Dave’s Picks Volume 48 is a marked departure from the customary entries in the Grateful Dead archive series. Granted the three-CD set does, as usual, contain the complete show referenced in its main title (about which basketball hero and avowed Deadhead Bill Walton rhapsodizes in his lengthy essay in the enclosed sixteen-page booklet). And there is some ‘filler,’ too, as is often the case, but instead of a short segment at least somewhat chronologically contiguous with the main content, in this case, it’s a seventy-minute plus excerpt from a concert roughly a year prior.
The latter not only takes up the entire playing time of the entire third disc of this set, it also posits a Grateful Dead in marked contrast to the one depicted on the other two CDs. Loosely connected, perhaps even just tenuously so, by their inherent chemistry as musicians, plus their familiarity with the material, the sextet’s performance revolves around Ron McKernan, aka ‘Pigpen,’ on a slew of cover material tailor-made for his vocals, harp, and keyboard work.
Ranging from the Motown cull “Dancing In the Street,” to the Rascals’ “Good Lovin,” then on to “Turn On Your Lovelight,” a tour-de-force of the beloved (and now deceased) co-founder of the group, this is the Dead posited primarily as a dance band: in a 10/24/70 appearance at Kiel Auditorium in St . Louis, there are some vestiges of psychedelia here in the form of loose jams and multiple drum breaks leading to “St Stephen.” But that number segues into “Not Fade Away,” which itself sandwiches “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad” in the home stretch.
These latter two items are themselves a link to the dominant portion of Dave’s Volume 48. But what was introduced on record as a rousing closer on the live album Grateful Dead (aka Skull and Roses aka Skullfuck) appears in much more pristine sound than the ramshackle likes of its counterpart from a year prior; in fact, the immediacy of the audio quality on the later California recording by Rex Jackson mirrors the economy and precision of the musicianship including that of keyboardist Keith Godchaux.
Having joined the Grateful Dead roughly a month prior, the latter’s presence seems to have markedly energized the other members of the group. In fact, the brisk, invigorating likes of the opener “Bertha” continues virtually unabated for the twenty-three selections and two hours plus: for instance, has there ever been a more concise (or shorter) rendition of “Playing in the Band?” And the “Casey Jones” that follows is just shy of sixty seconds shorter than the former’s 7:05 duration, evidence of how the group was, at this point, still putting some premium on their vocals (including Phil’s!).
Thus, it only stands to reason that the set closer of “One More Saturday Night” runs less than five minutes. The Grateful Dead at work in the collegiate arena is one of concentrated purpose and as such it sets up a distinct contrast with the more spontaneous ensemble featuring a hale and hearty Pigpen.
The psychedelic warriors’ resident blues man would take ill in the next twelve months following this trip. Those circumstances were coincidental with the addition of Godchaux (and eventually his spouse, vocalist Donna Jean, plus the transformation of the Grateful Dead via the folk-country material of Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty. The attendant increase in self-discipline during those studio efforts was subsequently applied to their live presentation as documented in the first two-thirds of this set.
It’s no criticism of the intent behind Pauley Pavilion, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (11/20/71) to note the deliberate balance of its importance with the ‘extras’ that accompany it. As a lesson in Grateful Dead history, as well as a homage to the now-deceased focal point of the group in its early to middle stages, Dave’s Picks Volume 48 is unlike any other entry in the now almost fifty editions released since the inception of the vault initiative a little over a decade ago.
