I got this song stuck in my head last night when I was playing with my two year old. At one point he said “Ashes ashes, we all fall down” as is common for kids his age that are exposed to children’s rhymes. Of course for Daddy this line calls forth this Bobby song. It’s certainly not the first time he’s said this, nor is it the first time I made the connection, but I digress.
So with this song in the back of my mind I went looking for a good version. When I saw the cover of DP17 I knew I wanted to give it a whirl because I like the setlist of that release (and the bonus Eyes is in my top 3, for sure. I have no doubt it will appear at some point in the next year on here), I hadn’t listened to it in a while, and I knew that it was a Hornsby show. DP17 was one of the first Dick’s Picks that I purchased, too. My freshman year of undergrad I met a guy on the men’s soccer team and we had very similar musical interests and we went to a few shows together before he transferred to a different school. But nevertheless I remember hanging out in his dorm room and listening to DP17 so this release always carries a positive association with me.
This was the penultimate show in a six night run at the Boston Garden. Almost immediately you can tell that this is a very full sounding version of Throwing Stones. Vince’s electronic keyboard is present, but so too is Bruce’s grand piano. They actually work very well together, the former adding more sustain to the sound and the latter trickling out melodic runs like a bubbling brook. Jerry seems to stumble a bit after the “money green” line, but makes up for it in the brief solo interlude between verses with an easy solo dripping of sweetness. The band starts to crescendo as Bobby tells us we are all “on our own” before Jerry takes a stab at another solo. Phil holds down the bottom end nicely during the solo and adds some really cool fills underneath. Garcia’s solo isn’t flashy and dances around the melody before passing the task over to Bruce who takes the same melody-based approach around 5:30 with all kinds of interesting flourishes and twists and turns. The band continues to build momentum until (ashes ashes) it all quickly changes dynamics for the final verse. Bruce continues to add tasty runs through this stanza, and the song comes to its typical close before segueing directly into Not Fade Away. This is an instance where you can really sense the impact that Bruce Hornsby had on the band and how much he added to their sound and inspired them, especially Jerry to play better.
Complete Setlist 9/25/91
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Here we have a relatively mellow beginning to this Earth anthem. The band turns up the heat several degrees as the second half of the verse arrives. Then the momentum rolls. I’ll admit I’m not a huge fan of this song (which very often sounds ridiculously overwrought) but this one has a certain charm and depth normally lacking. Well, I spoke a bit too soon as the “on our own” phrase is treated to an undignified series of unconvincing sermonizing. The following instrumental passage is huge and misses its cue slightly as it shifts. From there we go beyond that invisible line of good taste and into the realm of schlock. This is mercifully short as a tight turn is made to Not Fade Away.
Commenting awfully late but just clicked the link from the Eyes blog. I like this song but, having seen only shows from the 90s, it became awfully predictable. When listening to audience tapes you can hear the appreciation from the crowd when they occasionally go into Lovelight or Saturday Night instead of NFA.
I think one of the reasons that I DO still like the song is that I never saw the band live because I do know that it was probably over-played in the eyes of many. I have a good number of 89-90 shows and it pops up a lot, but it’s a lot different when you can bounce between eras compared to being on tour and hearing the same song again and again.