Search - Grateful Dead :: Dick's Picks, Vol. 22: Lake Tahoe, CA, 2/23-24/68

The best DP ever released? Satisfies from all perspectives.

Jeffrey Blehar | Potomac, MD | 02/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dick's Picks 22 (King's Beach Bowl February 23rd & 24th, 1968- disc 1 is thought to come from the 23rd and disc 2 from the 24th) was greeted with hosannahs by the Grateful Dead fanbase when it was first announced. Why? First, because it came as a COMPLETE surprise - nobody in the trading community had any reason to believe the tapes of these shows existed. Second, because it came from such a "prehistoric" and undocumented period in the band's career. Third, because it featured such an insane line-up of songs. A 19-minute "Viola Lee Blues?" Check! The entire Anthem of the Sun album, including "Born Cross-Eyed" (first-ever release) and a "That's It For The Other One" suite that was only 7 minutes long and featured one drummer? Check! One of those early Dark Star > China Cat Sunflower > The Eleven sequences, from before "St. Stephen" was written? Roger that. And - sweet jesus, what's this? - Alligator > China Cat Sunflower > The Eleven > Alligator > Caution > Feedback?? A completely unique sequence of songs, never before and never again duplicated.



But the reason DP22 is so highly regarded among Deadheads isn't just because of its previously uncirculated nature, or even because it comes from the alluring early years of the Pigpen-era band, before establishment of the standard "1969 sequences" (e.g., Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Lovelight/Death Don't Have No Mercy, etc). No, with Deadheads it's ultimately about the quality of the show itself, and DP22 is a piker. This set is magnificently performed, full-to-bursting with spiky, rough-edged energy that makes it clear how HUNGRY this group was. And how confident, too. Listen to the joyful noise Garcia creates on "Turn On Your Lovelight," tossing out acid bop melodies with sweet abandon: he's finally FOUND himself in this song - so has Pig - and you get to hear him revelling in it. (It remains one of my favorite "Lovelights" ever.) I've always been of the opinion that the Dead never played their blues numbers quite as well as they did during this early period - the heaviness of the ensemble's sound, mostly a function of the Gibson Les Paul Garcia was playing, is part of the reason - and great versions of "Viola Lee Blues" (19 minutes of sheer madness), "It Hurts Me Too," and especially "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" are affirmations of that.



But in the end, it's the jams which make this Pick so wonderful (this is the Dead, after all). On disc one, the Dark Star > China Cat > The Eleven > Lovelight sequence is fully realized, with the transition between "Dark Star" and "China Cat" being especially deft. And wow...at the risk of sounding like one of those annoyingly hyperbolic fans who you can't trust (because they declare everything by their favorite band to be "THE BEST EVER"), I will pronounce the "Alligator" sequence on disc 2 to be one of the finest moments of live Dead music I have ever heard. It's effervescent, disciplined yet casual, clearly driven by spur-of-the-moment impulse (after the end of the "Alligator" verses Weir takes charge and decides to send the song into "China Cat" and "The Eleven") but never out of control, and wonderfully played. The "Alligator" reprise is actually BEAUTIFUL, which is not a word you associate often with Primal Dead (they weren't much into "delicacy" or "beauty" at this stage of their career): it has the first-ever playing of the famous "And We Bid You Goodnight" theme and oh is it ever played well.



Okay, the praise is clear, but some warnings are in order: there are some real sound flaws on this Pick. Not in terms of actual sound QUALITY - actually I find the analogue tape to be quite inviting in its warmth - but rather in terms of microphones. Sometimes they didn't work. Sometimes Pig, Bobby or Jerry stepped away from them, or maybe a connection wasn't quite plugged in. There's nothing that will really bother a serious fan (though listeners with sharp ears will notice that a missing section of "Turn On Your Lovelight" from disc 1 was inconspicously patched with material from another show), but this sure as heck ain't Two From The Vault, either.



If you're a prospective Deadhead who's never heard the band outside "Casey Jones" and "Uncle John's Band," but wants to jump right into the live material, this shouldn't be your first purchase. (Go get Live/Dead and Europe '72 instead...buy both at the same time, too.) But for anyone else who ever considered themselves a fan of Primal Dead, this is literally an essential purchase, arguably the greatest Pick that has yet been released. It fulfills all the criteria: it gives us a show we had never had, it hails from a relatively undocumented period, it features rare performances and unique sequences, and it's BRILLIANTLY PLAYED. If you're at all a fan of this era of the Dead, this is the biggest no-brainer since the re-release of Anthem of the Sun.



