Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks, Volume 9 - 1990 performance

(released in 1997)

Date: September 16, 1990
Place: Madison Square Garden

Set List:
DISC ONE: Hell in a Bucket, Cold Rain and Snow, Little Red Rooster, Stagger Lee, Queen Jane Approximately, Tennessee Jed, Cassidy, Deal.

DISC TWO: Samson and Delilah, Iko Iko, Looks Like Rain, He's Gone>No MSG Jam>Drums>

DISC THREE: Space>Standing on the Moon>Lunatic Preserve>I Need a Miracle>Morning Dew, It's All Over Now Baby Blue.

Chronology: Recorded only a few months after the performances on Dozin' at the Knick, Brent Mydland is now a member of a different sort of dead, and Bruce Hornsby (keyboards, accordian, vocals) and Vince Welnick (keyboards, vocals) are on board.

Surprises: Jerry seems a little disconnected, maybe allowing space for the new keyboard players. Two Dylan songs show up: "Queen Jane Approximately" and "It's All Over Now Baby Blue."

Stupid Rock Critic Myths Shattered: Can't think of any - not a good sign.

Crash Points: Some messed up lyrics on "Hell in a Bucket," accordion on "Tennessee Jed" (doesn't work), MSG Jam noodling and a long, uninspired "He's Gone."

Performance: Inconsistent and the sound isn't best. There's a low end buzz on Lesh's guitar and on the keys. Frequencies are a little squashed and messy throughout.

Yes, Brent is gone and we miss him deeply. He was such a beautiful player and singer - and the fact that it takes two guys to fill in for him says something. Everybody's space is a little cluttered, perhaps due to the two new players trying to find their pocket. A good start with "Hell in a Bucket" is followed by one of the most resentful and anguished versions of "Cold Rain and Snow" I've heard yet. The tempo is a little slow, and Garcia is singing strongly. There is something so sensuous about this version - from the "yellow hair" to the door open to the snow - it's just beautiful. "Cassidy" is also well-played. The structure seems iron tight (not always the case), so the swells and shifts are effectively moving; there are some nice "talking" poetry parts by Lesh and Garcia, and there are some very dark places the bass player leads you to. "Deal" is another highlight with Garcia shoring up the choruses with New Orleans pop music melodies, and the band becoming a one-headed beast during some jamming where everybody puts their best foot forward and just dance almost in unison side by side like a good Broadway chorus. It's hard to tell who's who in the thick brew. But Disc one gets a little thin elsewhere. "Queen Jane Approximately" is one of those Dylan songs anybody could have written once they had grasped Dylan's style, and its inclusion in later Dead sets has always puzzled me. "Stagger Lee" suffers from the rhythmic circular effect that locks everybody into a box that nobody can escape. They give a good try at the end as Delilah sings her spiritual song of vengeance, but the set-up has little breathing room in general. "Little Red Rooster" sounds like somebody is missing, and not very many animals are walking around in the barnyard in this version. "Tennessee Jed" is a long slog with the band working sometimes at cross-purposes as Hornsby tries valiantly to find some space for an accordion.
Disc Two is slim. "Samson and Delilah" has another of those locked-in circular rhythm patterns that get a bit overstated - though Lesh seems to be playing his heart out. The recording quality dampens the interplay (where the hell are the drums on parts of this record?). "Iko Iko" threatens some interest as Garcia and the keyboard players get into a trumpet-blowing, New Orleans vibe, but it doesn't quite climax (saved for a better day hopefully). "Looks Like Rain" is a good version, but "He's Gone" floating into "No MSG Jam" is a dull experience. On the latter jam, Lesh might as well be in his bedroom playing to the mirror, and the keyboard players keep waiting for something they can follow to assert itself. The high point of Disc Two may be "Drums" with some nice talking sequences and sound effects and aural creepiness that make for some good mood music.

Disc Three starts with a bad "Space" - the kind where kitchen sink noises and clattering nothingness suggest even less. But this leads into a beautiful "Standing on the Moon" and a much more energetic space jam called "Lunatic Preserve." "Lunatic Preserve" is one of those space sequences where life is discovered in outer space: it's big, loud and dangerous. How could "I Need a Miracle" not be anti-climactic. And this version of "Morning Dew" reminds me of Frank Sinatra's singing: "awww-fulllll-ly slooooowwwwww-ooo-ooo." "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" is a good Dylan cover with some nice playing by Garcia.
This isn't a real exciting night on the town for sure. Possibly selected because of the presence of Hornsby, it's one of the lesser releases so far in the Dick's Picks series.

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