Ok, this one may be a bit cliche, but that’s part of the fun of music, right?, the ability to appropriate and apply the (perceived) meaning of a song to one’s own life. The Dead didn’t write a lot of love songs. In fact, I remember reading or hearing somewhere that Garcia said he actually sat down and tried to write a legitimate love song once (appearing on the Shakedown Street album). They Love Each Other doesn’t have the sappy sentimental element that endears (or is it plagues?) so many love songs. Like a number of the band’s other songs it started off as a much bouncier song and over the years evolved to a more laid back, less jaunty arrangement. Whether that was intended, a result of chemical influences, or something else I have no idea, but I’ve always preferred the peppier versions from early 1973.
On this night on the Great Plains, Garcia starts off by laying down the standard intro lick with a slinky, ready to slapback guitar tone. As the vocals start the whole band kicks in and Keith takes a few flights of fancy at all the appropriate times. During the second verse you can actually hear a fan yell “woo!” so you know the boys are hitting it right. By the first chorus this little ditty is chugging along like a locomotive (not one that will fall off the track though!). Jerry dances intricately around the melody during the solo that follows. This is ’73 so only Billy is back on the kit and you can tell the band has a lot more room to breathe. During the second chorus Bobby really accents his rhythm playing and Keith oscillates between tasteful runs and block chords in the bridge before heading back to the verse. As Jerry sings the final chorus it actually sounds like Bobby is throwing in some lead runs before the song comes to a close. All in all a solid version of this arrangement of this great tune!
So turn this one up, grab your special someone and boogie for a few minutes today. I’m sure you’ll both be… Grateful… if you do!
Complete Setlist 2/26/73
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Hey Lunchbox,
Great to see you still firing away. I absolutely love this DP, in my top 5 for sure. 73 has always been a year that holds a special spot for me since acquiring the Winterland show off stash nugs. That show might have my fave china-rider, but then again views tend to wander with so much to listen too and with surprises turning up so often.
The Love each other is a sweet one here and really fits into the whole jazzier, springier feel the dead had in 73. I love Keith’s elevation as a full soloist in this year and as much as the 72 great trip abroad, I could only handle so much Pig rapathons. Not that I don’t like some of his tunes, but have to admit to forwarding to the next track often when he just kept goin on and on. Much rather listen to the band stretching out rather than the Pig.
Have to mention from this same disk is a great He’s gone with the sweetest ending the song might have ever experienced.
Keep up the great work.
Thanks for this Joe. I’ll put the China/Rider and He’s Gone from DP 28 on my list of things to listen to carefully.
This version is snappy from the start. Maybe too snappy for the song’s own good (even for a “fast” early version) but who knows what went on during the set break. Nothing wrong with a little energy at this point, eh? After some rushed singing, the solo section tweaks along nicely and it grooves despite the pace. Another verse finds the part about being “on a dizzy ride and you’re cold sober.” Next up is the bridge section that never made it onto the studio version. The rest is a blurry rush, and everyone seems to be happy it’s over. It’s no wonder they slowed it down in its later incarnation. Nothing awful happens here though. Given the context, it’s a fine listen.