Dick's Picks, Vol. 32

AMG Review of Dick's Picks, Vol. 32

Lindsay Planer
All Music Guide

The 32nd installment in the Dick's Picks series serves up the first offering from 1982 -- August 7th at Alpine Valley Music Theater, to be exact. By some accounts, early-'80 shows could often be accurately classified as hit-or-miss affairs; on this evening the Grateful Dead are particularly inspired throughout. This is primarily evident in their musical interaction, yielding a few above-average renderings of repertoire staples such as the Bob Weir (guitar/vocals) led cowboy combination "Me and My Uncle" and "Big River," as well as the Jerry Garcia (guitar/vocals) allads "It Must Have Been the Roses," "Althea," and "Ship of Fools." Additionally distinguished, but arguably indiscernible to all but the most avid Deadhead, is the unusual medley placing "Sugaree" sandwiched between a two-part "The Music Never Stopped" first set opener. Despite the ragged but right potential, the band would revive the pairing once again, on July 2, 1994. Another significant grouping places two tunes that actually pre-date the Grateful Dead side by side. The covers of Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller's "Beat It on Down the Line," and the Memphis Jug Band's "On the Road Again" entered the combo's repertoire circa 1966, when they were known as The Warlocks. After developing their own original material, the latter title would be resurrected a smattering of times in the '80s, and can be heard in its acoustic form on Reckoning (1981). The version presented here is definitely electric and considerably playful. The same can also be said of the nascent, up-tempo "Man Smart, Woman Smarter." Despite having just entered the Grateful Dead's songbook the previous year, they energetically execute the number with all of the slithery syncopation of the original. The centerpiece of the second set is an incendiary suite that encompasses a stunning "Playing in the Band" that twists and turns at a frenetic pace. The ferocity remains intact, spilling into an aggressive "Drums"/"Space" segment before coming back full-circle with "The Wheel" and a reprise of "Playing in the Band." Even though this volume was mastered from a cassette tape, the powerful performance far outweighs any audible sonic anomalies.