then Joan Baez’s song Bridging The Gap, with a whole host of musicians: Carlos Santana on guitar, Craig Chaquico on guitar, Joan Baez on vocals, Pete Sears on guitar, Brian Wilson on vocals, Carl Wilson on vocals, Dennis Wilson on vocals, and Mickey Thomas on vocals.
Music link: https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1980/01/13/amazing-grace?source=338296
January 14th
1/14/78 Bakersfield Memorial Auditorium, Bakersfield, CA – This Winter ’78 tour seems to be kind of cursed. First, it’s Jerry’s laryngitis and they have to completely change up how they play a show, and now Dan Healy, the soundman for the band at the time, gets arrested during the show. There’s no encore this night after the second set is cut short after One More Saturday Night, and Phil tells the audience that he’s been arrested and taken away. Huge “boos” erupt, and Phil says they’re not going to play anymore, and he’s terribly sorry. Needless to say, they would never play Bakersfield again, for this reason alone but also because this small, out-of-the-way venue probably wasn’t profitable. Fortunately, as David Davis points out in his book The Economic History of the Grateful Dead, 1978 would propel the band to the No. 4 spot of all touring rock bands, with total ticket sales of over $5.7 million. Anyways, on to the music. Overall this is a pretty solid show, despite being on the shorter side. Jerry’s singing again on this one, but you can tell his voice isn’t fully recovered and there aren’t any epic jams to compensate. But there is a lot of competent playing, and some good energy here. 1st set highlights are Jack Straw, Dire Wolf, They Love Each Other, a rare cowboy combination Mama Tried > Me & My Uncle (only performed 13 times), and a rousing Let It Grow to end the set. The 2nd set kicks off with a ripping version of Samson, followed by a tender and emotional Candyman. The jam segment of the show is a little stunted, but I do like the rest of it: Estimated > Eyes > Jam > Not Fade Away > One More Saturday Night.
Music link: https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1978/01/14?source=337559
January 15th
1/15/78 Selland Arena, Fresno, CA – Along with 1/14/78, this show took place in a relatively inconvenient location for the average Dead Head. But Bill Graham was trying something different for this tour. As Corry Arnold explains in his superlative Lost Live Dead blog, touring California this time of year made a lot of sense due to favorable weather conditions. The theory is that Bill Graham was seeking pent up demand for the band, and by having a tour this time of year in “secondary” markets might be a way of enriching the band (and himself). The band was normally taking January and February off for the most part (except for Jerry, who tended to always be on the road, filling in gaps with his side projects). Many people rate this show as mediocre, but trust me, there are some epic segments in there. As Corry explains in his blog, there were a lot of non-Dead Heads at this show and the enthusiasm from the audience just wasn’t there. I think that certainly had an effect on the band, and there are some “potholes” in there, but the 1st set highlights are Bertha > Good Lovin’, Passenger, and Music Never Stopped to close the set. The 2nd set starts off a little slow, but the best part of the whole show occurs with Terrapin > Playing, which evolves into a very unique Jam, that Corry describes in his blog article about this show as “the wildest, weirdest, spaciest jam I have ever heard at a Dead concert”. In totality, this is one of the longest post-74 Playing’s out there at over 27 minutes in length. That jam eventually segues into a powerful Wharf Rat > Sugar Magnolia to end the show. Since the audience was such a dud, they end it without an encore.
Music link: https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1978/01/15?source=337700
January 16th
1/16/70 Springer's Inn, Gresham, OR – This show starts out with some pretty comical banter from the band complaining to Bear about the monitors. Phil says “T-There's n-not much coming out of those m-m-m-monitors B-B-Bear. He always does that to us. It's like, he wants to show us who's boss. So he sticks a needle in through our heads before every performance”. Don’t be turned off by the sound quality of the tape at first, it greatly improves after the first several minutes. They kick off the 1st set with a short but strong Casey Jones and Mama Tried. Black Peter is a very nice, emotional version. Other highlights include China Cat > I Know You Rider, Good Lovin’ > Drums > Good Lovin’. 2nd set highlights are Alligator > Drums > The Eleven Jam > Death Don’t Have No Mercy, Cumberland, Me & My Uncle > Dire Wolf, Uncle John’s Band, Easy Wind (officially released on The Golden Road (1965 – 1973). The next segment of Cryptical > Drums > Other One > Cryptical > Cosmic Charlie to end the show is all very good, but nothing earth-shattering. They just don’t get into a deep jam in any of it, but there is some very palpable energy none the less.
