'High Time - The Alan's Album Archives Guide To The Music Of The Grateful Dead' is available now by clicking here!
It's always 'One More Saturday Night' at the AAA Youtube Playlist now online at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAE481DAFF0C457A0
(This article was first published as part of on 'News, Views and Music Issue #300' on June 8th 2015)
Considering that the Dead have always remained sort of on the fringes of popular culture (barring a quick brush with fame in 1987) and aren't exactly the most photogenic of groups out there, frankly I'm staggered at just how many TV clips of them survive thanks to other AAA bands. Doubly so given how averse they were to making music videos - the bread and butter of other AAA bands we've featured in out 'TV clips' series to date. It helps of course that the band were American and not subject to the gross negligence of European TV stations that wiped so much stuff shortly after broadcast and the fact that they toured for so long and so often so that in their later days especially there always seemed to be someone in the room with a video camera. Even before then, however, it's amazing just how many nights the Dead seemed to play - and how many TV stations were keen on broadcasting footage of them at work, rest and play.
As ever with these lists we can't promise they're complete - feel free to drop us a line on the website if we've missed anything really juicy - and we've restricted this list to just footage of the band that isn't officially available (we've saved the 'View From The Vault' series, the 1974 Winterland shows used in 'The Grateful Dead Movie' the 'Classic Albums' documentary and the 'So Far' documentary show for our filmography proper). Instead this is a list of TV clips that are 't officially available anywhere taped at any time around the world and which still exist in all their low-fi glory. Again there's always a few TV clips mentioned in various articles on the band that I haven't been able to track down, so this list might not be the absolute last word on all things Dead and visual (but everything in this list does exist and has been seen - and enjoyed - by my own pair of eyes and ears). We've also skipped all the solo TV performances or we'll be here for another hundred pages just on Jerry Garcia alone (though we've made an exception for times when more than one of the band appeared as is the case with the 1982 Letterman show). Feel free to check out all of these and at our very own Alan's Album Archive Youtube collection of playlists (available at https://www.youtube.com/user/AlansArchives) although once again we haven't bothered putting links to the individual clips here because these videos do have a tendency to disappear (but if they have you can breathe safely in the knowledge that they're out there and some kind Dead fan somewhere is probably just about to re-upload them all again!) Right, now that that' lot's sorted it's on with the long strange trip from (near enough) the beginning to (just about) the end, taking in hippie films, stilted chat shows and baseball games along the way...
1) 'The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)' Music Video/Whicker's World
(UK TV March 1967)
The earliest and one of the best known clips features the Dead comes from that most daring, adventurous psychedelic freak out series...Alan Whicker's World! yes it's the rather staid UK TV legend off on his trek around the world who caught pretty much the first recorded sight of the band getting stoned in their house at Haight Ashbury and playing on stage backed by their psychedelic light show (although sadly the single is just overdubbed in place of whatever they were playing that night). Given that the Dead didn't have an album out for another three months, it's proof of how big a live draw they were before they'd recorded a note, the go-to band on the psychedelic scene despite the fact that the Airplane had already released their debut the previous year (perhaps they were out the day the film crew came knocking?) Whicker sets the scene: 'An assault on the sense, an LSD trip without drugs (editor - erm, really? have you seen Bob Weir in this clip?!) filled with flashing coloured lights and spermatozic colour' (again, that's not the traditional scheme I'd have used...) The clip's great, just to see the band looking so young, with a pre-beard Jerry already one to watch while Billy and Bobby look too young to even be out of school yet. Even the cameraman gets in on the act zooming in and out as the band play in quite a headache inducing fashion! UK viewers might know this clip better after it was repeated in 1968 for 'All My Loving', Tony Palmer's 'pilot' for his music documentary series 'All You Need Is Love' and its subsequent repeat as part of compilation series 'Sounds Of The Sixties'.
2) Hippie Temptation (US TV 1967)
Next up, it's CBS man Harry Weisner being rude about longhairs during a documentary about Haight Ashbury that's meant to ring alarm bells with every good natured American of a certain age. Instead the clip works against the voice-over's persistence that such a wayward way of life is a bad thing - after all it just looks like so much fun the Dead and friends all living in a house together to save on rental costs (like The Monkees, but even weirder). He also gets his facts wrong - were any of the Dead affluent in 1967? (Were any of the Dead affluent before 1987 period?) The clip lasts seven minutes and was originally used on a local new programme - UK viewers can compare it to 'Pebble Mill At Large' or 'The One Show' depending on their age. Jerry's on good form: 'We're not thinking about revolution or war or anything like that - that's not what we want, nobody wants to be hurt, nobody wants to hurt anybody. We would all like to be able to live an uncluttered life, a simple life, a good life and think about moving human race on a step - or a number of steps - or half-a-step or anything!' Lesh: 'In essence the scene has grown up with us - and we have grown up with the scene, we've all grown together and we feel more like children than ever'. There are some nice clips of the Dead playing a free concert in the park too and a rather raucous and distorted early version of 'Dancing In The Street'. This isn't enough to impress the voiceover man though: 'They're highly educated on average - or could be if they wanted to be, in many ways their terms have the glitter and affection of the bright and bold and noisy but it appears to be style without content'. has he not heard that blistering Garcia quicksilver solo taking place behind him?!
3) Petulia (Film 1967) - 'Viola Lee Blues'
Here's another weird one - a proper bona fide Hollywood film directed by Beatles mate Dick Lester and based on an influential novel by John Hasse. In the film a San young darling of the San Francisco scene ends up married to an abusive husband and embarks on an affair with a young doctor, telling her story via flashback for most of the film. The Dead come into it via individual cameos as onlookers when the girl first meets the doctor during a 'medical emergency' in an apartment block, with an extra shot of Jerry appearing as a hippie mural on a park bench. In addition the Dead also play a ragged version of 'Viola Lee Blues' to the backing of their psychedelic light show that's sadly cut short - although it's still longer than poor Janis Joplin and Big Brother And The Holding Company's performance of 'Roadblock'. Odo from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (actor Rene Auberjonas) also makes one of his first ever TV appearances back when he was a teenager!
4) Monterey International Pop Festival June 1967 (Concert Film 1968)
The general consensus is that the Dead played one of their all-time worst gigs in front of one of their all-time biggest crowds alongside some big names at the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of love. Actually I'm rather fond of their performance, which adds the sort of rough edges most bands who performed at that famous weekend left out. Sadly the Dead weren't all that savvy about the film rights (they felt it was exploiting the artist's interests, not realising the historical importance of the movie in years to come) and only agree for one of their songs to be performed - seeing as it's the near-ten minute Viola Lee Blues it got cut out of the famous film version out in 1968 (it is however included in the Monterey Pop four DVD set, which desperately needs a re-issue and is becoming desperately rare). The cameraman is either drunk or tripping, spending most of the song in uncomfortably close close-ups, but the good news is we get to see more of the rest of the band than normal with long lingering shots of everyone.
5) The Maze (US TV 1967)
A fun little 25 minute documentary by American channel KPIX-TV which features presenter Rod Sherry being slightly nicer about the Haight Ashbury Scene ('Some call it another bohemia, others Brigadoon!'). Are 'bearded tranquil people causing a major threat to society?' or 'looking for a better world their elders don't know?' He's clearly convinced by the latter but adds wearily 'who but youth has the time to spend on such things?' The Dead appear in the last five or so minutes, with quick interviews with Jerry and a sleepy sounding Bobby who show the camera crew round the house, having breakfast at a big table, messing around with hats and trying to prod a sleeping Pigpen awake in his favourite arm chair. A lovely intimate shot of the band before they were truly famous and at the early days of their grand adventure.
6) Through The Years (Film 1968)
Another year, another film - this time a brief seven minute clip directed by Robert Nelson. In truth it's more of a show-reel than a film, with the Dead showing off a lot of their early material ('Sitting On Top Of The World' 'Good Morning Little School Girl' 'Cold Rain And Snow' and a jam session that seems to be part of 'Viola Lee Blues'). Sadly the weird collage style editing means we hear the songs the same way that you hear 12" song mixes, with the same bits repeated over and over at random, all with fuzzy coloured lines. Surely the soundtrack is arty enough for anyone without having to do weird things to the video too? You have to say though that this video is very ahead of its times with negative effects and sudden cut shots, plus a zoom in on a 'skeleton arm' shot film-makers can't do as well today with a zillion times the budget and a whole load more technology! The clip was later used complete in the Dead documentary 'Through The Years'.
7) Haight Ashbury High Street (US Concert March 1968)
How fitting that the earliest Dead concert footage features the band playing down their own high street, courtesy of a flatbed truck! Alas only snatches of the show exists, lovingly restored by a fan who also had access to the complete audio performance of the song wand some photos and the band look cold and fed up to be honest and not playing one of their better shows judging by the sound. Still it's great to see after so many years and especially so for the many surrounding shots of the Haight filled with people and policemen politely (or sometimes un-politely) trying to control the massed throng of hippies! The band perform 'Viola Lee Blues' 'Smokestack Lightning' 'Turn On Your Love Light' ;Hurts Me Too' and the opening 'Cryptical Envelopment' part of what will become 'That's It For The Other One'. In total it's a 25 minute show, interrupted by a bit of political bashing from a public speaker.
