Customer Reviews

Europe 72

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4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
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Apparently '72 was a mighty good year for the Dead. Not only did they follow the success of 1971's excellent Live album with this compilation of their European tour but they also produced the recent English tour collection. Although there have been accusations of too much cleaning up and editing, these are live recordings and personally I'm not sure what value there is in feedback and misdirection. These musicians usually planned such experiments. Be that as it may, this is among the best of the early Dead. Garcia and company are at the top of their game--a spectacular game it is. There's a lot of music here--blues, breakdowns, ballads. The disc begins with a fabulous rendition of "Cumberland Blues"--a real mountain breakdown with tight interplay between Garcia, Weir, and Lesh. Garcia's solo work is concise and accurate and it shows what he could do when he was focused and functional. "He's Gone" is a stately elegy, with good lyrics and a nice Garcia solo. "One More Saturday Night" the band recalls apprentice gigs at places like the National Guard Armory in Redwood City, California, where they played when they weren't supporting Kesey's Acid Tests. (With cardboard tombstones hand-painted with powdered tempura paints attached to their amplifiers, they played for folks to dance.) Listen to Hunter's lyrics on this song. He learned the narrative lyrical compression from Chuck Berry, and Jerry learned the chording and rock licks from the same place. This is a great song. "Jack Straw," a rambling, gambling, railroad traveling song could be the band's anthem: "We used to play for silver/Now we play for life." Nice Garcia leads driven by Kreutzmann's drums. Hank William's "You Win Again" showcases essential country roots, where Garcia exhibits his mastery of native guitar forms. The "China Cat Sunflower" on this album is among my favorites with fluid improvisational lines and coherent solos that showcase Garcia at his most articulate. "China Cat" segues into "I Know You Rider," a take on "Easy Rider" that extends Garcia's solo into a virtuoso performance of improvisational counterpoint. "Brown Eyed Women" continues Hunter's to the tradition of unfortunate rake songs--"Brown-eyed women and red grenadine/The bottle was dusty, but the liquor was clean." Again, the lead guitar provides lyrical interludes for the narrative of personal and social deterioration. "Hurts Me Too" shows that the Dead could play a real blues. "Ramble on Rose" is a slow shuffle with nice picking and enigmatic lyrics in which Hunter offers infinite possibilities for defining Rose. "Sugar Magnolia/Sunshine Daydream" is more descriptive of a relationship between musician and muse--a Southern belle incarnating southern music. Again Garcia's solos are logical and coherent and the band weaves its magic web of counterpoint. Pigpen follows with his "Mr. Charlie," based on Chicago blues. The theme for the balance of the album is rambling. The disc follows a great version of "Tennessee Jed" with an extended "Truckin'" (the real band anthem). In "Tennessee Jed" Keith Godchaux' piano and Lesh's bass underpin Garcia's lengthy solo to good effect. And this may be the definitive "Truckin'." At thirteen minutes, there's ample time to explore the possibilities of the song. Everything's playing as the long ensemble riffs evolve into a Dead improvisational jam. I suggest that this may be the definitive "Truckin'" because it is coherent, lucid, and harmonically inventive--the Garcia, Lesh, Godchaux, Kreutzmann quartet in particular. There are musical epiphanies here that extend into the track called "Epilogue." The "Prelude" experiments with sonic textures, harmonies, and intervals. The program concludes with a gentle "Morning Dew" a soulful vocal performance incorporating sensitive guitar and bass lines. Garcia's final solo is a fitting conclusion to an outstanding collection of music.

I have this on scratchy vinyl from my college days. Mainly I listen to my CDs now, classical and jazz. But every so often a voice calls to me from a great distance and I reach for an album that has special meaning. This is one of those. There is an emotional and musical depth here that transcends the songs and the lyrics. Something special, not to be missed. Here it is, 2000, and I went back to this well tonight. The difference now is that I can get online and tell all you folks ... enjoy.

The Grateful Dead were never better live than in this period. I was lucky enough to see them in '72.EUROPE '72 is without question the finest live Dead you will ever here.Jerry's singing and playing is unbelievable and the song's are among there finest. He's Gone,[unfortunatly],China Cat, Walk me out[incredible version],Cumberland,Ramble on Rose,Tennesse Jed, Classic, classic, classic. Europe '72 is a TIMELESS CLASSIC. If you have not heard it, you owe it to yourself to run out and get it . It will be your favorite for years to come.Thank you Jerry!!

