The Other One and its treasured place vis a vis the Garcia ballads.

[John A]

This is a "just the facts" analysis of how the Dead historically used The Other One as a vehicle to introduce what one could argue as the coup de grâce of the show (the figurative, not the literary meaning 😉) - the Garcia ballad. It no surprise that Wharf Rat was far and away the most common paring, but I had a notion of measuring that against the other titans. So with a prerequisite shout out to https://www.gratefulsets.net , I present the following numbers....

 

The Other One ->

Wharf Rat (164 times)

Stella Blue (85) 

Black Peter (35)

Morning Dew (22)

Comes A Time (10)

GDTRFB (9) - ok, not technically a ballad but sat in for one here and there

Sing Me Back Home (8) - this surprised me

The Wheel (6) - see GDTRFB notation

Days Between (5)

China Doll (4)

Standing on the Moon (4)

 

The transitional jams creating these segues are of course infinately more meaningful than any sheer numbers, and there are a few beauties off the top of my head, but that's what makes listening to Jerry's most tender moments so interesting vs. simply delineating them numerically. And moreover, one couldn't count on such a jam; often to be fair it was just The Other One clumsily pounding into a ballad. Exhibit infinity of why you never wanted to miss a moment. 😍

 

[Greg from Chestertown]

9/12/88,  sat in the ninth row for an Eyes/drums/other one/ warf rat. Dancing is impossible in the ninth row so I just watched the finger work of the guitarists throughout that adventure. Quite memorable, you don’t miss a moment. Since the beginning, I have always thought of The Other one as “ not Dark Star” . Both songs as jumping off points in the show, time to wander off into the universe with our guitars, One with Jerry driving the bus and one with Bobby driving the bus. 
   Fast forward to these days, The Other one works perfectly for me to spin myself in circles as Dark Star Orchestra delivers the goods. I use it as a jumping off point for me to wander off into the universe with my limbs flailing about. For me, the Other One is the one, it turns out. That’s all, thanks for letting me share. 

[bs69]

I'm quite partial to the Other one>Black Peter combo and of course tasty Other one sandwiches. Other one>Wharf Rat>Other one from 5-25-77 comes to mind.