Aoxomoxoa is a hit or miss album to me and I think this record in particular does fit the common critique that the Dead weren’t a good studio band. I think songs like St. Stephen and China Cat Sunflower are monumentally better live. That’s not to say there aren’t some solid cuts on the album. I’m a big fan of the studio Dupree’s and Mountains Of The Moon.

I’ve always been a bit entranced by Mountains Of The Moon, and I’m not sure why. It doesn’t surprise me that the song didn’t last long in the band’s live sets because of the direction they were going by 1970 or so, but this is one of those songs that always gets me really excited when it shows up on a release.

Similarly, I was thrilled when Phil dusted this tune off for Phil and Friends, and I know Furthur has played it in recent years as well.

Of course, the vibe of these shows, which I tend to refer to as “the Live/Dead sessions” is so great that pretty much anything they played at these shows was bound to be great. I’m just glad that Mountains of the Moon got a couple of workouts.

The combination of acoustic guitars and an organ that sounds like it would be at home at a Renaissance Fair mark the opening tenor of this song. Once Phil comes in the organ is tempered a bit. Jerry is in good voice and works his way through the changes nicely. Some electric guitar appears around the “Hey Tom Banjo” part adding another layer to what seems to be a somewhat simple song (it’s really not a simple straightforward song though). Jerry’s solo is melancholy on his acoustic guitar and the sparse accompaniment makes for a haunting effect. Both Phil and the drummers try to move to the fore, but are kept at bay once Jerry switches to electric guitar and spills some tone-soaked notes over the Mountains of the Moon canvas. This signals the start of the transition to Dark Star, which quickly follows.

Complete Setlist 2/27/69