Having spent the first half of the year focusing almost exclusively of the Ghosts of Jambands past–from Project Logic to Garaj Mahal to Bad Hat–I really want to turn my attention to the Grateful Dead camp for a while. And to kick things off, here is one of my all time favorites: from The Felt Forum on December 5, 1971, Dark Star > Me and My Uncle > Dark Star > Sittin’ on Top of the World.
I’m a nut for the psychedelic cowboy, an Other One > El Paso or some other odd pairing of lysergic madness and Americana folk tale, and this one is killer. There’s the little struggle to pull the narrative from the instrumental explorations, and the immediate, willful plunge back into the formlessness as soon as it’s done. Perfect. There’s more to follow, but for now, as always, enjoy!