Just a Little Light - Grateful Dead Song Review

It's kind of uncomfortable for me to review Brent Mydland because I love him as keyboardist for The Grateful Dead but never actually saw him live with GD. As a result I don't have any powerful memories associated with dancing to his originals at shows and maybe that's why I am not huge into his original songs.

But Just a Little Light is a pretty cool tune, one of my favorite of Brent's originals.  It has a tense brooding feel and is built upon a minor key.  Jerry plays his dynamic filter sound which really makes this Mydland tune "seem like a Grateful Dead song" (some of his other songs just don't fit in with The Dead's music and it seems like they are playing backing band for a guest singer).

Just a Little Light is the 2nd track on Built to Last  - the Grateful Dead's final studio album. The song was played 20 odd times only in 1989 and 1990.  It was primarily in the middle to late 1st set. Below is a version which I think is a fine rendition of the song. This is their 5th time playing it from July of 1989.  Just about 24 years ago this month. Wow.

Thanks Taste4phree for the upload.


Just a Little Light Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10:  6.8

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(read my blog manifesto to understand my Grateful Dead background a little more).

 

I Will Take You Home - Grateful Dead Song Review

This song makes me think of cassette tapes that looked about like this:

I Will Take You Home is a beautiful "music box" type melody accompanied by Brent Mydland's impassioned lyrics to his daughter. This is very moving to think about, and makes what happened to him in 1990 all the more painful.

This is the final studio song on the final studio album Built to Last.  This song really strikes a chord.  Jerry would often accompany the song with a French Horn sound.  I would have loved to have been at one of the shows where they played this.

If there is possibly one gripe about I Will Take You Home is that it's usual position in the set (coming out of Space) is also the spot where some pretty incredible other Grateful Dead tunes would make their way into the show (China Doll, The Wheel, and Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad come to mind).


I Will Take You Home Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 8.4

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(read my blog manifesto to understand my Grateful Dead background a little more).

Thanks Taste4Phree for posting this on youtube.

Foolish Heart - Grateful Dead Song Review

Foolish Heart is in my top 5 Grateful Dead songs and I think it's the possibly the most underrated song in The Grateful Dead catalog.

Before Reading Further, You Must Listen to this Version:

This song was definitely hit and miss, and most versions are not great.  There's one version in particular from 9-18-1990 that you can hear here that is possibly my favorite live Grateful Dead recording ever.  The jam section in the middle of the song features such tight collective improvisation and the band is so "on" that it is truly a magical moment where "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts."

More about this version: Both Bruce Hornsby and Vince Welnick are playing together with the Dead at this point, and the Grateful Dead is less than a month into their new lineup (after the death of Brent Mydland in March July of 1990 - thanks Ouish).  There is a sense of hope and rebirth in this version of Foolish Heart. But more than anything, Jerry is flawless on this version of the song and the entire band is firing on all cylinders.

Strangely, the "Jam" out of this version of the song is included on the So Many Roads Box Set.  And while the Jam is great... I can't imagine why the song itself is not included as well. 

My original exposure to this version was taping it off of the radio from David Gans's Grateful Dead Hour broadcast. What's amazing is how many years and hundreds of times I played the cassette and then still managed to convert it to CD in the digital age and it sounds louder and more crisp than all of my other .mp3s. This is pretty amazing considering I originally taped it off of the radio (not a recipe for high fidelity). I attribute this to a little GD magic but I'm sure that I converted it to digital with some weird settings that cranked up the audio (I converted it via a stereo system hooked up to a CD burner).

The Last Great Jam Masterpiece

I already called Days Between the "final masterpiece" and it came along several years after Foolish Heart, but I can definitely give Foolish Heart the title of the the final jam masterpiece - because of the built in jam section after Jerry sings "a selfish heart is trouble, but a foolish heart is worse!" The Dead would stretch out on songs all the time but only certain songs had a special section for a jamming build up (The Music Never Stopped, Cassidy, and Playing in the Band to name a few).  I can't think of a song that came along after Foolish Heart with this kind of built in improvisational section.  

As I alluded above, the jam in Foolish Heart was definitely hit and miss.  Most times the band was not really in sync and the very tight punches that end the jam ("duh duh, duh DUH!") required supreme coordination and was frequently butchered.  Still, this is the chance you take when you "step out" on a song and have your lead guitarist staring down at his instrument trying to explore new territory while everyone else has to guess when the climax is coming and react accordingly.  As you can hear in the version I posted at the beginning of this article, the rewards are worth the risk.

Words by Robert Hunter

I can see why this song was pegged for a radio single.  The lyrics are really succinct and "traditional." It is a very tidy little ditty that follows the same kind of ironic theme throughout and there's not a single syllable wasted.  The song functions as a warning that we all probably wish we could've heeded at one time in our life.  I think I've read Jerry quoted as saying something to the effect that he didn't really feel this was advice he truly would give from the heart because he'd rather someone recklessly pursue whims of romance and take chances.

Foolish Heart Video: Foolish Heart was released on the final studio album Built To Last which came out in 1989.  There was an "official" Grateful Dead video for Foolish Heart. I've posted it at the bottom of this article.  The Foolish Heart video is pretty cool for a novelty but you'll probably enjoy watching one of the many live versions more (many are available on youtube).

Foolish Heart Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 9.8

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.

Built to Last - Grateful Dead Song Review

This is a pretty underrated Dead song as far as I'm concerned. It is not one I can ever remember anyone telling me they really liked, but I think it is a good song.

Some good things about Built to Last:

• It has a catchy melody and is built upon a good strong guitar riff
  
• It is a Jerry song
  
• It has Robert Hunter Lyrics (with prerequisite trippy lyrics references like got a cloud held by the breeze)
• The chorus lyrics evolve throughout the song
  
• Jerry's solos from everything on In the Dark and Built to Last were very lyrical and great
  
• It's a short and sweet first set song (usually)
  

Built to Last does have a kind of weak bridge (very predictable) and I don't like the last chord of the chorus. The second verse has some lyrics I don't like that much.

I like to hear this song because it is such a rarity (only played about 20 times from 1988 to 1990). I would generally prefer to hear this song over a first set tune like Ramble on Rose or even Tennessee Jed because it is succinct and rarer. However back in the 90s when I was seeing the Dead and actually at a show I probably would've preferred the more popular and common tracks from Europe '72.

Built to Last Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 7.4

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).

Blow Away - Grateful Dead Song Review

I admit that I just had to go to youtube.com to hear Blow Away because in my mind I was thinking... "Wait, which Brent song is that again" (all I was able to locate was a studio version from Built to Last).

I love Brent Mydland playing with the Dead. In fact, I love all the Dead's keyboardists. I think Jerry had a great relationship with Brent and you can clearly see them enjoying playing off of each other a lot in the DVDs that I've bought (like the Alpine Valley show). I wonder if Jerry's affinity for Brent helped Brent get a lot of his material on Grateful Dead albums? Some of Brent's songs don't really sound like Dead songs to me, and this is one of them. It's not bad at all, it just sounds like something that Michael McDonald or Starship would play.

Built to Last is a little bit overproduced and the studio version of Blow Away has a "Top 40" background chorus. Jerry's guitar leads sound good on this track. This song get's credit for being an original song (as opposed to a blues song). I am going to seek out a couple of live versions of Blow Away and may change my opinion after hearing them but I'd say this is for the most part just an "okay" song.

Blow Away Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 6.4

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).