Fillmore East, 2/11/69

by William RuhlmannPerforming two hour-long sets as the opening act to Janis Joplin's New York debut as a solo star, the Grateful Dead turned in a characteristic performance for this period in their career. In between the release of their second and third albums, they devoted much time to the songs that would turn up several months later on Aoxomoxoa, including acoustic renditions of "Dupree's Diamond Blues" and "Mountains of the Moon." Pigpen dominated the first set, singing the blues standards "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," "I'm a King Bee," and "Turn on Your Lovelight." But a large part of both sets was given over to the group's extended medleys, in the first set "Cryptical Envelopment/The Other One," in the second "Dark Star/St. Stephen/The Eleven." These involved, largely instrumental pieces set the tone for the Dead at the end of the '60s and produced their breakthrough with Live/Dead, which was recorded within weeks of this show. There is also a game version of "Hey Jude," the biggest hit of the previous year, to end the first set, and an unlisted, interrupted performance of "Cosmic Charlie" as a second-set encore.