"Jack Straw, Laryngitis, and Serendipity: A Grateful Dead Journey"

Deadhead Cannabis Show

"Marijuana Dispensaries and Predictive Football: A Quirky Comparison"

Larry is excited about Michigan's win over Alabama and in tribute to their upcoming January 8th college football championship game against Washington he features a Grateful Dead concert from January 8th, 1978. He detail the song "Jack Straw" and its history, especially focusing on the singer distribution due to Jerry Garcia's laryngitis during the San Diego show.

The conversation veers into the significance of the songs "Lazy Lightning" and "Supplication" within the Grateful Dead's repertoire, reminiscing about experiencing these songs live. It briefly touches on personal events, birthdays, and music preferences.

The host humorously correlates the predicted football game winner to the number of Grateful Dead performances and marijuana dispensaries in Michigan and Washington. They discuss cannabis-related legislation and the market dynamics in these states, concluding with light-hearted references to personal travels and cannabis availability across regions.

Produced by PodConx

Grateful Dead

January 8, 1978

Golden Hall Community Concourse

San Diego, CA

Grateful Dead Live at Golden Hall, Community Concourse on 1978-01-08 : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive

Jerry has laryngitis so he did not sing

Donna filled in for him

INTRO: Jack Straw

Track #2

0:07 – 1:38

Not on any studio album. Featured on Europe ‘72

First time played: October 19, 1971, Minneapolis (Keith Godchaux’s first show)

Last played: July 8, 1995, Soldier Field, Chicago

Total times played = 476 (No. 11 on list of all time songs played)

SHOW No. 1: Lazy Lightning>Supplication

Track #8: 3:00 – end and then straight into

Track #9: 0:00 – 1:15

DAVID DODD: The pair of songs was recorded on the Kingfish album, with Bob Weir as a member of the band. Barlow notes that he wrote the song in Mill Valley in October 1975. The two tracks opened the album, which was released in March 1976.

The Grateful Dead first played the pair in concert on June 3, 1976, at the Paramount Theater in Portland, Oregon. That show also included the first performances of “Might As Well,” “Samson and Delilah,” and “The Wheel.” “Lazy Lightning” was always followed in concert by “Supplication,” and the final performance of the two songs took place on Halloween, 1984, at the Berkeley Community Theater.

“Supplication” was played by itself, according to DeadBase X, on one occasion subsequently, although it was also played as an instrumental jam more frequently over the years. The final “Supplication” was played 597 shows after the last “Lazy Lightning>Supplication,” on May 22, 1993 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. Interestingly, “Supplication” was played one other time separately from “Lazy Lightning,” on September 24, 1976, when it was sandwiched in the middle of a “Playing in the Band.”

a very strong case could be made that “Supplication” is no more a separate song from “Lazy Lightning” than “Sunshine Daydream” is from “Sugar Magnolia.” It’s a coda, carrying forward the same themes—only the form of the verse has changed.

Lazy Lightning – 111 total times played

Supplication – 123 total times played

SHOW No. 2: Estimated Prophet

Track #14

2:35 – 4:15

Weir/Barlow

Released on Terrapin Station released on July 27, 1977 (first studio album released by the band after it returned to live touring after its 1975 hiatus.

DAVID DODD: “Estimated Prophet” was first performed by the Grateful Dead on February 26, 1977, at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California. The Dead also premiered “Terrapin Station” at that show. They played it 390 times in the years that followed, with the longest time between performances being 15 shows—mostly it stayed at the every third or fourth show rank. Its final performance was on June 28, 1995, at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It appeared on Terrapin Station, released July 27, 1977.

Blair Jackson quotes Weir, discussing the song, in his biography of the band: “According to Weir, he and Barlow wrote the song from the perspective of a crazy, messianic zealot, a type which one invariably encounters in Deadhead crowds now and again. As Weir explains: ‘The basis of it is this guy I see at nearly every backstage door. There’s always some guy who’s taken a lot of dope and he’s really bug-eyed, and he’s having some kind of vision. He’s got a rave he’s got to deliver.’ “

This is one of those songs, and there are quite a number of them in the Dead’s repertoire, in which a not-entirely-sympathetic character is brought to life, and, in the course of being brought to life, is made more sympathetic. I’ve always thought this was a big strong suit of theire songs, whether in “Wharf Rat” or in “Jack Straw”; whether in “Candyman” or “Friend of the Devil.” Not only is it a recurring trope in the lyrics, but I think it is key to understanding the whole body of the songs, and perhaps literature generally.

SHOW No. 3: The Other One

Track # 16

13:30 – 15:07

The imagery conjured up by Bob Weir, in his portion of the suite, “That’s It for the Other One,” on Anthem of the Sun, is clearly and intentionally a psychedelic ode to the Pranksters and all that entailed. Whether the singer was “escapin’ through the lily fields,” or “tripping through the lily fields,” or “skipping through the lily fields” (all versions of the line sung by Weir at various points, according to several extremely careful listeners), the fact is that it was akin to Alice’s rabbit hole, because of where it led.

