6/14/69: monterey peninsula college, CA.

this is a very unusual and electric performance, and a must-have recording for any collection. everything the boys touch this evening is good, which tends to happen at a higher than average ratio when it comes to 1969 grateful dead. june 14th, 1969, exemplifies this in spades. the show both opens and closes with lovelight (the linked performance flip flops the sets, serving up the dark star first), the only time they would ever try this, and it really works. the second helping of the bobby bland r & b classic emerges from the depths of a primal dark star suite and, from the sound of the audience, the triumphant return of pig’s falsetto is very much welcomed. the dark star is a barn burner, beginning innocently, and then bursting into a manic pace. alongside constanten’s frantic keyboard runs and some absolutely lovely playing and screeching feedback from garcia and weir, lesh’s bass drives and pushes the arrangement and cadence of the tune into new territory. a few other highlights from the evening are a well-jammed st. stephen > the 11, a stellar me and my uncle that sneaks in after the lovelight intro with a crackling whirlwind of psychedelic power, a tasty version of doin’ that rag, and the short-lived ’69 staple, he was a friend of mine, which presents jerry in as fine vocal form as he’s been on guitar the entire night. recorded and produced by owsley stanley, this performance is well-worth a listen or three. https://archive.org/details/gd69-06-14.sbd.skinner.5182.sbeok.shnf