8) Columbia University (Concert US May 1968)
A ten minute compilation of two shows the Dead played in their formative years, shot in atmospheric black and white on the step of the campuses' Low Library. The gigs were controversial, a rally organised by Dead manager Rock Scully to help striking students who were objecting to the University's plans to sink money into a 'military industrial complex' and to bulldoze a local park to make way for a gym (the Dead and equipment had to be smuggled in via a bread delivery truck - luckily the band looked like most policemen's ideas of students anyway!) The gig finds the band in transition, both musically and appearance wise (Garcia's grown his sideburns but not yet his beard). Things got ugly when the Dead were called on to speak - they weren't political, though their manager was - and Bob actually lashed out at a student for taking the initiative and trying to get at the microphone. The audio is truly sublime, a fantastic early version of 'The Eleven' that sticks in each groove for much longer than normal before coming out the other side and an equally stunning version of 'That's It For The Other One'. The quality of the footage is stunning, shot with a lot of love and care by a student film-maker in difficult circumstances who was clearly trying to be as professional as possible (so it's sad that the police stepped in to stop it as early as they do!)
9) Newport (Concert US August 1968)
The Dead at the first annual Newport Music Festival that featured a whole host of great bands (Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, The Animals, Canned Heat, Country Joe And The Fish etc) but never really got the same recognition as other festivals, partly because the acoustics and equipment were pretty awful. Only a brief segment of the Dead's show exists, again put together by a fan with the help of copious photographs and a gravity-defying performance of 'The Eleven' from a gig at Betty Nelson's Organic Farm on September 2nd. The show features shots of the band arriving by helicopter and thrashing wildly away to...something, although actually the audio footage syncs up quite well so it may well be another 'The Eleven' which was clearly the go-to song of the era! Alas there's no footage of how the night's gig ended, with the Dead and Airplane competing in a custard pie fight!
10) Playboy After Dark (US TV 1969)
Hugh Heffner decided to move from magazines to presenting a rather wooden chat show for late-at-night telly. The Dead weren't exactly a natural fit for the very 50s anachronism, on the air for just a year between 1969 and 1970, which features Heffner in a lunge suit surrounded by lots of Playboy bunnies and the Dead in true hippie garb. The whole set was false - Tom Constanten remembers leaning on a wall of books that he thought was real before finding out it was a prop that buckled beneath him! There were also some stairs that led to nowhere. Legend has it that the Dead road crew dosed the drinks used for the evening so the extras were even more out of it than usual that week! For all that, this is a great show, with Jerry at his erudite best in the interview (this is the source of many a famous Dead quote from 'We're all big people now!' to 'The Haight still exists - we just decided not to tell anybody what we were doing anymore' to the description of Billy and Mickey being 'like the serpent that eats its own tail, playing figure eights on their sides in your head!') There's also a jaw-dropping version of 'Mountains Of The Moon' featuring just Garcia and TC, a rocking 'St Stephen' featuring the whole band and - sadly faded out over the credits - Pigpen hitting his stride on 'Turn On Your Love Light'. A memorable day was had by all - especially those who'd never been on drugs before!
11) Woodstock August 1969 (Concert Film 1970)
Like Monterey, the Dead never really got it together at Woodstock and though they agreed to be filmed for the whole set this time they were - probably rightfully - cut from the final edit of the film. Problems with the equipment and a power shortage during 'Love Light' meant they never really got into their groove, as can be seen by the endless 38 minute version of 'Lovelight' included as an 'extra' on the 40th anniversary set of the film (2009) as well as a more lively 'Mama Tried'. The night's 'Dark Star' was the only song made available on the Woodstock audio CDs, but no until as late as 2009 on the box set '40 Years On: back To Yasgur's Farm'. The band additionally played 'St Stephen' and 'High Time', both of which exist on film and audio apparently but have never been seen.
12) At The Family Dog (Concert US February 1970)
A ten minute extract in stunning quality broadcast by local TV network KQED at the end of the year during a 'celebration' of 1970. Jerry now has his full beard, Phil has some spectacles and the whole band are far more lively than at Woodstock. The band perform 'China Cat Sunflower' into 'I Know You Rider' and 'Hard To Handle' surrounded by dancing girls.
13) Fillmore East (Concert US February 1970)
The Dead's February 1970 run of gigs has become legendary amongst fans, perhaps the second most important the band ever played, with this last show from Valentine's Day particularly popular. For good reason too: the band are still playing with all the power of their 1969 shows but now with the finesse that came with 1970. In total nearly an hour of grainy black and white footage exists with performances of a particularly slow and haunting 'Dark Star' 'Hard To Handle 'I've Been All Around This World' 'Me And My Uncle' 'Not Fade Away' and a rare 'Mason's Children'. Jerry, wearing a Fillmore T-shirt, has a look of pure concentration for most of the gig while the band are in sublime form. Once again the video had to be reconstructed by a fan from a silent film and a soundboard of the whole show which was released as 'Dick's Picks Volume Four' (with 'Hard To Handle' the same version used on 'Bear's Choice'). A brilliant find!
14) KQED Calibration (Concert US TV August 1970)
A half hour show shot especially at the TV network's KQED Studios and simultaneously broadcast on radio, this is amongst the more famous Dead bootlegs out there, so it's strange it hasn't had an official release yet. The band are on great form even for such a great period and two drummers especially are having great playing hard and loose. Only the slightly clumsy psychedelic visuals overlaid on top get in the way and seem downright wrong to be honest on a notably earthy set. First up Pigpen roars into perhaps the definitive performance of 'Easy Wind' (oh for a soundtrack release on CD!), Jerry slows things down for a shaky preview of 'Candyman' three months early minus pedal steel solo, the band get heavy for a tight 'Casey Jones', struggle a little with another preview this time for 'Brokedown Palace' and finish things off with a rousing 'Uncle John's Band'. Fantastic - the sooner this show is out officially the better!
15) POP2 Live (French TV October and November 1971)
Fans know this one as ‘The Honky Chateau’! The Dead made two appearances on French telly in 1971 - or rather they performed one forty minute gig split in two for broadcast. The show was rather a good one which went out of their way to allow artists to speak as well as play and is most fondly remembered for an early controversial interview with John and Yoko. Alas the overdubbing of everything the band says in French and the constant interruption of some rather good performances soon becomes wearing for non-native speakers. Still Jerry makes some interesting comments about the band's early days as a 'Jugband' and comparing the current crop of politicians to 'dinosaurs with the power to kill and bomb' while the youth of the day are engaged in a 'clean-up act'. In between there are performances of 'Black Peter' 'Hard To Handle' 'Sugar Magnolia' 'Deal' (then a brand new song!) 'Morning Dew' 'Sing Me Back Home' and 'China Rider'. The Dead held onto the master-tapes and the footage available on youtube is unedited and much longer than what was broadcast.
16) The Last Days Of The Fillmore (Film 1971)
Between 1968 and 1971 the music scene in San Francisco changed and the hippie ballrooms the band had played (often for fans getting in for free) were dying off - with crippling debts and complaints about noise levels. The Fillmore was the last to go in the summer of 1971 but Bill Graham was canny enough to make one last fundraiser featuring as many of the acts he'd help promote as possible and filmed the whole lot for a film given a brief screening the summer of the following year. As one of the Fillmore's biggest names the Dead were a natural for inclusion performing 'Casey Jones' and 'Johnny B Goode' in the film with more fun and high spirits than usual as well as Garcia guesting with New Riders Of The Purple Sage on a track known to fans as 'Rehearsal Jam' alongside sets by Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane amongst many others. In between you get to see Graham desperately trying to organise the event and a very sad looking audience not wanting to go home. Alas the film never really got the credit it deserved in the wake of Woodstock when music films were out of fashion and is notoriously difficult to get hold of (as far as I know it never came out on video or DVD and in England at least has been shown on TV only once).
17) Tivolis Koncertsal (Denmark TV April 1972)
Welcome to Europe! A full 80 minutes of the Dead's shorter first and second (but not the lengthy third) sets in Denmark on April 17th were broadcast on their local channel as 'TV From Tivoli' and feature the Dead on reflective form. Starting off with a very laidback 'Me And Bobby McGee' the band go on to play 'Chinatown Shuffle' 'China Rider' 'Jack Straw' the first ever performance of a haunting 'He's Gone' 'Next Time You See Me' 'One More Saturday Night' 'It Hurts Me Too' 'Ramble On Rose' 'El Paso' 'Big Railroad Blues' and a final triumphant 'Truckin'. Though the sound isn't great the quality of the video footage is and this is arguably the first time since the Columbia University demo where we can properly see the Dead close-up without any gimmicks getting in the way! Another show I'd love to see out on something official one day.
18) Beat Club (German TV April 1972)
Recorded for the famous music show of the same name and in the venue named after the show situated in Bremen on April 21st, The Dead appear as part of their 'Europe '72' show performing a full 80 minute set. The whole unedited tape exists, starting with a lengthy debate about the state of the sound system and featuring the band playing against another cod-psychedelic backdrop that's highly distracting again (the soundtrack was released as part of the epic 73-disc 'Complete Europe '72' set in 2011 but really deserves a CD/DVD release in its own right). Still the show itself is a good one and the set list runs as follows: 'Bertha' 'Playin' In The Band' 'Mr Charlie' 'Sugaree' 'One More Saturday Night' 'Playin' In The Band (Reprise)' 'Beat It On Down The Line 'Truckin' 'Drums' and 'That's It For The Other One'. The audio of this gig was later released as part of the 'Complete Europe '72' suitcase of 73 discs including the whole of the month-long European tour.
