Man Smart, Woman Smarter

I was sitting on the car’s hood drinking a Budweiser as Jim crept us down US-Route 20 towards Buffalo’s Rich Stadium to see the Grateful Dead during the Summer 1990 tour. Each dilapidated vehicle in the sloth-like motorcade around us had the windows rolled down and music sprouting from a local station playing a steady stream of Dead. We moved slow enough that I had conversations from my perch with other drivers as we passed, and those on foot were making as much ground as we were, maybe more. As I was irreverently soaking in the scene, the sounds, and the sun, I heard Man Smart, Woman Smarter for the first time. At that moment, I had two thoughts: 

1. This is a fun Summer party song
2. They’re right; I don’t see any women risking life and limb atop their automobile. 

A few hours later, we were treated to the same song for real, and the party was in full swing.

7-16-90 Rich Stadium

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On that July day in Buffalo, The Dead’s rendition of the 1930s calypso song had the Heads in a frenzy. Bobby takes the lead on the vocal … until Brent does, and the crowd loves it! His vocals added rock power to the band, and you can hear the drums lift to match his energy. I imagine this rhythm is a blast to play on drums, and at this point in the Dead’s history, Mickey and Billy had about a thousand drums on stage to generate sound from. It’s fun to hear how they work off each other in this setting. We also hear Jerry’s MIDI synth guitar rig on the solos, which first made its debut a year prior. Phil’s bass is driving, and Brent’s Hammond B3 radiates through the stadium’s summer air.

On this night all’s right with the world. Unfortunately that feeling was short lived as Brent passed away ten days later.

8-7-82 Alpine Valley Music Theater

Man Smart, Woman Smarter was added to the Dead’s repertoire in 1981, just a hint over halfway through their career with Jerry at the helm. While it isn’t a song that comes to mind first for most Heads, it was played over 200 times between ’81 and ’95, probably because it has the kind of swing that makes everyone want to dance.

This funky version from ’82 boogies with spicy interplay between Brent’s keys and Jerry’s guitar. I can get behind this. If this doesn’t make you look forward to Summer, I don’t know what will.

9-18-1987 Madison Square Garden

This is a party. But if you’ve ever seen a rock show at MSG, then you won’t be surprised. It has a big arena feel from the start. This version get’s props for the vocal breakdown at the end. Without Brent, I don’t believe they would have been able to pull it off. For the new guy, he was pretty good!

China Cat Sunflower

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.

Peggy O’

I have a love/hate relationship with Peggy O’. Of the 265 times it was played, there are perfunctory versions that would have you believe the song sucks. On the other hand, some versions are so sublime that some have commented that the song is likely on “God’s Jukebox.” 

The first Peggy O’ I ever heard was Englishtown 9-3-77. I was commuting to the local state college for evening education, and this was on repeat to and from every class. It later inspired me to record a Celtic/Bluegrass version of the song with my group, Stoneybatter Band.

I later performed my version of the song at a local Irish music session, and as soon as I hit the last chord of the song, an older woman with a harp started singing a similar-sounding folk song called, The Bonnie Lass o’ Fyve-io. As it turns out, the song I thought the Dead penned is actually an ancient Celtic song that Jerry Garcia adapted. Jerry was forever a student of all music and loved traditional music from around the world. He was also an early supporter of traditional Celtic music in America, inviting The Chieftains to open for his bluegrass band Old And In The Way in the early 70s.

The first known recording of the Dead’s Peggy O’ was 12-12-73.

In their inaugural version, they play it with an upbeat swing shuffle feel, with drums accenting the backbeat. This approach makes it danceable and something you might tap along to, but it does sound like the first time they ever played it together.

In their second performance, 12-18-73, we hear the Dead already slowing the song down and hinting at the gorgeous ballad it would become. The first performance sounds like they are learning the fundamentals of the music, and, other than not playing it badly, there is nothing extraordinary about the performance. Kinda a beer break song. The second performance feels like music, where the exploration begins. Phil has more robust ideas, Jerry’s voice starts to settle in, and he, notably, takes two separate solos testing new directions. The band is also starting to understand the potential. You might have been disappointed if you were standing in the beer line for this charming version.