“The bus came by and I got on...that’s when it all began.”

That line captures so much, in so many different ways, in so few words, that it is a model of what poetry can do—over time, and in a wide variety of circumstances, the line takes on a wide spectrum of association and meaning.

The Dead, of course, were quite literally on THE bus, along with Cowboy Neal (see earlier blog entry on “Cassidy”) and Ken Kesey and Ken Babbs and Mountain Girl and many others whose names are legend among our tribe. What must that have been like? Surely, worthy of a song or two. And Weir came up with a couple of winners, between “The Other One” and “Cassidy.”

There is something wonderfully cartoonish about the scenes described in the lyrics. A “Spanish lady” hands the singer a rose, which then starts swirling around and explodes—kind of like Yosemite Sam left holding a lit firecracker, leaving a smoking crater of his mind. The police arrest him for having a smile on his face despite the bad weather—clearly, this kid is doing something illegal. Weir’s interview with David Gans (along with Phil Lesh) cited in The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics refers to a particular incident:

Gans: Now, I remember a version from a little bit earlier, maybe late in ’67, you had a different set of lyrics; the first verse is “the heat come ‘round and busted me”...and then there was a second verse that was about “the heat in the jail weren’t very smart,” or somethin’ like that...
Weir: Yeah, that was after my little...
Lesh: Water balloon episode?
Weir: I got him good. I was on the third floor of our place in the Haight-Ashbury. And there was this cop who was illegally searching a car belonging to a friend of ours, down on the street—the cops used to harass us every chance they got. They didn’t care for the hippies back then. And so I had a water balloon, and what was I gonna do with this water balloon? Come on.
Lesh: Just happened to have a water balloon, in his hand... Ladies and gentlemen...
Weir: And so I got him right square on the head, and...
Lesh: A prettier shot you never saw.
Weir: ...and he couldn’t tell where it was comin’ from, but then I had to go and go downstairs and walk across the street and just grin at him...and sorta rub it in a little bit.
Gans: Smilin’ on a cloudy day. I understand now.
Weir: And at that point, he decided to hell with due process of law, this kid’s goin’ to jail.

So, as to the debut. If we take Weir and Lesh at their word, that the first performance of the song as it now stands coincided with the night Neal Cassady died, in the early morning hours of February 4, 1968. And sure enough, there is a performance of “The Other One” on February 3, 1968, whose verses correspond to the verses as we all know them, for the first time, at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon. The song was a fixture in the repertoire from then on, performed at least 586 times that we know of. The only year in which it was not listed as being performed was 1975, the hiatus year.

Part of the suite of songs, That’s It For The Other One from Anthem of the Sun. Made up of four sections: "Cryptical Envelopment", "Quadlibet for Tenderfeet", "The Faster We Go, the Rounder We Get" (the part everyone knows as “the other one”), and "We Leave the Castle". Like other tracks on the album, is a combination of studio and live performances mixed together to create the final product.

appears that way on Anthem of the Sun, bracketed by Garcia’s “Cryptical Envelopment.” But it stands alone most of the time in performance—“Cryptical” was dropped completely from 1973 through 1984, reappeared for five performances in 1985 (the 20th anniversary period—it was broken out following a lapse of 791 shows at the June 16, 1985 Greek Theater show (I WAS THERE!!) in Berkeley), then disappeared again for the remainder of the band’s career

I. "Cryptical Envelopment" (Garcia)[edit]

"Cryptical Envelopment" is one of the few Grateful Dead songs with lyrics written by Garcia. It was performed from 1967 to 1971 (when it was then dropped), and brought back for a few performances in 1985. Post-Grateful Dead bands such as Dead & Company have returned to performing the song, sometimes as a standalone track separate from the rest of the suite.

II. "Quadlibet for Tenderfeet" (Garcia, Kreutzmann, Lesh, McKernan, Weir)[edit]

"Quadlibet for Tenderfeet" is a short jam section linking "Cryptical Envelopment" and "The Faster We Go, the Rounder We Get". Transitions between studio and live performances are very audible during this section.

III. "The Faster We Go, the Rounder We Get" (Kreutzmann, Weir)[edit]

One of the few Grateful Dead songs to have lyrics written by Weir, "The Faster We Go, the Rounder We Get" became one of the Dead's most-played songs (being performed a known 586 times[2]) and most popular vehicles for improvisation, with some performances reaching 30+ minutes in length. The song's lyrics reference the influence of the Merry Pranksters and in particular Neal Cassady.[2] Additionally, the line "the heat came 'round and busted me for smilin' on a cloudy day" refers to a time Weir was arrested for throwing a water balloon at a cop.[2] This section ends with a reprise of "Cryptical Envelopment".

