Hey Pocky Way - Grateful Dead Song Review

It is really a blast to write this blog because I get to focus on songs like Hey Pocky Way.

I really was looking forward to this one because this funky high octane song just plain rocks.  Originally recorded by The Meters, Hey Pocky Way really smokes when Brent sang it with The Grateful Dead.

The song is credited to the guys in The Meters on Dead.net, but also includes a nod to "traditional," so the origins of the song might be a bit murky. Perhaps it is an adaptation of a Mardi Gras type chant that was handed down through the ages.

This song is the perfect vehicle to showcase the talents of Brent Mydland.  Between his singing/screaming and searing Hammond organ solos, Hey Pocky Way picks up the tempo and energy of any Grateful Dead set in which it appeared (and it frequently opened the set).

Two of Brent's best known tunes are not written by him (Hey Pocky Way and Dear Mr. Fantasy).

Hey Pockey Way was played a total of 25 times between 1987 and Brent's death in 1990. The version below was from the first month they brought the song out and it already sounds super tight (thanks Park Lots for posting this to youtube). I've yet to hear a version that isn't totally awesome.


Hey Pocky Way 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.

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74 Tracks of a Dylan/Dead Rehearsal

There doesn't appear to be anything new about this recording, but thanks to this article on OpenCulture.com   that I was tipped off by @Stephenspower and @brainpicker on Twitter, I am now listening to 74 Tracks of Dylan with the Dead on archive.org.

The recording is from June 1st 1987 and was recorded at Grateful Dead's rehearsal spot - Club Front in San Rafael.

I've never been too hot on the Dylan and The Dead album and live recordings I've heard, but this is  really great listening.  It's a very relaxed rehearsal session with the band calling out songs, discussing the instrumentation, and finding their way haphazardly through a slice of the Dylan catalog.

The OpenCulture article has some interesting quotes from Dylan's autobiography about his surprise at these sessions because (in his words),

 "the band wanted to rehearse more and different songs than I had been used to doing with Petty [on his recent tour with Tom Petty]. They wanted to run over all the songs, the ones they liked, the seldom seen ones."

Jerry is playing spritely and seems to be very confident on the Dylan repertoire.  There's even some beautiful pedal steel in these recordings.  Occasionally, the band starts really gelling, but this seems to be more of a discovery expedition to see which songs might feel good on the upcoming tour.

I've got to say, there's a lot of Dylan songs in this collection that I have not heard yet (and I'm a pretty big Dylan fan too).

I am Grateful to the twittersphere for tipping me off to this recording.