REVIEW: Grateful Dead, Fallout From The Phil Zone (Grateful Dead)

- Jim Flammia

Since the passing of Grateful Dead leader/guitarist Jerry Garcia almost two years ago, the remaining members of Rock 'n Roll's longest running musical caravan have remained relatively busy. Singer/guitarist Bob Weir and his band Ratdog, along with one half of the Dead's percussion team Mickey Hart, have been on the road with the Furthur Festival for the past two Summers. Keyboardist Vince Welnick has his group The Missing Man Formation, and drummer Billy Kreutzmann seems to be on an indefinite diving expedition.

In the meantime, the elder statesman of the band, bassist Phil Lesh, (yes, older than Garcia), has been quite busy himself. Lesh, a classically trained musician before joining the group in the mid-1960's, had mentioned publicly that, among other projects, he was going to spend some time rummaging through some old tapes to see what he would come up with. Well, the long-awaited result is a unique collection of live Dead entitled_Fallout From The Phil Zone. This 11 song collection is the first "official" Grateful Dead release that contains live tracks that were recorded from different time periods. The liner notes in this package are even exceptional. As well as the obvious information, they include a paragraph for each track, written by Lesh, describing the significance of each song, the band members on each track, when it was recorded, where it was recorded, and who recorded it, with an interesting little omission in the recording credit for the two cuts from '89. Each track was hand-picked by Lesh from the years 1967, '69, '70, '71, '77, '89, and '95. Although the strongest material on the album is from '71 and before, each song is its own special entity for different reasons.

Disc One opens with the Dead's cover of the classic '60 romp "Dancin' In The Streets" recorded in 1970. This may be a shocker for those of you who have never heard anyone "expand" on this one before, but the band pulls it off as the "poppiest" cut on the album. Other highlights from the first disc include a version "New Speedway Boogie" that, as Lesh tells, "was found in a box of old stuff marked 'unknown' in the bowels of the vault". What is known is that it was recorded in 1970, and Bob Weir is playing acoustic guitar, which gives the Garcia/Hunter tune more of a blues-country feel. Also included is a stellar "Viola Lee Blues", which is one of the quintessential Dead improvisational standards from the early days of the band. This 1969 version from Chicago holds nothing back. It's raw and dirty, complimented by Garcia's aggressive leads, and Lesh's thick bass lines that lead the others from a blues filled jam into a chaotic frenzy. Closing out Disc One is a powerful 1971 performance of Otis Redding's "Hard To Handle". This was consistently one of the band's best cover tunes of that period. The band is tight, funky and mean. Pigpen's soulful delivery is complimented perfectly by the rhythm section, and Garcia's fluent picking. As you'll hear, the audience agrees.

Disc Two has some serious high points as well. The highest being "In The Midnight Hour" from 1967. I highly doubt that Wilson Pickett and Steve Cropper ever thought their classic, covered by many, could ever be transformed into an epic thirty-one minute and forty-nine second psychedelic circus. Pigpen is at his soulful best preaching to the audience with a commanding grit. The band takes it far past any ordinary boundaries with, what sounds like, Garcia and Lesh both playing leads that interweave in and out of each other. The band then takes it back down as Pigpen blends in some bluesy harp before stretching it out even further. You'll need to strap in for this one.

"The Music Never Stopped" one of my personal favorites from the Dead repertoire, is one of the band's funkier tunes. Although this 1989 recording is by no means the best version I've heard, it is definitely a good one. The band is pretty solid all the way through, especially during the spacey interlude before they segue quite smoothly back into the song's finale. Another cut to pay particular attention to is "Jack-A-Roe". This 1977 arrangement has a slower tempo with more of a "kick" than the Dead's usual 'Western" style, which is sort of refreshing.

Before listening to this set, I found it interesting that Lesh chose to include "Visions Of Johanna", until I heard it. The beautiful semi-rarely played Dylan song, recorded during the Dead's last run in Philadelphia in 1995, showcases Garcia's sincere and touching delivery in that grandfatherly tone that melts many of us. The band is sharp, the sound is crisp, and this is a jewel.

Perhaps it was a bit self-indulgent, three decades of live show to choose from, to close out this collection with the Lesh/Hunter classic "Box Of Rain", even if it is one of the best songs the band created during their 30 year run. Maybe it was even a bit gutsy, considering it's one of the few Dead songs that has always been better in the studio. But, ya know, even though Lesh was not blessed with an angelic voice, this 1989 version could even make the most skeptical music fan stand up and yell "Let Phil sing".

Way to go Phil; keep 'em comin'.