“Let It Grow” from July 8, 1990 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh is the Grateful Dead’s latest release in their All The Years Live video series. Originally written as “Part 2” of the Bob Weir-composed “Weather Report Suite,” the song stood alone in Pittsburgh — as it had done for some time at that point — and fell in its familiar first set closer spot following Bob Dylan’s “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues.”
While the Dead performed “Weather Report Suite” in its entirety briefly in the mid-1970s, “Let It Grow” soon became its own thing. 1990 was a vintage year for the Grateful Dead and “Let It Grow,” as an October 2019 All The Years release of a version shortly after Pittsburgh in Orchard Park, New York attests to as well as Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux in his notes from the Pittsburgh “Let It Grow,” which state:
“From the very fine Summer Tour of 1990, this Let It Grow ends what is an overall very solid first set, before the Dead would return for an epic second set in Pittsburgh. This is from Brent Mydland’s final tour, continuing the excellent playing from the Spring Tour of 1990.”
Check out the performance below:
