In the last entry, I posted these two videos to represent a great performance by The Grateful Dead in 1993 and how great Jerry played on Lightning Bolt. These videos are so good they bear repeating. Spoiler alert - I will be wanking on about these below so don't scroll down if you don't want to know the songs played before watching. Also, the soundboard on archive.org is here.
Richfield Coliseum on September 9th, 1993 Set 1
Richfield Coliseum on September 9th, 1993 Set 2
~~~Spoiler Alert All the magic is up there, below is my wanking about this show below~~~~
Wow, nice concert. I would describe this as a magical show. Can't imagine what it would've like to be at this one, and I look forward to my next listen of the next night's show (on my next jog).
How about that Lightning Bolt?
I saw the Shoreline run before this in August where, according to this site, Jerry introduced Lightning Bolt. That was a pretty phenomenal Shoreline run (by Shoreline standards). Jerry took to the guitar well as this show from Richfield shows.
In this Richfield show, the St of Circumstance 2nd "build up jam"(starts at about 22:30 in the 2nd set video), the extended jam in Terrapin (starts at 30:30 2nd set), and of course the Morning Dew are just amazing and make this one for the ages.
How about that weird sound during Morning Dew (at around 1:22:00 and 1:23:40 in the 2nd set video)? WTF is that? It's also on the soundboard for this show.
Finally, I'm always a fan of Victim for the Crime for some reason.... and I might really be revealing a bias for this period (more likely my fond memories) but I even love the I Fought The Law encore.
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 (and be sure to read my blog manifesto to understand a little more about where I'm coming from).
'Lightning Bolt,' as Jerry's last guitar is referred to, has a bit of a controversial reputation. Jerry adopted the guitar in 1993 and used it as his primary electric guitar until his death. It is pictured above as the background to the logo for Mike's Grateful Dead Blog.
On the one hand, the tone sounds like an acoustic guitar, not like the incredibly sophisticated and "electrified" tone of Rosebud or Tiger1. Lightning Bolt is very clear though and cut through the mix nicely.
On the other hand, Lightning Bolt was much lighter and easier for Jerry to manage for the 3 hour Dead concerts.
On The one hand, Doug Irwin (main designer of Jerry's guitars for many years prior to Lightning Bolt) is like a Michaelangelo to most Deadheads - and deservedly so. For over 20 years the Grateful Dead's amazing concerts were performed with Jerry using a Doug Irwin Guitar - from The Wolf in 1972 up through Rosebud which was retired in 1993. Jerry left the guitars to Doug Irwin when he died - it's stated as one of the first things in his will. The rest of the Grateful Dead (in a total dick move) intervened and prevented this from coming to fruition by claiming the instruments that the Dead used in their live concerts were property of the Grateful Dead entity, not individual performers.
On
the other hand, no one really knows anything (or seems to care) about Stephen
Cripe, the Florida woodworker hobbyist who crafted Lighning Bolt from
watching a Grateful Dead video and mailed it unsolicited to Grateful Dead
headquarters. If you consider the unlikely story that Garcia adopted the
guitar and then Stephen Cripe died when the fireworks he was making in his shed
blew up (cover story for meth lab?), this story is stranger than fiction and is
worthy of Dead folklore.
Lightning Bolt's Facility of Playing
Below are posted 2 sets from Richfield Coliseum on September 9th, 1993. If you watch these (particularly the 2nd set) you will hear Jerry playing with incredible fluidity. In fact, there are times when he is utterly unconscious in the 2nd set.
While I, too, prefer Rosebud's sound to Lightning Bolt, I would definitely sacrifice some sound quality to allow Jerry the ability to more easily express himself and hit higher heights.
I actually saw the Shoreline run a few weeks before this Richfield show where Jerry introduced Lightning Bolt (according to this site). That was a pretty phenomenal Shoreline run (by Shoreline standards). Jerry seemed to take well immediately to Lightning Bolt because in addition to these shows there is a lot of additional great music throughout the rest of 1993.
Lightning Bolt's 'Acoustic Sound'
Jerry was actively rehearsing and recording incredible acoustic music with David Grisman around the time Lightning Bolt showed up. Jerry's acoustic chops really got honed during this period. His strong fingerpicking prowess was on display not only on great albums like Garcia/Grisman and Not for Kids Only, but also in Grateful Dead concerts in the 1990s.
Jerry started adding a lot of additional voices to his guitar arrangements of Grateful Dead songs, and you can really hear his emphasis on fingerpicking in songs like Stagger Lee, Lazy River Road, and Friend of the Devil (the intro guitar riff). So, it makes sense that he would opt for a clear sound like Lightning Bolt provided to make sure each string would ring out clearly - like an acoustic guitar.
Behold, Lightning Bolt in a great show from Richfield. The archive.org audio (for soundboard) is here. There will be much more discussion of this show in my next blog entry:
1listen to Bird Song on Without a Net for the incredible tone of Rosebud although I think it is actually the guitar called Tiger. Disclaimer: This is part of my blog about the world of The Grateful Dead. 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).
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