19) Capitol Theatre (Concert US June 1976)
A bit of a leap forward in time now - did nobody want to film the Dead in 1973 or 1974? This is the post-hiatus Dead o their last night of a three show run in New Jersey and is only the 12th time the band have played together since reuniting (the previous night's show was released as 'Download Series Volume Four'). Taped by a fan rather than a TV station, sadly this concert only exists in grainy black and white although the sound is near-perfect, taken from a radio broadcast - their first since getting back together again (and thus big news at the time). Perhaps because of all the extra attention the set isn't one of the band's very best, interrupted by an unruly crowd and an awful lot of tuning problems, but the gig does get an awful lot better as the band warm up more and more. The set list is as follows: 'Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin's Tower/The Music Never Stopped/Brown Eyed Women/Cassidy/They Love Each Other/Looks Like Rain/Tennessee Jed/Playin' In The Band/Might As Well/Samson And Delilah/Comes A Time/Let It Grow/Dancin' In The Street/Cosmic Charlie/Around And Around/Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad/Not Fade Away
20) Roosevelt Stadium (Concert US August 1976)
Staying in New Jersey for the moment, a whacking four hours of a gig at the Roosevelt Stadium two months later survives, taped for the band's own vaults (though goodness knows why they chose this gig out of all the ones they've done). Alas this one isn't out officially yet either and is again shot only in black-and-white, even the fireworks set off by the crowd and the guest clowns (!) which is a bit of a shame. The band are again in a rather mellow mood and never really seem to wake up throughout the gig, although Keith Godchaux is on perky form and it's great to see so many shots of him playing at a Dead gig and there are two ferocious half hour jams that are still very much worth your while. The track listing is as follows: Sugaree/ New New Minglewood Blues/Row Jimmy/Big River/Loser/They Love Each Other/The Music Never Stopped/Scarlet Begonias/Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin's Tower/Dancing In The Street/The Wheel/Samson And Delilah/It Must Have Been The Roses/Not Fade Away > That's It For The Other One/Ship Of Fools/Sugar Magnolia/Johnny B Goode
21) Capitol Theatre (Concert US April 1977)
Back we go to Capitol Theatre for another radio broadcast that was also filmed in black-and-white. By now even the commentators are joking about the 'endless tuning' and the continuous noise ('If you've ever been to a Grateful Dead gig then you'll know that just because they come out onto the stage doesn't mean they're ready to go!') Bob later gets his own back by saying 'a special hello to all you folks out there in radio land - we have to tune up again so please don't change the channel!' Recorded a mere month before the May 1977 shows when many fans consider the Dead to be at their hottest, this is a little bit disappointing actually, the radio mikes apparently cursing the band! This was the final of three shows played over consecutive days over a gruelling tour - perhaps the Dead were just tired? The setlist: Promised Land/Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo/Looks Like Rain/Sugaree/El Paso/Row Jimmy/New New Minglewood Blues/Loser/The Music Never Stopped/Estimated Prophet/'Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain/Ramble On Rose/Samson And Delilah/Terrapin Station/Morning Dew/Johnny B Goode
22) Winterland New Year’s Eve Concert (US Concert December 1977)
After a bit of a gap in the mid 1970s the annual Grateful Dead New Year’s Eve Party got into full swing with a famous and much loved show amongst fans. The last of a four day bill at the same venue, this continued the grand Dead tradition of concert promoter Bill Graham dressing up for the occasion. At the start of the Dead’s second set he was lowered onto the stage on a Harley Davidson motorbike! For my money though it’s the first set that’s the winner on this date (the second is a little too, shall we say, inebriated?) with Garcia on particularly thoughtful form. Artfully shot in monochrome for the band’s archives, as yet this footage has yet to appear on anything special but made for a treat when fans uploaded it to Youtube. Especially for New Year’s Bob tells a joke but it isn’t the ‘yeller dog’ story for once but an even worse one about a hunter and a poacher (punchline: there’s a deer on my shoulder? Get off!’) Jerry, perhaps sensibly, ignores the joke and just carries on with ‘Peggy-O’ as if it had never happened. Setlist: Mississippi Halfstep Uptown Toodleloo/Me & My Uncle/Dire Wolf/ Looks Like Rain/Row Jimmy, Row/Big River/Peggy-O/ Passenger/Ramble On Rose/Let It Grow/Cold Rain And Snow /Samson And Delilah/Ship Of Fools/Estimated Prophet/ Eyes Of The World/ Drums /Space/U.S. Blues /Good Lovin' /Around and Around/Samson and Delilah
23) Cameron Stadium (Concert US April 1978)
No don't worry they haven't named a stadium after Britain’s' smuggest prime minister - instead the Dead are playing a baseball stadium home to the Duke Blue Devils and named after 1920s coach Eddie Cameron. This gig, again shot in black and white, lasts for some three hours and is one of the better ones for which video exists even though the band have a lot of microphone problems, with Garcia all but inaudible for the first part of the show. Donna is at her loudest too and sings on more songs than usual, which won't endear this show to everybody, but just listen to the guitars mesh and all is forgiven! Setlist: Jack Straw/Dire Wolf/Beat It On Down The Line/Peggy-O/Mama Tried/Mexicali Blues/Funiculi Funicela/Row Jimmy/New Minglewood Blues/Loser/Lazy Lightnin' > Supplication/Bertha/Good Lovin'/It Must Have Been The Roses/Estimated Prophet/Eyes Of The World > Drums > Truckin'/Wharf Rat/Around And Around/US Blues
24) Saturday Night Live #1 (US TV 1978)
The Dead appeared as special guests on the fourth series of this iconic comedy show, following in the footsteps of such AAA brethren as Brian Wilson, Paul Simon and The Kinks (they appear on episodes in between Van Morrison and The Blues Brothers, which sums up the band quite well). Two of the show's writers were big Deadheads and had been badgering the band about appearing since the show started and the Dead eventually agreed for a show guest-hosted by Buck Henry, performing rather ragged versions of 'Casey Jones' 'I Need A Miracle' and 'Good Lovin'. This is one of the last appearances Keith and Donna made with the band before leaving the following year.
25) Duke University (US Concert April 1978)
I have to say I find it astonishing just what great quality most of this footage is in (especially as much of it is a half century old now). This show, alas, is showing its age and is obviously several generations of quality down and for the most part the Dead look as if they are performing in the middle of a London peasouper fog. The music ain’t much better to be honest – this is the period when Donna is squawking, Keith is getting stuck in the same rut and Jerry is nodding off while waiting for his next fix. Boy, the drummers still sound good though! Setlist: Bertha/Good Lovin'/It Must Have Been the Roses/Estimated Prophet/Eyes of the World/Drums/Truckin’/ Wharf Rat/Around & Around
26) Capitol Theatre (Concert US November 1978)
We're back to New Jersey, this time in colour! An important show with broadcast nationwide to promote 'Shakedown Street' with a guesting Hamzar El-Adin playing his tune written for the band's Egypt journey 'Ollin Arageed' and the last Dead performance for a while as Jerry caught bronchitis the night after this gig. This is also getting very near to the end of Keith and Donna's time in the band. Sadly only the second set appears to exist. The band are in fine form, playing several lengthy jams that are particularly good for the period and the night is full of jokes too, Weir starting with the quip 'everybody say hello to the radio audience - and that includes you at home, say hello to your radios - don't think about it, just do it!' Setlist: I Need A Miracle/Good Lovin'/Friend Of The Devil/Estimated Prophet/Shakedown Street > Jam > Drums > Ollin Arrageed > Fire On The Mountain/Sugar Magnolia/Johnny B Goode
27) Winterland New Year’s Eve Party (US Concert December 1978)
Six whole hours of Deadness – definitely the way to see in any new year! This was however a sad occasion and a very famous Dead show. The changing music scene meant that Bill Graham’s flagship venue San Francisco’s Winterland couldn’t sustain itself and alas it closed, going the same way as The Filmore and Carousel Ballroom. For many hippies it was the end of an era. They did however end it with a big party which was televised to the nation with no end of ‘comedy’ skits with Al Franken at the beginning (including a crossover with the night’s other guest stars Jefferson Starship). The event nearly didn’t take place at all either, with a bomb scare in the car park before the gig started. Given that he couldn’t be shut down anymore Bill Graham finally does the obvious and flies onto the stage on a giant twelve-foot long papier mache spliff! With all this going on the music is often forgotten and in truth it’s pretty abysmal by Dead standards as yet again the band turn up to a big occasion and drop the ball with a set that noodles and never really takes fire. This is, however, a particularly good show to watch rather than listen to with lots of ambience and party atmosphere on a gig that is in many ways a last hurrah for the Godchauxs who will be out the band by the following New Year’s. The musical highlight is the first ‘Dark Star’ for over four years, taken out of mothballs especially for the occasion and sounding as good as ever, especially as part of a monster second set jam where it was attached to ‘St Stephen’ and ‘The Other One’ as in the days of old. Setlist: Sugar Magnolia/ Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain/Me And My Uncle /Big River/Friend Of The Devil /It’s All Over Now/Stagger Lee /From The Heart Of Me /Sunshine Daydream/Samson & Delilah/Ramble On Rose/I Need A Miracle/Terrapin Station/Playin’ In The Band /Not Fade Away/Around And Around/Dark Star/That’s It For The Other One /Dark Star/Wharf Rat /St Stephen /Good Lovin'/Casey Jones/Johnny B. Goode
28) Oakland Auditorium #1 (US Concert August 1979)
We’re back to arty black-and-white for a sleepy, laidback show where Jerry is clearly struggling vocally on the second of two consecutive nights at this arena. This is our first peek at ‘new boy’ Brent Mydland who will be on the piano stool the next eleven years and musically he’s making his mark already, even if the camera barely notices him. With the release of ‘Go To Heaven’ fast approaching this show sees the debut performances of two mini-classics: Jerry’s ‘Althea’ and Bob’s ‘Lost Sailor’ which are both the highlights of an under-rehearsed set with the band pulling together more to nail the new material with the rest rather on auto-pilot. Set List: Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo/ Franklin's Tower/Me And My Uncle/Big River/Candyman/It’s All Over Now/Brown Eyed Women/Lost Sailor /Althea/The Promised Land /Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain/Estimated Prophet/Eyes Of The World/Drums / Space/Not Fade Away/Wharf Rat/Around and Around/Bertha/Good Lovin'
29) Oakland Auditorium #2 (US New Year’s Eve Show, December 1979)
With ‘The Winterland’ now shut The Dead turned to another favourite venue for their customary New Year’s Eve show, which was also televised, presumably in colour though only a scratchy black-and-white print seems to have survived. Bill Graham was still very much involved, however, and appeared at this show in costume as a giant butterfly. This is a more sprightly show than many in 1979 with the new line-up finally shaking itself into place and a little more sober than the previous year! Setlist: Jack Straw/Franklin's Tower/Mama Tried/Mexicali Blues /Tennessee Jed/Looks Like Rain/Alabama Getaway / Promised Land/Sugar Magnolia /China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider/Samson And Delilah Ship Of Fools/Lost Sailor > Saint Of Circumstance/Deal/Althea/New Minglewood Blues /Uncle John's Band / Drums/Not Fade Away/Stella Blue/ Sugar Magnolia/Good Lovin'
30) Saturday Night Live (US TV 1980)
The Dead must have enjoyed the Saturday Night Live experience a they're back again for a show from Paula Prentiss and Richard Benjamin. The band, unusually, actually get around to promoting their last album 'Go To Heaven' with fine performances of 'Alabama Getaway' and 'Saint Of Circumstance' on what neatly turns out to be the first known moving footage of Brent Mydland in place of Keith and Donna.
