The playing of Jerry Garcia both with and without The Grateful Dead ranged in style and scope so broadly that I could connect you to different examples for each day of the year. I’m too lazy to do that, however, so this one week will have to suffice.

Today’s theme is “Primal Dead”.  This the sort of Grateful Dead that seems primitive on some levels but can peel the wallpaper on others. The example I’m going to present is from the Avalon Ballroom on October 12, 1968.  I picked up a tape of this show nearly twenty years ago and it completely blew me away.

 1968-10-12
Avalon Ballroom – San Francisco, CA

Set 1:
Introduction, Dark Star -> Saint Stephen -> The Eleven -> Death Don’t Have No Mercy

Set 2:
Cryptical Envelopment -> Drums -> The Other One -> Cryptical Envelopment -> New Potato Caboose -> Drums -> Jam -> Feedback

Before “Dark Star” Jerry tells the audience, “Hold onto your bodies and relax, everybody. Everybody relax for crissakes, everybody just cool it. Everything’s gonna be alright. We’re gonna play here until, until uh, until we drop.“

This show captures the two powerhouse psychedelic dance suites that the band had, at this point, honed to a razor’s edge. The “Dark Star” is bubbly and danceable (Weir introduces it as a “foxtrot” & “ladies’ choice”!)  “The Eleven” is a certified ripper. “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” is dark apocalyptic and mournful… Jerry’s vocal is terrific. Set two is nonstop madness. “New Potato Caboose” is an angular Phil Lesh composition that will warp your sense of time. I can’t wait to listen to this again.

Head to the next page for the stream.

Buckle up, folks!

Until tomorrow…