As far as songs that are built to set up a killer guitar solo, Comes a Time is sure right up there. I have already sung the song’s praises before, not so long ago.
When I tackle listening to a new show, I find myself for the first time now checking out the setlist in advance. It’s not just jibberish anymore, I find certain expectations creeping in depending on the tracks ahead of me.
Comes a Time is the first song that promises me a near-holy experience — two Garcia solos to savor. A shorter, set-up solo to establish the theme, then the finale, where anything can happen or be accomplished.
As far as holy experiences go, this reminds me of the times I overheard people recounting a favorite Grateful Dead moment — usually involving Morning Dew. Think stoner inflection here — “Morning Dew, they played Morning Dew!”
I never understood the excitement about Morning Dew, given that I had heard innumerable radio ads for Dead concerts in my high school days backed with that incessant background clip “roll away, the dew”. Surely Morning Dew couldn’t be that transcendent a song if the hook was that melodically flaccid.
Of course, I recently learned from my listening labors that “roll away, the dew” comes from the song Franklin’s Tower. Little did I know that rolling away the dew has to do with a way of manufacturing bells so that they don’t crack when rung (think the Liberty Bell and Benjamin Franklin). As a teen, I would have guessed the chorus was inspired by something much more inane than that.
Surely Morning Dew is a worthy song to get excited about, and it reflects a similar structure as Comes a Time in that it is sung by Jerry, and he gets two solo slots. As I was never one to be worried much about being annihilated in a nuclear war back in the late 70s/early 80s (or anytime really), I perhaps am not a good candidate for finding the song’s premise to be as fruitful a set-up for a guitar solo as that of Comes a Time, which lyrically addresses that point in life where you’re so blind that the blind man is taking your arm and leading you.
My journey is now being wonderfully influenced by comments from readers to this blog, and Josh kindly pointed me to his favorite version of Comes a Time from the Brent era (Cleveland 8-26-80). There is much to recommend that final solo, and it harkens in some ways to “my” version from Buffalo 1977.
Suffice it to say I appreciate his tip and will avoid trying to decree here that one or the other is “better”, despite my overwhelming tendency to try to do that sort of thing. In a way, I see it as un-Dead-like to engage in that, although I do see a lot of that impulse among the GD fans writing on the Internet (and I love reading it).
Posting these thoughts in public will hopefully keep me honest in that regard. If there is any benefit to accepting the Grateful Dead with an open heart, it should be in changing one’s overly reductionist ways.
“You’ve got an empty cup, only love can fill”
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June 2, 2009 at 07:13
Me
Mark in Chi-Town — funny you should mention the Palladium show 5-4-1977 — I have been listening to it for the past 72 hours as my “primary” focus.
It’s a heck of a show and Comes A Time is epic — I can hear Garcia developing themes that came together a few days later so perfectly in Buffalo.
Love the “Playing’/Comes A Time sandwich” concept too.
One of the fun things with guitar solos is identifying themes/ideas over a tour in chronological order.
I am coming to accept the view that I have read elsewhere that May 1977 is a candidate for peak Grateful Dead playing.
It is also becoming apparent that these performances should not, in a perfect world, be listened to in isolation from the rest of the show. I am just beginning to pull back far enough to see the three-hour picture as opposed to focus on one set or a few songs in a concert.
I am still far from being able to chew such large chunks at one time, but the goal would be to get there eventually.
By the way, Jerry just fired off some incredible playing at the end of Fire on the Mountain in that Palladium show.
June 1, 2009 at 12:13
Mark in Chicago
As long as we’re comparing notes on Comes a Time–which I agree is a gorgeous song–try 5/4/77. The whole second set is wonderful. Comes a Time emerges from an amazing Playing in the Band, and Jerry’s second solo is long and haunting, and then the band oh-so-delicately re-engages in PITB. Otherwise known as a Playin’/Comes a Time sandwich. The Scarlet Begonias–>Fire on the Mountain from that set is great too. As for Morning Dew, it took me a while to “get” that song back when I first became a lunatic Deadhead (which happened to me somewhat later in life as well, just as my 30’s were coming to a close). Two amazing ones from the era you’re focusing on are 5/26/72 (this is the one that gets onto Europe ‘72–but the long second-set jam in that show is ay better heard in its entirety than chopped up as it is on the album–as you are learning, with the Dead, everything is about musical structure, which is why many of us prefer to listen to shows in their entirety) and that Freedom Hall show from 6/18/74 you have already listened to–I love the way they bring it down so low, with such lovely quiet notes from Jerry and Keith, before building up through the final jam. Keep us posted, it’s huge fun reliving the discovery experience with you, and your listening notes are great!
May 31, 2009 at 15:25
EM
I know you don’t want to jump decades etc, and you are probably getting alot of suggestions but, take note of Roanoke Va 1987. It is one of the best two nights that I witnessed and still listen to. There are too many good things about the show, but most agree that Comes a Time, Morning Dew, Scarlet Fire and well Crazy Fingers were stunning. I recommend you do a comparison of board and audience versions because both of these shows (but particularly) Scarlet/Fire is an example of when the audience played the band…
June 2, 2009 at 07:17
Me
When I do my next cheating and jump eras for variety, I will try Roanoke 1987 as you suggested. I think the soundboard/aud tape distinction is something I need to focus on as well, as I have gravitated to soundboards for their clean sound. (Being of longtime fan of other bands where soundboards are more rare has led me to appreciate the commercial-release quality of the amazing GD soundboards.)
I did compare the noted Barton Hall show in soundboard and aud versions, and settled on a well-done matrix. Hearing the crowd roar when you listen to a part that makes you roar inside is nice validation, almost like being there.