I was about to say that I thought it was Pigpen after all... Now I'm not quite
sure, but there still are some interesting things here.
What evidence do we have that it's not Pigpen? Just that Jerry sings Lovelight?
There could be other reasons for that (Pig's mic isn't set up yet, or he
doesn't want to sing, or Jerry's just fooling around). (At the end of it,
someone says with humor, Get the f*** off there! and someone else says Get
offa there!)
I am not sure why you call it an electric piano, Jim -- sure sounds like an
organ to me.
I sort of agree with Jim Caleb that it doesn't sound like T.C I think
even more that it sounds like Pigpen, or someone trying to imitate him closely.
Listen to other 1968 recordings of Dark Star, Stephen, and yes, Lovelight.
- Dark Star has the same repeated 8 note riff Pigpen plays for the entire song.
Would any other keyboardist do that?
- Lovelight sounds a bit like Pigpen's style and phrasing, but we don't really
often get to hear him play at all since when he's the one singing he usually
lays back on the organ.
- The first takes of Stephen on this tape have the organ playing very
tentatively (like during the lady finger portion), but the last takes are
quite similar to the way things ended up by the time they were performing
Stephen at the Shrine in August.
I agree with Caleb it's not from May/June. At that point Stephen had a
different structure and wasn't paired with the Eleven. By the time we got to
the August shows at the Shrine, Stephen/Eleven was a more polished combination
not dissimilar to the final versions on this recording.
There is a long gap of (documented) performances between June and August. This
would have been a good time for them to stay at home and rehearse new material.
Perhaps this was a gap in touring created intentionally for this purpose, or
maybe they were just opportunistic. But these were apparently fairly important
rehearsals for them to go to the trouble of making a high quality recording mix
(and preserving the results) instead of just throwing up a single ambient mic.
And I think it's distinctive from the other '68 jams with guests: they are
obviously working out the structure of the Stephen/Eleven transition and not
just jamming.
So I think the evidence points to this tape in the July, possibly early August,
time frame.
The first part of Lovelight is not on the recording. Apparently it was the
first song (you can hear the engineers bringing the instruments up in the mix
while the song is already pretty far along).
After Lovelight, Weir (?) says That's the basic concept... and someone
(Lesh?) says ...faster and faster. After some unintelligible words, as Jerry
continues to vamp Lovelight, someone yells Hey, did you record any of that?
(someone responds off-mic) (some unintelligible stuff) then, How much of it?
Did you start the [unintelligible-wish I could understand] ]. Soon after you
hear them teaching the beginning of Dark Star (B minor seventh).
In one of the Stephen takes, just after what another man spills, Weir shouts
out, you're invited to sing along on that one
Could they maybe teaching Pigpen?
I'm not 100% sure it is Pigpen, but it does seem a little odd to me that they'd
be combining a new member rehearsal or audition with the musical composition
they're doing in Stephen/Eleven.
-jfw
