Dick's Picks 6 review
Dick’s
Picks Volume 6 represents a complete concert recorded October
14, 1983, at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, CT.
At the time of this release there was high demand to include
a “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire on the Mountain,” and this
one delivers that.
Surprisingly, this was the second consecutive release from
the early Brent tenure.
Disc
one of Dick’s Picks Volume 6 is a typical song list, but it
has some strong moments. The set begins with “Alabama Getaway”
> “Greatest Story Ever Told” setting the tone with vigor and
quick guitar soloing. I happened to think that the highlight of the
first set is a heartfelt version of “Althea” where the band gets
it just right. The “Tennessee Jed” hits some nice string bending
within the instrumental, but it is a bit weak vocally.
Most fans have heard “Hell in a Bucket” repeatedly
through the late 1980’s and after. It is interesting to hear an
early version; it did improve with time.
The
second disc of Dick’s Picks Volume 6 begins the bands
second set. This is an evening that the band is in no hurry. The
band begins with “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire on the
Mountain” that builds and builds expertly instrumentally; however,
Jerry’s voice is a bit rough. The pair of songs clock in at over
thirty minutes. The band decides on another crowd pleaser, the
pairing of “Estimated Prophet” > “Eyes of the World.”
This duo is also lengthy and clock is more than thirty
minutes. Many dead fans are happy to hear one of these pairing a
night, but this evening we got both. If you’ve done the math the
pre drums segment clocks in at over an hour, a tapers nightmare!
Dick’s
Picks Volume 6’s third disc is the remainder of the concert.
The “Spinach Jam” is quite interesting as it gives the
band an avenue to explore new boundaries. It leads perfectly into
“The Other One.”
During the instrumental of “Stella Blue” Bobby’s
playing complements Jerry’s lead helping to create a beautiful
passage that starts gently and builds the song to its plateau.
The
bottom-line on Dick’s Picks Volume 6 is that it is a good
collection, but not their best.
by Barry
Small
©
Grade B
