"If you were seeing a lot of shows 1979-1982, you likely saw this Weir-Barlow combination plenty of times. This terrific rendition was a highlight of the Dead Ahead home video, the Dead's first foray into creating a video specifically for the home viewer (as opposed to the Grateful Dead Movie in 1977, which was a theatrical project). In 1986, the Dead dropped Lost Sailor from the setlist, leaving its partner to appear sporadically in second sets for the next decade." - David Lemieux
@NLTDB3S likely dropped bc it's very composed, has weird time sigs and isn't conducive to jamming, like the Eleven or Help on the Way (or even some stuff off Wake of the Flood)
I've been fighting something called Gulf war illness for over 30 yrs, over the past year, I've found real answers, I see the shore!!!! Thank You for the Music!!!!!!
As Sammy Hagar (Montrose, Sammy Hagar, Van Halen) has said of Weir (on first draft of this my phone spelled it "weird". Wow. 🫣), "Bobby is the best second man, rhythm player in the business". Lost Sailor/Saint of Circumstance has long been one of my favorite GD jams. Simply beautiful and far reaching.
Not too sure if many of you know this but these run of shows helped save Radio City Music Hall. The Hall was going to be torn down and replaced with apartments. The Dead donated money from these concerts to secure the funding needed to keep the Hall open. True story. Thank You Grateful Dead.
lol Not completely true, although it is a nice story. The band helped keep the doors open by being a money generating act (after Linda Ronstadt) that played the Hall that year after its' refurbishment. There were actually lawsuits filed for a minute by the Rockefellers (who owned the Hall as well as a lot of other shit) to the Dead that got settled during the run - so no donations were made lol
@@josevillarreal9920 I dunno. People love to shovel bullshit it seems. The Dead at Radio City was a helluva great time. Can’t that be enough? Seriously, can you imagine the Dead donating money to Nelson fucking Rockefeller. I mean, it’s Weir’s birthday today, I hear he’s donating his money to Jeff Bezos. Ludicrous
This combo took me maybe the longest of any songs in the repertoire for me to really “get”. This was like the last piece of the puzzle to snap into place for me. It wasn’t until I went through a period in my life of feeling adrift at sea, seeing the shore lights beckon, and knowing the price of being free, that the emotion of this combo really sunk it. But once it did, I found there were/are few songs that move me more now or mean more on a personal level. This is Barlow’s masterpiece in my mind. This must be Heaven.... Thank you, Barlow. And thank heaven for the Grateful Dead. I may at times have felt like like a lost sailor, going to hell in a bucket and just trying to hold on and enjoy the ride, but in the end we are all perfect Saints of Circumstance, spinning around on this rock in space, unknowing of the who, what, when, where, why of it all, who can only console ourselves and our sisters and brothers by acknowledging “I sure don’t know what I’m going for, but I’m gonna go for it for sure...”. Furthur...
Yes, once you've "been too long at sea", you can understand the depths of this masterpiece and truly appreciate the transitions, as they take you places that give you a chance, to get a glimpse of a different perspective.
If this kinda atmospheric stuff appeals, you might enjoy some of David Crosbys stuff. His first album, If Only I Could Remember My Name has quite a few of the dead playing
Man I was on several hits of lsd with about another 10 or so in my pocket while cutting my grandmothers grass listening to this song. The inner voice told me to eat the rest of what I had in my pocket but fear and doubt creeped in. Just as this was happening Bobby and the band began to sing "I don't know what I'm going for, but I'm gunna go for it for sure" and felt the affirmations of God in their music and ate the rest of it. Good times.
Lost Sailor/Saint Of Circumstance and Weather Report suite are the great masterpieces of Weir & Barlow. It’s no wonder Bobby being the greatest rhythm guitars of all time that his songwriting would take on a harmonic sophistication the likes of which The Grateful Dead had never seen before. Truly brilliant stuff 🥀
I love this, but I got in the car the other morning and it was raining and thinking how great it would’ve to hear Weather Report Suite and Siri’s was playing it from 2/23/73 on TDIGDH. Stars aligned 💜
bobby never got enough credit for his songwriting. this is a spectacular combination. hard to believe they dropped "lost sailor" from the rotation. an unbelievable tune. and the boys absolutely killin it here.
He gets credit, it's just a Lennon/McCartney situation. Two superstar talents in one place, and honestly Weir is great - great voice, songwriting, and Jerry is one of the greatest musicians of all time. Then there's Robert Hunter too. Why choose though? The real beauty here is that all these talents and more came together to create something great(ful)er than the parts! I wouldn't really be the Dead without Jerry's contributions, or Hunter's...or Weir's either.
