Set 1
Cold Rain & Snow, Me & My Uncle, Smokestack Lightning > Truckin', Dire Wolf, Hard To Handle, Sugar Magnolia, Black Peter, Around & Around, Cumberland Blues, Casey Jones
Set 2
That's It For The Other One > Cosmic Charlie, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Uncle John's Band
New Riders Of The Purple Sage Opened
Jerry Garcia - Guitar Bob Weir - Guitar Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - Keyboards, Harmonica Phil Lesh - Bass Bill Kreutzmann - Drums
Jul 27, 2012
January 21, 1971: Freeborn Hall, Davis CA
Well the first days are the hardest days Don't you worry and more Cuz when life looks like easy street There is danger at your door.
Come hear Uncle John's Band Playing to the time Come with me or go alone. He's come to take his children home.
The Grateful Dead will be truckin' into Freeborn Hall next Thursday night at 8 p.m. The Dead have long been favorites around the Bay Area, but within the past year have become one of the most popular groups nationally, selling out everyplace they appear. Once the high energy promoters of the psychedelic revolution, the Dead have shifted away from their acid-blitzed hypnotic-electric music to a down-home folksy style. Their new sound was previewed last spring with the release of "Workingman's Dead" which became one of last year's best selling albums and easily one of last year's finest musical efforts. The Dead showed they had mellowed even more when their latest album "American Beauty" was released a couple of months ago. Seeing the Grateful Dead is a unique experience and should not be passed up. Playing with the Dead will be their sub-group, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, who have a very Nashville type sound. Tickets are on sale now at the MU Box Office at the price of $2.50 if you are a student.
I don't know but I've been told If the horse don't pull you got to carry the load I don't know who's back's that strong Maybe find out before too long. One way or another, one way or another This darkness has got to go.
(from the California Aggie, 15 January 1971)
*
GRATEFUL DEAD THURSDAY
The Grateful Dead concert tomorrow night is one of those concerts that people have been preparing for for at least a week and will probably take another week to recuperate from after it's all over. I guess you just have to say that the Dead in Freeborn is a heavy thing for Davis. The concert should result in a few more Dead freaks to add to the long list of those who already think that the Dead are the best group around. And even a light show, a finger in every pie in every eye. The Entertainment Board is providing the act, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Rod McKermen (Pig Pen), Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzman will provide the fine music, the crowd will provide the rest of the good vibes, and you gotta provide your own high time. Tickets cost $2.50 at the MU Box.
There are only 140 tickets left for Grateful Dead as of 3pm Tuesday. Also John Sebastian-Poco tickets will go on sale this Friday, for the February 6th concert. $3 for students.
(from the California Aggie, January 20, 1971)
*
DEAD, RIDERS, BROTHERS...
Last Thursday night Freeborn came alive to the music of the Grateful Dead. The last time this reviewer saw the Dead was in '68 at the old Carousel Ballroom (now the Fillmore West) and between then and now there has been a great change. The principal characters are all the same but the music has changed from the old acid rock to a more down home sound. The Dead played two sets during the evening. Both sets had the audience on their feet. "Reelin' and Rockin'" brought a cheer and heads nodded, but when the Dead launched into "High on Cocaine" there wasn't a person standing still. The group preceding the Dead was the New Riders of The Purple Sage. This group had many of the same musicians as the Grateful Dead but proved to be a disappointment. Their sound was not at all unusual or unique and sounded very much "like everybody else." The most successful song of their set was "Lodi" which got the audience moving. The first group of the evening was James and the Good Brothers. The group consisted of two guitars and an auto harp which produced a warm and mellow sound. I wish they had played longer than they did. As far as I was concerned the New Riders could have been replaced with this group. One song I especially liked was "Bobby McGee." Other thoughts on the concert: Freeborn was packed with much of the audience consisting of the usual "teeny boppers" and high school "cools." The light show was good but what is a light show, after all, without a strobe light? There were problems with forged tickets and gate crashers which didn't bother anybody except the Entertainment Board. The next big concert is John Sebastian and Poco on Feb. 6.
