Grateful Dead - The Eleven - Live/Dead

[@elliotjaybaron726]

I've heard a lot of bands - bands with extraordinary musicians. I have never heard a band so locked in with each other for over 9 minutes, playing REALLY complicated music, and with an impossible time signature - 11/8. Lesh's playing on this is INSANELY good.

[@wangson]

Awesome call!

[@davidjordan9759]

47 years of listening to this and it has lost absolutely nothing. Brilliant, fresh and original.

[@tfderpin]

100%

[@davidcurtis7547]

I just saw Bill Walton on some sports Show . The host asked "Did you learn more from John Wooden or Jerry Garcia" Bill "I chose not to live in a world of binary responses , listen to The Eleven " more or less

[@johnsaroka7772]

I hear you. I played the LP down to the nub. What comes close?

[@danajohnmccann8674]

Simply mind blowing each and every time. It's hard to believe to be honest.

[@jeffmargulies3833]

Dave - my exact time frame - shows since '77

[@gerardlewis209]

If there's a heaven, this is what they'll be playing there when you arrive.

[@daveychainz]

I played this to a bunch of kids at work who never even heard of the Grateful Dead and they flipped. Said it was the best live improvisational stuff they've ever heard. Kids today don't know what they are missing out on.

[@nickleslie4036]

love it

[@philipmoan8520]

nice comment, and you are right. most people dont know shit of music, they just listen to stupid music today. You probably never heard of Ozric Tentacles but I did try playing that music in public once, people flipped out, ha haha

[@davidgolinsky]

@@philipmoan8520 this was the sound of my youth. I love their late 60's live improvisational stuff. This is live jam at it's best!

[@bigsky3072]

I bet no one has ever thrown a tire on a bonfire at a keg party in the middle of the woods while listening to this song like i did once.

[@wangson]

@@philipmoan8520 I've heard of Ozric Tentacles....I don't know how but I have. So you dudes, played this one live? Is it here on KZbin? You don't need to answer actually, I'm checking it out immediately after this (1,000th?) listen?

[@mannysCW1]

When my father died 3 years ago and my younger brother died 1 & 1/2 years ago I listened to this album on my way up to Ct. where both lived. This transition into the Eleven is the Grateful Dead at their best. I saw about 100 shows with my brother who was 6 years younger than me. My first show was 77, his was 81. This is the antidote to everything!

[@michaeljamesca]

My deepest condolences on your losses. My first show was Nov. 10th Winterland. That decade was the decade for the dead. We were lucky to have seen them live in that period.

[@jansheldon6615]

Fan-freaking-tastic! What an intense song! That must have been a rough ride to Connecticut. Sorry for your loss man.

[@chuckcarman4552]

Sorry about your loss. Just consider your bro is up there with Jerry & Co, every night is a high energy opening "Feels like a Stranger". I love this song. Alpine Valley 88'

[@aoxomedia]

This is music of the highest order. Will never tire of this.

[@MrSeanpatrick73]

💯

[@ronmckeown7848]

Couldn't have been said better!!🎯🧨🥀⚡🐢

[@eilishegan2347]

Absolutely I am filled with joy listening to the Eleven. I want to share the sensation, but alas, some can’t ‘hear’.

[@bigsky3072]

I once threw a tire on a bonfire at a keg party in the middle of the woods while listening to this song. I was on mushrooms and there was a guy at the party who looked like Abraham Lincoln. I could not stop laughing.

[@chrischandler5653]

Tell it like it is !

[@MateoTiller]

Saw Dead & Co. play this song live this week. This is my favorite song by the Grateful Dead but of course hearing it live in person is a way better experience. Bob Weir and the others are still as rockin’ as ever! Loved it!!

[@wangson]

This is one of those instances where each player is absolutely on fire! What an immensely intense jam! Everyone firing on all cylinders here.

[@jonathansheehan3121]

This is the energy field I most resonate with.