Music link: https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1970/01/16
January 17th
1/17/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA – At the very beginning of the tape, you can hear someone’s child introducing the band: “Grateful Dead!” Based on videos and pictures of the San Francisco scene in 1968, I have this image of a 5-year-old kid running around the Carousel Ballroom barefoot, looking for their dad, so they can climb up on their shoulders to watch the band play. What a wild time it must have been! The circulating tapes of this show all kind of sound the same, with the guitars way up front in the mix. This is a neat opportunity to really hear Bobby’s rhythm guitar work. The 1st set opens with Lovelight, and I’m really impressed at how much intricacy is involved in his strumming, for example. While this version isn’t the longest or craziest of them all, it’s a solid reading and has a unique sound that I’ve never heard before because of the mix. Following that is the first known recorded live version of Dark Star. It has not yet developed into the deeply psychedelic jam masterpiece that it would evolve into over the next couple of years. This version, at just under 5 minutes, is edgy, fast and melodic. It quickly segues into the first known live performance of China Cat, which is also a short, fast and very edgy version, much different from the groovy jam that it would become. Pigpen’s organ skills really shine as he competently mirrors the melody along with Bobby. They quickly move into The Elven, which is also the first known live version. It’s a very sharp, tight version. They competently nail all the intricate lyrics and navigate the various complex musical passages. There’s a nice outro jam that builds into a cacophony of sounds, which falls into a short segment of Feedback, then into New Potato Caboose > Born Cross-Eyed (first known live performance) > Feedback > Spanish Jam, which is a Jam Anthem version, and the big highlight of the entire tape. At a little over 15 minutes, it’s raw, fierce, and free-flowing. It builds into a tense feedback-riddled peak and then gently fades out. The same kid is back to announce the band for the second set “And presenting, the Grateful Dead!” after which they launch into a short Cryptical > Other One > Cryptical segment that is straight and to the point. No messing around here! This segues into Pigpen’s spotlight slot with a bluesy, and admittedly inappropriately-themed Good Morning Little Schoolgirl.
Music link: https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1968/01/17
1/17/69 Robertson Gym, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA – There’s a lot of really well played songs here. The tapes begins with a stretched-out Lovelight featuring all the Pigpen you can handle. Dark Star is next, and it’s very delicately put together, with each band member weaving their part of the tapestry to make it whole. Jerry’s very inspired on the fretboard and Phil wanders all over, expanding the main theme of the song in only a way he can. This one doesn’t build, but just floats out into a beautiful segue into Saint Stephen, reminiscent of what you get on Two From The Vault. This leads to the William Tell Bridge, which was typical, and included in every Saint Stephen up until March, 1970 timeframe, when they dropped it in favor of segueing into songs like Not Fade Away. This version segued into The Eleven, which was very typical of the time. This is a splendid version, vigorously jammed out, and it leads to a highly emotional Death Don’t Have No Mercy with lots of great fretwork by Jerry while his plaintive singing puts it all out there. Cryptical > Drums > The Other One > Cryptical suite is up next, and it’s a powerful version with a meaty jam in the middle. After an extended Cryptical outro jam, the segue into Cosmic Charlie. This rendition starts off rough. Bobby attempts the first verse, but abandons it when he realizes the rest of the band just isn’t ready. It’s not clear from the audio what the delay was about, but they extend the intro for about 3 minutes, regroup, and then restart the song in fine fashion. From there on out, it’s a decent reading of this classic song.
