... relax, just a voyage through time !

"Shakedown Street" (The Grateful Dead) : a LoloYodel video montage using 5 concerts (see below).

Funny, or perhaps not, but when this song 1st appeared, a lot of Dead Heads, at the time, were clearly taken aback, baffled to not say pissed. Regardless of the release of the LP Album (Nov. 1979), but even with the LP release of “Terrapin” with notably the re-worked “Dancin’ in the Streets”, we (yes, I was there), were rather PISSED by this clear disco oriented Grateful Dead which, in no way, was in the seemingly logical movement of songs which we were groovin’ to at the time. Remember 1976-1977 with such greats as Help~slip~Franklin’s, Terrapin Station, Music Never Stopped et al …
Oh well, as with many GD tunes, it properly found it’s place, and space, within’ our heads and souls.

“Shakedown Street” was played a total of 163 times from 8-31-1978 to 7-9-1995, Chicago, Ill., the Grateful Dead’s last concert.

Audio : 10-25-1979, Veterans' Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT (my sweet home town !)
Considered by many as (one of) THE best renditions of “Shakedown” ever … (various impressions below) :

“probably the best shakedown street ever recorded, pretty sick, highly recommended”
“This is some pure funkiness right here”
"universe of funk. amen to that".
“brent gets doooooowwwwwn”
“version is incredible! Fantastic interplay”
"HOLY FUNKINESS LISTEN TO THIS VERSION! The last jam is so awesome.”
"Mind-blowing. Brent seems to take 'Superstition' to a new level and Jerry and Phil are totally flyin' and rippin' and bombin' while the drummers stomp"
"Starts off pretty regular and then....blastoff into pure funk heaven"
“Loved the funky Shakedowns in 1979. Brent used a new sound for the jam in the Fall and it's great"
“I would prefer this to the one at the Post Pavillon (1985)"
"Just listened to this version right after listening to 1985-06-30 and this one has to take the cake. Phil and Brent make this one a must listen. Funked my face right off of my head!”
“Absolutely thinks this kicks the living snot out of Merriweather and would love to see it knock 6/30/85 outta the top spot... Not to mention way better vocals (Jerry in '85? Come on), and just an all-around much grittier, tighter, spot-on version of Shake here in New Haven.”
“I agree grendel, this version is definitely better than 6/30/85; it brings the serious funk!”

________________________________________

David Dodd : This is a song that wants us to listen, to give things a minute before we pass judgment on them, to check our negativity. I find it a nice pair, thematically, with “Eyes of the World” — it’s telling us to wake up, and consider the possibility that our perception may be as much at fault as the world, when we see only darkness.
Hunter seemed to be coming right out and saying that we can’t put the Dead into some box of preconceived notions. We had a responsibility, as listeners, to listen harder, to set aside our negativity. Of course, it’s completely likely and possible that Hunter constructed the lyrics for a different audience, perhaps even internal to the band and its circle, but regardless, the words are aimed somewhere in such a way as to make you sit up and take note.
“Shakedown” seems like someone shaking a forefinger at you. There is something edgy about it, and the very fact that Hunter acknowledges the darkness, and says he thinks it may be “from your eyes.” “Maybe you had too much, too fast,” he has Garcia sing. Hmmmm. There’s a line that comes back at me now and then, for sure.
If Hunter was establishing this musical lineage (and I truly have no idea whether or not he was—it’s just what I hear…), then it was one meant to legitimize disco, or any other over-commercialized music that had its beginnings in authentic music-making. “Used to be the heart of town.”

Watch :
0:16 Jerry untangling himself
1:48 Jerry and his lion's look (again at 3:08)
7:22 the water geyser on the right hand side
9:08 Jerry starting to dance
14:38 Jerry's appraisal

-------------------------

Audio : 10-25-1979, Veterans' Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT

Videos :
1978 11-24 Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ (Pro-Shot)
1980 10-30 Radio City Music Hall, NY, NY (Vault Video)
1981 03-28 Essen, Germany (TV Pro-Shot)
1981 12-31 Oakland Auditorium, Oakland, Ca (Pro-Shot)
1989 07-09 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ (Pro-Shot)

Enjoy !
Buy all of those commercially available GD Vault videos.

-------------------------

Under Law of Fair Use. For educational purposes only. No copyrights infringements intended***
For noncommercial, educational, and archival purposes under Law of Fair Use as provided for in section 107 of the US copyright law. No copyrights infringements intended***

свернуть