Dead of the Day: 06-04-1978

Campus Stadium, UCSB

Santa Barbara, California

Given the solid playing and good time vibes, we head to the 1978 show at UC-Santa Barbara for our Dead of the Day. The Bertha opener is as spacious and voracious as they come. Initially, it seems, the band heads off in the standard direction. But, quickly, Jerry tears off and everyone else follows, leading to a ripping and altogether interesting start to the show. The Good Lovin’ is more standard, but there is nothing wrong with that. A few tunes on, Jerry puts down some steamy picking to open Big River, laying the groundwork for a hot Bobby tune after a solid Me and My Uncle. The rest of the set is upbeat and oh so hot, but the closer – Jack Straw – takes the cake with Jerry alternating between blistering runs and haunting, measured licks.

Recording info
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Identifier:
gd1978-06-04.sbd.cantor.miller.94407.sbeok.flac16
Source:
SBD (Betty’s Recording Mix) -> Master Cassette (Maxell UD C-90) -> Dat (44.1k)
Notes:
Patch Info: SBD (Healy’s House Mix) -> Master Cassette -> Cassette -> Dat (48k) supplies: Tennessee Jed (complete track) Notes: — Disc change is seamless — Thanks to Rob Eaton for lending me his Dats — Thanks to David Gans for helping clean up some flaws — Thanks to Joe B. Jones for his help with the pitch correction
Description:
Set 1 Bertha -> Good Lovin’ Dire Wolf Me And My Uncle -> Big River Brown Eyed Women Looks Like Rain Tennessee Jed Jack Straw Set 2 Samson And Delilah Ship Of Fools Estimated Prophet -> Eyes Of The World -> Drums -> Space -> Not Fade Away -> Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad -> Around And Around Encore U.S. Blues Sugar Magnolia
Lineage:
Dat (Sony R500) -> VXPocket v2 -> Samplitude Professional v10.1 -> Adobe Audition v1.5 -> FLAC
Transferrer:
Charlie Miller
Play
Pause
Back
Forw.
Volume
00:00
1
Bertha ->
07:12
2
Good Lovin’
07:18
3
Dire Wolf
04:24
4
Me And My Uncle ->
03:11
5
Big River
07:37
6
Brown Eyed Women
06:24
7
Looks Like Rain
08:03
8
Tennessee Jed
09:53
9
Jack Straw
05:55
10
Samson And Delilah
09:25
11
Ship Of Fools
08:40
12
Estimated Prophet ->
11:16
13
Eyes Of The World ->
10:45
14
Drums ->
10:51
15
Space ->
04:16
16
Not Fade Away ->
08:32
17
Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad ->
06:56
18
Around And Around
08:39
19
U.S. Blues
06:49
20
Sugar Magnolia
09:02
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The second half is fairly outrageous from top to bottom, starting off with a fiery Samsom and Delilah. The Ship of Fools that follows is a bit short, but full of absolute loveliness. Then, things start to heat up even more during the Estimated; it seems as if Jerry is feeding off Bobby’s determined vocals, ramping up his guitar to seismic levels and melting faces with the warped and determined sounds he is able to produce. Eyes kind of stumbles out of Estimated, but it is instantly clear – with the fast pacing and jazzy, rolling jams – that the rendition will be otherworldly. Eyes eventually heads off into Drums and Space, the latter of which features Mickey on pans, some ethereal noodling, and, towards the end, a Hells Angels’ motorcycle putting a stupendous topping on some serious exploration while pointing the way towards a Not Fade Away. The jammed out NFA> Going Down the Road is awesome, except for Donna’s – and to some extent Bobby’s – vocals which involve way to much screaming for our ears. Not too much later, Bobby provides some perfectly semi-sensical banter on either end of a US Blues encore before the boys put a final cap on the outstanding night with a hot Sugar Mags.

Apparently a band called Wa Koo opened the action to good effect before Elvin Bishop – who seemed to never play a bad gig in front of the Dead – tore things up, helped along by Garcia on guitar. But then Warren Zevon took the stage, chastising the crowd for being a “bunch of 60s burned out acid freaks” while he played – terribly – through a drunken stupor. Word has it that Zevon was chased off by the stage manager before coming back with Bonnie Raitt, who made him apologize to the audience for his behavior.

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Comments

4 responses to “06-04-1978”

  1. Wesley Barrett Avatar
    Wesley Barrett

    I had hitched down hiway 1 to make it to the Santa Barbara show good it there late so didn’t get to see Elvin but Warren was drunk and brash the show was killer

  2. Juan Surfcity Avatar
    Juan Surfcity

    F%&#ng GREAT show, including Warren Zevon killing it while swigging most of a fifth of Kamchatka vodka during his set. Anybody who thinks the Dead were bummed, or that Zovon sucked, should ask themselves why “Werewolves of London” became a Dead staple… The first set had a predominantly western bent, and the boys tore it up,. Second set they preached reality right through “Eyes of the World”, culminating in a gripping, hold on to your hat, drums-to-space and then leading us back into good time vibes right through to Sugar magnolia. It was an all afternoon into the evening show, and we all stumbled happily down the streets around UCSB, stoned, a little tired, but glowing and ready for more!

  3. Jim Hauer Avatar
    Jim Hauer

    Zevon was touring around a bit during the Summer ’78. He was raucous and rowdy (which can be exacerbated by being drunk), but the show I saw was killer (Spartan Stadium San Jose). I never saw Elvin Bishop play a bad show ever. Finally, looking forward to having this show be my soundtrack for a lovely, HOT morning hear in Taipei Taiwan (6/5/20). The description of the show matches my memories from that summer’s Dead shows. Peace and prayers for my friends in the US during this tumultuous time.

  4. Spliff Avatar
    Spliff

    Warren was pissed because the crowd wasn’t reacting very well to his set…he leaned back on his piano stool and chugged almost an entire bottle of vodka – I could see the bubbles in the bottle as he tipped it up and drank and then he said “you all are nothing but a bunch of fucking acid casualties” and tried to get Bonnie out to sing Werewolf with him – but she refused. Pissed off and hurt he finished to a crescendo of boos and the crowd threw beer cups at him and Bill Graham…then the Dead came out and melted our faces! (The sun was perfectly setting during Estimated) Great Show including aliens and bee people dancing in the stands…and the Hells Angels!

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