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Stella Blue


VincentPuleo

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Stella Blue is, in my opinion, the most important of all songs. If Garcia somehow was in a situation in which he was forced to choose a single song from his and Hunter's catalog, one song that was most important to him, I believe he would say it was the song Stella Blue. My reasoning has more to do with the versions I've heard in person than with anything else, but Garcia has given clues in interviews as well. He talks about random songs an interviewer brings up all the time (from Casey Jones to Ain't No Lie to Death Don't Have No Mercy) but he's singled out the song Stella Blue, unsolicited, several times. Once he was asked about the crowd favorite 'Morning Dew' and why he thought it was such a beloved tune by heads everywhere and while he admitted as much, he also said he didn't really understand why, and that he finds a song like Stella Blue vastly more interesting. Another time he talked of the genius of Hunter's work and said he would sometimes think he had a song's meaning all figured out and then years later begin to begin to understand what the song was really talking about, and he mentioned Stella Blue as the example, to name just two instances.

I know if I had to pick one song that was the biggest of all songs having to do with Jerry Garcia, it would be Stella Blue. I have this feeling that many people who saw tons of shows might agree too. Obviously, Dark Star would get votes from many--but I agree with Garcia when he once talked about that song and it's absence in the rotation. He said they play it in other songs and that just because they didn't play that song anymore doesn't mean they don't play that song anymore. I don't really look at D Star as a song as much as a vehicle or an experience or a dimension--it's just a different something.

It's kind of embarrassing to admit such things on message boards but I couldn't listen to Stella Blue for years after Garcia moved on. It took me about six months to be able to listen to anything whatsoever, but once I did, I was quite relieved that it was not a painful experience (after those first listens)--quite the opposite. However, anytime that song would come on, my girlfriend or I would quickly turn down the music (we actually almost NEVER let those opening notes get out into the universe in the first place). We never talked about it because it was obvious why both of us didn't want to hear it. I also think it was the last big Garcia/Hunter song that Weir and Lesh covered with their respective bands and I think the fist ones for Lesh (who I believe did it first) were instrumentals.

We've had this thread on here before (and I'm sure before I arrived too), and I hope this board doesn't go more than a few years without it coming back. I've already talked about these things and about 1994 being the year of the vocal Stella Blue so this is probably like listening to a broken record from some, but I just assume only those interested will read this. There were versions in '94 where Garcia's vocals were at their most vulnerable and their most beautiful. The three big ones that everyone has probably already heard are from Richfield (3/21), Detroit (8/1) and Boston (10/1). Those are the ones that will be remembered but, to me, this one from Phoenix (3/15) more greatly deserves a listen from anyone who cares, because it not only has that supernatural '94 vocal bit that many of us can hum in our sleep but it has an ending jam where he gets lost in this lick and it's just insane. In fact, it may just be the last great lick he ever loses himself in.

http://www.archive.org/details/gd1994-03-05.sbd.sailor_saint.33585.flac16

I love how Jon says he loves most the versions he's heard and then throws out 11/4/77 and 10/21/78. I'm quite certain that I would not be able to get out of bed after seeing some of the monster shows he's seen (same with Eaton), and it's one of the wonderful things that make this board such a cool place for me--meeting people like Jon and getting to know them. Jon, you are a lucky bastard!

There are so many pinnacle Stella Blues, it's impossible for me to make a top ten like list because it's just not fair. Garcia played it with so much heart and gave so much blood, it's just not right to pick the best one. Eaton would disagree and my guess is that he may be one of the reasons the Lexington 78 version (4/21/78) is included in the So Many Roads compilation. In my opinion, there is certainly no version that is better than that one, both vocally AND instrumentally. I cherish the versions that Jon mentioned as well...and these also hold a special place for me: 1/11/79, 6/21/80, 12/9/81, 8/10/82, 5/15/83, 7/13/84, 6/28/88, and one from the GD Movie (10/17?/74) and SO many more that I can't pull out of my brain right now. Just so many fucking more!

The second one I would want heads to listen to is this one from Hampton (3/21/86), just because I don't think it gets that much press these days and it's a perfect example of how this song can have that single moment which encompasses everything. A moment which makes us feel fragile and bare. A moment that is so achingly painful and mournful, and a moment so startling, so triumphant and so massive---all in a single instance! (which is obviously different for all of us). Here is that one for those who ever get a few minutes in their day:

http://www.archive.org/details/gd1986-03-21.nak300.damico.87638.flac16

And that's the thing about Garcia and those ballads and maybe this one in particular--there are so many out there, under appreciated and overly neglected, just waiting to be discovered by us, the lucky ones. I haven't heard every one yet and hope that remains true to almost the very, very end.

