Grateful Dead: “Dave’s Picks 2022 Bonus Disc” (2022) CD Review

Each year that you subscribe to the Dave’s Picks series of Grateful Dead concert recordings, you get a bonus disc. This year’s bonus disc arrived with Dave’s Picks Volume 42. That volume contains the complete show the Grateful Dead performed at Winterland on February 23, 1974. The bonus disc contains selections from the previous night’s show, also at Winterland. The disc contains six songs from the first set, three from the second, and the encore.

It begins with the first set opener, “U.S. Blues.” Always a fun number, this song, and this just happens to be the first time the band played it. In 1973, an earlier version of this song, titled “Wave That Flag,” was introduced. That had different lyrics. The energy here is absolutely fantastic. “Call this song those U.S. Blues,” Jerry Garcia sings here. The sound gets weird right at the end, like most of the instruments suddenly become low in the mix, but this is such a good version anyway. The band introduced two other songs at this show, and those are included on this disc as well. But up next is a pretty good version of “Brown-Eyed Women,” which was the third song of the night. Nothing outstanding, but a fairly solid rendition. We then get the second new song of the show, “It Must Have Been The Roses.” Interestingly, this song is a little faster than later versions, but is still pretty. This song would find its way onto the Jerry Garcia solo album Reflections. At the show, “Roses” was followed by “Black-Throated Wind,” and so it is on this disc too. This is a seriously strong version, with Bob Weir really digging into it vocally. That’s followed by “Loose Lucy.” I love early versions of “Loose Lucy,” with the “Woo!” and Donna Jean Godchaux echoing “Round and round, round and round.” This was always a cool tune, but in 1973 and 1974 it was particularly delicious, and this is a groovy rendition, a highlight of the disc. A real good time, indeed!

The disc then goes to the final song of the first set, “Playing In The Band.” And as you might guess, this is another highlight. The energy is high right from its start, and even if you hadn’t glanced at the length of the track on the CD case, you’d probably guess this one was going to be a good ride. Jerry’s guitar is flying off into the upper reaches of the atmosphere as soon as the jam begins, while the rhythm keeps cooking beneath. And we are right with the band, eager to travel wherever the music might take us. After a while the guitar begins poking holes in the dark sky, and moves into “Slipknot!” territory, though that tune, as its own thing, was still more than a year in the future. By this point, the entire cosmos is swinging, galaxies and gods brought under the sway of this band’s energy and curiosity. This is what it’s all about. This is why we went as often as we could, and why we still listen. Things calm down a bit at one point, to focus on the beacon the band has lit, its message traveling into other realms, and being heard by whatever sentient creatures might reside there, and we get the sense they’re being pulled toward us. Or, rather, they and we are being pulled toward some center, and at that moment the center takes on a familiar form, as the band returns to the main thrust of the song. Donna welcomes all with that shout. Ah, the triumphant joy, when we find we’re all back together. Fantastic.

From there, the disc moves us to the middle of the second set for “Ship Of Fools,” also a new song at the time. This is the band’s first live performance of the song. It would, later in the year, be included on From The Mars Hotel. “And all that could not sink or swim/Was just left there to float.” This is a good, passionate version. That’s followed by “China Cat Sunflower,” which the audience reacts to the moment the band starts it. This is an excellent version of “China Cat,” particularly Jerry’s guitar, which seems to flow and fly and know just where to go. There is a good amount of joyful jamming before the band segues into “I Know You Rider.” And “Rider” is everything we want it to be. The disc then takes us to the show’s encore, “Uncle John’s Band.” It’s a cheerful rendition, a song to keep us smiling even after the music ends.

CD Track List

1. U.S. Blues
2. Brown-Eyed Women
3. It Must Have Been The Roses
4. Black-Throated Wind
5. Loose Lucy
6. Playing In The Band
7. Ship Of Fools
8. China Cat Sunflower >
9. I Know You Rider
10. Uncle John’s Band

Dave’s Picks 2022 Bonus Disc was released in early May. My copy arrived on May 5, 2022.