Dave’s Picks Volume 45: Paramount Theatre, Portland OR 10/1/77 & 10/2/77 (ALBUM REVIEW)

Dave’s Picks Volume 45 is that rarity among the entries in this ongoing Grateful Dead archive series, one in which the quality of the performance is (ultimately) superior to that of the recording. Of secondary but nonetheless crucial note, however, is the fact Paramount Theatre, Portland, Or – 10/1/77 & 10/2/77 reaffirms acclamation for the iconic band’s concerts during this period of its career.

The availability of fully mastered (by Jeffrey Norman) recordings (by Betty Cantor-Jackson) is certainly worthy of some celebration. But blasphemous as it may sound, for almost the duration of this three-and-a-half-plus hour of the two complete performances, the lead vocals are curiously buried way too deep, way too often. Especially in the later going, when any mismatch of levels might have been corrected, Bob Weir’s singing on “El Paso” sounds irritatingly far off.

And that’s not just in relation to the double drumming of Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart. The ‘Rhythm Devils’ first appears in the full flower of great sonic presence way back at the beginning, near the end of the very second number “They Love Each Other:” according to the ‘Extra Special Thanks’ notation in the enclosed sixteen-page booklet, audience recordings of the first two numbers were spliced in to render whole the two sequential concerts within the double-CD set. The audio contrast between the results of the two sources couldn’t be more distinct (and that’s no criticism of the duly accredited fan Bob Menke!).

As noted with some articulate insight by Ray Robertson in his essay within the aforementioned insert, this particular phase of Grateful Dead evolution saw the group applying more emphasis on extended segues of songs rather than free-form instrumental improvisation. It’s worth noting this marked shift in the approach to playing live came in the wake of the self-imposed hiatus of 1975, so up to a point, it is only natural the band would find a new and different approach or two.

Much has been made (and rightfully continues to be) of Cornell 5/8/77 as the absolute pinnacle of this modified approach. Yet through the first three discs of  Volume 45, even at an incendiary mid-point medley of “Estimate Prophet>”Eyes of the World”>”Dancing in the Streets,” the Dead don’t so much generate a cumulative momentum, but proffer peak after peak of largely sterling takes, including seven culls from Terrapin Station, the first Arista Records studio album released that prior July.

Phil Lesh’s “Passenger” and Donna Jean Godchaux’ “Sunrise” represent somewhat secondary evidence to that repeated effect. The former is a sturdy rocker, no more no less, while the latter borders on the lachrymose, mostly in the way its author almost but not quite oversings it (to her credit, she is generally restrained here overall). 

Accordingly,  the relative upshot of including these new songs is minimal, all the more so as they are interspersed with such a broad range of material. Novel fare such as the rare “Black Peter” turns up from 1970’s Workingman’s Dead and even “Dupree’s Diamond Blues,” a call from the group’s third studio LP, Aoxomoxoa, materializes on this second of two nights in Portland, Oregon’s Paramount Theatre, a venue seating less than three-thousand.

The impact of this same show at its end, however, puts this entire set into a perspective comparable to that of the Winterland Complete ’73 and ’77 box sets, released in 2008 and 2009 respectively. That is, the four sets of Volume 45 are best heard as a single progression that culminates with an approximately hour-long, uninterrupted string: the interweaving of “Playing In The Band,” “Drums,” “The Wheel,” “Truckin’,” “The Other One,” “Wharf Rat” and “Sugar Magnolia” is remarkable for its coherence and a faultless command of dynamics.

Because chief archivist Lemieux and his team are most discerning in how they pick and choose the content to release, there is always something distinctive about each installment of Dave’s Picks. And Paramount Theatre, Portland, Or – 10/1/77 & 10/2/77 is hardly an exception. In the end, if it’s not ‘exactly perfect” (as Weir used to say), Volume 45 nevertheless contains invaluable insight into the action of these psychedelic warriors, in the spirit of the moment, at this particular juncture of their evolution.

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