Phil Lesh & Friends recreated a classic Grateful Dead medley with help from Adam MacDougall in the latest installment of The Clubhouse Sessions. Episode 9 of the bassist’s viral performance series saw the Circles Around The Sun keyboardist help revisit the “Playing in the Band” sandwich from the Dead’s November 17th, 1973 concert at the University of California, Los Angeles‘ Pauley Pavilion.
From the Dead’s celebrated fall ’73 tour, the UCLA “Playing” sandwich is actually an “Uncle John’s Band” > “Morning Dew” > “Uncle John’s Band” sandwich stuffed between two halves of “Playing”—a musical version of John Madden‘s turducken, if you will. To pull off this culinary feat, Phil recruited his son Grahame Lesh and Stu Allen on guitars, Jeremy Hoenig (Melvin Seals & JGB) on drums, and MacDougall. While Allen’s tone is a dead ringer for Jerry Garcia‘s mid-’70s guitar sound, MacDougall puts his own touch on the jam with extensive MDI synthesizer use reminiscent of his work with his instrumental CATS quartet.
As the band leaves open-ended songs in their wake, interstellar wanderings out of “Playing” lead into the singalong of “Uncle John’s Band”. The trail of breadcrumbs continues to the sanguine “Morning Dew”, which Allen vocally devours in one sitting, before going back to finish the uncompleted songs to top off the sandwich. MacDougall’s alternating use of his Wurlitzer and synthesizer guides the quintet back to the sound of “Uncle John’s Band” before the triumphant ending of “Playing in the Band” puts an exclamation point on the movement.
“One of the cool things about the way the Grateful Dead did that, was that it didn’t have to be tight,” Lesh said of the original 1973 sandwich, to laughter from his current bandmates. “We didn’t all have to do it at the same time.”
Watch Phil Lesh & Friends with Adam MacDougall revisit the Grateful Dead’s “Playing in the Band” sandwich from UCLA ’73, and listen to the original concert below.
The Clubhouse Sessions: Episode 9 — ft. Adam MacDougall
Grateful Dead — Pauley Pavilion, UCLA — Los Angeles, CA — 11/17/73
[Audio: Jonathon Aizen]
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