If you’ve ever had your back pressed firmly against “the wall” and had to stop to think “…how THE HELL am I going to get out of this fine mess???” THIS is your anthem. I know that ever single time ‘the odds against me been increasing” I bust out this gem and hunker down for a big fight. I dedicate this to every other ‘tiger in a trance’
Bobby truly was and still is the other half of the Dead. Bob could bring down the house and had his perfect licks in the right places and made the dead shine even in the darkest of times.... if there ever was such a thing, and never once missed Jerry's musical conversation in the chaos or the paradise of a show all while playing masterpiece works of visionary music with a head full of shamanic genius fried by the best acid known to man.... but he's also just that other jamming dude who sings when Jerry doesn't (~};)
Bobby could remember the novel size lyrics of "Desolation Row" while Jerry had trouble remembering the chorus of "Sugaree." :) And he was a metronome when Jerry got lost. He would bob back and forth and kick at just the right moment.
In my opinion the best performances of lost sailor & saint of circumstance I’ve ever heard. Buddy of mine taped this (Dead Ahead) off of PBS onto VHS in the 80’s & we used put the tape on, sit, play chess &, toke up for hours & hours flipping the tape over constantly. It’s what really turned me onto the dead. Every time I hear this particular performance of lost sailor the hair on the back of my neck stands up & those memories flood. Awesome post
This is one of some of my first shows that would turn me into a solid dead head. ABSOLUTELY MIND BLOWING. Best band of all time!! I'm forever greatful. ❤
I was thinking of this on this lovely spring day. It is even better than I remembered. Brilliant 👏 composed and played. There isn't a jam, but I hear Jehovahs favorite choir . For sure..
Killer preformce by the band. 1980 was a good year for the GD in my book. Brent just dresses it on. Jerry and Phil had not made "the switch " yet but man I just LOVE Jerry's playing especially on Lost Sailor, its just out of this world. The drummers also accompany the arrangement well. They go from "drifting your life away" to "Having a feeling there is no time to lose" & I just cant get enough of this high quality, heavy, thick sounding, brilliant music that just makes me happy😎and grateful to be alive. Each morning I wake up at like 530am have my morning coffee and listen to either an entire show or just RU-vid videos like this to start my day with good vibes being injected at a high decibel through my headphones🎧 (best way to listen to music 2nd only to live and that's even situational) I may even write a little review that's how much I love this stuff. I feel compelled to write about this beautiful music I just heard and how great it made me feel. "Sure dont know what I'm going for but I'm gonna go for it for sure" >Grateful Dead saying that always puts me in a good mood
Love lost & saint. The key for me is the last building and crash within saint at 10:12 in the video. Just amazing. My favorite has always been 5/16/1981 @Cornell but this I think is my number two favorite now.
These two tunes on Go To Heaven are among the very best performances the Dead ever achieved in the studio, with Garcia's solo on Sailor being, in my opinion, one of his very best.
Jerry once said getting Bobby to do different songs was like pulling teeth. Most of my favorite shows were late 80's. He was stuck in Memphis with the Daisy Duke shorts, again. I forgot that the mixed tape I got that warped my 13 yr. old brain had my first fave, Bobby doing "Good Lovin'" and Dead Set had "Passenger" and one of the Biblical ones, "Greatest Story Ever Told" or something. Sure beats the hell out to of "Mexicali Blues" into "El Paso." Best First Set closer I saw replaced "Deal" for awesomeness. "The Music Never Stopped" made the Oakland Coliseum literally shake.That kid has potential. They should probably keep him.
Just listening to Jerry rip an all time amazing solo then Phil's fat face came in at 10:05 and I just lost it laughing. Thank god he got off the booze.
Its like these songs were meant to be pieced together. Saint of circumstance brings you back to lost sailor, after giving the impression the song has changed. dreams dreams dreams
Love it. After seeing him do that, I can’t not do that when I hear that part of the song. Also, is this the first Jerry Brent moment on film? He’s looking in that direction but it isn’t clear
Yes I agree…you could tell Jerry was a very humble musician…he really loved when others got out “in front”…I recall seeing him step out with Sting and it was like he was asking “hey would it be ok if I joined your band for a little bit?”
its where's the Dog Star. I think that some heads thought it was dark star at shows thus the cheers even though im not sure why they really would cheer for that lyric. anyway, lost sailor saint is still one of my all time favorites