“You gotta remember that you and I are talking about two different “Dark Stars.” You’re talking about the “Dark Star” which you have heard formalized on a record, and I’m talking about the “Dark Star” which I have heard in each performance as a completely improvised piece over a long period of time. So I have a long continuum of “Dark Star” which range in character from each other to real different extremes. “Dark Star” has meant, while I’m playing it, almost as many things as I can sit here and imagine, so all I can do is talk about “Dark Star” as a playing experience. “ – Jerry Garcia

Welcome back to Dark Star stories. I’m excited about this month’s installment since it is one of my all-time favorites – February 18, 1971.

• CLICK HERE TO STREAM 2/18/1971

The February 1971 run at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York is significant on many levels, first of all, the first night of the run, February 18th, was Mickey’s final performance with the band until the last of the retirement shows in October, 1974. Secondly, these were the first “Betty Boards” – recorded on 7” reels by Betty Cantor for possible inclusion on the 1971 Skull and Roses (aka Skullfuck) live album. Third, these shows featured the debuts of Bertha, Greatest Story Ever Told, Playing in the Band, Loser, Deal, Bird Song and Wharf Rat, the debut of which we’re talking about today. What an impressive break out of material! All of these songs were among the band’s best and brightest and stayed in the repertoire up until the end.

But there’s one other significant footnote to these shows. Dr. Stanley Krippner recruited the band and audiences’ help in what would become the largest ESP (that’s Extra-Sensory-Phenomenon folks) experiment of the age. While the band performed, a series of slides appeared on a screen over the stage. Deadheads would focus on the image and try to “beam” it to the test subject – a guy sleeping in a Brooklyn hospital. When the test subject awoke, he would report on his dreams and see if there was any sort of correlation between the images seen at the concert.

The results of the experiment were “inconclusive”, but you can read all about it here and here. READ ON for more of this month’s Dark Star Stories…

But even the most perceptive Deadhead could not have forseen the strange events of the opening night – how about a first set Dark Star?

I can’t say enough about the sound quality here. When these tapes first made the rounds, it was a revelation – live Dead in glorious multi-track stereo sound – of the entire run of shows. There’s a good mix of audience ambiance and the crowd reaction as Dark Star begins is one of surprise and delight. Pig had just lead the band through a funky and spirited Hard to Handle and after some tuning, the band drops the intro.

The band plays it straight, jamming on the opening theme. Pigpen’s keys have a lovely harpsichord-like sound that remind me of some of the more “Baroque” readings of Dark Star from the late 1960s.

Garcia’s begins the vocal far away from the microphone with great effect as he leans in close – it makes you completely overlook his flub of “Dark Star flashes” instead of “crashes.”

After the first verse, the structure falls completely apart into a quiet ambient passage of cymbals and stray notes, until a squall of rich feedback signals the gentle opening of Wharf Rat – the first ever played.

It’s a brisk and solid performance of the song. The band plays it cool, being mindful of chord changes and dynamics. The absence of Keith Godchaux’s piano makes for a very raw and minimalist rendition of the song. But, just like the debut of Bertha and Loser earlier in the set, the band fucking nails it, especially Jerry, who sounds confident and overjoyed to be playing these new and powerful songs for the crowd. The outro jam is brief and the band is quick to retreat to the safety of the Dark Star theme once again.

When Arista Records compiled the So Many Roads box set, they lifted a 4 minute and 33 second fragment from the post-Rat jam and dubbed it “The Beautiful Jam” – and beautiful it is. It’s a thematic jam that is completely unique to this performance. It’s a perfect example of that glorious “Lightning in a Bottle” Grateful Dead magic. Garcia’s leads are so rich and bright. The whole thing just shimmers with ecstatic improvisational joy.

As the Mirror Shatters, the band finishes up this brief and brilliant Star before Bobby gives us a rough and tumble Me and My Uncle. 1971 would only see eleven more performances of Dark Star and it would soon evolve into the billowous psychedelic epics of 1972 and 1973. This is one of the last performances of Dark Star with the “outro”.

The rest of the run is definitely worth checking out, and the second night was officially released as Three From the Vault, but the other nights are available in taper circles.

By the way, it’s worth mentioning that the next first set version of Dark Star would come over twenty years later. Taking everyone by surprise on a hot afternoon at Shoreline Ampitheater on August 16th 1991. It’s a fairly brief rendition, but it’s an interesting footnote.

• CLICK HERE TO STREAM AUGUST 16, 1991

Remember, send all your comments, requests and anecdotes to darkstarstories@yahoo.com.

Ben Wiser