On July 1, 1978, the Grateful Dead started a week-long run of shows at Willie Nelson’s annual Fourth of July picnic at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Along with the Dead, the show featured performances from Nelson, Waylon Jennings and the band Missouri. Instead of their normal two sets, they performed one long set, featuring country-leaning tunes “Friend of the Devil,” “Me and My Uncle” and “Big River,” as well as a potent combo of “Terrapin Station” and “Playing in the Band,” which premieres on Speakeasy below.
“I’ve always found that by 1978, the Dead started really stretching out and having fun with ‘Terrapin,’” says Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux. “In 1977, they were all pretty much similar, but in 1978, they were very nuanced and dynamic.”
The five July ’78 shows during that week are being released for the first time in the band’s latest live box set dubbed “July 1978: The Complete Recordings.” Longtime fans of the band have likely worn out their copies of one of the shows – the July 8, 1978, Red Rocks gig has been widely circulated among Deadheads for decades.
The shows were recorded by Betty Cantor-Jackson, known for her pristine recordings during that era. “Betty’s recordings are spectacular, and very consistent,” Lemieux says. “That she happened to be recording during one of the Dead’s best periods, 1976-1978, has created a situation in which these terrific tapes feature equally incredible music.”
Written By MIKE AYERS
Source: The Wall Street Journal
No comments:
Post a Comment