In the pantheon of Grateful Dead music, it’s hard to overstate how essential China Cat Sunflower is to the catalog. There isn’t another song on earth that sounds like it. Consider that for a moment. What song sounds like China Cat Sunflower?

In art and music, there is a continuum throughout history. You can look at an artist or a piece of artwork and uncover its ancestors. For example, Pablo Picasso’s towering anti-war painting, Guernica, a masterpiece of 20th-century painting, was clearly influenced by painter Paul Cézanne, who influenced Cubist painter Georges Braque. The influence of these guys on Pablo is undeniable. You can see a thread of structural integrity across all these paintings.

Likewise, Elvis, often called The King of Rock and Roll, wouldn’t have been the king if it weren’t for The Godmother of Rock’n Roll, Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Little Richard considered her his “greatest influence.” Listen to the electricity ring through her gospel voice and R&B guitar, and try to convince me that rock came from Elvis. My point isn’t to knock Elvis; it is that there is a clear lineage that shows where he came from.

So, back to China Cat Sunflower – what is the ancestor? It seems singular, and not much in the art world is singular. That is not to say the creation of China Cat wasn’t influenced by previous work. Surely it was, but whatever influenced it has been obscured by the Dead’s astral approach to noise making. I always loved the quote, “The Dead aren’t the best at what they do; they are the only ones that do what they do.” China Cat Sunflower is a living embodiment of that sentiment.

So, while books could be written about the significance, intricacies, and nuances of this musical anomaly, I’ll leave it to you, the listener, to take in some China Cat Sunflower highlights through the ages. However, instead of going all chronological on this one, I will throw down the gauntlet and start hot.

6/26/1974 – Providence Civic Center

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This performance is a beast, and I’m recommending a way to listen to it. Try the following experiment using headphones; Pick a player, and follow them with your ears for a bit, then pick another player and follow them. See if you can devote some time to each musician.

Here is a roadmap to help set you up with this experiment. The first notes in the left ear are Jerry on guitar. Bobby is towards the right playing the classic China Cat riff. On the far right is Keith on Piano. Up top in the middle is Billy on drums, and down low, slightly left of Billy, is Phil on bass.

This might be difficult because each instrument is fighting for your brain’s attention as they seem to think they are each in the lead. However, the recording quality is excellent, and there is great separation between all the instruments. As you get better at this, you’ll hear all the instruments individually and simultaneously how they weave together and respond to each other. It’s like a grand optical illusion for your ears where depending on your focus things shift. The experiment is worth the effort because you will never hear the Dead the same if you get good at this.

Some other China Cat’s that you should listen to:

8-27-1972 Veneta, Oregon

Not only is this the one of the most revered China Cat’s from one of the most revered shows of all time, the show was also documented on film. If you’re not too distracted by the swinging dicks and the burnt boobied freaks, there is some great footage of the band unceremoniously ripping through this scorcher like it’s just another normal day in the sun. But as you can see, it is far from normal!

Not only was the music great, but the next time you are having a yogurt for breakfast, you can thank the Grateful Dead. The Veneta concert raised money to save a local farm that was ultimately responsible for distributing and making yogurt famous.

1-27-1968 Carousel Ballroom

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During 1968, firmly embedded in what is known as the “Primal Dead” era, the band played the Carousel Ballroom a dozen times. On this date, they played China Cat Sunflower for the first time, but from their blistering performance, you’d never know it was the first.

Instead of segueing into I Know You Rider, which became a standard through the decades, their maiden voyage of China Cat flowed seamlessly into the first performance of a song called The Eleven. This recording has the fuzz and grit of the late sixties and Tom Constanten on the Hammond B3 organ. This was a dangerous band in 1968, and you can hear that on this early China Cat.

7-17-89 Alpine Valley Music Theater

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Let’s jump to a late ’80s version of the song. Compared to the 3000 people ballrooms of the sixties, the Dead are now playing in 40,000-person outdoor amphitheaters like this one in Wisconsin.

Some other differences to note: There are now two drummers. The keyboard of choice is a piano combined with some synthesized sounds commonly heard in the ’80s. In addition, Garcia’s guitar sound was much different in the late ’80s and ’90s. He had developed a more staccato style of playing with short stabbing notes. He had also developed a way to quickly slide his finger down a string hitting a few notes rapidly, which became a signature sound of his late life guitar playing. A great example of this can be heard at 4:47 in this version.

So, there you have it. China Cat Sunflower through space and time, just the way the Dead intended it! Happy listening.