Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 3
Road Trip to the Rockies, ’73 Style!
It’s been a while since we’ve dipped into the uniformly magnificent fall of 1973 (the epic Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings came out three long years ago), and we’ve never put out a Road Trips from that year, so it’s high time we did! And you’ll have a high time getting lost in the majesty and mystery of Road Trips Vol. 4, No. 3, which consists of the entire November 21, 1973 concert at the Denver Coliseum spread across two-and-half discs, and then an excellent sequence of tunes from the second set of the previous night’s Denver show (11/20/73)!
Colorado has been fertile Grateful Dead Territory since the band’s first foray at the short-lived Denver Family Dog in 1967, and by the time 1973 rolled around, the group had built a large and loyal following there the old-fashioned way—by playing killer shows! Y’know, we often talk about the deluge of great tunes that came into the Dead’s repertoire during that fabulously fecund 1969-70 time period, but from the summer of ’72 through the summer of ’73, there was a veritable psychedelicornucopia of wondrous new Dead tunes introduced, including a handful that appear on this edition of Road Trips: “Here Comes Sunshine,” “Mississippi Half-Step,” “Weather Report Suite,” “They Love Each Other,” “Stella Blue”; each a classic in its own way, and indicative of some of the exciting new directions the Dead’s music was heading.
All of those except “They Love Each Other” turned up on the Dead’s exceptional Wake of the Flood album, released in mid-October 1973. It was the band’s first studio record since American Beauty three years earlier, and also the maiden release on their own Grateful Dead Records label, so they were way jazzed to be out there on the road digging into their recent tunes, several of which proved to be fine jamming vehicles and were instantly popular with the group’s ever-growing fan base.
The first set of 11/21/73 is a rock-solid and varied collection of tunes, including several “western” numbers (“Jack Straw,” “Me and My Uncle,” “Mexicali Blues”), a lovely “Brokedown Palace” (remember when that could turn up almost anywhere in a show?), a lilting and crystalline “Here Comes Sunshine” and a beautifully developed “Weather Report Suite”—already a monumental song after just three months!
The second set is where the fireworks really go off, however. It’s dominated by a spectacular hour-long medley that begins with “Half-Step,” segues into “Playing in the Band,” travels 715 miles due south for a little gunplay in “El Paso,” dips back into the “Playing” jam for spell, then into a superb “Wharf Rat,” back to a dynamic “Playing” reprise, and is topped off by one of the best versions of “Morning Dew” from this period. Nice! There’s plenty of show after that, too, with “Truckin’” rolling into a rare “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” then “Goin’ Down the Road” and “Saturday Night” as the rockin’ capper. “Uncle John’s” is the perfect anthemic encore.
Filling out Disc Three is a meaty triumvirate from 11/20 consisting of “Truckin’,” a typically convoluted and exciting “Other One,” and then a lovely “Stella Blue” that ends this Road Trips on a particularly poignant note.
As always, there is a CD booklet containing an essay about the show and period photos, and sonically this is certain to meet (or exceed) your expectations—once again it has been mastered to HDCD specs for maximum punch and clarity.
To see the complete song list for the three discs and to order this satisfying slice of Rocky Mountain Dead, click here.
– Blair Jackson
Note: Subscribers to the Road Trips series will receive their exclusive Bonus Disc with the mailing of this Denver set.
Colorado has been fertile Grateful Dead Territory since the band’s first foray at the short- lived Denver Family Dog in 1967, and by the time 1973 rolled around, the group had built a large and loyal following there the old-fashioned way—by playing killer shows! And you’ll have a high time getting lost in the majesty and mystery of Road Trips Vol. 4, No. 3, which consists of the entire November 21, 1973 concert at the Denver Coliseum spread across two-and-a-half discs, and then an excellent sequence of tunes from the second set of the previous night’s Denver show.
Includes CD booklet containing an essay about the show and period photos. All songs have been mastered to HDCD specs for maximum punch and clarity.
This release does not contain a bonus disc.