Europe 72 is a great Grateful Dead CD. It is not, "without question the finest live Dead you will ever hear." That is a statement actually far from the truth. 1972 was a great year for the band, and the Europe 72 CD is well worth purchasing. They jam songs out quite well, such as China Cat Sunflower and Truckin', while incorporating their own folk tunes such as Jack Straw, Brown Eyed Woman, and Ramble on Rose. This is a great place to start because it shows how versitle the group really is. Introducing someone to this CD is a great compromise between showing them the wildly psychedelic dark star/ feedback stuff from the late 60's and the straight up folk rock from American Beauty. Pick up this CD for some solid Dead, but keep in mind that these are still fairly conservative versions of most of the songs.

This album captures some of the best moments of the band's late keyboardist Pigpen; unforunately, some Deadheads feel the obligation to maintain a lukewarm stance to anly "album" actually released by the band. It is almost considered sacrilege to identify as one's favorite version, of this or that dead song, any version found on a record company release.

Many Deadheads are reluctant to even listen to, let alone embrace, any of the band's commercial releases. Appreciation for, and a large collection of, the band's bootleg tapes (often copied many times over), is viewed almost as a badge of legitimacy in the world of the Deadhead. And the distortion and poor quality of some often-copied bootlegs is almost seen as a merit.

Nevertheless, some of the most amazing work of Pigpen, and the best ragtime takes by the band, are found on this album; nominally a live album, but one that has been engineered and edited in the studio. The Dead, at this short-lived time period, played a style of ragtime that was almost a genre itself. The version of "You Win Again" has been a favorite of mine for years; exhibiting a soul, an attitude, a 'my woman got the best of me but my head is high and I'm grooving' flavor, that I believe to be priceless. The soulful, groovy interplay between Jerry and Pigpen on "Ramble on Rose" is also a treasure, as is the "Tennessee Jed", with its climactic jam, and smoot segue into the final chorus.

I hope that not too many bootleg-listening Deadheads will ostracize their peers for admiring this masterpiece.

People can disect this CD all they want. But what you have here is a solid piece of music gold. Europe 72 is a much more laid back CD than earlier dead CDs (Live/Dead for instance) but it is just as good as anything from their earlier days...maybe even better.

I'm not going to sit here and bore you with repetative comments about this album's brilliance, I would just like to comment on its finale.

The first time I heard Morning Dew I was not prepared for the emotions I'd feel. It begins quiet...very quiet. Jerry's guitar comes swooping in and it gets under way. The song is about nuclear holocaust, if you didn't know, and I really think it has that emotion in it. They originally recorded this song on their first CD, The Grateful Dead, but that was a quicker, less poignient version. This one is slow, pensive, precise. I thought that the verses alone were enough, that it couldn't be anymore beautiful...woa, boy was I wrong. The solo is SOO amazing that I can't even describe. The notes just rip into your heart and into your soul. You can feel all the emotion that Jerry put into it. Then it fades into the verses again. And before it finishes they begin an outro. The outro is just like the solo, but even better. I am completely uncapable of relating to you how amazingly heartfelt and powerful the solo and outro are. I have been brought to tears many times by this masterful piece. Jerry's guitar is crystal clear and you can hear it weep throught this song. Even describing it, I can feel that special feeling I get when I listen to it. I only hope that you feel the same way when you listen to it.....

but I guess it doesn't matter anyway.

Disc one of Europe '72 has ten beautifully played Grateful Dead songs including "Cumberland Blues", "He's Gone", "Jack Straw", "Brown Eyed Woman" and "Ramble On Rose". But the cream is an amazing "China Cat Sunflower" into "I Know You Rider" combo. When I was listening to disc two, I started to feel a little disappointed that I was almost done with the album and still hadn't heard any of the Dead's tripped out jams. Then, following three great cuts of "Sugar Magnolia", "Mr. Charlie" and "Tennessee Jed", the Dead start with the upbeat hit "Truckin'" and slowly wind down through two jams called "Epilogue" and "Prelude" and end with a beautifully sad "(Walk Me Out in the) Morning Dew". Buy this CD.

This album is an essential to anyone who wants to experience the Grateful Dead. Aside from Sugar Magnolia and Truckin', there are no popular radio hits on this album, and it's still awesome! This is a perfect place to start if you really want to find out what the Grateful Dead Experience is all about.

The 2 disk set contains fabulous versions of several of the Dead's standards but for me the medly of China Cat and I Know You Rider is the highlight. A great He's Gone , Tennesee Jed,Mr. Charley , need I say more...This was my favorite live recording when it first came out and has remained one of the Dead cds I listen to on a regular basis. After all these years it still packs a punch. The Dead were the quintisential live band and this is the way to hear them at their creative peak.

People have asked me, "What's the best Dead album to get for someone who hasn't listened to the Dead much?". This album has always been my answer. It's got it all...their tighter, soulfull tunes on the first CD as well as a good introduction to the cosimic mind/body experience of the Dead on the second CD. This IS the place to start, and you'll get the hook for life.