31) Radio City Music Hall (Concert US October 1980)
About two and a half hours exist of this Halloween show, the last of an extended 25 show run held to celebrate the band's 15th anniversary. Great as the gig itself is, the opening is even better. Al Franken and Tom Davis, the Saturday Night Live writers, repaid the compliment of having the band on their show by presenting the show in their usual inimitable manner with all sorts of spoofs, starting with the pair asking Jerry and Phil if they have any drugs, putting their backs up straight away. They then move onto Bob playing up his narcissist side with a big star on his dressing room and waiting for flowers (he's blow-drying his hair when the pair turn up!) Then Billy gets irate when the presenters try and chat up his wife! The drummers then have their only 'fight' in their whole career (Mickey: 'He never remembers the words anyway - he's just a drummer!' Billy: 'But you're a drummer too!' Mickey: 'No - I'm a percussionist!') The presenters then look for Brent, telling him that - despite the comments of Deadheads everywhere - his songs were the best on the 'Go To Heaven' album and that 'we've been fans of the Dead for a lot longer than you have!' In return Brent gets their names wrong and tells the crowd 'I hate to do this - and I don't think they're very funny!' When the band finally make the stage the presenters seem to have been messing about on stage too given the sound gremlins that mean Phil can't join in until the fifth number so the rest of the band improvise an unplanned acoustic version of Weir's solo 'Heaven Help The Fool' instead. After that though the show is plain sailing and one of the best of the period. Here's the track listing: Heaven Help The Fool/Sage and Spirit/Little Sadie/Monkey And The Engineer/It Must Have Been The Roses/Cassidy/Bird Song/Ripple. They then return for an electric set: Feels Like A Stranger/Franklin's Tower/Me And My Uncle/Big River/Candyman/Little Red Rooster/Tennessee Jed/Looks Like Rain/Althea/The Music Never Stopped. The result is a glorious show, hilariously funny and then unbelievably poignant, with the exact halfway point of the Dead's career finding them in good health.
32) Oakland #3 (Concert US December 1980)
The Dead's famous New Year's Eve party was the last of five shows and featured Bill Graham counting down the new year on top of a giant skull. Several guests appear during the course of the night: Kingfish's Matthew Kelly and Quicksilver Messenger Service's John Cippolina among them. These shows are some of the last to feature the newly revived acoustic show and last for some four hours in total, ending with Bill Graham inviting the audience to 'breakfast'. Despite its fame, though and the party vibe this isn't one of the better Dead shows out there. Setlist: To Lay Me Down/Monkey And The Engineer/Jack-A-Roe/Cassidy/I've Been All Around This World/The Race Is On/Bird Song/Ripple/Alabama Getaway/The Greatest Story Ever Told/They Love Each Other/Little Red Rooster/China Rider/Looks Like Rain/Althea/Lost Sailor/Saint Of Circumstance/Deal/Sugar Magnolia/Scarlet Fire/Estimated Prophet > Drums > Space > That's It For The Other One/Wharf Rat/Around and Around/Sunshine Daydream
33) Melkweg (Concert Holland October 1981)
And it's back to Holland for a two hour show that's survived the years, another of the Dead's most famous gigs amongst fans. This show on October 15th was the first of two played to a tiny club in Amsterdam nicknamed the 'oops Concerts' after Phil's fumbled opening in the first song. Jerry and Bobby had gone to the venue first after a planned gig in France fell through, playing unbilled at the club on the night of the 11th before inviting the rest of the band over. After so many years of seeing the band as a spec in the distance it was a great chance to see the band up close again and they're clearly fired up by the show, all pushed together on a tiny stage and with only the tiniest of versions of their by-now retired 'wall of sound'. Setlist: 'New New Minglewood Blues' 'They Love Each Other' 'El Paso' 'Friend Of The Devil' 'Little Red Rooster' 'Althea' 'Beat It On Down The Line' 'Far From Me' 'Alabama Getaway' 'Promised Land' 'Man Smart Woman Smarter' 'He's Gone' 'Spoonful' 'Drums 'Space' 'That's It For The Other One' 'Wharf Rat' 'Around And Around' 'Johnny B Goode' 'It's All Over Now Baby Blue'
34) Oakland Auditorium (US New Year’s Eve Concert December 1981)
Another New Year’s Eve show, this one a bit shakier than most with Bill Graham running out of costumes and resurrecting the flying joint. This show is most notable for an opening acoustic set, much like the one that appeared on ‘reckoning’ earlier in the year, with supporting act Joan Baez staying on stage to sing a few songs (which sadly aren’t on the youtube copy). The show is also notably high on love songs, perhaps because in a ceremony backstage between the second and third sets, Jerry finally marries his longterm partner Carolyn, better known to Deadheads as ‘Mountain Girl’. Typically Dead, nobody thinks to mention this fact to the audience, even though the band are on chatty form most of the night! Setlist: To Lay Me Down/Monkey And The Engineer/Jack-A-Roe/Cassidy/I've Been All Around This World/The Race Is On/Bird Song/Ripple/Alabama Getaway/Greatest Story Ever Told/They Love Each Other/Little Red Rooster/China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider/Looks Like Rain/Althea/Lost Sailor > Saint Of Circumstance/Deal
35) David Letterman Show (US TV April 1982)
Despite not having a product to plug, Jerry and Bobby appeared as guests on a 1982 edition of the famous American talk show, bringing their guitars along so that Jerry can be taught how to play 'Proud Mary' by the presenter in the opening skit. Along the way the pair perform acoustic versions of 'Deep Elem Blues' and 'The Monkey and The Engineer'. You don't really learn much from the interview in between the stoned rambling and giggling except that the early days of the acid test were 'fun' for Bobby and that Jerry has 'lost all his memories!' but nice all the same.
