Site Sponsor

Not Sure Where To Begin?

The intro posts are always a good start, followed logically by
my thoughts on Music & Being, which guide my writing.
You could also try my current favorite show on the blog,
plus there's good reading under the trading community label.
Or, take a walk on a
Listening Trail.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

1973 June 30 - Universal Amphitheatre

Jerry Garcia Sept 26, 1973

GRATEFUL DEAD
Saturday, June 30, 1973
Universal Amphitheatre – Universal City, CA
Audience Recording

Deadheads can stay up late into the night debating several eternal questions. One of these is often goes like this: If you had a time machine, what Grateful Dead show, or run of shows, would you go back to attend? For me, I can pretty confidently say that I’d be setting the dial for the three day run from Universal City, California at the end of June, 1973 to attend the 6/29, 6/30, and 7/1 shows.

I’d be lucky in that it wouldn’t be too crowded – nothing like the time travel pile up going on over around 05/08/77. The ’73 Universal City run is not popular. In all my years of tape trading I’ve never bumped into anyone who shares quite my enthusiasm for the whole Summer of 1973 thing, and the Universal City run is arguably the low point of the summer, given all the fireworks surrounding it. Even after years of getting up on soapboxes in online Dead forums, and clearly taking every opportunity to talk about it here on the GDLG, I doubt very highly that I could fill a room with like-minded folks. Oh, several people are glad that I’ve hipped them to the golden yummies to be found in this period, but enough for these folks to make this selection in the Way Back Machine? I doubt it. And no offense taken, I’ve learned to accept that there is clearly something firing a little differently in my brain when it comes to this stuff. So… I’d have plenty of legroom traveling in time back to these shows.

Of course, the fact that there apparently wasn’t a swarm of future dwellers packing the rafters on 05/08/77 raising their hand held mobile devices in the air, glowing with a somewhat more annoying light than say, a bic lighter (though there would also be some iPhone holders running the zippo lighter app, I’m sure), means that we either never figure out time travel, or that when we do (did), we luck out and find all the Dead shows splintered into an endless refraction of themselves related to our own personal time-space continuums allowing each of us our own “copy” to attend. Each show is actually happening all the time, and our linear experience of them is merely called into our perception at the moment we hop across the continuum and step into the parking lot an hour or two before show time. Oops… digression.

June 30th, 1973 was one of those low circulating and forever “AUD only” shows (all before the passing of Dick Latvala and the ensuing circulation of so many soundboards), and my copy was crusty. While I did luck out in 2001 to bump into a 7” reel copy from the assumed master AUD reel itself, and put it into circulation via my Audience Devotional Tree, for the longest time I had this tape copy that bordered on being of slightly too poor quality to trade. This was a real issue for me because of how deeply the music on this tape was tapping into my heart. That I was able to circulate a better copy which peeled off the layer of off-pitch hissy crust, was an absolute dream come true. After 2001, it was much easier for 06/30/73 to get its point across. And shortly after, when the soundboard started making it around, it almost didn’t matter. The SBD sounds great, yet has absolutely no life to it at all – and this propagated the bad reputation this date lives with.

This show has that familiar brand of 1973 jazzy psychedelia that I’ve been pointing out for a while. Yet where a show like 06/22/73 reaches peaks that nearly bring one to tears as the band finds its way deeply into improvisational transcendence, 06/30/73 is sort of the opposite. This show feels more like on great pulse in the heartbeat of the Grateful Dead rather than something full of peaks and valleys. The show’s highlights swell more that explode, and I think it is because of this that this tape offers another sensational full show experience. This is only enhanced by the fact that the recording quality of this audience tape is nearly unparallel throughout the rest of 1973.

Grateful Dead March 24, 1973 by John PotenzaPutting into circulation another upgraded version of this recording (linked below, as usual) allowed me to converse about and “study” the archeology of this recording a bit more thoroughly. It turns out that the band’s sound crew was making audience tapes directly at the sound board at this time, and supplying them to the band. This newest version confirms that the reel was dubbed in 1979 directly off of Garcia’s own tape stash. As heavenly a lineage as one could wish for. The recording fits in as one of the very best recordings of 1973. It succeeds in not only capturing the ’73 version of the Wall Of Sound perfectly, but also presents an enormous helping of that hard to capture audience energy and spirit. It’s a multi-dimensional experience, and all of this in unavoidable as one listens to this tape.