It takes a few years for Peggy O’ to evolve from the shuffle to the beloved ballad of unrequited love that it became. 1977 seems to be a high tide year for Peggy O’, though ’78 does have some winners. It was played 27 times in ’77, second only to the 31 times in ’78. The fact that ’77 has more beauties than any other year shouldn’t surprise a seasoned Head, as many argue that 1977 was the best year for the Dead.

A nice Peggy O’ provides a platform for Jerry’s voice and guitar to squeeze as much color out of the ballad as possible. Too fast, and the opportunity is squandered. For example, 12-27-77 is satisfying in many ways but sacrifices some potential drama due to its slightly pushed tempo. However, the blistering solo in this version is hard to argue with. Compare this version with some of the somewhat slower versions from ’77, and you begin to get a feel for how subtle changes could morph a solid song into something of exquisite beauty.

In great Peggy O’s, we also hear Phil moving the bass line as a counterpoint to Jerry’s melodic prowess. The two lines move in different directions as if they have a life of their own but somehow seem to work together serendipitously.

A brilliant Peggy O’ has each instrument traveling its own path, but all connected to one head, like the tentacles of an octopus.

Of course, there is no such thing as “the best,” but with all that said, here are some versions that offer a window into how beautiful and entrancing this pretty Peggy O’ indeed was:

5/22/77 – The Sportatorium

This Peggy O’ has it all. It’s the octopus. If your hair doesn’t stand on end by the 4:20 mark of this gem, then we are listening to different things, and that’s ok.

Bill and Mickey set the train on its track from the start, and then Phil’s bass sets the tone for what’s to come. Jerry always said that if Phil was on, the band was on. Phil is on. With Phil holding down the bottom, Jerry can drop in and out as needed during the verse and achieve full lift-off during the solo. When Jerry felt creatively melodic, he was inspired to go a few extra rounds on a solo, each time getting progressively more potent with his note selection. In this version, he could have ended after round two, and everyone would have been happy, but he was feeling it and smokes the third repeat, and the band will not let him down while he’s doing it. Jerry’s voice has the fragile sadness of a weathered storyteller sharing his heartbreak. Bobby sings a subtle but perfectly in-tune harmony early in the song, rare for the Dead, and The Kid’s anti-rhythm guitar pokes in and out to accent empty moments between the vocals. The piano moves around like an unsuspecting riptide, and the drummers are not keeping time as much as they are groovin’ with purpose. A nice nuance in the drumming is Mickey’s marching band rudiments in the quiet verse towards the end of the song. It’s gooey Dead goodness at its best.

5/9/77 – War Memorial Auditorium

This is arguably one of the greatest shows ever, and the Peggy O’ doesn’t disappoint. It could be more gentle, contemplative, or slightly sadder than 5/22/77. A nice feature of this is the lovely piano that shines through. You can also hear those marching rudiments come through early in this song. Depending on your mood, this might be a more appealing version than 5/22/77. It’s worth comparing, and I’d always keep the station on if this were playing.

6/4/77 – The Forum

This one will challenge you a bit more as it is an Audience tape and not a Soundboard, and you get to hear little time capsules like the girl at the beginning wondering out loud if “We’ll ever hear China Cat again.” There is no soundboard available for this show, but many claim it is one of the great shows of 1977. The show has been a bit lost in time because of the audio quality. Where the others are a bit like keeping your peas and carrots separate on the plate, this is a hot steaming stew. However, if you let your ears adjust and picture yourself in the venue, with sound reflecting off the cavernous walls, you can hear a stellar Peggy O’. Maybe it is the fact that someone pointed a mic to Jerry’s guitar amp, or perhaps it is just that Jerry slays it, but the solo on this has a grit that the others don’t. If you were to argue that there was one sour note with this solo, it is the second one. He, amusingly, slides up to a note that is higher than he might have liked but immediately rights the ship and uses that moment to dig in and launch into something extraordinary. What Garcia is doing with this stunning solo is finding the melody around the melody. He navigates to the 3rds and 5ths above and below the melody, which has the effect of creating a new melody that is in perfect harmony with the primary melody. This type of musical counterpoint is very Baroque and was the hallmark of Bach, and Jerry finds it on the fly. It’s brilliant. At the end of this performance, you hear how joyous the audience feels about it all. Such a sweet moment. How nice it would have been to see this one live.

These are just a few of my favorites, but I’m curious to hear your thoughts. Happy listening!