We’ll
start our story in 1960, when an unusual new jazz album hit the shelves. One of
several collaborations between Gil Evans & Miles Davis, Sketches of Spain
was a tribute to the music of Spain, a fusion of jazz & orchestral
classical music. The album made a splash when it came out, winning a Grammy. The
“brooding, dramatic Spanish sound" proved alluring for many listeners – Jerry
Garcia listened to it over and over in ’61. Phil Lesh remembered that “Sketches
of Spain was one of those classic albums, at one time you could walk down any
street in a college town and hear it floating out of almost every window.” It
started a trend of Spanish flirtations in jazz music – one notable example was
John Coltrane’s Olé album in ’61, the title track inspired by a Spanish folk
tune:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z5cRYd1Vr4
But
the album had a famous influence in rock music as well. One day in early 1966,
Grace Slick was at home writing a new song on her piano:
“The
music I came up with was based on a slow Spanish march or bolero that builds in
intensity. I’ve always had a thing for Spanish folk music. Back in 1963…one day
we took acid and I put on Miles Davis’s “Sketches of Spain.” I loved that album
and I listened to it over and over for hours, particularly “Concierto de Aranjuez,” which takes up most of the first side. It’s hypnotic... “Sketches of
Spain” was drilled into my head and came squirting out in various ways as I
wrote ‘White Rabbit.’”
The
Dead couldn’t help but notice when White Rabbit became a hit single for
Jefferson Airplane – especially when people kept requesting it at their shows! But
the track on Sketches of Spain that caught their ear was the closing number,
Solea:
The
martial-sounding backdrop struck a chord with the Dead, and one day in late
’67, they worked it up into their own version. Lesh wrote in his book that the
Spanish Jam was “a four-bar pattern we’d borrowed from the Miles Davis/Gil
Evans album Sketches of Spain.” (p.176) Hearing a ‘68 Spanish jam in 1981, Lesh said, “I wish we still
played like that. That was our Sketches of Spain take, it was part of our act
at the time.”
(Mickey
Hart was also asked about the Sketches of Spain link in 1981: "God! Those
things just come out! Those are really not planned. That really comes out when
we are jamming. I forgot even where that came from! I didn't even think about
that, but, you're right, that's where it did come from…I knew I recognized it
from someplace!")
Sketches of Spain was initially inspired by flamenco music; although Solea was composed
by Gil Evans, he studied and drew on this traditional background. The solea is
a type of flamenco music, generally slow-tempo, based on a 12-beat rhythm cycle
– the Sketches of Spain liner notes called the solea “a song of longing or
lament, like the Afro-American blues.” A brief introduction is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKXu0orMDqg
And
here’s one example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_IuLqA9M_s
But
you can also find many others (such as these from Paco de Lucia, Paco Pena,
& Manolo Sanlucar). Those may sound far-removed from the Spanish Jam, but
other short samples (including a beginner’s lesson) show chording similar to
what Weir used.
(An
aside: it might be thought that since Garcia’s grandparents came from Spain, he
had some personal connection to flamenco music. Not so: flamenco was the music
of Andalusia in southern Spain, while Garcia’s ancestors came from Galicia in
the northern corner of Spain, with a quite distinct culture. Traditional
Galician music was played on bagpipes, not guitars!)
The
Dead incorporated the marching drums and chord rhythm of Solea into their own flamenco-tinged
jam. But it wasn’t their only source. The Spanish Jam also has a strong
resemblance to Malaguena, a well-known composition originally by Ernesto
Lecuona (and titled after another flamenco style).
This
was covered far and wide in the ‘60s, from solo guitarists (like Chet Atkins)
to orchestras (like Stanley Black’s) to jazz groups (like Stan Kenton’s)…even
Bill Haley stepped in the ring. So the Dead certainly would have known it as a
background influence, giving shape to the chords in their jam.
As
far as I know the band didn’t have a name for their new theme – per McNally,
they “never bothered to name” it. The title “Spanish Jam” was given by tape
collectors only much later, well into the ‘80s. When tapes of the 2/14/68
broadcast started circulating in the ‘70s, listeners were puzzled by the
appearance of this jam they hadn’t heard before. Dick Latvala called it “a long
jam built around the ‘Spanish-style’ motif, so similar to many of the jams from
1974.” Another listener called it “a weird Spanish sounding thing that has
overtones of Quicksilver.”
A
review in Dark Star magazine described it as “a twelve-minute untitled piece that is easily the best part of the tape. It starts as feedback…[and] quickly
develops some form by way of the drumming, which turns into a quiet march time.
The band pick up on it and the feedback changes into a fullblown jam in
Spanish/Mexican style. The only comparison is with “Calvary” on Quicksilver’s “Happy
Trails” album. It returns to feedback at the end and then fades out.”
