Hidden Track

Southern rockers Widespread Panic kicked off their brief spring tour in Orlando last night with a powerful opening sequence of Flicker > Chilly Water > Henry Parsons Died > Green

A friend of mine recently pointed out to me that we have never selected a Grateful Dead song for an edition of Cover Wars. I was somewhat aware of this, but he’s right – it’s time we do one. Now, I wanted to select a Dead song that hasn’t been covered by hundreds of artists, like Scarlet Begonias, St. Stephen or Franklin’s Tower. So, I poked around and found that there was a relatively small pool of artists that had played Dupree’s Diamond Blues, a track off of The Dead’s stellar 1969 release Aoxomoxoa.

If you don’t know about The Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics, you should. Here is a small excerpt from the entry for Dupree’s.

The text of the song is a re-working of a song, “Betty and Dupree,” with many incarnations in American folk tradition. It was based upon a true incident:

“The biography of the man and his crimes may be summarized as follows: Frank Dupree grew up in Abbeville, South Carolina. He came on the scene in December 1921 in Atlanta, Georgia, where he had a gal Betty. In trying to appropriate a diamond for her in a jewelry store he shot a policeman down. Fleeing to Memphis and later to Chicago, where he was cornered, he killed a policeman and wounded several more. He was caught while getting his mail and sent to Atlanta for trial. He was executed for murder on September 1, 1922.” (Roberts: In the Pine.)

The Contestants:

Dark Star Orchestra: Though I decided not to include the likes of Ratdog or Phil Lesh & Friends as viable contenders in this Cover Wars, I thought it was OK to include the Dark Star Orchestra. Yes, people do tape these shows. This is a great recording from last year’s Gathering Of The Vibes where DSO performed The Dead’s 11-6-1977 in its entirety. Source: 7-31-2008

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/Dark%20Star%20Orchestra%20-%20Dupree%27s%20Diamond%20Blues%20(2008-07-31).mp3
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READ ON after the jump to vote and hear more of this week’s contestants…

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G9WEQE-fwo Allman Brothers Band w/ Chuck Leavell – Jessica (Live 3/28/09) Filmed by LazyLightning66

When the now-famous picture of Olympic Champion Michael Phelps taking a Roor was published on News Of The World, a number of sites took the opportunity to link the swimmer

With The Dead having played their tour opener last night, and by all accounts hitting some serious high notes alongside the rough spots, I thought it might be fun to

HT contributor Mike Sherry alerted us that the concert schedule for The Mountain Winery, high above the Silicon Valley, has been released and of particular note is a listing for

We’d like to welcome journalist John Coleman to Hidden Track for a report on a very special night for Umphrey’s McGee and two of their fans…

It wasn’t Fan Appreciation Night when Umphrey’s McGee played the Calvin Theatre in the quaint college town of Northampton, Massachusetts on April 8; but given that two of Umphrey’s biggest fans had their wishes granted and with fan favorites abound, one might get that impression.

[All photos by Sean Culligan]

As for the aforementioned fans: The first was Make-A-Wish recipient Derrick Meade. Meade, 18, was diagnosed with level-four lymphoma at age 17 but has been in remission for four months, according to a video interview with Meade posted on the band’s blog The Floor (which was posted here on Hidden Track earlier this week).

Meade said he rushed to get his Make-A-Wish paperwork in before his 18th birthday so the powers that be would allow him a day with his favorite band. His wish was granted.

READ ON for more from John on Umphrey’s at the Calvin…