Set 1: Promised, The Love Each Other, Mexicali Blues, Tennessee Jed, Looks Like Rain, Bird Song, Cumberland Blues, Row Jimmy, Jack Straw, Deal, Beat It On Down The Line, Black Peter, Playin’ In The Band

Set 2: Greatest Story Ever Told, Ramble On Rose, El Paso, Dark Star > Eyes Of The World > Stella Blue, Sugar Magnolia E: Saturday Night

1973 is known for a degree of repetitiveness in its first sets. It’s not that the band wasn’t playing a large repertoire of songs. There was plenty of variety there. I think it’s more a widely held opinion among traders born out of having listened to a lot of 1973 shows. I think the first sets are better described as “predictable.” However, perhaps it comes down to distance making the heart grow fonder, but when I listen back to 06/30/73’s first set now, it thoroughly satisfies. There is a powerful sense of ease and enjoyment flowing out of the music. The extremely predictable 1973 Promised Land opener feels full of smiles. They Love Each Other swings, and I have found myself unable to shake rolling the car windows down and playing this tune at full blast on recent summer days. It sets the air alight with dancing energy, and only grows as it goes. Jerry’s solo tumbles out, bobbing and weaving as if it were shaking its hair and stomping its feet. Just as we’re sure it’s over, he takes it around the track again lifting the energy all the more. The sound quality of this recording combined with the close proximity of the audience around the taper serve to create an intoxicating representation of the Dead in 1973 here, and it’s only just getting started.

Mexicali shimmers and is followed by a strong Tennessee Jed containing another solo in which Jerry stirs the energy pot to boiling, aided by Phil’s low end standing as large as the entire amphitheatre. The song crashes out of the solo, and the crowd goes nuts. A thick and warm Looks Like Rain follows, and then we arrive at Bird Song.

It’s early in the show, yet Bird Song casts out an energy much more aligned with precious time spent deep in the heart of a Grateful Dead concert. The music twinkles, as if rising off of a crystalline waterfall bathed in sunlight. In short order, we float out over its edge and begin a weightless journey into Jerry’s solo. It’s a moment that expands in every direction around you, shedding the personal borders of skin and bone, and fusing you to the music’s core. Bird Songs in 1973 were very consistent, and without fail, this one latches on to Dark Star elements wrapped in a slightly more lyrical presentation. Eventually, just before returning for the last verse, Garcia is playing harmonics with Keith echoing and playing off of them on the Fender Rhodes. The twinkling crystal is everywhere unraveling the mysteries of the universe and veiling the answers as quickly as they appear. Out of the last verse, we are set aloft again. This is heart opening music which spreads its own arms wide enough to embrace the entire horizon as a sunset’s light gently swirls like smoke off of a candle’s flame.

After Bird Song we are fully in the zone of a Grateful Dead show. The crowd idly hoots and hollers, while the band lazily puts together the building blocks of the next song. Cumberland Blues is coming as clear as day. This minute or so between songs finds me transfixed every time I listen. Something comes off of the tape which defies my own explanation. I don’t expect you to find it with me – it seems impossible to say, “listen to this amazing space between Bird Song and Cumberland,” so I won’t go out on that limb. In trying to give it a more tangible perspective, I think it’s simply more evidence of how this particular recording breathes with the strongest representation of a Dead Show’s energy, both within and in between the music. Again, the entire tape is like one enormous heartbeat in the pulse of 1973 Dead.

When Phil kicks it in to Cumberland Blues, we are off to the races. One thing that I have no trouble mentioning is my opinion that I find this to be my absolute favorite, and possibly the best Cumberland Blues I’ve ever heard the band play. It is this very recording that sparked and cemented my theory of thematic undercurrents running through the decades of this band. In this Cumberland, Viola Lee Blues is alive and well. Jerry is clearly allowing all the exploration of that earliest of Grateful Dead “jams” to infuse and distil into his Cumberland solo work. Psychedelic Bluegrass to the highest degree. When his solo begins to cycle into a whirlpooled syncopation leading down a twisting rabbit hole, the already clear Viola Lee tendencies come bursting forth causing us to laugh out loud and shake or heads in stark amazement. It’s molten primal Grateful Dead, splashing in every direction. If you play the game with me about which five Grateful Dead songs would you take to a desert island, this Cumberland Blues would be coming with me. The fire within this version provides an anchor to this show, and it spreads out in every direction.

