Grateful Dead’s Europe ‘72 Tour 50th Anniversary: May 25 – London, England

In April 1972, the Grateful Dead embarked on their now-legendary Europe ’72 Tour. The band performed 22 times between April 7 and May 26, resulting in the landmark triple live LP, Europe ’72 that was released in October of that year. To celebrate the legacy of the band’s historic tour abroad, JamBase presents a retrospective look back at each of the Europe 1972 Grateful Dead performances.

The Grateful Dead had just two shows left on their Europe ‘72 Tour when they awoke in London on May 25. The concert held later that evening was the band’s third of a four-night run at the Lyceum Theatre.

The concerts at the Lyceum were among the last added to the tour. According to the official tour itinerary, which ended up diverting extensively from its original schedule, the gigs were listed as “Possible Lyceum London.” The Lyceum shows were late additions after tour-opening and tour-closing runs at the Rainbow Theatre fell through when that venue ran into financial problems. The Dead ended up starting the tour with a pair of concerts at London’s Wembley Pool and returned at the end of the tour for the Lyceum run.

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In his book, Living with the Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead, manager Rock Scully’s entry for the Lyceum run described the scene in London:

Acid madness of epic proportions in full swing. Play here for three days. It is a high old gig. Mecca Ballrooms owns the Lyceum. Has all the fucking bouncers in dopey red jackets with black lapels and bow ties. All get dosed without exception. All immediately disrobe and get rid of their bow ties and red jackets as fast as they can and want to get naked with the girls and roll down the aisles and yodel. The place is supposed to close at 11 o’clock or something stupid but it goes on until 1:30 in the morning. Every night. And every night they have to bring a whole new bunch of bouncers in, because the ones from the previous night are never seen again.

As they did on each night of the Lyceum run, the New Riders Of The Purple Sage played an opening set before the Grateful Dead came out for two sets of their own. As they did on the first night of the Lyceum (and would again the following night), guitarist Bob Weir led the band through a show-opening cover of Chuck Berry’s “The Promised Land” (while fumbling some lyrics) to begin the May 25 concert.

Trading off lead vocal duties as they would throughout their career, the Dead were then led by guitarist Jerry Garcia through “Brown Eyed Women.” Keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan got the call next, delivering “Big Boss Man,” instead of the more commonly placed “Mr. Charlie,” which would come later in the set.

Written by Luther Dixon and Al Smith, “Big Boss Man” was first recorded in 1960 by Jimmy Reed, and later by B.B. King and Elvis Presley. The blues number entered the Dead’s lexicon, with Pigpen singing lead, in 1966, but was shelved following its May 25 performance in London. With Garcia taking over lead vocals, the Dead revived “Big Boss Man” in 1981, sporadically playing it another 15 times. A final time came on July 6, 1995, which was also its first appearance in five years.

While others were tuning before “Black Throated Wind,” keyboardist Keith Godchaux played part of the “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” melody.
The first set saw Pigpen take the band through the tour’s 21st “Mr. Charlie,” the second of four songs he fronted that band on that night. They were among the final times he would do so, as his last appearances with the Dead were the next show in London plus one more in the United States.

The other Pigpen-led tune in the first set was a cover of “Good Lovin,’” which was written by Arthur Resnick and Rudy Clark and recorded by The Young Rascals, whose version of “Good Lovin’” topped the charts in 1966. The song also entered the Dead’s repertoire in 1966 when Pigpen sang lead on a one-off performance. The band brought it back in earnest in 1969, with Garcia initially handling lead vocals, but after three renditions it was back in Pigpen’s care. Weir, who sang lead a few times in 1970, would take over singing “Good Lovin’” when the post-Pigpen Dead resurrected it in 1974, remaining a frequent setlist staple while garnering hundreds more performances through 1995.

The final Pigpen “Good Lovin’” once again featured Garcia playing the former’s organ. While this version of the song provided impressive and focused improvisation, it lacked Pigpen’s typically impassioned and mostly improvised rap, as he instead opted to lay back and let his bandmates dig into the jam. During the jam, bassist Phil Lesh hinted at “Dark Star,” which would come in the second set.

“This is Donna,” Weir told the audience as vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux took the stage, adding, “I imagine by now, no introduction is necessary.”

