I had originally wanted to use this Casey Jones pick the last time I visited the song, but I wanted a bit more diversity in terms of years at that point so I tabled it until now.

Obviously these shows, 2/13-14/70, have developed their own mythos over the years, and rightly so. The Dark Star > Other One > Lovelight from 2/13 is about as good as it gets for this period. It may seem a bit odd to opt for the bread instead of the meat of the sandwich, but the rawness of this version of Casey Jones just grabbed me from the get-go.

The band played the shit out of Casey Jones from 1969-1972. Probably around 75% or so of the 300+ performances of the song took place in that span. When you think about it like that its easy to see how the band probably got tired of playing the song and did everything with it that they wanted to do. Fortunately, there’s plenty of life in this version!

Every one is clear and present here. Pigpen adds some organ flourishes that I never noticed before and Phil plays more staccato than usual here. Weir’s rhythm work is quite tasty and fun here. Like a well oiled engine the band chugs through the first few verses. Jerry’s solo isn’t that of a runaway train, but it has a degree of rawness and light to it. As far as I’m concerned it’s definitely one or the more interesting instrumental passages I’ve heard in a Casey Jones. As the song picks up at the end the drums almost mimic a train engine, adding another neat component to the song. All too quickly the song comes to a close.

Complete Setlist 2/14/70

Previous Casey Jones DFAY Selections