Best Dark Star

[nicolasalk]

Which ones are the best for you??

[Shooster]

They're all good for you


Personally, my all time favorite is off of Two From the Vault.

[BlobWeird]

My favorite to jam to is Closing of Winterland 78. Mainly because it stays on the beat more and doesnt get all crazy so I can handle it. umm Rockin the Rhein has a NASTY good one that is Dark Star>M&MU>Dark Star and wooow is it awesome. Umm there is one on DP 2 10-31-71 that is Dark Star>E to D Jam. That one is also fun as hell to play. That jam they go into is soo mellow and groovin. Jazzy too. Very nice. Live Dead has a great one too startin out in a D dorian jam. But really I have yet to hear a bad Dark Star.

[Shooster]

But really I have yet to hear a bad Dark Star.

I thought some of the reprises in their later career really couldn't do the tune justice.

[tigerstrat]

I'll just throw a few particularly great ones out there, taking care to avoid really well-known ones, like 2/27/69, 8/27/72, 4/8/72, 11/11/73, 2/15/73, 2/13/70...

7/18/72
6/24/73
12/06/73
1/02/70
7/26/72
2/15/69
2/21/69
11/13/72
5/15/70
9/19/70
1/17/70

the best later ones, imho:
10/26/89 glorious and terrifying...
12/31/90 the only Marsalis sit-in that I really like.
10/31/91, the Uncle Bill DS w/Gary Duncan & Ken Kesey

[amyjared]

12/31/90 the only Marsalis sit-in that I really like.

I was going to include this one, but ts, I'm curious about the statement? Pourquoi?? I LOVED Branford sitting in, thought the boys should have offered him a spot as everytime he played, he added that horn sound which I love, (as opposed to Jer's midi horn sound, which I couldn't handle) and pushed Jerry's playing. What's yer take?

[tigerstrat]

12/31/90 the only Marsalis sit-in that I really like.

I was going to include this one, but ts, I'm curious about the statement? Pourquoi?? I LOVED Branford sitting in, thought the boys should have offered him a spot as everytime he played, he added that horn sound which I love, (as opposed to Jer's midi horn sound, which I couldn't handle) and pushed Jerry's playing. What's yer take?

Don't know what to say other than 3/29/90 doesn't do much for me/is overrated imho. I'm not a huge fan of guest appearances in general, other than the novelty of it.

I really love sax in the context of JGB or Legion, but to my ear, it... brings a certain unwelcome sterility and stiffness to Grateful Dead music. The Kenny G Effect for lack of a less insulting term.

[BlobWeird]

Id have to say I really dont like any sit-ins either. Like at all. Even in JGB. Well mainly not in JGB because all the shows I have with horns sitting in, the horns drowns everything else out. But still Im not a fan of it. I like the straight-up core band.

[amyjared]

I'm not always a fan of the sit-in, but sometimes it's incredible. I didn't think Clarence Clemens was great sitting in, for example. The thing about Branford was that he is a great musician and when he played with the boys, they did more of the songs I enjoyed, more of the jazzy stuff and tho the first time wasn't the best, each time seemed to get better. I really liked a horn in with the music, I thought it added a nice element that was often missing in the latter years of the Dead when they seemed to be on cruise, if you know what I mean. Just my opinion. And with the Dead, there's not much room for anyone else, except horns.

[caspersvapors]

Ive always wondered why the 8/27/72 Dark Star is so worshipped, for my money the one on Rockin the Rhein kicks the shit out of Vaneta.

[chinacat503]

my favorite Dark Star so far is 9-21-72 (DP36) which drops into a solid Dew also....I haven't heard probably half of them though....also the Dark Star reprise of Dark Star > Wharf Rat > Dark Star* from 2-18-71 is very unique and incredible. 11-08-69 (DP 16) Dark Star> Other One > Dark Star > UJB Jam* > Dark Star*>.... is another favorite.

[GratefulFloyd]

ah yes, i love getting Dark Star'd, does the body good. anyway, i'm studying away here for some finals and a real good dark star just finished. i reccommend the Dark Star from 4-21-69. not one of my alltime favorites, but its real good, and Phil Lesh is a madman, my whole room is shaking. as far as my favorites go, in no particular order. . .

Live Dead (it just has to be here, thats a rule)

2-18-71
8-27-72
9-11-73 (phil lesh solo for the last few minutes, into a Morning Dew, i drooled a little the first time i heard it )
11-11-73 *IMO, this is a standout without question
9-19-70
and I like the Dark Star from the Fillmore West 69 set.

well this was a good distraction, but i've got to get back to comparing governments and notecard related things.

[caspersvapors]

also 9/19/70 is an EPIC Dark Star

they played it the day after Hendrix died


DP2 -10/31/71 is real sweet with a tighten up jam

2/18/71 is mandatory

[abstractstar]

Some great suggestions here, but I have to add my all-time favorite (so far, at least):

4/8/72 - released on "Steppin' Out With The Grateful Dead"

This version is such a masterpiece! It's about 30 minutes, and explores a whole lot of territories. In the beginning everything is nice and melodic, and they build up some tension before the release of the first verse somewhere around 10 minutes into it. Then, not long after the first verse, everything collapses into a dark, moody, emotional, chaotic space - but as they play on they all struggle to get out of this and while they do so they try many alternatives, until, in the end (about 26-27 minutes into the song) (they skip the second verse as there's obviously more important things to do), they just build it all up to a huge wall of tension and sound - and out of this chaos comes Garcia like a golden Phoenix, reborn out of the chaos, and starts playing the simplest, yet most beutiful melody I've ever heard! The rest of the band jumps onto their savior and joins him immediately in this joyful hymn-like song which sparkles with life and joy and happiness! This goes on for a minute or so, and then they move into a Mind Left Body-ish jam, and if you listen carefully, you can hear/feel "Sugar Magnolia" lurking in the background there. Then, all of a sudden, she (sugar magnolia) comes sliding in like a red hot knife through butter, as if to continue celebrating the new-found happiness.

All in all the interplay on this version is really great - each member obviously listens carefully to all the others, and takes the lead or follows the leader, depending on what's going on - and the musical themes explored are a times amazing.

I listened to this one on my way to school today, and thought about writing something about it, and then I found this here thread now...

I think there's a SBD on gdlive.com if you don't have Steppin' Out. Give it a listen, you won't regret.

[abstractstar]

and let's not forget the super-introspective Dark Star from 2/24/74 --

a friend of mine once wrote about this one:

"this "dark star" is not like ANY OTHER. i promise. it is the saddest, deepest, most introvert piece of music i know. it took me three years to understand it. now i can sing every note of it. and that following "morning dew" is so quietly intense. dead at their best -
or rather - at my most favourite!"

a beauty, indeed.