Crossland, Chip. 1970. Hells Angels Presents The Grateful Dead. East Village Other v1, n1, pp. 10-11. Publication info from my copy uncertain.
I believe I got this from Joey Newlander. There was no publication information, but the reference, which comes from Deadlists, is probably correct.
Pretty hilarious write-up. My only real purpose is to make setlist notes, since Deadlists doesn't list much. A pantomime artist opened --Crossland is appropriately blown away by the surreal juxtaposition of a mime at a Hells Angels party--, followed by the New Riders, then the GD.
NRPS
unknown number of unidentified tunes
Mama Tried (w/ Bob Weir)
Cathy's Clown (w/ Bob Weir)
The Weight
Grateful Dead
three songs unknown to Crossland ("probably new")
Me and Bobby McGee
In the Midnight Hour
Not Fade Away
Casey Jones
unidentified ballad, Garcia vocal
Uncle John's Band
Deadlists evinces some uncertainty about the context in which Cathy's Clown was played ("Bobby sang Cathy's Clown at one point, perhaps with NRPS"), but it's perfectly clear from the Crossland review that this was the New Riders. The Weight is clearly identified as the last New Riders tune, though it's not clear if Bobby was involved.
Deadlists surmises that Bobby McGee "must have been the NRPS version", but this is belied by the context of the review. It's GD (by my reckoning using current Deadlists data, this would be only the second time the GD played it, though of course there could be undiscovered versions). Crossland misidentifies Pigpen as Phil Lesh in discussing Midnight Hour ... hard to imagine Philip wanting somepin' to drink and promising to cream on his lady!
The order of the rest of the songs is uncertain, though it does seem like UJB closed the show.
I was there it was $2.00 for general admission ticket. Great concert from what I can remember.
ReplyDelete$2, man!
DeleteRock: "The Anderson is a broken-down palace if ever there was one. It's beautiful inside but it's been closed for a while and has no power — it is pitch-dark inside. The Angels rent a huge generator and run the cables right smack down the middle of the aisle. The generator is so loud that it has to be set up outside on the street, but every time the door is opened this terrible thumpedy-thump just about obliterates the band. Noxious gas fumes blow in, too (somewhat masked by billowing clouds of marijuana smoke). Sandy has gotten hold of a couple of pounds of pot, and the girls have been rolling it up for days. He proceeds to pass the whole thing out into the audience. Pigpen peers out at the crumbling baroque decor of the Anderson through the smoke and fumes and says: 'If there was ever a Sistine Chapel in hell, this is it!'" (Scully 1996, 201).
ReplyDelete