Grateful Dead - 1981-10-08 - Copenhagen, Denmark (SBD)

Grateful Dead

1981-10-08

Forum Theatre

Copenhagen, Denmark

Soundboard Recording

320 kbps

Artwork Included

1st Set:

01. Feel Like A Stranger

02. They Love Each Other >

03. CC Rider

04. Cumberland Blues

05. Cassidy

06. Loser >

07. Mama Tried >

08. Mexicali Blues

09. Althea >

10. The Music Never Stopped

2nd Set

01. Scarlet Begonias >

02. Fire On The Mountain

03. Playin' In The Band >

04. Terrapin Station > 

05. Jam >

06. Drums >

07. Space >

08. Not Fade Away >

09. Black Peter >

10. Around And Around >

11. Johnny B. Goode

Encore:

01. US Blues

Grateful Dead - 1981-10-08 - Copenhagen, Denmark (SBD)

The Grateful Dead were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. While Jerry Garcia did not show up for the ceremony, the rest of the band did, and brought a life size cardboard cut out of him! In the true spirit of the 1960s flower power era, the band attempted to be incredibly inclusive, listing 12 members as part of the band for induction. In addition to the then current line up of Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Vince Welnick, Mickey Hary and Bill Kruetzmann, the Dead also included former keyboard players Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Brent Mydland, Keith Godchaux, and Tom Constanten, not to mention vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux. They even included lyricist Robert Hunter, who in collaboration with Garcia, had written some of the band's most famous tunes, including Uncle John's Band, US Blues, St Stephen, Eyes Of The World, Ripple, and Touch Of Grey, just to name a few. That said, I still think they missed 2 other members of the Dead family who should have been inducted. First is Bruce Hornsby, who played keyboards for them for almost 2 years alongside Welnick, about the same length of service as Constanten. Hornsby obviously was not offended, as he inducted the band. Second was John Perry Barlow, who worked with Weir in the same way Hunter partnered with Garcia. Weir/Barlow tunes, while not as numerous or famous as Garcia/Hunter compositions, included such staples of the Dead's live performances as Estimated Prophet, Cassidy, Looks Like Rain, Throwing Stones, and The Music Never Stopped, just to cite a few.

In any event, this soundboard recording captures the Dead during the fall 1981 tour of Europe, on October 8, 1981, 45 years ago, in Copenhagen. Generally, the band's playing is strong throughout the run, though some signs of the trouble that would plague the band in the mid 1980s are evident. Most noticeably, Jerry Garcia takes less of a leadership role in driving the band musically, hanging back at times and even having difficulty with some of the faster solos. Garcia's heroin use had begun to impact his personality and musical skills, and his band mates were growing weary of it. In fact, on the last night, in Barcelona, they presented Jerry with a letter, penned by Phil but signed by everyone in the band, expressing their dissatisfaction. The letter opened with “Dear Sir and Brother. You have been accused of certain high crimes and misdemeanors against the art of music. To wit: playing in your own band; never playing with any dynamics; never listening to what anyone else plays…” For band that tended to avoid any sort of confrontation, this was quite a large step, though it did not seem to have any lasting impact.