It’s been a week since the last “Dark Star” in Amsterdam, and the Munich voyage to the stars ascends like royalty. Four minutes in, Jerry turns up the volume and heat. Along the way there’s a loud pop and crackle; a blown amp perhaps. The jam recovers as Phil, Bill, and Jerry bring the up-tempo jazz—it’s boogie time. The jam bubbles and flows deliberately to the melody line. When the time’s right, Jerry lets it fly, “Dark star crashes…”
On the outskirts of the Milky Way
galaxy, the Dead set up an intergalactic lab. Phil’s bass bombs shake the
universe as Jerry’s splitting atoms—auditory fissure and fusion. The jam
hurtles and ricochet
s into the black hole of timeless space. Sounds inside the
hole defy measurement; there’s no way to gauge the insanity. After the core
melts down, the captain and his crew touch down on planet Earth. Nobody’s
there. Garcia’s lone voice sighs, “Walk me out in the morning dew, my honey.”
Jerry’s poignant vocals combined with the delicate and attentive playing from the band make the second of four “Morning Dews” from this tour unique. This “Dew” is especially somber. Perhaps Munich, a city at the epicenter of World War II, and eventually demolished by the war, played into the gloomy vibe of the music. The instrumentals on this “Dew” hit the spot, but they’re not as bombastic as ensuing versions. However, this doesn’t detract from the enormity of the Munich Dark Star > Morning Dew.
A brief pause leads to a one-minute drum prelude for “Sugar Magnolia.” It’s time for Southern-style dance and romance. The band forms a protective pocket during the instrumental, and like an all-pro quarterback, Garcia steps into the pocket and delivers a surgical strike. As I was enjoying my audio research of this show driving down Route 9 in Poughkeepsie, I was amazed by the power of song that followed, “Sing Me Back Home.”
This Merle Haggard tune is dear to Jerry, and the band is all in as they slow down the pace and seemingly stop time in its tracks. This performance resonates and marinates. You can visualize the characters, the warden, the death row prisoner, and the inmates witnessing the scene. Jerry digs into the sadness of a prisoner facing his execution and at the same time, celebrates the power of song. “Sing me back home with a song I used to hear. Make my old memories come alive.”
A last request meal or cigarette can’t make your memories come alive. Music creates the escape from the here and now, even if you’re staring in the face of your executioner. It can instantly transform gloom to glory more efficiently than any drug. If I was on death row, I’d skip the lobster tails and request the 10-14-83 Scarlet > Fire from Hartford. My memories would come alive and I’d die a happy man. The 5-18-72 “Sing Me Back Home” touches the soul. Our guitar-playing friend Mr. Garcia is singing and picking from the heart, and Donna’s backing vocals are chilling. “One More Saturday Night” completes another stunning Dead show in West Germany.
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