Garcia said “We were great for seconds on end.” I was lucky to see Jerry play for about 1,000,000 seconds exactly. Thanks for your 1,000,000 views here . Dave Davis wrote this blog for 500 posts and 5 years from 2015 to 2019. Contact me at twitter @gratefulseconds

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Blackjack!: 21(now 24) Once-Only Dark Star Pairings

So it's New Years Eve at my 52nd show. First third set. They play Dark Star. My head explodes.  I am thinking what are they going into? It's uncharted waters, and I'm thinking 1978, St Stephen, but they turn 15 minutes later in Bertha, an "inspired choice" according to Light Into Ashes from my prior post.

I am certain this interesting list will need to be modified, but this topic has been twirling around all head. A few years back, I was listening to the first Keith Godchaux shows in Fall 1971 (which he really really shined in my opinion right out of the gate). The set lists for these shows suggest that the boys were slowly breaking him in, with sets one and two both consisting of the mainly single songs.
However, starting in the first first shows of the tour in October, there was usually a Dark Star or That's It For The Other One that evolved into a more typically first set song (Me & Bobby McGee, for example).

So I sat down last night and made a list from mi original Deadbase 11 (and the Kindle Deadbase 50 on my phone), of all the Dark Star partners that only occurred one time.  My one Dark Star in 80 attempts is one of these (Dark Star->Bertha) from New Year's 1981.

I loved back in the day listening to tapes for the first time and Dark Star made one of these unexpected pairings   New Speedway, .Half Step, Deal!  A lot of these surprise me, only one goes into Truckin, one in He's Gone.

I welcome corrections. (Thanks spring mountain high and Quincy, twice on archive for three more) Since its Saturday, I'll put the music files here.  Sorry dont have all flacs on these.











One-Time only Dark Star Destinations


  1. 05-31-1969 Eugene        Dark Star->Doin That Rag
  2. 12-26-1969 Dallas          Dark Star ->New Speedway Boogie
  3. 11-08-1969 SF                Dark Star -> Uncle  John's Band Jam
  4. 12-30-1969 Boston         Dark Star -> Alligator  
  5. 05-08-1970 Delhi            Dark Star->Dancing In The Streets
  6. 07-31-1971 New Haven  Dark Star->Bird Song
  7. 12-15-1971 Ann Arbor   Dark Star -> Deal
  8. 03-23-1972 NYC            Dark Star -> Big Boss Man
  9. 09-10-1972 Hollywood  Dark Star -> Jack Straw  (drums before Straw but with David Crosby)
  10. 09-16-1972 Boston         Dark Star -> Brokedown Palace
  11. 09-27-1972 Jersey City  Dark Star -> Cumberland Blues
  12. 10-23-1972 Milwaukee  Dark Star -> Mississippi Half-Step
  13. 11-19-1972 Houston      Dark Star -> Weather Report Suite Prelude
  14. 03-16-1973  Nassau       Dark Star -> Truckin' (into Dew, wow!)
  15. 03-24-1973 Philly          Dark Star -> Sing Me Back Home
  16. 06-10-1973 RFK            Dark Star -> He's Gone
  17. 05-14-1974 Missoula     Dark Star -> China Doll  (let It Grow->Dark Star, thanks Dave)
  18. 07-25-1974 Chicago      Dark Star -> Slipknot!
  19. 01-20-1979 Buffalo       Dark Star -> Not Fade Away
  20. 12-31-1981 Oakland      Dark Star -> Bertha
  21. 10-20-1990 Berlin         Dark Star -> Throwing Stones
  22. 08-21-1991 Shoreline    Dark Star->The Promise Land (last first set Dark Star)
  23. 09-26-1991 Boston       Dark Star -> Saint of Circumstances 
  24. 12-16-1992 Oakland     Dark Star -> All Along The Watchtower 
Notes: 
06-19-1968  Only Dark Star Jam->The Other One Jam know
10-30-1968  Only Dark Jam->Dead Letter Blues

02-18-1971   Dark Star->1st Wharf Rat>Beautiful Jam  First Set, Beautiful Jam is top-5 Dead Moments in History

06-23-1974  Dark Star Jam  -> Spanish -> US Blues   (only a DS jam, but so cool)


06-17-1991  Hornsby Dark Star Jam ->Truckin'
09-16-1991  Dark Star Jam into Watchtower
06-18-1992  Dark Star Jam into Watchtower

List does not include songs separated by drums like  Dark Star > Drums > Space > Foolish Heart from 9-24-1991. 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You subliminally placed "77" on the Delhi show ;)

Grateful Seconds said...

Yup, note that the 5-8-77 is the only song so far from Cornell that is "officially released". I know the band remembered the Delhi NY show was 7 years before, and that's why they ended the first set in Cornell with Dancin'.