Im gonna do my best to try and guess the lyrics for the other one: When I woke up this morning, my head was not intact I asked my friends at the valley show me where it's at It crawled up inside of me, and the dust clouds blew away And the heat came round and busted me for smilin on a cloudy day (chorus) The heat down at jail, they weren't very smart They taught me how to read and write, they taught me the precious heart When I broke out of jail, I learned that right away They didn't need tell me about smilin or runnin away Thats my best guess. theyre not the real lyrics, but thats just what i hear when i listen to this version

favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite

This is a show I can listen to repeatedly. Not only high energy, but like the 1977 shows, tight – the band is playing together and without sloppiness, and all the vocals and harmonies are on target. Bob is good on Beat It, which wasn’t always the case during this period. Mickey Hart had only been playing with the Dead for a few weeks, but he and Bill are working smoothly together. (September 29 was Mickey’s first show.)



They start with a solid Morning Dew, followed by a great new Potato Caboose, which features not only a firey Jerry, but a Jerry and Phil counterpoint, with, Phil following Jerry’s lead. Listen to Phil here. Beat It and Cold Rain and Snow were “oldies” for them, having played it most of 1966, and they sound polished here.



Another oldie is It Hurts Me Too back, and Pigpen shows his master of the blues. Lovelight is gives us more high-energy Jerry, the usual great vocal and rap from Pigpen--the best vocalist the Dead ever had. Unfortunately, it’s cut off as things are getting going after a calm period.



The electric Jerry we hear on New Potato is also featured in Cryptical/Other One, which they had only recently started playing, when they hadn’t settled on the lyrics. There were also rehearsing it in the studio for the Anthem of the Sun, and it’s a crisp, freeform performance. It’s also an ensemble effort, lead by Jerry. Phil is great here as well. It simply smokes and is the highly of the show.



By this time the Dead had completed the reinvention of themselves from the Beatles pop/blues of 1966 to the unique psychedelia that proved the creative chops. It was one of several transformations they made over the years. The New Potato and Cryptical/Other One exemplify the psychedelic Dead, and are worth multiple listens. The psychedelic Dead isn’t just space—in fact, it’s mostly not space. It has underlying form and structure (with defined movements) and is melodic. I like the repetitive licks Jerry uses towards the end – the have a trance-inducing quality of the raves of the 1990’s –the Dead were all about Dance music, and they said so at the time and later.



The audio is great, with all of the instruments audible.

- December 7, 2008A tight, well-executed, and exciting show