Cornell 5/8/77 (2017) [Grateful Dead]

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For a long time, the 1977 Cornell show was a kind of holy grail among Grateful Dead fans. The band itself never quite understood why this particular show acquired such mythical status. Bob Weir once admitted he can't even recall the show, although he did think the entire 1977 tour was excellent. I agree with that by the way, there's some really great material in that run. And honestly? When I bought the 3-CD set upon its official release in 2017, I was a bit disappointed. I thought it was a strong show at the time, but to truly call it the ultimate show? No, that's a bridge too far for me. I often ignored Cornell in the later years, but now I finally gave it some extra spins.

Cornell does have the honor of being perhaps the band's most popular bootleg for a long time, mainly because Betty Cantor Jackson's soundboard was practically pristine. I haven't compared the bootleg and the official release, but it's clear the latter sounds incredibly good too. A show that needs a few more songs to really get going. New Minglewood Blues is fairly interchangeable, and while I'm a big fan of Loser, this one also seems a bit of a dull performance. It's only with the delightful They Love Each Other (which I've always found somewhat underrated) that things really start to take hold. Jack Straw is always good, and the duo Lazy Lightning & Supplication is also enjoyable. There's also a nice moment with "Mama Tried" (someone - I suspect it's Phil Lesh? - calls out "Thanks, Mom" ​​at the end of the song. I find these things funny, I can't help it), and the first set closes with an extended version of Dancing in the Streets. A version that was already released as a bonus track on the Terrapin Station re-release, by the way. A performance I'm not particularly thrilled with, although I do find it amusing how Weir once again fucks up when to start the first verse. Or was Donna actually too late with the second vocal?

In any case, it signals a somewhat chaotic performance, and that's true. The band then takes a short break from their long first set (the CD necessarily places Dancin' as the first track of the second disc, which looks a bit odd when you swap discs), and after a game of "take a step back," the second set can begin. It's only here that I get the feeling of, "Okay, there's more to this show than I always thought." That Scarlet Begonias is of unprecedented quality thanks to the harmonious vocals between Jerry Garcia and Donna Godchaux, but the Fire on the Mountain that follows is also... on fire. The transition between the two songs is fantastic (and looks truly seamless, by the way, which hasn't always been the case, like at the show at the Civic Auditorium on December 27 1983) and is, for me, the highlight of this show. What follows is another solid Estimated Prophet, and at the end we're treated to a fantastic St. Stephen > Not Fade Away > St. Stephen plus a good version of Morning Dew. One More Saturday Night is one of the band's more standard encores, but Weir just seems to enjoy playing it, and who am I to argue?

I'm too young to have been part of that whole fan-trading-tape-swapping thing (I just listen to shows on archives or official releases...), but I can't help but feel that this show was incredibly popular precisely because it was so easy to find in good quality at the time. Plenty of highlights, but Cornell '77 doesn't quite make it into my top 10 shows; there are just too many "negatives", like a slow first set and a lackluster rendition of Dancin' in the Streets.

  1. Tracklist:
  2. New Minglewood Blues
  3. Loser
  4. El Paso
  5. They Love Each Other
  6. Jack Straw
  7. Deal
  8. Lazy Lightning
  9. Supplication
  10. Brown-Eyed Women
  11. Mama Tried
  12. Row Jimmy
  13. Dancing in the Street
  14. Scarlet Begonias
  15. Fire on the Mountain
  16. Estimated Prophet
  17. St. Stephen
  18. Not Fade Away
  19. St. Stephen II
  20. Morning Dew
  21. One More Saturday Night


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