Each successive release in the Grateful Dead Dave’s Picks series has generated its own level of expectation, but there’s been an increasing level of anticipation since a wealth of work from recordist extraordinaire Betty Cantor-Jackson has come to reside in the band’s archives (having taken quite a circuitous route).
As illustrated by the reproductions of newspaper clippings inside the triple digi-pak, there are layers of distinction to Volume 23 besides the source of the recording. This January 22, 1978 concert at McArthur Court of the University of Oregon occurred near founding Merry Prankster Ken Kesey’s Eugene home base of operations and it was during this performance Jerry Garcia quoted the theme of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Titillating but ultimately ephemeral as is that reference, it is representative of the element of surprise pervading this show. The aforementioned guitar passage distinguishes the latter portion of “Space,” but it’s more significant because the segue into a dramatic “St. Stephen.” Only a little less startling is the run Phil Lesh launches within “El Paso,” otherwise a set piece in the Grateful Dead repertoire in the subset known as ‘cowboy songs.’
That invariably rousing composition then morphs into the point of departure for “Not Fade Away,” the seamless nature of which only serves to ratchet up the intensity of this two-part closing comprised of Chuck Berry’s “Around and Around” and “U.S. Blues.” And that interval in turn typifies the collective surety with which the Grateful Dead play this show: for instance, rather than conjure up the dreamy, floating quality with which the group usually imbues “Row Jimmy,” the ensemble accents the tune’s reggae-derived rhythm with much greater emphasis. In doing so, the Dead render more distinct the pacing of the set as it proceeds into “The Music Never Stopped.”
All of which, of course, comes through with equal punch and depth on this recording of Betty Cantor-Jackson’s. “Samson and Delilah” isn’t the only track that tempts the listener to turn the volume up ever louder: hear the progression from “Drums” into “The Other One.” And “Terrapin Station” is hardly the sole selection where the inspiration flows either: an insistent undercurrent of purpose, the likes of which pervaded many a show of the previous year permeates the music on all three of these discs.
With additional official releases of this era, this period of Grateful Dead history elevates further in their canon of work. It’s a level of heightened regard imperceptibly but surely rising to the level of high esteem assigned to the early Seventies, a progression Jesse Jarnow suggests in his detailed essay in the enclosed booklet: the author of Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America makes numerous cogent points, reaffirming them only as necessary. It is an approach altogether similar to the musicianship of the band itself on this edition of Dave’s Picks.
