Dark Star (song)
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| “Dark Star” | |||||
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| Single by Grateful Dead | |||||
| B-side | "Born Cross-Eyed" | ||||
| Released | April 1968  1977  |
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| Format | 7" | ||||
| Recorded | 1968 | ||||
| Genre | Psychedelic rock | ||||
| Length | 2:44 | ||||
| Label | Warner Bros. Records WEA Records Ltd |
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| Writer(s) | Grateful Dead Robert Hunter |
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| Producer | Grateful Dead David Hassinger |
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| Grateful Dead singles chronology | |||||
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"Dark Star" is a song by the Grateful Dead. It was written by lyricist Robert Hunter and composed by lead guitarist Jerry Garcia;[1] however, compositional credit is sometimes extended to include Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, the late Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, and Bob Weir.[2][3] "Dark Star" was an early Grateful Dead classic and became one of their most loved and anticipated numbers, often with the group using it as a vehicle for musical travels far beyond the predictable.
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[edit] Composition
In May of 1967, Garcia composed the preliminary chords of the song, but it was at the time without lyrics.[1] A handful of months later, Robert Hunter, a longtime collaborator with the Grateful Dead, arrived in California and overheard the band playing around with the track. He immediately sat down and wrote the opening line, contributing the lyrics and name of the song.[1]
[edit] History
"Dark Star" was initially released as a two minute single in 1968, backed with "Born Cross-Eyed", a track written by rhythm guitarist Bob Weir. The single, to quote Phil Lesh, "sank like a stone."[1]
Due to the relentless touring of the Grateful Dead, and the fact that fans were allowed to tape their shows, many live versions of "Dark Star" exist. Despite the fact that the studio recording of the song lasted only 2:40, "Dark Star" was known for its lengthy live performances. Running over 23 minutes (13 of them consisting of Jerry Garcia's guitar solo), the popular rendition as found on the Live/Dead live album was a captivating blend of psychedelic, jazz, and jam elements. While the lyrics occupy only a small portion of the song's running time, they set a mood that strongly evokes the era: Reason tatters / Forces tear loose from the axis / Shall we go / You and I while we can? / Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds. Indeed, this "Dark Star" defines the Dead's early improvisational music. Phil Lesh's melodic bass guitar propels the song, while Garcia and Bob Weir interchange guitar solos. Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann's meshed drumming allow the dynamics of "Dark Star" to range from the delicate through the chaotic to the powerful.
"Dark Star", over time, had changed in the way it was performed.
There is spirited debate over which performance of "Dark Star" ran the longest. Although May 11, 1972’s version is often credited as lasting 47:12, this timing includes a drum solo lasting 4:03. The “Dark Star” from August 28, 1969 has been cited as lasting 63:51, although this timing includes a 9:49 jam on the theme of another GD song called "The Eleven". Purists point out that this performance was not by the Grateful Dead, but “Mickey and the Hartbeats”, the name adopted for shows the band members played in 1968 and 1969 without Weir or McKernan. It is agreed that the band’s longest uninterrupted performance of the song took place on December 6, 1973. Lasting 43:27, this rendition goes on for eighteen seconds longer than the combined times of the “Dark Star” segments played on 5-11-72. [4]
After 1973, "Dark Star" fell out of the normal rotation at Dead shows, and after 1974 became quite rare. Being present for a "Dark Star" performance became a Holy Grail for Deadheads. The song became so legendary that it was often referred to as "IT" by dedicated Heads. Knowing this, the Dead would sometimes tease the song's introduction before switching into another song. (Semi-regular guest pianist Bruce Hornsby would later incorporate such teases into his own concerts, knowing a good number of Deadheads might be in attendance.)
"Dark Star" began reappearing more frequently in concert later in the Dead's career, in 1989 and even more so in the early 1990s. Sometimes jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis would contribute. One of these performances was featured in the syndicated The Grateful Dead Hour radio program, extending the song's legend somewhat outside the insular Deadhead circle.
In 1994 the Dead approached music collage artist John Oswald to do a project with "Dark Star". He was given over a hundred different performances of the song from between 1968 and 1993. Oswald then built, layered, and "folded" all of them to produce one large, recomposited version, just sixteen minutes short of two hours in length. The project is called Grayfolded. It also happens to be the only Grateful Dead or Dead-related record that features participation by every person who was in the group between 1965 and 1995.
[edit] Trivia
- Excerpts of the song is used in the movie Zabriskie Point
- The default host name, if not set to something else by the root user during network configuration, is "DARKSTAR" in all versions of the Slackware Linux distribution.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Lesh, Phil (2005). Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-00998-9.
- ^ Dodd, David (2003). The Annotated "Dark Star" (html) (English). The Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
- ^ Allan, Alex. "Dark Star" (htm) (English). Grateful Dead Lyric and Song Finder. Whitegum. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
- ^ The Deadlists Project (html). Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