All I can say is WOW, just reading this makes me well up...I know I saw Stella Blue a number of times from GD and DSO. I would never have been able to put into words the feelings I get from that song. DStone nailed it. This post can be compared to any number of tunes that a band just nails and makes us all smile. Thanks DStone!

Peace,

Joe

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its simply my favorite song in the world .right before jerry sings stella blue and it is quite.that space is amazing. there s a space like that also in dew when there is silence,its beautiful.

One of my measures of a great Stella is the pause just after, "it seems like all this life / is just a dream." There needs to be a moment of complete silence before Jerry's next "Stella Blue". The longer than moment, the better the band is grooving on Stella's sense of open space.

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I've read Dstones take on Stella Blue several times since he first wrote this in July. Everytime I end up listening to several Stella Blue's and inevitably I get all emotional.

I read it to my wife this morning, and she cried, then laughed, then cried again. I played her the Detroit 94 version. I started to play that Hampton and she asked me to just stop. She couldn

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hey dstone et al..

does anyone have the text or a link to that interview where jerry talks about stella blue.. the one where he says its a perfect song? i love his analysis, but i dont remember where i saw it

**side note: this thread led to the accidental discovery that the jamband Ween does a really good stella blue cover!! cool!

http://www.archive.org/details/dead_air_20081116

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hey dstone et al..

does anyone have the text or a link to that interview where jerry talks about stella blue.. the one where he says its a perfect song? i love his analysis, but i dont remember where i saw it

**side note: this thread led to the accidental discovery that the jamband Ween does a really good stella blue cover!! cool!

http://www.archive.org/details/dead_air_20081116

I wouldn't categorize Ween as "jamband" They are anything and everything but. They do have much respect for the Dead and Jerry though. They payed much homage to Jerry in "So Long Jerry" by Ween

So Long, Jerry lyrics by Ween

I picked up my things and went outside

A man that I loved up and died

I couldn't believe that after all of this time

I never knew the man but he was a good friend of mine

So long, i'll see you down that long dark river

Floating on that lining in the sky

I'm lucky, lucky enough to have heard you play your song

So long, Jerry, so long

Always be together

Rolling down the track

Always and forever

Never lookin' back

I got my guitar and went to the river

Saw alot of people just dancin' around

I took off my shirt and jumped in the water

U always flew so high, now you've finally left the ground

So long, i'll see you down that long dark river

Floating on that lining in the sky

I'm lucky, lucky enough to have heard you sing your song

So long, Jerry, so long

So long, Jerry, so long

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hey dstone et al..

does anyone have the text or a link to that interview where jerry talks about stella blue.. the one where he says its a perfect song? i love his analysis, but i dont remember where i saw it

**side note: this thread led to the accidental discovery that the jamband Ween does a really good stella blue cover!! cool!

http://www.archive.org/details/dead_air_20081116

Sorry Jordan, I don't think I have any interviews anymore.

And that Ween Stella is an uber rare occurrence...I think they've only done it a few times. Pretty cool band.

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My favorite is, by far, the 8/1/94...I love the energy that entire show gives off. A rare Jerry birthday show begins with some silliness (that "Mickey Mouse Club > Addams Family" tuning just reeks of these guys cutting loose with that goofy energy they had earlier in their career!), and then the "Picasso Moon" rocks, and rocks hard.

The second set is totally chill and trippy, and that "Stella Blue"...wow. In all honesty, the first time I ever teared up listening to a show. (Well, second...I was at the DSO 12th anniversary show where JK did "Days Between" and I knew it would be the last time I saw that incarnation of the band, the one that made me fall in love with GD music. But I digress).

The raw emotion in that "Stella Blue" is shocking. Shocking. The crowd wells up with energy at the last part of the song, and you can tell it pushes Jerry to another level. That small little hook he plays in the last part is just a perfect phrase, a little rundown that almost says "This is for you."

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me and my friends debate this all the time.. while they certainly are the most genre-defying and eclectic band i've ever seen/heard (which makes it basically impossible to pigeonhole them into a distinct genre), I think they could be described as a jamband. They definitely play the jam circuit. they jam at their live shows. they're live shows take the music farther than the studio albums. i think all of these are fairly characteristic of jambands.. not to mention, "jamband" doesnt really mean much except its a band that improvises [within the given structure of a song] during their live shows, and makes the live experience a critical part of their existence. "They definitely play the jam circuit"--> this might be all it takes to be lumped into the genre anyway.

dave- if you ever run across it, you know who to call!