The
comparison to Quicksilver Messenger Service was apt – their instrumental track
Calvary on the 1969 Happy Trails album also strays into Spanish territory:
Calvary
has a strong Morricone spaghetti-western vibe…it’s kind of like Quicksilver’s
version of a Spanish Jam>Feedback. But I don’t know whether that was
coincidental or if they had a little indirect inspiration from the Dead. (Cipollina
& Duncan both said that Calvary was “our interpretation of the crucifixion,”
which points away from any Spanish or Dead influence.)
Not
many Quicksilver tapes from 1968 survive, but it doesn’t look like Quicksilver
were playing it yet during the winter ’68 “Quick & the Dead” tour. It
doesn’t appear in the Mona>Maiden of the Cancer Moon suite on 12/31/67 or
6/7/68– there’s a studio outtake of it called “F-Sharp Thing” in September ’68,
then the only full live version I know of comes from the Fillmore West on
11/7/68. So it seems likely the Dead had stopped playing the Spanish Jam that
year long before Quicksilver composed their “acid-flamenco” piece.
The
Dead came up with the Spanish Jam during a fruitful period in fall 1967 when
they were rehearsing at the Potrero Theater in San Francisco. It was an
abandoned movie theater that had become “a rat-infested dump;” Lesh described
it as “a windy, cavernous, funky old place (we more than once blew insulating
material off the ceiling with low-frequency feedback).” (p.131) After Mickey Hart joined the band, they spent many
hours there in late ’67 going over their new material – Dark Star, the Other
One, China Cat, the Eleven. Weir brought in a new song, Born Cross-Eyed, a
piece so rhythmically off-kilter it made New Potato Caboose sound normal.
Per
Steve Silberman, the Spanish Jam was Weir's idea - he wrote in the
Taping Compendium, "According to Lesh, Weir first introduced what became
known as the 'Spanish Jam' to the band at rehearsals at [the] Potrero
Theater in late 1967." (p.230) When
the Dead started playing it live in early ’68, the Spanish Jam was always
appended to Born Cross-Eyed, the way the Eleven was attached to China Cat. This
makes me think the Spanish Jam was originally intended to be a coda to that
song; the band didn’t conceive it as a free-floating theme. (Or maybe they were
paired together live since it was difficult for anything else to follow Born
Cross-Eyed.)
When
Born Cross-Eyed was released in ’68, it still had a little Spanish vestige in
it: a short trumpet break in the middle, played by Lesh. This sounds like a
direct nod to Miles Davis, though no listeners could
have known that – or, possibly, it could be a hint of New Orleans trumpet playing. (The break was played the same way live, just minus the trumpet.) Lesh has a quote in the book Playing in the Band confirming the link: "Born Cross-Eyed has the only recorded example of my trumpet playing, a little Miles Davis 'Sketches of Spain' bit I overdubbed in the break where Weir sings 'from time to time.'" (p.93)
The
original album cut of Born Cross-Eyed faded out; the single version ended with
a blast of feedback; the Spanish Jam itself was left unreleased, and the Dead apparently
stopped playing them both by the time Anthem of the Sun came out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2NVY-rRe48 (at 1:20) – or the mono
single version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJiOUwqmwIk
The
Spanish Jam was regularly featured in the Jan/Feb ’68 tour of the northwest
with Quicksilver. For that tour, the Dead hit on the idea of playing suites of
connected songs to use on the next album, such as Dark Star>China Cat
Sunflower>The Eleven, and the Other One suite>New Potato Caboose>Born
Cross-Eyed. (There could also be variations, such as when Clementine followed
the Other One.) While Born Cross-Eyed could appear by itself sometimes after
the tour, in general it followed New Potato Caboose as part of a suite.
1/17/68
Born
Cross-Eyed>Spanish Jam (15:40)>Feedback
The
closing chord of Born Cross-Eyed turns into a hum of feedback, and the
guitarists delightfully tease the Spanish Jam for a minute before Weir starts
the chords and the drummers start the rat-a-tat march. (This opening section
would be a regular part of the 1968 Spanish Jams; I think of it as the
prelude.) The drums & bass are quiet in this mix, but the jam gets fuller
over time – Garcia’s searing peals, Weir’s grungy slashing chords, and Pigpen’s
organ splashes paint a bloody picture. The band runs out of steam after ten
minutes, but they still keep puttering along without direction – and after 12
minutes the jam gradually returns to wild industrial feedback.
This
doesn’t sound like a first performance; I would guess they’d played it in
previous shows.
1/20/68
Born
Cross-Eyed>Feedback>Spanish Jam (10:10)>Caution
Jam>Dark Star
Tonight
there’s noisier feedback after BCE with louder percussion. Again the Spanish
Jam slowly pieces itself together in a long two-minute tease before it finally
gets going. The tape mix is much better than 1/17, giving the performance more
impact – the drumming has more drive, Pigpen fills in the corners, and Lesh
shoots out distorted thunder and Caution riffs. The jam disintegrates in the
last minute as Lesh gets impatient and the drummers start up a short
inconclusive Caution jam.