IV. "We Leave the Castle" (Constanten)[edit]

The only Grateful Dead composition written by Tom Constanten, "We Leave the Castle" is an avant-garde piece featuring prepared piano and other studio trickery.[

While the "We Leave the Castle" portion of the song was never performed live by the band, the first three sections were all featured in concert to differing extents. "Cryptical Envelopment", written and sung by Jerry Garcia, was performed from 1967 to 1971, when it was then dropped aside from a select few performances in 1985. "The Faster We Go, the Rounder We Get", written by Bill Kreutzmann and Bob Weir and sung by Weir, became one of the band's most frequently performed songs in concert (usually denoted as simply "The Other One").

The Other one– performed 549 times

First played: Oct. 31, 1967 at Winterland, S.F.

Last played: July 8, 1995, Soldier Field, Chicago

That’s It For The Other One – performed 79 times

First played: October 22, 1967 at Winterland, S.F.

Last played:

Cryptical Envelopment – performed 73 times

First played: Oct. 21, 1967 at Winterland, S.F.

Last played: Sept. 3, 1985 – Starlight Theater, K.C.

SHOW No. 4: Truckin’

Track # 17

4:22 – 6:03

The lyrics were written under pressure, in the studio, during the recording of American Beauty (Nov. 1970) (released as a single backed by Ripple in Jan. 1971), with Hunter running back and forth with hastily-written verses that somehow, despite the fact that were purpose-written on the spot, seem to have some pretty good staying power. There are rumors that he originally wrote “Garlands of neon and flashing marquees out on Main Street” as an intentionally hard-to-sing line, just to enjoy watching Weir try to wrap his mouth around them, eventually relenting and substituting “arrows of neon,” just to make it possible to sing.

The music credit is shared by Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and Phil Lesh. Hunter gets the credit for the lyrics. And Hunter took the bare bones outline of some of the band’s adventures and misadventures and fleshed them out with memorable features, highlighting their trips around the country with specific references to places and occurrences. In the process, he came up with a chorus consisting of a couple of phrases that are now, eternally, in the cultural psyche: “Sometimes the light’s all shining on me / Other times I can barely see. Lately it occurs to me / What a long strange trip it’s been.”

At some point, Hunter was accused of using a cliché in that final phrase of the chorus. When something you make up becomes such a commonly-used turn of phrase that your own invention of it is accused of being cliché, that’s some measure of wordsmithing success, I would say.

Truckin’” was first performed on August 18, 1970, at the Fillmore West. The show opened with an acoustic set, and “Truckin’” was the first song. Other firsts that night included “Ripple,” “Brokedown Palace,” and “Operator.” The song was performed 532 times, placing it at number 8 in the list of most-played songs, with the final performance on July 6, 1995, at Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri.

OUTRO: Johnny B. Goode

Track #19

1:10 – 2:51

Johnny B. Goode" is a song by American musician Chuck Berry, written and sung by Berry in 1958. Released as a single in 1958, it peaked at number two on the Hot R&B Sides chart and number eight on its pre-Hot 100 chart.[1] The song remains a staple of early and later rock music.

"Johnny B. Goode" is considered one of the most recognizable songs in the history of popular music. Credited as "the first rock & roll hit about rock & roll stardom",[2] it has been covered by various other artists and has received several honors and accolades. These include being ranked 33rd on Rolling Stones's 2021 version[3] and 7th on the 2004 version of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time"[2][4] and included as one of the 27 songs on the Voyager Golden Record, a collection of music, images, and sounds designed to serve as a record of humanity.

Written by Berry in 1955, the song is about a semi-literate "country boy" from the New Orleans area, who plays a guitar "just like ringing a bell", and who might one day have his "name in lights".[5] Berry acknowledged that the song is partly autobiographical and that the original lyrics referred to Johnny as a "colored boy", but he changed it to "country boy" to ensure radio play.[6] As well as suggesting that the guitar player is good, the title hints at autobiographic elements, because Berry was born at 2520 Goode Avenue, in St. Louis.[5]

The song was initially inspired by Johnnie Johnson, the regular piano player in Berry's band,[7] but developed into a song mainly about Berry himself. Johnson played on many recordings by Berry, but for the Chess recording session Lafayette Leake played the piano, along with Willie Dixon on bass and Fred Below on drums.[5][8] The session was produced by Leonard and Phil Chess.[8] The guitarist Keith Richards later suggested that the song's chords are more typical of compositions written for piano than for guitar.[9]

The opening guitar riff of "Johnny B. Goode" borrows from the opening single-note solo on Louis Jordan's "Ain't That Just Like a Woman" (1946), played by guitarist Carl Hogan

A cover version is featured in the film Back to the Future (1985), when the lead character Marty McFly, played by actor Michael J. Fox, performs it at a high school dance.

Played 283 times, almost always as an encore or show closer (back in the days where there were no encores)

First played on Sept. 7, 1969 at Family Dog on the Great Highway, S.F.

Last played on April 5, 1995 at Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Coliseum in Birmingham, AL

.Produced by PodConx

Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-show

Larry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkin

Rob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-hunt

Jay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesberg

Sound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/

Recorded on Squadcast