David
Crosby : Live at the Matrix, December 1970
with
Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart, 4/21/73
CD435
- 1 CD
Keyhole, BOONF1WVE4, 2014
David
Crosby : Live at the Matrix, December 1970
with Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart
This single Cd was recorded Live at The Matrix San Francisco, in December of 1970. The band consisted of David himself and three members of the Grateful Dead- namely Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart and Phil Lesh.
It has just 9 songs but all of them long ones. It was recorded before a small audience of appreciative San Franciscans. who generally agreed that the musicianship was of the finest. No mean achievement from that knowledgeable and dare I say spoiled by the excellence of the bands around that time? (...) What is the sound like? The FM radio shows are, when taped correctly, not bad, not as good as a professional recording true but acceptable. (...) (courtesy of Glenn Cook, amazon.com reviewer)
As a fan of The Dead & probably most of the Byrds family tree artists, this combination of Crosby, Garcia, Lesh & Hart is one I've been very interested in hearing.....and it appears to work very well.
I loved Crosby's "If Only I Could Remember My Name" phase, so the inclusion of lengthy versions of Cowboy Movie & Laughing (& the superb Triad), which develop into typically "drifting" Dead jams, is fascinating, and they are the stand-out tracks, musically & vocally. It's good to see a couple of Dead standards (Bertha & Deep Elem Blues) included, with Garcia taking the lead.
The Lesh/Hart meandering rhythm style seems to work well with Crosby's story-like lyrics, and Hart's soft drumming on Laughing, with Garcia's trademark guitar work, transforms this into a track worthy of any of the great Dead sets.
I probably wouldn't give 5 stars to any of the soundboard/radio show pre-digital recordings, as they're never going to be comparable to a modern, or expensively remastered, album or concert. This is, however, at the top end of that recent slice of the music market, and one of those rare chances to listen to a quite unique piece of music history. (courtesy of A Scot, amazon.com reviewer)
Track Listing:
1.Drop
Down Mama 4.20
2.Cowboy Movie 9.50
3.Triad 9.48
4.The Wall Song 7.56
5.Bertha 4.16
6.Deep Elem Blues 7.15
7.Motherless Children 9.14
8.Laughing 10.40
9. South Cave Blues 9.5