Music link: https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1969/01/17
1/17/70 Gill Coliseum, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR – This is a pleasant tape consisting of a single set of music. The first half is some standard tunes, all played well enough, just lacking anything special. Things pick up for Cumberland Blues, however. This is a high-energy rendition and was officially released on The Golden Road (1965 -1973). Phil is channeling some serious bouncy, bubbly, bluegrass-style bass riffing. Other highlights include Me & My Uncle, Black Peter, Mason’s Children > High Time. The second half of the show is the jam segment, and it’s all excellent: Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Lovelight.
Music link: https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1970/01/17?source=335638
1/17/78 Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, CA – This is an excellent, high-energy show that showcases the band firing on all cylinders. 1st set highlights are Cassidy, Loser, Looks Like Rain, Minglewood, Roses, Music Never Stopped. The spark continues , and the entire second set is more red-hot Grateful Dead. They kick off the 2nd set with a rousing rendition of the classic duo Bertha > Good Lovin’. A soft and poignant Candyman turns the boil down to a simmer, but then the psychedelic jamming sets in with Estimated > He’s Gone > Drums > Other One. The Other One builds to an intense peak, then eases into a soft, floating spacey jam, with some unique “plunking” sounds, which I think is Bobby doing something on his guitar. Jerry starts strumming the chords for Black Peter, and they gradually transition from outer space weirdness to the structure of the intro part. Jerry starts singing, and it’s immediately evident that his voice is not 100%, but not in a bad way, it just kind of “cracks”. It adds an interesting layer of texture to this sad, mournful song in my opinion, and I actually like it. This is a monster version at almost 12 minutes in length, and they jam the hell out of it, building to a peak before making a dramatic segue to an excellent Truckin’. They give this some good jamming treatment as well, and build it to a peak before switching gears into Around & Around to close the set. A good but standard U.S. Blues encore sends the audience home happy.
Music link: https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1978/01/17?source=337563
1/17/79 Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT – This show gets mixed reviews. Yes, Jerry’s voice is not fully healthy but I think there’s plenty of great moments and is worth your time – up to a certain point, and then this show kind of falls apart. 1st set highlights are a fat, funky Shakedown Street opener, an up-tempo pretty Peggy-O, Brown Eyed Women, and Miracle. 2nd set highlights are Scarlet > Fire, Estimated > Eyes > Drums > Jam > NFA. The Jam is pretty interesting. It sounds like some type of African marimba, but Jerry’s noodling on top while Bobby plays slide guitar. It develops into a more straight-forward GD-style jam – loose and wandering with multiple themes being weaved together by the various members, until all of a sudden Bobby and Phil switch into NFA. This NFA is on the longer side, at almost 14 minutes, and has that laid-back, slow groove feeling. The jam in the middle is a little edgy, but it doesn’t grow into a powerhouse. It segues into one of the drowsiest renditions of Black Peter I think you’ll ever hear. I love this song, but Jerry sounds like he took a couple of Quaaludes, and they’re kicking in. And this is where the show takes a dive, and never really recovers. Black Peter almost 14 minutes long and there is a gentle, thoughtful solo in the middle. It’s just sleepy. It does build intensity towards the end, and they switch to a standard reading of Around & Around. But at least the energy perks up a bit. The song goes into double time at the end, and we’re finally awake again. They just kind of play out the song without building it up, and it quickly segues into a standard reading of Good Lovin’. After that, they seem to struggle through the Casey Jones encore. Good night.
Music link: https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1979/01/17?source=1919409
January 18th
1/18/70 Springer's Inn, Gresham, OR – Partially officially released on Download Series Volume 2. There are only these nine songs that are available on the Vault release, but what we have is really good. Cold Rain & Snow starts off a little tentative, but they quickly fall into a groove. Pigpen shines on Big Boss Man, singing and playing the harmonica. Mason’s Children has a lot of energy and good vocal harmonies (something they didn’t always nail on that song). Black Peter is melancholy and emotional, both with Jerry’s singing and his guitar playing. Things upbeat with Dancin’ with the middle jam morphing from a dance groove to a borderline Dark Star feel for a minute before returning for the last verse. Good Lovin’ is revved up, and typical of the time period with a Drums breakdown, and a return for a jam, and then the last verse. China Cat > I Know You Rider is fast and furious. It’s not one of the huge jammed out versions that it would evolve into, but it’s powerful and clean. Lovelight is the last song, and it’s a monster 18 minute Pig-stravaganza, with a big rap about how to get busy with your lady early in the morning while Jerry streams hot blues licks off his guitar.