[@wangson]

MOTHER OF THE LORD!!!!! THAT IS THE GREATEST PERFORMANCE I'VE EVER HEARD BY ANYONE EVER IN THE HISTORY OF MUSIC!!! ABSOLUTE PERFECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@charjl96]

it's great driving music.

[@johnveitch7410]

I agree. Regards

[@julieveitch7375]

Phil at his absolute best.

[@xianshep]

It IS completely awesome - among other things, Garcia was rarely so aggressive (after replacing his string) as on this and the 'Lovelight' to follow - but to call it the greatest performance in the history of music is a tad hyperbolic, no? Gotta go to a different genre - probably classical - for that. (But, God, how I love that drum fill after "coral sands below" - if only the album mix revealed it as well as other extant recordings of this night.)

[@oscillation7720]

Prefer March 1 1969, sadly still not released. But yes, great!

[@davidcurtis7547]

Bill Walton recomended The Eleven . Thanks Bill , so good to have you back

[@guyb4600]

RIP to the Big Red-Head!

[@JDrevolver66]

Ian MacDonald (the very critical music critic who wrote "Revolution in the Head" on the Beatles and the 60s) wrote that this version of this song for him best captured the bubbly extatic feeling of the 60s.

[@josephbrabander9124]

As much as I love Dark Star it's St Stephen going into The Eleven that really gets me going. At first it sounds like Garcia is looking for a groove , but once he finds it he takes off with Lesh sounding as inspired as I've ever heard.

[@wangson]

Absolutely!

[@davidjordan9759]

Yeh! That's the two greatest pieces of music ever, on one album.

[@hippiecheezburger5457]

Live/Dead is honestly my favorite album by them the 5 songs they do they’re just on fire. Love Light is my favorite but this jam is so out of this world

[@johnveitch7410]

I listen to this daily but for some reason or other. Oh yeah grass, I concentrated on Phil during the intro. It is profound. Luv you Deadheads.

[@wangson]

Ha! I listen to this one nearly daily myself. Best Dead song ever in my opinion and this version is very, very hard to beat.

[@badgermustelid1203]

LYRICS High green chilly winds and windy vines In loops around the twisted shafts of lavender They're crawling to the sun Underfoot the ground is patched With arms of ivy wrapped around the manzanita Stark and shiny in the breeze Wonder who will water all the children of the garden When they sigh about the barren lack of rain and Droop so hungry neath the sky William tell has stretched his bow till it won't stretch No furthermore and/or it may require a change that hasn't come before No more time to tell how, this is the season of what Now is the time of returning with our thought Jewels polished and gleaming Now is the time past believing the child has relinquished the rein Now is the test of the boomerang tossed in the night of redeeming Seven faced marble eyed transitory dream doll Six proud walkers on the jingle bell rainbow Five men writing with fingers of gold Four men tracking down the great white sperm whale Three girls waiting in a foreign dominion Riding in the whalebelly, fade away in moonlight Sink beneath the waters to the coral sands below

[@johnveitch7410]

Thanks. Regards

[@ianlamendola8410]

I believe that's st stephen

[@hunterhelfrich1270]

The greatest bass tone and bass playing ever by the one and only Phil Lesh!!!

[@paulferranti8536]

Well said well good Danny

[@tantramantra1]

There are moments when Jerry's lead sounds like pealing church bells rung with joy to celebrate. Same pattern. Can you hear it too? The work he did here with Phil is outstanding and I also love it when Pigpen's organ drifts in for a moment.

[@bigsky3072]

When does it drift in? I know Jerry appears at the 1:55 mark.

[@brendanmcmahon1162]

That's a great description. There's a release from 72 that I bought in 03 and the first thing I thought was "he really is playing that guitar like he's Ringing a fucking bell" such an intricate, driving force of a tune.

[@josephm.noviello1996]

I forgot how great this was...the whole alblum. I had a friend (ya, I know) who was there...said there was only maybe two dozen folks there. He yells "ALL RIGHT!!!" on Death don't have mercy...

[@johnsaroka7772]

Named for the 11/8 time signature. That they nailed a bizarre rhythm like that is a miracle. 55 years of listening, still amazing.