The emergence of Donna, who was on her first tour as a member of the band, ushered in the 22nd “Playing In The Band” of the tour (counting both attempts on April 21 while taping a Beat Club appearance). The +15-minute rendering of “Playing In The Band” on May 25 was the second-longest performed on the Europe ‘72 Tour, a feat that would be topped the next night. An intense and psychedelic jam developed inside the “Playing,” driven by Bill Kreutzmann’s dynamic drumming.

The first set drew to an end with “Brokedown Palace,” the tender Garcia-sung tune was making its second of two Europe ‘72 Tour setlists, and the tour’s 17th and final “Casey Jones” first set closer.

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A series of compact songs kicked off the second set, with the tour’s lone “Me And My Uncle” set two opener. The Weir-led cover was followed by a Garcia-led cover of “Big Railroad Blues.” Pigpen’s last lead duties of the night came next, via his original “Chinatown Shuffle.” Then it was back to Garcia for “Ramble On Rose.”

After settling in, the Dead began tapping into their improvisational proclivities. A rare-for-the-tour mid-set “Uncle John’s Band” dissolved into a free-form jam that landed on “Wharf Rat.” Both songs were played for their fifth and final times on the tour. The emotional “Wharf Rat” set up the second “Dark Star” performed at the Lyceum, which was also part of the first night’s second set.

Clocking in at 34:36, the May 25 “Dark Star” is the second-longest track included in the Europe ‘72: The Complete Recordings box set (behind the April 26 “The Other One” at 36:27 and not counting the 48:07 “Dark Star” divided by “Drums” sequence on May 11). The May 25 “Dark Star” built slowly, hinting at its main theme that arrived around the 15-minute mark and the first verse coming a few minutes later.

Around 21 minutes into the “Dark Star,” Lesh and Weir propagated one of the most pronounced “Feelin’ Groovy” jams, which lasted for several minutes. Akin to Simon & Garfunkel’s “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)” that the duo released in 1966, the Dead began incorporating elements of the song into “Dark Star” in 1969 and continued incorporating the motif in many other versions through 1972. The following year, “Feelin’ Groovy” was often jammed on between “China Cat Sunflower” and “I Know You Rider,” but after 1974 it disappeared.

The streak of three-straight Garcia-sung songs ended when the Lyceum “Dark Star” segued in “Sugar Magnolia,” which happened in Europe a few times prior. Garcia’s “Comes A Time” made its fourth and final Europe ‘72 appearance. Weir then told the audience they were going to “regale you with some oldies” before leading into “El Paso.”

The band then covered “Sitting On Top Of The World,” which marked the final Grateful Dead performance of the song they also began playing back in 1966. “Sitting On Top Of The World” was written and recorded in 1930 by the Mississippi Sheiks. Garcia brought it to the Dead, having performed it as far back as 1962, perhaps after hearing a Carl Perkins recording of the song. The set and the show ended – without a true encore – with a pairing of “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad” into “One More Saturday Night.”

The Thursday night, third Lyceum Theatre show was the only of the run at the venue to not have any songs selected for the Europe ‘72 live album.

Here are additional statistics and information regarding the 21st performance of the Grateful Dead’s Europe ’72 tour:

Setlist (via JerryBase)

Set One: Promised Land, Brown Eyed Women, Big Boss Man, Black Throated Wind, Tennessee Jed, Mr. Charlie, Jack Straw, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Me And Bobby McGee, Good Lovin’ [1], Playing In The Band, Brokedown Palace, Casey Jones

Set Two: Me And My Uncle, Big Railroad Blues, Chinatown Shuffle, Ramble On Rose, Uncle John’s Band > Jam > Wharf Rat > Dark Star [2] > Sugar Magnolia, Comes A Time, El Paso, Sitting On Top Of The World [3], Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad > One More Saturday Night

Notes:

• [1] Jerry plays organ
• [2] Includes Feelin’ Groovy Jam.
• [3] Final performance (by GD)

Below, stream the official recording of the Grateful Dead’s May 25, 1972 concert at the Lyceum Theatre in London, England, or check out other recordings via Archive.org:

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Source: JamBase.com