Althea?

[edwardofhuncote]

Anybody got a favorite of it? I started messing with the tune lately, and listened to the studio cut for reference, but I liked the slower groove of this one from 5/16/80-

I guess it was still pretty fresh then... what are some other good takes?

[rv_bass]

I like these slower versions...

[rv_bass]

This is a good version too...Phil is creeping around and Weir is doing some cool stuff

[edwardofhuncote]

Thanks Rob, those are some nice, slinky pockets. I especially like the Oakland '79. I'll spin these up today. 

[edwardofhuncote]

Guess I'm asking because I don't know... when did the Dead start kicking this tune around? I hear some distinct differences between the studio tracking and different shows of "Althea". (more so than other tunes, it seems...)


I've got a pretty good handle on it now. Really fun tune. 

[StephenR]

Great tune! Always been a favorite. Link to info about first live performance...
https://liveforlivemusic.com/news/grateful-dead-debut-althea-lost-sailor-on-this-day-1979/

Most everything about the Dead’s music has been obsessively documented and is pretty easy to find ... just gotta poke around. If you search you can probably find a scholarly thesis about the tune, lots of “rabbit holes”.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Guess I'm asking because I don't know... when did the Dead start kicking this tune around? I hear some distinct differences between the studio tracking and different shows of "Althea". (more so than other tunes, it seems...)


I've got a pretty good handle on it now. Really fun tune. 

According to The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics, "Althea" was first performed Aug. 8, 1979, at Oakland Auditorium Arena; first set, between "El Paso" and "Lost Sailor".


Peter

[edwardofhuncote]

Interesting... the one Rob posted was from just a couple days before that, on 8/5/79.

I'm trying to talk the HGB guys into a newgrass take on the tune. I think we can do this one justice with some thought on arrangement. It might become the "featuring Greg, on bass" tune for next year. I'd been thinking about something to alternate with "Peggy-O"... this could be it.

[StephenR]

Greg, there were two volumes of bluegrass renditions of Dead tunes released in the early 2000s called Pickin' on the Dead. First song on VI is Althea. Good stuff with lots of ideas for the HGB guys.
https://www.cmhrecords.com/products/pickin-on-the-grateful-dead-volume-1

First performance of Althea was 8/4/79...

Grateful Dead
Oakland Auditorium Arena
Oakland, CA
Saturday August 4th, 1979

Source Info:
Master Soundboard Cassettes > Cassette > PCM > Dat (16-bit/44.1k)

Transfer Info:
Dat (Sony PCM-R500)> Apogee aes/ebu cable > Tascam DA-3000 (.wav 16-bit/44.1k)> Adobe Audition 3.01 > TLH flac16

Notes:
- Thanks to Tim Dalton for the source Dat
- Thanks to Charlie Miller for the transfer and coordinating this effort
- Thanks to Mark Severson for the Sony ECM 270 source which supplies the final 0:29 of "Samson & Delilah", as well as a 2:53 patch in "Playin' In The Band"
- "Althea" first time played
- "Lost Sailor" first time played
- Missing Jack Straw opener - the audience source is pretty rough for the first few tunes, so it wasn't used to patch "Jack Straw"
- Channels corrected
- Thanks to Joe B. Jones for verifying the pitch

Mastered by Scott Clugston
August 2018

Set One:
s1txx - Jack Straw (missing)
s1t01 - They Love Each Other
s1t02 - Mama Tried >
s1t03 - Mexicali Blues
s1t04 - Peggy O
s1t05 - New Minglewood Blues
s1t06 - Tennessee Jed
s1t07 - El Paso
s1t08 - Althea
s1t09 - Lost Sailor >
s1t10 - Deal

Set Two:
s2t01 - Tuning
s2t02 - Passenger
s2t03 - Friend Of The Devil
s2t04 - Samson & Delilah
s2t05 - Shakedown Street >
s2t06 - Playin' In The Band >
s2t07 - Drums >
s2t08 - Space >
s2t09 - Stella Blue >
s2t10 - Sugar Magnolia >
s2t11 - Encore Break
s2t12 - US Blues

[lbpesq]

Don’t know if it was August 4, 5, or 8.   But if it was in Oakland in 1979, I was there!

Bill, tgo

[rv_bass]

If you have a dobro player in your band, Brother Esau would be an awesome bluegrass/new grass tune to do

[edwardofhuncote]

See... I know the right place to ask these questions. 

Thanks Stephen, and yes, I've heard Gabe and Josh (our guitar-playing, singing, front-guys; Jerry and Bob, from a functional standpoint) reference those "Pickin' On" albums.

Yep, though he isn't a regular member of the band, Ernie joins us on resonator guitar on almost every gig anymore. It's kind of an emeritus status... though he's the first-call sub whenever someone is out, he's such a monster player that everyone loves having him along. So if the gig is close to home and pays enough to go around, Ernie is in, with a grin. We'll have to give "Brother Esau" a listen.

Thanks fellas. 

[cozmik_cowboy]

When I got the cassette version of In The Dark, I was baffled and confused as to why they'd have left "My Brother Esau" off the vinyl.

Peter

[StephenR]

I have two copies of the Touch of Grey/My Brother Esau vinyl single, one still sealed. "In the Dark" was the first Dead album that I did not buy a vinyl copy of. No idea why the tune wasn't on the CD release of "In the Dark", but the vinyl version of the LP may have been too long to include it and they wanted to keep the tracking consistent between the two products so it got left off the CD.   Esau is now included on the CD remaster that has bonus tracks.