36) Moscone Centre (US Concert May 1982)
Dead, duck!!! The audience throw nerfballs at the group throughout this unusually chaotic show (one catching Bob in the jaw during the end of ‘Greatest Story Ever Told’), while elsewhere ‘Truckin’ gets a makeover courtesy of special guest percussionist Airto Morieria and singer Flora Purim, while Boz Scaggs sits in with the band during set two. The result is a likeable gig, less ropey than other performances of the period with the band and audience clearly having fun. This outdoor show was part of a Vietnam veterans benefit that saw the Dead co-headlining with Jefferson Starship and Country Joe McDonald. This gig saw the first time the Dead had performed Robert Johnson’s ‘Walkin’ Blues’ since Pigpen was in the band (Bob taking over the lead vocal) and the only time the band ever performed Allen Touissant’s jazzy free-form (which suits the drummers but not really anyone else) ‘I Got A Mind To Give Up Livin’. Setlist: Alabama Getaway/Greatest Story Ever Told/Althea/Little Red Rooster/Tennessee Jed Walkin' Blues/I Got A Mind To Give Up Livin'/Turn On Your Love Light
37) San Francisco (US Concert December 1983)
This New Year’s Eve’s Eve show is the third of a four-day run at San Francisco’s Civic Auditorium – for those keeping score of Bill Graham’s antics, it is the one where he turns up on stage in the middle of a giant globe. The Dead, alas, aren’t sitting on top of the world at all and turn in a typically shambolic gig of the period with Jerry frequently flat and visibly struggling. The decline since the last appearance in this list is quite marked in fact as Jerry barely takes his eyes off his guitar all night (except when he has them tight shut). That’s a shame because the set list tonight is pretty good with lots of semi-rarities. Setlist: Bertha/Greatest Story Ever Told/Friend Of The Devil/Me and My Uncle/Big River/Ramble On Rose/Little Red Rooster/Brown Eyed Women/Looks Like Rain/Deal/Shakedown Street/Man Smart, Woman Smarter/Terrapin Station/Drums/Space/Truckin' /Wharf Rat/Good Lovin'/Keep Your Day Job
38) San Francisco (US Concert December 1984)
By contrast this New Year’s Eve show from the following year is a cracking one, but it’s in lousy condition (you’re better off turning the telly off and turning the sound up loud and treating it like an ‘archive’ set!) Mind you, I notice that Jerry’s guitar is mysteriously low, with Bob and Phil’s parts up loud, so maybe that’s why? Apparently this show was only broadcast on radio this year not TV so it might well be taped by an enterprising fan in the audience (great camera-work if it was!) Bill Graham turned up on stage amidst a giant firebolt during this show, the last of a three-night run. Setlist: Shakedown Street/Minglewood Blues/Peggy-O/Jack Straw/Bird Song/Hell in a Bucket/Don't Ease Me In/Sugar Magnolia/Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain/Women Are Smarter/Drums/Space/The Wheel/Throwing Stones/Turn On Your Lovelight/Gimme Some Lovin'/Uncle John's Band/Around And Around/It's All Over Now Baby Blue
39) Spectrum Philadelphia (US Concert April 1985)
Another probable audience-filmed concert, this one is messy but bonkers. Every time you think its your typical feeble 1980s Dead show where the band seem to have forgotten to tie their own shoe-laces, suddenly a solo or jam will shoot things into the stratosphere way above the orbit of other bands (‘Deal’ for instance, is the feeblest I’ve heard until Jerry digs deep into his soul for an epic solo at the end that seems to run forever, each note spat out as if it might be his last). There are some truly oddball songs in the setlist too including perhaps the only hated Garcia/Hunter song ‘Day Job’ dropped a few shows in ‘at the request of fans everywhere’. This is the middle of a three show run at the venue – and arguably the best of them. Setlist: Why Don't We Do It In The Road?/Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodeloo/C.C. Rider/Birdsong/Dancin' In The Streets/Deal/Shakedown Street/Samson and Delilah/She Belongs to Me/Woman are Smarter/Drums/Space/Gimme Some Lovin'/Truckin'/Smokestack Lightnin'/Morning Dew/Sugar Magnolia/Don’t Give Up Your Day Job
40) Farm Aid (US Concert 1986)
The Dead only appeared once at this benefit gig, held every year as a spin-off of 'Farm Aid' to raise money for local struggling farmers (it was inspired by a remark Willie Nelson made about playing Live Aid and - perhaps missing the point about third world poverty having absolutely nothing - telling journalists he wished something similar could be done for local businesses). The entire 4th July show was broadcast across most of America and featured just twenty minutes of the Dead who play rather rough versions of 'The Wheel' 'I Need A Miracle' and 'Uncle John's Band'.
41) Touch Of Grey (Music Video 1987)
Surely one of the greatest music videos ever made - certainly one of the funniest - this video shot by Gary Guiterrez (who was in charge of the animation used on 'The Grateful Dead Movie') pokes fun at a band who've been around for 22 years and only just had their 'breakthrough hit'! With the band reluctant to hang around for long hours filming - and Jerry's health still precarious after his coma the previous year - the director got around the problem by using lifesize skeleton replicas of each band member dressed in their real clothes and in Jerry's case with a full beard. Across the video a dog runs off with Billy's foot and Garcia is seen to smoke despite having no lungs! By the end of the footage the skeletons are transformed into the band for a last rallying cry of 'we will get by - we will survive' whilst the specially invited audience of Deadheads scream for more. A fully deserving video for a great song which played a big part in getting the single as high as number nine in the States, regularly seen on MTV that year.
42) Hell In A Bucket (Music Video 1987)
Fifty Shades Of Dead! The band's second ever video - also made in their 22nd year - was shot in a club and features Bob sitting at the bar, turning round to sing the Dead's most sado-masochistic song. Along the way we follow a girl from the wrong side of the tracks and a bar fight amongst some bikers breaks out, with Bob getting smashed over the head by an obviously fake chair, while Brent pops up as the saloon pianist, Phil is a circus ringleader and the two drummers dress up as rather literal 'rhythm devils'! All are outperformed by their co-star though, a camera hungry duck. Slightly less funny than 'Touch Of Grey', the best part of the video is Brent dressed up as the bar-room pianist, closely followed by a very nervous Bob sitting next to a hungry looking tiger (oh what things bands go through to make their videos - and after all this 'Bucket' was something of a flop single!)
43) Throwing Stones (Music Video 1987)
The third video is more daring, shot in an abandoned school with the Dead in a wide variety of curious costumes. A child's drawing of the band is seen on a wall (actually sketched by Jerry and drawn up from what he made on a napkin during a meeting with the director!) before the Dead walk past an apparently abandoned playground, their instruments piled high on their backs as if they are the last refugees on earth. Ashes, ashes, all fall down!
44) Silver Stadium, Rochester (US Concert July 1987)
The last ‘normal’ Dead show before the team-up with Bob Dylan is also the same week that ‘In The Dark’ is released and has more than a touch of celebration about it with a real enthusiasm about the performance and a glut of semi-new songs (only some of them from the new LP). Regrettably only four songs from this show seem to have been broadcast on TV and are the only ones that seem to exist, which is a shame as its one of the band’s more energetic shows of the decade. Setlist: Hell In A Bucket/Bertha/Walkin' Blues/My Brother Esau
45) Giants Stadium, New Jersey (US Concert July 1987)
Dylan gig number three was taped just ten days later but is very different. Here the Dead are desperately trying to keep up with Bob to the extent that nobody sounds in control at all. By the end of the tour the setlist will be streamlined to the songs everybody has fun playing, but not here with excruciating passes through ‘Wicked Messenger’ and ‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time’. I’m glad that there is some form of visual record of this unique collaboration though, if only for proving that rumours of Dylan’s wardrobe is true: while everyone else is in shorts and scraggly t-shirts for one of the record hottest days in American history, Bob is still wearing thick gloves! Only one actual Dead song is performed and ‘Touch Of Grey’ doesn’t sound that healthy, everyone having forgotten how it goes after a few days of Dylan numbers and Bob’s contribution is rasping through the ‘I will get by’ chorus; even so this is quite historic as one of the very first performances since it became the Dead’s first (and only!) top ten charting single. Alas the band resist the temptation to announce at last that they will be performing their ‘hit’. Setlist: Slow Train Coming/The Memphis Blues Again/Tomorrow is a Long Time/Highway # 61/All Over Now, Baby Blue/Ballad of a Thin Man/John Brown /Wicked Messenger/Queen Jane Approximately/Chimes of Freedom/Joey/All Along the Watchtower /The Times They Are A Changing/Touch of Grey/Knockin' on Heaven's Door
46) Oakland Coliseum #1 (US Concert July 1987)
Two gigs later and the only footage we have is from the Dead’s own set, where they were effectively the ‘support act’ to themselves. They seem relieved to be back on solid ground and celebrate by sticking in quite a lot of their most recently added material rather than old favourites tonight. This is, I think it’s fair to say, a middling show: Garcia isn’t gasping for breath this time but neither is he fully in control. Setlist: Jack Straw/Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo/My Brother Esau/When Push Comes To Shove/Far From Me/Cassidy/Deal/Hell In A Bucket/Scarlet Begonias/Playin’ in the Band/Drums/Space/Uncle John's Band/Dear Mr. Fantasy/I Need A Miracle/Bertha/Sugar Magnolia
47) Shoreline Ampitheatre (October 1987)
