Grateful dead china cat sunflower i know you rider lyrics

Grateful dead china cat sunflower i know you rider lyrics full#
Grateful dead china cat sunflower i know you rider lyrics plus#

вЂњPlayingвЂќ isnвЂ™t yet receiving the full jam treatment here (a 45-minute version would occur on May 21, 1974) but the playing is crisp and well-developed. The energy soars with вЂњBerthaвЂќ and вЂњPlaying in the BandвЂќ, two of the bandвЂ™s catchiest numbers that would become fan favorites for the next three decades. Liver failure from heavy drinking would cause Pigpen to depart the band in 1972 and the planet in 1973, but he is in classic form at this show. The band is still feeling their way around in вЂњLoserвЂќ and вЂњCumberland BluesвЂќ before starting to ignite with keyboardist Ron вЂњPigpenвЂќ McKernan stepping up on the vocal of вЂњHurts Me TooвЂќ, a slow, simmering blues.

Grateful dead china cat sunflower i know you rider lyrics plus#

This show also features the second-ever performances of вЂњLoserвЂќ, вЂњBerthaвЂќ, вЂњPlaying In The BandвЂќ, вЂњGreatest Story Ever ToldвЂќ and вЂњWharf RatвЂќ, plus the world premieres of вЂњBird SongвЂќ and вЂњDealвЂќ, all of which became staples of the Grateful Dead repertoire for the next 24 years.ДЄ вЂњTruckinвЂ™вЂќ opener gets the band warmed up and doesnвЂ™t quite catch fire, but my ear was immediately taken with how good the sound is, particularly the warm and clear resonance of Phil LeshвЂ™s bass. This show marked the beginning of the bandвЂ™s вЂњturn-on-a-dimeвЂќ phase, as original drummer Bill Kreutzmann was left to go it alone for the next few years, which led to some of the bandвЂ™s jazzier and most exploratory material. Second drummer Mickey Hart had just left the band due to some shady financial transactions by his father, who had been the bandвЂ™s manager.

While many Deadheads will argue that numerous other shows should have been released ahead of this one, the fact of the matter is that this pristine recording sounds absolutely amazing and also documents a key turning point in the bandвЂ™s history. Its final performance was on July 8, 1995, at Soldier Field, in Chicago.Recorded at the bandвЂ™s Februshow at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, this HDCD release taken from the original multi-track tapes was ready to go back in 1993 before inexplicably being put back in the vault.

Overall, it was performed live 552 times that we know of, making it the fifth most-played song by the band, and number one in songs sung by Garcia. вЂњChina CatвЂќ remained steadily the repertoire, with the exception of the years 1975-1978, when it was played just once, in 1977. Once that pairing became the standard, it was locked in, with the single exception noted in DeadBase being a Maversion where it went into вЂњCumberland Blues.вЂќ The song evolved over the ensuing months, including changes in key, tempo, and arrangement, until sometime in the summer of 1969, when it was paired, for the first time, with вЂњI Know You Rider.вЂќ The song was released in its studio version on Aoxomoxoa, in June 1969. The first known live version of the song dates from a Carousel Ballroom performance on January 17, 1968. No commonality seems to link the imagery, except that they can take us on a journey. I see crazy quilts, and lacey patterns, and weaving in and out of everything, cats. Maybe itвЂ™s a reflection of HunterвЂ™s mind in the self-described вЂњhypersensitive state,вЂќ but it works fine for any listener who can picture silk trombones, violin rivers, Cheshire cats peeking through lace bandanas, and crazy quilt star gowns. Hunter referred to the effect as something along the lines of a вЂњglittery image bank,вЂќ saying: I can sit right here and write you a вЂChina CatвЂ™ or one of those things in ten minutes. The kaleidoscope of imagery in the song does seem fairly clear in the overall state of mind itвЂ™s communicating. Hunter mailed the lyrics to the band in mid-1967, and by January 1968 the band was performing a medley of songs that included вЂњDark Star,вЂќ вЂњChina Cat Sunflower,вЂќ and вЂњThe Eleven.вЂќ The song is part of what was a set of lyrics sent by Hunter to the band when they recruited him to be the lyricist for the group. This cat took me in all these cat places thereвЂ™s some essence of that in the song.вЂќ I had a cat sitting on my belly, and was in a rather hypersensitive state, and I followed this cat out to-I believe it was Nepture-and there were rainbows across Neptune, and cats marching across the rainbow. I donвЂ™t think any of the words came, exactly-the rhythms came. вЂњI think the germ of вЂChina Cat SunflowerвЂ™ came in Mexico, on Lake Chapala. ItвЂ™s good that a few things in this world are clear to all of us.вЂќДЄnd, from an interview with David Gans, in his Conversations with the Dead: People seem to know exactly what IвЂ™m talking about. вЂњNobody ever asked me the meaning of this song. HunterвЂ™s statements about the song include this, from his lyric anthology, A Box of Rain: