Hurts Me Too - Grateful Dead Song Review

This is a slow blues song that I associate with Europe '72 (my primary exposure to it).

When I was a young whippersnapper first discovering great albums like Europe '72, this kind of slow blues song was definitely "not my bag." But, as I get older, I think I can appreciate more the soulful vibe that Pigpen brought to songs like this.

When I hear Hurts Me Too, I am reminded that Jerry Garcia was an amazing blues guitar player who got a great slide guitar sound out of that strat (with the Alligator on it).

Hurts Me Too was written by Elmore James and his version is great (I just listened to it here on youtube.com).

Hurts Me Too was only played between 1967 and 1972.  There is a nice version of it below from the Europe '72 tour.  It was recorded at Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen Denmark (thanks to Park Lots for posting).  If you've read any accounts of this tour, you can imagine that the Dead were probably very happy to slow down and do a bluesy slow song like this - they were in the middle of a wild tour!

Hurts Me Too Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 6.5

Disclaimer: This is part of my blog that reviews all things Grateful Dead for fun. Music is a beautiful thing because it is so personal and subjective, so keep in mind that this is one man's opinion.

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Good Lovin'- Grateful Dead Song Review

This song was ever present in the 2nd set throughout the vast majority of the Grateful Dead's live tours.

I've always considered it a "feel good" Bobby 2nd set closer like Lovelight and Around and Around. I like it as an "uplifting closer" more than those 2 songs (but less than Sugar Magnolia or Not Fade Away which are also popular closers).

I did not know until I just visited Dead.net that it was originally performed in the 60's and sung by Pigpen (with a few versions sung by Jerry). Good Lovin' was also shelved from 1970-1976 (when they dusted it off and put Bobby on lead vocals).

The song was originally penned by Rudy Clark and Arthur Resnick and performed by The Young Rascals.  This is the version that most people are familiar with (and also the one that is played in a hilarious fishing scene of the movie Joe Versus the Volcano).  A Grateful Dead studio version was released on Shakedown Street in 1978.

Bobby Going Falsetto

Good Lovin' has an almost '50's rock vibe to it and so it was inevitable that Bobby would use it as an opportunity to go falsetto and do some of his "barbershop quartet" style high pitched singing.  A lot of Deadheads refer to this as "Bobby cheesing out."

Bobby would also use the song as a platform to "hold court" and give an "inspirational rap" somewhat like a gospel preacher during the song, saying things like "you know that you need it and you know that I need it too, c'mon everybody and give each other some good lovin!" Pretty amusing stuff.

A few times in 1987, the band would interpolate La Bamba into Good Lovin' - with Jerry singing La Bamba.  This is a formula for an especially great Good Lovin', and I've embedded a youtube into the blog post at the bottom where you can hear and see the band play it (thanks to LoloYodel for posting that footage).

Good Lovin'  Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 8.7

Disclaimer: This is part of my blog that reviews all things Grateful Dead for fun. Music is a beautiful thing because it is so personal and subjective, so keep in mind that this is one man's opinion.

Easy Wind - Grateful Dead Song Review

Gotta find a woman be good to me,

won't hide my liquor try to serve me tea

Easy Wind is a hard rocking song that showcased the tough rock and roll side of the Grateful Dead - namely Pigpen.

This is a great track from Workingman's Dead and really epitomizes the album's title.  This bluesy rocker has great singing by Pigpen who creates the imposing impression of an out of control day laborer who's living life on the edge.  This actually reminds me of a lot of Deadheads I can think of  - although not all are still around today.

According to Dead.net this song has credited words and lyrics to Rober Hunter. I had no idea bout that and I'm surprised to hear it, although the character definitely fits in with Robert Hunter's other interesting slices of Americana.
Easy Wind was played frequently in 1969 and 1970. There are some videos that show the band playing the song live on youtube like this one.

Every Deadhead knows Easy Wind but it's not a tune I hear people bring up that much or try to play on guitar.

A great song on an even greater album.

EasyWInd Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 8.9

Disclaimer: This is part of my blog that reviews all things Grateful Dead for fun. Music is a beautiful thing because it is so personal and subjective, so keep in mind that this is one man's opinion.

Chinatown Shuffle - Grateful Dead Song Review

"Take it... you can have it..."

Ahh, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. The original frontman of the Grateful Dead and a character who seems almost mythical from what I've learned in studying the history of The Dead. First of all, he died at 27 and looked like he was 50. I'm 33 and I feel like a kid (and look way younger than Pigpen ever did) and believe me - I've been no angel in this life. 27 is so young for somebody to die, it is very sad but apparently he was a heavy drinker and his liver failed.

Unless I'm reading this entry from Wikipedia incorrectly it gives Pigpen writing credits for Chinatown Shuffle. That's cool, I never would have guessed- it sounds like an old traditional song. Certainly Wikipedia can be fallible though. If indeed it was written by Pigpen, I wonder if Chinatown Shuffle was inspired by Chinatown in San Francisco? It is pretty hard to tell by the lyrics which are pretty vague.