[@virginialondon5612]

Read this song at my dad's wake 13 years ago oh how time flies and your youth slips away beautiful song it's like a poem to me all music is poetry he was a deadhead rip r.g.l. and we miss you jerry

[@Snagman67]

Nothing compares to the Dead. Nothing. Period. Oh to be alive in this time to enjoy them in their wild youth!

[@jrinthe8187]

This song is brilliant. Titled after it's time signature of 11/8. I've never heard another rock song like it. Probably my favorite one by the Dead. Thanks for posting it.

[@johnveitch7410]

Spot on, JR. Peace

[@wangson]

My Favourite by the Dead Too! This is their greatest song in my opinion (and all of my musician friends - we're all in our 40 now - but I turned them on to this one when we were all in our 20s)

[@johnveitch7410]

@@wangson Hullo mate. they will be kicking the earth over me ( or the blackbirds can peck away) and I won't have heard better.

[@jeffreynorman9180]

@@tbloopner Nah, if they hadn't dropped the last beat it would very much be in a rolling 12/8 or two bars of 6/8. Way too fast for those to be quarter notes at this feel...

[@jeffreynorman9180]

In fact, listen to how the "11" part evolves out of the jam at the end of "St. Stephen" about three minutes in: those are clearly 8th notes.

[@user-px3oh1fk6b]

Aah, the memories... but, listen to that bass!!!!!!!!!

[@chetpogostin34]

Best version ever recorded. Sounds like a interstellar orchestra. The Dead at this time in their careers were an improvisation band, meant to be seen live at excruciating volume levels.

[@Xamazenen]

The only other performance that comes close is probably the 10/12/1968 version. The Avalon was bombastic that night!

[@wangson]

maybe this is the one recorded and put on on "Two from the Vault"? I love that version too.

[@Xamazenen]

The whole "Two from the Vault" show is from the Anthem mini-tour they did fall of '68. 23-24 August 1968 i believe.

[@wangson]

***** i've got to check out the one you're speaking about then...thanks!

[@andrewptob]

The Dead were pretty much meant to be seen live throughout their whole run, but I hear ya. This psychedelic beast could only be really understood live...unfortunately for me. :(

[@KittyGrizGriz]

So Bluesy & Darn Jazzy - Funky Good(!) The bassist is carrying the whole song along, gotta love that back beat rhythm.

[@ClueSign]

I could write a whole blog just about the cowbell on this cut.

[@bigsky3072]

Yea, it works perfectly with this song, it could use a little more cowbell though, also. And in case u were wondering, i believe Jerry chimes in at the 1:56 minute mark. I think he was changing string maybe? One more thing bro.. i once threw a tire on a bonfire at a keg party in the middle of the woods while listening to this song.

[@kraynork]

this is what makes the dead the dead...

[@PinkFloydrulez]

this is also what makes the head a dead

[@PinkFloydrulez]

PinkFloydrulez or a head the dead rather

[@ArtHistoryScholar]

PinkFloydrulez haha! yes this kind of greatness defines The Grateful Dead!

[@nicolabelle1415]

this live is legend, pure bliss, every track a gem...

[@wangson]

When Jerry starts repeating and improvising that guitar lick and the drums slow down completely, Bill hits the snare signaling the change and then they all rip (ESPECIALLY PHIL) into the same riff over and over and then Jerry wails over it all? Good shit!! It makes me cry every time! The whole thing is brilliant but the part I'm referring to starts here at 2:46 .....

[@bigsky3072]

Why did they take this song out of their set list??

[@wangson]

@@bigsky3072 I wish I knew! But along with this one, St. Stephen went, as did Turn on Your Lovelight, as did Dark Star...they'd bring them back here and there but only very rarely.

[@LosHuxleys]

You totally get it bro, i feel the same way

[@francoisledez6680]

Un moment de pure jubilation musicale.

[@davegreenhalf325]

F****** marvelous! Best ever. In the groove and outta sight!

