#crazy fingers

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: Grateful Dead - “Crazy Fingers” (Soundcheck/Rehearsal, Aug. 12, 1975)

Jerry Garcia was teasing his bandmates on stage in San Francisco as the Grateful Dead worked on whipping “Crazy Fingers” into shape. After calling on drummer Bill Kreutzmann to get ready as the rest of the group tuned, Garcia called the tune and “Crazy Fingers” emerged.

Tape was thankfully rolling Aug. 12, 1975, during soundcheck/rehearsal and the run-through, which could have easily disappeared into the ether, now follows the remastered studio version of “The Music Never Stopped” as the second preview from Blues for Allah (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition), which arrives Sept. 12.

This is the sound of the thought-to-be-retired Dead taking their returning to life quite seriously. As such, the balladic reggae number is rolled out with delicate precision. Garcia enunciates every word clearly and he, Bob Weir and Donna Jean Godchaux lock into strong harmonies throughout the performance in an empty Great American Music Hall.

With the banter on the front and back ends, this nine-minute recording is a curiosity to be sure. But the “Crazy Fingers” proper is a strong, early performance of a song destined to become an important part of the band’s repertoire, worthy of release simply for its high quality.

Grade card: Grateful Dead - “Crazy Fingers” (Soundcheck/Rehearsal, 8/12/75) - A

8/14/25

[krispyweiss]

“I Need a Miracle” -> “Crazy Fingers” for Day 10 of “30 Days of Dead”

When the Grateful Dead played an honest-to-goodness transition, the results were often exhilarating. And the “->” between the versions of “I Need a Miracle” and “Crazy Fingers” offered for Day 10 of “30 Days of Dead” is a doozy.

As “Miracle” spirals, first Jerry Garcia, then Brent Mydland, begin playing “Crazy Fingers” atop the outro. Slowly, the rest of the band falls in and what was a balls-to-the-wall rocker morphs into a tender ballad.

The contest clue calls this a “rare combination to open a second set.” And other hints lay in the recording, including periodic bursts of crowd noise that may or may not have been related to the music.

“Miracle” provides Bob Weir an opportunity to scream himself hoarse a la John Lennon on “Twist and Shout,” while Mydland plays fiery runs on electric piano. “Fingers” finds Garcia in his Muppet voice, a consequence of the super-druggy early- and mid-1980s. But there are no disastrous lyrical flubs, something not unheard of where this number is concerned.

Both tracks are quite good and each has elements to make them unique. But boy howdy, that “->,” though relatively short, is the kind of on-the-fly thing Dead Heads need to feed that jones.

Hear them here and read Sound Bites’ previous “30 Days” coverage here.

11/10/23

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: Grateful Dead - “Crazy Fingers” (Live, July 2, 1989)

Shuffling the deck and dealing “Crazy Fingers” in an atypical first-set slot, the Grateful Dead proved mixing it up to great effect involved more than just song titles.

The July 2, 1989, version is quicker than usual, has no MIDI, features nearly flawless vocals - save for a stumble coming out of Jerry Garcia’s guitar solo - and goes out on a delightfully ramped-up spiral of sound.

It’s out as the latest addition to “All the Years Live” and demonstrates how “Crazy Fingers” best unfolds.

Grade card: Grateful Dead - “Crazy Fingers” (Live - 7/2/89) - A

Read Sound Bites’ previous “All the Years Live” coverage here.

5/19/23

[krispyweiss]

Song Review(s): Phil Lesh & Friends - “Crazy Fingers,” “Viola Lee Blues” -> “Not Fade Away”

No matter what their weaknesses - vocals, tempos, weird arrangements, lyric changes or lack of rehearsal - Grateful Dead spin-offs pretty much always nail “Viola Lee Blues.”

And so it went with Phil Lesh & Friends - the Grateful Dead bassist joined by guitarists Grahame Lesh and Stu Allen, keyboardist Jason Crosby and drummer John Molo - April 10, 2022, at Skull & Roses.

With both Leshes and Allen at the mic and a deep-space breakdown buried inside the insistent groove, this “Viola” smoldered as Grahame Lesh played slide counterparts to Allen’s Jerry Garcia-esque tone.

Allen worked with Garcia’s Alligator guitar and the band performed under a depiction of the Wall of Sound. Molo employed woodblocks and cowbells to add to his percussive arsenal.

As released on professional video, “Viola” was bookended by a full-stop “Crazy Fingers” and the “Not Fade Away” it segued in to.

The former was a bit of a mess with botched lyrics and Grahame Lesh amusing himself by singing of his dad: Strange Phil by my side.

“NFA” was stronger. Locked in with the front three adding an extra syllable to the last word of each line and slowly fading out while singing: Love is real, not fade away, it, like the “Viola” that preceded it, played to this group’s strengths, weak vocals notwithstanding.

Grade card: Phil Lesh & Friends - “Crazy Fingers,” “Viola Lee Blues” -> “Not Fade Away” - C/A/B

11/29/22

[tfc2211]

Visit Original Link

[habitatbranch]

Grateful Dead - Crazy Fingers

[krispyweiss]

Album Review: Matt Rae - Crazy Fingers

In a world where one more Grateful Dead-covers project seems like twice-baked overkill, here comes Matt Rae with one that shouldn't be missed.

Crazy Fingers finds the guitarist offering up nine instrumentals that focus heavily on the 1970s-era Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia songbook with the traditional "Cold Rain and Snow," Phil Lesh‘s psychedelic C&W oddball “Pride of Cucamonga" and Merle Haggard's "Sing Me Back Home," closing the record on an appropriately elegiac note, tossed in to widen the scope.

Each track features multiple guitar parts, one playing the lyric melody, others handling lead and rhythm with alternatively jazzy and twangy licks. These six-string dances give such numbers as "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo" deep, resonant layers that beg to be peeled away over many listens; elsewhere, Rae utilizes twin leads on "Terrapin Station” and employs slide and pedal-steel on "To Lay Me Down" in a nod to Garcia's original solo recording.

"Bird Song," meanwhile, includes a trumpet solo, a fantastic and isolated surprise on what is otherwise strictly a guitar album.

At just 47 minutes, Crazy Fingers is devoid of exploratory jamming. And that's the LP's strength. Rae and his band focus squarely on the songs and in the process strike a perfect balance between strict fidelity and, with the words MIA, reinterpretation to create the most-unlikely musical event of 2019 - a Grateful Dead tribute album that is not only not trite, but is essential listening for Heads and guitar aficionados alike.

Grade card: Matt Rae - Crazy Fingers - A

12/23/19

[gratefulfrog]