Row Jimmy exudes its 1973 aura beautifully, followed by thoroughly enjoyable versions of Jack Straw, Deal, and Beat It On Down The Line. Black Peter is so perfectly placed in this first set, it can’t be imagined anywhere else. After BIODTL (that’s the old cassette label abbreviation of Beat It On Down The Line, kids. Did you need me to spell that out?) has drawn everyone to their feet for a free for all dance, Black Peter sends us all into the most serene and contemplative spaces of Grateful Dead music. It’s another quite campfire story moment as Jerry weaves his tale. His solo on this song surpasses expectation, bringing a lamenting sorrow onto the wings of eagles. The solo soars and floats, sears and settles directly into your heart. This beautiful version comes to an end and we are back in the zone with the audience in no hurry for whatever comes next. A guy screams out, “Hello, Jerry!” and we laugh lightly with the rest of the people around the mics. It’s another wonderful human layer coming off of this recording – a Dead show being captured in every way.

Playin’ In The Band demonstrates every characteristic which describes the Summer 1973 sound of the Grateful Dead. As the jam opens up, Billy’s drumming spirals out into jazzy riffs and downbeat defying patterns. He is at once fully charged, yet thoroughly laid back in the pocket, forcing nothing. The band on top of him wastes no time dropping completely into a controlled psychedelic wind storm and the tendrils give way, knot, compress, and zig zag back out with a never ending fluidity. The music balances between a looseness and being a daredevil contortionist in ways not fully explored earlier in the year, nor after. Garcia is rearing back and firing off phrases which coil into the air, extending beyond vision. They round corners trailing themselves in liquid never-ending reflections until it appears that all of the notes are made of one pure yet ever-changing voice. Everything is at once fragmented yet showing us precisely how it all fits together. The jam is remarkably too short. Not that it is substantially shorter than most normal Playin’s of the day, but it is clear that this particular version had things growing which could go on for eons. And on the next night, we’d find that Playin’ would not be contained, setting the pace for the song locking into a tradition of going on longer, and exploring much further, as the summer continued.

Set two arrives with Greatest Story Ever Told, and it absolutely nails the psychedelic strut boogie counterpoint that the song was hitting so well in 1973. It’s a fantastic second set opener, and mounts an ever expanding energy climax through the solo until the sound is pressing us back like a gale force wind. The crowd takes a while to simmer down afterwards, and just as it does, Ramble On Rose begins. In every way the epitome of that Europe ’72, American Dead sound, Ramble On Rose blurs the lines between rock and country leaving us with something wholly Grateful Dead. It’s a lot like Mississippi Half Step in that way. And this version shines a polish on everything distinctive about the song. If the tune could ever come off as a bit of a throw away, it isn’t happening here at all. Maybe having a bit to do with that dominant wall of sound that is pressing upon us, and the way Phil’s bass is occupying air to such an extent that we struggle for breath, this song satisfies entirely.

El Paso delivers a cascading cowboy kaleidoscope, spinning so quickly we can’t help but be swept up into a tumbleweed rolling frenzy. The song feels like it’s riding lightning and we can only grab on as tightly as possible not to be lost to the wind. And then a different wind blows in as Dark Star descends.

Like a magician blowing a handful of glittering dust particles out over the expectant crowd, Dark Star gently scatters into the air around us, each dust speck with its own comet trail streaming out behind. They all slowly begin to take alternate paths of flight as the music slowly builds in intention and direction. We veer into that quintessentially mid ’73 jazzy jamming and the music slowly topples in on itself only to spin and return with new colors and patterns extending off of each instrument. We eventually find ourselves in a fairytale garden of chimes and breezes, as breathtakingly gentle coming out of this monstrous sound system as the roaring press had been all consuming just a few songs prior. Now, we are lost in a quiet sea of mists as the first verse forms like a prophet out of thin air. Words are just sound fragments creeping out of the blanket of music around us. They give way, and the sounds settle down to the ground like impossible leaves of electric ivy. But the ground isn’t there and we appear lost in a vast and endless expanse of towering ribbons of music. They begin to twist and coil, talking in a language we can’t hope to absorb. This musical space increases in velocity, and the band is conjuring magic of untold secrets. There comes a massive low note out of Phil which shears off all but our most intimate layer of being. Moments later these sounds whisk out of existence and Jerry is shuffling into Eyes Of The World.