[@robertyount313]

123, 123,a fast moving sound i like that a lot and the base is unreal that's phil !!!!!!! so cool bob a dead head from way back when.... bob

[@bigsky3072]

This song sounds complex. Musically complex..

[@ArtHistoryScholar]

Heroic Soaring Bombastic Glorious & Exhilirating!

[@wangson]

Doug Graves fucking perfect adjectives for this brilliant, sonic performance!!

[@ArtHistoryScholar]

***** Oh yeah! This performance of The Eleven blows me away everytime!

[@johnveitch7410]

Nothing to add brother.x

[@daveychainz]

No band could do live improv' the way the Dead could. Rated No.2 in the top 5 live improv albums of all time.

[@johnveitch7410]

Who was first? The ABB? Peace mate.

[@jaimecortez6930]

Who was number 1?

[@bigsky3072]

#1 could be the Allman Brothers or the Outlaws when they perform the live version of Green Grass and High tides.

[@TurtleDude1959]

it is too bad that they stopped doing this long before I started seeing them live (New Haven 77 was my first show of a bunch). what a great high energy jam

[@wangson]

me too.

[@jrinthe8187]

Not 100% sure but possibly a combination of Phil having throat issues and Pigpen's passing.

[@smokynmonkee5054]

TurtleDude1959 I went 4/22/77 first night of spring tour at the Spectrum and 5/4/77 the Palladium in NYC.....next stop was Englishtown

[@charlesveg]

I caught a fair amount of May '77, senior year in college. The bus was an amazing ride for a while... :-)

[@inpatient_press]

you saw one of Garcia's greatest solos ever tho - PEggy O!!

[@agropsychonaut]

I BELIEVE THAT IF EVERY PERSON WITH "PROPERTY" IN THE ENTIRE WORLD HAD A YARD SALE AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD BE LIKE A MASSIVE DIRTY SHAKEDOWN. a man can dream, can't he?😊

[@douglasmcpeek9463]

energy passion unity amazing

[@filthyphillyboy]

This upload is crying out for that Eleven/Lovelight segue!

[@darth1204]

This was truly the Dead taking their music to a whole new level. And that's saying something. 1968. Created in a rat infested shit hole abandoned theater. Truly magical!

[@lawrenceiverson1924]

first (only) time i saw the dead was 1st sky river rock festival aug 68 age 17 hitchiked down from squamish got lost on the way (wrong freeway) PISSING RAIN allthese crazed hippies sloshing around in the mud not only nver heardbefore never heard of them wow with big mama thornton id never even smoked dope loved music tho opened my eyes

[@ianlamendola8410]

My introduction to this album was a cd I found at a shop at my local mall. Picked up this cd for like a dollar. Played the hell out of it

[@enricorigon1925]

just a perfect performance

[@AlexanderHamilton007]

Six proud walkers on jingle-bell rainbow

[@bigsky3072]

This song gives me goosebumps on my schlongerducken

[@paulferranti8536]

Eight sided whispering Hallelujah hatrack

[@jackeleven8695]

Six proud walkers on the jingle-bell rainbow...

[@drewreed5416]

Scrumptious as F !

[@Mrbeahz1]

At 1:55, Jerry joins in and corrals the rest of them. On to The Eleven!

[@tylerthompson1842]

The Grateful Dead’s music is a living breathing thing

[@dome7612]

it gives me the impression of listening to the climax never touched by the hippie movement

[@joeravin]

Blasting it on my Surround sound bar . Wish I could drop in and tune out and listen for days

[@kingdomrhye1180]

euphoric

[@sohshima6680]

Pure bliss.

[@googoogahgahblahblah]

Bought this at record store in LA when I was thinking about crossing the border in '71 or so to avoid the draft if my number came up. Among my top album picks ever.

[@EngineerCatPyro]

killin it.. LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[@AveryHudson]

Is Live/Dead the most joyous music ever recorded?

[@wangson]

This particular song sure as shit is!!

[@johnveitch7410]

Hullo Avery, yes it is! I have heard and seen all he badasses and they are not in view. Love John.

[@bigsky3072]

I think it damn near is.

