The shows from ’82 and ’83 are worth mentioning as well, as the band was road testing numerous tunes that would end up on their anomalous crossover success In the Dark. Mydland feels like one of the Grateful Dead’s strongest keyboardists and vocalists, and he most assuredly reinvigorates this material he also reimagines it, augmenting the bluesy organ with some early digital synthesizer, giving the slightest yacht rock flavor to their usual cosmic Americana. These six shows are also of some historical interest, most notably for the recent addition of keyboardist Brent Mydland, who injected new life into staples like “The Wheel” and “Truckin.’’
INTRODUCTION TO THE GRATEFUL DEAD FULL
More than any other group, the Dead deserve the title of “the most essential cosmic Americana band.” Their unique blend of blues, folk, country and head music is like wandering some back country dirt road with a head full of visions. Removing the hiss and scuzz which so often accompanies a Grateful Dead bootleg allows you to take in all of the details and acknowledge the Dead as true masters of their craft, as singular as it is – as seasoned, skilled improvisors and instrumentalists and purveyors of a unique mixture of the blues, folk, country and western, rock and roll and far-out deep space ambient. You’ve never heard Jerry’s guitar so dazzling, Phil Lesh’s bass so thick and syrupy, Brent Mydland’s keys so smokey and synthy. These recordings are worth hearing for hardcore Dead scholars too, though, as each has been remastered and polished to almost startling perfection. If you’ve ever been looking for a gateway into the sprawling, convoluted world of Grateful Dead live recordings, In and Out of the Garden will make you a convert. This cross-section features an impressive array of live staples: The bluesy sway of “China Cat Sunflower” into “I Know You Rider” (3/9/81) the ritualistic thump of “Drums” into “Space” sometimes segueing into the cosmic prog of “The Wheel” (3/10/81) or the sunshiny “Scarlet Begonias” turning shadowy and mysterious as it imperceptibly morphs into “Fire on the Mountain” (3/10/81). These shows are notable for a number of stellar performances and for being fairly representative Dead shows. The six concerts collected for the box set are:
In and Out of the Garden: Madison Square Garden ’81 ’82 ’83 features two shows from each year. Their reputations are more than warranted, for the merely curious to the dedicated devotee alike, as these six concerts are a microcosm of so many things that make The Grateful Dead one of the most important – and best – American bands of all time.
The Madison Square Garden shows from the early ’80s are held in particularly high regard by discerning Deadheads – six of which are seeing official release for the first time on In and Out of the Garden. Although the band didn’t first play there until 1979, it would become their homebase on the East Coast, the site of a grand total of 52 shows before their dissolution in 1995 following the death of Jerry Garcia. The Grateful Dead’s appearances at Madison Square Garden over their 30-year run is the stuff of much lore. Where does one start with a band whose back catalog and influence are so dauntingly massive as to be incomprehensible? How do you learn to navigate the endless world of studio albums, official live releases, bootlegs when there’s such a dense thicket of scholarship, lore and fanatical fan appreciation? What makes one Grateful Dead performance noteworthy over another, in this case worthy of the lavish, deluxe 17-CD boxed set, In and Out of the Garden: Madison Square Garden ’81 ’82 ’83?
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