1/26/68 ("1/22")
Born
Cross-Eyed>Feedback>Spanish Jam (10:15)>Dark
Star
BCE
heads into three minutes of threatening feedback. Once again, they tease the
Spanish Jam at length and it very slowly coalesces from the fragments over a
couple of minutes, before Weir gives it a proper start. Though the tempo sounds
slower than 1/20, the jam builds up with relentless force and a deep
ominousness. The jam finally dissolves in a hail of drumbeats, and they coast
quietly for a minute until Garcia hints at Dark Star.
1/27/68 ("1/23")
Born
Cross-Eyed>Spanish Jam (17/:00) [cut]
This
Spanish Jam is cut into two pieces, found on incomplete tapes with different
dates. They’re both from this show, though. The cut is likely just due to a reel flip, but the two tapes were dated & mixed differently during the
chaos of preparing tapes for Anthem.
This
night’s feedback after BCE is rather short & sedate and soon leads to the
Spanish Jam ‘prelude’ where they tease bits of the theme. Most of the “1/23”
tape fragment is this quiet prelude, as hints & pieces of the Spanish Jam
spookily float around. It takes them four minutes to get started with the
proper jam, shortly before the tape cuts. The “1/27” tape fragment continues
from here, with maybe a minute or two missing. (This tape is in lesser quality,
with tape warble & the stereo image flipped.)
The
Spanish Jam this night is very loose, the longest ever played. It doesn’t have
nearly the driving momentum of the previous performances – half its length is
spent in a slow, spacy breakdown of the theme with no forward pulse. They seem
to just be dragging it out as long as possible. (Oddly in several of these
shows, the Dead stretch out the Spanish Jam as long as they can, so it was a
deliberate strategy.) Nine minutes into the 1/27 tape, it turns into a
bass/drums jam with feedback, then gains momentum in the last minute for a
strong finish. This closes the show: “We’ll see you next time we’re in
Seattle.”
2/3/68
Born
Cross-Eyed>Spanish Jam (1:46/) [cuts]
Only
a couple minutes of the Spanish Jam prelude here as they tease it before the
tape cuts. What’s left isn’t much – sounds more like a quiet tuneup.
2/14/68
Born
Cross-Eyed>Spanish Jam (12:00)
(Released on Road Trips 2.2.)
The
feedback after BCE leads quickly to the Spanish Jam prelude. The Spanish teases
blend with feedback in another long, leisurely introduction – it’s almost four
minutes before the chords & drums kick in. Like 1/27, this is a loose &
baggy version, not a steady drive all the way but pausing & breaking down
before reviving again – intense passages give way to seemingly aimless
stretches. In the last minute it finally dissolves to the crash of a gong and
fades to silence.
2/23/68
Born
Cross-Eyed>Spanish Jam (7:13)
(Released on Dick’s Picks 22.)
Again,
just a short post-BCE feedback before the Spanish teases commence. After 2:30
the jam coalesces; it seems to be getting ever more subdued and
melancholy-sounding. The jam is shorter than usual as everyone just stops
playing, leaving Garcia & a drummer to close it out.
3/30/68
Born
Cross-Eyed>Spanish Jam (9:50)>Death Don’t
Have No Mercy
On
the tape of 3/29/68, Born Cross-Eyed cuts off after 18 seconds, but most likely
went into the Spanish Jam as always.
On
3/30, some intense post-BCE feedback leads into a couple minutes of Spanish
teases. Once the jam takes shape, it has quite a morose feel, slow & heavy –
it sounds almost like a death dirge. I don’t think Pigpen’s organ has been
heard in the Spanish Jam since 1/22, but he shows up again here. This Spanish
Jam comes to a gloomy conclusion as Garcia’s weeping guitar glides smoothly
into Death Don’t Have No Mercy.
That
would be the last Spanish Jam on tape for two years. The Dead may have played
it a little while longer, but by August ’68 at the latest they’d dropped it
from their sets. Abandoned and forgotten, it wasn’t heard again until…
2/11/70
Dark
Star>Spanish Jam (9:40)>Lovelight (w/ Duane Allman & Peter Green)
During
a Dark Star at the Fillmore East, the Dead are joined by Peter Green and Duane
Allman (soon to be followed onstage by other members of their bands). With all
the extra firepower, Dark Star turns into a rock & roll guitar duel – in the
midst of one hot Peter Green solo, Weir starts playing the Spanish Jam chords.
The others quickly adjust and it proves an easy theme for group jamming, the
guests fitting right in (including the organist, probably Gregg Allman). It has
a more hard-driving groove than in ’68, more like the Spanish Stomp, as an
assertive Lesh and an energized group of musicians take it out at length.