This show, the middle of three, is glorious in both terms of sound and picture quality and is one of the last great sets the Dead played (at least for me). Brent is on top energetic form and this is counter-acted by Jerry in a deep, contemplative mood who really connects with his slowest, saddest songs tonight. Tonight’s ‘Candyman’ is goose-pimply while the setlist is pretty good too, marked by fans foe featuring the last ever performance of ‘My Brother Esau’, the veteran retired far too soon (it sounds particularly good tonight as if everyone has finally wokd ot how to play it!) Setlist: Hey Pocky Way/New Minglewood Blues/Candyman/When I Paint My Masterpiece/West L.A. Fadeaway/My Brother Esau/Maggie's Farm/Cumberland Blues/Looks Like Rain/Terrapin Station/Drums/Space/That’s It For The Other One/Stella Blue/Throwing Stones/Turn on Your Love Light/The Mighty Quinn
48) Oakland Coliseum #2 (US Concert December 1987)
Another new year's eve show ended a triumphant year when the band had not only returned to full gigging following Jerry's coma but had a hit single and album to celebrate too. As befitting the Dead's new status as audience-pullers this was the first pay-to-view concert they screened and was again presented by Saturday Night Live's Tom Davis and Al Franken, this time with a spoof cookery spot (where Jerry Garcia cooks pigs in a blanket would you believe!) The concert is pretty darn good too, full of hurrah and cheer and oompah, with the band about as good as they ever got in the 80s - it's a shock in fact that this well received gig (the last of four) isn't out as part of the archive series yet. Oh and in case you're wondering, Bill Graham makes one of his last New Year's Eve show appearances, dressed as the Golden Gate Bridge! Set list: Bertha/Cold Rain And Snow/Little Red Rooster/When Push Comes To Shove/When I Paint My Masterpiece/Bird Song/The Music Never Stopped/Hell In A Bucket/Uncle John's Band/Terrapin Station > Drums > Space > That's It For The Other One/Wharf Rat/Throwing Stones/Not Fade Away
49) Capital Centre Landover (US Concert September 1988)
Aagh, grateful as I am that a Deadhead went to the trouble of filming this gig the shaky picture is enough to give me motion sickness and even when it’s still, dear God, what is that on Bob’s head? (is it a pony tail?) Thankfully this show is a lot kinder on the ears than the eyes and Jerry is on good form even if it’s the rest of the band’s turn to struggle a little to keep up this time. This was the first of a run of four shows at the Maryland arena and was in fact the first gig of the Autumn 1988 tour, in which case it’s even more impressive how up to speed Jerry is given he would have only just started playing Dead material again after a Garcia Band tour. Setlist: Hell In A Bucket/They Love Each Other/New New Minglewood Blues/Dire Wolf/Queen Jane Approximately/Althea/Let It Grow/Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain/Looks Like Rain/Terrapin Station/Drums/Space/The Wheel/All Along The Watchtower/Stella Blue/Sugar Magnolia/Black Muddy River
50) Madison Square Gardens (US Concert September 1988)
The fifth of a six day run in New York, something which has clearly given the bootleggers the time to set their equipment up just right as the sound for this gig was always one of the better Dead shows, meaty and beaty. The performance is pretty good too with this a particularly strong show for Brent, while Bob is laughing at his hair choice by wearing a t-shirt full of snakes that make him look like Medusa! Musically the highlight is a monster jam that begins in familiar territory with a noisy ‘Playin’ In The Band’ but somehow falls away to end up as one of the band’s most fragile and delicate songs ‘China Doll’ before working back up into ‘band’ again. That and a monster Garcia solo during the end of ‘Little Red Rooster’. Setlist: Touch Of Grey/Little Red Rooster/Dire Wolf/Far From Me/Queen Jane Approximately/Tennessee Jed/Let It Grow/Victim Or The Crime/Foolish Heart/Playin’ In The Band > China Doll > Playin’ In The Band/Drums/Space/The Wheel/Black Peter/Around and Around/Good Lovin’/The Mighty Quinn
51) Foolish Heart (Music Video 1989)
The Dead never did replicate the success of 1987 again, with what turned out to be their final album, 'Built To Last', all but disappearing from view. In many ways that was a blessed relief as the band had got a bit too big for comfort, with so many new followers they had to forego their usual stadiums to cope with the bigger crowd. However they still put in the effort with one of their catchiest songs matched to another nicely inventive video. This starts with a skeletoned hand putting a record on a gramophone before the camera pans across a children's nursery to a toy stage. Inside the Dead are performing, treated to effects that make them look as if they're in a silent film. The video fares less well when it uses bits of random old film that doesn't fit the lyrics at all, but the cardboard replicas of the band are very replica and make for a nice sequel to the 'Touch Of Grey' skeletons.
52) Just A Little Light (Music Video 1989)
The Dead's fifth and final video was to promote Brent Mydland's turbulent new song and is perhaps the band's most ordinary video, featuring the band uncomfortably miming to the song in between shots of people lighting candles. Brent performs most of the song in shadow, emphasising the narrator's quest for light - even so it's nice to see so much of him instead of the camera focusing on Jerry all the time.
53) Pittsburgh (US Concert April 1989)
The pair of shows played in Pittsburgh (of which this is the second) were famous amongst Deadheads for all the wrong reasons. A riot started by ticketless fans in the parking lot was so bad on both days that the police had to be called in and led to twenty arrests in total. Worse yet, Bob Weir's taken to wearing that bastion of 80s fashions the ponytail. However the music is relatively good, the archivists actually releasing highlights from this gig and the previous night as the archive CD with the catchy title 'Download Series Volume Nine' (the final encore of 'Black Muddy River' is particularly moving). The camerawork is a little shaky, suggesting this is a bootleg rather than a properly filmed performance, but we leave it here for completists sake (there's a greyer line between what's official and what isn't when it comes to Dead releases than with any of our other bands - they often 'borrow' fan recordings for official releases although this one isn't out as yet). Set List: The Greatest Story Ever Told/Bertha/Walkin' Blues/Jack-A-Roe/El Paso/Built To Last/Victim Or The Crime?/Tom Thumb's Blues/Don't Ease Me In/Blow Away/Estimated Prophet > Crazy Fingers > Uncle John's Band > Drums > Space > Gimme Some Lovin' > I Need A Miracle > Stella Blue/Sugar Magnolia/Johnny B Goode/Black Muddy River
54) Milwaukee (US Concert April 1989)
This popular show amongst Deadheads is the second and last the band will ever play at Milwaukee’s ‘Mecca’ venue. There’s an interesting off-beat feel to many of the night’s songs which pushes everything a little into reggae whether it suits the songs or not - sometimes it’s a disaster, sometimes it’s brilliant and in an essence of Deadness it’s the thrill of discovering which way a song is going to go that is half the fun. Alas this is another cameramen with the shakes, so do be warned about sudden lurches if you are watching this on a big screen. Setlist: Hell In A Bucket/They Love Each Other/Little Red Rooster/Stagger Lee/Mama Tried /Mexicali Blues/Bird Song/Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain/Saint Of Circumstance/Truckin'/Drums/Space/That’s It For The Other One/Stella Blue/Throwing Stones/Turn On Your Lovelight/Box Of Rain
55) Shoreline Ampitheatre (US Concert June 1989)
After the success of the 1987 pay-per-view show, the band tried the trick again, filming the last two shows of a three-night run at this Californian stadium. In total some three and a quarter hours of the final day's show exists, complete with opening film watching Deadheads queuing and the like. The band are slightly out of tune throughout and never quite settle into the gig, but the sound is good, the track listing more interesting than usual and the camerawork is excellent. Watch out for a rare 'Scarlet Begonias' which doesn't enter into 'Fire On The Mountain' and a rare Bob revival of 'Turn On Your Love Light'. Setlist: Touch Of Grey/New New Minglewood Blues/Ramble On Rose/Box Of Rain/Dire Wolf/When I Paint My Masterpiece/Row Jimmy/Cassidy/Deal/Scarlet Begonias/Hell In A Bucket/Ship Of Fools/Estimated Prophet/Eyes Of The World > Drums > Space > Truckin' > That's It For The Other One > Morning Dew > Turn On Your Love Light/Brokedown Palace
56) RFK Stadium (US Concert July 1989)
The show released as the archive set 'Crimson White and Indigo' wasn't broadcast but looks as if it could have been, with better camerawork than most of the shows that were (is this is a team of Deadheads working well together from different sides of the stage, or was this shot by the band for their own archives and somehow leaked?) I'm rather fond of this show, one of the last times the Dead were really on it, with the compact songs nice and tight and the longer songs jammy and loose. The band are in elegiac mood tonight, perhaps because this is the last show performed at one of their favourite venues before it was knocked down (this is in fact the last gig anyone will play at JFK) singing not just 'Standing On The Moon' and 'Box Of Rain' but as a final encore 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door'. This is also the gig where the extraordinary 'Blow Away' heard on the 'Built To Last' CD bonus tracks comes from, Brent extending his rap coda into a full 15 minute version that beats the album hands down (you can see the rest of the band looking over nervously to check he's ok by the end). Setlist: Hell In A Bucket/Iko Iko/Little Red Rooster/Ramble On Rose/Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again/Loser/Weather Report Suite (Let It Grow)/Blow Away/Box Of Rain/Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain/Estimated Prophet/Standing On The Moon/Rhythm Devils > Space > That's It For The Other One/Wharf Rat/Turn On Your Love Light/Knockin' On Heaven's Door
57) Alpine Valley (US Concert July 1989)
The bootlegger has nicknamed this ski-slope show ‘It’s all downhill from here!’ and sadly he’s right, with the 1989 shows in many ways the Dead’s last hurrah. This is the first of a three night run at this Wisconsin venue, the last the Dead will play there. There are some real surprises at this show: the best of the handful of performances of Sam Cooke’s ‘Let The Good Times Roll’ (with Brent getting so carried away he swears and then realises he’s on telly!) and (alas, not caught on tape) the last ever performance of ‘When Push Comes To Shove’ and the jaw-dropping surprise of ‘And We Bid You Goodnight’ which hasn’t been a regular show closer since the 1960s! Setlist: Hell In A Bucket/They Love Each Other/Little Red Rooster/Stagger Lee/Mama Tried/ Mexicali Blues/Bird Song/Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain/Saint Of Circumstance/Truckin'/Drums/Space/That’s It For The Other One/Stella Blue/Throwing Stones/Turn On Your Lovelight/Box Of Rain
