Sometimes it seems like a DFAY Jerry fest around here sometimes so I’m quite conscious about picking songs sung by others in the band. Obviously Jerry and Bobby have the most options, and today I’ve opted for a 1977 Lazy Lightnin’ > Supplication.
This pairing got its most extensive workout between 1976-1979. It was played a total of 111 times, but its frequency dropped off rather quickly beginning in 1980 and was last heard live on Halloween 1984.
Here we have another example of Weir’s love affair with 7/4 time. I’ve heard some complain about Phil’s playing in the late 70s, saying it was really sloppy. While that is a difficult point to refute at times, I really like the lines he plays here. The riff that leads into Supplication isn’t the most complex bass line on the planet but it sure it catchy. Combine that with Jerry’s lightning-like playing and it’s hard not to enjoy this pairing.
Phil starts the recognizable Supplication bassline and Jerry starts to feel his way around the new chord changes. Bobby and Keith hold down the melodic base of the progression playing straight chords mostly. Meanwhile, Phil has re-exerted himself, and the drummers have developed a bit more gusto as well. This is probably because Jerry is starting to heat things up in his own right as he builds the song towards a summit. One might wonder if anyone in the band ever got tired of comping chord progressions, but listening to what Jerry plays here while Keith and Bobby hold the center makes one realize that as long as Jerry played like that everything else was gravy.. Once everything is to a point where it’s good and frantic Bobby starts in on the Supplication lyrics. Before the whole thing ends, Jerry offers some more guitar pyrotechnics, notable with some chord solo stuff before the final “Woo!” ends the song.
Lazy Lightning
Flash back to a few days earlier, and we are back to firmer audio territory. The band sounds pretty fresh compared to what we heard a minute ago. Keith buzzes along on that weird keyboard he must have used for this tour only. The rest of the band thumps out the song competently, but Garcia is all but absent through the meat of this song. We hear him tweedle in as the CD track shifts over to…
Supplication
What a change. From the goofy remnants of the previous song, Garcia constructs a big jam. The band is perfectly content to stir up a big racket behind him. This goes on for a few minutes, but we could use more. Weir pipes in with the minimal vocal parts, then more big jamming happens but not nearly enough. This is a fine, little version that could have been stretched to infinity.