Garcia mostly stays in the background, as the other guitarists take turns in
the lead – Allman at 4:20, Green at 5:30, Allman again at 8:20. (I gave a more
blow-by-blow account here.) The jam ends with Allman’s searing solo before the
Dead start up Lovelight.
Despite
this successful revival, the Spanish Jam then vanished again for another three
years.
4/25/71
Briefly
teased for about 30 seconds before Not Fade Away, almost as a joke.
8/15/71
Not
a Spanish Jam – the Dead tease White Rabbit after Sugaree, to much hilarity.
This followed years of requests for White Rabbit that the band liked to parody
(for instance, after ‘Cowboy Song’ on 4/9/70).
3/24/73
Truckin’>Jam>Spanish Jam (5:50)>Dark Star
(Released on Dave’s Picks 32.) [starts at 12:00]
Truckin’
soon subsides into a calm, quiet jam, seemingly headed for Dark Star, but the
Dead take a detour through a long jazzy improvisation. After a bass/drums
interlude, the jamming skitters forward, and once again Weir pulls the Spanish
Jam theme from nowhere. The band soon catches on – it’s a little discordant at
first as Keith figures out the chords, the jam being new to him. In the Dead’s
’73 guise, the Spanish Jam has a smoother feel, more sweet & languorous
than the distorted heat-bath of ’68, Garcia’s clean tone not as stinging as it
once was. With one drummer now, the beat swings more – they now incorporate a
Casey Jones-style shuffle section. The energy subsides in the last minute and
the band drifts off into a tranquil space before finally winding up in a brief
Dark Star.
3/31/73
Other
One>Spanish Jam (2:07)>Other One
During
a very laid-back Other One jam, Garcia surprises by initiating a loose Spanish
theme, and the others gather round him making an interesting variation. The
proper Spanish Jam only lasts a minute before they lose interest and move on to
the Other One verse, and from there promptly dive into Space.
Now
that the Spanish Jam was back, would the Dead keep playing it through ’73?
Nope, you guessed it – they dropped the theme again. It resurfaced in ’74:
2/24/74
A
tease: during Dark Star, Weir plays it in a frenetic moment at 24:20, for about
30 seconds before it’s dropped.
6/23/74
Dark
Star Jam>Spanish Jam (4:10)>US Blues
(Released on Dave’s Picks 34.)
Dark
Star opens quietly and stays that way for a long time before gradually heating
up. They never go to the verse, but keep the jam spacy and gooey; finally the
pace picks up and the jam thickens. In a quiet pause, the Spanish Jam starts
slowly & deliberately to a martial drumbeat. Keith’s on his Rhodes and sounds
more prepared this time; and now Garcia’s using a fuzztone on his guitar to
blistering effect (at least in the first part of the jam). This harks back more
to the ’68 force than the ’73 attempts did – it sounds like they rehearsed it
this time! A booming Lesh drives the jam in the second half, pushing Garcia to
more intense peaks. They reach a smashing conclusion and segue straight into a
US Blues jam.
6/26/74
Truckin’>Other
One Jam>Spanish Jam (6:00)>Other One
Jam>Wharf Rat
(Released on Dick’s Picks 12.)
Truckin’
lightly trickles out into the Other One; but after Lesh sets up the intro in a
chordal solo, the Other One lasts less than a minute before Kreutzmann starts
the familiar marching beat. The others join in him a slow & steady Spanish
Jam that gradually builds up steam. Garcia moves through different tones, from
fuzz to wah-wah, and Keith adds a ghostly Rhodes backdrop. The mood is less
heavy than on 6/23, more light & fluttery. After a feisty peak, Lesh starts
pushing the Other One riff while Weir’s still playing the Spanish chords, and
in a little tug-of-war the Other One wins. They never get to the verse though,
but drift right off into a long quiet space.
7/19/74
Let
It Grow>Spanish Jam (7:15)>Eyes of the
World
(Released on Dave’s Picks 17.)
After
Let It Grow, the Dead are itching for a jam; Lesh bangs out some chords and
Garcia turns on his fuzziest tone. The Spanish mood is in the air, and soon
enough Weir starts up the chords for a sizzling opening. Garcia sounds a bit
like a trumpet here – until he switches tones to the wah again. The band, Lesh
in particular, are much more energetic than on 6/26; Keith is confident on the Rhodes.
But by the last minute, Garcia stops soloing and just strums, leaving Lesh in
the lead; the jam breaks up and they shift somewhat awkwardly to Eyes of the
World.
7/21/74
A
tease: Weir plays the chords about 20:30 into Playing in the Band and keeps it
up for a minute, but the rest of the band opts for Wharf Rat instead.
7/29/74
Other
One>Spanish Jam (3:25)>Wharf Rat
(Released on Dave’s Picks 2 bonus disc.)