58) Hampton Coliseum (US Concert October 1989)
The quality might be a little rough (this is another fan video) and to be honest a lot of the music is too, but this gig is a special one for many fans because it saw the first revival of the complete 'Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin's Tower' trilogy in four years! This is also a rare treat for fans who were billed as simply 'Formerly The Warlocks' to cut down on crowds (the entire two nights were released on six CDs under that very name in 2010, although I have to say it's the previous night that really 'cooked'). With such a great and welcome set of returning old friends whose to quibble that Jerry loses the words so many times or that the band never quite mesh for most of the gig? Setlist: Foolish Heart/Walkin' Blues/Candyman/Me And My Uncle/Big River/Stagger Lee/Queen Jane Approximately/Bird Song/Promised Land/Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin's Tower/Victim Or The Crime?/Eyes Of The World > Drums > Space > I Need A Miracle/The Wheel/Gimme Some Lovin'/Morning Dew/And We Bid You Goodnight
59) Meadowlands Arena, New Jersey (US Concert October 1989)
The second of a two day run in New Jersey, this show took place on the same day that ‘Foolish Heart’ was released as a single – needless to say the commercially unsuited Dead refuse to play it! This is one of those sleepy Dead sets, not badly played by any means but with a by now jet-lagged band playing everything slightly too slowly and without much change in pace all night. The surprise return of ‘Brokedown Palace’ is pick of tonight’s pops for me, the one song that really suits this mellow mood. Setlist: Sugaree/Blow Away/Tennessee Jed/Queen Jane Approximately/Bird Song /Jack Straw/Hey Pocky Way/Cumberland Blues/Looks Like Rain/He's Gone/Drums/Space/That’s It For The Other On/Wharf Rat/Sugar Magnolia/Brokedown Palace
60) Spectrum, Philadelphia (US Concert October 1989)
This show took place just six days later and suffers from much of the same lethargy, a clumsy set where the band never quite connect all night. Another one shot by a member of the audience in what appears to be a rather major earthquake (funnily enough it’s the next night where the band’s one-off performance of ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On’ will take place, as featured on the ‘Built To Last’ CD) this is a tough gig to both watch and listen to, with Jerry struggling more and more by the minute. There is a truly sublime performance of ‘All Along The watchtower’ though, with Garcia unleashing his inner Hendrix, which is surely the best I’ve heard the Dead play it so all is forgiven (even if the band immediately segue into a particularly feeble ‘Black Peter’). Setlist: Shakedown Street/Little Red Rooster/Peggy-O/Queen Jane Approximately/Bird Song/The Music Never Stopped/China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider/Ship Of Fools /Man Smart (Woman Smarter)/Terrapin Station/Drums/ Space/Gimme Some Lovin'/All Along The Watchtower/Black Peter/Around And Around/Good Lovin’/U.S. Blues
61) Albany/Knickerbocker Arena (US Concert March 1990)
Another murky fan-shot video of the 1990 tour - Brent's last with the band before his death with the band. You might not be able to see much but the Dead kick up a storm, with one of their last very good gigs most notable for the last ever performance of the song 'Built To Last' and a rare 'Dupree's Diamond Blues'. Setlist: Hell In A Bucket/Dupree's Diamond Blues/Just A Little Light/Black-Throated Wind/Big Railroad Blues/Picasso Moon/Row Jimmy/Blow Away/Built To Last/Victim Or The Crime?/China Rider/Man Smart Woman Smarter > Drums > Space > I Need A Miracle/Dear Mr Fantasy/Gimme Some Lovin'/Morning Dew/Brokedown Palace
62) Shoreline (US Concert June 1990)
The middle of three nights recorded in California that are all well received by Deadheads thanks to the home setting and some rare material. This is one is a lot more professionally recorded, with the band in colour and everything, although it wasn't broadcast on anything. These shows all need to be out on the archive series and soon! Setlist: Let The Good Times Roll/Truckin'/Touch Of Grey/Mama Tried/Big River/Friend Of The Devil/Cassidy/Big Boss Man/One More Saturday Night/China Rider/We Can Run/Estimated Prophet/Terrapin Station > Jam > Space > China Doll/Sugar Magnolia/It's All Over Now Baby Blue
63) Nassau (US Concert June 1990)
This Long Beach, New York show is a pretty darn good one for the vintage, with a nice balance between Jerry, Bob and Brent who all shine in turn. Perhaps that’s because tension was crackling in the air, with the police force critical of the band and their fans and doing their best to shut this three night run down (odd, really, given how peaceful the Deadheads always were compared to other sized rock and roll crowds, but there ya go). This is the gig the night after the famous one where Brentford Marsalis guested, the show recorded for use on ‘Without A Net’ but ultimately not used. Setlist: Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower/Little Red Rooster/Dire Wolf It's All Over Now/Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues/Picasso Moon/Don't Ease Me In/Iko Iko/Playin' In The Band/China Doll/Uncle John's Band/Terrapin Station/Drums/Space/I Need A Miracle/Gimme Some Lovin'/Standing On the Moon/Not Fade Away/Attics Of My Life
64) Foxboro Stadium (US Concert July 1990)
One of those you might want to give a miss, listed here for completists’ sake: the band just don't get it on tonight and sound woefully out of tune, whilst the film footage is 'in the dark' and all over the place (to be fair, though, it's still better than anything I could have shot - how did these fans do so well shooting in secret holding a heavy camera for three hours plus?!) Historically this gig is most notable for the final ever performance of 'I Will Take You Home' just days before Brent’s untimely death. Setlist: Shakedown Street/Walkin' Blues/Far From Me/Candyman/Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again/Ramble On Rose/One More Saturday Night/Eyes Of The World/Estimated Prophet/Crazy Fingers/Uncle John's Band > Drums > Space > I Will Take You Home/I Need A Miracle/Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad/Throwing Stones/Turn On Your Love Light/The Last Time/And We Bid You Goodnight
65) Orchard Park (US Concert July 1990)
Another memorable night with CSN the opening act, although sadly their concert doesn't seem to have been filmed. This Deadhead is clearly quite a long way from the action but it's a good find nevertheless with better lighting than on many of these shows and a subtly different 'feel' about this shower, which is slower and more thoughtful. This gig also marked the last time Brent ever sang 'Blow Away' - he's getting very near his end now with just eleven days until his fatal overdose - and another rare 'Scarlet Begonias' that doesn't end in 'Fire'. Setlist: Hell In A Bucket/Mississippi Half-step Uptown Toodeloo/Blow Away/Mama Tried/Mexicali Blues/Loose Lucy/It's All Over Now/High Time/Let It Grow/Don't Ease Me In/Sugar Magnolia/Scarlet Begonias/Man Smart Woman Smarter/Ship Of Fools/Truckin' > Drums > Space > The Wheel/Gimme Some Lovin'/Wharf Rat/Around and Around/Sunshine Daydream/Brokedown Palace
66) World Music Theatre, Tinley Park (July 1990)
This is the final gig Brent Mydland will ever play, on July 23rd just three days before his death, and this fact casts an odd glow on this show. It starts with Brent tuning his synth for what seems like hours and coaxing some very other-worldly noises out of it, whilst the setlist seems oddly sad and sentimental. His Last ever performance is a surprise: as cover of The Band’s song ‘The Weight’. Mind you, Brent also busks ‘The Cuckoo’, the theme tune to comedy duo ‘Laurel and Hardy’ during a spot of tuning , so maybe it’s not all symbolic tonight! As for the show itself Bob is on great form but Jerry is having a bit of an off-night again. Setlist: Cold Rain and Snow/Picasso Moon/Good Times Blues/Stagger Lee/Cassidy/Truckin'/Nobody's Fault > Smokestack Lightning/Victim or the Crime/Foolish Heart/Man Smart Woman Smarter/Terrapin Station/Drums/Space/All Along the Watchtower/Standing On The Moon/Around and Around/Good Lovin'/The Weight
67) McNichols Sports Arena (US Concert December 1990)
After sitting out August The Dead bounced back in September with new boy Vince Welnick on the keyboard stool. This is our first visual footage of him with the band, the last of a three-night run at this venue in Colorado. Though Garcia is in shakey vocal form this is one of those shows where he makes this vulnerability really work for him, such as on achingly moving versions of ‘To Lay Me Down’ and ‘He’s Gone’ (both with Brent in mind perhaps?) and a surprise revival of ‘Dark Star’ (or at least the second verse) as the end point of a particularly free-form ‘Drums ‘n’ Space’ jam. Setlist: Shakedown Street/Picasso Moon/Peggy-O/Little Red Rooster/Stagger Lee/When I Paint My Masterpiece/To Lay Me Down/Let It Grow/Victim Or The Crime/Foolish Heart /Man Smart Woman Smarter/He's Gone/Drums > Space >Dark Star/I Need A Miracle/Wharf Rat/Turn On Your Lovelight/Knockin' On Heaven's Door
68) Across Indiana (US TV June 1991)
We take a pause from our concert footage to tell you about one of the weirdest entries on this list: The Dead appearing in 'Across Indiana', a local news feature on the American State. One episode in 1991 had the pros and cons about the sudden influx of fans on the humble state and whether they can be termed 'picnickers' or 'gypsies' under the law. This is or second shot of the band with new member Vince Welnick who is interviewed along with the last and a snippet of 'Mississippi Half-Step'. The verdict form the police? 'We shouldn't make a special case and should arrest anyone who has even an ounce of weed on them'. The verdict from the locals? 'Overall they're good visitors and create a lot of dollars for our community - for us it makes sense to make it a pleasant experience for everyone than trying to keep them out'. So that's alright then.