This Eyes is large. But there is never the sense of aimless noodling. Quite the contrary, as the song drives into its most extreme moments there is time and time again the sense that the music is being pushed out of its own skin – beat, harmony, and structure often lose purchase and venture briefly into pockets of chaos. This all happens without the song itself losing step anywhere. It’s more that the band is forcing itself to dare the entire world to implode, unafraid of the consequences, sure that the greater whole of the band will keep things together. The rapids boil and erupt everywhere, and the path of the river is lost, but the water rolls on and on. They slam in and out of the intricate 7/8 theme sections and race over shifting terrain. Eventually the music quiets featuring a trio of mostly Billy, Phil and Keith. Things idle for just a moment and then they rocket one last time back to the 7/8 theme which then launches another deep dive to the outer edges of the song structure. The music flies free and oozes between form and chaos beautifully. Garcia and Lesh are tipping to and fro, often following nearly incomprehensible paths. Finally, we work our way to Stella Blue.

A perfect landing for a big jam, Stella Blue and China Doll seemed to share this role throughout 1973. The crowd settles in, and the quiet reflective story unfolds. Again, the recording brings the musical panorama directly to the tip of our nose, and we sink in as Jerry croons, and plays soft lullaby colors.

Rocketing in the opposite direction, Sugar Magnolia and One More Saturday Night close out the show in a rocking and rolling frenzy. We are left exhausted, but equally ready to set the dial back to the parking lot and experience the show all over again – or perhaps just hang out with new friends until the show tomorrow night.

06/30/73 AUD etree source info
06/30/73 AUD Download


Related Post: The Ones That Get Away

14 comments:

  1. Today was my 73 day (pretty obvious what show, considering today's date) and I was really happy to see yet another stunningly gorgeous review of a show that had passed me by....thanks Noah, I'm going to spend my evening curled up with this one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dude! Cumberland DOES kick ass here. Sharp. Um, Garcia's Old and In The Way time was not hurting him at all at this point... Downloading as I write - can't wait to listen to the whole show. Still lovin' the blog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Excellent show and review. I will have to give this one a relisten. Thanks for all your effort and hard work that goes into this blog. It is truly a labor of love. I have started my own blog after reading yours and others like it. Sorry for plugging my own place but it is http://sotmoon.blogspot.com/ Keep up the excellent work.

    ReplyDelete
  4. There's alot to notice in this show, after that smoking Cumberland Garcia makes a quip...something about "Don't you remember...this is the movies, folks" I guess a sly remark to the lyrics. Interesting concept about thematic undercurrents...then again Garcia's playing has that speedy (drugs, maybe?) bluegrass-psychedelic scaleage that harkens back to the 65-67 period. Hell, you can only get better and better at playing, Garcia had his runs DOWN. He definately was the one propelling that one, and for the matter the whole his night is thorougly energetic. The whole period before the hiatus is peak GD, before drugs wore Jerry out.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is one of those things that most people wouldn't normally admit, but seeing as I'm among kindred spirits, here... I am definitely with you on spending a disproportionate amount of time fixated on the "space" between certain songs. Reading your (one paragraph!) description of that minute between Bird Song and Cumberland reminded me of the first time I heard the Scarlet from 8/5/74 on whatever Dick's Picks it's on... or rather, the space before Scarlet. The band's just vibing, Jer's quietly chunking away at the chords, some dude in the distance hollers "shake it, Jerry!", you can damn near hear the smokey air around the microphones, and the pure pleasure of basking in all that good energy is almost tangible -- then WHAM, Scarlet starts and the moment's over. In a way it's like everything you need to understand about a Dead show is somewhere tucked away in that moment of anticipation.

    Right. Anyway, I feel you on this show. It's a great one. How's about completing the trilogy and giving some shine to 6/29 in all it's hissy, cut up glory? The Playin', that Other One, and especially that majestic space that leads into Morning Dew... phew.

