FJ: “Mississippi Half-Step” (9/03/77) – Grateful Dead

Last updated on: July 1, 2016 at 7:56 am by Scott Beauchamp

FJ: “Mississippi Half-Step” (9/03/77) – Grateful Dead 2016-07-01T07:56:07-04:00 Scott Beauchamp

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Grateful_Dead_at_the_Warfield-01

Grateful Dead at the Warfield Theater – Chris Stone – CC BY-SA 2.0

Well, I warned you about it so long ago and here it finally is: The good ol’ Grateful Dead. To take us into the Fourth of July weekend I thought I’d share what many (myself among them) consider THE BEST version of “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleoo” played in the early autumn of what many (I’m on the fence) consider the Dead’s best year: 1977.

I’m coming around to ’77. Along with Europe ’72, the year 1977 gets a lot of attention from Deadheads. Too much attention, for some snobbier heads that I used to count myself among. After all, 1974 can definitely be “jammier” than ’77, and the early 80’s (another one of my favorite Dead eras) were dark and weird and unpredictable. But ’77 is like the perfect blend of taut sonic muscularity and blissful musical exploration. I could have shared the 5/8/77 “Scarlet Begonias” or the 5/15/77 “Eyes of the World” or any other number of standout performances from the year, but I chose this particular performance for its gritty beauty. It SOUNDS like someone blissed out on a sweaty, crowded, hot day on the East Coast. And even though it was performed in September, it sounds just like summer to me. Enjoy.

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