The
Other One moves from a drums‘n’Jerry interlude to a little freakout to a
scampering jam in which the Spanish theme sneakily emerges, mutating from the
Other One riff. After a minute the regular beat & chords appear. Garcia’s
on slide, giving this one a more wistful effect closer to the Mind Left Body
jam. Not an intense Spanish Jam, but a different approach. In the end Weir
abruptly signals the Other One again, but that’s short-lived, so they slow down
for Wharf Rat.
7/31/74
Truckin’>Mind
Left Body Jam>Spanish Jam (2:10)>Wharf Rat
(Released on Dave’s Picks 2.)
A
long Truckin’ jam leads far & wide and winds up in a fine up-tempo Mind
Left Body jam. When this finishes, Garcia’s drifting wah warbles the band into
a spacy boogie. Kreutzmann suddenly kicks up the Spanish Jam beat and they
explore that for a couple minutes, Garcia fluttering around on flaming wah. The
theme is strong but short-lived; they wrap it up with an unexpected Mind Left
Body reprise before turning to Wharf Rat.
8/6/74
Truckin’>Spanish Jam (4:00)>Other One
A
quiet, evocative Truckin’ space-jam ends in some thundering bass chords. A
meltdown seems imminent, but instead Weir starts the Spanish Jam. Initially
just bass & drums join him, and it takes a minute for Garcia to come in. Garcia
has a light touch here and basically stays in the back seat, so this is a more
scattered version. Lesh takes the lead, and as on 6/26 he shoves the band into
the Other One again. This takes a while to get going since Garcia just wants to
noodle spacily for a while.
10/17/74
Other
One>Spanish Jam (1:45)>Mind Left Body
Jam>Other One
(Released on the Grateful Dead Movie
Soundtrack.)
Near
the end of a long Other One, the Spanish Jam comes out of a fast, dense jam.
It’s short and Garcia sits out the first minute, but for 40 seconds he plays
slide (as on 7/29). Perhaps responding to this, Weir switches to the Mind Left
Body jam which the band is more in the mood for, and they linger on that before
returning to the Other One conclusion.
After
that, the Dead went on hiatus, but two years later the Spanish Jam would return…
7/16/76
Samson
& Delilah>Space>Spanish Jam (6:40)>Drums
(Released on Dave’s Picks 18 bonus disc.)
As
soon as Samson & Delilah ends, the Dead drop into an aimless, extremely
quiet space (I think the intent was to continue the Playin’ in the Band jam
from earlier in the set). This also serves as a sly tuneup that dissolves into
silence – the first faint hints of the Spanish Jam emerge at 2:30, and Weir
finally starts the chords at 3:45 as Garcia trills. (In a way it’s a bit like
the early ’68 versions where the Spanish Jam would slowly piece itself together
from spacy fragments.)
It’s
a solid version, by no means rusty after two years, but now it takes on more of
a ’76 feel with Garcia’s clean Travis Bean tone and Keith chording on piano. This
is Mickey Hart’s first Spanish Jam since 1970, but the drummers don’t play a
big part here. Within a few minutes it turns into a two-chord jam (similar to
others played in ’76) which drifts away at the end and stops for Drums.
This
was one of the spontaneous setlist surprises of ’76 – but after this breakout, would
the Spanish Jam become part of the Dead’s repertoire? Of course not! It wouldn’t
show up again for five years…
5/5/81
Truckin’>Spanish Jam (3:10)>Alabama Getaway
In
yet another surprise reappearance, Garcia starts ambiguously hinting at the
Spanish theme after 6:30 in the Truckin’ jam; eventually the others catch on,
and Weir confirms it with the chords around 8:30. It doesn’t last long before
they restlessly take a different direction 10 minutes in. This is a very short
& scattered version, not very coherent – Garcia wanders around in a haze in
this Truckin’ jam, new keyboardist Brent Mydland tries to follow along, and
Lesh is barely there.
5/6/81
He’s
Gone>Caution Jam>Spanish Jam (4:12)>Drums
https://archive.org/details/gd81-05-06.glassberg.vernon.17697.sbeok.shnf (AUD, starts around 4:10)
(Released on Dick’s Picks 13.)
The
next night, Garcia continues his wanderings out of He’s Gone; after a
pronounced Caution jam, he starts up a repetitive staccato phrase that
gradually turns into a two-chord Spanish pattern that he sustains for a few
minutes before it trickles out into Drums. The band’s a little more together
than on 5/5, but this is barely a Spanish Jam: it has a similar feel in
Garcia’s playing, but Weir’s not playing the chords at all, and no one else takes
it in a Spanish direction. Marginal.
5/16/81
Saint
of Circumstance>Jam/Spanish Jam
(2:45)>Space>Drums
https://archive.org/details/gd1981-05-16.sbd.miller.30647.sbeok.flac16 (around 1:15-4:00 in the jam)
(Released on 30 Trips.)
Ten
days later, they get reacquainted with it – this is the first real ‘80s version.
