1993 might not (definitely was not) the best year to see the Grateful Dead.  Health issues plagued the band, and Bobby’s songwriting skills were not peaking, either.  What makes this show so cool, though, is the widely varied setlist.  There’s the last Casey Jones ever played, and in set one no less, a rare recording of Broken Arrow, and then old favorites like Eyes, Corinna, and Cassidy.

So, without further ado, The Dead, March 27, 1993, 3/27/93, Albany, N.Y.  Enjoy.
SET 1:
01.  Hell In A Bucket
02.  Bertha
03.  Same Thing
04.  Peggy-O
05.  Queen Jane Approximately
06.  Broken Arrow
07.  Loose Lucy
08.  Cassidy
09.  Casey Jones (last time played . . . Ever!)

SET 2:
01.  Eyes Of The World
02.  Estimated Prophet
03.  Comes A Time
04.  Corinna
05/6.  Drumspace
07.  The Wheel
08.  All Along The Watchtower
09.  Days Between
10.  One More Saturday Night

ENCORE:
I Fought The Law

ZIP FILE

Keep Your Powder Dry is the new EP from New York’s country-rockers The Izzys.  The EP is structured a little methodically: upbeat-downbeat-upbeat-downbeat-big closer, and the downbeat numbers are good—but not good enough.  The second song, “Under the Sun,” sounds vaguely like the Beatles—but it’s a little too slow, and definitely the weakest track here.  But it’s still eminently listenable.  Best of all, it’s followed by the ass-kicking Neil Young-like guitar crunch of “You Are Free,” an instant country rock classic that’s well worth the price of the entire EP.  But the structure speaks volumes: The band has made a studio EP, and one gets the sense listening that they really want to spread their wings.  What makes “You Are Free” and the band’s cover of The Grateful Dead’s “Deal” so good are the extended jams and the more experimental vocals.  This is the rare example of a band that needs less song structure, not more.

And don’t let the “country rock” moniker fool you.  Yes, they’ve got the honky tonk swing and twang, but enough rock and roll to keep fans of old Stones and Skynyrd coming back for more.  I can’t help but think that they must be great live.

Tear ‘Em On Down

BONUS GRATEFUL DEAD COVERS!

In honor of the great cover of “Deal” on the above-reviewed Izzys’ EP . . .

Cold Rain & Snow-Oenida

New Speedway Boogie-Catherine Russell

Franklin’s Tower-Ryan Adams

Scarlet Begonias/Ring The Alarm (Grateful Dead/Fushnickers)-Sublime

ZIP FILE WITH ALL THESE GREAT TUNES!

1.  Go here for a good Dolly Varden show, in which she covers Hot Chocolate’s “You Sexy Thing.” Great song.

2.  Looks like the Archive has got downloadable Dead shows again.  Dunno when that happened.  But here’s one from 1980 that looks pretty good.  Any 1980 Althea is worth checkin’ out, anyway.

3.  Cover Me has a good collection of songs with the word “Radio” in them.  It’s a random reason for a post, but he’s got Jesse Malin covering the Ramones, and covers of Springsteen and Costello, to name a few.

4.  Everybody Cares was always a good blog.  They said they were back in August, but where the fuck are they.  Go harass them, here.

5.  Now this is my kinda padded room.  Lock me up!

6.  The Spinto Band’s debut was one of my favorite indie albums this decade.  Here, they cover ELO (direct link).

Susannah “The Bangles” Hoffs and Matthew “Girlfriend” Sweet teamed up for the first time in 2006, releasing what may be best described as a low-key powerpop album of covers, “Under the Covers Vol. 1,” with killer versions of classic rock (The Beatles’ “And Your Bird Can Sing,” Dylan’s “Baby Blue,” and Neil Young’s “Cinnammon Girl,” e.g.) and some more eclectic choices like “Different Drum,” “Run to Me,” and “Sunday Morning.” Volume 2 attempts the same magic, with a balance of classic rock covers (“Bell Bottom Blues” is a particular standout), and some more ambitious selections as well. In some ways, the album reaches a little too far. “Seen All Good People/Give Peace a Chance” is an eight-minute epic that starts out interesting but just goes on too long. If you’re going to make a light, folkpop album, don’t do extended songs. On the other hand, the duo’s willingness to approach the offbeat and ordinary with equal enthusiasm produces the albums greatest successes. “You’re So Vain” and “Hello, It’s Me,” hew close to the originals, but veer off with just enough fun and spirit that they actually improve upon them. I’d tell you that their cover of “Sugar Magnolia” is also a step above the original, but The Grateful Dead have never been known for their studio efforts, so it might seem like damning with faint praise. But it shouldn’t. Hoff’s charm and Sweet’s skillful arrangement make the song as happy-go-lucky as its supposed to be–a love song for summer.

