Unsurprisingly, I’m opting for a shorter version of Turn On Your Lovelight, as my position on Pigpen’s epic raps should be quite familiar to regular readers by now.

I think this version stands in an interesting contrast the previous selection (link below). It’s no secret that Pigpen’s health wasn’t top notch during the Europe 72 tour, and this was never more evident than in his “raps” which were much, much shorter and restrained by this point. Compare this Lovelight to one on Dave’s Picks, Vol. 6, for instance, and it’s night and day. It really makes me wonder though: what would European audiences have thought about a full on, in his prime Pigpen? It’s a fun question to ponder in my estimation.

A few interesting facts about Lovelight and the Europe 72 tour:

The song was only played 3 times on that tour.

This was the 2nd one played.

The next, and final version on the tour, 5/24/72, was the last version of Lovelight the Dead would play until October 1981, which, incidentally was at a show in the Netherlands.

With Pigpen stepping out for vocals here, both guitarists are free to stretch out a bit and you can hear them both doing so right from the first notes. Pig sounds a little reserved, as one might expect, but he still delivers the goods. After the first verse it almost sounds like they’re headed straight for the stratosphere, but instead Pig continues primarily with percussion support. NOW we finally get the instrumental break that seemed on the horizon a few moments before. Jerry flies around the fretboard, throwing together combinations and landing punches like a heavyweight boxer in his prime. Phil said Billy played like a “young god” on this tour, but Phil cuts a mean rug himself on this number. Even Bobby’s chord comping is impressive here. Keith sticks primarily to block chords and variations on the melody, but it’s all good because someone has to everything together. Pig comes back and starts to rap. It’s not a super-long, extended rap like one would expect a year or two prior, but he’s still working his mojo. And perhaps more importantly so too is the band underneath. There’s no quit to these guys. Listen carefully to what Bobby plays around the 7:00 mark and how nicely it complements what Jerry is doing. Vintage Dead. Jerry plays some screeching bends, which alter the dynamics of the song for a bit, but these quickly fall to the wayside and it’s back to good old blues based rock jamming. It sounds like Jerry picks up a slide for a few measures during the jam and the eddy turns into a whirlpool, if only for a moment. Right around the 11:00 mark Pig launches back into the chorus and the end is clearly near. Pig and Billy take center stage, with Jerry and Bobby providing the response to Pig’s calls. A few more runs through the melody lead into a “million dollar ending” that moves directly into Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad.

Complete Setlist 5/7/72

Previous Turn On Your Lovelight DFAY Selections

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