During an impromptu post-Saint jam, Garcia starts up the theme again; and this
time the others join him more effectively, Weir finally playing the chords at
length. Lesh is very subdued and not too active, but Brent’s getting the hang
of it. This Spanish Jam has a quick & jerky rhythm and a rather keening
lead from Garcia; within a few minutes it dissolves into an abstract space jam.
After
these faltering steps, the Spanish Jam finally entered the repertoire again
starting in August ‘81. It would be played semi-regularly (with declining
frequency) to 1987, then somewhat infrequently from 1992-95. In these previous
versions the Dead had been sticking it in any old jam, but from here on it
found a permanent home after Space (or as part of Space). Most often it would
head into Truckin’ or the Other One, perhaps since it was so easy to blend into
the openings of those songs - a few other versions went into Wheel or Miracle. Brent’s
keyboard playing tends to be very active in the early ‘80s versions as he
provides counterpoint to Garcia (emphasized by his loudness in the tape mixes).
Now
that we’ve entered a new era, I only took brief notes on the Spanish Jams of
the ‘80s-90s instead of full reviews. But you can still get a sense of how it
developed in these years. Here’s the list of performances:
8/12/81
Space>Spanish Jam (3:22)>Truckin’
Full band, slower pace
from here on; strong version. Probably rehearsed!
8/28/81
Space>Spanish Jam (5:13)>Truckin’
Full band, better
version, Phil engaged & Garcia soaring.
9/27/81
Space>Spanish Jam (3:40)>Wharf Rat
Full band, good energy
but hampered by Garcia being muted in the mix; fades to transitional drift into
Wharf Rat (Garcia quotes Dark Star!).
10/2/81
Space>Spanish Jam (4:30)>Truckin’
Full band, marching
drums, hot, searing Garcia but quiet Weir (might be best version of the month).
10/4/81
Space>Spanish Jam (2:42)>Other One
Full band, marching
drums, hot, turns into the Other One (best mix of the month).
10/13/81
Space>Spanish Jam (4:17)>Wheel
Full band, marching
drums, spacier, good but Weir’s very quiet in the mix.
10/19/81
Space>Spanish Jam (2:52)>Other One
Full band, marching
drums, perky bass, spicy hot & poppin’, but Weir quiet again –the only
Spanish Jam played in Spain.
12/3/81
Space>Spanish Jam (4:12)>Truckin’ (turns into Other One tease)
Full band: starts
calmly, slow build, drums come in & the jam finally heats up (less energy
than before, unusual for ’81 in drums staying out so long).
4/17/82
Saint
of Circumstance>Jam/Spanish Jam (2:50)>Drums
(without Garcia)
Lounge version without
Garcia.
7/28/82
Space>Spanish Jam (4:40)>Jam>Not Fade Away (goes into St. Stephen-type theme)
Dramatic opening from
Drums; theme is mostly delicate with no drums, goes into great tease-jam.
9/17/82
Space>Spanish Jam (3:40)>Other One
Mostly quiet without
drums, more airy/spectral but rises to a surprise climax with the band.
9/20/82
Space>Spanish Jam (3:14)>Truckin’
Full band, kind of
rickety & muffled, not as intense as ’81.
4/19/83
Space>Spanish Jam (4:00)>Jam>Truckin’ (turns into Truckin’ jam)
AUD tape – full band but
barely any bass, ethereal/drifty, trickles out into Truckin’.
6/22/83
Space>Spanish Jam (4:45)>Miracle
AUD tape, much better
recording – strong version, Garcia’s buzzing; starts out with guitars &
bass, then drummers join, comes to a surprise full-stop/feedback ending.
9/4/83
Space>Spanish Jam (6:08)>Wheel
https://archive.org/details/gd1983-09-04.sbd.miller.117185.flac16 [on “Wheel” track]
Builds from Garcia/Weir
duet to full band; very good intense version, best since ’81.
9/13/83
Space>Spanish Jam (4:00)>Space>Wheel (Spanish Jam before Space)
AUD tape, exc quality – full
band, atmospheric & kind of dreamy, turns into a nice scrambly band Space.
10/14/83
Space>Spanish Jam (3:22)>Other One
(Released on Dick’s Picks 6.)
A pristine Garcia/Weir
duet, turns into an Other One tease/prelude.
10/20/83
Space>Spanish Jam (5:40)>Other One
AUD tape, good quality –
slowly builds from Garcia/Weir duet w/sound effects into full band, dreamy but stays
pretty sedate, turns into Other One jam.
3/29/84
Space>Spanish Jam (6:10)>Other One
Full band, very slow
tempo, heavy feel, lots of Garcia feedback (nice to hear a stinging Jerry again
after the calm/clean Oct ’83 duets). Best of ’84.
4/7/84
Space>Spanish Jam (4:45)>Other One
More lively, with drums
& keyboard but no bass; echoey Garcia; turns into Other One jam.