[@thomasbedell4770]

Always feel like I’m in a cathedral when this version is playing...

[@darth1204]

Absolutely, hands down no question. The greatest live band of all time. They didn't care about the norms of rock. They played what they wanted and that's that. If it was a 20 min song, that's what they did. Nobody could or can get away with that. It was theirs and theirs alone.

[@Joel-qt8rz]

the time of returning

[@johnveitch7410]

Go Bobby go!

[@danajohnmccann8674]

What an absolute masterpiece 🔥

[@3lullabies]

In places it sounds like Quicksilver Messenger Service jamming. Good times!

[@stirlwm]

Recorded 50 years ago today!

[@pjones0043]

Toronto Blue Jays on a 10 game run for the ages... Looking for the ELEVEN once again ~ 14/06/15

[@kevinchlebovec8603]

Phil Jones I'm late (twice this season) but beauty reference

[@xtremenortherner]

Listened to "Dead & Company" perform this number(09/05/21 recorded Hartford,CT). Sure it was nice to hear some of the former members playing in the 21st century.But I just had to listen to this version as the Dead tear it up!!

[@juneack5848]

The soundtrack of my life is orchestrated by the Grateful Dead

[@RES81]

11/8 timing signature ... 123-123-123-12 .. hence the name "Eleven"

[@psychobilly09]

There was a lesser known “the seven” around this time too

[@phaneros8180]

Is this the music that plays in heaven or what??

[@H4mmerofD4wn]

Perhaps the real question is: Would it be H, E, double hockey sticks, if this wasn't played?

[@gregmenniges5963]

Yes. Yes it is.

[@bigsky3072]

I'd be a two-peckered billy goat if it wasn't.

[@sergeytoropin6428]

If not, I'm not sure if I wanna go there

[@bigsky3072]

I once threw a tire on a bonfire at a keg party in the middle of the woods while listening to this song.

[@gumpwumper3752]

that sounds amazing

[@wobblyjack9481]

I take it, as a given that as a Dead Head you will have cleaned the area. ☮️ X

[@irvcohen111]

Sounds and smells pretty gross

[@bigsky3072]

I was on mushrooms at the time. There was also a guy at the party who looked like Abraham Lincoln. I could not stop laughing.

[@troutvoice]

A Good Tool Here to Educate the Youth!

[@xianshep]

After drooling over this album for nearly 30 years, I couldn't wait to drop major dough on the 'Complete Fillmore' collection that came out around 2005 and featured most of the shows from which this album was drawn. I assumed it would be hours and hours of MORE transcendental energy and brilliance. Unfortunately, I found much of it to be a mess and to further reveal that they NEVER played a concert as fantastic as this album seems to indicate (splicing as it does from three-plus different shows). This album really has the absolute best from that period, with every song being the best-ever version, in my opinion (the solo on 'Death Don't Have..." Good GOD!). Similar disillusionment came from realizing all the vocals on 'Europe '72' and 'Waiting For Columbus' were overdubbed. Oh well. Which, then, is the all-time-best, "untouched" live rock album? Live At Leeds?

[@hammer44head]

Van Morrison To Late to Stop Now, no dubs just the band how it sounded, Van insisted on it. The real deal.

[@PinkFloydrulez]

I find the three disc version to be a nice middle ground, extended live/dead, good shit

[@chrisburton7081]

I don't know about album, but 5/8/77 at Cornell is pretty spectacular.

[@xianshep]

@@chrisburton7081 I am generally not a fan of the balls-less Keith/Donna years, so have yet to find the patience to sit through Cornell.

