Grateful Dead Music Forum

True, the Grateful Dead were know for long jams and long songs, but I wonder: What was the longest single jam that they did. How long did it last? what song(s)? and when did they do it. Seems it to mee it must have been back in the three set days of the 70's but can not tell from set list. Any ideas out there?

its gotta be a dark star, i think there was one that was 45 min long, but i forget where it was from

5-21-74

Playin in the band clocks at 46:26

thats the longest song in my entire archive

wow i definately would've expected a dark star

5/6/81

Saint of Circumstance 42:48

Not quite 46:26 but its up there

what about the early days (im thinking 60s) when their catalog was small so they relied on jams? i think phil said something about it in SFTS, but i dont remember

5/6/81

Saint of Circumstance 42:48

Not quite 46:26 but its up there

your referring to dicks picks 13, which if you listen to the whole song their is a long pause after saint and theirs a bonus scarlet>fire, thats why it says its so long.

haha sorry my bad

i remember when i bought it i was like WTF 40 some minute long jam of saint, i gotta hear it!! then saint just ended and i fast forwarded and started hearing scarlet. The scarlet>fire is very good so it was a nice suprise

i have a dark star thats pretty long, but nothing like forty two minutes, what show is it from?

"There is spirited debate over which performance of "Dark Star" ran the longest. Although May 11, 1972’s version is often credited as lasting 47:12, this timing includes a drum solo lasting 4:03. The “Dark Star” from August 28, 1969 has been cited as lasting 63:51, although this timing includes a 9:49 jam on the theme of another GD song called "The Eleven". Purists point out that this performance was not by the Grateful Dead, but “Mickey and the Hartbeats”, the name adopted for shows the band members played in 1968 and 1969 without Weir or McKernan. It is agreed that the band’s longest uninterrupted performance of the song took place on December 6, 1973. Lasting 43:27, this rendition goes on for eighteen seconds longer than the combined times of the “Dark Star” segments played on 5-11-72"


got this from wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Star_%28song%29

Longest jam? Seems like a question of semantics to me.

Taken as a whole, the 5/11/72 Dark Star would be my pick. The drums are as much a part of the Dark Star as the rest of the playing... or should we discount times when other band members are sitting out for a few minutes (and it happens).

I've always considered the jams out of Drumz - like into the Other One or Wheel to be an intro part of the song. Or, for example, in NFA... does the song begin with that opening E>A riff, or is it established with the laying down of the beat?

It's all a question of the way on in or the way back out...

"During the lull, a voice yelled from the audience: 'Hey Jerry, how about something new?' Jerry and i looked at each other, and i turned to Billy and whispered 'Alligator! One, two, three...,' and we kicked into the new tune at full tilt. Forty-five minutes later, as we slowly let the feedback fade down, Jerry stepped to the mike and said, 'That's all we got that's new for now, but we'll be back for more."

this was that section of SFTS i was thinking of. seemed like a pretty cool moment. anyone know which show this was and the actual time?

I'd say from the mid sixties to '95 would about sum it up. However sometimes I do still hear it on the breeze...

The Music Never Stopped......