4/23/84
Space>Spanish Jam (3:30)>Jam>Truckin’ (turns into Truckin’ jam)
Very echoey/spacy, just
a Garcia/Weir duet w/ effects – rest of the band joins in when it becomes a
Truckin’ jam.
12/31/84
Space>Spanish Jam (5:50)>Wheel
Another echoey/spacey
duet (surprisingly similar to the last one despite an 8-month gap!) - ‘84 Spanish
Jams have become ever more ambient & disembodied.
3/22/85
Space>Spanish Jam (3:05)>Truckin’
AUD tape – brisk pace, Garcia/Weir
with Lesh (first Spanish Jam bass in a year!) – has a little more punch.
3/27/86
Space>Spanish Jam (2:30)>Truckin’ (blends into Truckin’)
Short, full band,
marching drums & keyboard, Weir phased & Garcia echoey – spooky feel.
6/30/87
Space>Spanish Jam (2:00)>Other One
Short, really just a
spacy hint; even more spectral/echoey; guitars/bass/effects, no drums.
11/8/87
Space>Spanish Jam (2:30)>Other One
Similar but longer, just
guitars & effects – nice eerie transition to a good Other One. The Spanish
Jam has all but dissolved into Space lately.
5/30/92
Space>Spanish Jam (5:55)>Miracle
A new decade, new sounds
– full of MIDI effects; bass, keyboards & random drums join in; Vince has a
different touch on synth; Garcia (with trumpet sound) is very distant –the
sound is disorienting, but they get into it for a while before the jam breaks
up.
6/22/92
Space>Spanish Jam (2:38)>Other One (blends into the Other One)
More MIDI (Garcia
trumpet) & tinkly keyboard; full band but floaty feel; merges with the
Other One.
3/24/93
Space>Spanish Jam (5:00)>GDTRFB
Very similar (full band,
Garcia MIDI trumpet, tinkly keys), but a little more solid & punchier;
drums back to march beat; comes to a stop.
7/31/94
Space>Spanish Jam (5:50)>Last Time
Full band, more creepy
MIDI; dense sound; starts spacy & disorienting, heats up with the drums;
Garcia uses a Davis-like trumpet tone; strong for a late-era version.
9/29/94
Space>Spanish Jam (4:35)>Other One
Much quieter, very vague
& spacy, mostly without drums; Garcia has a new spooky tone.
12/18/94
Space>Spanish Jam (2:25)>Space>Last Time
https://archive.org/details/gd94-12-18.akg.ladner.13530.sbeok.shnf (from 3:00-5:25 in space)
AUD tape – interlude
within Space, kind of a Weir/Lesh/Welnick trio; mostly creepy ambient spaciness
without Garcia.
5/21/95
Space>Spanish Jam (3:38)>Other One
Full band with loud marching
drums, prominent synth keyboard; surprisingly strong for the year; good
recording helps, but Garcia’s not involved much & barely plays.
6/18/95
Space>Spanish Jam (3:38)>Miracle
Good AUD tape – full
band; the last Spanish Jam is a strong one with theremin-style Garcia; reaches
an intensity that harks back to ’68. (Some of Garcia’s lines still echo
1/17/68.)
Oddly, the Spanish Jam
has been drifting more into ghostly spaciness since ’84, but the final versions
in ’95 get back to a rock-band crunch.
Timings
may vary. The starting points out of Space can be approximate and don’t always
match the track marks – the Spanish Jam is often hinted for a while before it’s
fully played. I also tended to be strict in not including surrounding jams in
the Spanish Jam times.
I
may have overlooked a few Spanish Jams – let me know if any are missing!
Oh,
and for those of you seeking a ready-made Spanish Jam compilation, this site has
you covered:
Here's a post that should have been on the site years ago....sorry for the long wait!
ReplyDeleteLong time listener first time caller...
ReplyDeleteFantastic write up. One of the most enjoyable themes they work on but also surprising that it's so sparsely played over 30 years... it feels like there is a Spanish Jam on just about every Dick's and Dave's Picks.
Another great analysis - thanks, LIA. Although it's become very familiar now, I used to love it in the early days of tape trading when it unexpectedly emerged from a jam. The first version that I ever heard was the Carousel show from 1968 which I probably received in trade around 1973. The show was unlabelled and I remember writing Spanish Jam on the cassette insert. Is that 'inherited memory' or did we all alight on the same name for it? Although I saw the two Rainbow versions in October 1981, if I had to choose, I'd still say the 1968 versions are my favourites - primal Dead, the year I got on the bus.Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the first Spanish Jams are the best.