Music link: only available on Download Series Volume 2
1/18/78 Stockton Civic Auditorium, Stockton, CA – This was the penultimate show of the ’78 Winter Tour, and the last show in California. The band would head up to Oregon for the final show on 1/22. They kick off the 1st set with a rowdy version of Half Step that establishes the vibe and is carried forward through to a relatively uncommon country song pairing of Mama Tried > Me & My Uncle, only performed 13 times but as you’ve seen they did this combination four days earlier on 1/14/78. They’d do it two more times in the next few weeks, and then drop it from the set list until 9/2/85, and that would be the final performance of that song sequence. The 2nd set kicks off with an out-of-sync intro of Terrapin Station, but they quickly recover and it becomes a nice, floating rendition. The outro builds nicely but not to epic levels before transitioning into Playing. This is a nice, strongly jammed rendition. The middle jam diverges into free-form improvisation, as Jerry and Phil play off of each other’s themes. The jamming becomes kind of frantic and choppy, and it develops a strange type of syncopation, with Bobby doing accents in weird places, and then Keith mimicking it, then Phil. This continues until an interesting thing emerges. Jerry starts to initiate a spacey jam, but Bobby isn’t having it. He steers the ship straight into Passenger! Well, this is different. Too bad the only circulating soundboard tape has some really annoying audio issues right when all of this is happening. It sounds like it’s patched with a couple of different sources, which is nice that it’s patched, but it’s kind of distracting how it cuts in and out. No disrespect to the person (or people) who spent time doing the patching. As Passenger comes to an end, they kind of wind it down and Jerry steers it into that Space jam that he wanted. This goes on for about 5 minutes, until does his trademark 5, 6, 7, countdown for Estimated Prophet. This has turned into one of the oddest 2nd sets ever. After a outro jam, Jerry retakes the helm and it drops into a softly into Stella Blue. It’s a gentle but powerful version, even with Jerry’s voice cracking. The song ends, they pause for a minute and then Bobby starts Sugar Magnolia in a way that I’ve never heard before or after this version. He strums a couple of bars of a pretty little melody, lets the final chord ring out and fade, and then kicks into the beginning of the song. It’s nothing earth shattering, I’ve just never heard him do that before. To end this oddball set, the encore with a song they don’t normally put in that spot: Around & Around.
Music link: https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1978/01/18
1/18/79 Providence Civic Center, Providence, RI – This is a good, high-energy show with some really nice moments. 1st set highlights are a rousing Promised Land opener, a mellow, sauntering take on They Love Each Other, a spry Cassidy, Jack A Roe, a rousing Minglewood and Deal to close the set. 2nd set highlights are a high voltage Miracle > Bertha > Good Lovin’ opener, followed by He’s Gone > Truckin’ that builds and segues into a really powerful Other One > Wharf Rat > Around & Around. An upbeat U.S. Blues encore closes out the show.
Music link: https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1979/01/18
January 19th
No known Grateful Dead shows on this day in Grateful Dead history. There are, however some various Jerry shows on this day: https://bit.ly/3BVHvZM
BTW, If you're not yet familiar with Jam Anthem versions of songs you can read all about it in Deadology II by Howard Weiner. Check it out here along with all his other great books.
And that's all for now! Of course, if you want to follow along in your very own copy of my book On This Day In Grateful Dead History: A Daily Listening Journal I still have some copies available here. Once they're sold out, I will have to decide whether or not I'm going to have more made. The costs of printing and shipping have gone way up in the last few years since I had them printed so I'm not sure if it's worth it or not. So get one now while you can! https://www.gratefuldeadbook.com/tigdh
Peace out my good people. Until next week!