[@jameswilliam904]

Sorry but you are completely wrong this is an untouched live album it was taken from two different shows death don't have no mercy feedback and we bid you goodnight was for March 2nd and the rest of the album was from February 27th and is in normal sequence. And I can't believe after listening to that for Show run you came up with that absurd observation because those four shows are filled with Peaks throughout them yes the Dark Star and death don't have no mercy from this album are the best but you are completely wrong to say that they are unorganized sounding they are far better than anything The Who Jimi Hendrix or any of those other English bands came close to putting out during that time after or before

[@avilotan6096]

No more time to tell how This is the season of what Now is the time of returning With thought jewels polished and gleaming Now is the time past believing The child has relinquished the reign Now is the test of the boomerang Tossed in the night of redeeming Eight sided whispering hallelujah hatrack Seven faced marble eye transitory dream doll six proud walkers on jinglebell rainbow Five men writing in fingers of gold Four men tracking down the great white sperm whale Three girls wait in a foreign dominion Ride in the whale belly Fade away in moonlight Sink beneath the waters to the coral sand below Now is the time of returning

[@wangson]

Their harmonies sung during this stanza are so perfectly beautiful!

[@IGGYWIGGUM1]

A big yesss to all of this

[@jacoborwin6579]

So when this switches from 11 to 4/4 time, it does something amazing. The groove to the 4/4 time comes in as "uplets" over the 11; 4 equal spaced notes divided into 11 notes. So that's cool, because changing time sigs like that is way different than just switching time sigs while keeping the same tempo or note duration. Like playing in 5/4 and using triplets that equal the 5 quatre notes. Anyways, this is musically unique and different than a normal time sig change

[@bigsky3072]

I don't know anything about music composition, but this song sounds very complex. Also, the musicians are very tuned into each other.

[@giacomobariselli7286]

Mi sono svegliato così..

[@sarahjordan2625]

Brilliant jam but I wish they'd got a Gospel choir on this, though. They toured with The Edmund Hawkins Singers at about this time so they could have done a deal

[@johnveitch7410]

Sarah, I luv you. Tell me more. I can't imagine it. Peace

[@WocklessGamingforAnimeMoms]

Country Blues

[@jbaxter34]

I landed here at 10 till

[@LosHuxleys]

I’m on lucy and this is unbelievable 🤣

[@paulferranti8536]

I’m on shrooms

[@mattnelson8341]

114K views, 11 years ago

[@johnveitch7410]

If you have not heard this before well strap in! ☮️ X

[@livetoboardteam]

3:56

[@TheBerndude]

God Bless The Grateful Dead, but why oh why did they cease to perform this canticle in 1970?!

[@markrr99]

bobby RIPPIIINNNGGGG

[@Mrbeahz1]

3:16 How times change!

[@540Baseball]

Saint Stephen sent me here…

[@Marksbrother]

The true psychedelic band.

[@djclay33]

One of my favorite Live tracks by The Dead, sloppy as hell but GOOD sloppy!!!👍🎸🇺🇸😎🙏🇺🇸

[@Rowjimmyguitar]

Where is jerry in the beginning ?

[@bigsky3072]

Someone said earlier he drops in at the 1:56 mark

[@Rowjimmyguitar]

@@bigsky3072 yeah so where is he for the first 2 minutes lmao

[@bigsky3072]

@@Rowjimmyguitar I'm not sure, because u can't see him. But i remember once watching a Rolling Stones video, "Under My Thumb" live, and Keith Richards came stolling in about 1 minute after they started playing it. I think musicians like that can just start playing when they see the song starting to pick up.

[@yodude8337]

He might have been changing a string. Seriously, I think I hear him tuning up his high E string

[@bigsky3072]

@@yodude8337 yes, i heard from other dudes here that he was changing a string..

[@michellebarnes7640]

[@user-hm2ev4ml8y]

100%

[@jontwiss8841]

05:42

[@bigsky3072]

Sounds like rolling thunder

[@jamesqualiato8833]

Adds fuck this whole song up

[@jontwiss8841]

03:16

[@johnsirak9266]

LGM !

[@bruceo5672]

Phil, Bill, and Mickey.

[@johnveitch7410]

@@bruceo5672 Phil was grossly underestimated. Peace

[@psychobilly09]

That an out of tune series ten?

[@johnveitch7410]

OK Coldplay, Oasis or whomever... better this?

[@THEDUSTINLEWITSHOW]

Can't be done

[@wobblyjack9481]

My name is wobbly and I am a dead addict.