Steppin' Out With The Grateful Dead: England '72

I have listened to this band for about 33 years now, and have found most folks either: (1)dislike them for their somewhat rambling, often mediocre concerts; or (2) LOVE them for their distillation of SO MANY TYPES OF American and other musics that they find them to be a band "unlike no other" and "beyond description." I'd been listening to bootleg Dead concerts for three or so years before "Europe '72" was released, and noticed that even the people listed under category (1) above still enjoyed that live album distilled from the GD European tour that year (typically along with albums like "Workingmans' Dead" and "American Beauty" (both grand additions to the body of great American music, to be sure.)) Some of the BEST GD concerts I've ever heard have been from those 1972 European shows (5/3/72 - Olympia Theatre, Paris, FR and 5/26/72 - The Lyceum Theatre, The Strand, London, England (one of my ALL TIME TOP GD live concert picks), in particular, if forced to single out one or two).

This is why I rank "Steppin' Out" extremely highly (4 1/2 stars) - it includes examples of some of the finest Dead tunes (extremely well played, with the Deads' great capability for excellent use of dynamics showcased) with a band line-up that they were never able to match again, much to my (and probably theirs as well) DISMAY. The twin keyboard sound of Keith Godchaux (grand piano) and Ron "PigPen" McKernan (Hammond B-3 organ - along with his masterful harmonica,percussion, and amazing singing & "rapping)added a tremendous "extra dimension" to the bands' sound, which they were never again (as hard as they tried) able to duplicate.

In addition, the songs picked for the 4 (four) disc set represented all five (Garcia, McKernan, Weir, Lesh, and Donna Jean Godchaux) singers at their near peak (well, perhaps except for the ailing McKernan, and, considering his BAD NEDICAL CONDITION at the time, his vocals were quite respectable.) This is ESPECIALLY IMPRESSIVE for a band not generally known for their vocal prowess. Furthermore, the songs selected were very "all inclusive," touching comprehensively on almost ALL PHASES of the GDs career songwriting output (including two never before "released (officially) McKernan tunes ("The Stranger - Two Souls in Communion" ( a very "soulful", touching tune) and "Chinatown Shuffle" (which showed McKernans great humor through the lyrics and exemplified the great "funkiness" he imbued ALL his selections with (Ref: "Mr. Charlie"; "Big Boss Man"; "It Hurts Me Too"; "Good Lovin'"; "TOYLL"; etc., etc., etc.))

And finally, as if I haven't bent the readers' ears enough, "Steppin Out" also included some rarely played GD originals AND covers, and ALL VERSIONS of almost every tune were performed beautifully, as can be heard by both the listener and the very appreciative audiences' reception.

To sum it all up, THIS FAN would love to see HIGH QUALITY Dick's Picks (or whatever the heck you want to call them) versions of EVERY Europe '72 CONCERT released officially (I believe they may have numbered about 20 or 30 over a two month period). The late 1971 and most of '72 and (even a little of '73)timeframes remain for me "Jewel Box period" Grateful Dead. My only bit of sadness related to this is that we weill never see and hear that music again - excepting, thank God/Buddha/J-W-H/Allah/(or your spiritual inspiration of choice) that ALL THE SHOWS FROM THAT Spring, 1972 Tour WERE TAPED FOR POSTERITY.

HWB

Many people who love the Grateful Dead feel that their music started to hit some kind of peak at this time - that they hit a stride and moved to another level.

I hear it very differently. To me they start to lose energy, lose momentum, and reflect the personal vices going on behind the scenes at this point. I also blame some of their loss of energy on pianist Keith Godchaux, whose limited style didn't fit the band at all during his tenure (late '71 through early '79).

I don't like the "Europe '72" album (culled from the same tour as this collection) either, but this music is even lazier and more diffuse. Perhaps the lowest point of all is the completely unfocused 30-minute version of "Dark Star" on here. What was once a relatively focused exercise has become totally masturbatory, and perfunctory, [junk].

Some of the songs and playing work. Pigpen has one last chance to shine on this tour, and in places on the first two discs he does - Pigpen lovers will want this for sure.

To me there's frequently no "there" there in this music; the band is playing the same material that they had been for years, but less sharply. I feel that much of the other available live material outdoes this collection.

Europe '72 is generally considered to be among the best Grateful Dead tours, if not the best. There are also some things that make it unique- kieth on piano AND Pigpen on organ/vocals (it was his last tour, but pig had plenty left). Garcia plays a Fender stratocaster, giving his playing a different flavor. The band was at an impovisational zenith. This is a good set for fans of the original europe 72 album to get, very good recording too. They did make some excellent choices for Europe '72 though, as the songs which appear again on "steppin out" - China Cat sunflower, Truckin, Sugar Magnolia- are represented with better versions on Europe '72. Steppin' Out might be more desirable for "purists" since it has more uninterrupted song cycles, and the Europe '72 album contains studio vocal overdubs. Phil Lesh plays with incredible power here- muscular and inventive-this is a man possessed...the way he plays his custom Alembic bass is a huge part of the way Steppin' out sounds, there is a ryhymic drive that makes these songs exciting. The whole band plays like a freight train at full speed. All the while pigpen slips in his trademark organ fills and bluesy vocals. Bob Weir had just released his solo album "Ace" and he takes a larger role on this tour. Keith's playing is sophisticated-like finishing brush strokes to complete the picture- beautiful. I don't think Garcia's playing had quite reached his peak, but he comes close enough. The band still had its youth and energy occurring simultaneously with the musical advancement of each member and collectively. This intersection marks Europe '72 out as unlike any other grateful dead tour...some feel it was never equalled. There would not be this many hot shows on one tour until spring 1977- where Garcia's star shines brightly- albeit with a lot less jamming. The instrumental interplay on "Dark Star" and "The other one" is something there would be less of as time went on. After Europe '72 tempos gradually got slower and the jamming/improvising would eventually be reduced to nil. Steppin' out is a fine example of the bands improvisational bent. This CD set is among the best ever put out by the Dead archives- nice photos, notes and sound quality- a must for old and new fans alike. This is classic Grateful Dead.