    Thanks yet again for a great read.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm glad you're using my photo, but the picture at the top is NOT from the Universal Amphitheatre, it's from Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, September 26, 1973.

    You are violating the terms of the Creative Commons License under which this photo was made available (see below)

    Please give credit where credit is due.
    If you link to the picture's source on Flickr, all will be forgiven.
    thnx
    grant

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/grantdabassman/2049466938/in/set-72157603245530511


    :
    Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

    Attribute this work:
    Information
    What does "Attribute this work" mean?
    The page you came from contained embedded licensing metadata, including how the creator wishes to be attributed for re-use. You can use the HTML here to cite the work. Doing so will also include metadata on your page so that others can find the original work as well.
    #

    Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
    #

    Share Alike — If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Grant, Thrilled to have you checking out these pages. Your pictures are wonderful. I'm glad you went a head an linked the credit here.

    Of course, given the way images propagate across the net, there's no way on earth to conclude I got any of your pics from your flickr pages directly and simply chose not to credit you. That is certainly not the case. So I'm glad you put in links for me here. Most of the images I get come from friends in e-mail and many go back 10 years or more, long after anyone could remember where they came from originally.

    Also, if you mouse over the images you will find all the alt tags pop up with the correct date of each picture when known (you'll see all of your 9/26/73 shots are correctly dated), and are given no date when the date of the picture is unknown. I'm obsessive that way, I guess. :-) I tag them all so people will know when (and when not) the pictures are from the date being reviewed.

    I can't agree that I am misleading folks on the dates since the site isn't about sharing pictures from certain concert dates at all, and every one of them is alt tagged appropriately. Though I can see how a person that doesn't check the tag nor the image name (they are all dated too) could miss that.

    Again, thanks for coming through and adding links back to your online collections. They are a treasure trove, and I will strive to credit you moving forward, assuming I can keep straight in my mind where each picture (of the thousands I have) came from.

    As for protecting your Creative Commons License, I would suggest you watermark your images like many other photographers do. Given the complete un-traceability of photo credit online, I've found that this is a good way to keep your stamp on your stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  8. since i stumbled upon this great website about a month or so ago, i've been slowly turned into an AUD-lover, and i cant get enough of them! i came across this show when i was relatively new to the website and ive been listening to it nonstop ever since. i love everything about the show. in my opinion, its the best audience recording ive come across thus far, although im still new to the whole scene. the Playin here is beyond compare! sound quality of the entire show is essentially everything im looking for in a good recorded dead show. thank you for introducing me to a good show and thank you for your wonderful reviews! - peter

    ReplyDelete
  9. Peter, very glad to have you along. Thrilled you are getting so turned on to AUDs - little surprise to me, mind you ;-).

    ReplyDelete
  10. there's something really special about the sound on this tape here. a muddy sort of muffled clarity and a real nice bass presence (something in particular I find lacking from a lot of the late brent and onwards era shows - i can hear it but i just can't feel it). i should check out the rest of these summer '73s sometime, but for now... this show's a cozy little groove.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh! man, by the way, if you know any later shows that fit that sort of sound quality, by all means kindly direct me to them! it'd be much appreciated. I've made a project of sifting through the later auds you've posted as it is (although i keep forgetting about it)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dave, you're gonna hate this, but no tape I've heard (and I've heard me a few) sound quite like this recording. However, 7/1/73 and 6/22/73 (both on these pages) are pretty sublime in their own rights.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I actually have come across one or two others that have a similar enough.... "soundfeel". I got 'em downloaded or bookmarked somewhere, so I'll definitely come back and share when I find them again.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love listening to the progression of audience energy in this show - in Looks Like Rain, the first quiet, slow song of the evening, they're still quite rowdy and it seems as though not a one is willing to settle down, with constant yelling and laughing and shushing throughout.

    And then Bird Song happens.

    And the audience is pretty tame for the rest of the set. I'm listening to it just now, and I notice it in Black Peter - everything is quiet and calm, for the most part, save for a few impatient stragglers in the last few minutes of the song.

    I've been putting off a bathroom/coffee-making break for the last hour. This is a *good show*.

    ReplyDelete

Blog Widget by LinkWithin