Our first live performances of China Cat come from the Northwest Tour in January '68, as part of a medley: Dark Star>China Cat>Eleven. These three songs were always performed as an indivisible unit - the segue from Dark Star into China Cat is like stepping onto a rocket, as China Cat blasts into hyper-speed with some screeches from Garcia's guitar. The Eleven fits so naturally into the China Cat jam it seems inseparable, like an extension of the same song. China Cat is very different in early '68 from its later incarnation - it's full of that roaring '68 energy, taken very fast with lots of rattling drums and lots of solos from Garcia, and Pigpen doubling the lead riff with Weir - the song just rushes by. It's in a different key, which Garcia doesn't sound too comfortable with, since his voice is too low. By March they'd start to correct this - notice in the March versions how they change the key right after the opening riff. Also in the middle solo, the key changes again for a section of the solo, then shifts back for the verse - this part of the arrangement they would keep in later versions. http://www.archive.org/details/gd1968-01-17.sbd.cotsman.11795.shnf http://www.archive.org/details/gd68-01-22.sbd.weiner.8583.sbeok.shnf 1-23-68 - Road Trips http://www.archive.org/details/gd68-02-03.sbd.jools.14987.sbeok.shnf http://www.archive.org/details/gd68-02-14.sbd.kaplan.15640.sbeok.shnf 2-23/24-68 - Dick's Picks (two versions, one out of Alligator) http://www.archive.org/details/gd68-03-16.sbd.vernon.9388.sbeok.shnf (also in So Many Roads) 3-17-68 - Download Series (out of New Potato Caboose) http://www.archive.org/details/gd68-03-30.aud.cotsman.14912.sbeok.shnf