The song itself is pretty unfamiliar to me; I actually had to go to youtube.com to really remember how it went and luckily found a good version from the 1972 tour to Europe.

This is a bluesy New Orleans shuffle with an intro phrase that reminds me of U.S. Blues (or Wave that Flag). The song is upbeat and a lot more enjoyable to me than some of the slower bluesy songs that Pigpen sang (like Hurts Me Too or King Bee). Jerry plays a nice solo and this song is a fun and engaging tune.

Chinatown Shuffle doesn't really stand out as a signature Grateful Dead tune whatsoever. As I watch them play it in Europe on Youtube.com it almost seems as if they are being ambassadors for "American Music" and are playing a "sample blues shuffle." It seems like any other rock band from Americal could have produced a comparable version of Chinatown Shuffle. There isn't anything wrong with having fun upbeat traditional rockers in the set though, and Chinatown Shuffle does earn extra points for being an original GD tune.

Chinatown Shuffle Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 5.2

Disclaimer: This is part of my review of every Grateful Dead song from A-Z. Music is a beautiful thing because it is so personal and subjective, so keep in mind that this is one man's opinion (and be sure to read my blog manifesto to understand a little more about where I'm coming from).

Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) - Grateful Dead Song Review

I love the Dead jamming "acid rock" style in the 1960's and this is a prototypical 1960s jam song. It really seems to have no main structure other than heavy drums and guitar improvistation and vocal passage that Pigpen sings about the gypsy woman and the call and response

all you need
all you need
all you need

The rest of the song seems to be totally improvisational and varies depending on which version you hear. Jerry always plays great solos on Caution and it seems his energy would drive the song to new heights while at other times the drums would be taking over.

To my knowledge Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) was always played after Alligator, and as I
wrote in my review of the song Alligator, I remember many of my Deadhead friends refer to the combination of Alligator and Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) from Anthem of the Sun as "Alligator Caution" (much like "Scarlet Fire" or "Eyes Estimated").

The way that Caution would develop out of Alligator was not necessarily built around chord changes but always incorporated a surge of energy and dynamics. The tempo would increase and free form jamming would ensue. This is a great example of a 60s rock band deviating from the traditional song composition structure and creating a vehicle for jamming and whipping the audience into a frenzy.

Caution Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 8.5

Disclaimer: This is part of my review of every Grateful Dead song from A-Z. Music is a beautiful thing because it is so personal and subjective, so keep in mind that this is one man's opinion (and be sure to read my blog manifesto to understand a little more about where I'm coming from).

Big Boss Man - Grateful Dead Song Review

Big Boss Man

As stated in my blog manifesto I am somewhat of a blasphemer because I much prefer the late 80’s/90’s Dead over the mid 70’s. In that regard I will also say that while I love Pigpen, I just don’t listen to that much Pigpen era Dead and when I do, I prefer many of their more psychedelic “acid rock” exploratory jams (ie. The Eleven) over blues vehicles like Big Boss Man.

Couple that with the fact that Big Boss Man doesn’t usually (to my knowledge) have a “rave up” jam in the middle and you have a rather mundane Grateful Dead blues rock song with (in my opinion) not much of a Grateful Dead “stamp” on it. There are other songs like this including Mr. Charlie and Hurts Me Too that I just don’t have much love for.

One reason that Big Boss Man does stand out is that Jerry revived it in the eighties as an opener and I can only imagine how great that would have been to be at that first concert (or any concert where Jerry revived this tune). I actually prefer these versions of Big Boss Man.

Big Boss Man Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 5.5

Alligator - Grateful Dead Song Review

Alligator

Alligator is a classic. Alligator definitely has a structure and lyrics and theme and chorus, but when I think of Alligator I think of free form acid rock jamming. I have heard my Deadhead friends refer to the combination of Alligator and Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) from Anthem of the Sun as "Alligator Caution" (much like "Scarlet Fire" or "Eyes Estimated").

This song is great, there is a kazoo sounding instrument that plays a sarcastic theme and then Pigpen sings about "ridin' down the river in an old canoe" and a run in with "a mean ol' alligator." Then the band goes off in a group improvisation and then I guess at some point on Anthem of the Sun the song changes to Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks). I still think of that as part of Alligator if memory serves and also I believe the Dead were trying to make many track listings on Anthem for the purpose of maximizing royalties. That practice created the interesting result of a bunch of phrases being seemingly arbitrarily assigned to musical passages. For instance there is a song that is entitled The Faster We Go the Rounder We Get and another called Quadiblet for Tender Feet. These latter seems to have Phil's personality stamped all over it.

Suffice to say though that Alligator is a treat. This is an acid rock classic. The song part is catchy and the jam is always aggressive and old school. I think I heard that Phil brought this song back, he's good like that. I hope they did it justice.

Alligator Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 8.5

Disclaimer: This is part of my review of every Grateful Dead song from A-Z. Music is a beautiful thing because it is so personal and subjective, so keep in mind that this is one man's opinion (and be sure to read my blog manifesto to understand a little more about where I'm coming from).