69) Giants Stadium (US Concert June 1991)
Welcome to East Rutherford - the water's fine and so is the music, with the band playing one of their better Vince-era sets, with Bruce Hornsby guesting too. The camerawork is pretty good too, with even some pretty aerial views of the venue at the start. Setlist: Eyes Of The World (an unusual starting point!)/Walkin' Blues/Brown Eyed Women/When I Paint My Masterpiece/Loose Lucy/Cassidy/Might As Well/Saint Of Circumstance/Ship Of Fools/Truckin'/New Speedway Boogie/Uncle John's Band > Drums > Space > China Doll/Playin' In The Band/Dark Star/Sugar Magnolia/a rare encore of 'The Weight'
70) Richfield (US Concert June 1992)
I don't know about 'Dark Star' but this is another 'Dark Show' and as the band aren't on their absolute top form another one you can feel free to skip, although it's nice to have a video of the band performing their rare song 'So Many Roads' and the cover 'Corrina'. Setlist: Little Red Rooster/So Many Roads/Tom Thumb's Blues/Black-Throated Wind/Don't Ease Me In/China Rider/Crazy Fingers/Corrina > Jam > Drums > Dark Star > The Last Time/Stella Blue
71) Knickerbocker Arena (US Concert March 1993)
This one is a little better, in terms of both performance and quality, although Jerry is clearly growing feeble now and struggling to keep up across a whole show. This one is particularly welcome for the rare video of new Weir song 'Eternity', new Lesh song 'Wave To The Wind' and only Vince original 'Way To Go Home'. Not that he's alone - even the perennially young Bobby has aged a lot in this period! Setlist: Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo/Walkin' Blues/So Many Roads/When I Paint My Masterpiece/High Time/Eternity/Deal/Scarlet > Fire/Samson And Delilah/Ship Of Fools/Wave To The Wind/Truckin' > Drums > Space/Way To Go Home/Attics Of My Life/Turn On Your Love Light/Knockin' On Heaven's Door
72) Candlestick Park Baseball Game (US TV April 1993)
Back in 1993 things were hotting up between the Florida Marlins and the San Francisco Giants who were battling it out in the famous Candlestick park stadium (the scene of The Beatles' last gig in 1966). Despite having no links with baseball the Dead were inviting to perform as the opening act and while no video footage of that sadly seems to exist sadly (this was a crowd of sport fans, not Deadheads) a three-minute clip of the band performing the anthem was used in the news and has survived. Well I say 'band' - only Jerry, Bob and Vince turned up and all three look a bit cold dressed in huge anoraks. They're not at their vocal best either by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a welcome chance to hear them sings 'The Star Spangled Banner' in capella with Vince belting out his harmony part! Best of all, a green ufo flies past just as the camera cuts to a shot of the American flag glittering in the breeze, proving that even ETs love the good ol' Grateful Dead! In case you were wondering the Giants won by four runs!
73) Madison Square Gardens (US Concert September 1993)
Back to the concerts and one of my favourite late period shows, with everything sounding rather gentle. The video is a bit dark, though, so be wary! Setlist: Touch Of Grey/Greatest Story Ever Told/Row Jimmy/The Race Is On/Dire Wolf/Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again/Lazy River Road/Johnny B Goode/Samson And Delilah/So Many Roads/Truckin'/He's Gone > Drums > That's It For The Other One/Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad/Morning Dew/Baba O'Riley > Tomorrow Never Knows
74) Las Vegas (US Concert June 1994)
We're getting very near the end now, with a Jerry who seems at least twice the age of his earthly value of 51 years and a band who are 'hot' in more ways than one (dig those crazy Bob Weir legs - this is peak period for wearing shorts just to warn you!) Alas only part of the set seems to exist (with only fragments of songs unusually), but it's a good part to have with perhaps the greatest 'So Many Roads' and a thunderstorm just before the band went out on stage. Setlist: Hell In A Bucket/Peggy-O/New New Minglewood Blues/Ramble On Rose/El Paso/So Many Roads/The Music Never Stopped
75) Boston Gardens (US Concert October 1994)
The fourth of a six-night run is, alas, marred by sound problems all night that seem to make Garcia sound like even ,more of a ghost than he looks. Another show shot from the audience, the grainy footage doesn’t help in that respect either. This is, however, a better than average gig for the Dead’s last full year of touring and is at times very god indeed with the ability to suddenly switch gears out of nowhere (‘Franklin’s Tower’, for instance, really blows away the dew midway through the first set!) New songs like Bob Hunter’s ‘Liberty’ and Vince’s ‘Way To Go Home’ sound rather good tonight too. Setlist: Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower/Walkin' Blues/Althea/Me And My Uncle/Big River/Tom Thumb's Blues/So Many Roads/Promised Land/Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain/Way to Go Home/Saint of Circumstance/Terrapin Station/Drums > Space >The Last Time/Stella Blue/One More Saturday Night/Liberty
76) Madison Square Gardens (US Concert October 1994)
The fifth show in a six day run at the famous New York venue, noted by fans as some of the worst the band ever played and they certainly struggle for most of the night: Jerry looks well and healthy compared to the last time we saw him but he's out of sorts and seems to be working in a different time zone to everyone else, occasionally sparking to life on the extended jams when everything finally falls into place. Historically this show is important for seeing the final ever performance of 'Smokestack Lightnin', a track that despite a few rest periods over the years has been with the band since the beginning and several rare songs from the band's final days: Lesh's 'Childhood's End', Vince's 'Samba In The Rain' and Jerry's beautiful 'Days Between'. Setlist: Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin's Tower/The Same Thing/Althea/Cassidy/Childhood's End/Don't Ease Me In/Iko Iko/Samba In The Rain/He's Gone/Smokestack Lightnin'/Truckin' > Jam > Drums > Space > Days Between/Throwing Stones/Not Fade Away/Us Blues
77) Knickerbocker Arena (US Concert June 1995)]
And here we are, with the final show that I've been able to find, a mere month before the Dead bow out for good. This ought to be an awful show: several fans are arrested during the gig for trying to break into the venue without a ticket and hordes of police remain for most of the gig, arresting several fans along the way. The band are also beset by every technical gremlin under the sun, leading Bob to sarcastically remark that 'we have our best team on it' when the band troop out on stage. Perhaps because of that though the band are fired up and play perhaps their finest (certainly their most aggressive) show of that final Spring-Summer 1995 tour with feisty performances of several live favourites and a few rarities such as Vince's revival of The Beatles' 'It's All Too Much'. Most 1995 Dead gigs suck and yes occasionally this one does too (what the hell were those solos in 'Row Jimmy' and 'Broken Arrow, Jerry?) but this is a lot better than I imagined and have heard of the Dead so far. This is another gig long overdue as an archive soundtrack. Alas the video is a little dark again but that only adds to the atmosphere somehow. Setlist: Hell In A Bucket/Loser/Take Me To The River/Row Jimmy/Broken Arrow/Promised Land/Scarlet > Fire/Man Smart Woman Smarter/It's All Too Much/Playin' In The Band > Drums > Space > Easy Answers/Morning Dew/US Blues
78) Jerry Garcia: Can't Take It With You (UK Documentary 2003)
A final, occasionally unwelcome coda but one that a lot of American Deadheads don't seem to know about so we've bunged it on this list for you (this too is available on Youtube). For some odd reason I've never quite understood Britain seems obsessed with court cases - we get endless courtroom dramas, 'fake' court programmes where unfit people judge each other and our news bulletins are full of people walking in and out of court (both if it's someone important). This arguably reached a peak in the early 00s (*shudder* the era of 'Judge Judy', who should have been locked up herself) when a documentary series about famous people's wills and the ongoing litigation that drove families apart seemed inevitable: after all it had a hook for fans, a human interest story and a lot of tut-tutting I-wouldn't-do-that from viewers in the safety of their own armchairs who clearly don't realise how easily people's lives can get messy. Jerry was a prime candidate for the series: he'd only died two years before and while Deadheads knew the truth about his many juggled wives and girlfriends the general public had only just found out. The fact that Jerry re-married and changed his will so soon before his death created a legal minefield, with all sorts of accusations about which wills and even which marriages were legal and which learnt and several court cases over his estate and possessions (and even what to do with his body and where) that were so ugly and unnecessary as well as being very different to the peaceful persona Jerry had in life. Jerry had so characteristically crossed his fingers and hoped for the best whilst keeping his wives apart, never really telling anyone what he wanted for his estate (some of his wills were dubious at best and always changing). Like the best of these programmes, I kinda side with all three: second wife 'Mountain Girl' had been with Jerry thick and thin in the early days, had two daughters by him and knew him the longest even though technically she wasn't married to hi for long at all; third wife Manesha also had a daughter by Jerry and had been his loyal companion in the hard 'coma' years between 1983 and 1992, while third wife Deborah was technically his widow and had actually known him longest (they were childhood sweethearts, with an absence of about thirty years before meeting up again) despite marrying a mere 18 months before his death (First wife Sara, married before the fame, has sensibly kept out of matters). It's a sad story but one of great interest to fans because of the amount of talking heads who never ever spoke about Jerry or ever will again, plus some priceless shots of the Haight Ashbury days. In case you were wondering Deborah and Bob Weir scattered Jerry's ashes in the Ganges, she inherited his estate but settled out of court for $1.2 million with Mountain Girl as part of a will Jerry made agreeing to support her after his death, while daughter Keelin (Manesha's daughter) also successfully sued for a slice of the prodigious Ben and Jerry money for their tribute 'Cherry Garcia' blend of ice cream.
And that is where we leave things for now, waving goodbye to you with skeleton claws although we'll back with more Grateful Dead next week. See you then!
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