Rolling Stone Australia — July 2017

1977 GRATEFUL DEAD NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

BOBDYLAN

1975-76

¥BOB DYLAN COULDhave played are-

naswhenhetouredtosupport1976’s

Desire.Instead,truetoform,hedid

theunexpected:Hebookedtinythe-

atreswithjustdays’notice,charged

less than $9 per ticket and took along

agaggleoffriends–includingRoger

McGuinn, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott

andJoanBaez.Dylanhadstarted

hanging around his old West Village

haunts with buddies from his folk-

ie days, and he wanted to take that

nostalgicspiritontheroad.“Weall

sing and sing and sing and laugh

untilwepassout,”BaeztoldRoll-

ing Stone.“Forus,itmakesno

differenceifwejustplayfor15peo-

ple or 15,000.” Backed by one of his

best bands ever (including guitarist

Mick Ronson), Dylan stretched out

shows for as long as five hours – with

help from McGuinn, Elliott and oth-

ers, who would do their own sets and

joinhis.NewtracksfromDesirewere

mixedwith1960sclassics(“ItAin’t

Me Babe”, “Just Like a Woman”) and

covers(“Deportees”).Theshowswere

full of raw, spontaneous intimacy:

Dylanduettedwithhisex-loverBaez,

did scorched-earth versions of “Idiot

Wind”,andpleadedforthereleaseof

jailedboxerRubin“Hurricane”Cart-

er.AsRollingThunderparticipant

Allen Ginsberg said, “Having gone

through his changes...Bob now has

his powers together.” ANDY GREENE

¥‘OURSECONDCOMING,’saysGratefulDeaddrummerMickeyHart

of the band’s 1977 North American tour. Everyone knew the Dead

could jam out infinitely. But that year they were discovering some-

thing new: that tight, songful concision could transport a crowd

justaseasily.“Wehadalotofnewsongsandwantedtogetat’em,”

sayssingerandguitaristBobWeir.“Andtheonlywaytogetatthe

nextsongwastofinishtheoneyouweredoing.”Ironicallyfora

bandthathadlittleuseorpatienceforstudios,itwouldberecord-

ing sessions that strengthened its live approach.Terrapin Station,

the group’s most recent LP, was recorded with Fleetwood Mac

producer Keith Olsen, who’d helmed their self-titled 1975 break-

through; he forced the Dead to prep and rehearse more than they

ever had. “Going in with Keith and having him organise and ar-

range all this stuff,” says Weir, “that gave us a solidity.” The results

ofOlsen’swhip-crackingbecameclearassoonastheDeadwent

back on the road – they tore into old favourites like “St. Stephen”

andtriednewcombinations,likegoingfromthefast-paced“Scar-

letBegonias”intothe churning“FireontheMountain”,andproved

their newly honed chops could help sculpt jams such as the 10-min-

ute “Terrapin Station”. “We felt like rock gods,” Weir says. It helped

that the band was in relatively good shape physically as well. “Jerry

washealthy,”saysHart.“Thatwasabigthing.”Thehighpointtook

placeonMay8thatCornellUniversity’sBartonHall,regardedby

Deadheads as the band’s greatest show ever. In the end, the 1977

tourcompletelychangedtheDead’ssenseofconnectionwithfans,

and their own musical purpose. “That was an era where it started

tocreepuponusthatpeoplecametohearthesongs,”saysWeir.“It

finallydawnedonus:‘Oh,that’swhatit’sallabout.’” DAVID BROWNE

NORTH

AMERICAN TOUR

ROLLING THUNDER REVUE

July, 2017 RollingStoneAus.com | Rolling Stone | 63

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Dylan

in 1975