Jerry Week: “Eyes of the World” 1974/10/19
Grateful Dead 1974
Jerry week continues here at DGB where we’ll be paying tribute on each of the days between. For today’s selection, we turn to the well-known and much-loved version of “Eyes of the World” from October 19, 1974. This was part of a run of shows that sent the Dead on temporary hiatus for the six months that followed, and also acted as the final shows using the legendary Wall of Sound speaker system. This version—which serves as the very first piece of Grateful Dead music that ever graced my ears—is featured in The Grateful Dead Movie, as well as on the So Many Roads Box set. If not for this version of this song, my life would likely have taken a very different path. I owe a great deal to my friend who played it for me on that summer night so many years ago, and to this day it remains one of my all-time favorite pieces of music.
MP3: “Eyes of the World” (10.19.74)
It’s a fantastic Eyes. I have a similar relationship to Eyes, but it’s the 5/22/77 version (DP#3, Pembroke Pines). I’ve probably listened to that piece of music more than any other. It’s been roughly 13 years since I first heard it, and it doesn’t cease to blow my mind.
For this Jerry week, I find myself listening to a bunch of those gut-wrenching performances from the late 80s/early 90s, with Jerry sings and plays his heart out on ballads like Standing On the Moon (3/20/92), Morning Dew (9/18/87) and So Many Roads (most). Each one feels like a farewell.
August 4, 2011 at 2:20 pm
Oone of my favourite versions of a favourite song. Good call.
August 6, 2011 at 3:09 am