Greetings. Feb. is almost over which means that spring is just around the corner. I’ve got a full slate of shows coming up in the spring, including 3 Furthur shows, the York County Food Bank benefit, and Redwud’s debut at Kclinger’s. But now it’s time for a something else, mainly the idea that Feb 14, 1970 was one of the best days ever for live music.
What a bold statement from a guy with such a bold beard. Well, don’t worry, I’ve written a check that my brain can cash. This is also a great post because it also takes care of another entry in the award waiting series, My First 20 Tapes. The 3 performances I’ll be focusing on are by the Allman Brothers Band, The Dead and the Who.
The Dead were in the midst of a 3 night stand at the Fillmore East with Love and the Allman Brothers Band opening. Love was a band that came out of LA and made one amazing album, Changes. I’ve only read about said album and don’t have any live stuff so I’m not even gonna talk about them. The ABB had been slowly making a name for themselves but were still relatively unknown outside the South. Their seminal live album, Live At the Fillmore East, was still a year away. Using the blues as a jumping off point, the Allmans just attack the crowd with the opening of In Memory of Elizabeth Reed. While their sound isn’t as dense as it would be in a year, the only way to describe it is an assault. The Hoochie Coochie Man and Statesboro Blues deliver a one two punch. Whipping Post doesn’t have the bloat that would categorize it come 1971. Even the Mountain Jam, coming in a relatively short 30 minutes flows like a southern river snaking among the kudzu on a lazy summer afternoon. All of this is based on a recording, ABB, Live at the Fillmore East, Feb 70, which is out of print. Too bad because it shows an amazing band right before they broke big.
While the opening acts were good, nobody could touch what the Dead were throwing down. On Feb 11, the highlight of the show is a 45 minute run of Dark Star>Spanish Jam>Lovelight with members of the ABB sitting in. On the 13, it was Dark Star (30 min)>The Other One (including Cryptical, 30 min)>Lovelight (30 min). Wow 90 minutes of the Dead at the best at what they do. How on Earth could they top that??
2/14/70 Fillmore East, New York, NY
Electric-1: Casey Jones**, Mama Tried, Hard To Handle*
Acoustic: Monkey & Engineer, Dark Hollow*, All Around This World*, Wake Up Little Susie> Black Peter, Uncle John, Katie Mae
Electric-2: Dancin**, China Cat**> I Know You Rider**> High Time**, Dire Wolf**, Alligator**> Drums**> Me & My Uncle**> NFA**> Mason's Children**> Caution**> Feedback**> We Bid You Goodnight**
*appears on "Bear's Choice" **appears on "Dick's Picks Vol 4"11:30 show - first "Dark Hollow"- Bear's Choice shows - billing: GD; Allman Brothers Band; Love
For sake of sanity, I’m just going to talk about the late show on this date. There is still some debate as to whether or not the Dead played early and late shows on this run. As you can see, if you get Dick’s Picks Vol 4 (which also includes the best from 2/13) and Bear’s Choice, you’ll have most of the show. The acoustic portion of the show is fun and loose, clearly showing the band still has something left in the tank on the third night. But the meat of the show is when they plug back in.
The band is introduced by Zacherle, a local tv host of late night horror movies. Opening with a raging Dancing in the Streets, the boys kick things off right. The China Cat> Rider (still a new pairing at the time) flow into the gentle landing of High Time. The Pigpen classic Alligator opens and charges into Drums. Me and My Uncle jumps out of Drums followed by Not Fade Away exploding out of the ending jam. This goes into my favorite Dead tune of them all, Mason’s Children. As I said before, this show was one of my first 20, and my then barely enlightened teenage mind was just agog at this song. I found out later it was about the Dead’s and Ken Kesey’s relationship at the time. This leads to another Pig highlight, Caution. The chaos and fury had no where to go but into a Feedback collage and then a delicate Bid You Good Night to send the weary but delighted and blissed out Heads on their way into the New York night.
So while it’s obvious that the above was the best music being thrown down on the North American continent, across the Atlantic four hooligans where the former colonies were showing them how it’s done.
The Who. Leeds University, Leeds England, available on the official release Live at Leeds
Disc 1: Heaven and Hell, I Can’t Explain, Fortune Teller, Tattoo, Young Man Blues, Substitute, Happy Jack, I’m A Boy, A Quick One, Summertime Blues, Shakin’ All Over, My Generation, Magic Bus
Disc 2: Overture, It’s A Boy, 1921, Amazing Journey, Sparks, Eyesight to the Blind, Christmas, The Acid Queen, Pinball Wizard, Do You Think It’s Alright?, Fiddle About, Tommy Can You Hear Me?, There’s a Doctor, Go to the Mirror, Smash the Mirror, Miracle Cure, Sally Simpson, I’m Free, Tommy’s Holiday Camp, We’re Not Gonna Take It
This is when the Who were at their peak. It was just the 4 of them with no extra musicians. Please try to wipe away everything you know or think about the Who based on anything they have done since Keith Moon died in 1978. The Sound and The Fury that these four would unleash is almost terrifying. When I first heard this as a 16 year old, I thought it was the purest definition of rock and roll outside of Chuck Berry I’d ever heard.
The first disc is almost like a greatest hits album. Young Man Blues stretches out what the blues can be, as filtered through the Mods of England. A Quick One is a mini opera and Summertime Blues is like a sledgehammer to your skull. The highlight of the first disc is the 18 minute My Generation. After the verses, the song veers off into Sparks and We’re Not Gonna Take it (I have no idea why they would do part of Tommy that they would repeat it later in the set but it works, almost better than the whole Tommy opera itself.)
The second set is their performance of Tommy in its entirety, which is rather impressive considering it’s just the four of them. The highlights include the Overture, Sparks, and Pinball Wizard. A writer described seeing Townsend strumming the opening to Pinball Wizard like seeing John Hancock signing his name. The closing We’re Not Gonna Take It is almost anticlimactic after the version ending the monster My Generation,
So now you can see why 2/14/70 will go down in history as one of the great dates in live music. I want to close with a plug for an upcoming show. On Saturday March 26, at the American Legion Hall at 221 Carlisle St. in lovely downtown Hanover, Eyedeal Productions presents a benefit for the York County Food Bank. The lineup includes Jim Grinnen, Frank Miller’s Beard, Wandering Root, and Boxcar Social. It goes from 7 until 2. 10 bucks or 5 bucks with two nonperishable food items. So come on out and support local music and the local scene.
Dave Kemp
BA in American Studies
PhD in Rock and Roll
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