Deadology June 16: Music Mountain, Iowa '74 and More

Highlights from June 16 one of the 33 Essential Dates of Grateful Dead History.

6-16-74 Des Moines, Iowa: The Wall of Sound comes to Iowa as the Dead launch a remarkable eight-show tour that ends in Springfield on June 30. This three-set extravaganza is top-shelf ’74 Dead. This show downloaded spreads out over four CDs. The second CD which starts with China Cat > Rider and ends with Eyes  > Big River is one of my all-time favorites. Here’s an excerpt from Deadology:

This is a “Cat” supreme. The jam leading to “Rider” scorches—indisputably one of the best. Thankfully, 6-16-74 is a pristine soundboard recording of the Wall of Sound. You can marvel in what the musicians are doing individually and collectively. Sonic brilliance and terrifying energy are unleashed hand in hand. Guitars growl and grind against jackhammer bass patterns as Billy’s drumming blends jazz and rock, propelling the jam forward and filling up the soundscape. There’s a unique urgency to this jam as it evolves through a series of rolling peaks. At points, it’s almost out of control as it threatens to break free from the “China Cat” framework. This jam will stop you in your tracks and demand your attention; it’s impossible to simply listen to it passively as background music. Garcia goes wild as the band transitions into a “Feelin’ Groovy” motif—hide the women and children and run for shelter.

“I Know You Rider” is pretty much rendered anti-climactic by the “Cat” supreme. The set ends with a rousing “Around and Around.” Keith’s piano playing prowess is on display here as Bobby reels, rocks, and howls. “U.S. Blues” and “The Race Is On” kick off set two. It’s odd that the band played “The Race Is On” in Des Moines but not two nights later in Louisville, home of the greatest race of them all, the Kentucky Derby. “Race” sets the stage for a distinctive Des Moines jam.

The band strikes up a thick groove as they stride through “Eyes of the World.” It’s an alluring version, yet it’s not one of the best from this era. Garcia’s playing is unusually subtle for “Eyes.” The band shines collectively on this performance, and perhaps they shy away from a ferocious finish as they look ahead to the “Big River” transition, marking the first time these songs are hitched. It’s stunning to hear them create a complex bridge live as if they’ve done it many times before. Keith pounds out a honky-tonk “Big River” solo before the final instrumental floods Des Moines.

6-16-85 Greek Theatre, 20^th Anniversary Celebration: The second set was always a chance to make amends. The faithful were thrilled to hear the comforting opening riff of “Scarlet Begonias.” The between-verse jam packed a nice punch. The “Scarlet” outro was relaxed, and the band made the right choice by segueing into “Fire.” There was too much Scarlet > Touch nonsense during this era. Garcia began to boil during the second solo, and the last solo was even better. After a moment of reflection, Weir reminds the crowd that it’s Sunday, and that meant it was time for a sermon in the form of “Samson and Delilah.” The Dead had the mojo rollin’, and Garcia’s blazing solos reminded everybody that he was still the greatest guitarist in the universe.

There had been some exciting moments during this three-night celebration. The first show was solid all the way through, with a hot “Morning Dew” to open set two. However, Deadheads were still hoping for an enormous breakout tune like “Dark Star,” “St. Stephen,” or “Cosmic Charlie.” On 6-16-85, the Greek Theatre went berserk when they heard Weir and Garcia strike the poignant opening chord progression of “Cryptical Envelopments.” This had been last played thirteen years earlier, and it struck the perfect sentiment for this grand occasion. Garcia choked on some of the words early, but tears of joy began to flow when he crooned, “All the children learnin’, from books that they were burnin’. Every leaf was turnin’, to watch him die, you know he had to die.”

Without a drum interlude, Phil’s bass blasts launch “The Other One.” If you close your eyes, it’s 1969 in the Fillmore West, and the Grateful Dead are unleashing a tornado of swirling psychedelic sound. The band nails the jam with relentless intensity. After the “Spanish Lady” verse, Garcia and Lesh let it rip again. This was one of longest and fiercest versions in many years. Then the band finishes off the memorable journey with the last half of “Cryptical Envelopments,” making this a complete “That’s It for the Other One.”

6-16-91 Giants Stadium: Set two of 6-16-91 Giants Stadium offers us another inspired improvisational segment that begins with a “Jack Straw” opener. Garcia sounds focused on the concise opening solo, and then Bruce and Jerry have an interesting round of call-and-response in the alpha jam. Hornsby’s playing is superb, but I wonder if Jerry would have smoked this more without Bruce; or did Bruce raise Garcia’s intensity? Either way, it’s the best ’91 “Straw” that I’ve heard.

