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BUY THE CD
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Live at Cow Palace is a fine vintage of Grateful Dead. For a live album, the mix is excellent and the play-time is generous (even for a three-disc set). There are very few of their more overplayed titles here and plenty of long, delicious jams.
Disc one opens with the energetic “Promised Land.” “Looks Like Rain” is languid with rich, bluesy vocals and “Deal” is guaranteed to make you dance.
Disc two is my favorite. It opens with “Sugar Magnolia.” This song conjures images of all things good and beautiful and will bring you to whatever your definition of nirvana is. It has a perfect balance of everything and the keyboard work by Brent Mydland is stellar. “Good Lovin,’” is a perfectly tight jam that’ll have you singing along at the top of your lungs. Damn thing made me stop writing and start chair dancing. This disc closes with “Scarlet Begonias,” the lighthearted cousin to the aforementioned “Sugar Magnolia,” but with more of a focus on the string section
Disc three closes out with a grand bang. “One More Saturday Night” is a nice wailing jam. It’s followed by the delightfully catchy and danceable “Uncle John’s Band.” I’m fairly certain that this was the first time I’ve heard the final track “We Bid You Goodnight.” I love this song so much I had to play it again immediately. A soothing combination of gospel and lullaby, it’s primarily sweet vocal harmonies backed softly by Mydland on keys.
I guarantee you will love this recording. The Grateful Dead has always had a spectacular chemistry but it was truly exceptional on this New Years Eve in 1976.
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