Revisiting Wilco & Bob Weir’s Masterful ‘Dark California Stars’ Performances

Earlier this summer on Dead & Company’s Final Tour, the band birthed a new arrangement of the Grateful Dead’s “Dark Star,” infusing the psychedelic rock masterpiece with the twanginess and countrified flare of Johnny Cash’s “Big River.” Dubbed by Bob Weir’s manager and Dead & Co. setlist writer Matt Busch as “Dark Star On The Big River,” it was reminiscent of another time Weir paired “Dark Star” with another song that resulted in a fan-favored new title.

Back in the summer of 2013, Weir participated in the AmericanaramA Tour along with Bob Dylan, My Morning Jacket and Wilco. While Dylan largely refrained from collaborating with the other acts of the course of the tour, Weir was regularly onstage with My Morning Jacket and Wilco.

On two occasions – AmericanaramA stops near Atlanta on June 29 and in Mountain View, California on August 4 – Weir joined Wilco for collaborative performances of “Dark Star.” What made those particular versions worthy of a new moniker was that “Dark Star” segued into and out of Wilco’s “California Stars” resulting in the “Dark California Stars” naming convention.

Wilco’s crossover with the Grateful Dead spans back to at least 1999 when Phil Lesh – sans bass – joined Wilco onstage at the Mountain Aire festival in Angel’s Camp, California on May 29, 1999. Lesh was on site to perform with Phil Lesh & Friends whose lineup that day featured guitarist Warren Haynes playing with the ensemble for the first of what would be many times.

Last summer, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline and frontman Jeff Tweedy performed with Phil & Friends at the Sacred Rose Festival near Chicago, which received the “PHILCO” portmanteau. Following that performance, Wilco frequently covered the Grateful Dead’s “U.S. Blues” throughout the rest of 2022.

Tweedy, whose birthday is today, spoke about covering “U.S. Blues” and the connection between the Grateful Dead and Wilco in an interview with Grammy.com, stating:

“Deadheads are sure familiar with [‘U.S. Blues’]. Boy, it really highlights and underlines the people in the audience who have that vocabulary [laughs]. When we play that song, it’s amazing. There’s a fair amount of crossover with our fans, it seems like.

“When we kicked into that song the first time we did it, in an encore, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a reaction like that from such a sizable portion from the audience.

“Nels and I played a show with Phil Lesh and Friends; we were invited to do this festival set with them in Chicago. They wanted me to sing some Dead songs, and I picked a few that I felt like I could do well. That was one of them.

“And then, when we got back to the Wilco tour, Nels and I were playing it in the dressing room again. It just sounded like something that fit in with the lyrics of [Wilco’s 2022 album] Cruel Country; it has a similar commentary on the brokenness of the community.

“And musically, it felt right in our wheelhouse, so we just kept playing it. It’s fun.”

When Wilco and Bob Weir first teamed up on “Dark California Stars” at Lakewood Amphitheatre in Atlanta, Cline was playing The Allman Brothers Band’s late co-founding guitarist Duane Allman’s famed 1957 Les Paul goldtop guitar, on loan from the Big House Museum.

The standout segue was given a second go at Shoreline Amphitheatre, one of the Dead’s “home venues” and was preceded by “Ripple” and followed by “St. Stephen.” A recording of the Shoreline “St. Stephen” was included on the Day Of The Dead covers compilation.

“California Stars” features lyrics written by Dylan’s idol Woody Guthrie that were put to music by Wilco and Billy Bragg for the Mermaid Avenue collaborative albums. Revisit both the Atlanta and Shoreline performances via audio and video clips (note: video displays backward) below:

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Source: JamBase.com