DeleteIt's hard to say just when "Spanish Jam" became the common name. Some people may have used it when others didn't. For instance, the 1983 Mikel setlists don't include "Spanish Jam," but the 1983 Golden Road setlists do. In 1984, Uli Teute wrote a little article on Dark Star in the UK fanzine "The Music Never Stops" where he noted Spanish Jams. But a 1985 collection of setlists by Gordon Sharpless does not name them. So usage may have been inconsistent, or taken a while to spread. Anyone who still has old tape labels, or the first Deadbase from 1987, can check those.
Amazing work as always!
ReplyDeleteYou can also hear Weir clearly play the Spanish jam chords in the middle of the 2-13-70 Other One, although the rest of the band do not join in.
ReplyDeleteAccording to my notes, 12-26-80, 5-5-81, 7-11-81, 4-3-87, 5-5-91 all have tiny snippets of Spanish jam although none of them are really full-blown - typically there's a little flirt at the end of a Truckin' or Other One.
I forgot about 2/13/70 - 11 minutes into the Other One, there's a big climax and then Weir strums the Spanish chords, but everyone ignores him so he moves on. Just ten seconds, a blink & miss it moment.
Delete4/3/87 has a Garcia/Weir duet in Space which is very much in the Spanish vein.
I hear a tiny Spanish riff by Garcia in the 10/9/89 Dark Star at the 6:30 mark followed by a tiny other one riff and back into a tiny Spanish riff
DeleteNo direct Dead connection but another Sketches Of Spain story: Levon Helm mentioned in his book that the Band asked Miles Davis to open for them at Hollywood Bowl in 1970 because they were fans of the album. They were surprised at how different his music sounded that night.
ReplyDeletePhil Lesh said he hadn't heard Bitches Brew when Miles opened for the Dead in April 1970. It had just been released that March, so the shows would have been quite a surprise for him. In any case, only Garcia was brave enough to approach Miles afterwards and talk about how much he liked his albums.
DeleteI recall Miles saying that he liked Jerry and Dead, in his autobiography.
DeleteGreat stuff! 6/23/74 was also on So Many Roads and 7/29/74 also on 30 Days of Dead 2011.
ReplyDeleteThe Dead's Spanish Jam is played in E (moving to F > G and back down to E....in general terms). This is very typical of how guitarists play Malaguena.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that Quicksilver perhaps modeled their version (Calvary) on the Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit.
Both of those songs play the similar progression as Spanish Jam, but in F#. The F# goes to G, then to A, etc.
Obviously Calvary and White Rabbit are very different compositions, but they do share the "F# > G > A" theme.
That's funny you describe the 7/19/74 transition into Eyes as awkward, that's one of my favorite moments! Eyes was either coming from a cold start or out of a spacier moment in that era, I find it neat that they jammed straight into it, sounds smooth to me. But that tape has godlike status with me, it's a favorite Eyes for the year.
ReplyDeleteWeir starts Eyes as the Spanish Jam winds up, and it takes a few moments for everyone to join him. But I admit, it's not that awkward, they're pros!
Deleteper nedbase, on 06-23-74, Ned Lagin plays on Fender Rhodes 88 electric piano.
ReplyDeleteI-) ihor
Maybe he does play in the second set, but if so I don't think he was recorded. I believe it's just Keith that we hear on the Rhodes.
DeleteAfter the White Rabbit tease on 8/15/71, Lesh asks where the guy requesting it is from. The most obnoxious White Rabbit requester (the "play White Rabbit goddammit!" guy they keep imitating) was at a show in New Orleans - Weir explains, "He was drunk on beer and he was hollering that all afternoon."
ReplyDeleteThe actual show was the 9/1/69 New Orleans Pop Festival. One Archive commenter who was there recalls, "During the Jefferson Airplane's set, some drunks up front kept yelling "White Rabbit," so of course, they didn't play it. These guys kept yelling for the song while the Grateful Dead set up and well into their set. Jerry said, "It's not our song," and Bob suggested that they listen to the record when they got home. The drunks kept on yelling, and other people in the audience were throwing stuff at them to get them to shut up."
Unfortunately this isn't apparent on the tape.
I made this thing
ReplyDeletehttps://archive.org/details/SJEvo
Five and a half hours of Spanish Jams, looks like a feast for Spanish fanatics!
DeleteVery nice - thanks! Any chance of posting the order of the dates those come from?
DeleteI'm quite obsessed with the DP 22 Spanish Jam these days. Has this constant feeling of darkness with Jerry's guitar sounding like lost gulls in the night.
ReplyDeleteIf we had more lists and/or more tapes from late 67 and 68 probably there would be many more performances than the seven we know about from that era.
ReplyDeleteAmong latter-day Spanish Jams I especially dug & dig Vegas 5/30/92 -- all post-mod MIDI spikes and angular. 1992 acid style.
Yes, there could be many more Spanish Jams from early '68, but it was still surprisingly short-lived: gone from the setlists by June '68, as far as we know.
DeleteI first heard the 2/11/70 version on a cassette in the early ‘80s, and it was listed as “White Rabbit”!
ReplyDelete