12/30/69: the tea party, boston, MA.

this soundboard recording is a real gem, with a near perfect mix of instruments and voices. historically this is a watershed period for the dead, and as the decade closes out the structure and style of the band is shifting. these are the final days of the 7-man ensemble, with the departure of keyboardist tom constanten on the near horizon. in addition to the personnel changes, the sound and songs that would emerge in 1970 as workingman’s dead have begun to come into their own. on this tuesday evening in boston’s south end, the lads treat us to the full range of their repertoire. there are extended and exploratory ragas—dark star and the other one—juxtaposed with short country-flavored tunes; there are songs on the wax, such as uncle john’s band and cumberland blues, together with alligator and the eleven, numbers that would shortly be vacating the playlist.

the opening set features the first new speedway boogie available on tape, appearing just a few weeks after the tragic altamont speedway free concert. another song introduced within the previous month is black peter, which comes off quite nicely. the highlight of the set, however, is the cryptical suite. lesh’s bass pulls and steers the band and sets the pace throughout. the raw, yet coordinated ensemble performance is downright tasty.

the second set opens with two more tunes that are less than a month old—uncle john’s band and mason’s children. they both feel rough around the edges, although it is nice to hear the early chord progressions of uncle john’s, prior to it’s eventual rearrangement (with the G-B-C-D chords at the introduction and between verses). following a solid performance of china cat > know you rider, the band regroups very briefly, and then launches into 50 minutes of exploratory and visceral music, including an absolutely stellar version of dark star. this star is typical of late ’69 renditions: mellow and sweet, with TC’s organ right up in front of the mix. of course, there’s plenty of sonic play—long stretches of feedback and space—and the familiar riffs that make this tune so special. and then, after a tight spirited jam that has us sensing a transition into another motif, the tape is cut and we drop midstream into alligator. both the alligator and the eleven that follow are intense and played with vigor. although neither of these songs would be played more than a handful of times moving forward, there is no hint of boredom or inattentiveness in this performance. it’s what makes live dead so goddamned good.

https://archive.org/details/gd69-12-30.sbd.miller.28469.sbeok.shnf