The Best Of The Grateful Dead Projects: The Best of Playin' in the Band

The Grateful Dead Clubhouse Projects

The Best Of Playing In The Band

Playin in the Band

***Project Update***

Despite our best efforts, there are times when a show or song version gets overlooked. This can be for a host of reasons, the most likely being, because at the time of the project a source wasn't available, or the available source may be deemed un-listenable. I can't possibly fathom how we managed to overlook the version this update will highlight. It seems impossible that it wouldn't have been immediately brought up and subsequently drooled over. My only guess is that at the time of the Playing project, the source had been pulled from archive with the boatload of other 1972 shows that were pulled during 2004-2005. If it were a hidden gem from the mid-80s I'd be willing to admit the possibility that, it simply never got listened to. However, this being a 1972 Playing, there is no way it would have been passed over, as to anyone remotely interested in the GD pantheon knows, 72 was the year of Playing In The Band. The Top 10 list is what it is so I won't be altering it, but from here on, Playing In The Band from 1972-10-26 will be listed in addition to the versions already listed. It is just jaw dropping.

10/26/72 - Music Hall, Cincinnati, OH - SBD

Listen to Playing In The Band from October 26th 1972

Playing In The Band

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Bob Weir/Mickey Hart

Some folks trust to reason, others trust to might
I don't trust to nothing, but I know it come out right
Say it once again now, whoa I hope you understand
When it's done and over, Lord, a man is just a man

Chorus
Playing, playing in the band
Daybreak, daybreak on the land

Some folks look for answers, others look for fights
Some folks up in tree tops, just looking for their kites
I can tell your future, whoa just look what's in your hand
I can't stop for nothing, I'm just playing in the band

[chorus]

Standing on a tower, world at my command
You just keep a-turning, while I'm playing in the band
If a man among you, got no sin upon his hand
Let him cast a stone at me for playing in the band

[chorus]
Playing, like a wave upon the sand
Notes

In the version on "Rolling Thunder", Bob Weir sings "... others trust to sight"
On 7 May 1980, in Barton Hall at Cornell University, Bob Weir sang "Playing in the barn" consistently throughout the song
Iin Robert Hunter's lyrics in "Box Of Rain", he has ".. just to look to see the sights." That's also what Bob Weir sings on "Skull & Roses." But by the time of the studio recording on "Ace", and thereafter in live performances, he had changed the line to "... just looking for their kites."

The Annotated "Playing In The Band"

STANDARD DISCLAIMER:
This list differs from the list in the GD Taper's Compendium in what Ribot_for_President calls "good taste and common sense." As with the Top 100 GD shows, the Best Versions project isn't necessarily definitive (well, it kind of is to us), and it’s not an invitation to debate. It’s a list of solid versions that you all ought to hear.

Anyway, this was a nice way for us to get our critical chops back.

And now...

Top 10 Playing In The Band:

8/27/72 - Old Renaissance Faire Grounds, Veneta, OR - SBD

9/10/72 - Hollywood Palladium, Hollywood, CA - SBD

11/18/72 - Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, TX - SBD

12/2/73 - Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA - AUD

6/16/74 - State Fairgrounds, Des Moines, IA - SBD

8/4/74 - Civic Convention Hall Auditorium, Philadelphia, PA - Dick's Picks #31; AUD

9/18/74 - Parc des Expositions, Dijon, France - SBD

12/31/76 - Cow Palace, Daly City, CA - Live at the Cow Palace

2/3/78 - Dane County Coliseum, Madison, WI - Dick’s Picks #18; AUD

11/6/79 - The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA - SBD

Honorable Mention:

12/31/72 - Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA - SBD

5/4/77 - The Palladium, New York, NY - SBD

4/14/82 - Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls, NY - SBD

10/15/83 - Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT - SBD

5/26/93 - Cal Expo Amphitheatre, Sacramento, CA - SBD

Historically Significant:

2/18/71 - Capitol Theater, Port Chester, NY (first) - SBD

3/23/74 - Cow Palace, Daly City, CA (Wall of Soundcheck Playing Palindrome) - Dick's Picks # 24

5/21/74 - Hec. S. Edmundson Pavilion, U. of Wa., Seattle, WA (longest) - SBD

10/16/74 - Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA - The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack

7/29/88 - Laguna Seca Recreation Area, Monterey, CA (first full Playing since 1976) - AUD

7/5/95 - Riverport Amphitheatre, Maryland Heights, MO (last) - SBD

LISTEN TO PLAYIN' IN THE BAND FROM NOVEMBER 18th 1972

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