Grateful Dead

You've been hearing American Beauty in the background for the past couple weeks. It's one of our favorite LPs at 168. (Did you know, if you really study the album cover, you'll see that besides saying "Beauty," the Kelley-Mouse design alternately spells out "Reality." Cool, right. (That's called an "ambigam," by the way.

Anyway, it was on in the shop and then we came across our copy of Anthem of the Sun and got hooked on a Dead standard.

"That's It For The Other One" was for many years a key part of The Grateful Dead experience (after 1971, only the jam/instrumental sections were performed with regularity and referred to instead as "The Other One"). Each new iteration of the song reflected stages in the band's musical development, a proving ground for the band's dynamic musical exploration and experimentation. By 1973, this role was shifting to other songs, most notably "Playin' in the Band," "Eyes of the World," and most notably in the impromptu "Drumz" and Space segments that centered dead shows from as early as 1967, but most notably from the late 70s. "The Other One" began to settle into a more predictable format, exhibiting an ebb and flow of intensity and concentration that more or less matched the creative and dynamic energies of the band. "That's it for the One" in all its formulations was the catalyst for a Dead spirit that lasted into the 90s. It was the song that made The Dead The Dead.

The original suite of tunes, "Cryptical Envelopment," "Quodlibet for Tenderfeet," "Cryptical Reprise") arrived on the scene in a standout performance at the Shrine Auditorium in L.A. on November 10, 1967, though abbreviated versions of the tune appeared even earlier. These early variants and the studio cut itself open with ambiguous, though heartfelt, storytelling; indeed a powerful intro to 1968's Anthem of the Sun:

The other day they waited

their breath was cold and bated

solemnly they stated

he had to die

he had to die...

And all the children learning

from books that they were burning

every leaf was turning

to watch him die

well, you know he had to die...

The summer sun looked down on him

his mother could but frown on him

and all the others sound on him

but it doesn't seem to matter...

And when the day had ended

the rainbow colors blended

his mind remained unbended

he had to die

well, you know he had to die

Then the band delved go into a brief version of "Quodlibet for Tender Feet," which in later versions is expanded into a movement of its own. It's pure psychedelic madness. In the midst of the "Quodlibet" jam, and on the LP all you want is more, comes a first-person account of a classically mind-unbending experience:

Spanish lady come to me

she lays on me this rose

it rainbow spirals round and round

trembles and explodes

left a smoking crater of my mind

I like to blown away

the heat came round

and busted me for smilin'

on a cloudy day."

"comin', comin', comin' around

comin' around...."

"Escaping through the lily fields

when I came across an empty space

it trembled and exploded

left a bus stop in its place

the bus came by and I got on

that's when it all began

Cowboy Neal at the wheel

of the bus to never ever land"

"comin', comin', comin' around, comin' around

comin' around, comin' around....

The storyteller seamlessly hems in the dramatic energy of this first person narrative account:

and when the day was ending

with rainbow colors bendin'

his mind remained unbending

he had to die, he had to die....

The first part, "Cryptical Environment," is an engaging Jerry Garcia piece where verses are sung over a background of Pigpen's mellow organ, Jerry's complimentary guitar and drum fills that frequently mirror the rhythm of the lyrics. The piece temporarily shifts to a heavily processed vocal passage with a pretty psychedelic pop melody that serves as a bridge before returning to a final verse. (Though The Dead were more or less a communal operation, this tiny passage makes it clear that their most promising path to broader recognition would be Garcia’s voice and guitar, a truth that would emerge later on American Beauty.) 

Quickly we move to a brief second passage, "Quadibet for Tenderfeet," an instrumental passage recorded at one of their live performances. The shift is timed to the descending notes of "Cryptical Environment," with the expected final note replaced by the first drum beat of "Quadibet." The timing of that beat is a just teensy bit rushed — much more noticeable than the barely indistinguishable cut that gave George Martin and crew grief on "Strawberry Fields Forever." The shift from one reality to another is surprising at first, as we move from the manufactured stillness of the studio to the acoustically-variable dynamics of a live performance and are vaulted from a gentle tempo into a rocking bash. 

Garcia, Circa 1957

"Quadibet" fades pretty quickly and "The Faster We Go, The Rounder We Get," comes barreling in. The syncopated rhythms and rhythmic shifts are particularly well-executed and the weaving of the vocals during the chorus is terribly exciting. "The Faster We Go" then fades somewhat awkwardly (it was 1968 after all, and this wasn't a Beatles' budget) into a live fragment from the "Cryptical Environment." 

The fourth part is only for true Dead Heads or LSD peakers, "We Leave the Castle," a concoction of beeps, bells, growls, squeaks, noises, creaks and chimes courtesy of Tom Constanten, a friend of Phil Lesh who joined the party to provide piano and this barrage of effects. Again, it's 1968, and all is forgiven. "That's It For The Other One" is one of those Dead songs with a little bit of everything, Cassady, jamming, Jerry's timid vocals, storytelling, musicianship and experimentation. Want more? Better find an acid test.