I wouldn't categorize Ween as "jamband" They are anything and everything but. They do have much respect for the Dead and Jerry though. They payed much homage to Jerry in "So Long Jerry" by Ween

So Long, Jerry lyrics by Ween

I picked up my things and went outside

A man that I loved up and died

I couldn't believe that after all of this time

I never knew the man but he was a good friend of mine

So long, i'll see you down that long dark river

Floating on that lining in the sky

I'm lucky, lucky enough to have heard you play your song

So long, Jerry, so long

Always be together

Rolling down the track

Always and forever

Never lookin' back

I got my guitar and went to the river

Saw alot of people just dancin' around

I took off my shirt and jumped in the water

U always flew so high, now you've finally left the ground

So long, i'll see you down that long dark river

Floating on that lining in the sky

I'm lucky, lucky enough to have heard you sing your song

So long, Jerry, so long

So long, Jerry, so long

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me and my friends debate this all the time.. while they certainly are the most genre-defying and eclectic band i've ever seen/heard (which makes it basically impossible to pigeonhole them into a distinct genre), I think they could be described as a jamband. They definitely play the jam circuit. they jam at their live shows. they're live shows take the music farther than the studio albums. i think all of these are fairly characteristic of jambands.. not to mention, "jamband" doesnt really mean much except its a band that improvises [within the given structure of a song] during their live shows, and makes the live experience a critical part of their existence. "They definitely play the jam circuit"--> this might be all it takes to be lumped into the genre anyway.

I don't know...I would be of the crowd that wouldn't dare call them a jam band. I totally get what you're saying but, in my mind, it would be akin to calling the Velvet Underground a jam band.

I don't think they would appreciate it too much!

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Guest Lisacat

I never knew the answer to this question until now. I have to concur with 11/4/77 as being my favorite. I had a really special moment with that one after the last show in Alaska. I came out of the venue exhausted, a little spun, sore from taking quite a scary backwards fall out of the RV in the morning, and somewhat homesick after being on the road for over a week (yes, I miss California after about 5 days of not being there). I retreated to our RV in the parking lot and sat down in the drivers seat to put on some music before getting to sleep. Jerry started playing stella blue and within an instant the tears were rolling....it spoke so deeply to me in that moment. He always seems to know what we need. I listened to it a second time to confirm what I had thought the first time that it is one of the most beautiful stellas I had ever heard. Its one of those songs when Jerry's guitar cradles you and makes everything OK for just a few moments.

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10/21/78

duh...

The 11-4-77 and 10-21-78 are both top notch but quite different...The 78 was intense and powerful but the melodic sweetness and triumphant nature of the Colgate version still rings deeper for me...but hey we're splitting hairs here..That whole 78' Winterland run was VERY stony...

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As long as we're splitting hairs....

Lexington '78

http://www.archive.org/details/gd1978-04-21.sbd.miller.97501.sbeok.flac16

It has a sweetness all it's own David...Garcia painted this song with so many colors both instrumentally and vocally over the years...I must admit to probably not listening to much past 91'....The beauty of it all is those undiscovered gems. Many thanks to you my friend for turning me onto stuff in the later era I may have overlooked.We need an updated pic of your beautiful baby!

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It has a sweetness all it's own David...Garcia painted this song with so many colors both instrumentally and vocally over the years...I must admit to probably not listening to much past 91'....The beauty of it all is those undiscovered gems. Many thanks to you my friend for turning me onto stuff in the later era I may have overlooked.We need an updated pic of your beautiful baby!

Im always tryin to put on the right show to get a spontaneous dance party happening with the folks up here...and we listen to it all but one thing that always gets everyone moving is 93 and 94....There is just something with jerrys voice and the song selections that are fresh and diverse...I think you should try it out with us sometime Jon....It works!

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Guest Lisacat

Im always tryin to put on the right show to get a spontaneous dance party happening with the folks up here...and we listen to it all but one thing that always gets everyone moving is 93 and 94....There is just something with jerrys voice and the song selections that are fresh and diverse...I think you should try it out with us sometime Jon....It works!

love those spontaneous dance parties. IMO there may not be anything better than being surrounded with love dancing to Jerry under a beautiful Mendocino moon. But you shouldn't tell too many people Ty, you might have to start charging admission at the gate ;-)

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