A leisurely paced “Crazy Fingers” follows, and Garcia’s lovely outro rolls into “China Cat.” It’s a tremendous combination, and Garcia shreds the “Cat.” This was the next to last Dead show that I saw, and I was disappointed at the time. I was a tad jaded because my last handful of shows were unimpressive, and the first set of 6-16-91 lacked sparks. Also playing into my pessimistic outlook was the football stadium experience. The intimacy of a Dead show wasn’t the same; but that was the unavoidable cost of overwhelming fame. At times the crowd was so enthusiastic, it sounded like they stopped Jerry in his tracks. Just the hint of the “China Cat” crescendo ignited a rapturous roar from Deadheads. I enjoyed listening to the 6-16-91 soundboard decades later, more than I enjoyed being there.

6-16-82 Jerry Garcia Band, Music Mountain: “How Sweet it is” is symbolic of the consistently brilliant performances by Jerry at Music Mountain. He lovingly embraces every syllable of this Motown gem. The jam opens with an escalating melodic surge from Jerry. There’s a beautiful tone to his Tiger and he adds an extra round before handing off to the keyboard tandem of Melvin Seals and Jimmy Warren. They pass the baton back to Jerry, who runs across the finish line and ends the jam with a stunning exclamation point. Every song on this evening received a little extra without sacrificing precision. Even the final chorus receives Jerry’s euphoric white glove treatment:

“How sweet it is to be loved by you...Sweeter than the honey from the bees, baby! How sweet it is to be loved by you…Yes it is, you know it is, bay-beee!”

As Garcia tuned his guitar to the familiar sound of “Catfish John,” it wasn’t a surprise, since “How Sweet” followed by “Catfish” was the most common one-two punch opener for the Jerry Garcia Band. Yet, even the warm-up intro is beguiling on this night. And then comes Garcia’s swampy instrumental reading of this composition written by Bob McDill and Allen Reynolds: “Bonp, bomp-bomp-bomp…A-whomp-bomp-bomp…Bonp, bomp-bomp-bomp…A-whomp-bomp-bomp.” The beat squirts forward—a content catfish trudges through a black, muddy river. Garcia and his gals harmonize:

“Mama said, ‘Don’t go near that river. Don’t be hanging around, old Catfish John.’ Come the morning I’ll always be there, walking in his footsteps in the sweet Delta dawn.”

The imagery is evocative as Jerry transports us to a town so long ago, where the sweet magnolias blossom, and cotton fields were white as snow. Yes, this is the lonesome plight of a slave turned river hobo, but Garcia’s spirited vocal rejoices in the beauty of nature and in the virtues of friendship. Despite maternal warnings, the narrator is drawn to Catfish John, and reputation be damned, he’s proud to be his friend. It’s the type of outsider/outlaw ballad that the Grateful Dead championed; songs such as “Wharf Rat,” “Me and My Uncle,” “Stagger Lee,” “Brown-Eyed Women,” and “Mexicali Blues.”

            Garcia and Kahn zip through scales in a comic strip of sound. As one door closes, another opens—like a secret underwater language amongst whales. Garcia hands off to Warren, who then passes the baton to Seals. JGB’s in the midst of their reggae shuffle and the timing is immaculate, with articulate punctuation on each passage. Garcia seizes the spotlight again and brings the jam to a climax, yet Jerry channels the overwhelming momentum into another distinctive passage that improbably takes the solo to a higher peak. The 6-16-82 versions of “How Sweet” and “Catfish” are my favorites. Someone can debate if one or the other is a best-ever version, but it’s irrefutable that these songs were never performed better back-to-back.

            In Positively Garcia: Reflections of the JGB, I dedicate an entire chapter to 6-16-82 Music Mountain. This commentary is more economical. The ensuing versions of “That’s What Love Will Make You Do” and “Valerie” are nearly as astounding as the opening numbers. The fifth song of this opening set, “Let it Rock,” ignites with a classic Chuck Berry chord progression. There’s a joyful, soulful, infectious bounce to the beat that separates it from any other version. Garcia rides the magic into a four-round opening solo that’s escalating rhythm and blues ecstasy.

More on all these shows in Deadology: The 33Essential Dates of Grateful Dead History.