Grateful Dead - Live at the Cow Palace: New Year's Eve 1976 (2007)

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With Live at the Cow Palace, Grateful Dead Productions� newly-formed
alliance with Rhino is off to an auspicious start. The three-CD New
Year�s Eve 1976 is a stunning performance; its combination of
improvisational restraint and sense of adventure embroiders a diverse
selection of songs.

The Grateful Dead do take a couple of numbers
to gain traction. Jerry Garcia graces Chuck Berry�s �Promised Land�
with a couple of gaffes, while �Bertha� is the sound of the septet just
beginning to flex its collective muscle. A clutch of structured tunes,
including the graceful ballet �The Love Each Other� and a truly poignant
�Looks Like Rain� (where vocalist Donna Godchaux keeps herself in
check) allows the group to marshal its strength.

The Dead bring a
potent force to bear through a forty-minute �Playing' in the Band.� The
piece has at least three distinct themes interwoven throughout free
playing, but it is nevertheless only the first peak of the evening in
San Francisco. The sequence of material illustrates archivist David
Lemieux's observations in the liner notes well: at the end of a year
following vacation, the group sounds vibrant on tunes of recent vintage,
such as �Scarlet Begonias,� and chestnuts to be like �Not Fade Away�
remain fresh.

This wide range of Grateful Dead history contains
its share of surprises, too. Some songs are radically rearranged, like
the propulsive uptempo romp through �Eyes of the World,� or the loving
deliberation with which the group graces �Around and Around.� In
addition, all the musicians play their respective roles effectively;
Weir�s rhythm guitar work is particularly muscular on �Help on the Way�
and �Slipknot.� The drums that segue from the latter illustrate how Bill
Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart created percussive intricacy instead of
relying on bombast.

Throughout these three-plus hours, the Dead
continually pivot around the mammoth sound of Phil Lesh�s bass and,
equally importantly, derive inspiration from the vigor of
guitarist/vocalist Jerry Garcia. The latter�s gusto as he sings �Wharf
Rat� is as notable as his abandon on �We Bid You Goodnight.� The passion
of his guitar playing is comparable throughout the stately elegiac
�Morning Dew� and a lilting �Uncle John�s Band.� While the late titular
leader of this hallowed band had his off-years as the next decade came
and went, here he sounds every bit the icon.

Live at the Cow
Palace boasts full, streamlined sound. Jeffrey Norman�s HDCD mastering
from the thirty-year old recording by Bob Mathews and Betty
Cantor-Jackson reveals many nuances (like Keith Godchaux�s barrelhouse
piano), and the Tim Truman artwork that adorns the triple-fold digipak
is worth checking out. As a result, discovering the mariachi motif of
�Good Lovin'� is as likely to bring a smile as noticing the lightning
bolt tattoos adorning the bovine figures on the inside cover. Good ol�
Grateful Dead indeed. �

Tracklisting:

CD 1 (total time - 59:05):

01. Promised Land
02. Bertha
03. Mama Tried
04. They Love Each Other
05. Looks Like Rain
06. Deal
07. Playing In The Band

CD 2 (total time - 62:04):

01. Sugar Magnolia
02. Eyes Of The World
03. Wharf Rat
04. Good Lovin'
05. Samson & Delilah
06. Scarlet Begonias

CD 3 (total time - 69:11):

01. Around And Around
02. Help On The Way
03. Slipkknot!
04. Drums
05. Not Fade Away
06. Morning Dew
07. One More Saturday Night
08. Uncle John's Band
09. We Bid You Goodnight