Well, I’m a bit hesitant to jump back into this release so soon after opting for Mission In The Rain, but since this selection is technically from a different show I can live with it.
For me, High Time is a hit or miss song and there’s not a whole lot of wiggle room in between. This originally appeared on Workingman’s Dead and the attention to vocals on that album were such that when not delivered well it kind of ruined the song for me. Plus this is a pretty slow song and I have to be in the mood for a laid back tune like this to really appreciate it.
High Time was played pretty extensively in 1969 and 1970, and then it dropped out of the repertoire until it reappeared at this show. For a song that hadn’t been played live in almost 6 years I think this is an amazing rendition. The song continued to pop up a few times per yer, or so it seemed, but never really developed a solid place in the performance canon. I think that what makes an exceptional version all the more special.
Thoughts on this pick? Did I miss an obvious better choice? Let me know in the comments.
Oh man, Donna sounds great here. The more I listen to 76-77 the more I appreciate what Donna brought to the group. All the accent beats are just so well played in this version. They must have really rehearsed this one before bringing it back.
The whole thing is beautifully played in my estimation. It’s impossible to describe every nuance, but there are many.
The whole thing picks up and crescendos a bit. The feel is less delicate and moves along at a gentle, lazy pace. A brief miscue before the tag at the end is easily overlooked in light of what just transpired.
Complete Setlist 6/9/76
[AMAZONPRODUCTS asin=”B00HBHKHKS” features=”0″ locale=”com” listprice=”0″]
this is a great version, especially since it’s the 1st one in a long time… the next time played was on 6.12 and i’m not familiar with that version, but seeing how it was not chosen as one of the filler tunes on this release… BUT! 6.14.76 is flat-out one of my favourite gd shows of alltime… that version of High Time is beautiful… PLEASE go download the Hollister sbd on thee archive immediately if you are not familiar… everyone needs to posess that show… that Slipknot! is absolutely EPIC!!
anyway, irie tune on an irie day…
hope RSD was a success to all yesterday…
got me Hampton 79 & Garcia… and was able to score an extra copy of Hampton 79 for a-brother-in-major-need, Matchewy fellow dead.net threadhead!!
off to comment on the Mission in the Rain (cough, cough…)
♤
allday irie & absolutely dead to the core…
Ace, putting 6/14/76 through the motions this morning. Thanks for the suggestion. Sounds good to my ears!
Ace, I absolutely agree with you about 6-14-76, just a fantastic show. I remember getting great sounding tapes of that and 6-15 which was terrific as well. My love for bicentennial Dead started with those tapes and then was cemented later when I first heard the Day on the Green shows.
Lunchbox, my feelings about this song are similar to yours. I liked it on the studio album (which was my first GD record, although I’d previously bought Mars Hotel on 8-track) but it never really moved me the few times I saw them play it live. It was exciting, initially, to hear them play a relatively rare song, but as you said, it was pretty slow and, for me, never really amounted to anything special live. No doubt, some will disagree but that’s just my two cents.
A short conference concludes with this selection. They set this up painfully slowly but also beautifully. The first segment is an instrumental one, as it often was. As it dawns on the crowd that they are hearing “High Time” a cheer erupts. At this point, the song had not been played in almost six years. That’s a long time to wait. It never really left the rotation for long hereafter. Besides a couple of minor mis-cues, the take is mighty fine. The re-working includes lots of Donna harmonies and mostly good ones at that. I’d say her contributions are at a high on this show. Jerry emotes all over the place during this and there is very little to complain about. The last verse is especially poignant. If you are looking for a post-hiatus version of this, I say try this one on for size. The ending is shaky but nothing to blush about.