Reviewer: Dark Star 101 - Subject: Complain About The Sound? C’mon Man!Happy 50th Anniversary! We’ve grow spoiled beyond belief with the Archive and its numerous deadicated and talented contributors. Yes there are many shows with much better sound, but this is what we have for THIS beautiful show. Enjoy it for what is, you really get the essence of being there, albeit a bit crusty.
Reviewer: deadmax - Subject: Really Good Show - Bad SoundSound is not good but the playing is stellar! They are really going for it here. Seque from Smokestack to Truckin is great. Direwolf gets Pigpen's harmonica which I'm not sure I've noticed before. The Other One that opens the second set is the MONSTER of the show! 25 minutes of gooey goodness! They seem like they are finishing with the "he's got to die" melody but they just somehow turn it into Cosmic Charlie which is short but always nice to hear. China Cat tears the roof off! -last Cosmic Charlie until 6/4/76
Reviewer: clementinescaboose - Subject: What the?!Sometimes I truly wonder what others hear in the Grateful Dead's music, or if we are even listening to the same performance. This Other One is far from disorganized. In particular, the quiet sections are astonishing, with Garcia and Weir sparring in absolutely remarkable space guitar interplay that is some of the most unique to any Other One. And did njpg even hear the transition from Cryptical reprise into Cosmic Charlie? It ranks right along side 2/17/73 HCS>China Cat and 12/19/78 Stella>NFA as one of the most flawless segues the band ever did.
Reviewer: tanman82 - Subject: truckini wanted to hear an aud to see how loud pig's organ was compared to the tapes(ie mixed to tape , not what the aud heard ie pa mix)
pig plays harp on truckin gonna check rest of vshow as this is a 'pet peeve' of mine. the lack of organ in the mix until europe 72
Reviewer: njpg - Subject: -Unremarkable show with a disorganized Other One & a rushed Cosmic Charlie.
Reviewer: chris phillips - Subject: A+Cold Rain, Smokestack Lightning + Truckin'
Reviewer: ihor oid - - Subject: another aud onenicely done, guys!
Today In Grateful Dead History: January 21, 1971 – Freeborn Hall, UC Davis, Davis, CA
JANUARY 21, 2016 ~ EPRICHThis show is a perfect example of an incomplete audience recording that most listeners would probably discount because of the nearly constant talking and clapping right next to the taper. But throwing this show out on the basis of the crowd noise would be a mistake, since there are a couple of really powerful sections of music here.Grateful Dead Sources has a couple of interesting contemporary reviews of this performance and the comments section details the history of the recording as far as it goes. What we know for sure is that the Dead were the last of three bands to perform at this concert, which might explain why the setlist appears slightly truncated. But when you listen to this show straight through, you don’t get the sense that much is missing in terms of the pace of the performance – it follows the pretty standard 1971 show trajectory.There are a couple of rare moments here, starting with Pigpen’s harmonica playing on Truckin’, something that pops up from time to time but was eventually shelved. Also, the ending to Hard to Handle, while again not unique, is undoubtedly different from how the band was playing it a couple of months later when it formed into something a little less harsh. This version is a monster all its own. Finally, this would apparently be the last performance of Cosmic Charlie until 1976, and while it isn’t a best ever version, it’s still very enjoyable.For me, the beating heart of this show, and the bar-none highlight of the night, is The Other One, which starts out with Cryptical Envelopment but rapidly turns into an eight minute drum solo. This was not the typical way to start this song. The drums build and build until the full band bursts back into the song with a thrilling slide, the beginning of a great fifteen minutes of music. There are shrieks of feedback, delicate moments where Jerry and Phil play off of one another, and an aggressive section near the end where Bob and Phil are driving deep into the rhythm like men possessed and then Pigpen’s organ rises briefly into the mix to add that little extra something that pushes the song over the edge. It’s pretty amazing to hear the effect this has on the crowd – whereas before, everyone was talking over the music, now it’s so quiet you can hear a pin drop as the Dead rope the captivated audience in. (They start talking again as soon as the second part of Cryptical Envelopment starts). This The Other One is a master class in early 70’s psych rock and shouldn’t be missed.AdvertisementsREPORT THIS ADPlease, do yourself a favor and overlook the audio glitches and the missing material, at least for The Other One. It’s worth the effort.