Tracklist
CD 1:
1. Me and My Uncle
2. Sugaree
3. Jack Straw
4. Dire Wolf
5. Black Throated Wind
6. Big Railroad Blues
7. Mexicali Blues
8. They Love Each Other
9. Looks Like Rain
10. Here Comes Sunshine
11. Big River
12. Brokedown Palace
CD 2:
1. Weather Report Suite
2. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
3. Playing In The Band
4. El Paso
5. Playing In The Band
6. Wharf Rat
7. Playing In The Band
8. Morning Dew
CD 3:
1. Truckin’
2. Nobody’s Fault But Mine
3. Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad
4. One More Saturday Night
5. Uncle John’s Band
6. Truckin’
7. The Other One
8. Stella Blue
Road Trips Volume 4 Number 3 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. Subtitled Denver ’73, it contains the complete concert recorded on November 21, 1973, at Denver Coliseum in Denver, Colorado. It also includes three songs recorded the previous night at the same venue. The fifteenth of the Road Trips series of archival albums, it was released as a three-disc CD on April 26, 2011.
A bonus disc was included with the album in shipments to customers who had pre-ordered all four 2011 Road Trips albums. The bonus disc was recorded on December 6, 1973, at Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio.
Track listing
Disc one
November 21 – First set:
“Me and My Uncle” (John Phillips) – 3:29
“Sugaree” (Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter – 7:41
“Jack Straw” (Bob Weir, Hunter) – 5:13
“Dire Wolf” (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:26
“Black-Throated Wind” (Weir, John Perry Barlow) – 6:51
“Big Railroad Blues” (Noah Lewis, arranged by Grateful Dead) – 5:31
“Mexicali Blues” (Weir, Barlow) – 3:48
“They Love Each Other” (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:37
“Looks Like Rain” (Weir, Barlow) – 7:35
“Here Comes Sunshine” (Garcia, Hunter) – 11:08
“Big River” (Johnny Cash) – 5:22
“Brokedown Palace” (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:53
Disc two
November 21 – First set:
“Weather Report Suite” – 14:53
“Prelude” (Weir)
“Part 1” (Weir, Eric Anderson)
“Let It Grow” (Weir, Barlow)
November 21 – Second set:
“Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” (Garcia, Hunter) – 7:59 >
“Playing in the Band” (Weir, Mickey Hart, Hunter) – 11:57 >
“El Paso” (Marty Robbins) – 3:57 >
“Playing in the Band” (Weir, Hart, Hunter) – 4:30 >
“Wharf Rat” (Garcia, Hunter) – 8:07 >
“Playing in the Band” (Weir, Hart, Hunter) – 13:21 >
“Morning Dew” (Bonnie Dobson, Tim Rose) – 12:37
Disc three
November 21 – Second set:
“Truckin'” (Garcia, Phil Lesh, Weir, Hunter) – 10:23 >
“Nobody’s Fault but Mine” (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead) – 3:00 >
“Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad” (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead) – 8:42 >
“One More Saturday Night” (Weir) – 5:23
November 21 – Encore:
“Uncle John’s Band” (Garcia, Hunter) – 7:39
November 20 – Second set:
“Truckin'” (Garcia, Lesh, Weir, Hunter) – 12:05 >
“The Other One” (Weir, Bill Kreutzmann) – 19:22 >
“Stella Blue” (Garcia, Hunter) – 7:42
2011 Subscription Bonus Disc
December 6, 1973, Public Auditorium, Cleveland, Ohio:
“Greatest Story Ever Told” (Hart, Weir, Hunter) – 5:42
“China Cat Sunflower” (Garcia, Hunter) – 9:18 >
“I Know You Rider” (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead) – 5:31
“Dark Star” (Garcia, Hart, Kreutzmann, Lesh, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Weir, Hunter) – 43:33 >
“Eyes of the World” (Garcia, Hunter) – 14:03
Personnel
Grateful Dead
Jerry Garcia – lead guitar, vocals
Donna Jean Godchaux – vocals
Keith Godchaux – keyboards
Bill Kreutzmann – drums
Phil Lesh – electric bass, vocals
Bob Weir – rhythm guitar, vocals
Production
Produced by Grateful Dead
Produced for release by David Lemieux and Blair Jackson
Recorded by Kidd Candelario
CD mastering by Jeffrey Norman
Cover art by Scott McDougall
Photos by Grant Gouldon
Package design by Steve Vance
Liner notes essay “Rocky Mountain High” by Blair Jackson