This second time around isn’t as consistently great as the first one, but there’s enough greatness here to make this the album that should be slamming from the deck while you’re driving on the sand this summer.

Bell Bottom Blues

BONUS DUET

Scarlet Begonias-The Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin. (Because the Dead are basically one dude with several bodies.)

Set One was yesterday. Set two is today. Dig it, but don’t bogart. Tell all your High School buddies to come discover the band that was doing the best jams before they were born.

Second Set
7. Bertha>
8. Good Lovin’
9. Dire Wolf
10. Estimated Prophet>
12. Eyes Of The World>
13. Drums>
14. Not Fade Away> (Buddy Holly Cover)
15. Wharf Rat>
16. Around And Around
ENCORE
U.S. Blues

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A great set of sets from the greatest year in the three-decade-spanning career of a band that changed the face of music. I don’t have the entire show, but here’s what I got, from a Betty Cantor Board. Set One right now, set two to come.

First Set

1. Tennessee Jed
2. Passenger
3. Peggy-O
4. Me And My Uncle
5. Friend Of The Devil
6. The Music Never Stopped

zip file!

1.  Passion of the Weiss has a collection of radio freestyles from the Mike Love show, featuring the likes of Shyne, Big Boi, Loon, Big Pun and Fat Joe, and many others.

2.  I’m giving some attention to Rock God Cred ’cause they give me so many shouts.  Thanks, guys!  Great place to go to find cool posts.  It’s kind of an aggregator, only with the human touch.

3.  Cap’n Obvious has his May collection up, featuring Iron and Wine, Magnolia Electric Co., Wilco with Feist, Handsome Furs, and more.

4.  Glide Magazine has some cool top 10 Lists, like the Top 10 Grateful Dead Dark Stars and The 10 Best Songs About Monkeys. Great ide, but they missed Jonathan Coulton’s “My Monkey,” the singular best song about a monkey of all time.

To me, the Dead never got better than their 1976-77 period, where we had Cornell, the first Terrapin Station shows, and some phenomenal Eyes jams. But a close second for me is their early 1970s period, including some ‘96 shows. Like this one. From April 5, 1969, at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, CA, where they played so many of their best psychedelic shows, this is cut from a soundboard.

Set One:
Dupree’s Diamond Blues ->Mountains Of The Moon ->Dark Star ->St. Stephen ->The Eleven ->Turn On Your Lovelight

Set Two:
Hard To Handle ->Cosmic Charlie, China Cat Sunflower ->Doin’ That Rag, Cryptical Envelopment ->Drums->The Other One ->Weather Report Suite Tease->Cryptical Envelopment ->The Eleven ->It’s A Sin, Alligator ->More Drums ->Feedback ->

Encore:
And We Bid You Good Night

DUDE, LIKE, UNZIP IT MAN

Apparently, Birdsong and Bertha were missing from the zip file. So here they are.
Birdsong (YSI)
Bertha (YSI)

Time for some Dead!

03/03/87-Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, Oakland, CA. From soundboard.

Set 1
01 The Mighty Quinn (Bob Dylan cover)
02 Greatest Story Ever Told
03 Loser
04 New Minglewood Blues
05 Tons Of Steel
06 Cassidy
07 Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo >
08 Promised Land
Set 2
09 Iko Iko w/The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
10 Saint Of Circumstance
11 Terrapin Station
12 Drums >
13 Space >
14 Gimme Some Lovin’ >
15 Wharf Rat >
16 Throwing Stones >
17 Touch Of Gray
Encore
18 Brokedown Palace

ZIP (LINK FIXED!)