

This is an incredible suite and an incredible way to end a show! Unfortunately there is a significant chunk missing between Dark Star and Alligator. The beginning of this Feelin' Groovy Jam is particularly delicate and slowly unfolds.
GRATEFUL DEAD CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER I KNOW YOU RIDER LYRICS FULL
It's too bad the 2nd verse lyrics are cut a full recording would have made this an even more beautiful stand-alone Dark Star.ġ2/30/69- Dark Star>Alligator>Drums>The Eleven>Bid You Goodnight Jam>Alligator Reprise Phil rips through the first half of the jam (especially listen at 17:30) before Jerry takes off around 17:50. This is a beautiful Feelin' Groovy Jam within a very nice Dark Star. This happens to be one of the only occurrences of an Uncle John's Band Jam in a Dark Star.ġ2/11/69- Dark Star>St. This sandwich of songs highlights the differences between the Feelin' Groovy chords and the Uncle John's Band chords. This Feelin' Groovy Jam from Dick's Picks 16 stomps into The Other One before winding back into Dark Star, veering into Uncle John's Band before ending on Dark Star one last time. It's interesting that the band played UJB Jams on back to back nights and didn't explore it much beyond that.ġ1/8/69- Dark Star>TOO>Dark Star>UJB Jam>Dark Star This Dark Star has the same components as the one from the next night just in a different order. This Dark Star not only includes a brief Feelin' Groovy Jam but also a rare Uncle John's Band Jam. The beginning of the "Beginnings" Jam (aka Tighten Up aka Soulful Strut) at 22:26 is completely unexpected but certainly welcomed.ġ1/7/69- Dark Star>UJB Jam>Dark Star>The Other One In this case, as sort of a preview to 1/2/70, the Dead jams the Feelin' Groovy tune before unwinding a full Tighten Up Jam. This one of the several occasions that both the Feelin' Groovy and the Tighten Up Jams are played in the same Dark Star. Overall, this is a stunning yet pretty laid back Feelin' Groovy Jam.ġ1/2/69- Dark Star>St. Jerry's playing at 15 minutes is absolutely stratospheric. They take their time with this one and stretch it about 5 minutes which makes it one of the longest Feelin' Groovy Jams found in a Dark Star. The band sort of tip toes into this Feelin' Groovy, eventually coalescing around the chords about a minute into the jam.

This Feelin' Groovy Jam is only found on a very poor quality audience recording, but it elicits cheers from the crowd.ġ0/25/69- Dark Star>St. I'm sure there are more Feelin' Groovy Jams out there that I am unaware of.ĩ/26/69- Dark Star>St. Another place the Feelin' Groovy appeared was on 10/2/72 in the last "Jam" of Truckin'>Nobody's Fault But Mine Jam>Drums>Jam starting around 3:20. This extraordinary Feelin' Groovy Jam can be found on the 30 Days of Dead 2012 release as "Jam>Bass>Sugar Magnolia". Also, there is a fragment of the show from 2/24/73, sometimes mislabeled as Truckin' Jam>Nobody's Fault But Mine Jam, which is actually a jam out of Eyes of the World and into Sugar Magnolia. China>Rider was brought back on 12/29/77 a poster on Heady Version exclaims "First ChinaCat in 3 years and the boys come out hungry with it." There are a few other random Feelin' Groovy Jams from the Dead including one from 3/31/73 between The Other One>I Know You Rider. After 1974, the Dead not only dropped this transition, they dropped China>Rider from their repertoire altogether. The Dead played this China>Rider transition steadily from 3/16/73 to 10/20/74. After 1972, the Feelin' Groovy Jam was no longer played in Dark Stars and was reallocated to the jam between China Cat Sunflower and I Know You Rider. The Feelin' Groovy Jam usually occurred after a space portion and "would emerge, like bright joy after the darkness" (Light Into Ashes, "The Dead's Early Thematic Jams"). There were many distinct Feelin' Groovy Jams in Dark Stars from the first one on 9/26/69 to the last on 11/26/72. At first, the Feelin' Groovy Jam was only found in Dark Stars. A pronounced example of Phil's Feelin' Groovy notes occurs on 5/25/72 at about 21 minutes into Dark Star. One example of these chords played by Weir can be found 16 minutes into the Dark Star from 9/19/70.

The Feelin' Groovy Jam has been named by Deadheads who recognized the tune of the jam from the Simon and Garfunkel song "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)." The jam can be distinguished by 4 descending chords that Weir strums or the similar descending notes from Phil. The first Feelin' Groovy Jam appeared in a Dark Star on 9/26/69, less than a month after the first Tighten Up Jam which was on 8/30/69.