**ATTENTION 10/05/05**



I can finally make a "Further Recommendation" for those wishing to sample more from this fascinating era of the Dead's career, as dead.net (The Dead's online store) has just made available Volume 6 of their new "Download Series": March 17th, 1968 at the Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco. Portions of the first set of this show were used in the creation of Anthem Of The Sun, and the Dark Star > China Cat Sunflower > The Eleven sequence from the previous day's show was included on the So Many Roads boxed set. While Dick's Picks 22 remains the superior release (simply terms of how much you get, and the fantastic setlist), the performance of the 3/17/68 is fully the equal of 2/22-23/68. If you have a broadband connection, I *STRONGLY* recommend it for those who wish to further explore this era."

2/23 & 2/24/68, Kings Beach Bowl. Lake Tahoe, California

Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 08/31/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Disc One:

Viola Lee Blues (19:16), Hurts Me Too (4:13), Dark Star (6:49), China Cat Sunflower (4:38), The Eleven (10:33), Turn On Your Lovelight (12:40), Born Cross Eyed (2:32), Spanish Jam (7:23)



Disc Two:

Morning Dew (8:10), Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (14:39), That's It For The Other One (8:13),I. Cryptical Envelopment - II. The Faster We Go, The Rounder We Get - III. Cryptical Envelopment - New Potato Caboose (9:08), Alligator (3:45), China Cat Sunflower (4:14), The Eleven (7:17), Alligator (6:39), Caution Do Not Stop On Tracks (11:49), Feedback (4:55)





This is one of the best of this new batch of six Dick's Picks released to retail outlets on 8/31/04. This one was a surpise to all of us, as these shows didn't circulate before, and a great surprise they were! The caveat on the set mentions the sound quality which is indeed rougher than alot of the Picks, but it doesn't detract from the experience. In fact, I prefer the natural, open, analog sound of this Pick much more than some of the "cleaner" Picks which almost have a tendency to sound sterile and too digital. Once your ears take a few minutes to acclimate to this Pick it will suck you right in.



For as often as people tend to think of primal Dead as all explosive bursts of untamed energy, listen to the playing on the opening Dew from disc 2. Even at this young age, Garcia had a lyricism and melodic sensibility that none of his electric rocker contemporaries had. Gorgeous playing there, and of course his tone. You won't be freaking out over this Dark Star, as it's too young here to really do much, but on disc 2 from the first Alligator to the end...this is what the Grateful Dead were all about. Strap on the headphones, lay down and let them twist your mind into tangled knots of otherwordliness... all topped off with an alien beast of a Feedback.

"

Don't miss it if you like ANTHEM OF THE SUN

R. Hutchinson | a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds | 07/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are those who don't like the early Dead. This has always seemed very strange to me -- ANTHEM OF THE SUN has always been one of my absolute favorites, and in my view it was all downhill after 1968 and 1969, though undoubtedly some incredibly beautiful music was made on the downslope from 1970 through 1974 as the band increased in proficiency on their instruments, developed their jamming telepathy, and of course wrote better songs.



I was initially scared off by the warning about sound quality, but rest assured, if you like the 1968>1969 Dead sound, this is fantastic stuff. The main problem as far as I can tell with sound quality is that the vocals fade in a few spots. Otherwise, the rougher sound is mainly because the Dead played rougher back then! Garcia's tone is dirty and fuzzy, and that graceful dolphin arc is only yet a glimmer in spots, especially "Dark Star."



I am not a hardcore tape-trader, but as someone who has loved the 1968>1969 Dead sound since the early 1970s, I can testify that this is one of the finest treasures to be produced by the Dick's Picks project. In its own right, this is powerful, exciting music, a veritable runaway train of energy, shooting sparks in all directions -- warts and all it towers over most glossy, state-of-the-art rock music with its raw energy and drive.



Here are a few more specific comments: 1) All the material that later shows up on ANTHEM is here, but "Born Cross-Eyed" stands alone, separate from "The Other One" and "New Potato Caboose." 2) "Dark Star" is followed by "China Cat" on the first disc, but it is not really a "Dark Star>China Cat" jam -- there is no transition, the band simply finishes "Dark Star" and starts into "China Cat." The "China Cat>Eleven" transition is exactly the same as what later becomes the "St. Stephen>Eleven" transition. 3) "Spanish Jam" sounds incredibly Quicksilverish (of HAPPY TRAILS vintage), complete with a Cippolina-sounding Garcia. 4) The dual drums get a bit tiresome in places as they fall into the same predictable rhythm together. It's clear by contrast how much Kreutzmann develops (and is able to show it) after Hart leaves the band -- it's not only Garcia, Weir and Lesh that improve as musicians.



See my complete lists of all Dead recordings on this site for 1968>1969 (PRANKSTERS & OTHER ONES), 1970>1972 (COSMIC COWBOYS), 1973>1974 (EYES OF THE WORLD), and 1975>1977 (ESTIMATED PROPHETS). And I'm in the process of reviewing the Dick's Picks, so look for them as well, so far including DP 16 (1969), DP 4 & DP 8 (1970), DP 23 (1972), DP 19 (1973) and DP 10 (1977)."